Road From Damascus Liquid Perfume

I say this time and time again: I have never understood how or why Lush work in the way that they do. On the one hand, I understand and agree on their stance for allowing the consumer to promote their products as opposed to them doing it themselves. This incites a level of honesty that most companies try to diminish, which means that promotion from companies other than Lush don't  very often offer a true reflection on the products on sale. However, Lush's 'exclusivity' is both confusing and frustrating, and from an outside perspective I just cannot make sense of it all.

Road From Damascus Liquid Perfume is yet another fragrance from Lush's recent Volume 4 collection that hasn't made it to commercial release. After attending the Gorilla Perfume exhibition in Edinburgh, this is one that I was convinced would be a popular seller, and it left a lasting impression on me: not least because it was the opening act as you walked through the door and into the gallery. 

Inspired by perfumer Simon Constantine's travels into and across Lebanon, this fragrance is a full-bodied and very powerful combination of bitter orange and Damascus rose. During his time in the country, Simon learned the struggles and the dangerous journey that thousands of refugees had to make on a daily basis to flee the neighbouring, war-torn Syria. Witnessing the ordeal of having to cross checkpoints that were guarded at gunpoint, and collecting hundreds of stories from the people around him - fleeing their livelihoods to survive, the harsh reality was enough to inspire him to create a perfume in homage of his ordeal.

For starters, Road From Damascus is a strong, powdery combination of rose, orange and violet. Sharing its scent with both the bath oil that was released last year in the Lush Kitchen, and Magic Bubble Bar that came out at the Lush Summit, this limited edition fragrance is perhaps one of the strongest perfumes from the Volume 4 range. One for floral lovers, for sure.

While I shouldn't really compare this to Rose Jam Liquid Perfume, I will say that the initial burst of smell holds a very small remnant of similarity. There is something very cloudy about the rose smell that gives that impression, although this is quickly diminished when the underlying note of violet leaf steers it away from being 'strictly rose'.

Both of these ingredients create a sweet but equally very powerful floral aroma - one that showcases all three of the key components by themselves, while also working in harmony so that they combine perfectly. The orange absolute not only supports the naturally sweet element of the other two ingredients, but offers a thread of bitterness that comes through the longer it is on the skin.

This latter note sets Road From Damascus apart from other Lush floral perfumes, and it is this gentle tartness that gives this fragrance its poignancy. It's a perfect reminder that while life is and should be sweet, there is always that element of bitterness that makes itself known.

This is one of my favourite perfumes from Volume 4, despite not really being a huge advocate of floral smells. The perfume is strong enough that it lasts for hours on the skin. In fact, I can spray this in the morning before work and still smell remnants of the scent as I'm leaving to go home. Lush would be silly not to celebrate this fragrance in other formats, and I look forward to seeing these releases in the near future.

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Rose Absolute, Orange Flower Absolute, Violet Leaf Absolute, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Farnesol, Eugenol, Citral.

Vegan?: Yes.

2017 Price: £50 for 30ml.

Year Of Original Release: 2017.

Scent Family:
Magic Bubble Bar
Road From Damascus Bath Oil
Road From Damascus Liquid Perfume