Juliette Has a Gun Ego Stratis: Fragrance Review

Back in March I reviewed 4 luxury perfumes from Juliette Has a Gun. Back then I feel in love with the name, probably more so than the scents themselves. It has a 90s grunge sensibility about it. Today I'm going to share some thoughts on their new fragrance, Ego Stratis. The notes are listed as such, 

• Top Notes: Bergamot Essence, Mandarin Essence, Lemon Essence

• Heart Notes: Neroli Essence, Calone (marine note), Blueberry

• Base Notes: Cedar Essence, Ambroxan, Musks

Before trying this fragrance on, I took a scant look over on the John Lewis site where you can buy a bottle of Ego Stratis for £120 per 100ml, should you so desire. The arrangement of nebulous words and empty calories that get lassoed around these releases can at times, borderline on the ridiculous. For example, a summary of the fragrance reads, 

The result is contemporary, almost unisex and very unique for a fragrance dedicated to women...

What does that mean exactly? Almost unisex but dedicated to women? Ambiguity, table for one please. 

Ok another cynicism. Let's talk about the fragrance itself. Firstly, this is not almost unisex. Perhaps on the opening with the citrus notes and promise of sea, peach and blueberry you might rush to those assumptions. But this settles quite emphatically, and without to much complexity into a very conventional masculine fragrance. The Musk and the Cedar underbelly, galvanises this fragrance and plants its feet perfectly in a very familiar barber shop genre. It's not old barber shop, it's not boozy enough or clever enough to have that semblance. It's new wave Barber shop. It's the barber that has those tropical flavoured infusers in his shop, probably because his girlfriend told him to create more of a balanced atmosphere. Who knows. But those are the conclusions I'm reaching. 

Where to wear? 

It's not overpowering so you can wear this to the office. In fact it's so subtle and inoffensive, it's almost the identikit for what an office fragrance should smell like. My only query is why release this in Autumn and not Spring? As it's such a citrusy number. I suppose to give you something to look forward to. 

What Tuula says

Of course I wrote all the above before reconciling my opinions with my girlfriend. She naturally disagrees with most of it and finds wearing this fragrance to be a wonderful experience. I have to say it’s not something I would have picked out for her, but as we’re both wearing it together on the couch as I decant my thoughts onto the page, I can’t help think maybe she’s right. We smell good, and it’s rebounding between us nicely. They say a good film makes you think about it the next day, and maybe a good fragrance will catch its critics slightly off balance.