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Lush Karma Solid Eau de Parfum
by spiritwood
To complete my online humiliation, I am now reviewing the solid perfume variety of the "Karma" scent by Lush. Firstly I apologise for writing about Lush, there seem to be 8 million reviews on here already. Secondly I never dreamed in a million years that I would own a Lush product let alone admit to liking the damn ... thing.
I have already reviewed the Karma solid shampoo and Jungle solid conditioner that were sent to me as a gift. I had fairly negative views on Lush as a company because they do use chemicals and hide behind the whole "green" label. However I had to eat my words because both the solid shampoo and the conditioner blew me away. It is a testament to how much I like these that I am still using them.
The one that really rocked my socks was the Karma solid shampoo, partly because of the effects on my hair but mainly because of the smell. It was so potent and delicious it is almost as if it had grabbed me by the nose-ring and shoved me in a time machine back to Woodstock festival, an era that I sadly missed out on because I was busy being born. My selfish, selfish parents....
Now I am an unapologetic hippy. I love all things dreadlock and tie dyed and Grateful Dead and patchouli. Cliched yes but it really is what I like. There is no need to pity me, I am happy enough. This solid perfume replicates the scent of the solid shampoo but in an even more concentrated and nose-tingling way. Forget Woodstock... this is like being invited for tea and croissants by Janis Joplin herself before indulging in a brief but passionate liaison on an Indian carpet before being run a bath by Jim Morrison. It is that good.
THE PRODUCT:
I got a bit over excited there.... KARMA solid perfume from Lush comes in a black push up tube containing a pale orange chunky stick of scented deliciousness. The lid unscrews and you push the perfume up by using your finger on the bottom of the tube. There is no way to push it down again apart from shoving the lid back on which is a bit of a shame but it is a small negative in an otherwise lovely product. Taking Janis Joplin out of the equation, the smell of Karma is a mixture of heady patchouli and citrus with a few complimentary ingredients added in which make it spicy and moreish.
The tube is short and squat and an easy size to carry around (and lose) and it has minimalist design. The tube simply has "Karma" written across the front with the words "Gorilla perfume" in a small font underneath. On the back of the tube you will find the ingredients, some are natural some are not.
The perfume uses concentrated essential oils of orange, patchouli, elemi, lavender and lemongrass which all come together in a scent that screams out to be noticed. Subtle it is not. The perfume is somewhat masculine, and some men would probably wear it.
Apparently the Karma is one of Lush's best selling products. I can see why.
USE:
This is strong so a little goes a long way. You simply rub the solid stick on your skin. I wear it on my wrists and up the inside of my arms. When I put it behind my ears I did find that it started to itch so I avoid this now. The solid perfume leaves a little trail of oil on your skin but it is minimal and does disappear when you rub your wrists together. The scent has good longevity and lasts a whole day on me. I have had a few people ask me what I am wearing so it is something that lasts and exudes.
The solid perfume container holds 12g of scent. Not a lot but it lasts ages as it is so strong. It is a good way to sample the strangely named Gorilla range without spending a fortune as the solid perfumes retail from around £5-7 each.
If you like the Karma scent like me, then Lush also do soaps, cream and bath products in the Karma variety but expect more chemicals to be added to these products such as foaming agents (SLS) and preservatives.
This is a good hippy scent, it reminds me of freedom, festivals and hot summers in a field with a bunch of dreadlocked scruffs with dogs on strings. Perhaps not appealing to most but very appealing to me....
The patchouli smell which is typically associated with the whole hippy vibe can sometimes have a harshness that becomes irritating after a while. The patchouli in this solid perfume is balanced very well by the other scents and it really does not have the same harshness despite its very obvious presence.
I love it.... I actually went and paid money for this despite my reservations about Lush as a company. If you like the smell of festival incense and are a bit of a bohemian then I think that you would enjoy Karma.
PRICE:
Karma costs £5.00 for the solid stick of perfume, £10.00 for the spritzer and £21.00 for the atomiser.
If you want to try it out you can sample it at a Lush store or buy the solid stick. If you don't like it then feel free to pass it on to me :)
More info here:
https://www.lush.co.uk/product/244/Karma-27g-|-Gorilla-Perfume
SUMMARY:
This contains a large quantity of natural ingredients and a few very unnatural ones. However it is so nice that I shall overlook this. I recommend this for free spirited folk who like to smell of retro earthy tones. A love for Janis Joplin is not essential.
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Rihanna Rebelle Eau de Parfum
by topsyturvy
I have been looking recently to buy a few new perfumes as I have quite a big perfume collection and I like to try different ones and keep my scent up to date. I had gone into Debenhams and a lot of the ones that had a lot of attention were the celebrity fragrances, I usually steer clear of these as I'm never really much of a fan of them ... but one I have wanted to try for a while is the Rihanna fragrances. I know she has a couple out now but the one that stood out the most in terms of packaging was Rebelle. I didn't know what to expect with her fragrance as she could either have paired really complimentary notes together or had no input at all.
PACKAGING
The bottle of this fragrance is bold but I don't know, it looks a bit cheap at first. It come in a a Red box with a gold shape running over it and has a kind of curved cone shaped bottle. It is wide at the bottom, round and narrows at the top, it is all clear glass with a golden kind of liquid and has a red band surrounding it, mimicking the bottle. The lid is red also and it does seem quite bold but it still looks tacky in a lot of ways as well and from her I expected something a bit more edgy but cool. The fragrance was launched in 2012 so only just last year and it comes in a 30ml, 50ml and 100ml bottle, I had a sample for trying it out first.
RIHANNA REBELLE EAU DE PARFUM
So, to start with this fragrance doesn't look the classiest from the bottle but being called Rebelle, I expected it to be very edgy and also very feminine. Upon spraying it, I gave a couple of sprays and it seemed to be enough to have a good amount on and at first it seemed to have a sort of liquorice scent to me which was weird and it was quite musky and a bit stronger. After having worn it for a good few hours, it has settled into a more vanilla type sweet scent with maybe the slightest hint of fruity notes. It is a feminine scent but at first I wasn't so keen, once it toned down it was a nice sweet blend but still I wasn't sure if it was for me.
I wanted to look up the notes to see what created this unique scent as it is very sweet and completely different from what I had thought it would be. On the base notes it is made up of musk, coffee, patchouli and amber so that is definitely what comes out more when the scent is on for an hour or so, the musk is more dominant. Central heart notes are heliotrope, vanilla orchid, cocoa absolute, all very sweet notes which are obvious as it does smell at times overly sweet and I can smell the vanilla. To finish it off, the top notes are made up of plum, strawberry and ginger which I barely picked up on, I mean there was the slightest hint of fruitiness but it isn't strong.
I think this perfume is very girly and it could work for most occasions, it would be nice for daytime wear and also on a date or an evening occasion as it is quite versatile. This is more of a younger scent in my opinion, you don't need to put much on and I'd say you don't need to reapply as being musky it seems to stay on quite well. It can seem quite heavy at times and for me, it probably wouldn't be one I would buy as I wanted something a bit fresher also maybe a bit sexier rather than something so sweet. I love a sweet scent but this seems sickeningly sweet and a bit too much, it is pleasant though but just not what I was looking for.
Overall, it is a great scent and if you like Rihanna then you should give it a try. I'd say if you like really sweet scents, vanillas, fruits, musk then this will probably be good for you. It has very good staying power and it is noticeable when on but if you sprayed too much it could get overpowering. I still think a younger woman would appreciate this more as for a more mature woman it just wouldn't really be the right kind of scent. It is a fun fragrance and has a lot going for it but the bottle seems to let its appearance down overall as it could have been more creative and more classic looking but otherwise it is a nice scent but nothing groundbreakingly different.
COST
This fragrance is available to buy in places like Debenhams, the perfume shop and other department stores. The Perfume Shop are selling the 30ml EDP for £19.50, 50ml for £29.50 and the 100ml is £36.50.
There is no official Rebelle website but The Perfume Shop website is http://www.theperfumeshop.com/.
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