Sappho

An important bit of context to this review is that I typically HATE the smell of jasmine in fragrances - I'm sure it's similar to the 'coriander tastes like soap' phenomenon, but 90% of perfumes containing jasmine are so indolic they smell like bad breath to me. I've given away countless perfumes that I've blind bought or been gifted due to this, and didn't even risk a test spray of Sappho on myself for fear of smelling like tooth decay for the rest of the day. The good news is that Sappho is in the 10% of jasmine-forward perfumes that smell absolutely gorgeous to me, likely because the tobacco and orris offset the jasmine and bring out its best qualities to my nose. I test sprayed this at least a dozen times over the course of a year, graduating from a tentative spray on test paper to dousing myself in it every time I visited the Oxford Street store, until my best friend got sick of my shit and gifted me a bottle. The jasmine is ripe and heady, the tobacco is almost creamy, there's a boozy note that I find myself wanting to huff and the base notes of powdery vanilla keep it on the right side of weird to use as a signature scent. It's sexy and smokey and as poetic as its namesake, evoking an image of a sapphic siren all the straight girls fancy.

Rich and creamy, this is a dream to wear, buttery orris and smooth tobacco, the jasmine isn't sharp or screechy, rather it blends beautifully with the other notes so that nothing is really that noticeable. This is a comfort scent, it smells clean and is an easy wear for any occasion. The vanilla doesn't show it's head for several hours into the wear but when it does it's in a subtle manner, not foody at all. There's a touch of powderiness here but mostly I'd call it creamy. Development is very light and you don't really notice as the fragrance moves through it's journey. Longevity is excellent, over 10 hours. If you haven't always enjoyed Lush perfumes do still try this as it's so perfectly blended and made with extremely high quality ingredients. I'm wearing it today and it's making me feel posh!

This fragrance helped me greatly in determining notes that I personally love in perfume. The opening is sweet floral jasmine entwined with Orris and Tobacco. The orris brings a powdery, almost chalk like texture and scent, while the tobacco creates a richer, darker smokey note. For me, sandalwood is the dominant note through out the perfume, but especially in the heart and base stage of the fragrance. A sweet wooden note, lightly powdery and warm, getting stronger as time goes on and I can never tell when the sandalwood ends and vanilla starts. This has excellent longevity, I can spritz it once on my décolletage and still smell it seven hours later. My only gripe is that this was limited edition in my country, but is available year round in the UK??? Shame!

Gorgeous! Sandalwood and/or iris fans- Lush Sappho is for you. Sappho is a gorgeous, smooth, warm sandalwood and iris scent. The vanilla and tonka are not pronounced (this is not a gourmand scent) they just add to the smoothness and round out the base of this fragrance. The jasmine is almost non-existent. No stank at all here- very clean, soft, cozy, smooth sandalwood & iris scent. Very comforting and easy to wear. Gorgeous autumn/winter/early spring scent.

My friend just shocked me by gifting me a bottle of this from the giant Virginia LUSH store after I told her I wanted to smell it so bad. It's nice! It smells like purple flowers, cedar and síbín. Shout out to the reviewer with the Arataka Reigen pfp who said to shake the bottle - I did, and I think it needed it.