Lord Of Goathorn Liquid Perfume

Rarely do I find myself so adverse to a Lush product that my gag reflexes come into play the second I get a whiff of the item. Even my least favourite scent families - Ginger and Skinny Dip being two of them, don't cause a violent reaction anywhere near the one described above. However, when it comes to Lord Of Goathorn Liquid Perfume, I wouldn't describe the aroma as being any less than pure evil.

If there's one thing I love about Lush fragrances, it's the fact that Lush are never afraid to take risks. And in doing their own thing, they have created some of the most beautifully unique and strangely alluring perfumes on the planet. Some of my favourite scents are ones that I would never have even considered using a few years ago, and the thought and effort behind each and every one really shines through when you're wearing these perfumes on your skin.

Lord Of Goathorn is the only perfume from the Volume 2 collection that I didn't buy during its debut release. Aside from Hellstone, which is the only non vegan fragrance in the set, the description of this one just sounded like something that could wait. After waiting almost four years, I finally managed to secure myself a bottle, and thought now was a better time than any to review it and update my blog.

While I believe I have a strong nose when it comes to smells, there is something really quite nasty about this perfume from the get go. In the bottle it gives off a warm, robust combination of liquorice, basil and seaweed. The latter ingredient gives it an almost fishy but equally oily aroma, while the two former ingredients interlace and produce a smell that I can almost imagine being quite enjoyable by itself.

I would actually go as far as to say that this perfume doesn't agree with my sense of smell at all. However, in the bottle, I can almost understand why some consumers would appreciate it, and if that fragrance was what you received after applying it on your skin, I probably wouldn't label the perfume as 'evil' - just not very nice.

Unfortunately, it is when the product has been applied to the skin that I realise how much I genuinely abhor the aroma it offers, and it is then that my gag reflexes kick without warning. For it is at this time that the perfume begins to intensify from the warmth of the skin, and all of the strong aromas that have been combined to create this perfume, come out in full force.

Firstly, an initial sniff offers that of a strong, treacle-like liquorice aroma. It is not a gentle smell that you would expect from fresh fennel; it is very much like bonfire toffee, which is a black treacle toffee that has a strong note of molasses to give it its sultry flavouring. Alongside this is the seaweed, which offers slightly less of a fishy smell outside of the bottle, but is still the component I think ruins this perfume.

On the skin, the seaweed absolute gives off a very metallic aroma - one that reminds me a little of scorched rubber or burning plastic. It's a smell that clings to the inner walls of your nose and is heady enough that it has given me a headache nearly every time I've attempted to use this perfume. To finish off, a combination of tarragon and basil offer a herbal component - one that I found tended to disperse a lot quicker on the skin than the other notes, which was a shame because that would have probably been my favourite element.

In its favour, Lord Of Goathorn stays rather complex on the skin, so you can still experience all of the different layers for quite a while after application. In regards to its longevity, this perfume also stays around for an awfully long time - I found that I could still detect it on my skin some five hours after I had originally applied it. 

There are obviously people out there that appreciate,and perhaps even love this perfume - the fact that it's still available to buy internationally tells me this much is true. However, it is not one I would be willing to wear again for a long time, and I really hope that Lush don't bring out any similar-scented products.

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Seaweed Absolute, Tarragon Oil, Basil Oil, *Citral, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Citronellol, *Isoeugenol, *Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

2016 Price: £36 for 30ml.

Year Of Original Release: 2012