I first smelled Lyric at the end of 2009; it was during a time that I was hunting roses, and I had just purchased Sa Majeste la Rose, that wonderfully pretty Serge Lutens soliflore. It was my first or second sample-batch order from Luckyscent, and I was terrified.
Terrified because, well, it’s like 300-bucks. I can justify my way into a $155, even $210 (hello, Chanel Exclusif) bottle of perfume… but anything above that requires a certain type of deep breathing I have not yet mastered.
I had read so many reviews of this fragrance (check out the links down below), I had myself convinced that it was going to be THE Perfume to Rule All Others, and earn me a free trip to Mordor: do not pass go, do not collect $200.
So I had put off trying it for a while—I know that I’m not the only one who does this!—saving my pennies for the inevitable. When it did arrive, I danced around that little vial for days (or weeks?) before testing it on skin, and when I did… (drumroll please) I liked it. I thought it was really pretty. Very wearable, approachable… a great everyday scent. Fortunately, I’d acquired plenty of those… and wasn’t remotely tempted to splurge.
Well, nigh over a year later, inspired by Robin’s post/poll yesterday asking, “how many times do you try something before you give up?” I dug out my sample, once again testing fate (…I’m so close to that bottle of Bois des Iles, I can taste it). And?
Lyric… is a smooth, diaphanous veil of a fragrance that transcends time—it is both ancient (the quality of the materials), and thoroughly modern (the treatment of the materials). It reminds me of how sexy a woman can be when covered head-to-toe in something revealing in just the right places; it’s sexy in the most sophisticated way. Lyric is mysterious, mesmerizing, hypnotic. It possesses the beauty of hidden things; I wasn’t ready for it before now.
My cabinet is full of blast-your face off power-houses of wonderment; it’s a regular three-ring circus… but now? Now that I’ve sated my desire for extravagance, I’m longing for subtlety.
I am in serious danger of needing a bottle.
Notes (compliments of our friends at Luckyscent):Bergamot, spicy cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, rose, angelica, jasmine, ylang-ylang, geranium, orris, oakmoss, musk, wood, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, frankincense
Read some great reviews of Lyric: Now Smell This :: Eiderdown Press :: Perfume Smellin’ Things :: I Smell Therefore I Am :: Perfume Posse :: Notes From Josephine :: The Non-Blonde :: and another from Perfume Smellin’ Things
beauty on the outside 
Beautiful review! I can totally relate to your feelings. Some perfumes can only be fully appreciated after some time, after lots of experience.
It is great to encounter such a perfume, but if it is expensive to boot, it is awful too. (I say that with authority having just blown 500$ on two Guerlains) 😉
Holy cow! Congratulations on your new Guerlain’s! My sincere regrets for your bank account 😉
I’m in a sort of conundrum because it *is* so expensive—on my budget, a purchase like this takes serious planning… and I’ve booted Bois des Iles down the list enough times already that I’ve sworn to myself this month that I won’t buy anything else until I bring that home.
It’s so easy to say, “This or that is half the price, I’ll get this now and that later” but all those $100 bottles really add up… and then I have to ask myself, would I rather have the several “affordable” bottles, or the one really stunning bottle? My collection has grown to the point where each bottle has to really earn it’s shelf space.
Or, I could get a bigger cabinet 😉
Right, so you will not come at a large decant? You want to Go The Full Bottle?
Still, I should not sound smug, I may have the same dilemma soon. I have a sample of Traversee du Bosphore on the way. What if I fall in love?
Anne-Marie, it’s just one of those things… it’s about $1.00 per mL when you go FB, and I want the freedom to DOUSE myself in it with abandon! When you start talking decants on this frag, prices just jump to ridiculous levels. And, I can always split away portions if I’m afraid I won’t use it all…
Yeah, don’t be smug, because you’re going to be in trouble with the TdB!! 😉 My 10mL decant is half-empty already, and I’ve had it… what? A month?
Oops, okay, point taken!
Ah, Dee…you’re on the road to perdition. You’ll need a bigger cabinet soon! 😉
I say this with all the newfound authority of deciding either to order more temptations or get a haircut, and the temptations won out! (It’s been that kind of day…)
We’re doomed, and we know it. Are we having fun yet?
Always, in such good company!
LOL, fortunately my self-inflicted haircut is good enough to leave the house in, or I’d be facing a similar dilemma! 😉
As I said earlier today, the road to perdition is paved with ponies—and who doesn’t love ponies?
PS: I almost forgot to say it, but it looks as if the Lord Frederick Leighton Fan Club is very much alive and well! What an image – to go with that perfume! 🙂
I noticed that you used one the other day! I’m a fan—he conveys beauty with such purity.
Maybe not the best images for an incensy, oriental-rose, but the subtlety was what I wanted to convey; hope it worked 🙂
Oh Lyric! I adore that perfume and I save my spray samples so I wouldn’t need to start thinking about bottle. It’s still my favourite Amouage. 🙂
I tried Epic last night, after having set it aside for a year as well… and I like it a lot better too. It reminds me, for some reason, of someone very dear to me, which makes it that much more beautiful.
Lyric is still my favorite though, and the one I’m seriously considering writing down on my wish list 🙂
Great review. I love Lyric as well, but Amouage is always last on my list because of the prices. I’m going to need a bigger cabinet too in he near future. I won’t even let my husband look in there anymore.
LOL, that would never work for me, because my husband loves to dig around in the cabinet almost as much as I do!
I hear you on prices—gods, but those perfumes are expensive. I’ve decided to ask for one as a birthday present!
I’ve tried five or six Amouages so far and none of them was a love on first sniff to me but they all grew on me as I kept testing them: luckily thanks to their potency a small sample goes a long way. Now I’m on two decants and just yesterday was thinking about getting Lyric once the sample is gone.
So far I’ve only tried Lyric and Epic, but they’ve both really grown on me too: I now have a sample of Jubilation 25 to try (thank you Victoria!!!), and can’t wait to see how it weighs in next to the other two.