I’ve been trying to get behind the new Lush Gorilla fragrances mostly because I love, LOVE the packaging.
But there’s one thing I don’t get…
What’s up with the gorilla?
Well, not this particular one here. I mean the use of Gorilla in the name. I just don’t get the reference. None of them smell like gorilla, or how I imagine a gorilla would smell, and the sleek black packaging just doesn’t scream great ape to me.
I’ve sniffed five of the six scents, each of them available in spray and solid stick form — Imogen Rose, Lust, Orange Blossom, The Smell of Freedom and Tuca Tuca — and with the exception of Orange Blossom, which smells like the jasmine plant in my front yard (DIVINE!), I’m not in love.
They remind me of excessively strong incense, you know, the kind they burn in that store downtown that sells crystal figurines, tie-dye tees and dream catchers.
The official fragrance notes…
- Imogen Rose: rose, bergamot, vetivert, ambrette seed, tonka, orris
- Lust: jasmine, ylang ylang, rose, vanilla, sandalwood
- Orange Blossom: orange blossom, neroli, rosewood, ylang ylang, sandalwood, beeswax
- The Smell of Freedom: lemongrass, lemon myrtle, neroli, jasmine, ginger, fire tree, clove, black pepper, sandalwood, oudh, orris
- Tuca Tuca: cassis, vanilla, sandalwood, vetivert, violet leaf, ylang ylang
To their credit, these sprays and solid fragrances have great wear time, lasting about eight hours on me, and a little goes a long way.
But, man! — what’s with all the black lights and Jimi Hendrix posters on the wall? And, um, is that Bob Marley playing in the background? Oh, what’s that? You want me to pass the you-know-what to the left-hand side? LOL!
PRICE: $13 for a 0.4-oz. solid, about $14 for a 0.3-fl oz. perfume
AVAILABILITY: At Lush stores and online
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Click here to learn more about Lush’s Gorilla Perfumes.
Not seen these at Lush stores here…but I never did like the actual perfumes/fragrances from Lush….only liked the smells in their other products.
I’ve never sniffed their perfumes before, and I was kinda hoping they wouldn’t all smell typically Lush-y, but most of them do. At least the perfumes are true to the brand.
Can you smell the sandalwood in Tuca Tuca? It’s my favorite scent. I might have to check it out.
That’s all I smell in Tuca Tuca, LOL! It comes through VERY strong.
I bought 4 of the scents from lush.com anticipating beautiful smells and a lovely, long lasting frangrance that people would comment on, asking me what I was wearing and where did I get it…
Instead, I received 4 scents that all have a strong base smell of “dirty hippy.” It is a long-lasting smell, but nothing that gets good reviews from friends and co-workers. It smells like I’ve been sitting in a hippy shop all day shopping for bongs and incense, which is not good considering I work in an environment where that is frowned upon.
Maybe the scents don’t mix well with my body chemistry, but to me, it’s definitely a smell that if someone else was wearing it and I was walking behind them, I would say, “What is that smell?! Why are they wearing that? Do they honestly think other people want to smell that all day? Shew!”
And yup…really, why that name????
Maybe it’s a play on the word guerilla?
Hi Karen! Haha so the only thing I can think of with the Gorilla name is that I know some people who use it as another equivalent for hella. Whenever I come home to the Bay I hear the strangest slang. I’ve heard on many occasions, “I’m gorilla peaking [at this new Chanel blush]!” which I think roughly translates to “I’m hella excited [about this new Chanel blush]!” But you’re right, the gorilla perfume (hella perfume? LOL) seems a bit silly.
That one’s new to me, LOL! I haven’t lived in the east bay for years, but I’m not surprised that that slang’s floating around. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue…
hahaha Gorillas in the Mist is a movie from 1988 about gorillas in Africa. It’s a play on words.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095243/
Heehee! Glad you got the reference in my title, Robin!
i was totally checking these out @ lunch today bec i went to the mall to get some stuff. i want tuca tuca!
Oh! Did you go to the MAC counter?
yes’m! 😛
got some TT stuff.
and a pair of jeans. and 4 shirts.
im a bad bad girl. 😛
Well, winter *is* right around the corner. And you can’t very well go around without jeans or shirts!! 😀
Maybe a play on guerrilla? The information page is all about their philosophy of developing perfumes differently than bigger retailers:
http://www.lush.co.uk/gorillaperfume/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.gorilla-behind-the-scents&fragrance=true
I want to smell them! I’ve never used anything Lush but I’m a total fragrance junkie and these sound right up my alley.
The Lush scents are very… distinct. If you’re into hippy fragrances then you might really like ’em.
I would love to smell orange blossoms, those notes sound just right up my alley.
Hi Gio,
That one’s my fave! I think you’ll really like it.
The *official* fragrance notes should make gorgeous perfumes… but knowing how much Lush loves additives, i’m not even going to try those. Fun fact: neroli and orange blossom are the same thing.
I never knew that about Neroil and orange blossom. You really do learn something new every day!
Too bad they smell like inscense. I’m not a fan of that, for the most part. And incense sort of smells manly to me. Though I’m happy to hear about the long wear times. That’s pretty awesome. If I wanted one, and I’m not saying I do, I’d want the solid variety.
Hi Trisha,
Yeah, the fact that these have a fantastic wear time is a HUGE plus!
I always burn incense, and these don’t peek my interests, they come off like the stuff I use to mop my floors to me.
Ha! That’s the vibe I got from Goth Juice at first.
Maybe gorilla coz the scents overwhelmingly take over you like a gorilla would if encountered up close? Lol
LOL! That’s how it felt when I had these on!!
You are hilarious. I’ve always been a big fan of Musical Youth.
Did you know that a few of the original band mates are still together? The things you learn from VH1, LOL!
I just got a chance to smell these this past week and I’m a bit disappointed that all the scents are so floral. I would have thought they would have done a few herbal type scents since so many of their other products (most of my favs) offer such unique herbally smells. i guess i’m in the minority camp though on the liking herbal perfumes thing.
It’s interesting how scents can be so different for people. I don’t get floral from these at all (with the exception of Orange Blossom). My nose seems to only pick up the warmer notes.
Hmm. yea from the descriptions (and even smelling a few out of the bottles in the store) I got FLOWERS or CITRUS screaming at me but on the skin i could see them getting more hippy and warm
I was just in Glasgow, and I couldn’t believe what a great deal they were offering. If you purchased any perfume they’d give you a free face mask and two bath bombs. I got Lust in stick form (only cost €4.5, which is $7.20, don’t know why it’s $13 in the US). I. Love. It. I rarely use perfume as the fragrance doesn’t last on my skin, but this is fabulous. Smells much better warmed on the skin than the quick preview sniff we usually use to choose our fragrances. Give it a shot! Very warm and sensual scent.
Hi Christy,
That’s a great deal! Do you know if it’s still going on?
Hi there, it’s Perry from LUSH. I love this article and just wanted to give the commenters the scoop on the name Gorilla Perfumes.
The name Gorilla Perfumers came from an interview Mark and Simon did with Basenotes, which was titled ‘The Guerrilla Perfumers’. Mark’s youngest son commented that while Mark was indeed a Guerrilla Perfumer, Simon was just a Gorilla and the name was born. LOL, this is kinda how Lush rolls…
Thanks for the 411, Perry. That story’s hilarious!
I bought my first soap from Lush the other day! Excited to use it. 🙂
Hi Myr,
Cool! Which one did you get?
I think they call it Gorilla for no reason other than it sounds cool and NOT girly. I know a lot of girls who are proud that they don’t take more than 10 minutes to get ready in the morning, hate the color pink and are still stuck in the hipster trap. I’m really not being mean here, it’s kinda an anti-girly but girly thing. I wanna (secretly) smell nice, but look how hip and non-conformist I am when I do it.
Hi Lisa,
Apparently it’s a play on the word guerilla!
I have the orange blossom and vanilla and i like them both, but the orange blossom is really amazing. i have the solid stick version though and i can’t figure out how to push it up! i’ve tried tweaking it in all different ways…
Hi Jasmine,
Hmm, have you tried pushing up the stick from the bottom?
The name is explained here:
http://www.basenotes.net/content/455-Lush-launch-new-brand-Gorilla-Perfume-and-ressurect-B-Never-fragrances
So far I only found one I really liked: Vanillary but I´ll keep on trying them especially since they will release some of the old Be Never To Busy To Be Beautiful scents that received rave reviews..
Thanks for the link, Eva!
I smelt all of these in store and couldn’t find a single scent I actually liked. =/ I’ll stick to the other lush products for now.
Hi Kajal Couture,
Aww, bummer. What do you think of the packaging?
Karen- I think anything in advertising is all about memory. If it helps you remember an item, then so be it.
Michele
That’s an interesting way to look at it, Michele! These are definitely memorable.
On my way to MAC I stopped by LUSH to pick up some Goth Juice because I’ve been thinking about it everyday since your post. When I was checking out the salesperson told me that it is going to be discontinued so I should stock up if it turned out I love it. Nooooooooo!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I almost didn’t get it just in case I fell in love with it. But then I decided I could at least have fabulous hair for as long as it lasts.
I’ll have to do some investigating to see if it’s true. I really hope it isn’t though. 🙁 I’d stock up on a few jars, but they expire so quickly.
Hmm, I wonder if you can freeze them, like loaves of bread.
I used it last night and liked it, but didn’t love it. I combed it through my hair so that I started the air dry process with straight hair, no scrunching. It still curled up — no soft waves. I’m going to try hitting it with a blow dryer next time to get it to the just barely damp stage to see if that will short circuit the curl-up time.
Hmm, how about using less product? I barely have to use any — just a wee tiny bit — to get my hair to behave. Or maybe you can rake through your hair using a wide tooth comb (to loosen out the curls) after you put in the product?
I reviewed this a while back and liked most of them (except The Smell of Weather Turning which is interesting but too weird to actually wear). They are hippie smelling scents but I expected that being that they’re from Lush. My favorite was Vanillary. You may like that one if you like sweet scents.
I have a feeling I’d like that one too. Next time I’m in SF I’ll pop by and give it a good sniff.
And LOL re: hippie smelling scents. You totally hit it on the nose.
There is also Vanillary, which is really nice 🙂 And Karma, which of course smells like the Karma Kream, Karma soap, etc..
Hi Andrea,
I’ll have to sniff Vanillary. Warm vanilla notes usually light my fragrance fire, so to speak. 🙂
I have heard a lot about Lush products but have never tried any. There is a Lush store within my local Macy’s store, so I might have to check these out. I like the idea of stick perfume b/c it makes it easier for travel.
Hi Ruchita,
The travel-friendless of the sticks are a total plus. The scent also lasts a really long time.
could it be that lush sources ingredients from where gorillas roam? or that these lush smells evoke the habitat of gorillas (verdant tropical forests)?
yeah you betcha i’ve also thought about the gorilla-thang.
i’ve got a set of this as well, but other than karma, which i’ve loved for ages, none of the really called out to me …
Hi Martha,
Apparently it’s a play off the word guerilla (see the comment from Perry above).
How long have you been wearing Karma?
Happy Friday, btw!
When I first smelled Tuca Tuca, the first thing that popped into my head was that blue chemical stuff they use in port-o-potties. I mentioned this to the salesgirl and she told me that it wasn’t the first time she had heard that! Ew.
Yeah, I don’t get the Gorilla either. Weird. And the strong incense smell is totally not for me. I forgot to tell you that my new fragrance love is Love and Toast. They had a booth at the naturals show and it was amazing. Like a super-cute boutique full of sprays, body butters and (yep, you guessed it) Rollerballs! I loved the Persimmon Plum and the gal there was kind enough to give me a free rollerball of it. Very exciting. The packaging is really quirky and fun, too. When you open the top flap of the rollerball box, there’s a cut-out of a heart on the first flap and a cut out of a piece of toast on the second. Clever in the details. Anyway, if you get a chance to check any of them out, let me know what you think. They also have a line called Tokyo Milk which they said was their line for stores like Sephora. I’ve seen the website but not the products in person. They look intriguing. 🙂
I have been a faithful Lush user for 8+ years now. I get quite upset with them frequently because they always, ALWAYS, seem to discontinue the products I know, use, and love (Perfume wise – Silky Underwear solid and American Cream). They did this with American Cream when they launched the Gorilla Perfumes and I was quite hesitant at first . . .
However, I have purchased FOUR of the Gorilla’s up to date – Tuca Tuca, Imogen Rose, Lust and today, I purchased Breath of God. The biggest thing I have always noticed is that what a Lush/Gorilla perfume smells like on you when you first put it on is NEVER what it smells like even 10 minutes later – 20 minutes later – an hour. Being that they use so many different essential oils (unlike every dept. store perfume which smells the SAME), each one will smell different on each and every person who wears it. Most people who try Lush perfumes smell the first note and write it off. I always tell them “Put it on . . .leave it on . . . and let it grow on you before you disregard it”. Many peopl ehave thanked me for this and are now faithful Lush junkies like me (I am a 38 year old woman who works for the government and is quite the opposite of tree-hugging, Prius-driving, Indie-folk loving hippy that Lush is so often associated with)
A prime example is with Breath of God (One of the old BN2B2BB perfumes now a Gorilla perfume). A lot of reviews I read said it stunk of menthol cigarette smoke . . .a medicinal smell . . . etc. Again, this comes from each person’s individual chemistry. On me, it smells extremely woodsy – my body picking up the Cedarwood and Vetivert the most – without any medicinal, incense or minty smell. When I smelled it in the store I was THOROUGHLY intrigued. I put it on (Lush Associates will be more than happy to spritz you!!!), went back to work (OK, so there is a Lush right across the street from where I work in Pittsburgh), and let it mellow. I went back and bought it after I knew what it would smell like later. That is the KEY to any Lush/Gorilla perfumes – try it on and give it time. Right now, as it wears down even more, my chemistry is picking up a slightly minty scent in addition to the Cedarwood.
Now . . . on me . . .
Lust is pure carnal and unabashed Jasmine. If you don’t like Jasmine, you won’t like Lust. I have men constantly come up to me (at work, on the street, in the store) and ask me “What is that wonderful, sexy perfume you are wearing? It DEFINITELY has an effect on the opposite sex!
Tuca Tuca is pure, unadulterated violet on me, with a hint of something sweet like cotton candy. Co-worker bought it based upon what it smelled like on me, but didn’t like it nearly as much on herself. My Fiancee cannot keep his hands off me when I wear it!
Imogen Rose is the surprise for me. Rose scents REEK on me, but yet, Imogen Rose smells absolutely delightful! Within an hour of first putting it on, it fades down to the most wonderul baby powdery-floral-girly scent! This is another I get A LOT of compliments on.
With Lush, what you get is not always what you first smell. You might not find a perfume that you truly love there one day . . . but you have to go back and try, try again. I almost didn’t give the Gorillas a chance because of Lush discontinuing my favorite . . .but I am glad that I did!