The Smell of Freedom

This hugs me like a body stocking .... and transforms me into catwoman - sexy, seductive and very very elusive. Ginger makes a brisk entrance (cat jumps off a nearby wall to catch your attention) seductive florals of neroli and jasmine innocently and shyly approach with clove and sandalwood giving the composition a warm heart (cat is almost in reach of your fingertips and you lust to stroke her shiny black fur, warm after lazily sunbathing all afternoon) ... but at the base there is the preferable company of Oudh and Orris (cat withdraws in the last minute as if you were the least interesting factor in her universe because, in fact, the wild yonder is beckoning with encounters and adventures of which we humans can only dream.... thus she leaves - perplexing and blessing you as you lift your eyes to that wild yonder in the woods, looking back as if to say "now you know it can be done!" - not everyone will understand this freedom, or this beautiful fragrance ... one needs confidence!

The fresh and herbal ginger/lemongrass opening instantly makes one think of the interior of the place this fragrance comes from and of the smell of natural food markets. Jasmine rears its head, opening up to a somewhat woody spicy floral heart. In a turn of events, a second heart pops out of nowhere. This time it cuts like a knife - Iris and Agarwood, the two most prized essences in all of perfumery, come together in the softest and most beautiful way. The herbal quality sort of loses its point here, making the otherwise stunning accords a little hazy. It ends on a beautiful incense note that continues on forever. Beautiful and an experience, like many of Lush's fragrances.

Someone mentioned that yellow fits this, I couldn't agree more. Most perfume can conger up an aura or "color" that its vibe represents. The smell of freedom radiates yellow. I get lots of wood, smoky wood. Some brightness lots of layers lots of depth. I have only tried two of lush's scents as I order everything online and I would like to sample a few prior to deciding on a big bottle purchase. And I've noticed that I really like this scent (and love the other I tried) but it doesn't feel one with me. Like its sitting on top of my chemistry instead of melding into it. I guess there is nothing wrong with"wearing" a fragrance as opposed to merging with one.

This has a very intriguing name. I used the solid perfume, which is a kind of soft waxy resin which melts on contact with the skin. It much reminds me of the type of carmine sealing wax used in antique films such as the Scarlet Pimpernel, which give off a strong, medicinal perfume at the heart of which lies the bark of Canina Rosa. The medicinal quality I suppose comes from the green agave angelica, and the rose-like from the strawberry rock cupuacu, all in all culminating to recreate the scent of the parting lips of the Venus Fly-pitcher. Mesmerising, and higly evocative. Hooked.

Absolutely adore this scent! Down to my last few drops and so upset to see that it's now £125 for a 100ml bottle. It smells like a warm hug, starts off spicy with a bit of kick - the ginger and the pepper - but then settles down to this warm comfortable sweetness - sandalwood and lightly floral. If you like karma I can imagine you would like this too, it's very intimate and smelling it has me sitting in front of a warm fire on an autumn night.

I love this fragrance, it is true it smells different on everyone, when I first got the sample I didn't think I'd like it but it smells amazing. On me the strongest note is lemongrass (was very surprised when no one else had mentioned this) which is complemented really nicely by the other deeper woody, spicy and floral notes.

LOVE this! I could bathe in it. It's fresh and warm and very much like a hike through nature on a warm day

Very complex, like others said. Yellow fits this perfume perfectly

Hello, Lush Store! If you are jonesing for a trip to Lush and can’t get there, this will tide you over! I’m so glad Vie Café mentioned this. As I was reading the reviews, I was loudly thinking (in my head)please don’t let me be the only one who thinks this smells like the store! Yes, the store smells sweeter with a topping of candy fluff, but everything else is right here. When it is first sprayed it is a bright blast of lemon and ginger which I absolutely love. There is also the neroli and jasmine but they stay in the back seat offering just a touch of sweetness to round the opening a bit. Mmm! The ginger and lemon are so refreshing! Next a peppery clove announces itself by spicing things up as it carries the fragrance deeper into soft woods with just a slight touch of powder. It’s nice to be able to pick out every note; yet they meld together so nicely. The pepper and clove hang in there till the end with a soft sweetness. This is an earthy fragrance yet clean but not soapy. It has lightness to it. I don’t find anything dense or heavy about it. It’s spicy but not a spice bomb. It smells wonderful I just wish it lasted a bit longer on me. After an hour it graduates to a very nice skin scent. I wish it would just last. After about three hours I don’t notice it at all. But that is why I bought the purse spray size (great for touch ups). And I have to stay away from their solid fragrances thanks to the annoying rash they give me at the application site.~q

SA's at Lush told me this scent smells different on everyone, depending on their individual chemistry - some ppl pull earthy, some spicy, some woodsy, etc. It's not incredibly spicy IME (which would generally work well w/my personal chemistry), but it does have earthiness to it as well as freshness. Seriously, very hard to pinpoint & describe. It's quite an interesting blend of scents that really can't be described or categorized IMO. In a positive way, I consider it stranger than fiction (lol) & that's what I would call this fragrance if I had to name it. And it really quite impresses me! The various scents develop & build over time in surprising layers of change, so I think of it as very chameleon-like. Great scent for men or women alike - it's got a touch of a masculine undertone, so it's very much unisex. I think this scent exudes confidence. I haven't been using this scent long, but every time I put on The Smell Of Freedom, it leaves me at the same time both perplexed & intrigued...& feeling a little bit powerful. lol

The most complicated of the Lush perfumes, The smell of freedom is a winner for me. It's not my favorite perfume because it lack a bit of elegance but much like freedom it's self this perfume says screw what society thinks I'm going to do what I want. It's spicy and fresh with a little musty note but in a very pleasant way. The woody notes come out nicely on the skin, I wish the Oud was a little better quality but it's still nice. The most interesting part of this perfume to me is the Neroli/Jasmine/ginger vs wood blend. It's fun and adventurous without too much thought. It's a casual scent for me, fun for dinner parties or other events that call for familiarity, fun and a lack of sophistication.

The opening is just awful (I agree it must be the ginger), but it lasts for about 2 minutes then this fragrance transforms to a beautiful, warm, woodsy skinscent. There is a sweetness to it but it's not fruity or sugary at all. This fragrance is warm and inviting, with little silliage but ok lasting power. It's the type of fragrance that you want to wear when your only plans are to cuddle up to someone on a chilly day :) ***Update*** A few hours later this somehow turned into a very candy-ish fragrance.... Kind of a medicinal strawberry scent, all of the lovliness is gone.

Opens very with a generic woodsy feel (in a good way. I like it). The oud has an almost incense quality, maybe because it's blended with the cloves and pepper. The lemongrass gives it a bit of zing and freshness that prevents it from getting too musty. I'm not getting any florals. After it warms up I some some powdery orris root and a hint of jasmine. I really love the depth of the drydown. the neroli sweetens it up and keeps the drydown from being musty. The drydown has more of the jasmine too. The sillage is nuclear and it lasts forever.

Just bought three lush fragrances, in solid form. Put this on and it does smell just like the shop. I have to admit I have been a bit of a perfume whore this morning layering a touch of karma (love hate relationship) with mandragore pourpre before I went in, but I'm sure I'm smelling the real thing. I was intrigued by the Oudh. I think I might use this to layer with my guerlain vetiver if that's not an outrageous sacrilidge! I have Dirty and 1000 kisses to try next.

I have this in the solid, which has a castor oil base, so first off i get a strong whiff of castor oil and lemongrass. as it dries down i get a lot of the sandalwood and oudh. I wear it pretty frequently, once or twice a week, mostly in the evenings. I have not tried the spray, although I'd like to, because I find that the solid only lasts for two or three hours on me.

I, too, agree that the opening is very harsh and disturbing. It's citrusy but even for a citrus-lover like myself, it was disturbing. Then, after 2 hours or so, it dried down to a sweet yet not suffocating, woody and a lovable scent. Although I liked its name, I wouldn't wear The Smell of Freedom, merely because I don't want to be smelling like a ginger-lemon tea :)

I really like this as an everyday fragrance but it does smell very 'Lush' initially, like a bar of their soap. It does evolve from the slightly harsh opening which is a bit of a nose tickler probably due to the pepper and ginger to a sweet and likeable woody scent, but I wouldn't say it has the smoothness or development of other fine fragrances I'm sorry to say.

Great one! Kind of musty in a way, yet still very fresh. If that makes any sense at all. I can't smell much lemongrass on me unfortunately. The strange thing is that the drydown reminds me a lot of Shalimar Parfum Initial. I guess it's the woody notes. Anyone else get this?

When i smell this, i immediately thing of Fry's Dark Chocolate Orange Cream bars, you know, the fondant ones? Very nice but not my kind of scent, it's just a tad too sweet on my skin. This would be nice on a man too, i think the woody notes would come through more.

To me this smells like a meadow in late August, when things are just beginning to get that golden color. You can sort of smell the hay drying in the sun and the wild flower are starting to curl around the edges.