The Divine Scientist

[zankoku_zen]

A precise and logical scent, clean and methodical: a shining white aldehyde with cedar, juniper leaf, and elder flower.

[rhonorv]

I've smelled sparkling florals, and I've smelled clean woods, but I've never smelled sparkling woods 'til now!

 

I was worried when I first sniffed this in the bottle and put it on: it's got a fizziness that was a bit too sharp for me and it smelled like pine-flavored soda. It most reminds me of Lightning -- there aren't any aquatic notes here but it's zippy and snappy and very clean.

 

It took a while to settle down, but when it did it was really, really lovely: the cedar comes to the fore and the juniper fizz falls back a bit. Definitely evocative of metal and glass vials and hard edges and SCIENCE. This leans a bit too watery/cologney for me on its own, but I think it will be a fun one to layer.

Edited June 19, 2021 by rhonorv

[bkwy.aesthetics]

This is a deceptively simple list of notes for such a complex scent! Very happy I picked this one up!

 

In Bottle: Smooth, sharp, and clean. A very sparkly opening that goes right to the back of the sinuses

 

On Skin: Becomes a very crisp, woody aromatic that is softened ever so much by the elderflower. Somewhat cologne-like (in a good way), it smells expensive.

 

Dry Down: The notes I'm picking up don't change much, but gracefully soften as the scent fades

 

Wear Time & Throw: On me, the smell became a skin scent around 5 hours after applying, and the throw is very minimal. This is one I'm going to dilute with perfumer's alcohol to make into an spray that will hopefully have more throw and staying power. Plus I can spray it all over my hair and clothes this way 😍

 

 

[doomsday_disco]

The aldehyde (which I think may contain ozone and/or white musk) and elder flower are the main players on me at first, although the juniper becomes more prominent over time and ends up being a little stronger than the elder flower after several hours of wear. I only get a touch of cedar.

 

This is in the same scent family as Twenty-One to me, due to the sparkling quality of the aldehyde and the juniper. It's not something I need more of, but it is nice and refreshing.  

[zankoku_zen]

Zippy clean aldehyde with a whiff of juniper. This smells very clean, and very much like a traditional male cologne. Good throw and wear length.

mr. zee_zee might enjoy this. 

[puellacaerulea]

In the decant: Fresh, clean aldehydes and cedar. The aldehydes are in that "fresh" category that I associate with white musk, rain, ozone, etc. When I apply it, the cedar amps up for a brief period before the aldehydes take center stage again. It's a little soapy to me, but in a nice, expensive, fresh-smelling soap sort of way. The cedar adds a little warmth and pushes it a little into conventionally masculine territory, but it's still primarily a fresh and clean scent. I would have said this would work better on a dude if the cedar had stayed as strong as it did right after applying, but I think it could work on anyone. Good wear time, but low throw after drydown.

[avilion]

Quote

I've written here before about smelling like the mall, and how I truly - and perhaps unjustifiably, I'm very willing to be told I'm wrong - believe that everyone who loves perfume must, on some level, however secret, want to smell like the fancy mall. If you grew up in any kind of suburb, or even in a large city (especially in recent years as cities have begun to more and more closely resemble wealthy suburbs themselves), then you understand what I mean by the fancy mall. The fancy mall might have marble floors. Most of the things in it are white, starting with the floors and the walls. The ceiling is probably glass, but the light filters through all the white floors and white walls around it that by the time it gets into the mall it seems lighter, as though scrubbed. There might be a fake palm tree, or a large number of them; there might be a fountain or some other kind of water-involving decor. The food court calls itself a "hall" or a "market." The bathrooms are very clean. A fancy mall is a mall where every part of the mall feels like the beauty section of its largest department store; the spritzed florals from the marble-and glass funhouse of the perfume counters chase through the entire mall structure.

- Helena Fitzgerald, from The Dry Down

 

She was writing about Estee Lauder's "White Linen," but Divine Scientist just wrenched me back in time 15 years to the Short Hills Mall where I am waiting for my mom to be done shopping at Chico's already so I can go to GameStop.

[Casablanca]

Needle-sharp, clean aldehyde infused scientifically with cedar and blue juniper.

 

This cedar and juniper are beautiful together. After drydown, when the aldehyde fades, I especially love them.

 

Fabulous blend for the concept. Though I don't like aldehyde enough to want to upgrade to a bottle, the cedar and juniper are so lovely, I'm still tempted.

[Hesper]

Imped from Ajevie, FS'd as I love having variety.

A little dewy and ozonic, as though it's rainwater collected from the tips of mountain juniper and kept in a shining glass flask to wash in a holy place. Elderflower offers just a hint of something behind that aerial cleanliness, and prevents it from feeling too Irish Springs soapy: sweet intuition darting through the pure logic and intellect of the scientist, flickering in and out as the scent warms up. It takes on a little syrupy quality reminding me of my bottle of elderflower liqueur, til the place it takes me to is a forested mountain clearing blooming with flowers and welling with the uprush of a spring. I love having an ozone I can wear! One more for my None Gender half of the collection.

[skyturtles]

I LOVE this. I picked out an empty bottle of The Divine Scientist as a free sniffie, and was so intrigued that I knew I had to have more. My bottle just arrived yesterday and I am so glad that I treated myself with it. It does smell Divine, the scent of clean light and enlightenment. A moment of clarity in a church or temple or shrine, where the priest or priestess is wearing really expensive garb. The aldehyde keeps it all from smelling like a forest or a gin tonic. Elderflower is always lovely in the way that it does not overpower and instead enhances anything it's paired with. I would say that this is gender neutral.

 

TLDR; this is one of my top favorites.

[Threemoons]

In the bottle: Very clean smelling, slightly floral aldehyde, almost ozone-like. On, wet: Getting a really lovely sweet and resinous juniper and fir note that jumps to the front of the line. Drydown: The floral note starts to come back to the front, but it's in perfect harmony with the resins. A really fresh yet somewhat wintery thing; kind of reminds me of the early Winter/late Fall air near the Pine Barrens.
 

[Thuy]

From the bottle, it's definitively a sparkling clean scent. Something that'd help with clearing your mind for the task at hand.

Once applied, holy bananas. It is STRONG with very good throw, almost alarmingly good throw for just a few test dabs! My nose was not prepared! The cedar and juniper leaf warm up, and with the elderflower, this is a heavy clear floral. Clear as in its presence is very much there but the aldehyde gives it an airiness. This could have easily worn well all day but it was unfortunately a scrubber for me.