Silk Road

[Mathenia]

A panoply of cultural treasures, spanning the herbs, flowers, oils and balms of the Romans, the Byzantines, the Mediterranean, the Levant, Northern China, Eastern Europe, Iran, the Bulgar-Kypchak, Mesopotamia, the Crimean Peninsula, Anatolia, Antioch, and North Africa.

I think I was expecting something very strongly spicey with this and I was looking forward to it. What I got was not what I expected. The best way I could explain it was that instead of getting the scent of the stores at the journey's end, I got the scents of the journey itself. Sure there were spices, but there was sand, and the dust from the mountain paths, camels and yurts, a hint of this spice, then that one, and last of all, silk itself. Really, this doesn't last anywhere long enough! The scent ran out long before I was finished puzzling out the mix. I'm utterly entranced!

imp: spices and florals, mostly
wet: "hot" spices, florals, the mountains approaching
drying: sand, camels, silk, spices floral in that order pretty much
dry: sand, silk, spices, floral, mountains
lingering: silk
For "mountains" I seem to smell sunlight on granite, pine woods, a bit of animal, composting leaves and needles...it's definitely there.

I'm trying this at work tomorrow, hope it doesn't get overwhelmed by the scents there.

[Lyrical]

In vial: hard to pick out notes, but it's kind of dry and spicy, a little sweet in a very dry way, herbal ...

 

Wet on skin: dry, spicy ... then a sudden burst of Vicks! Then the Vicks recedes a little and it becomes more golden and rich.

 

Dry on skin: OW! Stinging and a rash. Test aborted! People with sensitive skin beware!

[awesomeoverlord]

Holy crap there's a lot in here. It's spicy and floral and dirty and foody all at the same time. After the initial blast wears off, it dried down to a straight cinnamon -- I guess my skin ate everything else.

[Indigo78]

Something cinnamon popped out first (like it always does on my skin), then gave way to a dry resin or combination if resins. I get a very slightly foody feel, curling trails of incense smoke, and a faint breath of something floral. Jeez... I'm doing a terrible job of dissecting this blend, but it really is extremely well put-together. It's a jigsaw of notes that live up perfectly to the description. I continue to amp cassia, or whatever it was that popped out initially, although it is coming through a screen of something like the "bone dust" note in some of the Lab's Ars Moriendi blends. Probably not a bottle, but I like the imp.

Edited January 11, 2009 by Indig0

[kjirstiben]

Silk Road goes on my skin with a burst of cinnamony spice, then immediately starts to mellow as it dries down. The sharp edges of the spicy scent round and it continues to mellow. I was worried, for a bit, that this would disappear entirely.

 

It turns into something that smells very like chai tea, then it is a combination of cinnamon and clove that is very dry-smelling.

 

Over time, it is a scent that is all spices, a little wood, and some tea, and then, after a few hours, it disappears.

 

A lovely, spicy scent, rather like Plunder in character. It has a short lifespan, though, at least on me.

[hellomoonglow]

In my hometown, there is a small boutique that carries bath & body products, cool hemp and organic clothing/shoes/purses, and other cute little things. They have an old fashioned, white claw footed bathtub in the middle of the room, and it overflows with soap. Soaps from around the world. Many Asian, Indian, British.

I love that bathtub and always spend the majority of my time in that store with my head hanging in the tub.

 

It's been about an hour since I applied Silk Road, and it's mellowed to smell exactly like when I stick my head in that bathtub to pick out soaps.

 

The scent is a mingling of many earthy, natural notes. It also smells clean, but oddly without that odor mostly associated with clean scents, like linen or breeze or aquatic.

 

Another on the bottle list!

[Suu4LC]

In the imp this is sweet herbs and spices over a bouquet of flowers. It's hard to describe because there, probably because there are so many different notes-this is very well blended though. It doesn't feel like a mish-mash, it feels like a cohesive blend.

 

On my skin it's BAM-Spicy cinnamon! Yum! This is a bright red cinnamon stick over a medley of herbs. Way better than I thought! Cinnamon haters be warned!!!

 

This is a great blend-a way better spicy cinnamon than some of the other blends-less red hots (like Inferno) more rich spicy cinnamon stick! I kinda of lose all the other notes, but that's ok, i'm enjoying the rich cinnamon spice goodness. I don't think I will need to zomg run out and buy this blend ritenao, but I may have to grab a bottle one day.

[liquidtrance]

This is my first time reviewing a scent, and Silk Road is the candidate for such a thing because DAMN was this unexpected...

 

I received Silk Road as a frimp, and was partially wary of it because of how vague the description was. Herbs, flowers, oils, and balms ranging from 13 locations/civilizations? ... The possibilities are quite grand.

From reading the reviews in this thread, I mustered up the confidence to try this blend, hoping for the magnificent spices and light touch of florals...

 

The summation of this scent on my skin is gummy, yeasty bread dough, with a hint of clove and cinnamon. ... That's...all. At first it smelled pretty "green" and sharp, but almost immediately morphed into sourdough dough.

 

Better luck next scent.

[savage_rose]

I can't decide if I like this or not...the spices are beautiful, warm and simmering. But there's something about the florals that smells kind of sour...like some of BPAL's milk/cream notes. When I get more of the spices, I love it, but the milky flower note just smells...meh. It's a very interesting scent, that's for sure!

[asciident]

Wet: Sharp florals.

 

First on: Indistinct, just floral.

 

Dry: Strong and overwhelming.

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Your friendly neighborhood hippie store

 

Wet: Fluffy spicy

 

Drydown: No distinct notes popping out at me, but feels like a really well blended spicy floral. Not dirty, but definitely not prim and proper.

 

Overall: Definitely deserves another look! Hanging on to the imp for now to see if it needs a bottle

[magikalbrownies]

oh yum...

 

is there nag in this? wow it smells like AMAZING..

 

very spicey, like cinnamony/clove'ish. this is YUM...i want to gnaw off my arm.

[mgrazulis]

A wonderful pale rosy amber oil that should be on everyone's "to try" list. I get impressions of cypress, amber and sandalwood, myrtle, amaranth, gentle myrrh, cassia, clove, cardamom, saffron, mastic, lemongrass, green tea and a hint of jasmine. It's as if these aromas are blowing across silk curtains in a desert caravan.

Wildly exotic and sensual.

This one goes on a bottle worthy list!!

[Lamia]

This started nicely, spicy and intriguing - very busy, thick with scents. Turned sort of "Big Red" chewing gum on me, but it wasn't JUST cinnamon, there were all sorts of fascinating things going on in there.

 

Hm, that cinnamon is pretty powerful and warm.

 

(scratches wrist)

 

Oh, crap - it's another Malkuth!

 

This left huge red welts on my wrists, and I had to wash it off with water, wipe my wrists down with isopropyl alcohol, and then apply A&D ointment. An hour later, there is still a vestige of redness, although it is mostly gone.

 

BEWARE!

 

Pity, cuz it smelled nice until then.

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, I'm getting spicy cardamom.

 

Wet on skin, spicy floral. Dries to much the same on my skin, just a little softer.

[aiko]

Silk Road is yummy spicy florals on me. It is well blended and I don't recognise individual notes. It smells great, but there is something in this blend that is making my skin red. I am still going to keep the imp and use it in my locket

[bubblefish]

Upon cracking the imp I took a deep sniff and was all, "Ahhhh, this is gorgeous and an awesome scent." I then proceeded to slather some on my wrists and took another deep whiff, and agreed it was awesome on my skin. I put some more on my neck and cleavage, then tiptoed over here to post about how much I loved this scent, etc.

 

And then I started getting this crawling feeling on my skin, and then I started itching something awful. I got up and looked in the mirror and had horrible hives all over my neck, chest, and wrists.

 

I hopped in the shower and started to try and scrub it off with some soap. In hindsight, not a very good idea since it seems to have spread to my legs? And down my arms? While the intensity of the itchy/burning has gone down, there are still some itchies and definite red marks.

 

I've never had this sort of reaction to anything -- not even poison oak, sumac, etc. and certainly not from any cosmetic or perfume. I kind of wish I knew what was in here so I could identify the irritant.

 

And this is such a lovely scent, too!!

Good thing I just got a scent locket.

[Eucatastrophe]

I really, REALLY love this, but sadly when I put it on it seems to almost disappear immediately. If my nose is more than 1/2 inch away from my arm I can't smell anything.

 

Pity, because when I do stick my nose on my arm it smells absolutely wonderful.

[Dragon0514]

This one is nice. I smell spices and amber and something like sandalwood incense for sure. I also get something that reminds me of handwoven Fair Trade baskets and textiles you find sometimes at import stores.

 

It's warm and sexy and exotic without being overwhelming or too musky.

[Magpie]

In imp: Mmm, sweet chai almondy goodness. Smells a bit like a cake flavoured with cardamom and almonds and...flowers...yeah, that's where the simile ends. But really good and really edible. If this is a place, it's somewhere I want to go. It's like Bengal, which i got at the same time, but less aggressively 'CINNAMON!!' and more soft and delicious.

 

On: Nutmeg...cardamom...a bit of cinnamon...very much getting the 'baked goods' vibe right now and less of the florals. It's like Mama-Ji and Bengal had a baby that's right between the two of them. MMMmmmmmmm. It's quite gentle - I may have slathered a bit too much on because it's so soft. Limited throw, I'd guess, but I'm notoriously bad for judging throw. Hm, I agree with some other reviewers that there may well be some sandalwood in here...I get the kind of flatness I get from sandalwood on me, but the ickiness that sometimes results in blends like Aziraphale and The Buggre Alle This Bible melts into the yummy cardamom. After a while, it is less obsessed with baking and more a lovely soft waft of scent, as on the dry breeze along a desert path. It seems to bruise my nose a little in the way that strong scents, especially those with vetiver and sometimes cinnamon do, so my perceptions of its strength are limited.

[silvertarna]

I spent all day feeling like a chicken tikka masala, and not in a good way. Spicy scents are clearly not for me; off to a better home!

[sqwook]

Wet: cinnamon

Wet on skin: Cinnamon, fading to ... what? huh, that's so weird... something is barely there under lots of yummy spices... Ah, somebody else up-thread hit on it: 'gummy, yeasty bread dough'. That's the closest I can figure.

Dry: Cinnamon and other non-foody spices. It does indeed remind me of chai.

5 hours later: Holy crap, what am I wearing that smells so delicious?!?!?! Oh, right, Silk Road! It's not just cinnamon now, it's... amazing. A complicated blend of dry exotic spices and possibly egyptian musk in there? amber? i can't quite parse it, but man is it good.

 

ETA: I'll echo others' thoughts- people w/sensitive skin beware, I don't normally react, but there's something in here I was getting slightly sensitive to, and I *don't* think it was just the cinnamon, because it was not just the standard burn feeling, it was different, and I was worried for a moment there that things were not going to be pleasant. On me, the feeling was very shortlived and it was probably because I applied it right after a shower, but just, heads-up.

Edited August 19, 2009 by sqwook

[wheresyourshoe]

This is absolutely wonderful on me. It smells just like it does in the imp, like a dusty wooden tea shop. There's definitely some cinnamon bark and it's a little peppery, but it's a dry scent. The tragedy of this oil on me is that it fades away in an hour or two. I love the way BPAL perfumes last and change for over seven hours. It's often the end notes I use to judge a fragrance in the end, and this doesn't have any. I think I'll pass the imp to a friend for whom it's even more perfect and hope it lasts longer on her.

[Xylis]

i know this scent has a reputation of glowing reviews, but i was really wary because i know how badly spices and incense fare on my skin. i did finally take the plunge though, so let's see how this turns out.

 

in the imp:

 

i'm scared to even put this on. don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful mix of herbs, spices and incense, swirling together in a cloud of nostalgia and promise but at the same time, it kinda reminds me of a chinese medical hall along the streets of chinatown or maybe even a sari shop in little india. i love that smell because it reminds me of my childhood, but it's really not something i'd want to wear out as a perfume.

 

 

wet on my skin:

 

it's not as overwhelming as it had been in the imp. there is a sweetness to this blend, something woodsy, like the fragrant wood of a chinese fan. it's like a merging of cultures and backgrounds which was basically what took place on the silk road; i can imagine the hustle and bustle of people and curios.

 

 

the drydown:

 

there is something in this blend that doesn't agree with my skin because my wrist is starting to get a tad itchy, a pox on sensitive skin. i'm going to finish up this review anyway, because i think this blend deserves at least that. this is a beautifully nostalgic blend which is really, despite how "crowded" it seemed in the imp soon melts into something more harmonious and gentle. if i had to describe a scent as oriental with a touch of middle eastern flavour, this would be it - and more.

 

 

verdict:

 

i like this very much as a blend; unfortunately, i'll probably be sending this along to someone who can appreciate it more than i can. the warning about it being tough on the skin is something to take note of though. this may well fare better in a scent locket or as a room scent.

 

 

 

[Usagi]

Imp: cassia, jasmine, various hot spices

Wet:sweet, dry, smells like spices, and tingles my nose.

Dry: spices have mellowed a little, allowing a hint of citrus and barely there floral, finishing up with tea.

 

 

Apparently, my caravan on the Silk Road is heading East. This is very nice, both exotic and familiar in turns, and I really enjoyed the finish of spiced tea.