Dear John Cologne Body Spray

As far as the Dear John fragrance goes, I'm a little behind with the appreciation. My first experience with it was only a matter of weeks ago when Lush re-released a soap with the same scent. Since then I have come to regret not investing in the perfume a lot sooner and have since bought myself a vial of the stuff to enjoy.

Recently Lush have brought this fragrance out in the form of a body spray, and I'm so glad that they've done so. As far as I'm aware, the company have only released a handful of sprays in total; Dear John being one of three new ones to make an appearance in the Gorilla perfume shop earlier last month. 

Described as a unisex fragrance, this one features vetivert, cedar, clove, coriander, lime, coffee and pine. It's a unique and highly pleasing smell - something I initially thought I wouldn't like but have grown to love more than I thought was possible.

In the bottle you can immediately detect three layers of scent. The first is a layer of citrus - which is not as sour or as dominating as the likes of Avobath or Calacas. It's a subtle scent that reminds me a little of lime cheesecake - a gentle but equally fruity smell. Alongside this is an element of coffee. Again, I dislike most coffee-scented products and I have no interest in drinking the stuff either. Yet in Dear John, this layer of scent adds a warm and slightly spicy aroma. Finally, I can also detect hints of the vetivert which give this perfume an earthy and smoky note.

When sprayed on the skin, I love how much the body spray expands and offers up each and every layer of this smell to the wearer. Once on the skin, the perfume almost fragments and allows you to experience each and every beautiful note. The citrus elements tend to rest on the skin whilst the pine, vetivert, coffee, tobacco, cedar and clove linger slightly above this and offer the wearer an all-rounded experience. 

Despite being comprised of some quite dominating smells, this fragrance manages to be light, uplifting and very sensual. It's a comforting and very soothing smell - something that fits in well with what the creators at Lush wanted to make. They wanted a fragrance that reminded you of your dad, your grandfather or your oldest brother - something that represents the security you feel around male acquaintances. While I cannot express how it does such a thing, I can vouch that it does create this beautiful feeling.      

What is great about Dear John Body Spray is that it's only £17 for a 200ml bottle. When compared to cheaper, shop-bought sprays, it does seem rather overpriced. However, when you consider the fact that a 10ml bottle of Dear John Perfume will set you back £14, it's easy to see why this works out a lot better value than it's fragrance counterpart. 

I will warn you that the spray comes in a glass bottle so it's not something you want to carry around with you - for fear of smashing it as well as the weight it adds to your bag. As far as the design goes, it does have quite a generous squirt to it so you'll need to be careful not to spray too much with each use.

Despite all of this, it is a well-lasting spray - I could still detect it on my skin some 3-4 hours after initial application. It also lasts a really long time - I've easily sprayed it 10-12 times so far and it's not even below the neck of the bottle yet.

If you love Dear John, you will love this new addition to the family. While it's not as condensed as the perfume, it does offer a strong fragrance and it might even appeal to those who love the scent but find the perfume too compact on the skin. I will definitely buy this again and I only hope that Lush choose to release other body sprays that match their favourite scents - they're a great addition to Lush's scent collection.

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Cedarwood Oil (Juniperus virginiana), Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides), Coriander Oil (Coriandrum sativum), Clove Bud Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus), Benzyl, Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

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All Good Things Liquid Perfume

I've never been more excited about a perfume than I have been for this one. When Lush first announced it in the Kitchen last week, the description instantly grabbed my attention - 'a sweet, boozy stumble down a basement staircase in a cloud of candyfloss, and black pepper.' I really couldn't imagine how these smells would fair in a perfume, so naturally I had to invest.

All Good Things is probably the most boring perfume to look at. With a simple strip of yellow around the bottle and the name etched in white, this design isn't very interesting and wouldn't immediately attract your attention. However, it's description is enough to inspire the curious to take a sniff, and perhaps it is this reason that Lush have opted to keep it basic. 

Inspired by the 'bittersweet ending of a relationship', this perfume is a strong and rather complex fragrance - one that matures wonderfully on the skin and smells even better once your warmth has released the different notes.

This perfume is made up of cedarwood, rose and cade oil and tonka absolute, and it is the former ingredient that first makes it's presence known in the bottle. To begin with, the scent reminds me a little of the dominant note in Breath of God - it's a strong, rich and rather woody offering. Except, unlike BoG, this perfume has a sweetness to it that stops it being so pungent. 

Alongside the smokiness of the wood, there is a definite layer of both rose and tonka, and these two combined make this a wonderfully thick and musky perfume. The rose adds a rich but gentle floral layer whilst the tonka compliments this with a natural sugary note. Both of these ingredients dampen the woody element of the perfume and give a wonderfully rich and thick fragrance.                                                                                                                                                       What I love about All Good Things is that the scent continues to develop long after you've applied it to the skin. Within twenty minutes or so, I noticed that the woody notes began to disperse a little whilst the sweet and floral layers remained. Over time, this allows the perfume to mature into more of a musky vanillary fragrance with just a sprinkling of rose and a dash of cedarwood. 

While I wouldn't say that this was a unisex perfume, the complexity of the smells - with both the sweet and smokey, prevents this from being solely a feminine fragrance. Fans who like scents such as Snow Fairy and Creamy Candy, but find them a little two-dimensional to wear as a perfume, might really enjoy this new addition to the Lush family. 

All Good Things is very long-lasting on the skin - I found that I could still detect it some 5-6 hours after I had initially sprayed it. Priced at £20 for a 10ml bottle, it is one of the more expensive perfumes in the new collection. However, you need to apply very little with each use and I can see a small vial lasting me a long time. Another interesting and exciting release from Lush! 

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Cedarwood Oil, Rose Oil, Tonka Absolute, Cade Oil, Anise Alcohol, Citral, Citronellol, Coumarin, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Methyl Ionone.

Vegan?: Yes

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Dear John Bubble Bar

After experiencing Dear John for the first time this week in the form of a soap, I was really interested to see if the scent differed in any way when presented in a different format. You tend to find in scent families, such as the Karma range, that particular ingredients are more prominent, depending on the type of cosmetic you're dealing with. For example, I think that Karma Kream is a very sweet rendition where the fruit is at the forefront, whereas in the liquid perfume the patchouli dominates the overall scent.  

Despite the fact that this scent family first made an appearance well over a decade ago (when the company were known as Cosmetics To Go), the Dear John Bubble Bar is a brand new product to feature this fragrance. 

Unfortunately, my experience of this bubble bar was immediately tarnished when I discovered that for the £3.75 I had invested, I was only getting a bubble bar of 30g. To put this in perspective - all of the other bubble bars that Lush offer for the same price tag, range from 70g - 200g in weight, meaning that you're getting a lot less bang for your buck with this one.

Much like the Rose Bubble Bar that Lush brought out during their Mother's Day range this year, I assumed that perhaps they had concentrated the smell in Dear John so that the bar offered a far stronger scent than you would normally expect in the bigger bars. I was also told that despite it size, Rose was supposed to create the same amount of bubbles as it's bigger siblings so I was expecting this as well with Dear John.

Unfortunately, Dear John didn't do either of these two things. In the bath it produced an average amount of bubbles and I found that the scent dispersed quite quickly so that ten minutes into my soak, I could barely detect the fragrance at all. Furthermore, I found that the water was not in the least bit moisturising as I've come to expect from bubble bars and my skin felt rather parched upon leaving the tub. 

On a positive note, I actually preferred the smell of this bubble bar to the soap of the same name. I found that it was far sweeter to begin with - the citrus element was more prominent which gave it a very uplifting, fruity scent. There was also a stronger thread of cedarwood throughout which gave it a fuller, more complex earthy smell than the soap. Finally, the coffee scent was balanced so that it gave the bar a spicy, slightly smokey smell without making it bitter. 

As I said in my review of the soap, despite there being a whole host of ingredients that make up the Dear John scent, you're presented with a rather mild, comforting smell - not the heavy, overpowering one you would expect from so many different layers. 

Overall, despite loving the smell that Dear John Bubble Bar offers, I was disappointed with the outcome and would not invest in one of these again. Having done a little research, I know that Lush used to offer customers a ballistic and shower gel with this scent, and I only hope that they bring these out sometime soon as I feel I would probably enjoy them more.  

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Vetivert Oil, Coriander Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Cedarwood Oil, Ground Coffee, Clove Powder, Eugenol, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Whole Coffee Bean.

Vegan?: Yes.

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Dear John Soap

As fast as I'm reducing my stash of soaps, the quicker Lush are bringing out more for me to purchase - somewhat diminishing my attempts at shrinking my collection to a 'normal' amount. However, I was keen to try out this particular soap as it's one of the only fragrances I've not yet experienced from Lush's Gorilla Perfume collection. 

Dear John Soap is described as a complex fragrance made up of coffee, tobacco and citrus. Inspired by fathers all over the globe, Lush created the scent as an ode to men everywhere. However, the aroma that I got from this soap is one that can be enjoyed by both men and women. 

When I first unwrapped my chunk, I detected a fresh and fruity lime scent, which wasn't as zesty as Calacas or the Up You Gets Emotibomb, but it was uplifting and reminded me a little of lime cheesecake. Underneath this was the distinctive smell of coffee but again it's been diluted quite a bit so you don't get the pungent, bitter kick that you'd normally associate with this smell. Instead it adds a gentle richness to the scent, giving it a warm, slightly smoky note.  

As someone who dislikes most coffee-scented products, this one proved to be very different to other cosmetics that I have tried and I found the scent rather pleasant. I appreciated the subtly that Lush created by carefully mixing these fragrances into the soap -there is no one ingredient that dominates or unbalances the delicate scent.  

As well as coffee and citrus, you can also detect pine, clove, tobacco, cedarwood, coriander and vetivert in the fragrance. They're not strong enough to be individually extracted with the nose, but they're definitely present in the overall aroma of the soap. Together, these smells help to give Dear John a very gentle, relaxing and slightly earthy scent.  

In the shower, Dear John lathers up really easily and creates a light, bubbly foam that you can massage into your skin. I felt as if the aroma of the soap did intensify a little in the shower, and I was definitely able to smell this on me for a long time after I had exited the bathroom.

This soap did help to make my skin feel cleansed, without being dry. However, my skin didn't feel as moisturised as it normally does after using a shower gel. I found that I had to moisturise after using this as my skin wasn't as smooth as it would have been, had I used another format. 

What I will say about Dear John is that it has a very unique scent - one that is complex enough to keep things interesting, without it being too dominant on your skin. For someone who doesn't enjoy either coffee and tobacco-scented cosmetics, I was surprised that I really enjoyed the aroma that this soap offers.

The soap's fragrance is light enough to be used during the hotter months, but warm and comforting enough to double up as a winter shower companion as well. While I wouldn't claim that this is my favourite soap, it definitely offers a very interesting unisex scent and I enjoyed this very much. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Rapeseed Oil and Coconut Oil, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Perfume, Vetivert Oil, Coriander Oil, Clove Bud Oil, Cedarwood Oil, Glycerine, Sodium Chloride, EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Benzyl Salicylate, Eugenol, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal.

Vegan?: Yes

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Breath of God Liquid Perfume

Breath of God is described by Lush as being a 'critically acclaimed, perfectly balanced perfume.' They go on to claim that this fragrance bridges a gap between masculine and feminine smells; creating one that is universally pleasing to all, and one that develops differently on everyone who wears it so that it moulds to your senses, not yours to it. I suppose, like every opinion, there are going to be those of us who agree with those claims and those who very much disagree. Unfortunately, I am in the latter category. 

The first time I experienced the Breath of God scent was when I tried the toothy tabs of the same name, which I thoroughly enjoyed and have been buying ever since. A few months later, and Lush release Inhale/Exhale, a limited edition bath bomb that also presents the same scent. Again, after initial concerns, I ended up enjoying the experience very much and raved about this unique scent that I just 'had to try more of'. However, when I dared to purchase a bottle of the Breath of God perfume, my reaction was very different to the above.

Described as being a 'thought-provoking fragrance', there are many elements that make up this perfume. There is a mixture of sandalwood, cedarwood, rose, ylang ylang, neroli and benzoin oils, which have all been blended together to create this distinctive smell. Immediately upon smelling this, I can pick up the strong, woody scent of sandalwood alongside the undertones of smoky cedarwood. Then straight after, I also get elements of the lemon and grapefruit oils, which masks the poignancy of the other ingredients somewhat. 

Unfortunately, I did not experience the 'gentle, yet fresh delicious flavour' that Lush describe it as, nor the vanillary, melon-citrus fragrance that other reviewers as described it as being. Instead what I smelt was a mixture of men's aftershave and burnt charcoal - the overwhelming smell you get if someone sprays themselves with too much Lynx and you get a strong whiff up your nose before you have a chance to hold your breath.  

Rather than being able to isolate individual smells and enjoy different layers of scent, I found that Breath of God's fragrance was very domineering and very heavy. To me, it felt as if there were too many ingredients in the mix, which caused them to clash with each other rather than working to create a well-rounded perfume. 

However, like most Lush scents, it quickly fades into a delicate-yet-strong smell that continues to evolve throughout the day. In it's defence, it did remain on me for the entirety of my work day and it did get more bearable when it had mellowed somewhat. However, I still thought that it was a very masculine scent and not something that made me feel uplifted or sensual at all. 

It seems to me that this is very much a 'marmite' type of perfume; you either love it or you hate it. Unfortunately, it didn't match well with my personality and made me feel very boisterous when I had it on. It's too overpowering for my liking and is not one that I'd use again. 

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Cedarwood Oil, Rose Oil, Ylang Ylang Oil, Vetivert Oil, Lemon Oil, Grapefruit Oil, Neroli Oil, Black Pepper Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Cade Oil, *Benzyl Salicylate, *Citral, *Coumarin, *Eugenol, Geraniol, *Citronellol, Benzyl Benzoate, Farnesol, *Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes.

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