French niche line Juliette Has A Gun recently launched Gentlewoman, a new fragrance inspired by traditional Eau de Cologne, “a masculine fragrance dedicated to women.” It features notes of neroli, orange blossom, almond, bergamot, petitgrain and musky woods, and the brand’s founder, Romano Ricci, has said, “With Gentlewoman, I wanted to give women a dash of dandy. Modern, daring, I envy her freedom, her taste, her look.”

This is a brand that has never quite “clicked” for me, and there’s a lot about this fragrance that doesn’t appeal to me at first glance: the image of a faux-surly teen model reprising the classic photos of Yves Saint Laurent’s “le smoking” suits, the thread-worn praise of the “modern” woman, the mix of citrus and gourmand notes. Weirdly, I ended up liking Gentlewoman…

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