Dear John

This perfume makes me feel like a gentleman! It's woody, almost leathery and masculine but with a spicy warm sweetness throughout. Like sitting on an old leather sofa in a bakery/cafe at christmastime. Maybe one attached to an old bookstore. They're baking with cloves, ginger, and molassas, coffee is roasting, you open up an old book to flip through delicate, yellowed, sweet-smelling pages. I didn't get the lime at first, I thought it was more gingery, but seeing the note listed it makes sense. I agree with those saying they get a tobacco-y note that isn't listed as well. I do wish it lasted longer, especially on skin. I have the cologne spray so that likely has something to do with it. If it wasn't a gift, I would have probably picked out the perfume version. Still, my bottle has been with me for many years of semi-frequent wear.

The coffee doesn't come through much on me, but the lime leaf, clove and tobacco really do. I was surprised not to see tobacco in the notes. It's not a smoky tobacco, more like the leaves themselves. It's the only tobacco fragrance I've ever worn that doesn't smell acrid and stale on my skin. When I first started getting into fragrance I tried a bunch of lush perfumes. I can't stand most of them anymore, but I still keep a bottle of this one around. It's just really easy to wear. It's a grandpa sent, but like, the one he wore when he was young and hot. It's become one of my favourites.

So glad to have finally gotten my hands on this. On the initial spray I get tons of the lime, smells a lot like a usual Lush scent. Then the coffee and clove notes come thru; reminds me of Lush's Turmeric Latte body spray. As it dries down it gets warmer and woodier, smells a bit like pipe tobacco and campfire. I wore this last night to a jazz lounge and it fit the vibe perfectly, it was very foggy outside and cold and rainy all day, perfect scent.

I am probably very biased because of the strong memories I have with this scent but I adore it so much. This is my boyfriend's fall/winter signature scent. We are long distance because of college so whenever we need to part he gives me a hoodie that is drenched in this fragrance to wear whenever I am lonely or sick. I do understand the "dad vibes" comments but it is a scent that makes me feel so comfortable and safe.

Basically the ideal masculine fragrance to me. Spicy and woody, the clove and vetiver notes make this an all-time favorite. Lush used to make a whole line of products in this fragrance including shampoo and shower gel, I miss getting to really soak in this fragrance.

I wear this everyday at work! Some people say I smell like a sexy gingerbread, some say I smell like a sexy coffee shop, both work for me :)

Opens with lime and coriander but dries down into a tobacco leaf-coffee-clove medley. It smells delectable and is my favourite perfume.

Lime cordial with a dash of coffee. Can definitely detect the cloves

I initially got coffee notes, then after a few moments lime, and then cloves came through. I keep getting hit by alternate wafts of lime and cloves as it settles with coffee and vetiver taking a back seat. Others have said it smells like spicy coffee but I found the coffee took a beat seat to the lime and cloves. It has a certain roughness to it. Lush perfumes are rarely "refined" or "elegant" but I don't actually mind that. I have plenty of options for those kind of perfumes.

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.

Gorilla Perfumes Dear John (2004) - clovey cedar - #markconstantine ‘s homage to the dad he never knew, starts with Piney Lime and Cloves. Then morphs into balancing act with the 3 players: Cedarwood oil (woody yet sweet), Vetiver, and Spices (Clove and Coriander). It’s base I also get vanilla-like Coumarin combined with the woodsy backbone. Reminds me of forest 🌳 walks and camping ⛺️

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.

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.

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.

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

I tested this one in the store, and loved the cloves--it faded to spiced coffee on the skin after a few hours, but I huffed my wrist all evening--and the next day I went back for a bottle. Maybe the weather had changed, but the woodsy notes wound up being more than I bargained for, too green, too feral-tree-sprite than the Turkish cafe I thought I was getting. I gave it my brother, who can pull off forest faun with just a smirk. It suits him.

Hm, this just didn't hit the spot. Really strange and wonderful lime opening with a very subtle coffee/spiced dry down. It sounds nice in theory, but it didn't really work with my skin. Alas! I can see it being really gorgeous on others - I recommend giving it a sniff if the notes intrigue you!

Based off of notes alone, I was expecting to love this scent. On my skin, it smells like a bowl of pho. I feel like i’m in a vietnamese restaurant. Not inherently bad thing, but not really what i’m looking for.

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.

Lime and clove... or more like Lime then clove. blech, I wish it smelled like more.

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.

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!

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.

I am wearing this today. I rarely reach for it because of how close this sits to the skin after the dry down yet at some days i crave it. I love how lush scents don't always smell photorealistic and yet they manage to transport you to a certain time and place. There's a lot of lime in the opening, it's almost salty. It projects a lot till after the dry down. This is where the clove, coffee and coriander combo starts to sing. It stops projecting and sticks intimately close to the skin, teasing your nose with slightly warm, camphourous tilting towards headshoppy whiffs.

When I wear this on warm sunny days in open spaces, I mostly smell sticky lime. On overcast days spent in the presence of old coniferous trees, the spices and the woodsy notes get a chance to breathe. The clove doesn't overwhelm in the cold like the lime does in the heat. I think Dear John does better in colder months. The longevity is very poor, but I do like it as a quick, non-committal way of feeling a little forest-y when the mood strikes.

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.)

It was born as a male perfume but as a female fragrance it is top for me. Coffee at first scent, fragrance which then turns into a very sweet and sensual wood. I personally perceive Cedar and vetiver ... When I don't know which perfume to wear Dear John comes to my rescue and never disappoints me

opening smells like smoked clove. very smoky and spicy as if you gather some clove buds and put on burning fire. the dry down however smells so familiar but i cannot pinpoint when and where did i smell this before. it feels mysteriously nostalgic.

This perfume makes me want to write a personal note to them: "Dear John, I care about you so this will be quick: please stop smoking because it's not healthy and you smell like contents of an ashtray."

Smells exactly the same as smugglers soul.