Wow - A LUSH/Gorilla Perfume sniff-fest!

[ScentFan]

Technically, I'm supposed to be working on year-end personal finances. GREAT time for another sniff-fest! This is a niche house I learned about when someone mentioned the scent, Breath of God. How could it possibly manage to live up to its name? Curiosity piqued, I investigated and ordered samples.

About the House

First thing I thought was they seem a little schizophrenic about their name. Is it LUSH or is it GORILLA PERFUMES? LUSH's motto is "fresh handmade cosmetics." They use only "fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics." On lushusa.com, I find the Gorilla Perfume website: "We're here to alter the way you perceive perfume. In the quiet seaside town of Poole, England, father and son team Mark and Simon Constantine work as a dynamic, creative force, inventing all new perfumes that defy scent expectations. Inspired by art, music, memories, people and stories, each perfume tells a tale and evokes emotion. Gorilla Perfume is an antidote to boring, mass-market scents, and a movement to get people excited about good quality fragrance [then elsewhere]...LUSH perfumers Mark and Simon Constantine created the Gorilla Perfume line (the name is a bit of an inside joke, as they begin with the name Guerilla Perfume, but since they are rather tall in stature it became Gorilla Perfume)" Okay, so they're the same folks -- a health, charity, and environmentally conscious organization into making quality products. I'll just buy everything, but best begin with the fumes.

Breath of God. How can a perfume presume to call itself that? Answer: if it smells like this. It's great! First impression is of ozone or something that's creating the airy freshness. It gets fresher as I sniff. I'm sure there's incense and, I'm thinking, citrus? Maybe not because there isn't enough astringency. It must be fruit. There are woods. I guess sandalwood, but I always guess that because it's my favorite. Looking it up: Neroli, lemon, melon, jasmine, rose, vetivert, sandalwood, cedarwood, amber and musk. The son, Simon, inspired by mountain air and Tibetan temples, managed to make those ordinary-sounding ingredients smell divine. I'd expect the air to smell just like this in the mountains of Tibet. Not sure I want to wear it, but I do like smelling it.

25:43 The father, Mark, created this for son Simon's bride to wear on her wedding day. It's a unique smell. Lots of lemongrass. There's lime. Some florals. The website says there's: tonka, lime, lemongrass, vanilla, ylang ylang and listsea. It's a sweet, light, citrusy fragrance, but it makes me think young girl, not wedding day. I'm sure the father knew her favorites, though. What's listsea: an oil extracted from the Chinese May Chang tree. It has a scent similar to lemongrass.

Imogen Rose. Excited whenever I encounter a new rose. This one flies blissfully up my nostrils. Ingredients: Rose absolute, orris root, vetivert, tonka, and bergamot. I can smell each one, but they also blend beautifully. It's a bit sweeter than I like, doesn't begin to unseat my favorite rose, FM's Une Rose, but it's quite nice rose.

[Coffee beans]

Karma. To me this is a slightly candy/citrus scent. It's pleasant, but not compelling. What's in it? Orange, patchouli, pine, lavendin, lemongrass and elemi. What's elemi? A tree from the Philippines. The oil is pale yellow and historically an ingredient in incense. It has a spicy and sharp citrus aroma. So, instead of candy/citrus what I'm smelling is orange, patchouli and elemi. The pine is barely detectable, as are the lavendin and lemongrass. The result is too spicy citrus for me.

Lust. With that name, it must be good. And it is. An alluring, musky affair that's also bright. Smells a whole lot better on my hand than on paper. I think I'm smelling musk for sure or ambergris, also florals. I'm guess jasmine. Looking it up: Jasmine, ylang ylang, rose, vanilla and sandalwood. My favorite ingredients. No musk? Goes on buy list. They sent me two of these by mistake. Don't have Dirty Perfume. It's spearmint, thyme, tarragon, oakmoss and sandalwood.

Orange Blossom. It's perhaps a bit more orange than I want to smell like, but it's very good. Notes: Orange blossom, neroli, rosewood, ylang ylang, sandalwood and beeswax. It develops and becomes beautiful. If I didn't already own a great neroli, I'd buy this.

The Smell of Freedom. What does freedom smell like? Pretty darned good. Like incense and...violets? Notes: Lemongrass, lemon myrtle, neroli, jasmine, ginger, fire tree, clove, black pepper, sandalwood, oudh and orris. The woods and the spice and the oudh mask the jasmine, but now I'm beginning to realize that when I think the florals are beautiful there's usually jasmine or jasmine and rose. I also detect the neroli. Looking orris up, it's the dried root of the iris plant, used to build violet notes and lends powderiness. So orris is what I picked up at first. What's fire tree oil smell like? Can't find a description. Overall, this is good, but not for me.

Tuca Tuca. Love, love it. What am I smelling? No idea. Something woody, fresh, floral? On my skin it starts to smell a little oudhy, but it's so nice. Looking it up: Vanilla, sandalwood, vetivert, violet leaf and ylang ylang. All come through, leaving me smiling. A possible buy.

Overall, this is a line of agreeable, imaginative scents. They don't bother my nose, really, though I do think some have a slighty suffocating effect. After sniffing them all, my nasal passages feel like they've closed a bit.

No excuses left to avoid finances, now. Wait, didn't I see they makes soaps? A girl needs soap!

[deadidol]

BOG, Dirty, and Lust are the best of the bunch for me -- I wear BOG all the time. Dear John, Superworld Unknown, and Icon are great for the price. From the new line, Sikkim Girls and The Bug are the standouts for me (some of the others are just too much), and from the older line-up, B Scent, Ladyboy, Exhale, Delhi Station, and Oud Heart are quite sought after.

[ScentFan]

BOG, Dirty, and Lust are the best of the bunch for me -- I wear BOG all the time. Dear John, Superworld Unknown, and Icon are great for the price. From the new line, Sikkim Girls and The Bug are the standouts for me (some of the others are just too much), and from the older line-up, B Scent, Ladyboy, Exhale, Delhi Station, and Oud Heart are quite sought after.

Thanks! I'll check them out.

[cacio]

Great descriptions!

Of the others, I especially like B scent, fresh and floral, and dirty, fresh minty. In the new series, I like hellstone and devil's nightcap, which are quite mossy and vegetal.

cacio

[Petrichor]

I love BOG. As far as I know, you'll have to order samples of Dear John & SuperworldUnknown from the website - they're not in retail stores. Somebody might correct me on this, but that is what I was told at a Lush boutique a few months ago.

I always wondered if anybody else thought that the FAR dry down of BOG smells a lot like Jovan Musk for men? Am I the only one?

Thanks for the run down on your samples - now I want to try Tuca Tuca!

[cacio]

DJ, Super etc are not sold in stores, at least in the US. However, at some point they did have a sampler in store with 5 or 6 scents, though I haven't seen it recently.

cacio

[ScentFan]

BOG, Exhale, Delhi Station, and Oud Heart don't seem to be available on the website anymore. I've asked for samples of the rest with the order I placed.

[teardrop]

ScentFan; on me, Lust is a total jasmine bomb! l loved it at first, but it became too overpowering even for me.

Sikkim Girls is, IMO, awesome. A very classic-style animalic floral with plenty of growl.

My other favourites are;

Vanillary; a complex vanilla with jasmine & burnt sugar.

Ginger; an aromatic, rather than sweet gingerbread scent, with some florals in the mix.

1000 Kisses Deep; a rich, resinous, apricot-like osmanthus.

[donna255]

Back in the 80s and early 90s LUSH where called Cosmetics To Go same address and ideals. Mark Constantine started the brand after leaving the Body Shop. They did some fantastic perfumes. A few oil types but most like Karma was edp strength sprays. Ginger was a powerhouse to sit with the big hitters of the 80s quite easily.

I owned Elemental, Ginger, 29 and half (it was their address), one based on chocolate which names escapes me. Not the sweet chocolate of Angel but dark earthy.

[Kagey]

Their perfumes always impress me. Love the Orange Blossom, plus mossy Devil's Nightcap and the big tuberose in Sikkim Girls.

[sjg3839]

Will check out a sample of Breath of God.

[cacio]

Lust is pretty intense indeed. If one doesn't want the power, the smell can be enjoyed as a shower gel - the Flying fox shower gel smells the same.

cacio

[gtsb]

BOG, Exhale, Delhi Station, and Oud Heart don't seem to be available on the website anymore. I've asked for samples of the rest with the order I placed.

I think BOG means breath of god (I think!!), in which case you can cross that one off your list.

[ScentFan]

I think BOG means breath of god (I think!!), in which case you can cross that one off your list.

Of course! Thanks, gtsb.

[ScentFan]

Lust is pretty intense indeed. If one doesn't want the power, the smell can be enjoyed as a shower gel - the Flying fox shower gel smells the same.

cacio

I'm finding I like intense scents, but thanks for the tip, just in case.

ScentFan; on me, Lust is a total jasmine bomb! l loved it at first, but it became too overpowering even for me.

Sikkim Girls is, IMO, awesome. A very classic-style animalic floral with plenty of growl.

Uh-oh. Well, we'll see. I ordered Lust and Tuca Tuca and asked for samples.

Back in the 80s and early 90s LUSH where called Cosmetics To Go same address and ideals. Mark Constantine started the brand after leaving the Body Shop. They did some fantastic perfumes. A few oil types but most like Karma was edp strength sprays. Ginger was a powerhouse to sit with the big hitters of the 80s quite easily.

I owned Elemental, Ginger, 29 and half (it was their address), one based on chocolate which names escapes me. Not the sweet chocolate of Angel but dark earthy.

Interesting history. Thanks!

Their perfumes always impress me. Love the Orange Blossom, plus mossy Devil's Nightcap and the big tuberose in Sikkim Girls.

You know I was intrigued by Devil's Nightcap, but the story behind it gave me the willies! [Hmmm... what are willies, precisely, and when did they first arise?]

Off to the spreadsheets with me! I've procrastinated so much about finances, I'm going to be up all night...at least until, oh, 3 a.m.

[ScentFan]

Well, my bottles of Lust and Tuca Tuca came and I find I don't like Tuca Tuca at all and as you warned, teardrop and cacio, Lust is a jasmine bomb. Guess I didn't stay long enough with the samples. Will retry then. If anyone loves and adores Tuca Tuca, let me know.