New Niche Perfume Review: Juliette Has A Gun Mad Madame “Mash-Up” = Full Bottle Draw

I first became aware of the musical genre known as a mash-up with the 2005 song Numb/Encore by Linkin Park and Jay-Z. The idea is to find a common ground between two genres and create something totally new out of the two songs. In Numb/Encore Jay-Z’s rhymes are laid over the plaintive rock backtrack of Linkin Park’s lyrics and guitars. It gave me some new insight into both of the originals and I came to really like the combination as much as the pieces which made it up. I was reminded of this with the latest release by Romano Ricci of Juliette Has A Gun called Mad Madame as it felt like a mash-up of two of his previous releases; Lady Vengeance and Not a Perfume.

If there are two signatures of the Juliette Has A Gun line it is rose and the synthetic woody aromachemical Ambroxan. Many of the line contain rose and almost all of them have Ambroxan. In fact Not A Perfume was nothing but Ambroxan in a bottle. It has always made the appreciation of Juliette Has A Gun problematic for me because I find Ambroxan to be the olfactory equivalent of an irritating whistle that I can’t tune out. Needless to say Not A Perfume is not going to be found on my dresser, or body. But that is my personal preference and I know many, many others like the modern feel it brings to fragrances. In the case of Mad Madame M. Ricci, supposedly by accident, added a huge overdose of Ambroxan. With that amount of Ambroxan in place he chose to use rose oxide to produce a spiky mohawked rose to stand up to the onslaught. Besides the rose and Ambroxan the only other note of note is blackcurrant bud which adds a green fruity facet to everything.

Metallic Roses by Nana Leder

Mad Madame opens up with the rose oxide on top and it provides an almost sci-fi kind of rose with metallic highlights. The blackcurrant bud also shows up pretty early and it adds a closed up green berry quality as an underpinning. Then like a distant freight train the Ambroxan begins to sound its approach. Pretty soon it has arrived like a primal force and surprisingly the rose and blackcurrant don’t entirely get out of the way and after things settle down a bit they actually begin to hold their own but they are afloat on a sea of Ambroxan.

Mad Madame has outstanding longevity and above average sillage.

Not My Testing Panel

I had to go get some non-Ambroxan-phobic opinions about this as I wore it for a few days. The feeling of those I asked to give it a sniff were unanimously "Mad" about it. So I think this is a case where you have to take my preferences into account over your own. If you like Ambroxan, and particularly if you were a fan of Not A Perfume, Mad Madame shows what can be accomplished when you turn the Ambroxan into a perfume. You get a thoroughly modern mash-up of Lady Vengeance and Not A Perfume.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Europerfumes.

Thanks to Europerfumes we have a 50mL full bottle of Mad Madame to giveaway. To be eligible leave comment if you want to waft Mad Madame and  your favorite Juliette Has a Gun Perfume. The draw will close on December 12, 2012.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

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68 comments

  • Here’s a mash up
    Wafting mad Madame ukkah
    Would be great for Hanukkah
    Since I love ambroxanukkah

  • I would love to waft Mad Madame! i have not yet tried any of the Juliet Has A Gun line … pity.

    thank you for the draw.

  • I’d love to try it. To be honest, I haven’t yet tried any perfumes from JHAG obut I was planning to order a decant of Vengeance Extreme. I’m very curious about the line as a whole.

  • Love Ambroxan and love Not a Perfume, but haven’t had a chance to get my nose on Mad Madame. The whole line is niche at its most impressive. Thanks for the draw!

  • I would like to waft it! Specially because I don’t have a problem with ambroxan. I have a problem with other synthetics but not this one.
    I find Lady vengeance really pretty and my fav so Mad Madame sounds great.

    Thank you for the draw!

  • Janet in California says:

    Not a perfume is the only one of these I have tried. I am semi-embarrassed to say I liked it! I would love to try Mad Madame.

  • I would really like to waft Mad Madame. My favorites are Calamity Jane and Miss Charming. Thank you!

  • I would love to waft Mad Madame! I’ve tested it and am ‘mad’ about it so I must like ambroxan. My favorite JHAG is Midnight Oud. Thanks!

  • I’m sorry to have not smelled any of these yet, but have heard many good things. Would love to remedy that.

  • I would choose Citizen Queen because I’m still on a labdanum quest. Ambroxan is one of my favourite musks, though I notice it’s not in Citizen Queen.

  • I am looking forward to Mad Madame I like to mix things up. My favorite in the line of Juliette has a Gun is Calamity J.

  • I’d love to waft Mad Madame! Ambrox and rose are two nice notes and the combination must be really nice.

    My favorite Juliette has a gun is Calamity J.

    Thanks!

  • I would love to waft Mad Madame! Unfortunately I haven’t yet tried anything from JHAG, but I’d love MM to be my first. 😉

  • The only one I have tried from JHAG is Miss Charming, but I am willing to try something a bit bolder. 🙂

  • I would also love to waft some Mad Madame. You’ve gotta love the names they come up with. My favourite Juliette Has a Gun fragrance so far would be Calamity J.

    Thanks for the lovely draw!

  • Waft, waft! 🙂 Thanks for the waft opportunity. 🙂
    My fav Juliette has a Gun fragrance is (so far) Citizen Queen. Still a lot to test.

  • I was able to spray this on my wrist recently, it is powerful stuff, and I think it gets deeper as it develops. I don’t know what ambroxan smells like, but the rose is always there…I quite like it, but perhaps am not modern enough?

  • I wonder if Ambroxan is the note that’s making woods almost impossible for me to wear any more? Regardless, I am constitutionally incapable of resisting a scent described as a sci-fi metallic rose, especially when combined with blackcurrant.

    Citizen Queen is the fragrance I have enjoyed most from this line.

    Thanks for a fun review and a great draw!

  • I would love to waft the mad madame. I have never tried any of JHAG fragrances, would love to try them. .. Thanks for the draw!

  • My favorite from the line so far is Vengeance Extreme. Haven’t tried Mad Madame yet but I don’t find Ambroxan unappealing at all and I like the metallic-bloody facet of rose so I suspect I will like MM too.

  • Thank you for this draw! I would love to try this as I’ve heard many great things about this company, and I have as yet not tried any of them!

  • I have not tried any yet. Really hard to come by JHAG where I live. Mad Madame sounds very good. Thanks for the giveaway!

  • I would love to try Mad Madame! The only frag from this line I’ve tried is Midnight Oud. They all sound great. Thanks for the draw! 🙂

  • I would like to try it (I guess that all of us want to try it )) ), By the way, I haven’t tried any of JHG fragrances yet, I need to order their sample pack!

  • I would definitely like to waft Mad Madame & unfortunately I have yet to try any Juliette has a Gun fragrances but I’d love to try Midnight Oud!

  • Adore No Perfume! Calamity J is also quite a beauty.
    And I’d really like to try out Mad Madam because it sounds so darn interesting!

  • I’ve only tried Miss Charming and Lady Vengeance, and Miss Charming was my favorite of the two. Thank you!

  • i would very much appreciate Mad Madam for my mad madam… if you know what i mean :))))

    my favorite juliette would be Calamity J

  • I’ve never even come close to sniffing JHAG. Just haven’t had the chance. Please do enter me in this chance to waft Mad Madame.

  • I would definately like to waft Mad Madame!!! Lady vengeance is a favorite of mine so I’d like to see how this one is combined!!! Thank you for the draw!!

  • I am in the boat of those who did not have the chance to test any of JHAG offerings. I would love to waft Mad Madame. Thanks!

  • My favourite would probably be Midnight Oud (I havent try them but it seems to be the most appealing one to me)

  • I would love to waft Mad Madame! I’ve tested Lady Vengeance, and it’s my favorite so far. This mash up sounds great. Thanks!

  • Only tried Lady Vengeance, so I suppose that is my favourite. I would love to waft Mad Madame. Many thanks!

  • I most certainly wish to waft… The only one of theirs I’ve tested has been Not a Perfume. I’m keen to try the others. Thanks for the draw!

  • I would love to waft! I have never had a chance to try Juliette Has a Gun, but so many sound interesting!

  • I been wanting to waft this forever!! My fave JHaG is Citizen Queen, but I am a huge fan of all of them

  • I would love to waft! I’ve never tried any JHaG, but Lady Vengeance looks like a favorite to me.
    Thank you for the draw!

  • I don’t have a favorite JHaG but I love the names – what’s not to love about LADY VENGEANCE? I mean, c’mon! And I’m veering precariously towards Mad Madam status these days…so bring it! And thank you!

    xoxoA