Dear John (2004)
by B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful

Starts off really zesty, spicy and crisp, really lovely, however that first impression is quite short lived, and the lime, pine and coriander fade into the background very quickly. All that's left afterwards is a boring and very standard soapy scent. Hugely disappointing, because it really smells great to start off with. I guess I was just expecting something more unusual and special, since that's what I love about LUSH scents.
The staying power is pretty pathetic, after half an hour it's almost completely gone. The one thing I do like about this scent once it's dried down and almost faded is the sort of gourmand cookie note that comes out, however it's not listed in the notes so I'm not sure where that comes from.

9th October, 2010.

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful’s perfumer, Mark Constantine, clearly likes to spend some time hanging around the Comme des Garcons counter. This smells like a confusion of what CdG does really well – warm, deep, hearty spices and bright, zesty synthetics.

It’s supposed to be coffee and lime, apparently. But that comes off as a rich, sweet clove accord with an enthusiastic, effervescent top note. It’s clearly synthetic, like a cinnamon sherbert latte in a plastic cup that’s been put through a Soda Stream. But that’s what makes it very good indeed.

6th September, 2009.

Lovingly created from traditional masculine notes of clove and cedarwood, Dear John is a comforting, soothing fragrance. Sharpened with the vibrancy of uplifting lime and mandarin this woody, musky scent has a wonderfully aromatic quality. Add to this a hint of just brewed coffee, spicy cassia and black pepper and it conjures feelings of security and trust in an instant. Musky and a little smoky too, its reassuring warmth will make the wearer incredibly huggable. I really want to like fragrances from this new sister company of Lush, but so far I'm having no luck. I smelled this from the bottle and tried it myself--it faded fast on my skin and hung around stinkily on the fabric of my shirt. My husband put it on, but it almost immediately disappeared on him as well *sigh*. From the description and from the bottle I had such high hopes.

21st January, 2007.