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.

A lemon citrusy surprise It's amazing and has great lasting power and is a compliment getter for sure another great triumph from lush 4.5/5

******* For some reason fragantica have duplicated this fragrance in it's database - see the other listing for more reviews! *******

I wish to make a candle out of this for next Christmas.

I had the oil dropper (pictured as the main pic above). It was fascinating but by god it was sharp, sharp, sharp. I guess that was the jasmine. Couldn't possibly wear it, but was fascinated by it until I gave it away.

The neroli and lemongrass in this is delicious! Slightly spicy/woody. However, the jasmine in this is a domineering monster. Not sure how I missed that the first time I used it, but man it's overpowering. So much so I had to scrub it off. It's very pretty, especially at first, but jasmine always goes soapy on my skin and gives me a bad headache. Edit 2/18/26: Revisiting this and oh man, this has such a dirty/animalic quality to my nose. Its still a pretty scent, but I absolutely can't wear this without getting sick. I just can't do white florals and this is still soooo strong even after all these years. This dropper bottle has lost none of its potency.

I was surprised to find that in some places (not here) Lush THE SMELL OF FREEDOM is classified as a fragrance for women. It has a fairly strong citrus side, and smells unidentifiably herbal to me. I usually try to review perfumes before espying the notes, but in this case I had to take a peek because I was really at a loss. THE SMELL OF FREEDOM, like basically the entire Lush line I've tried so far, smells dense and impenetrable and intense. Perhaps the dominant note is "Fire Tree," which is why this creation seems indescribable to me. My general attitude toward this house is starting slowly to emerge. I knew that I had a bath on the horizon this morning, so I thought, "Hmmm.... maybe I should test something from Lush." For me, these are really experiential perfumes, not so well suited to wear as an accessory or when one's plan is to do other things beyond thinking about perfume. FREEDOM is definitely less gooey and gunky than the other made-for-women creations from this house, but it is still quite thick. It's not sweet, and it's not flowery. The iris in this composition is more along the lines of the soapy iris which appeared frequently in classic perfumes of past decades. THE SMELL OF FREEDOM has a somewhat sharp quality which reminds me a bit of galbanum, but I believe that what I am perceiving is the lemon grass. The perfumers at Lush really do not hold back on the essences, which is I think why their fragrances come in three sizes: 2ml sample, .33oz, and 30ml. No one could wear 100ml of them, because they are all at parfum strength! What can I say about FREEDOM? It's something to be experienced, if possible...

First I have to say, respect this perfume, it is not a one, two, three note perfume. I ordered some LUSH samples about 2 years ago and one was SO strong that I abandoned/ forgot about the other innocents until now. :D wow. This was a low-risk blind buy seeing that it was a sample trio....but what a great treat 2 years later. Smell of Freedom as a name makes sense now. it is simply put a grand fragrance without it being dark or overtly provocative. I feel like I would have smelled this while out walking my dog, a gorgeous runner coming at me, flashes a smile and this is the scent they leave behind. It's an opening for me of an orange orchard on a breezy day, the cedar and sandalwood make it approachable and comforting. At night I can see it taking on a sexy, flirty personality. Someone at a party you're happy to have come across. Sweet as a description for this perfume is unjust because it is too general and now I've realized I've been guilty of using that word for other perfumes too! Slight spice but more in a ginger way instead of a pepper. It is not sweet like candy, it is a refreshing fruity note that makes me feel like I'm biting into a juicy melon while my friend beside me works on his wood carving at a table with a bouquet of jasmines, I love it. It's incredible. This is a very complex perfume and as you read the notes and smell you can pick them out. Give it a try. Oh but one more thing! I am freaking warning you it is strong. So apply gently because you might ruin it if you do. It might make you sick, too much of anything is a bad thing....like 12 cups of coffee. :)

A wonderfully light and unique opening, then after 30 minutes it became a carbon copy of Serge Lutens' Clair de Musc. CdM is the signature scent of my aunt and when I wore The Smell of Freedom to lunch with my cousins a while ago none of them believed I wasn't wearing her perfume. Its similarity is magnified especially if I layer it with Breath of God, which adds earthy musk to the neroli-orris root-sandalwood. Even on its own, the dry down is pretty, but having known Clair de Musc, I'm not exactly moved by it–I mean it's a moving scent in general, and like CdM, it balances on a light airiness and dusky quality which I love, but it's kind of disappointing to realize you just bought a copy scent, as I was expecting something new. The opening, which a lot of people seem to disagree with, is something I'm a lot more intrigued with. Definitely a hint of lemongrass and ginger–fresh and spicy, truly evoking freedom. But usually it's gone the minute I catch it.

Might be my olfactory plays with me, but I clearly feel peppered bergamott and freshly grated lemon zest in the opening with orris and neroli. The zesty freshness disappears after a minutes and orris, oud, ginger and fair jasmine aroma start to come forward from the background. The vivacious beginning calms down to an earthy and strange peppery mixture. But it's not unpleasant, just weird.In the base pepper, orris, oud,sandalwood and faint neroli leaves a bit masculine undertone. Slightly bitter, lightly spiced oriental, dominant oud, pepper and orris notes in the drydown. These notes are very similar to Amouage Homage EdP.

This is a rich semi spicy fragrance that has something papery and woody going on in the background. Again, this smells like one of their products and I can't put my finger on it. Their perfumes smell like their products and vice versa. It's nice to see the use of Oud however it is done subtly and not completely taking over everything else. It just adds enough of something exotic smelling. There's also a nice semi sweet smoothness to it. Quite a few things swirling around with this one, it really reminds me of a few Black Phoenix perfumes I have. Slightly vague review, but..it's a slightly vague perfume.

I had dissmissed lush perfumes as cheap and shallow frag, after I tried breath of god. When I first sniffed out "Freedom" wow, interesting and very nice. All the notes go so well together they are related, like the unique note of lemon grass has a ginger quality, is combined with ginger. I think I liked the lemon grass the best, first time I smelled it, the orange blossom and other notes make for complimentary accords. To bad it is not available at Lush stores in US, I hope they bring back some of the oldies but goodies. Rating: 7.25/10

This is a very complex scent. Starts off with a burst of ginger and pepper, then the florals emerge -- brightened by the orange and the spice sticks around, so it's like a sweet floral spicy citrus heart. The dry down are very mellow woods. The woods are the best part, they're well composed and warm. This feels balanced despite all the notes going on -- nothing overpowers any of the other notes. It makes me think of being outside in a thunderstorm, for no real reason other than that's the impression I get.

The TSOF's opening is interesting and slightly unusual. Every note is played and emphasized in it's drier aspect to reach an (almost) breathtaking effect. Nice. The problem is the drydown where this fragrance turns to a louder (much louder) version of 4711 Original Eau de Cologne. Good start bad end. Rating: 5.5-6/10

-My mouth puckers when I smell this scent. -It hits you strong. The notes scream at you: LEMON. LEMON RIGHT HERE. -Throw in some light powdery notes in the background...and there you have it The Smell of Freedom. -Overall: an extremely punchy, sharp citrus scent I couldn't wait to get away from. (-)

A women’s jasmine fragrance. Really bright, springy. Despite the alluring art concept and rare ingredients, I can only say I moderately like it, however, it uplifts me quite effectively in the bleak, cold, dark winter, bringing in the May-to-June trees in blossom.

very spicy herbal on the top, I'm getting what is probably both ginger and "firetree," but also lots of lemongrass. Its then just a soft powdery sweet wood underneath, which is also what makes up the majority of the dry down. very unisex.

Really interesting back ground, the people that have inspired it and all... it smells really spicy. I'd say its more of a man fragrance

This scent has a sharp wrong jasmine smell. It doesn’t smell good on my skin. It smells good in the bottle, but goes sour on me.

I get neroli, orange blossom, neroli, orange blosson. A posh 4711 :)

how much do you smell the oudh here??? is it strong enough??