Hi there Posse, Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies and today I am thinking winter. Yes it’s holiday season and I am luckily jet setting off to the freezing climes of Europe. My mind has been pretty full of organising stuff but niggling in the background is the biggest question of them all, “What Fragrances should I take?” It’s a conundrum. So tonight I thought I’d spritz myself in JHaG’s Midnight Oud, on a hot summer night 1am and 25C, so a bit different to my expectations of winter in Europe.
Midnight Oud by Juliette Has A Gun 2009
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Saffron, Damask rose, papyrus, bergamot
Heart: Castoreum, oud, Moroccan rose, geranium
Base: Musk, amber, sandalwood, patchouli
Midnight Oud is not hard core. It is smooth, refined, beautifully blended and wearable on most occasions. Many Oud lovers out there will turn up their noses because this doesn’t smell like barnyards, cows, tanneries, jackaroo’s jeans or any number of the beautifully nuanced ways that bloggers like to describe oud.
Love Oudh? Hate Oudh? Worried that you’ll smell like a Band-Aid, medicine or as if you’ve just rolled in horse apples. Maybe you tried an Oudh and Rose fragrance and it scared the living beJesus out of you, punched you in the nose, picked you up by the scruff of the neck and threw you to the ground? And then stayed on your skin for DAYS!! Quell Horror! Calm down, this nods elegantly and whispers of souks, harems and Ali Baba but does it with a modern and refined European sensibility.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
The opening spritz whiff is the most confronting and oudh-ish that Midnight Oud ever gets, and it is so not confronting. It is beautiful and deep and resinous and dusty with saffron & rose floating beautifully and dominantly over all. I love how deliciously wearable Midnight Oud is. There is a Blue Moon rose blooming in the front yard and it is so like the rose in Midnight Oud a spicy, citric, leather rose. YUMMY!
Though the fragrance has a story and heads sweeter in the dry down it isn’t a huge story with enormous highs and lows but one that weaves in and out of itself in small circles. Some days I get 8+ hours out of Midnight Oud and others only four but every time I enjoy the ride immensely. Interestingly on the hot summer night Midnight Oud is glorious, a perfect choice.
Photo Stolen ZeusBox
Parfum1 has $135/100ml + shipping to the world
The Posh Peasant has samples that starts at $4/ml
Have you tried Midnight Oud or any of the Juliette Has A Gun range? When I first wrote it I wrote Juliette Has A Gnu, I always have to be careful as it became habitual.
Portia xx
I love Midnight Oud and Mad Madame, but I haven’t smelled them all. They are not available where I am now (Montréal) but I will be in San Francisco in March and will seek the others out. have a fab trip to Europe!
Thanks Tara.
I have been remiss with much of the line myself, grabbed the one I loved and then ignored the others. I think I need a revisit too.
Portia x
Hi Portia. Coincidentally I just sampled a few from this line for the first time last week. I like Calamity J quite a bit, but then I’m a patchouli head. Calamity J makes me laugh. It doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously.
That’s a great way to live your perfumes SuzyQ,
Let them make you laugh. I’m currently reviewing Patchouli Intense by Pd Nicolai. It is well named.
Portia xx
Hi Portia – hope you’re prepared for the cold in Europe. If you’re coming to the South of France it’s raining a lot for the next few days but hopefully it will perk up after that! Much warmer here than other parts of Europe though but far far away from the Ozzie heat waves. Midnight Oud is definitely my favourite of the JHAG scents and it’s great in the opening. I wish that the gorgeous strong smell at the beginning would last longer but it dies down pretty quickly. It’s on my list to get with a million other perfumes so we’ll see. I’m actually worried about how I’m going to get all my perfumes back to NZ when I return sometime this year. They’re all in their boxes and customs will probably think they’re stolen or for sale and harass me. Think I’ll need to ship some back? Any tips?
Heya MeganInStMaxime,
Sadly i am not doing the South of France, I will go back there one day.
My advice is to crate them up and send them by sea. It takes 6 weeks so the end of either Summer or Winter will mean they travel mid season without the highs and lows. After I lived in the UK I put EVERYTHING in a big used army metal traveling trunk, I still use it as a coffee table cum storage locker. It was quite expensive to buy and ship but everything arrived safe and sound and I have not heard an easier way from anyone else ever. The trunk got a little dinged on the way but pack everything into a Quilt or Bubble Wrap. I used both.
Good luck.
Portia xx
Thanks so much for the tip. Shipping sounds like the way to go. Have a great trip in Europe.
This is so weird… just yesterday I asked a colleague what perfume she was wearing and it was ‘Juliette has a Gun – Romantina’ and I had never heard of ‘Juliette has a Gun’ before, and then today I see this! Bizarre. Will have to look them up!
Interesting Jocelyn,
That is a spooky coincidence. I see you are Aussie. Libertine has the range at http://www.libertineparfumerie.com.au/
How did Romantique smell on her? It must have been pretty good to ask?
Portia xx
Howdy, Portia! Sorry I’m late to the party but had computer issues. I feel a bit ashamed to confess that I have never tried any of the JHAG scents; just too many fish in the sea, I guess. One day I will remedy this.
I’m really not an oud fan at all, since my skin tends to take it and amp it most unpleasantly. That said, I have had a teensy bit of luck with a couple of very gingerly dabbed By Kilian ouds, but that was enough.
BTW, I’m glad you were able to defuse that mean-spirited young man with your charm, grace and good humor. I get so exasperated sometimes — when will they ever learn that we’re all just people and to live and let live?
YAY! Nice to see you Ann,
Yes there are TOO MANY perfumes and houses. I find it hard to keep track. Luckily when Midnight Oud was first released my fave SA gave me a sample and it turned very quickly into a FB.
If you like the by Killian ouds then this is even less in your face, a hint, a whisper of oud made more palatable by a big hit of saffron and rose.
Helping people break down the walls of prejudice through thoughtful laughter is a Drag Queens meat & potatoes.
Portia xx
Mmmm … saffron, you say? That might just be the ticket! 🙂 And keep up the good work; I know you are a fabulous ambassador (ambassadress? sp?)
Thanks Ann, AmbassaTHING?
The house as a rule doesn’t work for me, but I love what they do, if that makes sense. (Ads, packaging, etc) I’ll definitely sample this at some point, because I’d like to have something of theirs, and I quite like oud. (Although BK Pure Oud is my standard and that’s gonna be hard to top)
I’ll take a gnu AND a polecat, please! But do please keep the bitchy boy. Good on you for turning him up sweet, but why on Earth was he there in the first place if he thought it was freaky?
Hey Tammy,
BK Pure Oud is a totally different creature, you won’t be comparing these two and I think the JHaG infinitely more wearable on a day to day basis. You don’t need to dress up for Midnight Oud it smells great with jeans, suit or a ball gown.
People bring their very phobic friends to see what happens, for a laugh and sometimes to wake them out of their stupor. Other times they come to the pub, which is in a very nice working class part of Sydney, for a drink or a gamble and they find 120kgs of hot Tranny mess looking down at them. Most people when faced with something fearsome will try and scare it away. I’ve been at this venue for 6 or seven years now and they get between 70-90 people there every week for Trivia. It’s a good night with less and less of these dramas as time goes on. When I first started there they had two extra security guards on to make sure I was safe.
Portia xx
Extra-security guards my rosy round ass. Next time, take me and ‘Nita. She knows what to do with a 2×4 and I shot two men off the front porch at the grand ol’ age of 13. And we’re both menopausal! 😛
HA HA HA HA!! Excellent!
That reminds me….
The house at the top of our street was the owner of all the land that became our suburb. His brother owned the land that became the next door suburb and his hose is about 200m away. If they wanted each other they’d try and shoot the other brother’s roof to let them know.
They were all dead except our neighbour’s wife by the time I was old enough to understand anything but she would have me in for tea and biscuits and show off her home to me. I liked her.
Portia xx
I haven’t been wowed by any of the JHaG scents I’ve tried but I haven’t tried this yet. I find that I like a lot of the ones you do so I’ll have to make a point to try this. Some ouds are just too much for me. I try to avoid smelling like I’ve stepped in something or had an accident of my own.
Hey there Poodle!!
Lovely to see you.
When I’m old and falling apart I am going to wear the biggest, skankiest, scariest ouds and no one will ever know I’ve dropped one, He He he.
We do seem to snap on a few. If I remember when I get back I’ll send you a bit.
Portia xx
Now I feel like diving into the armoire and finding something REALLY HAGGISH AND LOUD! I think I had too many Mallomars – my sugar levels are probably off the charts!
P, whereyagoin’ in Yurrp? Iirc, last year you went to some out of the way places, didn’t you? Does ‘where’ influence ‘what’?
xoxoA
This year we are doing a very tame tour, my mate Michael has never been to Europe so we are seeing Austria, Germany, France, UK.
Very excited but getting the prewrites of blogs and trivia is driving me a little batty.
Portia xx
I tried this fairly early on and I remember liking it, probably because it was a little tamer than I’d expected oud to be. I should try it again now that I’ve had some experience with bigger, scarier ouds. (If this were actually called Juliet Has a Gnu I would buy it just for the name.)
Janice,
When I first wrote Juliette Has A Gnu I laughed so hard for ages. I thought I was the funniest person alive for about 10 minutes.
Yes, now you’ve got your head around the big boys the comfortable and pretty oud will smell sweet and welcoming. Do try it, come and tell me what you thought.
Portia x
I like JHag Lady Vengeance and it’s fun to wear it on days when I want to show others that I’ll wear a perfume that enters the room before I do if I feel like it! Even a little of that one is very strong on me. Of course, I am otherwise very polite in what I wear (and the amount applied), especially when I am working closely with others. Haven’t tried Midnight Oud, as I’m not a big Oud fan, but Oud that doesn’t jump out at you too much is fine; I really should try this one.
Mary K,
This could be your other BIG fragrance. It has some teeth and can navigate hallways ahead of you if you are extra liberal with applications.
Too much and you can dry clean the curtains. Ha Ha ha!
Not really but that image amuses me.
Portia xx
Now I’m jealous… I WANT A GNU!!
I rather like oud, if it’s not too stinky and isn’t terribly dry and austere. I like those Montale rose-oud combos – I know people say that MOntale’s oud is synthetic and nothing like the real thing, but I don’t mind it. I do not mind smelling like bandaids (though I’m not too keen on smelling like manure and rawhide) and flowers.
I remember this scent as being rather smoothed-out and attractive, with gentle oud. Nice stuff. I like By Kilian Rose Oud (and Amber Oud too, even though I’m not much of an amber fan), and my favorite of the Montales is Aoud Roses Petals.
My favorite JHaG is Citizen Queen by a long shot. Sexxxy.
Hi there Malsnano86,
What a lovely surprise. Yes, a GNU would be incredible. We had a stuffed head of some faintly GNU-ish looking thing for many years till it got positively moth eaten and it had to go. I missed it for ages.
I love your oud descriptives. I love the real stuff, the outrageous, stinky, dank, feral oud that takes no prisoners but the wearability is very low.
Some of those Montales are gorgeous, though I’ve not tried your Aoud Roses Petals. If I come across it I will give it a go.
Sadly Citizen Queen was only nice on me, I liked it but it was not love.
Portia xx
I know this sounds insane, but I’d rather smell like manure and rawhide than bandaids! Which probably explains why I adore really ripe, indolic jasmines, but not the bright fresh types.
It sorta scares me. 😛
Ha Ha ha!! I love it Tammy. There are moments for smelling like both in my life but I love that you’ve come to terms with your inner skank ho. Clearly she needs an outing.
Portia xx
I really think my aversion to manure and rawhide comes from being exposed to it in my real life. I mean, manure can smell different depending on what the animal was eating – dairy cows and pigs, being grain-consumers, have stinkier poop than grass-fed cows. I don’t mind pastured (grass-eating) cow poop, but the other? whew.
And I really cannot take stinky jasmines. You would not beLIEVE how offensive Joy is on me.
If I got to do any kind of traveling, I usually take a look at what the weather is going to be like and then plan accordingly. I’m not sure if I like oud or not, I’ll add this to the list of things to try.
Hi there Eldarwen22,
Honestly this oud is the safest I’ve met. I would happily wear Midnight Oud on a dinner date, it’s that friendly.
Portia xx
I steer clear of ouds for many of the reasons outlined above. This sounds like it might be wearable and not cause my family to recoil in horror. Enjoy your trip!
Hi Tiara,
Stay away from them for the first 10 minutes and all will be well. I had two spontaneous exclamations about my fragrance tonight from random people that have no idea of my perfume addiction. One a particularly feral young man who was trying to be sneery and mean in front of his mates but as I got closer he couldn’t help but say, “Freaky but WOW she smells unbelievable good!”
Thank You Midnight Oud.
Portia xx
Sneery and mean? To YOU? He’d better not act the fool when I’m around! You know I won’t stand for that, Portia. NOBODY is sneery and mean to My Portia. I’m old and I don’t have ANY problem slapping the snot out of a feral young man. (^^^) xoxoxoxoA
It’s all part of the getting to know you process Musette,
I feel like an ambassador sometimes. The boys are scared and feel threatened so they say stupid mean stuff to show off to their mates. They never say anything new or particularly clever so it’s easy to talk them around. It’s part of my job to turn them around so that they have a positive gay/drag story and can see that we are all human. By the end of tonight this particular young man was my buddy and wishing me safe and happy holidays and telling his table that he couldn’t wait for next week.
All good.
Portia xx
That’s the perfect attitude to take Portia and I admire you for it. As I was reading your comment, I thought of the movie about Quentin Crisp, “The Naked Civil Servant” and starring the great John Hurt. Two of my fav quotes of Crisp’s are : “The formula for achieving a successful relationship is simple: you should treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster” and “Never keep up with the Jones’ – drag them down to your level” 🙂
Oh! btw – on an unrelated note I just saw your offer about the Lush Rose Jam – can I email you about it as I am interested in it if its still available!
Yeah, I know. I know. I KNOW!
But I still wanna smack that boy, ‘know?. Hon, I’m in menopause. I wanna smack Ever’body! LOL!
xoxoA
but I’m glad you have that ‘tude. and I know you do it with a wink, a nod and with great skill. I mostly do, too, (being the ambassador for everything from multiethnicity to ‘what does it feel like to have such huge boobs?” to (my all-time favorite): “can I touch your hair?” – except I’m in menopause ..so my graciousness is possibly thinned-out a bit :-p
And I’m glad he grew up a little – and we have YOU to thank for that! One wanker fewer on the floor!
Sally M,
portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au
Wow! I never knew polecats were this cute! This one has something of a “sh….., I think I’m slipping off this thing” expression…..
You just made me want to try Midnight Oud, event though JhaG scents usually don’t work on my skin!
Hey there DinaZad,
I LOVED the polecat, he looks ferocious, frightened and fabulous al at once.
Midnight Oud is the standout JHaG for me, like no other,
Portia xx
OMG,J, that’s PERSACKLY what I thought when I saw that photo! LOL! Plus, for all the ‘polecat’ references in Westerns, I’ve never seen a polecat! He’s cute!
xoxoxoA
That Pole Cat is all kinds of cute, I agree. Glad to introduce you to him ladies.
Portia xx