Despite rarely using my solid perfumes, I find myself really intrigued and very excited whenever a new one makes an appearance. There is something rather special about the packaging and the wonderful smells that can harvest from what is essentially a glorified lump of oils and wax. When two new ones made themselves known on the website recently, I was quick to snap them up and claim them as my own.
Kerbside Violet Solid Perfume is a new addition to the Lush perfume roster - a fragrance that was first released last year as part of Lush's Volume 3 range. While it wasn't my favourite of the new perfumes, it was definitely one that left an impression, so I was intrigued to see whether the solid edition would be able to hold its own alongside it's older sister.
While it doesn't satisfy my longing for them to bring back Tuca Tuca, this violet-oriented fragrance is a wonderful feast on the senses and one that would suit those of you who appreciate and enjoy the non-synthetic scents that Lush produce. Unlike a lot of Lush's other violet smells, this one is focused more on a lighter, more natural aroma that plays homage to the natural beauty of the plant it is trying to mimic. This perfume, much like the liquid counterpart, contains a combination of violet leaf and jasmine absolute and it is the former that comes through the strongest. In the tin the violet is very fresh smelling - it doesn't have that heavy, cloying fragrance that Tuca Tuca gives off. Instead, it has a very light, grassy aroma which intertwines with the jasmine and gives off a naturally sweet smell. The ylang ylang oil adds to the floral element nicely and helps to pad out the floral element without making it too heavy on the senses.
What is great about the solid edition is that the different layers of scents are already combined so you can detect the different parts of the perfume without having to wait for it to mature on your skin. Interestingly enough, I found that this version is rather less potent than the liquid edition so you're able to appreciate the violet scent more than you would in the spray; there is less of the grassy element so it's a little sweeter and might be preferred by those who found the liquid fragrance too heady.
Despite this, with this particular fragrance, I found that it didn't have the longevity on my skin as the liquid version demonstrated. While I could still detect it an hour or so after I had initially applied it to my wrists, it wasn't very strong by this point and I had to reapply it most hours to get the effect I wanted.
Having said that, it did offer me something which I thought was more rounded and rather more interesting than the liquid alternative. Perhaps this is something that could be used in conjunction with the liquid fragrance - to top up the smell throughout the day and give me that little extra warmth that the liquid perfume lacks. Priced at £9 for a 12g pot, I can see this lasting me a good year so it's a good investment. Furthermore, the stunning shade of purple its presented in only adds to the allure of the perfume and I only wish that the liquid version was presented as such. Having said that, it's not as strong as its liquid counterpart and I'll still be relying on the original format to give me that strong, violet aroma.
Quantitative Ingredients: Organic Jojoba Oil, Castor Oil, Candelilla Wax, Perfume, Linalool, Rosewood Oil, Violet Leaf Absolute, Ylang Ylang Oil, Jasmine Absolute, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Citral, Geraniol, Eugenol, Farnesol, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Citronellol, Geraniol, Colour 77742, Blue Lustre, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite.
Vegan?: Yes.
2015 Price: £9 for 12g.
Year Of Original Release: 2015.
Scent Family:
