How do you like your Jasmine? Do you take it with bright purple lipstick, red patent heels and a smoking attitude? Do you like your Jasmine to be dressed up like Jessica Rabbit in her sparkly red (almost obscene) gown casually popping pink bubblegum?

If your answer to any of the above is ‘Yes’ then Lust by Gorilla Perfume may be the jasmine for you. This fragrance is not for the faint hearted or the shrinking violets. If you consider yourself a wallflower then you are best to move along quickly, you may find what’s in this bottle slightly terrifying.

Lust is a jasmine-and-a-half, the jasmine to end all jasmines. Have I got my point across?

Lust was launched in 2010 as part of the revamped Lush perfume range, fabulously titled ‘Gorilla Perfume’. Upon launch, the revamped line consisted of a number of new scents (of which Lust was one) and a selection of relaunched scents from Lush and B Never too Busy to be Beautiful.

Gorilla Perfume describe Lust as a ‘Carnal Jasmine’ [1] which isn’t too far off the mark, I don’t think ‘Carnal’ would be the word I would choose but there is certainly a good amount of raunch going on.

The Notes

Jasmine, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Vanilla and Sandalwood.

How Does it Smell?

The initial spray of Lust is positively shocking, it’s loud, proud and chock full of indole. The jasmine is pushed up to almost gourmand levels of sweetness and has that lovely rubbery quality of hot, white flowers. If you don’t like sweet fragrances then you are best to avoid Lust, it has epic sweetness throughout and hiding behind that ultra-sweet jasmine are cool tones of menthol and camphor.

I listened to an interview on the old Gorilla Perfume website where the perfumer said that Lust is a perfume to get you laid (Mr Constantine does not mince his word) and I completely understand what he means. Lust has a vampish quality to it that makes me think of the kind of lady that doesn’t take no for an answer.

The jasmine pretty much carries on throughout the whole fragrance, but as the rose and ylang ylang come through, Lust takes on a more jammy, burned sugar quality similar to candy floss. This is not the horrible cloying candy floss that we can see in scents such as Flowerbomb (Viktor & Rolf), it’s softer than that and it works perfectly with the sweet bubblegum of the jasmine.

Lust’s base notes are all about vanilla and sandalwood. This is where the fragrance softens considerably and after a few hours, all you’re left with is a sweet vanilla creaminess that is more than addictive. I do detect something earthy in the base, perhaps a drop of patchouli or two.

As much as I enjoy and love the novelty of the over-the-top nature of this fragrance I do wish that there was something to tone down the sweetness, perhaps more citrus in the top notes or more strength to the earthier notes in the base.

Lust is a whirlwind of a fragrance, and if you like your fragrances bubblegum sweet then I think you will really enjoy it. It is a recognisably ‘Lush’ fragrance and many people who enjoy their bath and body products will probably find Lust right up their alley.

Availability

Lust is available in all Lush stores in the UK and on the Gorilla Perfume/Lush website. It is availble in 2g, 9g and 27g Eau de Parfum with prices ranging from £2-£20.

Disclaimer

This review is based on a bottle of Lust purchased by myself.

[1] gorillaperfume.com

Image 1 toptopic4all.blogspot.com

Image 2 2uptop.com