Icon

The small black tube is rather unassuming, yes, Plain and simple among glittering glass bottles and flashy flagons. But the emollient smooth dark plum/gray solid perfume inside is a pretty one in scent, if not in sight. Thoroughly unisex, this is a composition of chewy orange blossoms around their barely ripe fruit, just a hint of their mandarin luminescence glowing at the beginning. Oily Bergamot smoother than the tea gives way to a cozy old floorboard of sandalwood in a slow dry down. But from start to finish, Icon is draped in a rich cloud of sweet Myrrh. I will keep this one to cooler days, for in liquid and solid form the flaming myrrh can become unbearable with crazy throw on a warm breeze. This little bugger can easily induce a headache if over applied. A male friend described me smelling as a "sexy candle", unaware of the Icon dabbed on my wrist. It reminds me of something Edgar Allan Poe would have in his study as the fire flickered ominously throwing towering shadows from his overstuffed armchair. Or the silence of that very old Catholic Church during Lent at spring with the convent orchard throwing life through the stained glass of the hallowed holy halls. Regardless, I always rub a little on my wrists before bed to sleep well. I believe that while smelling good is a key motivation for wearing perfume, sometimes I just want to experience a scent all for myself with it's significance. It may not be the fruity/gourmand/floral mix everyone seems to love in pure (and often synthetic) gilded affections, but Icon is a comforting scent to me that is a reminder that sometimes a little olfactory synesthesia is fine. This is my Icon.

This isn't just for the ladies.. I prefer rich spicy/woody/resin or leather filled scents like ELD'O's Rien, Gucci Pour Homme (the Tom Ford edition), YSL's M7, Pd'E's Cuir Ottoman...and older scent-bomb standards like Dior's Fahreheit (original and Absolut), Lauder's JHL and Montana's Parfum d'Homme. 'ICON' is a very simple blend, with the orange blossom absolute and bergamot/Sicilian mandarin oils totally keeping the combination of myrrh and sandalwood oil in check and balanced. It more that holds it's own with any scent that I've listed above. I still have a 7/8's full rectangular bottle with purple label and gold cap that I bought around 2001. Age only makes it more dense/deep....and better. Only one major caveat with 'ICON':- before you get dressed, hold the bottle as far as possible over your head and spray ONLY ONCE!. Even one spritz will stay with you and all around you for MANY hours. Just be prepared to have random people follow/stop you and ask what you're wearing.

I have an unhappy history with Lush perfumes - I want to like them and I usually don't. Icon is the exception. It comes on with a bitter citrus-oil hit, reminiscent of a very good candied grapefruit peel where the sugar mellows but does not dominate. Then the neroli washes over, supported, I think, by the mandarin which seems to flesh it out without undermining the essential floral quality. Normally I like my nerolis to scintillate, but this one glows warmly until the sandalwood comes through to take it along to a slow, warm, elegant drydown enriched with myrrh. I don't know about Byron, but I like it. It has a curious archaic flavour to me, like a breath from the ancient world. Self-esteem in a bottle.

I recently purchased The Perfume People's version of this & have to say I am in love with it! Cannot get enough of it! Cannot stop wearing it! I prefer it to the original one, which I owned & sold on! That must say something! But I still enjoyed the original, just not enough to keep it. TPP version is now my signature perfume, I wouldn't be without it! Last for hours & is absolutely beautiful! Somehow, in this, I have found 'me', if that makes any sense! Myrrh, Sandalwood, Bergamot, Mandarin, Orange Blossom...... A most magical & mystical combination that is breathtakingly stunning!

This is the deep, dark and extremely naughty 'goth' scent that I've been hankering after all my life. This smells like a niche offering rather than a Lush product at a reasonable cost. This is rich beyond belief, and heady with a big note of a civet like substance in the base, making it dirty and clean-earthy. It has a nice slight sweetness which is more a hum than a shout of 'feminine!'. To be worn for intimate moments and rituals, if you have any....Wow. Thanks Mark and Simon Constantine!