My sweet, generous mother offered to buy me something off my Luckyscent wish-list for Christmas, and I chose JHAG’s Purse Bullet filled with Lady Vengeance. I like LV alot, the purse bullet is wicked cool, and I knew that I probably wasn’t going to ever end up buying it for myself—just one of those things, you know? I’ve been excitedly looking forward to the arrival of my holiday gift-box…
And it arrived Monday!
In the spirit of Living in The Moment, the hubby and I tore into our gifts while I was at home for my lunch break. I was surprised to find, not Lady Vengeance, but another JHAG fragrance, Citizen Queen. So I flounced off to the perfume cabinet to pull out my CQ sample to see what I was in for. I remember not particularly liking this one during my initial sampling, but since the pretty little box was already in the house, I figured, let’s not be hasty.
Aldehydes and violet! Not my particular cup of tea, but, aside from immortelle, the rest of the notes are classic Howe-house pleasers: roses, iris, amber, leather, labdanum. The hubby and I both applied liberally (from the sample vial) and he immediately said, “Soapy!” Which, given his limited fragrance vocabulary, kind of blew my mind. CQ has a vintage vibe, which includes a soapy aspect. My very real fear is that I’ll send this back to exchange for another, only to discover later that it is, indeed, Citizen Queen that belongs in my collection.
It’s growing on me.
When I got home (again) from work, I re-applied CQ, then applied Calamity J to the other wrist, just for kicks, and to try and tease apart what it is about CQ that was troubling me. Now, be aware, I’m pretty thrilled with Calamity J; but in the side-by-side comparison, CQ won, hands-down. Mr. and Mrs. Howe both agree.
Yes, there are some elements that trouble me in Citizen Queen—the violet for one (don’t much care for the stuff!), the aldehydic blast in the top notes, and the potent musk. But… I like to be a little bit challenged by my fragrance. Yes, I want to smell good, and waft sensory bliss, but I also want to be intrigued. As much as I enjoy Lady Vengeance, or even Calamity J, I’m not sure that they intrigue me. I’ll own CJ at some point, because it’s pretty great, but for now, I think I’m sticking with the Queen***.
***This whole scenario would be much simpler if I weren’t currently battling a sore throat and a cold. The throat, apparently, has a lot to do with how we perceive smells, because my sniffer seems to be working!
Image is Tricia Helfer, pre-BSG no. 6
beauty on the outside 
I think it is so great that you and your husband share this hobby. As can be deduced from my various hints on the blog, my dear husband is sadly only capable of differentiating good from bad, which would actually be a very good skill, if it weren’t for the fact that good for him means anorexic aquatic and bad means everything else 😉
Citizen Queen seems only fitting for the Queen of Cheese, imo 🙂
HRH Birgit,
It is great that we can share this hobby, but it didn’t happen automatically. At first, his response to the growing perfume collection was, “aren’t you spending too much money on perfume?”
Since those early days, he’s come to see perfume as an art form, and has made an effort to learn to smell (he doesn’t possess a naturally gifted nose like yours truly), to learn some history, and to learn about houses and perfumers.
It’s a real joy.
But there’s a price. I take an active interest in obscure, experimental, limited-edition boutique music, that in the early days led me to say things like, “don’t you have enough records on the shelf?” Now I see the genre as art!
xo- QoC
HRH Birgit,
It is great that we can share this hobby, but it didn’t happen automatically. At first, his response to the growing perfume collection was, “aren’t you spending too much money on perfume?”
Since those early days, he’s come to see perfume as an art form, and has made an effort to learn to smell (he doesn’t possess a naturally gifted nose like yours truly), to learn some history, and to learn about houses and perfumers.
It’s a real joy.
But there’s a price. I take an active interest in obscure, experimental, limited-edition boutique music, that in the early days led me to say things like, “don’t you have enough records on the shelf?” 😉 Now I see the genre as art!
xo- QoC
Dearest QoC,
aah, now I see…
But isn’t that what marriage is all about, learning to love (or live with at least) the others quirks and interests. To my husbands defence I must say, that he is very proud of me for writing my blog, whether he gets the subject or not.
May be I should try to show more interest for beef (don’t ask!)…;)
I really love being married; I also really love beef—on the grill, if I have the option 😉