Gorilla Perfume Samples Arrived!

Yay! I love pretty much all of those. Special Kudos go to Lust, B Scent, Cocktail, Ladyboy, Karma & Tuca Tuca!!! Hope you enjoy them!

Gblue & I are reviewing the Gorilla perfumes on our Twitter - @fragrantreviews

I have received, and it's only because this has been an insane week that I haven't given them any attention. Hoping next week puts me back in the bosom of my BN friends and discussion about these.

Mine arrived 2 days ago.

Have tried them all but at this point my favorites are:

Ladyboy-- I get a very nice violet with a bit of celery seed. Banana note is thankfully fleeting and I do not detect seaweed! I have a lot of violet perfumes, but if I buy another, it will be this one.

Icon-- nice! husband likes this too. In fact he is wearing it today and is thinking of buying a bottle.

The Smell of Weather Turning-- a very cozy and comfortable scent. Tones down a lot after the first hour, though.

Vanillary-- I normally don't like vanilla perfumes, but the jasmine is a nice touch and it isn't cloyingly sweet as so many vanillas are.

My daughter likes Lust-- none of us gets any animalic smell from this. This one made me feel as though I had climbed up to the attic of an old maiden aunt and was looking through her mothball laden trunk at old crinolines.

Superworld Unknown is an odd one! After lime/juniper notes subsided I could have sworn I was back in the shipyard in NYC at age 11, waiting with my family for the arrival of my grandmother, who had just returned from a trip to Italy. The machine smells...amazingly evocative. I couldn't possibly wear this one.

I`m jealous about you guys I was wanting one of the kits, but when i came to the site to buy it, it was already gone the promotional sample kit =/
How is orange blossom? i`m curious about this one...

Orange Blossom is good, it's not my favourite. It mixes a slightly dirty Neroli note with beeswax, very well done.

Orange blossom is nothing to write home about, I'm afraid. It's okay, just not great. (I admit it, I was spoiled by the L'Artisan.)

Yes, mine arrived also and I have a number of faves already!

ICON is an interesting interpretation... kind of gold and luminous, but also slightly antiquated.

EXHALE was also an experience... kind of offensive and dirty at first... like smokers morning breath, which later turns into something rather dark and familiar.

Im yet to explore a number of the others.

I sniffed in store, now they did not have them all. I too missed the samples.

Lust, I totally hated, too much jasmine. I can only wear jasmine beaten and made to play nice with other notes.
Vanillary I quite like sort of burnt sugar note going on, now that could be the jasmine. Thinking this one is buy worthy.
Orange Blossom simple and pretty, not me.
Imogen Rose pretty powdery rose.

I adore these salt-shaker vials, don't you?

Now this is probably just me but … does the carrier alcohol shout at anyone? I'm trying to get past it, but I may not be able to. Every single fragrance, including a special one from Pia that I was looking forward to giving feedback about, has an off-putting synthetic smell that, while not the same as a Sharpie Magic Marker, has the same overwhelming kind of chemical presence.

I've put two frags on skin, Lust and Tuca Tuca, and had to fight the urge to scrub for at least 15-20 minutes before something resembling perfume began to emerge. Now I'm going to try to sample them on paper and let all the alcohol evaporate to get past the chemical scent that's starting to overwhelm my impression of the whole line.

I've said in the past that I can't like any scent sold in my state, which would help explain why I didn't wear perfumes until near age 50. I have to seek out niche and classic scents to achieve the pleasures that come easily to other BNers. It has been suggested in this forum that I have an aversion to the alcohol used in New Jersey to fill the bottles produced in this country, which is different from that used in bottling European-sold products.

A side note: The Orange Blossom and Vanillary broke in transit, blending and soaking the contents of the package, and they produced a pleasant but obviously 4ml-strong bouquet.

I received my samples as well. The little bottles are adorable. So far I have tried:

Imogen Rose: I have just begun, at my advanced age, to harken to rosy roses. I like IR: it wears easily and well.
Lust: Once I made it through the 30-minute jasmine blast, Lust settled down into something beautiful on my skin. I am sorely tempted to buy a bottle when Gorilla comes to NY.
Tuca Tuca: to my nose, there is an astringent note that won't quit on me.

More to come.

They work rather nicely - you can get a little smudge or a big splashy dollop. Word of warning though, they aren't all precision fitted. Tuca Tuca leaked a little in the post (the seal between stopper and bottle was loose) and I've just found Karma seaping into the paper bag because the lid popped off (Bad Karma!). Not a disaster, as Karma is an old friend and Tuca Tuca is not my kind of violet.

I'm enjoying Imogen Rose most. Powdery, not to heavy, not too sweet and I love the ambrette base and touch of vetiver. Halfway betwen pretty and sexy (which feels wierd to say, given the backstory, but I'm saying it anyway!).

The Smell Of Freedom I also keep going back too because I just can't seem to peg it down. Something like imported fabric that has absorbed the scent of the exotic goods it travelled with. The iris in this is wonderful.

Orange Blossom I couldn't resist the urge to scrub. Too strong and shouty for me. Nothing wrong with the scent, just the intensity! I'm eyeing Lust warily, fearing the same. That, and I have a jasmine loving friend who I might forward it too who will truly appreciate it.

I'm saving Vanillary for when I am in the right mood. I used to love vanilla, pre the vanilla body spray craze. I still love it, but it can be a bit binary, between YUM and Female Changing Room. Odd how scent associations work!

Out of the ones I don't have, The Smell of Weather Turning and Ladyboy are piquing my interest. Any scent inspired by rain somehow is usually a win for me, and all violets must be sampled and assessed!

Some more preliminary observations based on one testing each (copying and pasting right from my notes, only editing out my daughter's name) Notes written as the scent evolved.

Imogen Rose: a bit powdery right in the first 5 minutes; smells like there's a strong muguet note in it. Rose/muguet/powder Doesn't evolve enough. Then smells like baby wipes! Amber note is less pleasant (about 3 hours into it)

Tuca Tuca: a little musty, stuffy and unpleasant. Don't like.

The Smell of Weather Turning: Smells clove-y and creamy and a bit smokey; a bit dreamy and unreal; feel like I'm outdoors. Fades quite a bit in the first hour. Softly carries on.

The Smell of Freedom: lemony at first, mixed up smell, too jumbled for me, a bit sickening

Orange Blossom: pleasant, a bit powdery, nothing earth-shattering

Lust: something plastic, banana-y plastic (the ylang), mothballs? stuffy closet, the attic in someone old's house, not sexy;

Ladyboy: banana > celery seed/violet > violet! Bright and wearable. Not sure I like the labdanum drydown. Didn't pick up the chamomile

Exhale: too little dimension

Cocktail: opening is green and brisk, then smells of ?menthol? mint gum? (wintergreen or hotel soap, per daughter), cool smell I can't identify, woody, moth balls.. the moth balls go one and on.

B Scent: Lemony opening, then smells lime, candy-like, weird smell, don't like it.

Superworld Unknown: Lime right off, coke? pepsi? with a hint of vanilla, juniper-- reminds me of a trip to NYC 45 years ago to pick up Nonna after her arrival on an ocean liner-- whatever smells were there in the shipyard. Machine smells.

1000 Kisses Deep: grassy and floral, almondish like smells in a bakery, citrus then coming in, (daughter says like candy), I'm getting the apricot-like smell now but also the almondish smell reminiscent of Jour de Fête. Not anything I would wear.

Love: lemongrass first, (daughter says like sunscreen), and now the apple is coming in but it's mint-like. Now it's too mixed to pick out. Daughter says wintergreen tic tacs! Definitely agree with tthe wintergreen. Not so good.

Karma: odd grape note right off, then orangey, getting powdery

Vanillary: definitely getting jasmine and vanilla/tonka together right from the start. Is there ylang in this? Smells like there is. The vanilla is stronger than the jasmine-- actually a nice balance, is keeping the vanilla from cloying. Smooth, very smooth.

Icon: can smell the wood right off, and the myrrh I suppose, but not anything I would wear. But this is less confused than many of the newer scents. It's definitely getting nicer.

I recently bumped into a Lust Boutique (almost literally--suddenly there I was stopped in front of a window and discovered it was Lush). I chatted with the wonderful SA about Lush and the new Gorilla line. She guided me through a though sampling of the remaining lush fragrances) and I nearly protected when she had me sample Vanillary, because I"m quite vanilla-phobic.
Guess what? I found myself sniffing and resniffing the the Vanillary arm. It is glorious stuff. So glad it has evolved to Gorilla.

I can't wait to try the new ones! Meanwhile, enjoying all of your comments on them.

Superworldunknown reminds me of walking into a 1960s beauty parlor where all the women are getting permanents.
Lust puts me in mind of a hospital.
My least favorite of all is the one others like, Imogen Rose, but then I detest rosewater and rose potpourri.
I've got to put these in a ziplock cuz I can't bear them.

It's painfully obvious that I'm here at BN because finding likable fragrances is such a challenge to me, and I've had to try more than a thousand samples to find just 20 frags I care to wear. Additionally, as Ubuandibeme can attest, my skin can turn perfumes unpleasant.

Going off to sulk and pout …

Lush used to carry a long time ago a scent called Prince, that was orange blossoms and neroli i think. Does anybody knows if the new orange blossom is the old Prince?

I received mine and I am loving The Smell of Weather Turning. I have always been an Icon and Karma fan. Will try the others very soon..I expecially want to give Imogen Rose my full attention.

I loved the Imogen Rose! But it seems to only be sold on the UK website. Can it be purchased in any way if I live in the states? I have no idea.

I've received mine but haven't tested yet... it's such a huge lot of samples !

I do remember the original, has they had bath products as well which I bought. No not to me the new Orange Blossom I don't get the neroli hit, its softer and more floral.