Al-Shairan

[aleciarivas]

The enemy of God, also named Iblis, He Who Despaired of the Mercy of God. Al-Shairan is the leader of the Jinn, a tempter who whispers false suggestions to men enticing them into evil and perfidious acts, and is the sworn enemy of all of Adam’s children. His scent is fiery, bright and thick with sweet sinfulness: clove, peach and orange with cinnamon, patchouli and dark incense notes.

Unfortunately this one left me with a red welt- I'm pretty sensitive to cinnamon. It's a nice scent- spicy cinnamon and cloves and incense- but I simply can't have it on my skin.

[angelicruin]

Very spicy on my skin. I pick up the cloves, cinnamon, and orange the strongest, but the incense, patchouli, and peaches are there too. One of the few scents that I can really discern every note within.

[snapesgirl34]

In the bottle – Sweet citrus and musk.

 

Wet – Juicy oranges and musk with a slight bit of cinnamon. It’s sweet and fiery, but dark. It reminds me a bit of the smell of mulled cider. For some reason I smell leather as well.

 

Dry – No longer juicy, but the sweetness of the citrus is still there and balances nicely with the musk, making it very sexy. I think this may be a bit too masculine for me, but I don't care, it smells amazing.

 

Overall – My first thought after reading the description was “Darn it, it has patchouli in it. Patchouli hates me.” And yet, the patchouli didn’t come out that much, even though my skin usually amps it. What a sexy summer scent.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Oil is a clear, orangey-amber color. The fragrance is mostly patchouli, with some incense and spice. A little skanky, is that the patchouli? I usually love patchouli.

I notice that it smells different when I sniff the wand than if I sniff it in the imp. I've noticed that before with other scents. It must be the greater exposure to air that makes it smell different on the wand. The way it smells on the wand is usually the same way it smells wet on me, when first applied. In this case, it's mostly patchouli in the bottle, and mostly orange on the wand; with some incense and spices for both.

 

On me, wet: Right at first - ugh, cat pee. I've seen this in other reviews but didn't quite believe it. (I thought someone's imagination was working overtime, or else they had weird skin chemistry. ) Well, now I do believe them! I'm not going anywhere, so I won't wash it off but will instead wait to see if it changes.

 

On me, just dried: It does get better. Now it's mostly orange and spice. But there's still that undertone of cat pee.

 

After 5 minutes: Up close, the skankiness is mostly gone, together with the orange - turned into spices and incense. But I still smell cat pee from a foot or so away.

 

After 10 minutes: That unpleasant note seems to be completely gone, and now it's a nice scent of spices and incense to my nose. I don't trust what it might smell like to others, though. Everyone else in my house is asleep, so there's no one to ask at the moment. I wouldn't risk wearing it in public until I get a second opinion. Well, I can definitely say that at least this isn't foody or fruity!

 

After 20 minutes: My 21-year-old son woke up and I asked him what he thought. He likes it, both from a couple of feet away and when sniffing it up close. He thought it smelled like lavender and flowers - huh? Well, as long as it's not cat pee . . .

It must be the sweetness from the fruits that made him think of flowers, especially since there isn't any identifiable note of fruitiness. No doubt it's the spices - that piercing, sharp note - that reminded him of lavender. He also said that the scent seemed subtle and light from a couple of feet away, which is good to know.

 

After 30 minutes: I'm liking it more and more as time goes by. It has softened considerably, into incense and warm spices with just a lingering hint of patchouli.

 

After 45 minutes: It's gone a bit soapy - sandalwood and spice soap. That's just an observation, not a criticism. I like soaps with nice scents.

 

After 4 hours: I can still pick up a faint fragrance of sandalwood.

 

Verdict: Unisex. It actually turned out to be quite nice once it got past the initial 5 minutes of skankiness. This would be a good one for work. But I would be cautious about applying it in public due to that unpleasant first 5 minutes.

 

My rating: 3 stars

[invisible iris]

In the imp: Dusty dry clovey cinnamonny orange with mayyyybe a hint of peach.

 

On skin: Still clovey and cinnamonny fruits, and the candy-like peach starts to come out on my skin. I’m getting a bit of a red hots, craft-store-fall-spice-candle kind of scent.

 

Dry: It’s not quite so generic once it’s dried down, but now it smells like a nicer fall-spice candle. A warm and comforting scent. All the listed notes come through for me, clove, cinnamon, orange, peach, with the earthy patch and incenses in the background. The peach I think makes it veer slightly into too-sweet, slightly artificial-smelling territory for me.

 

Verdict: Not what I’m looking for, on my skin it's too much a run-of-the-mill spice candle fall/christmas scent.

[angelmecha]

In Imp: If I huff enough I start to get a bit of the peach and clove, but orange and patchouli are the main notes sniffing it out of the imp. But I have to say the overall impression I get is citrus or peach incense from a cheap oriental gift shop.

Wet: The orange and peach come out stronger on my skin, sweetening up and getting cute. Right off the bat it's pretty nice, but I can smell some clove coming through and threatening to either make this powder or sour.

Drydown: It's not full on powder or sour, it's kind of a dust smell. That must be the clove. The orange and peach peek out from behind but overall it's dust-or-plasticy-like, dry clove.

Verdict: It has so much promise, but I just can't wrap my mind (nose?) around this one. It's not a bad smell, but something about it makes my nose and mouth feel dry. It definitely just resonates the "peach/citrus incense" for me! I can't get anything else from it!

[Juushika]

In the vial: Warm, golden, sweet, with a touch of boozy fruit.

 

On me: Spice as it hits the skin, over a rich round peach; initially, this scent is round, bright, golden, and fruity counterpointed by a spicy, smoky warmththere's something exotic about it, perhaps in the incense, and it's lovely. The fruitiness amps during drydown, and cinnamon triumphs over the clove, patchouli, and incense; the scent resolves to something pretty much matching the description, a bright, thick, sweep, warm fruity scent rouged with red spices, but it lacks the dark counterpoint of clove et a. Scent color is golden, yellow and red. Throw and wear length are both moderate.

 

Verdict: I want the cloves, patchouli, and incense to stick around. They're what makes the scent a successthe contrast they give to the bright fruits is tried and true but no less brilliant for that, and the incense gives a unique and exotic edge. But those notes die off, and what they leave behind is just cinnamon over fruit; it's vivid but lacks depth, and is too bright and fruity for my tastes. All in all this isn't a keeper, however promising its initial stages.

[Breakfast]

Oooooh, this is spicy! It reminds me a bit of a holiday candle, I mainly smell cinnamon with clove in the background and a hint of fruitiness. It smells very edible. I like this a lot!

[Missy_killer]

In the imp: Orange-y incense, peach and patchouli. Huh. This actually smells really good!

It's unusual for me since some of the notes (peach, patchouli and incense) are normally notes I avoid and tend to not like.

 

On me: A dark and spicy orange & peach tea! ..Really? It's very fruity but has that dark edge that makes it interesting. I really like this one!

 

An hour later: Still spicy tea! I don't drink tea - but this smells like it's drinkable..

[venusinfurs]

Source: Free imp from the lab!

 

In the imp: Plastic and cinnamon. I'm also getting a bit of a burnt or smoky smell, which is probably the dark incense.

 

Wet on skin: All cinnamon. I'm really a little disappointed at this point. I can smell a bit of clove, but cinnamon is so strong.

 

Dry down: The cinnamon is backing off. Thank goodness. The blend sweetens a bit, which may be the fruit. Patchouli can go sweet on me as well, and it is starting to come into the background.

 

10 minutes on skin: This scent is sexy! Like sweet, fresh cinnamon with a dark undertone. Oddly, I smell something that reminds me of Fae. It smells like Fae's older sister...dark and moody. It must be the peach, since that's the only similar note. BPAL's peach on me never smells like peach, just sweet freshness. I like it a lot. Definitely a deep dark red scent. At first I thought this was quite masculine, but now that the peach has come through, I'm not so sure.

[sunstone]

I believe this was a frimp from the lab. It has aged for at least a year, maybe more. I don't remember how it smelled when Sunlitgarden and I first got it.

 

In bottle/imp: Bitterly medicinal when it first hit my nose. But as I let it air (and sniffed some more), I detected the citrus and cinnamon. Decided to try it on after all.

 

Wet: The cinnamon and cloves were the strongest, but it retained the unpleasant overtone that I am not thrilled about. Must've been the "dark incense" notes, settling in.

 

1-3 minutes later: ...I smell like the Yankee Candle scent Kitchen Spice. (It shares the orange, cinnamon, and clove notes.) I like that one, but it reminds me of Hallmark, where I work. The oranginess is more realistic in the BPAL though...obviously.

 

Later still: The spices and the incense remain bold, the orange diminished, and the peach undetectable throughout. Maybe the fruity notes just don't last on my skin. Overall, Al-Shairan is a pleasant scent, but it's the first one I've reviewed that I'm not thrilled about. I blame the association with my job, which is often draining and frustrating.

[fufu_berry]

In the imp and wet, this smelled like fruity potpourri, but I was hopeful that it would be earthy and spicy with just a hint of freshness from the fruit since it has a lot of notes I like - cinnamon, clove, patchouli, incense! But when I put it on, it turned into peach iced tea. No incense, cinnamon and clove are very faint in the background. Peach iced tea is a fine scent in its own right, but not exactly my style.

 

Edit: After the peach iced tea, it turned into something sour and powdery. Definitely not working for me.

Edited July 6, 2012 by fufu_berry

[PixieSkull]

I've had some skin chemistry changes and decided to try some of the scents I got for my SO to try. I love incense notes and citrus so I wanted to see how it played out.

 

Wet, it's ALL SPICE and is delicious! Sadly, this did NOT last.

Drydown brought soap. SOAP! Cinnamon... and SOAP. GROSS on me. No love for this scent.

[Quillifer]

I ordered this because I had an urge to find a scent with orange in it. This does have that, but it also has... something that I want to call white sandalwood but I bet isn't, I bet it's just me getting the wrong end of the olfactory stick. It's probably the incense or something. Anyway, it's not something I hate but it's currently not pleasing me. I wouldn't put this in a swap pile yet though; I'll try it again because I usually need to get to know things. I find I like it - kind of at a distance - as my arm wafts past me, but not when I sniff my wrist. Maybe I should just slather a bit less!

 

Three days later - liking it more.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Quillifer

[Mokiefraggle]

Got this one as a frimp back when I got Black Bear Moon, and apparently I hadn't reviewed it yet. Could've sworn I had...

 

When I first got it, Al-Shairan was a thick, slightly syrupy scent like heavily spiced peaches, but without any of the sort of sickeningly sweet scent I associate with peach-scented perfumes and the like. It was very smooth, sweet without being cloying, and had just enough throw that I could smell it without having to bury my face in my forearm.

 

Unfortunately, as it was a bit heavy for summer weather, I'd set it aside in favor of cooler, crisper scents. Age has not really served this particular scent terribly well; it's lost most of the sweet end, and has become almost nothing but spice. It's become something like melted red-hots or something--pure cinnamon heat, both strong-smelling and harsh overall; I had a red mark along my throat where I'd swiped some of it this morning out of habit, and it itched something awful until I cut it with a little Black Bear Moon to soften the scent. I really hope it'll mellow with a little more age, and not get hotter, as I liked it before. If this is what's to be expected when it ages, though...I guess I can definitely forget about a bottle.

 

Never really considered what a cinnamon burn feels like on the skin before...definitely going to have to be careful to blend the heck out of this if I ever want to wear it again. Owie!

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Oh, interesting. Spiced orange, specifically spiced with cinnamon and clove, surrounded by dark patchouli.

 

Wet: Deliciously thick with clove-infused peach, something that smells like heady florals (jasmine), and myrrh-based incense.

 

Dry: It's musky and slightly powdery from the incense, but the clove and patchouli keep it from being undesirable In fact, this is a rather pleasant blend.

[yakiguri]

Ugh, the peach in here really amps on my skin and isn't a fresh peach but an overripe, borderline rotting peach. Off my skin it goes!

[ccelaya]

The enemy of God, also named Iblis, He Who Despaired of the Mercy of God. Al-Shairan is the leader of the Jinn, a tempter who whispers false suggestions to men enticing them into evil and perfidious acts, and is the sworn enemy of all of Adam’s children. His scent is fiery, bright and thick with sweet sinfulness: clove, peach and orange with cinnamon, patchouli and dark incense notes.

Wet - cinnamon, clove and orange with dark undertones

 

On Skin - As the spicy notes calm down the peach comes out giving a sweetness too the scent.

 

Dry on Skin - I can barely smell any patchouli. Like most scents on my skin, the sweetness can be a little overpowering and almost floral.

 

This is a little too sweet for me but if you are into sweet fruity/spicy scents this is the one for you.

[symbiosis]

I had a unique experience in that I got to compare a new and aged (2+ years) bottle of al-shairan side by side tonight.

 

The aged bottle: this is the potpurri that my mother puts in the bathroom at Christmas. Deep, sweet cinnamon, cloves, and the sweetness of orange tempering these spices.

 

The new bottle: The cinnamon is far less noticeable - this is still a "holiday" scent to me but the spices play nicer with everything else, calming the throw down a bit.

 

 

On the boy, this smells like he hugged the Christmas tree, but he has some of the strangest skin chemistry of anyone I've ever met.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: This smells guh-ood! Smooth, glowing cinnamon. Somewhat dry.

 

Drydown: I catch a whiff of tart and juicy peach, which almost immediately bows out as robust, cinnamon-laced incense takes over. A bit of clove and delicate orange sit just below the surface. It’s bold yet soft and smooth.

 

Dry: More spiced incense but now with traces of earthy, woody patchouli beneath it. Just a whisper of orange now. Sexy and grounding. It smells like The Dodo’s sophisticated and world-wise cousin.

[Coldfire]

Imp: sharp and something faintly cinnamon

Wet on me: more cinnamon now and something harp behind it

Drying Down: like the Constant Comment Cinnamon tea. Faint orange behind it but cinnamon like woah all over the place.

Dry: Constant Comment Orange Pekoe tea.

[Magpie]

In imp

 

Strong, sweet, spicy and incensey. Quite foody, but with the hyssopy smell of some of the more herbal scents (like Temple Viper and Mr Jacquel). There's a definite fruity undertone.

 

On, wet

 

Cinnamon, fruit, opium (as from something like Doctor Seward) with a bit of a soapy smell. Very distintive, despite having lots of notes I associate with other scents.

 

As it warms up, the notes blend together better but also gets more herbal and medicinal.

 

On, dry

 

Becomes much less strong and the throw gets less wide quite quickly. But still rich and spicy, would be foody if it wasn't more incensey.

 

However, it doesn't morph much after that point and sticks around fairly well.

[icecreamcone]

On my skin, the incense completely takes over every other ingredient.

Not for me, though I'm sure someone else might enjoy it.

[StevenBoatman]

This doesn't morph at all on me-not that I'm complaining. I love the morphers, but sometimes consistency is nice!

 

Al-Shairan on me is sinister dry spices (think bone-dry, not cooked), heat, and sharp, merciless incense. It's a good blend for when I'm feeling ticked off at the world!

[Teaker]

I liked this when it was fresh, I remember it being a bright orange scent with warmth from cinnamon and clove. I set it aside for nearly a year before I got around to wearing it again, and I don't like it now

 

The culprit is the incense- it's powdery and has taken over the scent. Underneath there is a hint of sweet fruit, but combined with the spices it turns my stomach. That's a personal death-combo of notes for me: whenever citrus fruits are mixed with anything spicy I get sick. The same thing happened with Helle's Belle.

 

This is a definite no-no for me but if you love incense you should give this one a try.