JULIETTE HAS A GUN
EX VETIVER
2024
PERFUMER
Romano Ricci
bergamot
lemon
indian vetiver
haitian vetiver
indonesian vetiver
ambroxan
musk
‘The perfume is an overdose of vetiver with no less than 3 different varieties in the formula: Vetiver from Haiti, India, and Indonesia. «Ex» in Latin means «derived from», so the translation of Ex Vetiver in english would be «derived from vetiver»! A feminine fragrance for men: In the lush meanders of a French labyrinth garden, three men, intrigued by a scent, set off on its trail. Where does this scent come from? The men weave through, get lost in its green over bursting trail, but persist. The woman blends into the greenery, hiding amongst the boxwoods. Only the fragrance remains. The lively sharpness of citruses pursued by a bold trio of Vetiver. What is this mystery scent? They emerge into a clearing, where the woman discreetly drops a bottle of the perfume. One of the men approaches, and as she leaves it on a pedestal, he seizes the bottle. The fragrance is now his.’ – Juliette Has A Gun
I liked this more than expected. I usually really like super fresh soapy vetivers like Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, but I’m not a fan of the greener, darker or more earthy vetivers as much. Given the brands (obnoxious) marketing, I was unsure what direction this would take. ‘A feminine fragrance for men’ is laughable, even if you do insist on gender marketing; vetiver being one the key ‘masculine’ scent profile of decades past and this smells almost identical to the most popular mens marketed ones out there. The only possible ‘feminine leaning’ difference in Ex Vetiver is the Juliette Has A Gun brand connotation.
For a moment I thought it would go a tad greener and more ‘forest’ like, but that fades instantly. This is as easy going, clean and almost as fresh as a Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, which makes it a win for me (but also fully redundant). That soapy style of vetiver is one of the better, most versatile scent profiles to me and you can’t go wrong with it.
The textures in Ex Vetiver I find very well-balanced. The acidity cuts through everything nicely, but it’s not too sharp. It feels softer, like citrus in tea (which makes sense given the bergamot top note). And the bergamot is definitely what makes this fragrance for me.
Yet, even as the citrussy touches fade (which unfortunately happens sooner than I’d like), I still find Ex Vetiver very nice. I find that it has a touch more of a nutty, rooty and earthy side than the aforementioned Grey Vetiver; perhaps closer to Guerlain’s Vetiver. Nice, but ultimately fully generic. It doesn’t offer anything more or better than a Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, Roja Vetiver, Guerlain Vetiver, Phaedon Black Vetiver, or many other vetivers already offer. And my advice would be to go with the tried and trusted Grey Vetiver EDP if you are looking for a soapy vetiver.
As is to be expected with Juliette Has A Gun, it’s modern/contemporary. Getting sweeter with the ambroxan base. But as with their previous release, Ode To Dullness, it’s done in a very pleasant manner for me (as opposed to many of their older releases, which I wasn’t a fan of).