I Love Lush Sikkim Girls So Much, I Almost Didn’t Want To Tell You About It

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As much as I love sharing all my latest must-owns with you… there's just something about fragrance that's different from all the other beauty categories. It took me years to give up the goods on Child, after all. (That's the one that makes men literally stop you on the street. Multiple times, I swear.)

But I'm feeling generous today, and I also really need to tell someone about how good this stuff is—so I'm gonna spill. (You just have to promise me that if we ever meet, I get to be the one who wears it. Deal?)

It's called Sikkim Girls and it's from Lush. Lush!

Out now for $19.95-69.95 CDN at select Lush locations and at lush.ca.

I don't know exactly what to call it, since it's labelled as neither an eau de toilette nor an eau de parfum—it just says “fine fragrance hand-blended with fine essential oils.” It's not oily, mind you; it's just like a normal perfume… except way better. (And longer-lasting… I'm writing this post a full 13 hours since I applied it, and I can still detect the scent on my wrists.)

But before I get into the notes, let me backtrack a bit. This is one of nine scents in Lush's new Gorilla Perfumes collection, which—get this—is intended as an antidote to what the company calls “boring” mass-market scents. (HELLO THESE WERE MADE FOR ME.) Created by co-founder Mark Constantine and his son Simon (who are not at all your typical fancy pro perfumers), each one is meant to be its own work of art: memorable, inspiring and capable of making people excited about good-quality perfumes.

Do you love that? I love that. But a word of warning. If you're a longtime mainstream scent wearer, then there is a chance these might initially smell strange to you. That's because of the essential oils, which are replacing synthetic chemicals. Heck, even with me, a big-time fragrance hippie, half of the scents in the collection seemed too “green” when I sampled them on fragrance blotters. The trick is, though, to try them on your skin. Then they're totally transformed into amazingness.

Still nothing in the collection comes close to Sikkim Girls for me. Apparently the name is a tribute to these chicks in Darjeeling, India who were known to be total seductresses (no really). They were covered head-to-toe in traditional dress, but could apparently charm and seduce guys with just the sway of their bodies… and I guess their scent! Who wouldn't want to wear something with that kind of power over the opposite sex? It has frangipani, jasmine, vanilla and tuberose… and the effect is sweet, exotic, feminine and utterly unique (even compared to all of my other white florals). The great perfume expert and biophysicist Luca Turin even said this via Twitter: “Great perfumery lives: Gorilla Perfumes' “Sikkim Girls” and “The Voice of Reason” are proof.”

SO THERE. I swear, when this runs out, I am buying more. (And know that a beauty editor “buying more” is a rare and special occurrence.)

Have you tried the Gorilla Perfumes yet?

Do you think mainstream scents are boring?

What's your favourite “seduction” scent?