Perfume Review: Juozas by Juozas Statkevicius

Review by Tom Colombina pretty much said it all- it's a wonderful incense scent with notes of "notes of jasmine, patchouli, coriander, incense, amber, cashmere wood, vanilla, benzoin and musk". It is incense- but am I insane getting a camphor note in the beginning? Some niche houses seem to thrive on scents that challenge your expectations; I happen to love arguably the biggest "offender", Serge Lutens, but I can understand where some people may look upon the scents with the eye-rolling annoyance reserved for Top Chef's Marcel and his endless foams. I can see that sometimes you just want to smell pretty. I don't at all want to sound like I damning this one with faint praise: it is as much as an olfactory joy-ride as any Lutens out there. It does not need to shock however: all of its stages, from its camphored incensed opening, it'd dusky fruity middle to its heavenly (literally, still with the incense) musky drydown are brilliantly dense, gorgeously feminine (but not so much so that I would not wear it in a heartbeat- it's feminine in the way that the photo for the perfume is: the Helmut Newtonesque blonde in a top hat and jacket. Did the perfume rub off on you from her, or vice-versa?) and incredibly, stunningly gorgeous. Yes, I am being effusive. Not only because I am slightly crazy about this, but in the fond hope that one more review will tell Mr. Statkevicius that he needs to get this here right this minute. The perfume is only available at his atelier. This must change. PS- this was originally going to be a short review, since the lovely person who passed on the sample sent a group of others as well that I thought I'd review at the same time. Since I've rambled on this long (and kind of want to smell this one more), I'll save the others for the next time. Edited to add: Our collective wails have been heard. Juozas is now sold at BeautyHabit, $165.00 for 50ml. The rumour has it that Luckyscent will be getting it too, very soon. Tom says that Mr. Statkevicius agreed to make his scent available in the US simply to avoid the hassle of filing a restraining order against him. At least for the perfume. At least for now...