Seraglio

[ipb]

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.

my bust review for seraglio: i haven't worn it in awhile, but i remember it being very almondy wet with a light sandalwood that comes out later. a whisper of a rose and orange, its very light. i didn't smell the spices a'tall.


after that, i had said i'd try to wear it again soon, but i've been on a big queen mab kick.

but it IS a rather sensual perfume. one for a hot date for someone you'r not sleeping with..yet .. or with someone you want to seduce again by being a subtle sensual than overly sexual. i'd say this is would be like a long romantic walk on the beach at dusk, holding hands and occasionally kissing.

[Guest]

This is my dancing perfume! I slather this stuff all over myself, my veil and anything else! The first scents that hit me where the clove and orange. My good friend brought to my attention the almond in it, after I wore it the first time. REALLY GOOD. Originally ment to be a gift, but I kept it, naughty me.

[Gothabillywench]

Well, I'm thinking of passing my sample vial along as it smelt lovely & marzipany out of the bottle but went sickly sweet on my skin. Think there's a similar one ingredients-wise that I may try instead to see. Shame, as I really wanted to like it, but my skin had other ideas. :roll:

[roisnoir]

The almond and orange are what always hit me about this one.

It's a more innocent scent than it seems like it'd be - good for when you don't feel quite so dramatically sexy or just want to tease rather than devastate.

I sometimes wear this on dates or to work, but always wind up feeling that I smell like a pastry.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

S-E-X-Y. I smell almonds and oranges and a blend of other things that I can't identify separately. Would make a wonderful fragrance for a massage oil.

 

After Wearing It:

Sexy scent. It's sweet, it's fruity, it's smoky, it's spicy, it's pungent. The neroli and sandalwood peak out the most for me in this scent, though I do detect traces of rose and cloves. Whatever almond I smelled when I first put this on is hiding in the background now. This scent would make a really sexy massage oil or room fragrance, but it's good just to wear as well.

 

Final Thoughts:

Hmmm not sure what my final thoughts are. I think I need to wear it once more before I put those down.

[catiebloo]

Seraglio - Sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel.

 

WOW! This one smells like a cake when it's wet! Exceedingly marzipani (that'd be the sweet almond then!) with the underlying christmassy hint of nutmeg and spicyness of the clove oil. As it fades the rose and the sandalwood come through giving it an almost musty/heady inscence scent. Very nice.

[lorajc]

This ended up being another favorite of mine (even though I don't care for rose - it is muted in the background and mostly noticeable on the drydown). When I first put this on my wrist, I detected orange peel and then zilch...nothing!! I have terrible sinuses and the lady I used to buy my oils from said I can't smell certain notes ....there's a term for this, but I can't think of it. Sadly, when I first put this on and tested it, nothing. The next morning, I put quite bit on all over and could smell it. It is still subtle to my nose, but I'm loving it. I get the orange peel and neroli in the top note and then the drydown, I can smell the nutmeg and bulgarian rose. The sandalwood is the type that is either very mild, or my nose just has a difficult time picking it up. I definitely love this one, but I needed to reapply. One of my favs again.

[chai_girl]

I bought this and ended up swapping it. It ended up with a strong rose scent on me and I don't particularly care for roses. It was a bit too sweet and innocent for me, I prefer the darker, lustier scents.

[sirensongsouth]

For me in the bottle it was very almondy, on my skin I felt very Chrismas-like in that I smelled a lot of orange and clove, a little like a pomander. The dry down is lovely, I still smell orange, a little rose and some spices. I like this a lot, in fact, I may be wearing this exclusively for the next week or so.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Ooh, I like Seraglio. Slightly orangey and Christmas-spicy and sharp – not creamsicle orange, more like Orangina, maybe even Orangina with champagne (flashback to New Year’s Eve in Bordeaux…) It’s decidedly sweet-almondy too – took me a bit to place the scent, but it smells like my mom’s almond tea.

 

Wearing: On first touch, same as the bottle. It’s still a bit sharp, almost sneezey, but overall really nice. I can picture a belly dancer sprinkling this scent in her scarves. After a moment the rose is peeking softly out, but it’s not screamingly rosey like Black Rose. Really gorgeous – just five minutes on and it’s a velvety rose wrapped in warmth and dusted with spice.

[cj]

Fisrt sniff from the bottle made me heave to be honest ...far too almondy and sickly almost like vomit IMO !! Then I dabbed some on and almost within seconds it had transformed...amazing !! I can no longer detect the dominant sweet almond but its a more elegant spicey orange (albeit a slighly musty orange!!) on me now but with a heavy floral undertone. Its tickling my nose a bit and unlike say Perspehone or Spellbound I can barely smell it on me unless I sniff my wrist!! Its much nicer when it goes onto my skin...will wait for the proper dry down and test it some hours later...

 

 

note - some 7 hours later I can no longer smell it on me - unlike perspehone or spellbound or black rose which lasted throughout the day and until bedtime!! It smelled very nice & light a couple of hours in but faded on me too quickly which is a shame but since commercial/synthetic fragrances fade fairly quickly too I shouldn't complain!! Its still one to buy it even if I have to top up !!

Claire xxx

Edited March 3, 2004 by cj

[BitObsessive]

First sniff: almondy, sweet, spicy

 

On me: I've only worn it briefly, but the sandalwood and spices come out more on me than anything else. It's very sexy and subtle. I kept sniffing my wrist to smell it again. Just the right thing to dab on in spots where you want to be kissed.

[jj_j]

Crisp and barely bitter - like eating the orange peel rather than the orange - with an underlying sweetness. Went on sharp and almost green, but quickly mellowed into warm, smoky orange peel, this time with a bit of the fruit still clinging to it.

 

After a couple of minutes, I could detect the cloves, but only faintly. Unfortunately, they kept emerging on me, which means instant headache ... but when I sniffed my wrist one last time, more out of habit than anything, they had backed off quite a bit. Hooray - a scent with clove that I can wear; better yet, one that I want to!

 

Ends up as lightly spiced orange peels, with a soft undertone of floral. Not flowery floral, but melded into the spice note like petals thrown into an exotic dish as it's being prepared.

 

Nice! Buying it is still up in the air, but only because of my overall hesitancy with clove scents.

[Lars Thorson]

For the sake of reviews I wore this one to the club the other night. First thing I noticed upon wearing was spicy orange and rose. Not really a men's scent, more something for a man to wear after it's been rubbed off of a woman. Turned my GF's stomach, unfortunately, so that's not going to be happening. Got several of the ladies at the club to sniff and give me their opinions. They all agree that while it smelled good and might work for some of the more androgynous guys at the club, I had too much testosterone to pull it off. Several of them did express interest in it for themselves, so I'm going to bring the Imp with me next Monday. I'll keep you posted...

[friendthegirl]

First sniff from vial: Very strong roasted almond including the skin coming out, like there is one in front of me.

 

 

I will add more when I try it on my skin. This might take a while, since I've heard they can smell different if you're on your period. ):

[with coffee spoons]

I think I'm in love. In the vial Seralgio is very much almonds, warm and roasted, with a touch of spice and orange peel. I'm not a fancier of almond scents, so I was delighted to find that the almond faded out upon drying, and the orange peel and spices warmed up beautifully, smelling something like Christmas, like spiced candles, except better, of course. This lasts for perhaps twenty minutes, at which point the orange peel settles into the background and the neroli comes out, still tinged in spice, primarily cinnamon with a touch of clove, and the rose slips in, playing a supporting role, but one very much necessary. This isn't the whole rose at all; the petals, rather, divorced from the more insistently rose pistils and stamens. The petals, and one smells them viscerally, their smooth waxiness. It's gorgeous, just perfect, becoming a warm, yet silken fragrance, silken despite the spices. The sandlewood does not come out on me, or perhaps I am understanding it as part of the spice. The end result is beautiful, perfectly balanced, and I can imagine wearing it on a regular basis. It is not very strong on me, but it was strong enough that when I had applied it to wrists, inner elbows, and behind my ears, after a couple hours, when I took a turn around campus at dusk, the cool breeze caught it and I would catch whiffs of it mixed with the barely discernible scent of magnolia blossoms in the courtyard and of the falling night.

 

A large bottle will be in my future.

 

 

EDITED to add: Can I just reiterate how much I love this? It's absolutely gorgeous on me. Not at all foody, nor too sweet, but a warm floral, viscerally smooth despite the spice. It smells the way petals feel, silken, waxily smooth. Very sensual. Sophisticated. It's perfect. It's exactly the sort of floral I've been looking for without knowing exactly what I wanted, knowing only that it had to be warm yet elegant, but not too white. I am in love.

Edited April 26, 2004 by with coffee spoons

[Reinaluna]

Seraglio is another on of my first orders and has that ancient spicy middle eastern aroma that Im obsessed with! This is a good one to wear for a date or anything else that one would consider a special occasion. Sniffing the bottle all I smelled was that almond but the drydown turns into a tantilizing Rosey smell with the background of clove, nutmeg and sandalwood showering down. I dont smell the orange peel that much but that is OK, citrus is not one of my things but I highly recomend this one!

[Ura]

Initially, piercing sweet almond which immediately softens and blends with orange peel, roses and spice. Becomes very light, but one of my favorites.

[Dulci]

sniffed from the imp: marzipan! uhoh, I got sick on marzipan as a kid. I trust in the magic of BPAL and apply it anyway.

 

upon application: Rose! no more marzipan. :whew: Wet, it reminds me somewhat of that old Indian Money House Blessing spray that we used to keep in the glovebox. Not a bad thing!

 

a little later: the sandalwood is peeking out. and spices. Clove and orange peel, one of my absolute favorites! Rose drops back. Very faint now though, and it's only been an hour...

 

even more later: faint, sweet spicy. I like that it is not a strong cloud of scent, that I can sniff it only when I want to. This is a keeper.

[Fulltiltredhead]

I can't describe the notes any better than has already been done - I got a 5ml bottle in a swap today and I love it. I've layered it over MMU Almond Pastry sweet fluff body butter and it smells ... scrumptious.

[ismene]

I keep smelling cherries when I wear this for some reason. The almond is very strong too, so the overall impression is that of a fruit-flavored marzipan. Not what I expected and not what I'd associate with a seraglio, but I like it nonetheless. Unfortunately this one fades quickly one me as all my favorites do.

[twistygirl]

This is totally delicious... on me, the initial smell is almost totally almond, but not sickengly sweet almond, just a good toasty almond smell. On drydown, the almond has softened but is still present, and the sandalwood, rose, and neroli have made their way to the forefront. I can't really detect the nutmeg, clove, or orange peel, they must just blend together in a deliciously spicy mix. After this has dried down, I can't really say that one scent predominates on me... this is just blended so masterfully. It's very richly spicy and does make me think of harems and bazaars and it's just fabulous.

[malanna]

In the bottle and on initial application, I smell almonds. Foody...YUM.

 

However, drying and after, it just smells clean and soapy to me. No spices, just soap (sometimes with a teeny hint of rose--if I sniff really hard). However, Come to Me and #20 Love Oil do a better job of making me smell clean (and actually comforts me as well), so in the swap pile Seraglio goes!

[UltraViolet]

On my quest to find the perfect orange scent I came upon Seraglio-

 

Oranges, rose and clove at first whiff.

This is a stronger scent than some.

Dries down to cloves and an orange peel smell which is great and is along the line of what I was looking for.

 

Later, the rose comes out again and mixes with the clove and orange peel.

Unfortunately I didn't smell the sandalwood as much as I had hoped but it does seem to be there "holding" things together in the background.

 

And this scent is really alive, it doesn't seem to "lay down" after awhile as some do.

 

This is a sexier orange scent with almost too much rose scent for my taste but it knocks my socks off. I would recommed trying this.

 

ETA: This is now one of my Top Twenty blends. I love that spiced candied orange peel smell with the sensual rose.

Edited July 29, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Ishtar]

I tried Seraglio hoping for the strong almond note that usually works very well on me.

In the vial it is all almonds and marzipan, with a faint hint of orange coming through.

On, the rose and orange quickly reached the same level of strenght as the almond and ended up overpowering it during drydown.

The last stage was almost exclusively fruity/floral and faded rather fast. I think Seraglio lasted 5 hours or so on my skin.

 

It is a very nice scent, but a bit too faint and floral for my taste. I like my almond more bitter and bolder than that. I think this will be a swap, yet if you are thinking of ordering Seraglio, I would still recommend that you try it. It is a great scent, just not what I was looking for.