Calamity J by Juliette Has a Gun

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Hhhhmmmmm.......This begins extremely good and I have a difficult time believing  the real Calamity Jane ( aka Marthy Jane Canary ) ever smelled this nice. From the images I googled of her, quite possibly vintage Parfum d' Habit or Kouros  would be more appropriate. Okay.......I'm being an ass, but this really does have a very enjoyable opening accord.

LS has Calamity J listed as unisex and advertised as a masculine fragrance dedicated to women. I find it leans more feminine than anything, but the question is would I wear it? Let's see...........

The initial impression of the scent is a sheer, woody patchouli note. This opening
is my favorite part of the wearings. Once that subsides, a rising iris and amber duo inherit Calmity J like a hole filling slowly with water. The emphasis is on the iris and it soon turns powdery. The amber is still present and accounted for, but plays second fiddle.

The vanilla note doesn't sit idly by for any length of time. Just when I'm grooving on the iris-amber, it's inserting itself into the composition. It goes well with the iris-amber and this is where it truly veers off the masculine path into androgynous territory. I have to say here that I never thought this was very ( conventionally ) masculine to begin with. The opening volley was very diplomatic where gender is concerned, but after that it's up to the wearer to decide whether or not it suits them.

There's a listed musk in the base accord that does evolve rather slowly. It's a very quiet rendition and I do catch whiffs of it after 45 minutes or so. The only drawback I find with Calamity J is that it's very soft spoken for an EDP. The sillage is average at best and the longevity isn't the greatest. A potential 3 hour scent life with 2.5 of it being relegated as a "close" fragrance.

Now, would I wear it? Yes, I would. It's a nice fragrance and while it leans a bit feminine for my usual taste, I would most definitely give it full wearings if I had a bottle. Would I purchase a bottle? No, not a full bottle, but an adequate decant would certainly be acceptable.

So far, I have been pleased with the few samples from Juliette Has a Gun. I recommend a sample wear of Calamity J to see if it works for you. Good is good however and I have no reservations about giving Calamity J a thumbs up.

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