Lush has just released a line of eight solid perfumes with scents borrowed from some of their popular bath and body products. Their “solid” formula is a mixture of wax, cocoa butter, and jojoba oil, fragranced with a combination of synthetic perfume notes and natural essences. These perfumes are packaged in the same aluminum tins as Lush’s lip balms and the now-discontinued aromatherapy “temple balms”; in fact, they were displayed in the same scuffed wood boxes that used to hold the aromatherapy balms, next to the cash registers, in both Lush shops that I visited. I hope they’ll be shown to better advantage sometime in the near future, because they’re worth trying.
The two fragrances that I have sampled are Silky Underwear and Potion, and both are very true to the original Lush products that inspired them. The original Silky Underwear powder is one of the products that I often recommend to first-time Lush shoppers, because it is so unusual and yet easily enjoyable. I’ve written before about my affection for dusting powders, and this one is an unexpected treat: inside a no-frills cardboard canister waits the softest white powder with moisturizing bits of cocoa butter and a dreamy fragrance. Silky Underwear solid perfume duplicates that blend of a smoky vetiver base topped with creamy jasmine petals; this is one of the few jasmine scents I can enjoy, since it is sweet and smooth rather than “animalic.”
Potion, on the other hand, derives its scent from a body lotion that is no longer produced by Lush, and I’d like to use this review as a bully pulpit for scolding Lush on this issue. Lush never should have discontinued Potion in the first place, and now this posthumous spin-off product reminds us how much we miss Potion itself. Like the lotion, Potion perfume is a cluster of carnations and roses, with a sprightly note of tangerine. However, it begins with a stronger, more clove-y punch of carnation absolute than the lotion did, and that spicy note is gradually softened by the rose and brightened by the citrus until it duplicates the smell of Potion lotion.
Potion and Silky Underwear both have more sillage than I normally expect from solid perfumes — not as much as a liquid perfume, but more than many other solids do. Silky Underwear seemed to diffuse slightly more than Potion, but Potion outlasted Silky Underwear for a while. Both were still going strong on my skin after two hours, and then they began to fade. These scents are easy to reapply, since the tins are small and safely portable; just don’t apply too much at once, or else you risk building up a gummy residue on your skin. All in all, this is a good way to enjoy your favorite Lush smells throughout the day.
Lush solid perfumes sell for $11.95 for .35 oz. a tin. For buying information, see the listing for Lush under Perfume Houses.
I like the idea of solid perfumes and also those small perfumerollers.
So it's back to Lush again the coming week. Always love to go and try things.
If you live near a Lush shop, these are worth checking out! The holiday season is always a fun time at Lush, anyway. (Snowcake soap!!) What are the perfume rollers? Something even newer?
On the Sephora website they advertise with roll-on perfumes of different perfume names and purse sprays as well.
http://www.sephora.com
Ah! I thought you meant perfume rollers from Lush. I agree, it's nice to have any fragrance in smaller, more portable containers!
These sound interesting! Unfortunately neither of the ones you reviewed are available in Japan, but maybe I'll like Honey I washed the Kid or Go Green. I'll have to stop by a Lush shop in the U.S. sometime. Interestingly, the solid perfumes are only available in Japan for the holidays.
I sniffed Honey I Washed the Kids in its tin, and it smelled just like the soap. That's not really one of my favorites, and in any case I was running out of testing space on my wrists, but if you love the soap, you'll most likely love the solid perfume too. 🙂
Luckily, there is a Lush in Scottsdale, and I went on an expedition to find it. I was not disappointed. Very friendly help, too. I tried the Silky Underwear, and although I'm not a jasmine fan, this smells wonderful. I tried the body powder and it's lasted hours on me. My suggestion is to sniff the solids only after you have sniffed the soap. The open solids often don't smell as good as the fresh ones.
The Silky Underwear powder is divine. No wonder so many fans have demanded a matching perfume! And it's probably true that those sample tins lose something from sitting there, open, days on end.
I don't like most Lush scents enough to want to wear them, but if they ever make a Sakura solid, I'm there!
That said, I got the Champagne Snow Showers solid and wish now I'd just simply tried it first and made a purchasing decision later. I just couldn't get past the chemical quality of the scent.
Lush's solids, however, win points for the texture of the solid itself. When I read the ingredients, I figured it would be awfully stiff. It is, but I think it works nicely and absorbs into the skin much better than other solids I've seen. Mandy Aftel of Aftelier, for example, uses a jojoba oil/beeswax base for her solids. I made a solid with her formula in a workshop she conducted a while back; I found that far too goopy and heavy. So, I like the Lush solids better for that reason.
Hi Tim! I have to admit that Champagne Snow Showers was my least favorite of the Lush solids that I sniffed. It had an unfortunate citrus-cleaning-product note, to my nose.
And you're right, this particular solid formula is easy to work with. It seems a bit too hard at first, but once you start using it, it becomes more pliable!
I sniffed the Honey one too, indeed it smells like the soap. I actually lthink the scent is nice, but it's not a scent I'd like to wear.
Potion is really not my thing either, don't know why I find it quite “smokey”? perhaps it's some kind of woody notes?
But I may be deceived, have put my nose to great test today and it's likely to have got pretty tired by the time I got to Lush, lol…
Ha! Well, the smell inside any Lush shop can be very potent, and it gets hard to separate what you're actually sniffing from all the products giving off aromas around you! 🙂
You mentioned your affection for dusting powders. What are your favorites?
My wife has several and I'd like some suggestions for Christmas.
Hi Monterey Male! I wrote a review of two dusting powders a while ago: Penhaligon's Violetta and Colonial Williamsburg's Powder of Violets. (It's archived under Scented Products. Actually, you can't go wrong with Penhaligon's in general. I also love Lush's Silky Underwear, obviously, and I've heard that Youth-Dew dusting powder is gorgeous. I'd love to try that one next. Hope this helps!