A recent Monday Question brought to light a wealth of your suggestions for rose perfumes for me to try and try I did. Dozens of samples later, a few wonderful, many nice, many more not so great, one in particular stood out as my favorite – Lady Vengeance.
What is it about the Lady that has me in thrall?
Let’s see…
“A perfume with a rich and sophisticated trail. The expression of undeniable feminity, confident and divinely sensual.
The fragrance of a Lady for whom the art of seduction bares no secret. You can smell…you can dream…but the rest lies in her hands. The very elegant and thorny Bulgarian Rose marries patchouli and vanilla to draw this fine elegance, both contemporary and inevitable.”
-excerpted from the company website
Created by Francis Kurkdjian, Lady Vengeance includes notes of Bulgarian rose, vanilla and patchouli.
Lady Vengeance does not sport a long notes list, it is no complicated fragrance, it seems to me straightforward and simple in the best way possible.
Lady Vengeance is a wonderfully dark, but not too dark, red rose, perfect in its clarity and lucidity. Vanilla and patchouli underscore that pure beauty with a hint of sweetness and a smudge of earthiness, but do nothing to distract from the star of the show – a singular rose, powerful, yet still delicate.
Other roses by Francis Kurkdjian have already enticed me (Rose Barbare, Rose de Siwa), but nothing like this one. I have to tell you a story, come a bit closer…
When I first smelled Lady Vengeance it was out of duty, I was on a rose trip, and this was one of the recommended points of interest on that trip. Nonchalantly I sprayed a strip, inhaled… oh my. It had been a while that I fell for a perfume hook, line and sinker. Then and there. I knew it was love. I knew from the first and I know it now. Lady Vengeance and I will be together for a long time. I think she will be among my all time greats, my must haves, my desert island perfumes. She is my rose.
If you know and love her, be glad. If you don’t know her, run, don’t walk and try her. If you don’t like her, well, then it is not meant to be…
I’m glad she is meant to be for me.
Grumpy Francis did great.
Olfactoria's Travels 
It’s one of my fav’s. My signature parfume used to be Narciso Rodriguez for Her (by Kurkdjian and Christine Nagel) . Someone told me that I shoul taste Lady Vengance because of their similar smell and thats’s true (despite not share your notes?). For it me represents the elegance.
I used to wear NR for Her as well for years (before my Perfumista days), I don’t really smell a similarity, but I agree about the elegance. 🙂
Hmmm – I think I should have a perfume stroll soon and seek this one out. Thank you for the tempting review. It is lovely that you have found a lovely rose.
Off you stroll… 😉 Have fun!
After reading this, I am definitely going to revisit Lady Vengeance with fresh eyes (and nose). I feel a little sheepish having given it such little attention the first go round. So many roses out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed! Sometimes, straightforward and uncomplicated is worth its weight in wearable gold 🙂
Don’t feel sheepish, I have dismissed perfumes countless times, only to get to know and love them later.
I hope you enjoy the Lady as much as I do. 🙂
I think it was the packaging that did it . . .
Score 1 for Chandler Burr?
🙂
Ha, yes, packaging is certainly capable to lure us in or put us off.
Well, well, I’m not the only one finding the packaging tremendously off-putting. And BTW the name (JHaG…) too.
That is what kept me away from trying it all these years. But now that I know the perfume, I’m somewhat starting to like the cute hatbox too. 🙂 The name is still stupid…
It was the name too. It just made me think of little goth Lolitas running around Harajuku! But I am encouraged to give it another chance after your review 🙂
😀
Like you I fell head over heels for this on a shopping trip a few years ago, but for some reason I fell out of love pretty quickly. I think I find it to be too powdery in the end.
I very much appreciate this Lady though, I wouldn’t want her to seek vengeance for me not liking her 😉
Powdery is fine in my book.
I’m glad you still appreciate her though, she is very easily put out. 😉
Oh yay! I absolutely love this one and it is my Mum’s favourite perfume (this is what she bought on that fateful morning in Les Senteurs, when I fell down the rabbit hole). I don’t own a bottle but it is the perfume I always ‘borrow’ when I visit. SO glad you love it.
Another one in common! 🙂
Your mom is very cool, I must say!
I find it a nice rose fragrance, but it didnt do much with my body chemistry. If I want a truly great rose based perfume that makes me zing, then I go to my bottle of Rosines Rose Flaminca. This yellow rose fueled with neroli will melt my heart any time.
Sounds lovely, dremybluz. I’ll try this soon.
That rose I really like. Vampy rose.
Vampy and strangely comforting too.
Some of your reviews I enjoy reading more than others. I suspect the best ones are for perfumes about which you feel strong. You sound very inspiring.
This is one of those perfumes that I tried only once, rather liked it (especially a couple of hours into wearing), planned to test again – and never did. And I don’t even have a good reason for not trying it again since I still have that sample! It goes into my next month’s test box.
That is true, when I’m inspired by a perfume, I guess I manage to pass on that inspiration in writing.
Enjoy your sample!
Bingo! We finally overlap on something that isn’t an Amouage. 🙂
Great!
Although Amouage isn’t a bad place to meet. 😉
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