BS 003

BS 003 by Lurk has an extremely mild opening, and remains very mild (though not weak or watery) throughout the duration of its development. Thank you very much, Lurk, for the beautiful sample. BS 003 opens with the tiniest sliver of orange peel and sweet orange meat layered with what seems like bergamot essential oil, and in the background there is a mixture of freshly cut dry woods, which give a "someone is wearing citrus blend essential oil in the wood shop" sensation. I applied a generous amount to my skin and this fragrance has almost NO SILLAGE. I have to put my nose close to my hand to smell it. Longevity is about average, but the transformations which take place in this fragrance are unexpected and noteworthy. BS 003 is great if you are not feeling too well and still want to wear perfume without your stomach turning, or increasing your headache or having a sneeze attack. Though fine on its own, it is also ideal for layering, as I accidentally discovered when my sister spilled some Aventus on me during one of my several attempts to give this a review. As it warms up on my skin, the notes blend together and the "wood shop" element loses what little edge it had in the opening, making it more pleasant. Eventually, the orange and bergamot disappear, and one is left with the wood, which has surprisingly rounded out and clarified into a smooth sandalwood essential oil note. I love natural sandalwood variations from all over, and when the sandalwood emerges into plain view at the final stage of this fragrance, I applaud. BS 003 does not make any kind of statement per se, rather, it is a gesture. Though I really enjoy it's individual elements and it's progression, it still lacks a certain transcendent cohesiveness which is akin to alchemy, and the mark of a work of greatness. I believe it is possible to achieve a transcendent effect in natural perfumery without sacrificing simplicity. In the case of BS 003 however, I want it to get there and become more than the sum of its parts, and it never does. This doesn't mean it's not lovely, comforting, artfully constructed and well balanced, even sometimes a bit of a surprise, but it falls just short of magical.

As I'm really into clean fragrances, I was stoked to get a hold of 6 Lurk samples for cheap on ebay. And I'm glad I didn't pay much for them as I'm pretty disappointed. This is a nice fragrance don't get me wrong. But it is weak, and I have to stick my nose on the spot I dabbed it to smell it and even then I dont get much scent. So what does it smell like? I get citrus, and some wood, quite pleasant, but not worth the outragous price tag. No way. Here's the thing. A lot of natural perfumer's will say that their perfume's do not have much sillage and longevity because they are natural and this is to be expected. But in my testing other other natural perfumes I have found one perfumer from etsy that makes natural perfumes that hold up just as long as the artificial (at a fraction of the cost). There must be some secret to making natural perfumes last. And I feel that if a perfumer is gonna charge top dollar they really should explore the secret to making their perfumes last and have some semblance of sillage. Otherwise what is the point of wearing perfume? If I cant smell it, and someone near me cant smell it. It's just a waste of time.