Juliette Has A Gun Not A Perfume Superdose

Escentric Molecules turned single-molecule perfumery into a genre in 2008 with Molecule 02, and two years later Romano Ricci answered it. Juliette Has A Gun released Not A Perfume in 2010, one synthetic material in a bottle and nothing else, and it became the house bestseller. Superdose arrived in 2019 as an eau de parfum built on the same idea with the concentration pushed higher. Aromatica carries the Not A Perfume Superdose decant in Bangladesh in all four sizes.

Fragrance Notes

Top: Cetalox

Heart: Cetalox

Base: Cetalox

There is no pyramid to read here. Cetalox is the entire formula, and the absence of a structure is the concept rather than an omission.

Full note breakdown on Fragrantica.

The Scent

Cetalox is Firmenich's version of ambroxide, developed in the 1950s as a substitute for natural ambergris, and it normally sits in the base of a composition doing quiet structural work. Putting it on its own inverts the usual arrangement, and what you get is a woody, ambery, mineral smell with a faint creamy sweetness sitting underneath it. Reviewers reach for the same phrases over and over: clean skin, warm skin, wet skin, your own smell but better. There is no development to describe because there is nothing to develop into, and after the first ten or fifteen seconds the fragrance arrives at what it is and stays there. What Superdose changes relative to the 2010 original is legibility. A large number of people report being partly or completely anosmic to the original, unable to detect it on themselves at all, and the higher concentration here is the reason many of them switched. Several reviewers say plainly that this is the version they can actually smell. That anosmia point is the single most important thing to know before buying, because it is common enough that it is not a fluke, and it cuts both ways: some wearers who smell it clearly find that everyone around them does too, while others get compliments on something they cannot perceive themselves. Reactions to the material itself split hard. The people who love it describe it as the most gender-neutral fragrance ever made and use it as a base layer under everything else, noting that it stays present underneath whatever is sprayed over it.

The people who dislike it are blunter, and at least one reviewer on Parfumo reports it turning sour and sweat-like on their skin. A minority also pick up a sharp, faintly sour lemonade quality sitting on top of the mineral ambroxan, which is closest to how Escentric Molecules' own take behaves. Comparisons run in a narrow group: Molecule 02, Escentric 02, and Le Labo Another 13, with several people naming Superdose as the closest match to Another 13 they have found.

When to Wear

Warm weather and ordinary days. Office wear, casual daytime and summer heat, where a fragrance that sits against the skin is an advantage rather than a compromise. It is also the most useful layering base you can own, so it earns its place under a spring floral or a summer citrus. The Musk and Skin collection has more in this territory.

Who Is It For

Someone who wants to smell like themselves with the volume turned up rather than like a perfume, and who is comfortable buying something with no story and one ingredient. It also suits anyone who reacts badly to complex fragrances, since the original formulation is one of the few on the market with no listed allergens.

If you enjoy Not A Perfume Superdose, Molecule 01 + Mandarin comes from the house that started this whole category and is the natural comparison, and Musk Therapy takes the clean skin idea somewhere warmer. Browse the Modern Woody and Ambers collection at Aromatica.

Available as an authentic decant in Bangladesh at Aromatica in 3ml, 5ml, 9ml, and 15ml.