Calamity J. Juliette Has A Gun for women

I like it so much. Don't seem to find the "masculine" side of this perfume. For me it is so feminine...It's sooo long lasting, probably the best longevity from JHG's. Actually, I find it a bit similar to Citizen Queen. It developes beautifully on my skin, so for me...Love it!
PS: what is with the "old lady smell"? I would like someone to describe an old lady smell...This perfume definitely doesn't smell like an old lady.

on me this lasts all day, in fact the following morning it smells a bit of the drydown to Narciso Rodriguez edp...wonderful!

But more similar to Citizen Queen... only minus the leather and the aldahydes

If this is too expensive for you, I believe the best substitute would be Queen Latifa's Queen of Hearts. JHAG is higher quality but I am at the same time amazed by the high quality of latifa's ...not quuite tho , up to part with Julliette but close... and SUPER cheap

With the cooler weather descending upon us, I've been anxious to compare some of the amber perfumes in my queue, and Juliette Has a Gun CALAMITY JANE is a nice one! This relatively simple blend primarily features patchouli and amber to my nose—I don't really detect the iris distinctly—but what a lovely blend it is! Smooth and golden and resinous and seductive...

This composition is not all that original—I have sniffed a couple of other niche perfumes inhabiting the same neighborhood—but I guess that just goes to show that high-quality patchouli and amber notes marry well! It seems to me that when a simple yet compelling combination is meant to be, then multiple perfumers are bound to come up with it eventually.

I would love to have a bottle of CALAMITY JANE... This perfume has good longevity and perfect wintertime sillage: warms up on the skin to waft up the neck of a snuggly sweater. Definitely unisex.

Yes its a bit Shalimarish,ambrish and patchoulish.Cheap if you compare it with the big sillagemonsters and the big classic orientals - dont do that! If you compare like that youll do this beauty very wrong!
Judge it for what it is,dont compare it!
Calamity J is a nice ,discrete ,not strong oriental ,manly maybe but it sure is made for a woman alright!
Its nice,warm and comfortable,non offensive and easy worn.
maybe you can call it an oriental for the non orientalfreaks?
But ,it fades away waaaay to fast!!

Calamity J's opening is immediately compelling because while it's not incredibly assertive it still takes the distance from those catchy-pretty openings that we experience too often in modern perfumery. A slightly rough patchouli note joined by a rooty iris while amber lurks in the back. Very interesting. Sadly the fragrance turns very soon into an amber/vanilla iteration that we've seen too many times.

Nice and comfortable but neither particularly interesting nor distinctive.

Rating: 6.5/10

Before I tested this, I was expecting hate it. It's rare for me to like a fragrance dominated by a patchouli note.

So...I was shocked when I found I actually love this perfume.

The patchouli here is earthy, spicy and sweet, but not dirty or harsh and it blends so well with the other notes that it contributes a vital part to a beautiful scent.

Also, I've never been a fan of overly musky scents, but the balance here is so well done that it's very pleasant.

It's strange, because this is a fruit-free fragrance, but on my skin the dry down smells the way a fruit cake smells when it has just come out of the oven...a deep dark sensual earthy spiciness.

The sillage is pretty impressive too, and when I wore it I got a few compliments, so overall it's a scent I'd recommend.

I so wanted to like this, because I bought the "bullet" set so I have plenty of it to last me... but it has an "old lady" smell to it, and the prior reviewer is absolutely right, it's like a cheap imitation of Shalimar and it does NOT improve the longer one wears it.

I have to agree with those who say too much strong patchouli, too masculine and too quickly fading. I did not enjoy this fragrance.

There is a note that dominates the opening and I really don't enjoy it. I've reapplied from my sample a few times because the scent keeps disappearing.

Calamity J just seems to fade away too quickly into a skin scent.

This is a lovely fragrance. It's a little more soapy than Lady Vengeance by the same perfume house. I agree that there are hints of Shalimar in here, as well as the original Agent Provocateur fragrance.

I've put this on and when it reached the dry down I was trying to remember what it is reminding me. And then I did - Shalimar EDP. The opening is different but the dry down is very similar. I really like it, maybe even better than Shalimar - this one is sweeter, because of the amber I guess, which is the only ingredient that is present here and not present in Shalimar. Into my want list...

The opening is very woody, smoky and earthy. At the first sniff I get a burst of Patchouli, I am also noticing Incense and light Amber. To me Calamity J. smells like black tea for the first 15 minutes.

The transition to the middle is tiptoeing. When the Patchouli is slowly put in the rear, still present, Amber and Iris come into the open, very sensual and pleasant.

In the base they are completed with alluring Vanilla and Musk, which is dominant but not overpowering. All the time this perfume is inherently consistent.

I am noticing the presence of this perfume for about seven hours, not meddling at any time.

For me Calamity J. epitomizes a powerful woman, which knows what she want, sexy and smoky. I don't get a picture of a cowgirl like Calamity Jane in my head when I sniff it, but a smoking woman dressed in a black dress and lace with red lips, foregrounded by chandeliers. On the surface it's a very feminine scent, but there is lurking something wild and masculine, dandy-like not macho, in the background.

(By the way, I found some mailorders who cite Vanilla as a part of the base note.)

In the beginning I got a massive vanilla note from this, even though it is not listed. After a few minutes this morphed into a gentle spice with some musk. During this phase the perfume actually got quite strong, and to me it very much resembled Le Baiser du Dragon, but this one is slightly deeper and darker somehow. Although this is a very pleasant fragrance, with nothing to complain about, it doesn't have that "wow" factor for me. It would be a very suitable perfume for almost any occasion I would think and I am sure some people will love it. Longevity is average, 4 hours.

My first sniff of this on my skin was a turn off. While not unpleasant as in repulsive, if this perfume was a sound, it would be a hysterical shriek demanding attention from your ear! The name calamity is very apt as my nose detected something very busy, clashing, overpowering and insistent about this perfume.
That was my first impression based on the topnotes, I have yet to wear this perfume properly so I will come back to this review and add to it when I do that....
Update: Well.. I tried it again and found it quickly matured into Chantilly/old talcum powder. Á hint of patchouli but that didn't save it for me. NOT a keeper.

This is such a surprising beauty to me... took me a loong time to get to love it but ..then on a cold winter day I thought: wow what was that little sample all about? A creamy nutty, velvety Iris fragrance with a strong musky amber note fighting for dominance..thankfully the patchouli behaves and took a minor background place for me..:) It s strange because in the summer I did not care for Calamity and now I own my own bottle! But I will surely spray again on a hot summer day..maybe it was just my undeveloped , unrefined nose back then:) Well done, comforting everyday fragrance now for me

This one starts off very woody coz of the patchouli and then I can smell the iris, a note I love in a scent that mingles with the musk and amber. Its a warm bit spicy scent. But still soft and not overwhelming. Romano gave it a masculine vibe, but on a woman it smells very feminine. Lovely scent

Patchoulli and iris. Both of them are something I'm afraid of as they usually tend to spoil everything for me. But here it's not that bad. Ok, I don't love this, but I can imagine myself having a tiny, tiny sample vial and taking Calamity J. to party or something.
The opening was hard. It was harsh, medical and somehow extremely heady, but when I got after the first minutes, the iris and amber appeared and I got this extremely sexy, smoky, seductive, sweet scent and the patchoulli worked perfectly together with it giving some darker side to all of this.
It's enjoyable, really. If you're ok with patchouli - you might like t his very much.

Although I didn’t find it in the notes, Calamity J smells a lot like incense to me. It has a somewhat solemn, heavy feel to it, as if you're in the presence of a very powerful element - it makes me think of stepping into a Roman-Catholic church, with its long aisle, painted windows and distant echoes resounding at every step. Only I'm not a believer. On the contrary, I feel like a bit of a Devil wearing this, sinking my finger into the holy water and making it boil.

This is a truly remarkable scent, it has a personality of its own and therefore demands a strong personality to wear it. It's devilish and untamed, deep and intense, deliberate and pervasive. Very (wickedly) fun to wear!

On me, it was delicate at first, the iris and patchouli was lovey-dovey, nothing assertive. It did develop into a more robust scent and the musk became more dominant. It lasts for several hours on me
and lay close to the skin in all that time.

This is such a dreamy patchouli scent! There is a subtle medicinal aspect to the patchouli during the opening that I enjoy very much. It doesn't take long for the iris and amber to become more present. The musk doesn't feel dominant, but maybe it balances the composition.

There is an incensey feel to the scent. It's soft, feminine, and woody. It reminds me of the other modern chypres that I love so much (Perles de Lalique, Oriflame - Amethyst Fatale, Gres Cabaret).

this is a good amber scent. On me I dont really smell that much else.

Calamity J really got my attention from the rest of the Juliette Has A Gun.

It starts really green, I guess I smelt the iris and a little bit patchouli. Without any floral for decoration, it is still so independantly delicious and beautiful. Somehow it reminds me of Chanel No.19, minus the typical sophiscated Chanel spirit.

Soon it settles down to something a little bit smoky, smells like fall dry leaves, or hay with some fresh, cool touch from iris.

The dry down is sensual and really close to the skin, it's like a musk monologue with other ingrediants as the background.

This is one skanker I'm really liking. Romano could have put any floral in this composition: rose, geranium, violet... but he chose iris, and I could kiss him for it.

I was so impatient to try this that I put it on before heading off to the gym. Point noticed: I actually **liked** this better on my sweaty body then I did on my just-out-of-the-shower body (I reapplied). While warm and 'fresh' myself, the iris popped out like a gorgeous, smokey, woody elixir. So, this is probably a fragrance for a hot summer night, not a cold winter day. I could really see someone wearing this to a club, though, no matter what time of year. Ooh, and that would be sexy!

I loved the first few minutes of this scent. After that the combo Patchouli/ musk is to much for me.

I imagine musk fans will like this fragrance.