Dr. John Seward

[filigree_shadow]

Well, my dear, number One came just before lunch. I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic asylum man, with the strong jaw and the good forehead. He was very cool outwardly, but was nervous all the same. He had evidently been schooling himself as to all sorts of little things, and remembered them, but he almost managed to sit down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do when they are cool, and then when he wanted to appear at ease he kept playing with a lancet in a way that made me nearly scream. He spoke to me, Mina, very straightforwardly. He told me how dear I was to him, though he had known me so little, and what his life would be with me to help and cheer him. He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I did not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said he was a brute and would not add to my present trouble. Then he broke off and asked if I could love him in time, and when I shook my head his hands trembled, and then with some hesitation he asked me if I cared already for any one else. He put it very nicely, saying that he did not want to wring my confidence from me, but only to know, because if a woman's heart was free a man might have hope. And then, Mina, I felt a sort of duty to tell him that there was some one. I only told him that much, and then he stood up, and he looked very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his and said he hoped I would be happy, and that If I ever wanted a friend I must count him one of my best.

Penetrating and gifted, vulnerable, with just a hint of opium-blurred delirium: poppy smoke, champaca flower, tonka, sandalwood, ginger, white pepper.

In the bottle, it smells surprisingly softly floral.

On, it smells sweet and hazy, and not really floral at all. I can smell the tonka pretty clearly when it's wet, but not as much any more after it's dry. It's definitely smoky, but it's a sweet smoke, and it becomes more floral as it dries. This is the kind of sweetness that I usually associate with fruity notes, though, and I don't know where that's coming from. I wish I could say what that sweetness is, because it sticks around when the oil is dry. (It reminds me a little bit of bubblegum, to be honest.)

This is not quite what I expected because it's more feminine than I had imagined it would be. Which is not to say that the right guy couldn't pull it off, of course. I thought the champaca flower would give it more of a nag champa feel like in Two Monsters, but that's not how this scent is working.

When it's dry, my overall impression is that it's a sweet softly smoky floral with a little bit of sandalwood and an interesting edge from... is that pepper? (I don't know, usually cedar smells peppery to me, and this doesn't smell like cedar at all.) It really does have a kind of blurry, hazy quality to it, too.

I think I'm doing a really sucky job with this review because I'm having a hard time picking out the notes. But I can say that even though this is not what I thought it would be, I do like it.

[portalkat]

I am so glad that I bought a bottle of this. The strongest part of this blend is the champaca flower and the sandalwood all sweetened by the tonka. There is a spiciness, too and over everything is the opium. This is an absolutely wonderful take on the basic nag champa blend and hoardable in my book.

 

I have been wearing this now for about 5 hours and I just need to say that this scent sends me swooning

Edited September 29, 2006 by portalkat

[bicyclette]

Ooh, this is nice.

 

On first sniff in the bottle, this was a lot sweeter than I expected. I was anticipating a bit more spice from the ginger and pepper, but in the bottle it was almost foody. I get a bit of a buttery note. That persisted wet on my skin and I feared the BPAL Butter Popcorn Note of Doom, but thankfully it disappeared almost immediately. The blend deepened almost immediately to a sweet warm floral, grounded by the sandalwood. This reminds me a lot of Khajuraho, my first OMG! BPAL oil, and that's unsurprising as they share sandalwood (although Khaj has white sandalwood) and champaca flower as notes. That's definitely what's amping on my skin, and I'm not getting any spiciness from the ginger. There's a bit of smokiness rounding things out, too. Oh, wait! now I'm getting some of the pepper, I think. As it's drying the heady florals have toned down and I'm getting smoky and spicy along with my sweet. Yum. I tested sparingly from the rim, but I'm willing to bet this will have great throw when I slather.

 

This is not at all what I expected, but I love it.

Most likely a second bottle purchase before these guys go away. Love the creepy label, too!

 

ETA: the pepper really comes out to play on drydown. It's almost all pepper now.

Edited September 29, 2006 by bicyclette

[oedipa]

I bought this imp off filigree_shadow for a friend, but couldn't help myself and tested on my own wrist first. Shh, don't tell!

 

Wet on skin: Hmm, floral? Oooh, and it's got some of that opium smoke that I've come to love in Chrys Moon...

 

5 minutes: Mostly smoke, and it's starting to get woodsy. Then pepper! And ginger! And florals! But they're all gone soon.

 

10 minutes: Florals are back, with sandalwood and pepper. This is such a bizzare scent, I'm not sure what to make of it!

 

2 hours +: I took a shower and it mostly washed off, but not before I was thoroughly baffled and amused by the pepper/flower/smoke/wood smell.

 

Final verdict? Not for me, but I think my friend will like it.

[theseagrows]

this is a very sweet floral with some smokiness and i think i sense the pepper. ive tried other scents with champaca, but i believe the note wasn't as prominent in them. it's a pretty scent for someone who likes sweeter florals, but it doesn't work for me. i think it'd work better on my skin if it was smokier with less floral.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

This plays out as Champaca augmented by the other notes. It's as if they all combine to make a lovely Champaca Accord that's been softened around the edges.

 

The Ginger and Pepper are caught up in the Tonka, I suspect. Interesting balance of notes here.

Edited October 6, 2006 by Heavenlyrabbit

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle, this didn't have much of a smell at all.

 

Wet, the opium smoke was the predominate note, spicy and rich. It was a bit masculine, but I really liked it.

 

Dry, it was a cloying floral. The hell? Some sweet, sweet flower that made me want to ditch the bottle entirely and scrub my skin.

 

Dry, a few minutes later, the flowers have been subsumed beneath a flurry of sweet ginger and pepper. It's not much like the scent of the wet oil, but I like it.

 

Since I'm at a 'everything smells funny on me' stage of my monthly cycle, I'll put this back and revisit it next week. Watch this space. ETA: On revisit, this was vile. Cloying and sour incense. I never thought I'd find a perfume that smelled better on me during my period. Ugh. Not for me.

Edited October 22, 2006 by harmonyfb

[savage_rose]

In the bottle: Asian stir-fry sauce . Now, good stir-fry sauce, mind you, but an odd perfume indeed!

 

Wet: Not getting the ginger at all now...I think that's tonka and sandalwood? And something sweet, champaca flower maybe?

 

Dry: A very subdued scent...it's really indescribable. It's like nothing I've ever smelled, but at the same time...odd, but in a very mundane and kind of homey way. It's definitely a good scent for the character, in my opinion.

[azhriaz]

This one's intriguing... spicy, smoky with a strange sharpness to it. Usually I find that one or two notes are especially noticeable but that doesn't seem to be the case here, which could be why I'm finding it difficult to describe. There seems to be a lot going on.

 

It sweetens up a little on my skin, and I think the throw is predominantly sweet because after I'd been wearing it for a few minutes my boyfriend came along and asked me if I'd been eating strawberries! Maybe his insanity is catching because I can sort of understand why.

 

This scent strikes me as muted, yet unsettling. I really like it, and will be very interested to see how it ages.

[cuervosueno]

I swapped for a bottle of this unsniffed because I was positive I would like it. poppy smoke (which before I corrected it, I had typed as poopy smoke) , chamaca, sandalwood. ginger, etc. There is nothing in it I don't like.

 

and the first reviews sounded like I would like it. I was hoping for something like midnight on the midway.

 

Then I got a sniffy, and I have to say.....

 

 

this is not AT ALL what I expected.

 

in the imp and wet it smells like....fruit. Pomegranite maybe. Fruit and floral. I get none of the expected notes at all.

 

Very odd indeed, but I doubt very much it is mislabled.

 

Well, when I get the bottle, I'll compare, but I suspect the Dr. will be moving on from my house too.

[edenssixthday]

Dr. John Seward - When I first apply this, it's a soft, opium-laced nag champa scent that's brightened up just a touch by the ginger (which smells more like ginger flower than ginger root). It's absolutely gorgeous. After sniffing it, the word "delirious" came to mind, and sure enough, there it is in the scent description. It really is a delirium-induced scent. When I first apply it, the throw is really nice and it smells so pretty, but within 10-15 minutes, it has almost completely disappeared from my skin, and I can barely smell it even when I sniff my skin up close. I have tested it several times and fades quickly every time. However, when I take a look at the notes in it, I think this is going to age quite nicely, so I'm going to tuck away my imp and try it again in 6 months or a year and see if I don't have better results down the road.

[sofiaviolet]

This is all about the opium. It's very frail and dusty and opium-like. I think the champaca is making my existing headache worse, though. To the swaps!

[dawndie]

In bottle: slight woody incense

 

On skin: the woody incense is there for only a flash, then it's a real jumble of florals

 

Half-hour later: still lots of floral with a woody undertone, like a bouquet sitting on a rustic chest. Neither the florals nor the incensey nag champa is overpowering, it's a nice combination

 

In conclusion: this is like a more floral Hellion to me. It seems more feminine than the name implies -- I wanted something more masculine and drug-addled

[hologhost]

In the bottle this smells like smoke over flowers.

 

On me, it quickly becomes all smoke. Interesting, but not a keeper.

[furygrrl]

In the bottle: Why am I smelling...butter?

 

On wet: I'm getting whiffs of buttered corn mixed with a high-pitched floral of some kind. So far this is not at all what I was expecting - it's actually kind of scary.

 

Drydown: Oh...oh yes...*this* is more like it - the good Doctor's finally decided to leave his popcorn-shilling ways behind him! The scent rising from my wrist is now deep and smooth and wonderful. The darkly sweet, almost fruity mix of tonka, sandalwood, and champaca flower dominates, followed by hints of smoke-laced ginger and the occasional whisper of a dry, almost woody peppery-ness. Delicious!

 

Overall: Even though I was put off by the buttery popcorn + bathroom-florals-from-hell stage, and wish this was a *tad* smokier, DJS is still an incredibly beautiful blend. The drydown alone rates an easy 4/5.

[shellyshells]

Dr. John Seward-

 

Hah, in the bottle I smell oatmeal cookies! What??

On me, holy moly wasn't ready for it.

It's so beautiful! I think this is my favorite so far of the OotD lot.

While its wet I get hints of smokiness with floral, must be the champaca.

The drydown is even better. The tonka and sandalwood are what I smell most during the drydown, mixed with a bit of gingeriness.

Its soft and stays close to my skin, which I like.

Definitely a keeper.

[astridclaire]

Oh champaca, how I love thee!

 

I couldn't resist getting this one. Champaca, tonka, AND sandalwood? Yum.

 

This is a gorgeous blend, but much lighter and drier than I had imagined. It's a lot like Khajuraho but not nearly as sweet. Speaking in wine terms, Khajuraho is like a thick, wet, sweet port while Dr. John Seward is like a dry, light, smoky white wine.

 

After it dries down and sits for a few hours, the champaca fades quite a bit and becomes a very dry sandalwood/ginger/pepper smoke.

 

The color I get from it is a very dusty lavender when wet, and a beautiful cashmere gray when dry.

Edited October 26, 2006 by sensualreality

[forspecial_plate]

I like Dr. John Seward...although my review may imply that I don't.

 

At first it's a big rush of high, sweet floral which is either the champaca itself, or maybe in combination with the poppy smoke, although I'm not getting anything smokey here. It is heady and delirious, although not in the darker way that I was hoping for. What it does smell like is artificial banana flavor. It's such a strong association that I'm surprised nobody else got it so far. Just my skin, I guess...

 

After it dries a bit the 'banana' floral backs off and lets some of the other notes come forward just a bit. If they are there at all, it's all supporting the main floral feel of this. I don't get any sandalwood that I can tell, and not really any smokiness at all. Ginger and white pepper....if I think about it, they might be coming out just a little bit. So far the times I've worn this I fell asleep before it faded completely...then when I woke up a couple hours later it was gone. *poof* Not much throw, and not a lot of staying power. But my skin is dry a lot of the time so that might contribute.

 

I do like this, it smells kind of classy or sophisticated, and quite unusual and unique. I'm definitely holding on to it in hopes that aging it will bring out more of the smokiness and spiciness that I really wanted.

[euterpe414]

This scent is so fabulous! On my skin it is incredibly well blended. I can't pick out notes in particular, but I know that all of the ones listed are present. I get a smoky incense and floral with a hint of foody (strange I know), which I blame on the tonka and ginger. I want to eat my arm, or make out with it, or something. Yum.

 

This has incredible throw on me too, it wafts all around me evn though I only put a dab on my arm to test it.

 

I love this one, it may be my favorite, but really all of the OotD scents are fantastic.

[Little Bird]

When I did my initial sniffing of all of the new scents in their bottles, Dr. John Seward was my favorite. It surprised me by smelling like a masculine version of The Candy Butcher (minus the weird plastic smell that I get from The Butcher). If I didn't know what was in it, I would have guessed that it had vanilla cream, cocoa, and black musk. I can smell the lovely sandalwood as well.

 

I was afraid to try this on myself, because my skin amps up opium poppy and I have a really bad reaction to opium (migraines and nose bleeds - very weird).

 

On me... smoky opium poppy and pepper. Dries down to smoky opium and creamy tonka. The tonka has an almost foodie vanilla smell.

 

I like the tonka, but I had to wash this one off after 15 minutes, as the opium was too strong and overwhelming.

 

If you were looking for a good opium and sweet vanilla combo, John Seward is for you.

[maijasu]

On me, this was smoky and also syrupy sweet, almost nauseatingly so. It sounds like a wonderful blend, but these notes are just not playing nicely on my skin. Too bad.

[Athena's Owl]

Dr. John Seward

 

bottle:

ohhhh.

 

yesterday I was asking for something that was "nutty." i am getting this buttery candied almond smell. I like it. it's not what i expected of dr. john. I LIKE it.

 

wet:

now add plastic doll heads.

 

dammit! I'm getting my period soon, aren't i? but not to worry, not to worry. there's something else going on here that I'm really loving. Hello, tonka. just step on the barbies... there you go. oh, ginger! I catch a whiff of it.

 

dry:

plastic doll heads gone.

 

and how weird that I smell apples. I didn't get this confused with harvest moon, did I? but apples, or burning apple wood, I'm not sure. or sandalwood? some kind of wood. cedar? and then flowers. they're lovely flowers. that must be the champaca.

[sarada]

I'm so glad that I got a bottle of this...it was a bit of a surprise, since I made a list and didn't know what I would get as gifts.

 

And this is a surprise favorite! I can see where everyone is coming from with all of the rich variety of impressions on this one: I do smell banana at one point, and I get a plasticky smell for a moment and then think it's a little more foody/creamy than I typically like, but the overarching scent is thus:

 

A sweet woody incense, the champaca of Two Monsters without the leather, and the boozy sugary smoke of Devil's Night. There are so many impressions that I get from this that aren't in the listed notes though, I don't know what to do!

 

The most exciting thing about this is it's one of those scents that really comes to life in the air. Put it on or better yet, in a locket, and it will take on a life of its own, acting out a different scene in smoke signals each time it takes to the air.

 

Incidentally, opium/poppy are among the absolute worst scents for me and I typicaly dislike them, but I LOVE this blend and I don't smell anything in it that reminds me of that opium smell that so often gives me a headache.

[zenvodunista]

This is the secret hit of tOotD. Eveyrone is oohing and ahing over Lucy, and Quincy... and here is mad John Seward quietly gibbering in the corner. Lean close though, and you'll find he's not as mad as he seems and quite possibly holds the keys to the kingdom of understanding.

 

Sweetly mysterious, rich without being ostentatious, I LOVE this Doctor and will be getting a bottle ASAP.

 

It's extraordinarily blended, I can't pick out the notes. It smells very .... sophisticated, expensive, elegant. Powerful.

 

It's almost reminiscent of honey or mead somehow, but without the cloying qualities of those notes. That must be the champaca that reminds me of a drier Kajuraho...

 

I love this.

 

Sorry for the inchoherence...

 

ETA: It finally struck me what this scent is like! If Khajurajo and Two Monsters had a baby. Yep. So, if you like both those scents, get this. As for me, I love it. Especially since I find Khajurajo to be a little to *sweet* for my skin chemistry - John Seward is a drier champaca.

 

n.

Edited November 5, 2006 by zenvodunista

[supremegoddessofall]

Peppery florals. There is a smoky feel to it, and a bit of candied ginger as well. Not getting any sandalwood here. Something in here smells resigned.