LUSH PRESTON GORILLA PERFUME EVENT

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Lush Preston event on Wednesday night, where a whole new range of Gorilla perfumes was unveiled in the gorgeous Kuckoo Rocks Cocktail Bar, one of my favourite night spots in the city centre. Rachelle and I decided to meet up for a spot of food before heading over to the event, so with bellies content and full, we made our way down to Kuckoo. We were greeted by the lovely Danielle from Lush who I've met a couple of times now at other meet ups, and given personalised goody bags before having a quick catch up with some fellow bloggers along with some amazing cocktails. We were split up into groups and shown round various stations in the bar, where each perfume had it's own themed backdrop and a lovely Gorilla Perfume expert to talk us through the inspiration behind the scents.

In hindsight I wish I had a notebook with me to write down each of the stories, as I found it so interesting how each perfume had come about and the inspiration and ideas behind each scent were really cool. Luckily in my goodie bag I received a booklet which covers each one, so I'll try my best to tell you about a couple of my favourites!

Me with Caroline, Rachel and Rachelle

First off we were introduced to the most unusual of all the scents, called 'The Bug' which was inspired by paranoia, hidden secrets and the modern age, feeling like someone is always watching you. The idea was that The Bug would be a protest perfume, something completely out of the ordinary and almost a little unsettling. At first spray the scent is fairly powerful and very unusual, like nothing I'd ever smelt before, but on the skin after a short while, it begins to alter into a completely different scent, more feminine and subtle, but still with a slightly strong undertone, down to the unusual ingredient - black pepper. Also in the category of 'protest' scents, were two incense tins, cleverly packaged with a traditional incense 'stone' that is lit similar to a hot coal, and incense is scattered on top. These really intrigued me, and were thought up after the London Riots (Lavender Hill Riot) and the Arab Spring (Jasmine Revolution), both designed to give a calming influence when burned.

Two of my favourite scents from the collection were 'Sun' and 'Euphoria', both quite classic and very wearable, but with a trademark Gorilla twist. Sun smelt of freshly peeled oranges and instantly reminded me of summer time, and Euphoria was designed as a calming, healing fragrance using ingredients influenced by aromatherapy, for a fresh, herby scent. Some other stand outs for me were 'The Voice Of Reason', which was reminiscent of underground clubs, coffee shops and had subtle notes of tobacco and coffee, and 'Sikkim Girls', a very sensual, deep scent inspired by the sway of the Sikkim Girl's hips.

A whole other range, or 'album' of scents was then based around nature, and displayed in a unique way at the event. All the scents were sprayed onto rocks for us to smell, which changed the fragrance completely and really gave you the sense of being outdoors. My favourite of these was 'Furze', which had notes of coconut and vanilla, making it the perfect holiday perfume, instantly evoking images of cocktails and sunsets.

Between smelling the fabulous perfumes that Lush and Gorilla had created, we were also treated to some fabulous entertainment from the very talented Kiki DeVille, an incredible blues and jazz singer whose lovely vocals could be heard throughout the night. There was also a section of spoken word, where we heard some brilliant poetry from a bunch of very talented writers.

The event was probably one of the best of the few I've being too, purely because it was so unusual, but also very informative at the same time. I learnt so much about the scents and that there's more to them than just smelling nice, with them being referred to as 'Bottled Art' on the night by a couple of people. Lush and Gorillia were incredibly generous and thoughtful with their goodie bags, making sure that each blogger had products matched specifivally to them. I had some lovely items in mine, including the Daddy O shampoo for blonde hair, the Dirty hard perfume which smells incredible, and some lovely makeup that I am super impressed with.

Thanks so much to Lush and Gorilla for inviting me and for putting on such a great event. I'll be heading down to my local Lush very soon to buy myself some Sun!