Djedi - A True Fragrance Discovery - Page 2

I'm so glad you're over those perfume allergies - I'm waiting with great expectancy. Everyone notices different facets. I wonder what yours will be?
The last time I tried Djedi, in broad daylight outside, it struck me what an authentically evocative fragrance it is. It didn't need the magic of a cool evening sunset and wine to bring it out.

May I add a thought ?

You've phrased it so beautifully.

I find myself in a primaeval place, dappled with light, but deep and secluded.
It is moist, earthy,and offers itself to my senses, burgeoning flowers, just barely,
Rhizomes, soil, a well-worn saddle in there, somehow, like a subtext.

Ancient but timeless, it will endure and be ageless.

Hi chayaruchama... may I call you chaya?

Quick! add your impressions to the fragrance directory.

Yes, timeless, ageless. Guerlain just HAS to bring this back.

My dear, it seems I have found a soul sister.

"Ancient but timeless........".
And there is the snare for me.

There is beauty and love that can rip your heart out.
You can almost smell something of eternity in this scent. The power of it makes it also vulnerable. The contradiction.

It feels like too much to hold, too precious, too beautiful. As if it was never meant to be worn by a human being.
Almost a sacrilege to bring it back to what it was in the beginning, at creating: the composing of notes.

Flathorn, may I quote you? You said earlier on:

"In a thread last winter people were speculating what fragrances Catherine and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights might wear. I said the soul scent they had in common would have been Black Aoud. But I now feel it would be Djedi. It has an air of time past Black Aoud doesn't".

You could not have been more right. This is almost heartbreaking tragedy poured in a fragrance.
I am fully aware that my feeling has its roots in the past, but somehow Djedi manages to magnify what you are feeling.

I don't know how to handle this yet. So please, have some patience with me.
Notes you all can find, but the feeling this gem evokes will be different for all of us.
And I will give passion and feeling the time that is needed.

Riannon -
Please take all the time you need. This fragrance needs to be treated with respect. For those whom Djedi works it seems to go straight to the soul, as is evidenced by the strong reactions. Jacque Guerlain is now at the top of my list - any that will try topping him must wrestle with Djedi.


Chayaruchama -
My goodness, you have such an evocative gift - so beautifully soulful. You must write as many reviews as you can - you owe it to all us.

I'd be honored to share my thoughts with you...
I appreciate the candor, and generosity of the increasingly vast perfume community I've only recently discovered [it's been about 18 months now].

Some truly amazing folk-
And it's yet another way to 'shrink the world'.

Finale

What a difference a day makes. The first whiffs of Djedi in that night of thunder and lightning were evoking all the sad memories.
Now, a humid day with overcast weather. Outside a blackbird is singing to the whole world that he is the most beautiful bird there ever was. Happy with life.
How could I feel sad with that sound of joy in my ears and the soft nuzzling of a rabbit at my feet. Sweet feelings of life, so small, so precious. And a precious scent on my wrist. Changed again.

As I said before: Djedi is capable of taking your feelings and magnify them. When you are feeling sad, she makes that feeling almost intolerable. But you still love her.
When you are feeling happy and catch a whiff of her, it is like taking love into your hands.

A mood fragrance, adapting to each skin and every mood in a different manner. There are many scents around that I love and use to evoke a special feeling. Like feeling unhappy and reaching for sparkling Pamplelune, for Jicky to ease pain and bring peace.

Djedi is as far as I know the only scent that is simply following my mood. Allowing me to feel what I have to feel, making it an intenser experience. When I feel sorrow I now know I will not be able to wear her. But otherwise.......Lord, she is the perfect companion, listening to your heart with understanding. Yes, almost human as strange as it may sound.

And in the beginning there was a genius. He took the notes is his hands and created a miracle. Like Blodeuwedd was created out of flowers and became a woman. Only her story is sad. Djedi is the story of the one who is wearing her.. But most of all she is a gift of love and beauty.

I wish Purplebird was here again. Standing at the cradle of this inspired idea to let one special scent travel over continents and oceans and give us a whiff of the beauty that was given to her.

And just as she told me, this vial is still not empty so I will sent it back to her. In deepest gratitude.
And loving you all who have held this in your hands and somehow added to the magic of it.

Riannon and flathorn and chaya and all the other reviewers, thank you. I have been experiencing Djedi vicariously through the beauty of your words. Thank you all, again

Amen, sister!

Such wonderful symbolism, this nearly empty, little glass tube holds.

If you haven't already mailed it out, Riannon, perhaps you could print out some of the Djedi comments she has missed out on to send along.

Thank you, that is an excellent idea!! I am going to print everything from the moment she went away.

Maybe it even will bring her back to us.

Hm, I bought a decant of this after reading this thread.

I thought, I can wear all the bad girl perfumes, they are some of my favorites, Bandit, Habanita, Femme de Rochas etc., Messe de Minuit doesn't phase me, bring on the civet, Djedi didn't scare me.

Well I put a dab on my wrists, and sniffed. Okay, not to bad on the top notes, but nothing special, kind of reminded me of many other vintage Guerlains I'd tried.

Then the base notes crept in, I smelled something familiar, it smelled like my own spit! I asked a neutral party (my non-perfume wearing boyfriend) does this smell like my spit or what? We did a semi-scientific comparison. The smells matched.

Now, my spit doesn't smell like everyone else's, perhaps it is something strange about my chemistry. It isn't a really great smell, I don't really like it, it isn't horribly offensive but not pleasant at all (just like Djedi). Apparantly Djedi's notes are made from my saliva. If I would like to wear the scent of Djedi in the future, but lack funds, perhaps I can just lick my wrists.

Ah, Djedi... I had the pleasure of discovering her yesterday evening.

After all the elaborate reviews of this rare and precious juice, I didn't know what to expect other than a fragrance full of personality. I carefully applied a drip to the back of my hand and slowly moved it towards my nose. The opening notes reminded me of ancient times: the dusty rooms of a castle, the pharaoh's final resting place. A pure, dark and slightly smoky vetiver leads the way to some of the Guerlinade-notes others have talked about here. They are, however, never too pretty or boudoir-like; it's the soil and earthy notes that speak clearly, in a very intense and emotional way.

It never really turned animalic on me and I couldn't find much civet, but there's a lot of 'power' in here nonetheless. The very late drydown, after about 12 hours, smells quite green to my nose and the many facets of vetiver are clearly present almost all the way through.

Djedi is without doubt a one of a kind scent. It takes you back to days long gone, it sucks you in completely to show her beauty, but she is never pretentious. A bottled legend.

My quick impressions of Djedi (thanks so much to Dimples for letting me try such a rare marvel!)

I'm not as poetic as most of you, so bare with me.

Upon first sniff...civet, and lots of it. I sensed a floral background, but the overwhelming civet note was most pronounced at this point. Lush, green and dirty...all of which I love. As it settled, the musk notes became more obvious. I found the drydown to be the greenest part, which I guess is the vetiver shining through.

Very daring, very unusual and very animalic. The lack of sweetness makes it stand on a pedestal from the likes of MKK in my opinion, which I find to have a cloying quality.

Although I samples several new jems last night, Djedi stood out to me as something very unusual, especially for Guerlain. I doubt I'll ever get the pleasure of owning a bottle, but I was happy to get the chance to sniff.

Oh how I love this fragrance. When it was re-issued, Roja Dove was the one who "chose" this as my scent. We were trying a little Vega on one arm, a little Champs Elysee (re-issue of original) on the other, then a small dab of Djedi on my decolette. Well I loved Vega, and the original Champs was lovely, but I really could not smell (obviously) the Djedi. Roja told me "Patience, give it a moment to warm on your skin, and you will experience it." Well I did, it wafted up and it was like magic. I held out the collar of my blouse, so to create my own scent tent, and just inhaled. It was the most wonderful thing. I bought it instantly, and let me tell you "It was pricey, $1250.00 pricey to be exact." But, I will always treasure it, it is a "me" scent; exotic, pungent,earthy smoky, as Roja said "You were born to wear Geurlain fragrance", thank heavens he never smelled any of the newer ones on me...he would have told me to flee. Talking about Djedi...goodness it makes me want to do the Charleston, in a flapper dress. I wore it on Thanksgiving just past, and it was such a lovely treat. The funniest thing was; when I was in Bergdorfs, this year past, I put on a little Vega the re-issue of the re-issue if you will, and my boyfriend found it "meh" as he said. So once again I am confirmed that my Djedi was money well spent.

Thank you for the telling of that story, Brielle87. Really lovely.

BTW, you're invited over to my house for next Thanksgiving.

I'll bring the fragrance, oops I mean wine.

I have been silent until now about Djedi, since I was - and am - in awe, but it's high time to add my feelings to this thread. Now, on my skin there's a remarkable difference between "dabbed" and "sprayed" .


Dabbed= ....I get the vetiver and the animalic note right at the start. The animal subsides shortly thereafter and the slow dance of soft powder begins, weaving in and out. Glimpses of dark, wet, decomposed foliage and ancient woods. Trails of sadness, of melancholy, of deep knowledge. The Dark Mother, she who knows all.

Sprayed=....incense and the somber recesses of the soul. Thick smoke, fog on still waters. The scent of Avalon's barge, the scent of Morgaine, full of wisdom but condemned to never find happiness.

Is there no sun in demanding and somber Djedi? I still don't know if I love it or hate it. Indifference seems not to be an option.

Since I can't afford Djedi, and don't want to feel deprived by sampling it, Cuba Black will have to do. It is like nothing else I have. Think of a pile of dry ashes with a damp flower of some sort on the bottom of it. There's no development and I wish it had better longevity, but at $10 for 4.2 ounces, I'm not complaining.

I was lucky enough to sample Djedi and smelled side by side to Veroprofumo Onda. As others have said Onda is the closest approximation to the haunting Djedi.

And now a question to the ones who love Djedi: who has tried the Djedi Eau de Toilette?
It was for a very, very short time sold by TPC, starting 16th February. A limited edition made by Guerlain for some VIP clients.

I have tested the EDT and the Extrait side by side and really would not have recognised the EDT as Djedi in the way you recognise, say, Jicky or Shalimar EDT when you test those against the Extrait..
I wonder if the ingredients used for Djedi were so expensive and rare that Guerlain replaced some of them. But then, this EDT (in 250 ml. bee bottles) was made in a very limited amount for cherished customers, so....why should they do a thing like that?

Only in the dry down you can detect a very faint whiff of the amber and leather. Very disappointing. But then, it may be my bodychemistry reacting to some replaced ingredients.

I wrote a bit on my impression of Djedi in the news/thoughts section of my Guerlain-site: http://monsieurguerlain.blogspot.com...limar-xxx.html

And such a beautiful site it is!!

Totally agreed on "a restrained, austere, mystic sensuality" and "superbly crafted". What you call the "somewhat stodgy-monotonous and almost sour quality"......yes, that is exactly what I experienced in de EDT version.
But....never in the Extrait.

Bodychemistry again?

Thanks for the praise! (And the Djedi sample!) About the body chemistry thesis: I read more and more that it doesn't really count...? It could be more about subjective taste - OR also (I fear that) be a result of 'the grapes are sour; sour grapes!'

Maybe it was just a joke what you said about 'the grapes are sour', but I really think you could have a point there.

When I only had a sample, I loved Djedi but told myself that maybe it was a bit too earthy, a bit too.........Well, I made excuses not to love it too much because I never expected that I once would have my own bottle. I did not want to fall in love with an impossible dream.

Having a bottle made a huge difference. I can love and appreciate it now without holding back. And when it sometimes does not smell as beautiful (point for the bodychemistry, I think), there will be another opportunity to try again.

The last year I have seen at least three bottles on eBay, so one day you will be lucky enough and grab that beauty
Fingers crossed for you!

Could not have said it any better. My exact thoughts! And your BigBay news is encouraging. I had the same thing going on with the older versions of Mitsouko, BTW, and now I can fully understand, appreciate and love what I got. Perhaps, some day with Djedi.

So now I got it, the grapes are not sour anymore, and neither is Djedi! This is what I wrote about it on my Guerlain-site:

Leather scents are strong, dry, dark and mineral scents, invented in the mid-1920s, and their characteristic smell of machine oil suited perfectly man's fascination with machines, factories and futurism at the time. As always, Jacques Guerlain wasn't late to grasp modernity's signs, and already in 1926 he had created Djedi, Guerlain's first and only real leather chypre. The name was not borrowed from its contemporaries, but from an ancient Egyptian magician who reputedly was able to bring back the dead to life. And the perfume is indeed as strange and mystic as a magician. It mixes rose, vetiver, musk, oakmoss, leathery notes and civet into a dark-green, solid and heroic perfume, and as such, it's considered to be the first, and most unusual, of Jacques Guerlain's dark '1930's style'-perfumes, despite it being closer to Shalimar in time. It's sensual, but it's a very different sensuality than Shalimar's deep, playful and generous orientalism. It's a restrained, austere, mystic sensuality. The closest sister to Djedi is perhaps Liu that is equally dry, not a mossy, leathery dryness, but one that comes from dusty rose and aldehyde. Djedi's next-nearest sister must be Vol de Nuit, created with the same dark-austere spiciness as Djedi, but laid on a sweeter, oriental background, not a dry leather one. Perfume experts Roja Dove and Luca Turin have described it as 'the driest perfume of all time' and 'a tremendous animalic vetiver', respectively. The bottle for Djedi is rectangular and severe, inspired by architectural functionalism, with a ground glass stopper covered with gilded metal, and placed in a dark-green leather box with a roof-shaped lid. The Djedi bottle is actually a modified version of the 'biscuit shaped' bottle from 1916.

I recently tested Djedi (a small decant from The Perfumed Court) and found it to be quite fascinating and well worth the cost.

I only smelled Djedi once about 10 years ago. It deserves all the praise it's been given. The girls over at The Perfume Court think Onda by Vero Profumo is the closest thing to Djedi and currently comes in Parfum Extrait. Maybe worth sampling?

Onda - 7.5 ml - $145.00
15 ml - $230.00

Ouch! It may be better than bidding $1500.00 or more on ebay for Djedi

I just read an interesting piece of Guerlain trivia:

With Jean-Paul Guerlain approaching 90 years of age at the end of the 1980s, the family-owned company recognized that it would soon face a problem of succession. The 25 Guerlain heirs formed a family holding company, Djedi Holding SA, to group their interests. (from: http://www.answers.com/topic/guerlain?cat=biz-fin).

Interesting secret-news with the family holding company called Djedi Holding SA! But Jean-Paul was born in 1937, making him only 50 in 1987!