Dee

[ipb]

John Dee: master of science, alchemy and magic, Hermetic philosopher in the schools of Rosicrucian Christian Mysticism and Platonic-Pythagorean doctrine, and Queen Elizabeth’s astrologer, advisor, cryptologist and spy. With Edward Kelly, he created a field of study and work in Angelic Evocation, and isolated the Angelic language: Enochian. His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods.

first off, i've got to say that leather, rosewood, and tonka are three of my favorite notes, and many of the scents i adore have hints of incense or woods in them. so it should be no surprise that i absolutely ADORE this blend :bowdown:

in the bottle, it's all about the leather and incense. once it hits my skin and starts to dry, it blooms. the rosewood and tonka whip the leather and incense back, and it's absolutely lovely.

it's definitely one of my new favorites

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Rosy woods and warm tonka.

 

Second Impression: If I didn't read the description, I would never have known that there was leather in this blend and that is a very good thing. This gorgeous, warm, romantic, masculine but not in the extreme. The tea rose, tonka and woods blend perfectly to make this a swoonworthy fragrance. The incense peeks out in the drydown keeping Dee from being foppish.

 

Final Analysis: Good throw and staying power with a beautiful drydown, I love this!

[helarctos]

Whoa. Dee smells like .... a man. A really yummy man. Leather and spices.

 

I always pictured the alchemist Dr. John Dee as a venerable old man. Now I'm wondering what he looked like when he was younger.

 

Anyone dressing like Jonathan Strange for Halloween? You so have to wear this scent.

[UltraViolet]

4.5

 

In the bottle

Mmm. This is somewhat of a masculine scent. I do smell a bit of leather and it's nice. This blend smells subtley sweet and a bit brighter than I initially imagined. It's quite lovely. It's a little like being out in some thick woods after a sweet rain, not that it smells like pine and that, in fact it does not, but just the nice smell of leaves and majestic wet redwoods.

 

On

My goodness it's so nice, almost fruity in some sense.

I smell mostly the lovely rosewood, tonka and incense when it's on my skin.

 

30 minutes

That deep rosewood scent dries down nicely. I don't smell the leather anymore but the blend as a whole dries to a lovely yet deep woodsy scent with a middle of sweet incense and a fluttering of parchment papers (so cool, how does she do that) on top.

 

Throw:

Only a wee bit more than average

 

Scent category:

Woody, Incense

 

Summary

I admire the man very much as he was so influential with the Enochian, and Hermetic philosphies.

I've studied his work for years and am convinced of his "mathematics is magic and magic is mathmatics" concepts. It's nice to be able to be reminded of him in a third dimensional way with this scent. I would imagine "Dee" would be an outstanding ritual oil as well and I can't wait to try it in that regard.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. It's so nice smelling and it's quite comforting too.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4.5

Edited November 28, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Lycanthrope]

Following Ultraviolet is like trying to sing Happy Birthday on stage after Pavarotti has stepped off.

 

This smells like the Gothic Reading Room at Duke, i.e., a room filled with old artifacts, ancient bibles and texts all meticulously cared for in a room that has all the moisture pulled out of it so you can feel the dryness on your skin.

 

My sniffer's a bit off today, on account of a mild illness, but I can still detect a mixing of dry, much more deciduous woods mixed with a snap of paper... yes, paper, not cedar or some wood, but the processed and aged mulch of parchment, all blended with a subtle hint of smoke and oxidation for that truly old aroma.

 

The leather is definitely the type that embraces these relics, not the kind one wears out clubbin'.

[nineveh]

The leather in Dee was pretty sharp when wet, but it dries down very nicely.

 

This is warm, woody (like furniture), deep, and slightly smoky. The tonka comes out as the oil dries and gives an unexpected sweetness.

 

Dee actually reminds me a lot of Geek, but lighter and having more of an old study/library feel. I love the parchment note. In fact, I love all the notes, and I love how they've been combined into a comforting and atmospheric scent.

 

The only problem is that I ordered just an imp and not a bottle. I shall correct that immediately.

[sideviewhotel]

This was one of the imps I was waiting for so impatiently andddddd I finally slathered it on. For some reason it's not the one I reached for first.

 

I smell the rosewood right off the bat... and GAH! It seems like that is going to stick. Well, now that I keep sniffing (maybe I'm sniffing the rosewood away!), there's something else coming up to play, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll have to find out another time, because if I keep sniffing my arm I'm going to start coughing.

 

Ohohohoh. WAIT! (Like I could ever stop sniffing a new scent. Stupidstupidstupid. *slaps forehead* What was I thinking??) It's smelling a bit green? That's probably the rosewood mellowing a bit, but it's calming nicely. Yum. I do like this, but not enough to order a big bottle. I'll use the imp in good time, I'm sure.

 

Edit: OMGDEEILOVEYOU! The rosewood has DEFINITELY mellowed out some and the leather & parchment/woods are starting to peek out. Yummy.

 

Second Edit: Yes. This, I think, is my new favorite scent. It has dried down beautifully and the tonka & woods are blending perfectly and the rosewood has mellowed a bit more to be just a background sweetness and..a ;lkshdgalkhsg Lovely.

Edited October 2, 2005 by sideviewhotel

[~AmusedMuse~]

My impression:

Masculine. Woodsy and smoky, incense leather. Not quite what I expected but, truly amazing. After drydown, I find it to be more of a neutral type scent and totally different from anything I have tried from bpal to date. My scale of 1-5...4

[shelldoo]

in the bottle: leathery rosewood

 

wet: hmm soft woods, must be cedar or pine of some sort. this is resinous. i love resins. it is leather, and deep woods

 

as it dries: ahhh this softens, i get whiffs of incense a hint of parchment, and it is all grounded by the deep foresty resinous smell. the leather i catch occassionally but it is like a shadow of leather, not a oh wow leather scent.

 

this is sexy, deep and soft all at the same time. i can see why people say it is masculine, but to me it is definitely something *i* wuld wear and i am not butch or masculine at all i just love me some resins

[spanishviolet]

Smells like a library full of medieval books & maps, with sunlight coming from high windows onto burnished tables in the center of the room. The rosewood & leather give it a subtle richness.

 

I love the way this smells, but I don't think I'd reach for it often. It's got a very neutral vibe, neither masculine nor feminine, and on me this is definitely a skin scent. I'll have to try it again & really slather to see if Dee & I will work out together.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: so very dark. lots of leather and woods.

on: very, very earthy. there's also something sort of menthol-y. this is beautiful. it's very cozy and soft.

half an hour later: so pretty. this is sweeter now, which i'm assuming is from the tonka. i can also smell the incense and a paper-y scent. this is lovely.

1.5 hours later: sweet and wonderful. i adore this.

3 hours later: darker. mostly incense.

overall: i'm not sure about this. it's lovely, but i'm not sure how much i'll wear it.

[feline.by.design]

I was so excited by the notes in Dee I bought a 5 ml unsniffed. I love the leather note, and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.

 

When I first put Dee on, though, all I could think was.... guinea pig cage?! I think the soft woods and parchment paper reminded me of the woodchips in a guinea pig cage. Okay. Not what you were expecting but not particularly bad. If all else fails, I can give this to the boy.

 

Before I started pondering what to make of the connotations towards rodent housing, however, the leather made its appearance, muscling into the woodsy territory, but not quite pushing the notes out of the way. My skin amplifies leather to stratospheric porportions. Seriously, you wouldn't imagine so much leather coming out of a wee vegetarian chick, but it's true. However, as I stated before, I love the leather note, and it's working well in this scent.

 

In Dee, the leather note is more distinguished than its raunchier incarnation in Torture King, more tempered than in De Sade, yet not quite as posh as in Severin. Dee is a bookish fragrance, but the wee smidge I have on my wrist indicates a passionate sort of academia. This would be good on someone who makes fiery speeches, or for the professor you might have had a crush on (or for those who want to be the crush-object professor). It's a "smart, yet emotional" fragrance, as opposed to Severin's "intelligent and detached" aura.

 

The leather note calms a bit after about ten minutes of wear, smelling dead-on those covers from Encyclopedia Britannica my mother had bought that never were used. The woods smell more like crisp pages than hamster cages now. Dee certainly has a lot of throw, as my boyfriend is complaining about its strength in the other room. Yowza. He has allergies, though, so it might be that, or it may be that he took a sniffie when the oil was still wet and there may be a bit on his nose. In any case, as with most of the scents with leather, a little dab'll do ya.

 

Dee will definitely be kept here, although I may give it to my smoochin' partner to try and get him off of Black Pearl. Or perhaps I'll give him a decant instead. In any case, I'm quite satisfied with this rendition of John Dee. I can't picture him as being anything but a nice slice of hotness, however.

 

-doreen

[Monster]

I was expecting something totally different......Dee smells like an older gentlemans cologne. It's woodsy, with a touch of pine and something green. I can't smell too much leather in this. It's sharp and strong. The dry down reminds me or a masculine deoderant.

 

This is a really lovly scent for a man, but unfortunatly it's just not me.

[tesao]

Picture, if you will, a period piece. a mansion in the country, arriving by night via horse drawn coach. The creak of the leather, the brightness of the stars as you are helped out of the conveyance by a footman.

 

You are led by a silent lackey up countless stone stairways that have known the feet and dust of centuries. Up, up, up the dark and twisted ladder.

 

Heavy wooden doors are opened onto a scene of magic suspended in time and space. A huge marble fireplace roars with warmth, yet the room is strangely cool. Incense wafts up to greet you first, to pull you in with the air.

 

Mosaic rosewood floors weave elaborate patterns and unknown languages beneath your feet. The room is furnished with a massive rosewood desk covered in glass beakers, pipettes and tubes. Scrollls of parchment lay scattered amongst dark metal devices that spin and whir, giving off the occasional spark and pop. Small burners reflect the light of the fire flames. An worn cordovan leather couch, divan, armchairs and poufs are scattered about the room.

 

But the study is not dominated by all of this; rather, it is a singular man dressed in black, a black silk skullcap on his ebon curls, who pulls your attention to his piercing eyes that see not you, but straight through you.....

 

My child....he whispers, yet his voice is as strong and as clear as the bells at evening vespers. It pulls you forward, towards him. You instinctively kneel at his feet. He is neither tall nor short, neither young nor old, neither known nor unknown. He is none of these things and he is all of them.

 

He reaches into a pocket of his supple black leather waistcoat and extracts a small vial. He opens it with one hand, noiselessly, and leans forward to annoint your body with it. It smells of vanilla...but not.....he murmurs words you do not know, and you swoon into a swish of silk and satin at his moroccan leather clad feet.....

Edited October 7, 2005 by tesao

[inkmonkeys]

I will keep this brief.

 

I love this blend. LOVE.

I get parchment, I get incense, I get woody-grassy-smoky.

This is not for you if you need to smell Objectively Girly in a peaches and cream sort of, lalalalalaswinginginthegarden,ohlookattheprettybunnies way.

 

However.

If you are like me, and you grew up watching Indiana Jones movies and lusting after his library, if you watched The Mummy 2 and thought, holy crap I love their house and library and that is so ME I would sooooo be in my element there, if you went out and bought Paleontologist Barbie....

Get at LEAST an imp of this. You will not be sorry.

This smells like the inside of The Coolest House In The World, an open structure with no walls and zebra (really) running in and out and a pet leopard (really), which I visited when I lived in Kenya, while they had a fire going in the living room. It smells, specifically, like what the library int hat house would smell like.

 

I have a 5 ml and there will be much more in my future.

 

I love you, Beth. I love you, lab.

Thank you.

[aidenraine]

I am excited to be trying this! The description sounds like something I'd get nerdy glee out of.

 

The imp smells leathery, like an older man's cologne in a dusky library.

 

Wet: (oops, I put a lot on) I smell a strong pine (which is somewhat peppery) and a bit of leather behind that. The wood is very present too, but mostly I am getting pine.

 

Dry: I get the incense now, the library, and the smell of leather. It's musky and really interesting, just the right amount of spicy and woodsy and ... oh yum... I really like this dry.... I want to burry my nose in it. It makes me feel more alert in a weird way. The pine has become an interesting peppery- smell.

 

I got some on my finger and then scratched my upper lip so unfortunately, I can report that it doesn't taste very good

 

It's almost a men's cologne but better than that. Mmmm....

 

Verdict: Yes please! I thought the pine was going to put me off but the drydown is worth it.

[isyche]

in vial: spicy lavender with an underlying sweetness. (checks the description) oh wait, not lavender. I guess that's rosewood? It's softer and not as bitter.

 

on me: that spicy-herbal red-brown rosewood scent with the smooth sweetness of tonka underneath, and maybe a little incense, and now I think I get the parchment...they combine into a light, dry woody-papery sweetness and spiciness. I don't get much leather.

 

Ohh, I love this! I can't stop smelling my hand. It's a little similar to Saint-Germain, but warmer, and I do get a sense of a firelit study with old books and notes everywhere. It's also totally sexy, but in a slightly different way. I'm two for two with the Alchemists so far...love them both, want bottles of them, wish I had a man to slather with them.

[olympia301]

 

Lavender is the first thing I get from Dee, there is a lot going on the background but I am having a hard time picking out what it all is. A very well blended brew, this scent is relentlessly masculine to my nose, a perfect man's scent. It is sophisticated, well read, polite and would be out of place on a lout. I can't pick up the English leather, or pick out the tonka either.

 

It reminds me of a classic scent from way back, whose name I never knew. It is an exceptionally well blended thing, I just think it's not womanly enough for my taste.

[Little Bird]

Rosewood sometimes smells grossly sour on me, and that's all I'm smelling from Dee at first. Strong, sour rosewood with a bit of leather behind it. Luckily, this stage fades quickly.

 

In the drydown, this starts to smell smoother and spicier. Soft woods and a touch of what smells like spicy pine. There's also the warmth of the vanilla-ish tonka.

 

After several hours, this is the softest of woods and light incense. It's lovely and comforting.

 

Dee is a very nice blend. I imagine the man wearing this to be a romantic and sensitive sort, but with a wonderfully witty and passionate side. It actually reminds me of my current boy... and that's who will be getting this imp

[bloodlotus1]

On me: leather.

 

On the BF: A sweet, masculine blend of leather & soft woods. A little piney, a little dry. Good throw.

 

Not for me but BF likes it.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - leather and spices.

 

Dry - leather, incense and a bit of rosewood. Pretty, but ultimately not something I would wear.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[stardreamer]

First impression: Cedar! Lots of cedar in this. Funny that, because there's no cedar in the description...

 

Fresh on: Still cedar, but not like a cedar chest; there's other stuff in there too, though it's harder to identify. Sort of a cedar fougere -- it's noticeably masculine, but not overwhelmingly so. I don't really get any leather or incense, unless they're part of the overall background.

 

Drydown: Wow, this is like the bastard child of Villain and Tombstone! It's a lot like what I was expecting Tombstone to be, but with the sophistication of Villain's "high-class shaving cream" scent as a modifier. I think I like it, though I'll have to be VERY careful about how much I put on. I like the sharp cedar note softened by the whatever-it-is underneath. This would be a good scent for women who want to feel a little butch or to put themselves on equal footing psychologically with a group of men. Staying power appears to be good; after 7 hours, it's still very present on my wrists. I think this one's a keeper.

 

Oh, and if you happen to have read Enchantment, Inc. by Shanna Swendson, this is what Owen wears, unmistakably. (If you haven't read it, I recommend it highly.)

[quikslvr]

Woods first, then soft leather and incense. Very subtle, somewhat sweet, sophisticated masculine blend. I think it's the woods and tonka that pop most for me, but if this soft leather is a new note, then that may be at the forefront too.

 

But screw the notes. This is perfect for its inspiration. Soft, romanticized (but still masculine!) libraries, with a touch of the outdoorsishness in the leather. Gorgeous.

[sarada]

Thank goodness someone gifted an imp of this my way because it's going to be ages before I get my order with an imp of Dee in it! I was very anxious to try this because of the promise of incense, parchment and soft woods.

 

In the imp, this is a bit cologney but reminds me of Old Scratch. I feel like I must be smelling lavender but perhaps it's rosewood. It's a slightly dusty, warm scent that reminds me both of incense and cologne. When I apply it the cologney scent fades instantly. I wonder if that was leather? Leather smells different to me in every blend that I try.

 

This does absolutely marvellous things on my skin. What is it that is so lovely?? I wish I could tell which note is blossoming on me in this way. It is both sweet and smoky, floral in a lavender kind of way (I love lavender), with a dry undertone that must be the soft woods. Of course, anything with wood and incense in it is marvellous on my skin, which warm it and make it last and last.

 

This is so different on my skin than in the imp. It really reminds me of Old Scratch, which I love so much I ordered a bottle (and which is hovering around the edges of my Top Ten these days) but without the very strong and obvious lavender/patchouli notes. It's almost like a different version of the same theme, this time using rosewood and different incense/woods in the background to amp up that gentle, soft, mysterious floral. One of the most amazing things is how it imparts the feeling and scent of dusty books and paper. If this is the "dust" note then maybe I'll try the Rat King too.

 

I can't identify tonka on its own but I love any blend that includes it, as a general rule. Tonka just does good things to a scent. I'm not sure what -- makes them stronger, warmer, gentler...it's just a good thing to have around.

 

This doesn't strike me as particularly masculine except in the imp, where it definitely smells like a dark cologney fragrance. But then it evolves into a less mischievous, more studious Old Scratch. I'm so glad I have another imp in my future -- they should hold me for awhile but I will eventually want more. This has a little bit of everything in it and will have a place of honor in my imp box!

[maewitch]

I got this purely for sentimental reasons and I didn't anticipate actually liking it.

 

And I so DO. This is the Good Parts version of Perversion - all leather and man-spice and that hint of aged wood and just a little sweetness. I'm getting this mental image of curling up in the immense library of an old mansion, after being rescued from the rain in the English countryside somewhere. The table in front of my cozy chair is something medieval and oaky, and there are fresh logs in the fireplace, waiting to be lit. I'm wearing the mysterious gentleman-savior's coat, which smells of leather and the faint remnents of some sacramental incense, mixing with my own sweet vanilla perfume.

 

This blend is sensory, intellectual, evocative and erotic.