Vegan Leather Jacket

Vegan Leather Jacket is the best new Lush scent in many moons. Starting with a blast of smoke that veers toward—without ever outright becoming—barbecue, VLJ soon settles on skin with heavy spice rising to the fore. I can understand why Youth Dew and Cinnabar appear in the “reminds me of” section above, but it doesn’t directly relate to either. Rather, it’s as if one of those clove-dominant scents has been pared down to its bare essentials, then flung into a bonfire. Intensely smoky, intensely spicy. VLJ feels rough and rustic, but quite sexy too. Somehow, it reminds me of a leather fragrance without actually smelling of leather. Perhaps that’s the point—this is VEGAN Leather Jacket, after all. Pure love. Started with a 30 mL, but had to upgrade to the 100 mL bottle. Gorgeous!

I probably hit the jackpot with the batch that I got because WOW, the performance is excellent. It’s very strong and long lasting, I can smell it all day and even after taking a shower before bedtime. I‘ve gotten a shit amount of compliments - everyone was asking "what‘s that unique smell???" the other day in uni. People around me are absolutely in love with this perfume, I guess it blends really well with my skin. A friend told me I smell like a mysterious witch (I‘m a 24 yo guy), another friend told me he couldn‘t imagine this scent on anyone else but me. AND HERE‘S MY TAKE: It smells like burning sparklers and firework on New Year‘s Eve. Very fiery, smoky, absolutely stunning

I bought this because of the bad reviews. It turns out everything that everyone hates is what I like, and that’s fine. This is THE best perfume by Lush. I have wanted a Lush perfume for years. Always finding myself in a Lush store browsing the perfumes wanting to love them. Then I stumbled on this + the reviews sold it to me, the name does it no justice. This is quite simply an Asylum Hospital on fire and I am living for it. I have Zoologist T-Rex and it’s kinda in that realm, if you know. Thank you to all the people who gave this descriptive “bad” reviews. It’s fire, medicine, spice and all things nice.

I usually struggle to describe perfumes beyond 'nice', 'delicate' or 'strong' but smelling this perfume actually evoked very clear & vivid visions. After the spray, I could initially smell the smoke and almost peatiness, like in an Islay Scotch whiski. But then, after letting it sit on my skin for a while, I could start smelling the leather and then a bit later a light sweetness like incense toned down by the medicinal cloves. There is a dirty, naughty sexiness to it. Picture this, a biker wearing a leather jacket goes into a bar, drinks a whiski, then goes into a church to secretly meet their lover.

Hated it when I smelled it in the store. Adored it when, after I came home, I smelled the little bit of it I accidentally got on my wrist. It's an interesting scent. Heavy on the leather and wood and smoke. Almost a little plastic-y or like gasoline or burned rubber at first spritz. I love how it dries down into bonfire, though. The plastic quality changes into something muskier. It becomes both more subtle and more intricate the longer it is on the skin. A very sexy scent.

Like many have said, I initially turned up my nose at this scent and wrote it off. On first spray it is intense, abrasive, and a bit 'much'. However, the amazing, nuanced drydown had me running back to the store to grab myself a bottle for home. The scent has such a unique smokiness and heft to it that I can't help but love it. My partner, despite their opposing tastes, loves it on me as well.

I can see how the beginning blast of campfire-like top notes can be jarring for some people. But the heart and drydown combo of this is thing is one of the most beautiful, beckoning, bracing, and heartwarming of any smoky-leathery perfume I’m aware of. In the ranks of Sycomore, Incendo, and Bel Ami, among others, in my collection. Be patient and you’ll be rewarded.

I bought it today in the LUSH store and I am completely obsessed. Absolutely gorgeous, smoky scent, it has a beautiful projection and dries seductively on my skin. It's deffo unisex and has that sexy incense accent in. Sublime! Yes, it smells like an ashtray at the beginning and then it's a true love!

No one mentioned but the leather, vetiver combo really reminds me of Zoologist - TRex. Really burning, and smoky... This is a fantastic dark scent, up there with the greats of Breath of God and The Devils Nightcap.

If you are looking for a leather scent that smells less like a car dealership and more like the vintage leather section of a vintage store - this vibe for you. Let it sit it might be a little intense at first.

Some people are saying it smells smokey and like tarmac, but to me it smells like being freshly bathed on a spring day. Its very green, almost like being in a eucalypt forest.

vegan leather jacket is the pissed off protagonist who just got done traveling for weeks on foot to have a three-part series finale battle with their father, breath of god

Opening reminds me of Tom Ford Sahara Noir, very smoky, woody, not a hint of sweetness. After dry down I get the cloves, actually reminds me of Lushs Turmeric Latte.

Absolute bargain. Big smoky leather to start with, but it soon starts to melt into a lovely slightly sweetly spiced tobacco and clove scent Bargain

This is one of the most sexy perfume, its addictive and layers beautifully to give anything more depth and edge. I loveeeee it.

Smells like the smoking section of a gay bar. Instantly purchased.

A quite interesting journey that this one provides making it a very interesting and likeable fragance with a truly unique character. The opening is an actual smoky grey and bitter, than shortly evolves into a resinous, piney green feel. That kind of greenness, what you feel in a premium florist shop. Than after a short while on skin it turns into a powdery, tender sweetness, that evokes an impression of a vintage book store or a quiet library -- truly beautiful, composition, creates a lyrical, serene and nostalgic mood. What is fun, that on clothes the second stage, this green piney, silky, more fresh opening plus a fair amount of clove remains instead of the powdery sweetness - and stay there actually for days. Absolutely beautyful.

I love a Lush fragrance. Most Lush frags are very individual. Shade is absolutely unique. Vegan Leather Jacker isn’t. It’s very dry, has a genuine smokiness to it; I get the amber comparisons (VLJ is kinda the country bumpkin cousin of YSL Cinnabar) but it’s not leathery. I get no leather at all really. And its reach is very poor. This frag sits close to the body - two/ three good spritzes to my skin and the same again to my clothes and after 10/15 mins I cannot smell it and no one has yet to comment on it. Do I like VLJ? Yes I do. It’s an everyday frag. More masculine I’d suggest. I’ll continue to wear it. And for the price...why not? But don’t buy this expecting a leather bomb. You’ll be disappointed.

Has notes in common with Breath of God but is simpler and less confusing. Vetiver is strongly identifiable in both. LOVE the clove, it makes it a little goth. I had been mixing up a body spray with tons of clove EO for myself and so I have been hooked on smelling clove-y all year. On the unisex side of masculine. The person who says it layers well is correct but I am a tomboy and this is perfect for my aura all by itself. The other person who warns not to blind buy is also correct. You’re either going to love it or hate it and I can understand both but I personally am on the LOVE side.

*warning: avoid wearing amongst sensitive noses, or older slavic women apparently because my Russian teacher did NOT like it* Opens with a strong BBQ note, which disappears after 5 seconds. Heady tobacco and warm clove surface, the body of this fragrance is slightly medicinal and wholly bohemian. Good for layering overly sweet perfumes, adds a leathery / smokey / incense edge. Makes me want to drink house red at a bar and work on an imaginary novel in late November. Like most Lush perfumes, oils are clunkily blended but for the price its long-lasting and fades beautifully on the skin.

vetiver-forward in a way that i would usually find objectionable but i'm actually obsessed with this because at first spray, it smells exactly like burnt weed resin from the bowl of a dirty bong in the best way possible. it also smells like mushrooms not in a mossy forest sense but rather in a dusty, savory sense. the tobacco and spice notes are much more palpable in the solid form than the liquid fragrance. get the liquid if you want to smell like a leatherdyke stoner; get the solid if you want to smell like a clove cigarette hand-rolled by aforementioned leatherdyke stoner.

This one was crazy. I went into lush and skin tested it blind. I’ve been a fan of lush for years, but I don’t keep up on their releases. Immediately upon opening I thought it was awful. Like burnt hot dog, almost rubbery but also pungent peppery smell. Within minutes it changed on me and softened to something much nicer. The tobacco and clove together are pleasant to my nose. It’s very autumnal and reminds me of fall renfaire. Probably because of the tobacco and leather vibes. I don’t know if I’d buy this, but I might get the solid for fall.

at first spritz this was a smoke bomb, with a little leather underneath offering absolutely no respite (10/10 perfect, no notes) but for some reason on my skin this just kept getting sweeter and sweeter - i'm talking All Good Things levels of sweet, if you're familiar with that. The tonka and clove combined in a way that almost reads as cinnamon to my nose, or at least on my skin. Like red-hots bubblegum sweet cinnamon scent. I wasn't opposed, but I almost missed the harshness of the opening once it was gone.

This is mega smoky, and reminds me of a coal fire (not a wood fire), or like recreation scent of “olden days” smell in a museum? When you first spray it. it’s SO strong. Offensively so! But in the dry down it’s like old bonfire smoke stuck to hair - warm- and is very nice. I’d buy it for the dry down. It really reminds me of very expensive niche smoke scents, like fire water by Jorum Studio, or Graphite by Mad et Len. Do think it leans much more masculine. Maybe a very outdoorsy woman could wear it.

A friend described it as 'beef jerky smelling' but I think it smells like a leather jacket that got drenched in smoke at a campfire. I immediately layered with Lush's Fresh As at the store for extra camping fragrance (smelled really good). So smoky and maybe a little like food (the clove?) but that makes it cuddlier if you ask me.

Tried this in the shop and after coughing, spluttering and the odd sneeze I left and decided Lush stuff wasn't for me. An hour later I returned to buy it! Spray, let it settle, give it 20 minutes to warm up and it's gorgeous.

very elegant smoky and earthy scent not too far away from some unapologetic french green leather from the 50's

barbecue sauce upon spray, fantastic soft, slightly sweet industrial dry down

The smell of a slutty cowboy. Ashy tobacco, peaty vetiver, and spicy clove all come together to form this really dirty, slightly animalic leather accord. After this dramatic opening, the leather accord sticks around but calms down for the ashy & smoky tobacco and earthy & woody vetiver to shine through, slight pops of clove fueled spice gives a nice nuance to the fragrance. One of the dirtiest, mud and sweat covered, thick, and spiciest leather fragrances on the market right now. The opening is bombastic and in your face, but the dry down is much better put together because the vetiver and tobacco really tone down the possibly annoying or unpleasant animalic facets of the leather. A good introduction to animalic leathers, but I think there are better ones out there. Very good performance and projection of 10 hours with strong projection for the first 4ish hours. 6.5/10. Song vibe - Too Old to Die Young by Brother Dege TLDR - Smoky, mud covered, spicy and slightly animalic leather accord that breaks down into the ingredients that make it what it is: vetiver, tobacco, and clove. Would be a good scent for a dive bar or a honky tonk. Side note - I can sort of get the comparisons to Firewater by Jorum Studios, but I think this uses the smoky, earthy, and dark notes to form a loose leather accord more so than leaning into the smoke filled birch direction that Firewater goes into. Additionally, it’s missing that iconic citric, green, and marine nuances that Firewater has. The comparisons for when smelled in the air are still definitely valid, but when put side by side and smelled up close they are much more different than similar.

I wanted to be rabid about this - leather is one of my favourite notes - but I don't detect it at all. To me, this is a lovechild of Breath of God and Goddess by Lush. Very smoky, ambery, and has dried down to a skin scent within an hour. It's very unisex. It may mix well with Obsession by Calvin Klein, but I think the Obsession would be doing the heavy lifting there. This was a blind buy for me (albeit 30ml, and I'm a big Lush fan) and while I don't regret it, I doubt I'll be repurchasing it.

This is a very odd and divisive perfume and sort of shocked me in the store. It smells like a campfire and that is it, nothing else. I can imagine it working well with layering though. Maybe with something as a contrast such as a gourmand or sweet or something clean smelling. I didn't get around to smelling the drydown and so that may be more wearable. If you want something similar that has already been layered and so automatically more wearable, I can recommend Ameer Al Oudh Intense.

I absolutely loved the smell got a full size bottle then one day put it on and I had to scrub it off it makes me feel really sick and every time I think about it makes me heave

I love Lush for taking chances and being unapologetically edgy. Why wouldn't you name 'Vegan' something that smells just like bacon?

Straight up leather jacket (with the sweat) and smoke. Very strong.

Is this supposed to imitate a leather jacket? Another marketing ruse I suppose...reviewing for the solid version of this, all I've gotten is a mildly sweet, very tame tobacco, clove that overall almost comes off as a cinnamony, nutmegy scent. Any leather in this is either abstract, or just nonexistent--it's really hard to find any traces of such. It has a smoked bias, but this was kind of a letdown since I'm not a fan of pure sweets/spices fragrances. Also only lasts about a few hours max. Maybe in a rare mood I would wear this, but definitely not worth getting a bottle for me. IMO, Boxer by HUNQ does a better job of combining notes into an intended abstraction but it's probably just me, since other people are detecting such leather notes...somehow.

Smells like if you put plastic tupperware in a cardboard box and accidentally left it on the stove... smoky, savoury and many different types of burnt. Not for me but definitely for a steampunk motorcyclist who blasts German techno from a portable speaker in residential areas

Very very unfortunately smells like armpit to me.

I have come to hate and detest this perfume of never ending suffering in all of its full abhorrence. There is no possible way I could ever begin to describe this without getting teary-eyed, going into fight or flight mode, and just collapsing to the ground from the sheer horrific memory of smelling this agonizingly vomit inducing bottle, containing screams of the tortured, you call perfume. This little vat of horrors could turn any optimist nihilistic, any rainbow array of flowers into a wilting bush of thorns and any birthday party into a mass suicide victim graveyard. The only scents I picked up from this were the devil's pus filled cysts. I walked into a lush one fine day with my friend, we picked up the unsuspecting taster bottle, sprayed but a dash onto the sample paper and sniffed. Our airways immediately closed as we gasped and spluttered due to the gas attack entering our throats, screaming down our oesophagi and liquifying into pure venom in our lungs with a poison level enough to wipe out a herd of elephants. The only thing I could possible compare this satanic concoction to is licking a subway restaurants floor and having someone urinate in your eyes. It smelt of toxic fumes, made my eyes water and me and my friend heaved helplessly half keeled over due to the pungent smell of burnt plastic, rotting meat and cigarette ash. Vegan Leather Jacket really helps resurface the original Latin word for perfume, per fumum, meaning 'through smoke' as it smelled of thick smog and car exhaust fumes. In all seriousness, please do not buy this perfume, if it can be even called that. It smells genuinely revolting and was so void of anything positive I'm currently seething with rage typing this review. It also makes me distressed hugely that some people out there are so brainwashed and propaganda mind-controlled that they believe this kamikaze inducing odour is anything but death causing. I would whole heartedly rather die in the most brutal, bloody way possible, than ever smell the grim reaper's elixir ever again. Don't wear this, ever. Please do not buy this or wear around public or else I fear this would spark a law similar to ones in some South East Asian countries about durian being prohibited from public areas due to its repugnance. Please listen to this review, in all complete formality and urgency, do not buy it unless you want to smell of poo and other filth that's been burnt to a cinder and thus give the poor unfortunate souls within a 10km radius post traumatic stress disorder. Do not buy.

I can't even put into words how insanely bad this perfume is. Grabbed it in the shop, sniffed it, and choked. Felt my body phsycially react, and not in a good way. I can't believe there are people out there that hate themselves enough to buy this perfume. I'm not even joking, I didn't know this kind of PONG was possible to put into a bottle. My eyes watered, my throat closed up and it felt like I was about to die. Smells kind of like if you were to take a bite out of a lit cigarette, then let the taste linger in your mouth and get into your nose. Ew. Probably dangerous to a child under the age of 5, I'd honestly have passed out if I was having a bad day already. Don't even think about it. Really, don't.

Okay, going back to the shop with my friend to try vegan leather jacket again... We’re walking in.. Spraying it onto the paper.. 3.. 2.. 1... DISGUSTING Oh my god even worse than I remembered I actually genuinely can’t breathe it’s all I can smell and think of I’m so, so disgusted right now you might as well have farted in my face this HAS to be toxic and unsafe for humans HOW are there factories making this on a daily basis I actually can’t believe what’s in front of me. Please never sniff this. Please... We’re leaving now..

I think I finally found something from Lush that I hate. This smells burnt and somewhat like gasoline?! I had accidentally sprayed it on my clothes when I was aiming for the testing strip and I could still smell it the morning after. It does in fact smell like a new, vegan leather jacket, but who wants to smell like this.

absolutely disgusting. full, musty, dirty ashtray that hasn’t been cleaned out in a month. sometimes I think people are being OTT when they’re like ‘I sniffed this and THREW UP!!!’ but vegan leather jacket has opened my eyes to just how rancid some perfumes can be

I really wanted to love this but it literally smells like burnt tarmac. Like when you're walking past a bunch of workmen in the road pouring hot black tarmac out of the back of a truck whilst scratching their sweaty butt cracks. Hard pass.

SMELLS LIKE MEAT 🤢 like salami or ham idk I’m vegan

Speaking of smoky scents — who knew a perfume from modern Lush with such a stupid name would actually be amazing? Back in their day, Lush’s Gorilla Perfume label put out some truly amazing heavy hitters. But over the last ten years, it’s seemed as if they’ve eschewed niche experimentalism in favor of remaking three of their popular shower gel scents over and over again in different forms. I see cause for hope in the new line of perfumes they released this year. Some, like The Dew on Their Hems, were standard niche fare, a pretty aquatic reminiscent of something you might find at Jo Malone. Others, like the fun Leonard Cohen sendup No Way To Say Goodbye, were interestingly hyper-saccharine to the point of obscurity. I can quite easily imagine this perfume, which smells somewhere between children’s toothpaste and nightcore bath bomb blackcurrant, fitting in mixed with ironic cigarette smoke on some disaffected twenty-something girl’s jean jacket. The clear standout from the collection, however, was Vegan Leather Jacket, which perhaps is trying to appeal to a tongue-in-cheek sense of postured edginess. I honestly don’t care, because this smells reminiscent of something Jorum Studios would make, and can be bought at a strip mall. There is no leather, here, only a heavy-handed trio of cloves, cade oil, and vetiver. Tart, supple, and gorgeously smoky, this opens with a blast of animalics, not unlike Monolith, and then settles into a flaming spice medley that lasts on skin for a neat couple of hours. People online seem to compare it to Estée Lauder’s creamy ‘70s spicebomb Cinnabar, but I only really agree inasmuch as the drydown occasionally drifts toward dark orange Opium territory. To me, this is really just a fine one-trick pony to scratch the arsonists itch in your wretched little heart without breaking the bank. I love to see mainstream perfume retailers cater to niche markets like this — and know that in their refusal to pander down to a younger consumer base, they will eventually be rewarded.

Agree with other reviewers, top notes are STRANGE right out the bottle. Settles down to be very orange/spicy, smells almost like cumin, I think? I was reminded of hay, that sort of dry and sweet scent. My boyfriend thought it smelt like strawberries, but I didn’t get that at all. He also thought it just smelt like a Lush store. For me, it felt quite intense. Bit of a headache inducer, but I could not stop smelling it. Last notes were lovely. Wish that had been the entire fragrance – the smell of warm leather as you leave a warm café and go out into the cold night. Sweet, spicy, a little menthol-y. All in all, not a bad fragrance! Not a blind buy, but also not a divisive one either. Smells good when it settles down, so definitely trust the process. In fact, don’t smell it at all when you first put it on, wait an hour. Think that’s what gave me the headache. Moderate sillage. Fair price. 5/10.

Cool-toned dark clove and green smoke. I get black leather, tobacco shop and Scandinavian medicine. She’s not nice but she can be pretty. Goes on strong and personality must match. If you’re not careful you’ll smell like you bought a Fonzie jacket at a vintage shop on Melrose. It’s dries down soooo pleasantly to spiky, sweet, fresh clove and a hint of vanilla tonka. The smoke and medicine dry down to anise wintergreen. Vamps welcome here, however, try before buy. The solid perfume is an excellent option to get a skin scent without the high demand of the spray. Note: lush perfumes are more in the botanical realm, so not highly complex, but they excel in this category if you like their nose

I bought this yesterday. If you liked Lush’s lovely but polarising ‘Voice of Reason’ this is the closest you’ll get. Sort of similar to ‘Hellstone’ too. It’s a fireside Smokey scent. Personally, I don’t really smell leather. It’s a charred wood and smoke perfume, with some hot curry type spices up top. If you like it but think it might be a bit too much for you, try the solid as it’s more wearable and discreet. I love a scent like this for Autumn. Voice of reason was sweeter and more BBQ. This is more Indian spices. Don’t let that put you off. It’s the scent of burning leaves and autumn.

I always find Lush perfumes a bit abrasive. The last time I wore one regularly was during my teenage obsession with "Karma". I bought Vegan Leather Jacket immediately after trying it because I knew it would be fantastic for layering, and it is. Alone, it would be shocking, a nose-stinging disinfectant and a damp campfire. However, I'm a fan and often get compliments when I wear it over something sweet. If you don't want a smooth leather but a punchy one this is worth a visit.

To me this is a more acrid version of Lush’s 4:20 in its opening. A not unpleasant but not entirely pleasant wet bonfire, or worse, wet ashtray smell. But wait, the drydown is lovely. The smokiness remains but recedes into the background and a creamy sweetness emerges. It’s one of those typically odd Lush fragrances. I’m a big fan of Lush fragrances and this is another addition to that long list of favourite frags.