Juliette Has a Gun Purple Trouble Review

Juliette Has a Gun Purple Trouble by Olya

What does twenty years of “audacity” smell like? For Romano Ricci, it smells like brambles picked a little too early, a flick of red chili, and the warm, skin-close hum of ambroxan that has become his house’s signature. That last part is no accident. According to the brand, a bottle of Not a Perfume sells every minute, which means that one molecule has long since stopped being a curiosity and become a staple.

I was in Paris for the launch, and Juliette Has a Gun didn’t so much throw a party as hang a retrospective. The space was laid out like a gallery. Each fragrance had its own wall and its own story, and the perfumers were credited beside their work the way a curator credits a painter. Walking through it felt like flipping through a friend’s photo albums: the cheeky campaigns, bottles I recognized from other people’s vanities, and the juices themselves, open and waiting to be smelled. It was clever and playful, a house that has never taken itself too seriously taking its own history seriously for one evening.  It’s easy to forget how early Juliette Has a Gun walked through Sephora’s doors. It was among the first niche houses to do so, and that says a lot about what the brand offers. What strikes me most, though, is who wears it. I’ve seen mothers and daughters reach for the same bottle. These scents don’t ask you to be a certain kind of person or look a certain way. They fit into an ordinary Tuesday, whether that’s a school run, a meeting or a dinner that runs late, and make it a little more fun. That’s harder to pull off than it sounds. Before you smell Juliette Has a Gun Purple Trouble, go to the brand’s Instagram and play the campaign. It’s entertaining and inventive in a way most fragrance films aren’t, and it sets the mood: mischievous, a little unruly, purple-stained fingers.

Givaudan headquarters Juliette Has a Gun Purple Trouble launch photo by Olya

The idea is simple. Wild blackberry sits at the center, fresh and untamed rather than sweet. A red chili pepper accord adds contrast, and musk and ambroxan form a smooth, modern base. Ricci says he wanted to give the blackberry more texture and character through “a restrained but noticeable twist of chili.” The perfumer is Mylène Alran, who has written some of the house’s fragrances (including Ex Vetiver, Miami Shake, Powder Love, and Banana Rush) and clearly knows its grammar by heart. I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Givaudan masterclass and learning about the creation from the perfumer herself as well as the Givaudan team.

Olya Bar & perfumer Mylène Alran at Givaudan, Paris 2026.

On skin, the opening is all tart blackberry: juicy, tangy, with a burst of acidity that makes your mouth water. It isn’t jam or candy. It’s the berry before sugar gets to it. The chili doesn’t burn. It lifts, almost like a light source, throwing the fruit into sharper relief and making the whole composition brighter and, somehow, even tangier. As it settles, the musk and ambroxan take over, keeping the base anchored, and it leaves a soft trail that reads more like skin than perfume.

I’ve loved layering it with Juliette, the house’s cherry release from 2024. Cherry and blackberry together smell like a bowl of dark fruit at the end of summer, and because both share that ambroxan backbone, you can’t feel the seam.

Juliette Has a Gun Purple Trouble via the brand

If you’re craving tart blackberries, you’re in the right place. Twenty years in, Juliette Has a Gun is still doing what it does best: taking one idea, making it wearable and having fun with it.

Notes: wild blackberry, red chili pepper accord, musk, ambroxan

Disclosure: I attended the launch as a guest of the brand / professional affiliation and received Purple Trouble from the brand. I am the Head of Digital Marketing and Communications for Twisted Lily, but opinions are my own.

Thanks to Twisted Lily we are offering a 2ml sample of Juliette Has A Gun Purple Trouble for one registered CaFleureBon reader in the USA ONLY (if you are not sure if you are registered, click here.). You must register or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please tell us what appealed to you about Olya’s review of Juliette Has A Gun Purple Trouble, your favorite Juliette Has A Gun fragrance and please state that you live in the USA. Draw closes 11/6/2026

Please read Michelyn’s review with Romano Ricci of Juliette Has A Gun here. Please read reviews of Ode to Dullness here Juliette here

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