Description
A fragrance inspired by the talkers and bards of The Beat era, The Voice of Reason captures the mood of a smoky nightclub where poets and hip cats came to pontificate over the sounds of cool jazz. Swirls of tonka bean and sandalwood combine with rose and buddha wood to evoke the scents of espresso, whiskey and fine French cigarettes which surely filled the air.
The black and white images adorning The Voice of Reason‘s label evoke the movers and shakers who were the earliest voices of change in that era. The fragrance is available in a range of sizes from 0.3 oz. to 3.1 oz. The Voice of Reason was launched in 2013. The Voice of Reason was created by Mark Constantine and Simon Constantine.
yhj366speagoessenda – :
The Voice of Reason to me is like a cozy rural wooden house with even some staleness. It ‘s all rather like the aromatic complexity of a room not that of a perfume. A room with loads of aromatic elements from a huge collection of old books to maybe old women’s cosmetics. Maximum level cozyness and indefinite old times evoked would be my two key statements to describe The Voice of Reason…
With poor longevity and soft sillage.
yanahal – :
This is so much more than BBQ sauce. If you want it to be that simple, then fair enough. But to me it’s woody, smoky and I get a hint of coffee in the mid stages. You know – full roast, dark stuff. The opening is boozy and sweet. I love wood and I love smoke, so this is heavenly. It’s a rich smoke. Why would anyone want to smell like a barbecued piece of meat? Let me see now….why would someone want to smell like a bunch o’ flowers, a leather handbag, a musky human body or a field full of mown grass/hay? For the love of perfume and the wonderful conjuring that perfumers do with chemicals, I guess…
Glorialivex – :
Lush (Gorilla Perfume) The Voice of (t)Reason. Unwearable barbecue sauce. Unless you’re marinating yourself for a cannibals’ braai. I find NO redeeming accord / note / quality.
“Very rare discontinued perfume from Lush.
I’d describe this as a fireside, winter perfume.
A fragrance inspired by the talkers and bards of The Beat era, The Voice of Reason captures the mood of a smoky nightclub where poets and hip cats came to pontificate over the sounds of cool jazz. Swirls of tonka bean and sandalwood combine with rose and buddha wood to evoke the scents of espresso, whiskey and fine French cigarettes which surely filled the air.
The black and white images adorning The Voice of Reason’s label evoke the movers and shakers who were the earliest voices of change in that era. The fragrance is available in a range of sizes from 0.3 oz. to 3.1 oz. The Voice of Reason was launched in 2013. The Voice of Reason was created by Mark Constantine and Simon Constantine.”
Hogwash. The Voice of Reason is much worse than Etat Libre’s Secretions. Much worse.
andreyx2 – :
This one opens with a really strong and uncompromising smokiness but that is complemented by such a soft and nice wood and some sweetness like vanilla making it a very nice combination of the rough smoke and the soft and creamy woods and sweetness. Like rough sex with a lot of cuddling and kissing. Or having dessert next to a fire place. Love it!
The smokiness calms down in the dry down and the woods and the sweet takes a step forward.
ihfiniti48 – :
This perfume smells like grilled sausages dipped in hot chili sauce.
If you like sausages, you will love this perfume.
If you are hungry, you will have the want to bite in.
Edit:
Some time ago I tried Roja Dove Fetish Pour Homme and recognized that it smells very similar to The Voice of Reason. So Roja bought the rights and is selling it know for fourfold.
To be true, The Voice of Reason smells like old, smoky, oily wood. Dark and mysterious. The gothic party can begin.
таняяна – :
A stroke of pure genius.
It is important to note that this perfume also contains a dominant gitanes cigarette note and an espresso coffee note, (not listed here on fragrantica!) Therefore this fragrance perfectly captures the ambience of a 60’s parisienne cafe – like no other perfume out there. Even the coffee in the fragrance smells like “french” coffee and I’m sure I can smell the wicker chairs used in the cafes at that time !!
This may not be considered the most wearable perfume by many people, but it is a stroke of pure genius.
nikitoss852 – :
Interesting to read here that it was discontinued due to it having an ingredient that irritates. I thought it was just me reacting strangely. Had to throw it away but I actually really quite liked that boozy, smokey vibe it gave off. Was never a fragrance I could pull off in the day but it often got comments from people once if I wore it at the weekend when I was out DJing. Oh well.
Kirill_81983 – :
Smells of smoke, burnt wood, tar and BBQ’s!
Not my cup of tea at all.
Lush discontinued this as the buddahwood oil is an irritant and caused a lot of people to have reactions to it.
No loss to the world of perfumery.
roma_spac – :
this certainly isn’t for everyone, and one can smell why. me: I love it. can’t believe lush seem to have discontinued, though… have just bought some more off ebay in case it doesn’t reappear. I’m not sure if your other reviewers have observed this, but there’s something *else it smells of, and very intensely and specifically – it’s not just leather, pubs, pot and cigarettes. And let’s just say it’s not something everyone would want to go round smelling of all day. suffice to say that I suspect reactions to this staggeringly good and unusual scent are also, shall we say, psychologically revealing … another great Lush scent, right up there with breath of god. only this one seems to have been concocted by a demon. VoR is as dark as hell, and smells like the promise of a very strange and possibly fatal encounter. bring it on …
Beeklymaymnfczyz – :
I absolutely love the smokiness of this perfume. I swear it brought me on a mad hunt for more campfire smelling fragrances and i’ll tell you it isn’t easy. This perfume smells subtlety like bacon and a campfire. It’s strong and while i believe that the perfume is probably more geared towards males, i can’t help but wear it around. Sometimes I want to just smell tasty.
Voytekhovichkn – :
Was told by a Lush associate in the UK today as of Xmas 2014 they have pulled this frag. The kind associate whom my husband knows gifted us a free full size! I think it’s a lovely scent for men but definitely an acquired taste! Smells like the end of a night in an underground pub!
Edit: I decided to wear this a bit last night and had a laugh with my husband over what it reminded us of. We agreed it smelled of an old pub. There is something about it that repulses me yet I have to keep smelling it. It’s like hugging the kindest dirty old man who is wearing an aged wool cardigan. I still cannot quite put my finger on what keeps drawing me back.
IIJIacTuJIuH – :
This is sister fragrance to Jeke by Slumberhouse.
Voice of Reason gives the same boozy smoky notes as Jeke.
Background is soft sweet musk like scent (the rose).
Normally hate Rose. Here it’s pure genius.
This fragrance grows. The more you wear, the more the love.
Only regret. I didn’t buy the larger bottle.
Unisex. Addictive.
labuhz – :
It smells of barbecue sauce (smoky, heavy, slightly boozy and tangy) initially, which, whilst not unpleasant, isn’t exactly what I want to smell like. But give this one time, it develops into a sweet tobacco scent that ever so slowly blends into a sandalwood and vanilla bean combination before fading into a subtle and gentle rose. It’s quite assertive through most of its wear, and very heavy on the baccy, which put me off buying it. But I regret that now, because I’ve been sniffing the spot I applied it all day.
This won’t appeal to everyone and as much as I like it I’m not sure where I’d wear it, but this is far more appealing than you’d initially think after dabbing it on- it just takes about an hour to show its true colours.
TillDeetBuime – :
This fragrance takes a little time to present it’s full potential. At first it’s sharp and acrid to be honest. Then as it dries the mellow notes come out. It reminds me of a warm wool sweater and an old library book in the best way possible.
sernov – :
Just horrible. Repellent and bitter and nasty and cheap smelling. I think Lush really messed up with the 2013 Gorilla range.
I have now smelled them all and they are all vile. The Sun one was less bad than the others, but Tropicana Orange juice on your arm gives the same effect.
neville981 – :
Absolutely DISGUSTING, I can’t even find the words to describe it. I am yet to find someone who LIKES it, WEARS it and does NOT stink like smoked salmon left in the sun. Same as looking for the money tree.
temoon777 – :
I thought I would love this fragrance, but unfortunately it smelled like Liquid Smoke. I don’t want to walk around smelling like a rack of ribs so I took a pass.
I see some people lost the BBQ smell after a while. I did not. I wore it for about 4 hrs until I couldn’t take it anymore.
Evckackey – :
As with many fragrances by Lush it could take time to tame this unique perfume, as it has a strong individuality. “The Voice of Reason” brings associations with a campfire (an aroma of burnt wood), there is a strong smoky note in it – which is fascinating.
It is very masculine even for the lovers of unisex fragrances. I find this perfume charming and couldn’t stop sniffing a wrist of my friend, who decided to purchase it after several tests.
I find the sillage of it quite moderate despite the longevity of it is impressing and it remains vivid for many hours.
salexzp – :
Apparently the talkers and bards of the Beat Era ate a lot of barbeque sauce, because that’s what I get off of this stuff: straight up barbeque sauce. For hours. It doesn’t develop into anything else any more than a side of pork can unbarbeque itself.
No, thanks.
PrudenceRu51 – :
In the bottle this is very boozy, at first sniff I thought “hmm, boozy lapsang” but now I think it it smells and looks like smoky whisky, smoothened by something sweet and vaguely gourmand. On skin there is still that note of smoky whisky but it mingles with warm woods and a faint floral that to me smells quite a lot like carnation, but that the bottle says is rose! Rose of all things, rose that I´m supposed to hate! Seems I like it in here at least! This scent is fresh and spicy, woody and smoky. There is something slightly medicinal about it, a fresh almost eucalyptus-like hint that I should hate (I normaly hate anything eucalyptus, menthol…) but that really only adds interest here! The drydown of this is a warm, smoky, woody tonka.
The sillage of this one is very powerful to begin with, but it mellows quite soon and becomes quite intimate. The longevity is good, more than 6 hours on my skin. All in all this is a gorgeous scent, very intriguing!
ractacournfap – :
I read a lot of comments here on the fact that it smells BBQ, then it smells like BBQ the first few minutes and it does not smell at all like that later. So please if you like to write a comment, please first take the pain to smell what we’re talking about more than 5 seconds.
fjtrcfylhf72 – :
Used it for 2 weeks. Developed a rash
валентин 303ий – :
14)To try to describe this fragrance I would say it is the smell of an old leather sofa, who comes from an old recording studio specializing in reggae music (cool man … pfffff) and which would have eaten a lot of Indian dishes during the nights of recording.
I like
Mehub682Negeltzex – :
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW, did I say WOW. Another Lush masterpiece. The perfumers were attempting to harness the crass ambiance of French cigarette hazed expresso lounges flooded with whiskey and Benzedrine fueled animals of intellect known as the beat poets. It is definitely smoky, very smoky. I find it reminiscent of how a bonfire smells on your clothes the day after. It does possess a sweet nature to it as well. Overall I was impressed. I understand if someone would not care for this because it is a little out there but that is what makes Lush so wonderful is because they are daring and innovative. So beyond impressed, but try before you buy because opinions are subjective.
kompancev – :
Berenicekezia i love your review of this fragrance and you have inspired me to give this a spray when near a Lush store to see if it suits my body chemistry.
Im a huge fan of fragrances that are heavier than todays usual market and tend to favour the art deco period or the 80’s and 90’s perfumes.
I often find that those fragrances that others find ‘yuck’ seem to smell great on me.
I will update when i get chance to smell this for myself.
woland2009 – :
Smells like BBQ….i don’t really like it on my skin! Sorry
unfarkibfub – :
A strange and challenging fragrance. I was attracted to this because of the witty marketing spiel about it and the usual happy and charming assistant’s chatty advice in my Lush store. However,at first I was not impressed by the sort of dirty, smoky and almost mouldy (yes mouldy!) aroma that hits you when its first smelt, and bought Sikkim Girls – a rather more instantly appealing aroma. However, on a second visit I actually applied the fragrance to the skin and outside of the gorgeous but sometimes confusing aroma frenzy of Lush stores, Voice of Reason became something rather alluring….I suspect it is very body chemistry sensitive…but it settled into a smoky, musky very bitter chocolate aroma. Try layering it with something sweeter or even floral and it’s a great way of adding an almost gothic edge to otherwise ordinary single notes such as violet and jasmine. Try it with a strong vanilla scent and the mix is, for me, divine BUT it’s not for the faint hearted. It’s a pity the reviews so far have been negative but I can see where these reactions are coming from. However, if you are on the hunt for unusual, mysterious and VERY dark fragrances at least try this one…although the cost for a small bottle of £20 might put off all but the most experimental but being experimental myself it was a bargain!!
mihail123 – :
Barbecue, kippers, and hot dogs all the way. Truly awful.
[EDIT] In response to the above: I agree that this is both challenging and unique — and Lush do that very, very well (Breath of God is a crazy pants composition, but it’s a great fragrance). This literally smelled like fish and burned meat on me (notes of roadkill, perhaps?). It was absolutely horrid.
Some of the others in the new line aren’t bad (they’re not a patch on what they’ve had before), but this one makes Secretions Magnifique smell like a bed of roses in comparison.
trm033speagoessenda – :
Still can’t decide if I like The Voice of Reason or not (rather not), even after testing on my skin. It does have a smoky food (barbecue?) quality on me, and it takes too much time for the tonka to appear, and yet it mostly sits behind the barbecue-like scent. But give it a try, maybe you are luckier than me, and get a better result.
Edit: Lush/Gorilla Perfumes says it should evoke cigars and smoky small bars, espressos, etc; to me, this does not evoke any of those.
vdemntomjsk – :
Today I decided to try it on me and it was delusion cos I felt a lot of too much smoky fish there ,it’s just impossible to wear!