Seraglio

[neuilly]

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.

Wow, look at the variety of responses on this one!! Alas, rose does what it almost always does...takes over!! Straight up single note Bulgarian rose on me. Edited February 7, 2008 by Shollin

[n1k1ta]

Rose, dark red rose. The almond swirls around the heady rose so Seraglio is almost overwhelmingly sweet. There is a touch of orange in the rose/almond mixture. However, it doesn't lighten the perfume at all.

 

There's also a bitter note that I can't pinpoint the source of. It hits me in the back of the throat. It's not pleasant.

 

After two hours, the nutmeg and clove seep out and Seraglio becomes a little more spice. The orange peel is a wonderful contrast with the spice since the rose has become less aggressive.

 

After four hours, Seraglio is sandalwood with orange-y spice. I can say that this perfume is not anything like what I go for. However, it did stay true and never soured. If you're a fan of sweet/spicy rose, this is right up your alley.

[LadyCrow]

Wet: Almondy, but not the aggressive almond note of Bastet. This quickly changes to almost pure orange.

 

Drydown: The clove and neroli rise up next. For a very, very large portion of its wear time on me, Seraglio smells indelibly like orange-spice herbal tea. I'm talking good orange-spice tea, mind you, definitely a grade above Celestial Seasonings, but still... tisane. Later on, I get a bit of subtle rose, a nice rose, but nothing that makes me want to dance like a harem girl for the hubby.

 

It's pretty. It's nice. I would just rather drink my herbal infusions than wear them.

[PersephonesChild]

In the imp, it's marzipan, pure marzipan. Same thing wet on my skin.

 

As it dries, the orange peel becomes a little stronger, and I suppose there's a distant hint of clove (or how clove smells on everyone else, it usually becomes the big, bad, evil clovemonster on me....)

 

Oh wait, here comes the rose! And... now, a few minutes later, neroli!

 

This one really likes to change. And I'm really enjoying all of these changes... I find this a very luxurious blend. The changing is flirty, sultry, sexy. Very enjoyable. I don't think you'll be able to get this imp away from me.

[Kimocean]

Frimp from the lab of Seraglio:

Wet this hits me over the head with almond but luckily it quickly fades on my skin as I am not an almond scent fan. The next wave which is also very strong is orange oil. To me it's the scent that I smell when I first break into an orange peel, strong, sharp and unmistakable. As this calms a little bit there's a hint of spice behind it, but I still get mostly orange oil. The combination makes me think of orange spice tea which has never been a favorite of mine. My skin tends to amp anything citrussy and this follows the pattern with the orange dominating throughout the drydown. It's too sharp and orangey for me

[Nia]

On the imp, this smells delicious, complex, sparkly with the neroli and the orange peel.

 

Wet, it only smells of bitter almond. Bitter almond smells like The Bitter Almond From Hell on me, so sweet almond smells like a less hysterical bitter almond.

 

Dry, it smells of... roses and a bit of almond. Another one for the swap pile.

[Extispex]

In the imp, a rich, spicy, yummy-smelling rose.

 

On, wet, holy crap, its almond! I love the smell of almond but this one shocked me a little with its intensity. It lightens up very quickly as it dries.

 

Rose blend are often too rosy on me, but this one isn't. This is a sultry, seductive rose, one that stays true on me. Very lovely, but not something I think I'd wear very often.

[jmchau]

When I first put this on I was pleased with the scent. Then the rose started to manifest. Boy did the rose manifest. It was just this side of wash-it-off-now, but I was hoping the other scents would show up.

 

Once the rose dissipated the spicy scents came out, particularly the sandlewood and the clove. It's a more incense-y scent that I would normally wear, but it was nice. I doubt I'll try it again because of the overwhelming rose, but I might.

[Wildchild453]

On wet: Sweet almonds is all I get. Not a bad thing since I love the way it smells

 

Drydown: Sandalwood with a orange peel edge. Its nice, just praying it doesnt take an evil turn to baby powder. Since its either that or myrrh that does that.

 

I think I like it which is good since I bought a bottle unsniffed I just wish the spiciness of the cloves would come out

Edited July 11, 2007 by Wildchild453

[PurpleHeather]

In the bottle: Smells like marzipan. Don't really know where I'm getting that from.

Wet: Marzipan, with a dark dusky background.

Later: This has turned into Turkish Delight. A perfectly pleasant smell, but not something that I

necessarily want to smell like; 6/10.

[WidgetAlley]

In my very favorite series of books ever, there is a portion of one novel wherein one of my very favorite characters ever, enters the Seraglio of Suleiman the Magnificent at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and becomes a member of the harem in order to protect a child. (If anyone knows what I'm talking about, eighty billion jillion kafrillion million zillion points and also, please PM me immediately so we can nerd out.)

 

So, of course, Seraglio could smell like cat pee and rotting meat and fast-food grease and spilled gasoline on me and I would still keep it. I would still love it. I would possibly even drink it in an attempt to be imbued with the essence of Philippa Somerville.

 

Anyway.

 

In the Imp: Oh Gahds. This smells amazing, too. Why does rose never work on me? Why can't this be awesome? Please? Just once. It's almonds and oranges and sandalwood and roses and rich and delicate and spicy and incredibly, incredibly delicious. It smells like a beautiful banquet set out under the playing fountains and palm trees, and the musks and scents of the gorgeous women around you.

 

Wet: Almonds and oranges and sandalwood, first, and then a soapy rose, and then spice. They seem to alternate, which is better than the usual ROSE SOAP ALL THE TIME BITCHES that I usually get on my skin.

 

Dry: Spicy rose soap, but I don't care. I'll put it on my clothing, or in my hair, or something. I love it anyway, because, because, because, um, seraglio. And also when my skin doesn't do horrible things to it, it actually does smell really really really really good. *sigh*

[taramarie]

In the imp and wet on my skin, Seraglio is a spicy rose. But then my skin chemistry kicks in and it becomes a spicy rose soap. Oh well, better luck next time.

[euterpe414]

Yum yum yum!! This is one sexy blend, that is for sure! At first it is predominantly almond and rose (and a nice well behaved rose, for me, too- yay), but as it dries the spices come to the forefront and balance everything out. The orange shows up last, but really rounds out the blend and turns it into something special.This is a lot like Jezebel in feel, to me, and I have a bottle of that so I am not sure that I would buy a bottle of this straight away but I am going to certainly enjoy my imp. It really reminds me of sitting in a lovely tea room on cushions with the breeze blowing incense throughout the room...

a wonderful blend, indeed!

 

[Dymphna]

Funny to see this thread pop up because I'm trying Seraglio again today after receiving another frimp of it from the Lab. Thanks, Lab!

 

Seraglio remains the only rose blend thus far that actually works on me, by which I mean that it doesn't turn to soap. (I also really like Rakshasa, but that's because it smells like sandalwood soap, which I love. )

 

In the imp, Seraglio is rose and almonds, delicious.

 

On my skin, at first, it's this beautiful, sensual, feminine blend of silky rose, sweet almonds, gentle spices, and luscious orange. I love the orange. I need to find more orange scents. Anyway, it's lovely, so soft and sexy. Makes me think of bathing in water scented with exotic oils and strewn with deep pink rose petals while being fed slices of sweet orange. Oh, yum!

 

Eventually, sadly, my two favorite notes in this blend, the orange and almond, pack it in and go home. I'm left with a nice, spicy rose scent that reminds me a lot of Alice. I guess rose + clove = carnation to my nose. But even the spice fades after a while and then it's just rose. Sweet, somewhat powdery, very persistent rose. I once described it as HI, I'M ROSE AND I'LL BE YOUR PERFUME TODAY! It's not bad, but I guess I'm just not a straight-up rose person, even when it (miraculously!) behaves on me. I think I may try this one in my scent locket and see if I can hang onto the almond and orange and spice that way.

[Christine Daae]

In the imp, this is seriously almondy. Mostly that sweet, cherry-almond scent. A bit like how Black Phoenix starts off, actually.

 

Wet on my skin, it's still a blast of that heady almond scent, and that's it.

 

Eventually I do get a bit of the neroli and the orange peel. I don't smell any rose at all, which is too bad. I do get a bit of the spices, but not much. It's very sweet and once the almond backs down, very pretty. I don't know if it's really for me, though, as it takes a bit to get to the pretty stage from the "holy crap almonds!" stage.

[MaidenGenevive]

Seraglio

 

A sweet tart orange scent that's floral, with hints of warm spices. I don't pick up on the almond, like I had hoped. It's mostly an unusual mixture of florals teamed with orange peel, that's both bitter, tart, and cloyingly sweet all at once. The mixture of all the different notes is mildly nauseating.

 

[1 - Hate] .. [2 - Dislike] .. [3 - Like] .. [4 - Really Like] .. [5 - Love]

 

2 : I think I would have liked it better without the florals.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle it's a strong blend and i don't get any particular notes. the rose isn't particularly strong, but it's lending an overall floral.

wet on skin it's almost a bergamot smell, oddly. again, the various players are sticking close together. no orange, no spice.

dry on skin the neroli and rose are sticking around and i don't get any clove and very little orange peel. it could use orange peel to keep it tart.

two hours later slightly sweet and bitter. i wanted to love seraglio, but it wasn't feeling very friendly.

[Victory]

I received an imp of Seraglio somewhere around two years ago, loved the almond and hated the rest (I think it was the rose and other florals, maybe the clove was a factor in that, too) so I put the imp away, never to be worn again. I put some behind my ears today and there was the burst of gorgeous, beautiful, lovely almond as I remembered that died almost immediately, followed up by rose. Rose is a scent that can be hit or miss with me- it misses not by smelling bad per se, but because my nose can't detect it. This rose is one that I can smell (obviously) and from behind my ears, Seraglio is now single note rose. I'm not really a floral lover, but I like this aged version so much better than the fresh that I may very well wear this some more.

[alianthe]

In the bottle: sweet, warm, and full. Sugared almond, strong, over just a hint of flowers. Honey-gold, round, and warm.

 

Dry on me: The almond fades back, the sugar-sweet mellows out, and forward come the sandalwood and hints of spice. Dark amber (color) and hot, a weaving, sinuous scent which makes no apologies for its sexuality.

 

Conclusions: Mmmmmmmm, mmmmhmmmmm....

[hkhm]

imp: i absolutely love blends like this! i can smell every note and the neroli just attacks my nose. if i had to condense it: spicy, orangy almond yum.

 

wet: this smells like the very best sugar cookies with that wonderful tang of baking spices.

 

dry: dries down to a crisp spice, the memory of cookies long gone. i really love this belnd but i don't think it works well enough on me to buy a bottle.

[maribouquet]

imp: almond!

wet: sweet almond and rose

dry: too sweet for me at first, but the far drydown is nice and these are all notes I adore.

 

Not sure how I feel about this one, yet...

[Lyrical]

in the vial: almond essence, orange and spice - it's Christmassy!

 

wet on skin: almond essence. Sweet and foody. Wait a minute - I think there's a touch of orange there too, and a hint of rose.

 

dry on skin: mostly rose, but a very nice, well-behaved rose tempered with fruit and spice. The almond has gone, and there is very little nutmeg, clove, or sandalwood. It's very well-blended, but there is hardly any throw. I'll enjoy the rest of the imp, but I probably won't get a bottle.

[akiko]

I got this one off the forum. I like almond and spices, but rose isn't my friend (turns into fake rose hand lotion on me.)

 

Imp: Smells like Amaretto

 

Wet: oh, look, there's the rose. Blech.

 

A few minutes later: the rose is going away, and a spiciness is coming out.

 

Dry: No almond to speak of, but there's some spiciness (clove, I think), and a very light rose, which smells fake on me. It's mostly gone after a couple hours, though.

 

Edited: what I interpreted earlier as "gone" is actually sandalwood. Very faint, but there's sandalwood.

Edited December 1, 2007 by Winterwind

[persephanise]

I think I would have liked this better with a different rose (and less of it) and more sandalwood.

 

It was okay but in the end it was too rosy, and this rose smelled kind of cheap to my nose, like dimestore rose lotion. I wore this right after having worn Baghdad, and I definitely prefer Baghdad.

[filigree_shadow]

I usually don't like almond scents very much, but I like this one. It smells really good with the neroli and orange peel. I don't think I can smell any rose or the spices in it, at first, but after the almond backs off I think I can start to.

 

This isn't the type of scent I would have expected to like, but I like it. It smells cute and kind of sweet. It's a lovely combination.