Baghdad

[blood*rose*flowers]

Amber, saffron and bergamot with mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood.

In the bottle the first thing I think of is the inside of an old cedar chest filled with your grandmothers keepsakes of pressed flowers and memories

On I get an interesting mix of the musk, rose, and sandalwood. The amber also starts to move forward. I also am surprised that this is so rosey. But it seems rather well blended with the amber and the musk.

As this one sits it becomes a bit darker a bit muskier and the roses start to move to the background . This scent is a really interesting mix of both sweet and dark. I can totally see the name in this scent I can imagine a ancient, desert city open air market smelling just like this.

[telesilla]

*blinks* Second review, wow!

 

I had to order this one even though it has rose in it because I like every other note in it. Plus, again with the Middle East.

 

In the bottle: too many notes; it just smells like a woody perfume.

 

Wet: Sandalwood and something sweet.

 

Initial dry down: it's woody and sweet and really really complex. My nose can pick out the sandalwood and maybe the amber, but I think this is going to be one of those where all I can say is "it just smells good." I'm not getting the strong Middle Eastern connection I got with Scherezade, but I still like it. All I can think right now is "please, Bulgar rose, don't ruin this for me."

 

Dry, later: Yay! The rose hasn't gone either soapy or metallic on me. There's a sharpness that I think is either the bergamot or the mandarin; it's cutting the sweetness down quite a bit. I really like this one, it's almost a cross between Cathedral and Scherezade, and I'm pretty sure it's going to go on the big bottle list.

Edited July 8, 2005 by telesilla

[nineveh]

First, I can tell that the musk is a light/white/Arabian musk, because it's reminding me of dryer sheets. It's probably the same musk that's in Morocco. That's all that I can smell at first.

 

Then as it starts to dry, the rose, saffron (I think), and sandalwood appear, along with something faintly citrus. The musk stops smelling like dryer sheets.

 

On me, the rose smells deep and full, not dry or sharp. The sandalwood isn't overly dry or powdery.

 

This blend is very balanced and subtle. On me, no one note overwhelms. It's warm, a bit spicy, rosy, woody, and sweet. It deepens as it dries.

 

I could see myself wearing this one a lot.

[Thorne]

This is so delicious. I can tell as soon as the weather relents a little and cools off some, I'll be wearing a lot of this blend.

 

In the imp, Baghdad smelled sweet, almost like honey to me. Once on the skin, the honey scent vanishes and instantly becomes something strong and almost metallic - I think it might be a combination of the amber and musk on me. The saffron is present here too, with that incomparable saffron flavor only it possesses.

 

After it dries and warms, it becomes very woody - the sandalwood, for sure, but it also has a bit of cedar, I think. Not cut cedar, but still living cedar trees, in my opinion. This is a lovely, evocative scent of spices and wood, of something old and treasured and kept. I need a big bottle of this one, for sure.

[ChupaChup]

Well, Baghdad is the big hit of my latest order . It's exactly the way I was picturing it from its description, an exotic Middle Eastern spice market kind of scent. It has the sandalwood and spices from Morocco and the candied orange peel and rose petal scents from Seraglio or Black Phoenix. It all blends together perfectly, it's not too dry or too sweet, just heavenly.

[shelldoo]

in the vial: i can't smell anything but a clean scent *shrugs*

 

wet: saffron (one of my favorites)and sandalwood

 

as it dries i detect a musk and rose, but the rose stays a supproting memeber and not the lead part i can't smell the madarin or bergamont on me it is all musky, sandalwood, saffrom roses. i wish nutmeg would mingle a bit

[velvet]

this is probably what the market would smell like

its got the spice you'd expect and an outstanding wood which im guessing is sandalwood.

so far i can pick anything else out, but it smells like an exotic spice store... depending on how it develops im not sure i want to smell *like* it. though the scent is very pretty

 

as it goes on.. it is mellowing out a bit from the spice store scent to something i enjoy. its softer and closer to the skin.. the up your nose punch is gone

which is a good thing in my book

[cuervosueno]

Hmmm...now what possessed me to order this imp? I suppose I felt I should branch out since so many of Beth's blends please me even when I think they won't.

Not the case here, alas.

 

 

In the bottle it smells doable--wood...is that sandalwood?...and something else that yes, is likely saffron which, honestly, I'm not that fond of.

 

On, though, the rose rushes forward. If anyone remembers that bath oil Jean Nate, it smells like that kind of rose. I've gotten some rose in an aroma therapy kit that smells like that too, and I disliked it so much I had to get rid of it. That's what I get from Baghdad for the first half hour. It does finally settle down to a more managable mix that other people have described, but the rose make its impossible for me.

Off it goes!

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Nice, bright, sweet, fruity scent that has a light incense-y/foody throw.

 

On

The amber is most prevelant, followed by the rose, musk, sandalwood and bergamot.

The nutmeg,saffron and mandarin are hard to smell.

This is a nice sandalwood scent too, it's not too light, it's beautiful kind of as much as is in "Tushnamatay". Also, this is similar in category anyway to Seraglio too I think, except maybe less orange and more foody.

 

30 minutes

Stays true to the scent it had when wet.

 

Throw:

more than average

 

Scent category:

fruity/foody/spicy/floral

 

Summary

This is primarily a foody floral. It lasts longer than some blends. It's orangey and sweet because of the amber.

 

Purchase again?

Yes. And I love orange blends, I love sandalwood and I love those eastern and middle eastern spices.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4

[Northernminx]

I was very much looking foreward to this one but was a little leery of the sandalwood, which tends to be a dominating note on me. Sadly the spice in this just dissapears into that sort of powdery dry flowery smell that sandalwood tends to turn into and I never got a chance to preview the other notes. Damned chemistry. This DID smell wonderful in the bottle, a touch spicey and very exotic.

[sarahjay]

I have been so lucky in my latest order with the new wanderlust blends and baghdad is no exception.

 

it's a really lovely perfumed wood when first applied, just like the perfumed chest mentioned earlier. it's warm and sophisticated and I can picture an elegant persian lady with lots of kohl wearing it.

 

I think I will be wearing it more in the autumn, it just has that kind of vibe for me

[yeahbutnobut]

Baghdad

 

In the imp: oh, gorgeous! The scent of middle eastern incenses and spice.

Wet on skin: mmm, this is lovely! It's a gorgeous blend that smells woody and resinous, but also tangy thanks to the mandarin and bergamot. I can also smell the rose and amber pushing through, and nutmeg and saffron warming it up nicely. This is really reminiscent of the Middle East, of a bazaar selling all sorts of wonderful smelling spices and perfumes.

Dry on skin: wow, the sandalwood now comes into play, adding a nice, exotic woody touch to the blend. this mixes nicely with the rose, and this reminds me of Seraglio. The amber adds a nice sweetness, and there's a little bit of musk there. This is wonderful! Exotic, mesmerising, mysterious.

After a while: I can't stop sniffing my wrist! It's now predominantly rose and sandalwood with a bit of amber, with a hint of citrus and saffron. There is an overall sense of warmth, and a sense of dryness, slightly dusty and powdery, which isn't a bad thing-it's like the scent of a marketplace in the desert. I'm also getting that 'antique wooden chest' scent, the sandalwood in here smells antique, ancient even, like an old chest holding fragrant treasures.

Verdict: I adore BPAL's Middle Eastern inspired blends, and this one was love at first sniff. Think Seraglio meets Morocco with a bit of amber added for good measure. It's truly magnificent-a warm, rich, exotic mix of many different notes so expertly blended they work fantastically well as one. I think I'm going to need a bigger bottle, because this is just amazing.

Edited July 20, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[miss apple]

Bagdhad

 

In the bottle I detect spices and maybe something floral. It's not very strong though so I hope my skin amps it up. Sure enough once on I can smell spices and amber and it has definitely more throw than in the bottle. The sandalwood comes in a bit later and maybe some of the rose as well. It adds a little sweetness but not cloyingly so. I'm not getting anything citrus which is fine with me. This is all warm spices and it's simply divine. A new favorite

[wickedgoddess]

Origin - imp, fresh from the lab

 

Wet - a dry sandalwood.

 

Dry - I get rose now. Yep, it’s all rose and sandalwood, with a touch of nutmeg. And now, as expected, the amber comes out and goes all powdery on me. Off to the swap pile with you, little imp.

 

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

[oakmoss]

It's funny that two other reviewers mentioned a wooden box of some sort, as that was my first mental image upon applying this scent -- one of those rather battered Middle Eastern multi-drawer boxes, and the various treasures that might be revealed within... amber, spices, jewels, rose petals, mysterious amulets carved from fragrant woods... This is a softly veiled scent, thanks to the sandalwood, most likely, and the rose stays discreetly in the background, with the spices and resins on top. This is going right to the top of my big-bottle list.

[SoapyRN]

In my mind, I was expecting a spicy, heady blend with a bit of the sandalwood. Those who know me know that I am not a huge lover of that 'incense' blend that some find with other {non BPAL} generic blends that contain sandalwood.

 

Like many on this board, Beth is opening my nose to a much more broad world that contains the notes that work, nearly always with me. This is one of them.

 

In the bottle, this is a rich floral full of spices and depth.

 

On the wrist, that is when the sandalwood makes its mark, as well as the bergamot and some glorious musk.

 

A gorgeous blend, perfect for me.

 

This one does send you on a trip, back to the Baghdad before all the bs going on now.

 

Thank you Beth

[cindyrella]

This is heavy stuff. I love a lot of notes in this: amber, rose, musk and sandalwood, but all of them together is way too heavy for me.

I can’t pick out any noted individually, because it’s very well blended, but it makes this scent overwhelming.

 

I think it smells like a perfume you can buy at a regular high street store too, but I imagine someone who loves heavy perfumes would love this stuff. I don’t like it. It’s not that I can’t bare to smell it, it’s just too much for me.

Definitely a ‘no’.

[joseybird]

The sandalwood--definately cedary but also soft and sanded and almost unassuming--is the most obvious of the notes. Thankfully, though, it's not at all overpowering, not like the sandalwood in Velvet smelled to me The soft citruses--bergamot and manderin--are the second most dominant notes, and blend well with the sandalwood, forming a bright and surprising harmony. The saffron is very light indeed and sort of "wafts over" the blend (I catch the occasional whiff when my nose is a few inches from my wrist, but not when my nose is pressed to my wrist). The rose note, which is pretty subtle, acts as the "bottom" in the rose-citrus marriage that's going on. From what I can detect it's a pretty astringent rose, which is a bit dissapointing, although it's so subtle that it doesn't impact the blend much. The amber is the underlying base in this blend and only acts to keep the sandalwood under control and to add a hint of warmth.

 

This is a gorgeous blend--it conveys the impression of what the furniture and walls of a Middle Eastern palace must smell like

[emzebel]

Ordered as part of the 13 update...I was trepadatious about this one, but decided to go for it anyway, because it just sounded, well, lovely.

 

In the imp, I was a little nervous, because it was very sandalwoody and I have since discovered that sandalwood doesn't work so well on me and it was a little bitter. Frankly, I was not terribly enamored. But, I tried it anyway...

 

 

 

 

All I can say is wow. What a transformation. On my skin, the spices and fruits bloom and the sandalwood retreats back where it belongs (IMO) and the rose is just enough to soften the whole mix...

[tempete]

When I first tried on Baghdad, all I got was sandalwood when wet and dryer sheet rose when dry. I was disappointed as this was one of the scents that I was really looking forward to trying, but decided to try it again in a week.

 

Good thing that I did because I think that my hormones were really off. On the second (and third and fourth) try, Baghdad was an initially a soft scent dominated by the sandalwood and rose notes that dried down to a warm, softly spicy amber.

 

Although Baghdad would make a wonderful fall scent, I've already got lots of lovely amber scents already, which makes me unsure as to whether I'll get a bottle or not. Nevertheless, it's a wonderful scent that would make a good intro for a newbie to BPAL.

[sarada]

The variety of ingredients in this made me wonder if I'd be able to make any sense out of it in the bottle -- upon first sniff it reminds me the most of Rakshasa, but much lighter and diffused. Sandalwood and rose are the most prominent.

 

When I wear it it really loves my skin -- not too surprising, since I seem to be very receptive to sandalwood, some of the lab's musks and especially saffron. The saffron note that I love in Scherezade seems to be in the background here adding a bit of spice to the background (not hot spice, fragrant spice). It's still mostly sandalwood and rose...I can't get any other notes at all.

 

As some other reviewers have pointed out it really makes me think of a wooden box full of incense. There are a few blends that do this to me and this is a very good thing! It's like sniffing the incense in a very upscale hippie store or an Indian grocery store -- no patchouli, just the very clear, light, sandalwood-based incenses. I don't smell the amber specifically but that's probably just contributing to the overall incensy feel.

 

The rose is a little powdery on me but overall this is something that I can definitely wear and I wish I could go back in time and give this to myself in college...I would have bathed in this stuff then. As it is I'll keep the imp, use it, maybe seek out another some time...and I'm reminded that I need to get some more Rakshasa some time too!

[girlmadasbirds]

at first, it was all sandalwood and rose, but as it dries i can smell the amber and saffron. i'm glad that the rose is mellowing out as it continues to dry down. i keep catching whiffs of something that reminds me of the incensey smell of al azif. overall, i'd say it's a keeper.

Edited July 30, 2005 by angel sixgun

[Nepthys]

This is lovely, but definitely more suited for the oil burner than my skin. This is the scent of a rich shadowy bedroom, complete with canopy bed and antique furniture, in an old mansion; luxurious and stately and very classic. And that's how it smells on me for about 20 minutes, before the rose hijacks everything but the sandalwood, and turns this into a rose-dominated Cathedral. Rose and I don't get along, so I'll pass on this.

[gingersnapp]

This started out lovely like any other head-shop scent, but quickly turned into soap on my skin.

[Splendid Molerat]

Baghdad is a cloud of freshly ground nutmeg and saffron when I wear it.

 

I smell wealthy, in an old Old World way. Someone should be fanning me with a palm, and feeding me dates and almonds.