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urqfstojjw – :
My wife has been wearing this as a winter signature. She ordinarily wears Balenciaga B., which, though a very different composition, is also a piquant, non-floral, woody-yet-ethereal scent bolstered by musk…
I agree with other reviewers below, who note a rough, porous texture and a strongly present clove… I wear Caron’s 3rd Man quite often, which also combines citrus, clove, cedar, musk and vetiver accords, and recognize that common to both is camphorous cedar and clove that, when bumped up against a pucker-inducing citrus and a dense hush of musk, produces a numbing effect similar to smoking a cigarette, eating a sharp radish, or smelling a brand-new leather glove. Curious but true! This probably accounts for the connections made by some reviewers to masculinity, though I personally find this to be thoroughly unisex.
Something that Dear John also does that has mostly gone unnoticed on these reviews so far is to reproduce the effect of a green cardamom pod…sweet, woody, and medicinal in a terpenic way (that listed pine accord.) I get this impression much more so than coffee per se, although I will add that one coffee-related reminder for me is of drinking Turkish Coffee that had been spiked with green cardamom pods. Overall, this is a lovely scent to travel from the boudoir to the kitchen, and retains a combination of naturalness and inventive challenge that reminds me of eating at a west coast restaurant with a contemporary and sustainable menu of both raw and cooked local ingredients; the pleasures it has to offer are honest, but their presentation is something of an acquired taste; personally, I think it is an ultimately cheering and companionable blend.
For the body spray, I recommend a loose, open application to let the notes breathe. She wears the body spray on knit woollen layers (scarves, cardigans and unconstructed coats) which gives a nice atmospheric sillage and helps to prevent the aromatic citrus sweetness from vanishing too soon.
Cos888 – :
This is an older fragrance from LUSH which was originally sold under the now discontinued “B Never to Busy to be Beautiful” brand.
I remember reading at the time that it was designed in view of the creators father leaving him and the family when he was young. I presume the smell is supposed to smell like his father, which I would agree to an extend has a “daddy” feel. It’s certainly a masculine fragrance, old fashioned scent but not overly so and perfectly wearable today. Very cheap in comparison to other perfumes and overall I like the scent very much.
The longevity is awful however. Within half hour it’s already a skin scent and unless you’ve applied loads (which you might be happy to do in view of the price) the projection is non existent.
Denni – :
I applied the solid version of this to my best friend’s wrist and asked what he thought it was called.
He responded with, “Hot Cross Bun”.
So there you have it. I’m not gonna bother writing a real review because I like his view of it and think it’s apt to post here. (Though I will say that I do smell clove, coffee and vetiver here, but I don’t smell anything else in the note list. This is spicy, buttery, woody and sweet.)
Ky3aHaKu – :
A perfect fragrance with the warmth of a family home. Be aware, however, of the fact that it’s a cologne and unfortunately they do not lie on the label. Colognes are supposed to be ’’weaker’’ than EDTs, since EDCs, by definition have 3-5, while EDTs 5-15% of aromatic compounds. Consequently, you’ll get something like a fancy soap on your skin, and nothing really more. I have the cologne and only tried the body spray once at a shop and I see no difference, so, for more or less the same price, the 150 ml body spray is what seems legitimate. Since it is so weak, I can’t use the cologne I have in a way that makes sense.
Катюша – :
Very nostalgic scent in my view and that’s why I love it so much… Nostalgia in itself smells like “Dear John” for me. I just wish it projected longer on my skin but after not more than 2 hours it almost completely disappears. Other than that love it
serj006 – :
Lush’s best perfume IMO. Balanced, rich, full of memories and beautiful. I tried the body splash and thought it worked very nicely. It is still a Gorilla perfume though, so not really refined or elegant. On the other hand it’s an actual perfume – and not the usual Lush/Gorilla perfumes games of smells and experimental concoctions.
wurdalak – :
There is the Lush-ade just like there is the Guerlinade, there is no mistaking Lush perfumes. Side by side and even in my head Smuggler’s Soul and Dear John are two totally different perfumes. The juniper/cedar brings out the sharp bright green-ness. If anything this reminds me of things like Fou d’Absinthe and also one of my top 20 perfumes Feuilles de Tabac. It is deliciously woody and refreshing. I just layered it with Jo Malone’s Vetyver Cafe and yes, another level altogether, just sublime. Whilst not everyone enjoys the Lush base or even any of their creations, I keep coming back to them, because to me they are the basics of perfumery. This is the rawness I want to feel, the passion, the creativity. It is why I like the little Arabian attars and some of the niche and the private line designers. I probably won’t love them all, but I really, really like a big swathe of them! As for the clove in this, yes it is there, but the woody spiciness also dominates to my nose…
ryba03 – :
Smells exactly the same as smugglers soul.
kaba296 – :
My experience of this (I have the body spray) differs a lot from most other reviews. In the bottle I get a strong coriander note, but on my skin that fades very quickly after applying. The clove on me is not overpowering, and it mostly smells woody/earthy, with warm spice and just a touch of citrus. The overall impression I get from it on me is not heavy-handed or at all one-note, and as it fades it just smells more and more like really nice, non-specific cologne – more of a traditionally masculine scent, definitely, but I prefer unisex or men’s scents. I’m completely in love with this, and I really encourage giving it a try if you’re curious since it seems to provoke wildly different responses from different people!
solfleif – :
Wonderful on men. Not a scent i’d wear myself but i adore the smell. It’s cosy and comforting, what a masculine bearded woodsman would smell of after felling trees and chopping logs before settling down in his log cabin, with his pipe and black coffee, warming his feet by the open fire…. What dreams are made of!
Edit 24.02.15
Well I wore the body spray version today and I love it. Such a comforting scent in the winter.
Deroxsihtn – :
Smelling this in the bottle, I did not care for it. It smelled almost entirely of cigarettes to my nose! But after I dabbed a bit on my wrist, I began to smell the lime very prominently. Then it dried down into a lovely clove scent (reminds me of a cozy winter/holiday), suitable for both men and women.
Reshad92 – :
Lime and clove… or more like Lime then clove.
blech, I wish it smelled like more.
yuliyass – :
Agree with sherapop– clove. I would go further to say it’s all clove with the lime at the outset, fading into just clove with no lime. I wish I could detect the pine and coffee, but the clove obliterates them.
It’s scents like this that perpetuate Lush’s hippy boho image. Except that actual hippies wouldn’t pay $50 for perfume that smells like clove oil, they would just use actual clove oil.
Impotorenon – :
I smell cloves at the outset, but following that I get strong vetiver, pine and lime. For me, Dear John is a true aromatic: I wear it when tired, when I need a boost, when I cannot stand anything girlie or sweet. Yes it’s a little rough; the way raw wood can be preferable to lacquered, or plain skin preferable to powdered and primped.
VLAD1234 – :
Lush DEAR JOHN lists clove as its first note, and not without reason. This composition boasts a very strong dose of clove oil–everything made by this house is dripping in essential oils–so much so that the other main notes, vetiver, coriander, coffee, juniper, and Simon’s favorite, lemon oil, all seem pretty low key by comparison.
By comparison. The initial application of DEAR JOHN makes me think of some sort of home fragrance potpourri, but as the clove gains strength, it takes over all perceived olfactory space, making it impossible for me to concentrate on anything. This could be a virtue, of course, under certain circumstances, for example, as one sits in a dentist’s chair at the mercy of a stranger with the power to drill directly into your central nervous system. So, yes, clove oil has an added benefit–beyond its efficacy as a topical anesthetic. Clove oil will take your mind off of everything else.
As a perfume, DEAR JOHN fits right in with this house’s generally rough-hewn, heavy-handed line-up.