The other new Gorilla fragrances are incredibly diverse and range from smoke and metal to sunshine and seduction. The Voice of Reason was growlingly gorgeous and bowled me over again, my skin prickled and I felt momentarily lost in darkness. It is powerful reactive stuff, this fragrance, a woozy, barbequed genie in a damn fine bourbon-soaked bottle. That reeking of cold bonfire as you move in and out of doors on November 5th, eyes stinging, hair full of stars and dirty night. Inspired by the Beat Generation: Kerouac, the porno visionary Burroughs, Gil Scott Heron, and the tar-pit rumblings of Leonard Cohen, The Voice of Reason is smoke incarnate. Devil’s breath, exhaled through jazz trumpets and wrapped in sin. Huge doses of my beloved tonka bean and sandalwood ebb and flow on the skin, making the drydown one sensual slide into sweet sweet embers. It smells filthy too; I realised that the other day as I wore it out to meet a friend who leaned in and inhaled my throat like a starved vampire. Dirty smoke. Who could ask for more?
The
Bug. Hmm. I loathed this on application. I kinda knew I would, it packs quite a galbanum punch
and this is one of those notes I really dislike when it sits up and stares at
you. (Yes… Penhaligon’s Bluebell….
I’m talking to you…..). In discreet doses it adds a certain whoosh and curve to
scent; Guerlain’s Vol de Nuit
literally takes beautiful plunging flight as the galbanum in the top drops off
and the other notes mingle and meld.
This weird almost anti-scent was the one that caught my attention when I
was following Lushfest as it was seemingly inspired by the contradictions and
paranoia of the modern electronic age. The buzz of everyday lives,
surveillance, wires, noise, images, information technology. We crave it,
seemingly cannot live without it, yet on a daily basis it is used against us,
we are hacked, spied on, photographed, scanned and observed by any number of
cameras by any number of institutions. A challenging concept for a scent.
The first spray was shocking. Really bitter
and repellent, with an underlying sweetness that really reminded me of Raid and
other insect sprays that mask their killing prowess with a unsettling sickly
sweet aroma a little like playdough. Then it started to transform, virus-like
on the skin, opening up its facets one by one. Elemi and labdanum resinoid
throb like veins and give the scent a buzzing, beating sensation. Massive tonka
note too, softening the edges a little, a whisper of voices perhaps, soothing
the shout of galbanum. It has an uncomfortable tongue on battery feel, an
element of impending poison. It is very odd to find fragrances that push and
pull, repel you and then draw you back down to inhale afresh as the notes
transform. There is a strong pepper note and this works rather well, seasoning
an already complex scent with a persuasive yet elegant presence. I will say
that The Bug is not for me, but I
want it in my collection as it demonstrates how a very abstract concept can be
translated into scent with verve and robust eccentricity. And you never know, I
may love it in months to come.
Sun and Euphoria
are both by Mark Constantine and quite different from the other new offerings.
They are colognes and feel brighter and more therapeutic in tone. This is due
in part to the high levels of citrus oils used in both. They are literally much
sunnier scents, smiling off the skin, creamy and in the case of Sun, luscious and sparkling.
Sun took me by surprise, I am not a citrus lover at
all, the oils turn on my skin and as a migraineur, many citrus oils can trigger
terrible migraine attacks. Mark was inspired on a Stateside roadtrip, listening
to the soothing harmonies of Simon & Garfunkel on the New Jersey Turnpike.
His sudden vision of the sun as a big glowing orange on a lollipop stick has
been joyfully translated into in a fabulously fun scent bursting with one of
the most delicious tangerine notes I have ever smelt. That moment of digging
fingers into sweet Christmassy orange flesh and juice oozing over fingers.
Mixed with spicy woods and orange this vibrant fragrance really explodes out of
the bottle. It does have a glow, warm and sweet; lovely to smell off others I
think. I layered it with Sikkim Girls
and it smelt divine, like rice pudding with grated orange zest.
Euphoria I like a lot less. It is well made and smells smooth and potently
reassuring. Inspired directly by the techniques and oils of aromatherapy, the scent is designed to affect and enhance the mood of the wearer as it
drops onto the skin. Sun and Euphoria are designed to be topped up
during the day as and when you need a touch of brightness or wellbeing, a pick
me -up…..
My problem with Euphoria is the high doses of clary sage and neroli, classic
aromatherapy oils. Mixed with lime oil, rose, petitgrain and a splash of bitter
grapefruit, the scent is far too reminiscent of an array of face oils I have
used over the years, especially products from the Decléor line and particularly the Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate which is very heavy on the neroli too. So my
associations with this are probably biased, it smells far too much like skin
care for me. I’m no doubt doing it a huge disservice, but I cannot wear it. I
know some people will love the calming vibe the oils have as they warm up on
the skin, that hot herb aroma that draws some people down into themselves. I’m
not great with that; my relaxing scents are different, sweeter, smokier, and
more sensual.
Last but not least, Sikkim Girls. Sikkim is a landlocked Indian mountainous state in
the Himalayas. Rich in Buddhist and Nepalese traditions it is one of the least
populated states in India. The fragrance was inspired by an experience had by
world famous sitar player and composer Sheema Mukherjee when she was visiting a
Darjeeling teahouse. Randomly, the teahouse owner warned Sheema about the
dangerous sexual (and potential man stealing) charms of the exotic Sikkim
girls. Although their traditional dress covers them from head to toe, he claimed
with just subtle sways of their bodies they could charm any man away from his
woman. Dangerous indeed. I would like to imagine the subtle swaying was
heavenly scented with floral, leather tinted crisp white notes reflecting the
snowy peaks of their mountain-bound land. To a certain degree this is mirrored in the
subtle weaving of a really clean frangipani note with vanilla and tuberose and
jasmine absolutes. It should be heavy, I have never been that keen on the
Gorilla use of jasmine as it can err on the side of smoky ashtray for me.
But I am very partial to my indolic florals
and Sikkim Girls is brightly
constructed, opening with a breeze of light floral tones, a lifting of the air
around buds and damp leaves. This
innocence is then submerged in the heady aromas of frangipani (or plumeria) one
of the most delicious scents in nature and one of the hardest to transfer
truthfully into fragrance in my opinion. The note needs to be handled with
delicacy and skill. But when it is … oh
the results are divine, sensual, creamy and exotic. Like warm oiled skin in the
sun. Sylvie Chantecaille’s Frangipane
used to smell so good, with a marzipan rolled in diamond dust quality, now
sadly stretched out and dimmed by reformulation. Songes by Annick Goutal and Beige
by Chanel have both played the note well. I wore Songes for years until a random encounter destroyed it… sigh…
Sikkim
Girls sits well with this esteemed company, perhaps
not as complex, but certainly just as beautiful to wear. Not the longest
lasting scent on me, I had to re-apply several times, it died off rather
quickly for a scent rich in white flowers. I found this a little disappointing,
but while is bloomed on the skin, it was a study in how to float petals on the
water of skin and blow gently for subtle winds to carry the scent skyward.
For more Gorilla-tastic info, please click the link below:
https://www.lush.co.uk/gorilla-perfume-home
For part 1 of this post, please click below:
http://ascentofelegance.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/landscape-and-belief-smoke-stone-and.html
For part 1 of this post, please click below:
http://ascentofelegance.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/landscape-and-belief-smoke-stone-and.html
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