Seraglio

[tdgnika]

In long-ago Arabia, harem girls rubbed an herbal poultice formed from a blend of sensual, luxuriant herbs and oils onto their bodies to prepare themselves for the Sultan's pleasure. This lush, indulgent perfume is based on that ancient formula. Sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel.

I have tried this one a couple times - put it on and left the house and promptly forgot I was reviewing something and forgot to take mental notes. But, today, I remembered.

In the imp, syrupy sweet, kind of the same way Blood Kiss smells when it's wet. This bodes well, since I love Blood Kiss after it gets past that syrup smell.

Wet on the skin - well, hello, flowers! How doest thou choke me with your strong scent. It smells like Lily of the Valley to me, though I could see how the rose could be misinterpreted as such by my uneducated nose. It *screams* Lily of the Valley for the first 5 minutes. As much as I love Lily of the Valley, I think it should use its inside voice.

I was a little worried, since I was going to my very blue-collar job with it on and didn't want to be shouting FLOWERS at all the guys in their shop clothes. But, by the time I drove to work, my skin had eaten it. There's a faint, very light rose/powder smell if I huff my wrists, but it's that icky old-lady-linen-closet smell that I don't care for. So, into the swap pile for this one. It's crazy-fast fade would explain why I'd always forgotten I was reviewing this one. Edited September 18, 2009 by Shollin

[Suu4LC]

Ooooh yummy! This is mostly sweet almond to my nose, with a touch of citrus and clove and rose. Not really noticing the sandalwood, but i tend to amp it, so I will probably notice it once this is on my skin.

 

Ok, on my skin this is still mostly sweet almond...almond and rose. They make a very good combination. A mixture of exotic and classic. Up close it is more sweet almondy, from further back it is more rosey.

 

This is an excellent blend. I never did really get any sandalwood at all, which was fine by me. It was mostly sweet almond and rose, being heavy on the sweet almond when it was first on my skin, and slowly morphing into a gorgeous classy rose scent with wafts of sweet almond/spiced. Such a unique dichotomy of sexy and demure. I love it!

Edited August 30, 2009 by Suu4LC

[kyoskatze]

This smells mostly of almond on me, which is not a bad thing, because I love almond, but I wasn't expecting as much of it somehow. I don't get any rose, but for a while it smells of neroli. The sandalwood and spices are definitely there, but not very strong.

 

I applied it over 4 hours ago, and it's still definitely there, so this has quite a bit of staying power, which is nice, since most perfume just disappears on me after a fairly short time.

 

Overall, this makes me feel sexy and comfortable at the same time.

[Calligrafiti]

imp: Wow! The scent is very powerful, citrus and cloves. Glorious!

wet: The citrus fades immediately, and some florals come out and merge with the cloves.

drydown: The cloves fade pretty quickly, leaving some slightly soapy floral scents.

 

Too bad. If this smelled on my skin like it does in the bottle, I'd bathe in it.

[Venneh]

In the frimp, I'm getting an odd mix of what I think is almond, sandalwood and rose. Interested to see how this turns out.

 

On my skin, it's a combination of almond and rose, a really sweet smell. Hm. We'll see how this goes. And it pretty much dries down to straight up rose on me. I appear to be amping rose to high heaven. Swaps/sales.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Venneh

[luzblah]

Finally getting round to reviewing this one after discovering Blood Rose.

 

 

Imp: Sweet Almond Marzipany goodness. with a hint of rose.

 

Wet on: Marzipan when first put on. Which slowly fades.

 

Dry down: Rose. Rose. Rose. Just a lot of rose and nothing much else on me! Rose seems to amp out on me. But the sandalwood is there way in the background. Almond has really disappeared.

 

In the imp its nice but on the rose is too much. Swap pile methinks.

[donnatron]

Imp: Alice? Weird. It smells a LOT like Alice. Maybe the rose in Alice is Bulgarian?

 

Wet: This is still a dead ringer for Alice. It must be the rose/citrus combo.

 

Dry: This dries down to a pleasant rose/orange blossom scent touched with a bit of almond and spice. Very sunshiny and bright. It's actually not particularly sexy to me. More of a pretty, womanly blend that is appropriate for work or hanging out with friends. The almond kind of rounds out the scent and prevents the florals from getting a bit too aggressive with each other.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: It's pretty. Not my favourite but certainly a lovely blend. It very nicely balances more foody/gourmand notes with very classical floral ones.

[DeltaCat]

I was really hoping this scent would smell like those oranges you stick the cloves in ad let them dry and it smells kgkiofjfkgfjfkdkf amazing...

This doesn't. What I do get is a rose, sandalwood, clove combo that smells slightly of bleach on me. Rose scented bleach... It isn't terrible mind you (I have the weirdest scent likes), but it wasn't what I was hoping for.

[SophieCedar]

Similar to the previous poster, this gives me an astringent cleaner smell. The almond is not working with the rose, on my skin. My first impression was a hairspray or styling mould that I can't place. The rose has a dreaded tea rose essence for me. This will unfortunately need to go up for swappings.

[personaldna]

In the vial, already very perfumey.

 

On the skin... ah, rose! Why did you have to come in like you own the place and beat up on all your friends? You weren't even top on the list.

 

I smell like the sultan's whore--not in any kind of good way whatsoever.

 

I can't smell any of the other notes, and now I must shower.

[Evengloam]

A spicy rose, with a tinge of orange sweetness.

 

Imp: I can smell the almond and orange peel right off. No rose that I can detected.

 

Wet: Ah, there's the rose! And it's soapy. Pooh.

 

Dry: Rose, sandalwood, clove, and orange. The almond has pretty much disappeared. Blends nicely.

[impolight]

:::SERAGLIO:::

 

 

The Almond in Seraglio is the must distictive note, by far, from a freshly opened Imp of the stuff.

There is also a little something at the tail-end of it's virgin ascent into the ether... Honeysuckle, maybe?

There is a warm, dark, orangey-brown succulence to this that tempts the salivary glands into overdrive... Imagine an immense Copper urn where Oranges studded with cloves float loazily in a pool of warm honey.

On the Skin: Mmmmm! The Cloves catch fire! Exquisite!

The Nutmeg in Seraglio gives the Clove an incindiary edge. Upon holding the wrist close for an intimate whiff, the heat practically radiated onto the lips and face! Genius!

The Neroli and Bulgarian Rose offer an nice touch. When they mingle with the Almond, the result is quite close to confection!

The Sandalwood lends an effet of luxury to Seraglio... Have you ever gotten the royal treatment at a day spa, the feel is precisely the same.

Seraglio is amazingly good!

Made with Her in mind.

5 out of 5.

Edited May 24, 2010 by impolight

[sunlitgarden]

Seraglio

 

Even though carnation isn't in the listed notes, wet this smells like carnation on me (I guess it's the roses and spices.) After a little while the different scent layers spread out more and I can pick out the rose, spices and wood. Unfortunately, it's going a bit soapy on me. The rose dominates for a while and eventually mingles with warm sandalwood. I like it, but there are others I like more. Will probably hang on to the imp but not seek out more. I'm sad I didn't get any almond because I love it.

Edited June 16, 2010 by sunlitgarden

[NicoleJoy]

This one hit me entirely differently than the majority of posters here. I didn't get anything close to almond at first. Instead, in the bottle, I got light herbals and spice.

 

Wet on the skin, it was mostly herbal and spicy. I smell the cloves, and neroli...maybe a hint of sandalwood.

 

As it dried, I began to smell something floral. Is that rose?

 

Dry, it was definitely rose. A lovely blend of orange and rose, with sandalwood in the background and the faintest hint of cloves. What a 180!

 

This is a fantastic scent. It's definitely one I'd buy, but not one I *need* to have, if that makes sense.

[whisperstilled]

I'm a sucker for anything with almond, so I'm giving this one a chance despite my fear of heavy rose notes.

 

In Imp: Rose and almond, as expected, with some spice and a touch of orange blending nicely beneath.

 

Wet: The almond is still there and so is the clovey orange, but now the rose is fighting to oppress them. Come back, sweet almond! As it dries I get a little more of the spices beneath as well.

 

Dry: Orange has won out as the dominant note, with rose close behind. Almond has, unfortunately all but faded. Pleasant, but it's gone all rose. Pity! 2/5

[Altaira]

I have sadly come to realize that almond scents just don't work on me. I thought the florals would be an issue with this one, but I didn't have a reaction to them at all. The almond, on the other hand, made everything smell bitter and sour.

[Incendiare]

Mmm, love the smell of Seraglio in the imp: fresh almonds, orange peel, and spices, primarily clove. No florals at this point. Just something I'd probably want to bake at Christmas. Wet, it smells like an amped up version of what it's like in the imp. I'm starting to get a bit of the bitterness from the neroli, and a slight hint of rose way far in the back, but the sandalwood still isn't present. As Seraglio dries on my skin, it's warming up. There is a gentle, warm woodsy note in the background but it cannot be easily identified as sandalwood. At this point, it kind of reminds me of the scent of a blown-out candle. It's pretty much dry at this point. The almond is calming down a bit and the rose is coming out more. They seemed to have switched places. Very nice blend but not bottle-worthy.

[aquazoo]

Cherry syrup — that must be the almond. The sharp fruity fades down, but it ends up a bit soapy.

[milo]

Wet, very fresh, fruity rose, with an emphasis on the fruit. Kind of smells like strong, sweet strawberry with a touch of rose. Dry, it is mostly rose, no strawberry now, and just a dusty, musty old gummy bear that has been stuck in the couch for a year. The rose is of the sour variety on me, too, which is double bad whammy. Not for me.

[JLH]

I ordered an imp of this with my first order. I love the scent of almonds, and I was super excited to try this. Sadly, on me the Bulgarian rose totally takes over and obliterates all other notes. I should have known better, since I have a Bulgarian rose fragrance that also becomes overwhelming on me. I'm disappointed because the other notes sounds as thought they would be lovely together. Unfortunately, this scent is not for me.

[Vega]

Sniffed: A blast of almond, maybe with some indistinct spices in the background.

 

On skin: Still getting smacked in the nose by almond, but I can pick up faint traces of rose, sandalwood, and spices. Almond is definitely the star of the show, supported by a well-mixed blend of the other notes. A dry floral-spice (almond-dominated), musky and sensual, bold and unapologetic.

 

Verdict: Seraglio has a lot of promise, and under the almond I can smell something truly lovely and compelling. But there's simply too much almond, and one-note dominant blends are a bit boring. If only it were more balanced!

[Hedera]

This imp is at least five years old, so the scent might be different from a fresh one!

 

Edit: well, I've just found my notes from five years ago - and they are exactly the same as these! Word for word the same in a lot of cases, even.

Guess the imp (and my taste) didn't change much with age!

 

 

- In the imp; Nice, a bit sweet, light and cheerful. A hint of almond, but not too much.

This is promising! I like almonds, as long as they're not too dominant, and I'm always looking for a light, sweet smell.

 

- On me, first 10 minutes: alas, all almond disappears immediately.

I get a short whiff of something nice, a bit musky, a bit ambery, but that is gone within minutes.

What is left is a sweet, light, generic floral smell; not unpleasant, but not remarkable, either. Sort of like you'd expect a handcream to smell, something inoffensive that people won't notice too much.

 

I continues to smell faintly floral for about an hour or so; it's not a strong scent at all, with very little throw.

It doesn't have the harshness that some florals can get on my skin, so I guess that's good.

There's nothing not to like really - it's just that there isn't much to love, either.

 

- On me, after an hour and a half; it's almost completely gone now.

Oddly, now that the flowers have mostly left the stage, there is the faintest trace of almond left on my skin; like almond dust at the bottom of a box that used to hold dried flowers.

It's really quite nice, in a slightly dull sort of way, but very hard to detect.

 

 

Conclusion; I might hang on to the imp for a while, but probably I'll just frimp it to someone.

Too bad, from the name I was expecting something much stronger and more sultry!

Edited May 20, 2011 by Hedera

[elinox]

First Sniff: A combination of sugar and citrus; orange I think.

 

Wet: The rose comes through which is delightful. However it’s not pure rose; there’s something else a bit tart in there too.

 

Dry: As it dried, it became powdery soft and very feminine. The rose seems to be the most prominent and I don’t smell the orange at all now.

 

My Reaction: Based on the description, I was hoping for something with rose that then turned a bit spicy. Unfortunately, this just goes completely soft on me and it did not have a lasting or strong throw at all. After about an hour it faded into nothingness.

 

Rating 1-5: 1.5

[achromance]

In the vial: I'm actually getting flashbacks to some fancy dessert I've eaten, some juicy cake with dark chocolate and cherry. I know that has nothing in common with the lab description, I really don't understand where the association comes from. Now I have to mention that I didn't really care for that dessert (it was one of those "love it or hate it" type foods), so I'm quite apprehensive about Seraglio.

 

On my wrist: Well there's the rose. The dessert scent is no more. I suppose there are some spices to go along with the rose, but they are being overpowered.

It's just rose, rose, rose. Nothing else comes through. In fact, it seems like the rose is just getting stronger as the oil dries. If you like rose, you'll like this, but I'm afraid I'm not a fan.

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Almond - not the almond of maraschino cherries, but the almond of Jergen's hand lotion. I've loved that scent for as long as I can remember. There's a faint undertone of orange - the peel, not the neroli blossom.

 

On me, wet: Same as in the vial.

 

On me, just dried: The almond dissipates quickly, leaving orange, gentle spices, and a hint of general florals at first, which soon becomes identifiable as rose.

 

After 7 minutes, it is 100% rose.

After 15 minutes, it is a softer rose.

After 30 minutes: Rose with spices.

After 1 hour: Rose with sandalwood and a touch of spices.

After 2 1/2 hours: A faint lingering hint of sandalwood.

 

Verdict: I love this! It has several of my favorite notes and is one of my shortlist favorite scents. I was not so sure about the orange peel, as I don't care for fruity orange in a perfume, but here it is subtle and short-lived enough to not be a problem for me. I do wish that the neroli note was stronger - I never noticed that at all. But that's a minor quibble - this is a gorgeous blend which is indeed sensual and luxurious! I'm glad I got a vial instead of just an imp, because I will want to wear this often.

 

 

My rating: 5 stars