Gorilla Perfumes is a line carried by Lush. Here in Canada, the Lush stores are only offering Tuca Tuca (a candy violet, from my sniff in the store), but a Twitter pal was nice enough to send me a sample of Exhale from the UK.
Gorilla Perfumes has a cool feature to their website: they list the ingredients of their perfumes, the real ingredients. Exhale contains:
DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Cedarwood Oil (Juniperus virginiana), Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides), Lemon Oil (Citrus limonum), Grapefruit Oil (Citrus paradisi), Cade Oil (Juniperus oxycedrus), *Citral, Coumarin, *Geraniol, *Benzyl Benzoate, *Farnesol, *Limonene, *LinaloolAccording to the website, the creator, Simon Constantine, created this accord as the base for another Gorilla perfume, Breath of God, but apparently liked it so much they released it as a separate fragrance. Created after a trip to Tibet, it is supposed to "induce reverence" as smelling incense would.
Exhale starts with a big blast of ashy wood smoke, like starting a fire in a fireplace without remembering to open the chimney flue. After a few minutes that gives way to a strong and persistent woody-amber and musk. It's very linear, and it lasts a loooong time.
On me, it induces nostalgia. The smoke-wood-amber-musk accord reminds me of men. I find it instantly recognizable, unoriginal, and yet I respond to it like Pavlov's dog. Exhale is every manly fragrance from my past. It's the smell of fathers and boyfriends, of stubble rasping my cheek and strong arms and smoke clinging to a sweater.
House: Gorilla Perfumes
Nose: Simon Constantine
Notes: Vetivert, sandalwood, cedarwood, amber, musk.
Photo: Gregory Bastien
I have an untried sample of this...wait...here we go...you are absolutely right, old smoker boyfriend it is!
ReplyDeleteLOL, my husband would love this one. He's a nonsmoker that wants to smell like a smoker in front of a campfire!
ReplyDeleteTuca Tuca is the only one available in the US too. I haven't went to go sniff it because what's the point? I can't smell anything in a LUSH boutique.
That's one generous Twitter pal you have!
ReplyDeleteI would love to get a sniff of this someday. Long lasting and linear are two good characteristics for a bedtime perfume.
I wonder if Lush Canada will ever offer any other Gorilla scents besides Tuca Tuca? Not that I would go to the local Lush...I'm disturbed by the zany energy of the overenthusiastic SAs!
Thanks for the comments you guys.
ReplyDeleteEauMG: I know! I can hardly stand to walk by Lush without holding my breath. But Tuca Tuca is strong, you'll smell it.
JoanElaine: I would be surprised if they didn't eventually bring some of the scents to Canada. Isn't one of the owners Canadian?
flitternsniffer: It's nice when someone else smells exactly the same thing. Makes me feel good. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should say so - I was thinking exactly that yesterday when I read that Katie gets major soap from CdG Rose (as I do), while her penpal Dan does not. It is easy to get a bit paranoid that you are smelling something completely different from other people. I coined the phrase "loneliness of the solipsistic nose" to describe this state of not-so-splendid olfactory isolation, which still bothers me now and again!
ReplyDeleteSorry, blogger ate the "Puckrik"!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I read Katie Puckrick and I saw that post. I love "the solipsistic nose."
ReplyDelete