Seraglio

[judas_kiss]

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.

 

This really didn't work for me. My quest for a rose scent I continues....I refuse to give up!!

 

In the imp: Mmm...marzipan and roses. For some reason, I thought of a Spanish or Mexican candy I seem to remember trying in childhood...

 

On me: Hello Dana O' Shee with roses. At first, I was in love with this scent...but, as is my fate...the rose went postal and took my arm hostage. The sandalwood tried to negotiate, but in the end, the roses won.

 

We just didn't get along. Well, I'll pass on the lerve, though b/c I am sure this would make a rose-lover very happy.

Edited February 17, 2006 by judas_kiss

[Neely]

In the bottle: Oh dear, garlic salt. Must be the almond? Same thing happened with Hecate. So, garlic salty almonds.

 

Wet: garlic salt and something sweet.

 

Dry down: orangey floral like soap or a cleaning solution, but prettier and softer. Wow this one does morph a lot!

 

30 minutes: roses. I am not a rose person but this is nice. Rose that didn't turn into grandma.

 

Conclusion: soft powdery roses. Nice, feminine, but not me.

 

Rating on my skin, this is a 2.

[Caltha]

Seraglio

It starts out nifty: marzipan and bitter almond with a touch of citrus. As it dries it unfortionately gets plastic and soapy, a sort of generic floral with perhaps a touch of almond.

[TheStormCellar]

This started out so nice, it's hard to say where it went wrong. Probably the almonds. I can't wear nut scents because they go all dark and cloying on my skin. Add to that the rose & clove, which vanish without a trace. All that was left was the neroli, orange peel, sandalwood, and nutmeg, and it just wasn't a good mix at all. It now smells like orange juice that's been out on the counter for a couple days and gone bad. Not pleasant.

[Diana]

 

This was a bad experience for me. I had an imp, I thought I liked it, and bought a 10mL. I wore it and really couldn't remember what attracted me to it. It lists tons of things that I love to wear: rose, citrus, spices, almond and sandalwood.

 

This on me turned cloyingly sweet. The neroli didn't soften like it usually does, the rose & sandalwood and spices were no where to be found, and the neroli & almond teamed up with every thing else to turn into EVIL. And to top it off, I had a migraine the day I wore it, so I couldn't ever smell it again without thinking MIGRAINE. So I got rid of my bottle. Maybe one day I'll get an imp of it by chance, and I'll change my mind about it. But for now, this is one of the few BPAL scents I don't want anywhere near me.

Edited April 11, 2006 by Diana

[Nekomata]

I get alot of almod from this. It's almondy fresh and almondy dry, but it's also got alot more of a cloved orange scent when it dries.

[themerrybaker]

Almost all sweet almond on me with a little rose developing late. A subtle warm scent without much throw. Seraglio is very pleasant, but not particularly distinguished or unique.

[moon_lemming]

In the imp, almondy sweetness with a touch of almost-bitter orange.

 

Seraglio plus my skin, though, is all roses and . . . I think that's neroli. After a minute of goodness, it turns to baby powder. I'm inclined to blame that on the sandalwood; it tends to hate me. Sniff. Unfortunately, I'm not a baby powder kind of girl (please ignore the Love's Baby Soft days), so it's off to the swaps with this one.

[moonarcana]

Sniffing from the imp, I smell sweet cherry evenly balanced by mellow sandalwood. As it goes on the skin, the sweetness amplifies a bit until the oil dries and then the scent begins to change. First the almond goes from cherry to nutty, then the rosy floral starts to peek out from behind. At no point do I detect any clove or citrus tones.

 

After a few hours the almond has faded almost completely and all that is left is the soft breath of the sandalwood and rose.

 

This is not a heavy scent - it's very refined. Light enough to wear to the office, but fragrant enough to remind everybody what a sophisticated woman you are!

 

 

My rating for Seraglio is 4 (out of 5)

 

- Sally

[emzebel]

Mmm. Spicy almond...almost like sugared, spiced nuts that you can buy on the streets of NYC, but without the obvious candy tinge.

 

Saying that may not make this sound overly appealing as a perfume, come to think of it, but it is actually not overtly foody - the sandalwood and rose round it out nicely. I like this. Not sure if I would wear it enough for a bottle, but I am sure this little impsy here will see some use...

[lookingglass]

Oh, I love this one WET. Sweet, rich almond with what smells like an amped up Alice! (it must be the spices=carnation, citus=bergamot and rose that I am associating here with Seraglo). I wish the almond hung on...as I always do. I will definitely be wearing this out tonight!

 

ETA: After re-falling in love with Black Phoenix I am seeing a definite connection. However, I like BP better because I can do without the citrus in Seraglio, and crave the musky incense of BP.

Edited January 10, 2007 by lookingglass

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

sweet incense, orangey

 

wet:

same, with almond

 

dry:

reminds me of an orange & clove pomander! With a warm incense/sandalwood/touch of almond, oh my. This is delicious! Eventually the orange and clove recede, and it's spices and a mild rose… well it disappeared really fast… wow.

 

overall:

for half an hour I was drooling… and about to give it a 10. with the rose & disapperaing act? It's not bad, but I'll have to try it again.

 

rating: 7/10

[Eunice]

Marzipan and rose right away. The sandalwood shows up a few minutes later. There is only the faintest hint of clove and nutmeg. Seraglio is even better than I had anticipated! Not quite foody, not quite incensy. Totally wonderful!!

[Naamah_Darling]

This is the first oil I've wanted to eat out of the bottle. It smells like creamy almonds and orange peel, a smell like the cookies my husband and I make every year for the winter holidays. There's a bit of spice here, too, but it's so strongly almondy that it nearly smells like a chocolate-covered cherry (that's what almond flavoring smells like to a lot of people, self included -- cherries).

 

On, the cloves and rose come out, but the almond is still dominant. There's sandalwood present, which is really, really interesting under the almonds – the effect is very lush and very sexy. This is the scent of physical comfort, of mounded cushions, sweetmeats on silver trays, and naked bodies thinly veiled in silks and the scent of newborn roses.

 

The rose blooms more as it dries down, rose and spices, with a hint of citrus I'm not entirely sure about; it could be what is making this a little sour on my skin. It vanishes on the total drydown, and the scent becomes a dusty, sandalwoody smell rounded out with spiced roses. A beautiful perfume, just a hair high-pitched for me to really fall in love with it, and I'm coming to appreciate that I don't really care for sandalwood perfumes in general. They all seem to share a common note that just doesn't quite smell right on me, and I think that's the influence the sandalwood itself has on the other notes.

 

For someone who doesn't mind sandalwood, and who doesn't have a problem with the Lab's almond note, this would be an excellent choice. It's adult, sophisticated, beautiful, and alluringly vulnerable. This is utterly feminine and just a little bit smug. This is the scent of a woman who knows exactly how good she smells, and who is aware of exactly how to use what she's got. Actually, for Firefly fans, it reminds me a great deal of Inara.

[Melantha]

Almond is not my favorite scent, but I had to try it for the name.

 

Nope.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Mmm, almonds! Hints of spice. This reminds me of marzipan, one of my favorite sweets.

 

On me: This smells like soap. Almondy soap. Damn it!

 

Verdict: Well, this sucks. I was really looking forward to wearing this blend. Swaps/sale it is.

 

Rating: 1/5

[rosetta]

In the vial & wet: almond extract, in-your-face! Not unpleasant, but the strength of it takes you by surprise. I can detect nothing else but almond (extract) at this stage, although others have.

 

On me: almond fades and spices & rose take center stage; beautiful, but the only problem is that it fades so soon, within an hour! I would really love this to last... Well, it's lovely the short time it does!

Edited June 29, 2006 by rosetta

[edenssixthday]

Seraglio - When I first apply this oil, it is so incredibly aromatic as to be completely overwhelming with a bittersweet scent that is reminiscent of a musty, dusty old fur hat pulled out of my grandma's closet being boxed up for the past 75 years. Fortunately, it only takes about 2 minutes for it to settle down and start to play out on my skin. For the first 15 minutes or so (after the initial dry-down) I really like the scent -- a rich and warm combination of rose, orange, and sandalwood. The almond and nutmeg/clove scents that are so strong on others don't come through at all on my skin. I can't say enough about how beautiful this scent is. Unfortunately, about 15-20 minutes after applying the oil, it turns into an incredibly light and soapy scent which doesn't appeal to me in the least. Since the scent I enjoy only lasts about 15 minutes, I won't be buying this again.

[t_for_tau]

Augh! Marzipan!

 

This scent is full of my nemeses (nemesises?), and I wouldn't even have put it on my skin except for the fact that I got it as a freebie from someone and the lid was broken when it arrived, so I had to transfer it into something else. And it slimed everywhere and screamed MARZIPAN, and even after scrubbing it off thoroughly I can still smell it going MARZIPAN! MARZIPAN! somewhere around.

 

And now, like someone upthread, I'm getting garlic salt. And marzipan. Eeek!

 

Two scents in a week that I've had to scrub off, and I've never had to do that before. Sigh.

[birdiefu]

Bottle: Heavenly! Sweet almond, slightly spicy orange, and a touch of neroli.

 

Wet: What happened?? All I get are a lot of cloves.

 

Dry: The cloves are still overpowering anything else that might be in there, but I thought I caught a whiff of sandalwood at one point. Oh well .

 

 

ETA: I tried it again a couple weeks later, and it's not *as* clovey this time. More full-bodied spiced (but heavy on the cloves) rose, and the sandalwood is more apparent. Better, but still not quite my cup of tea. For some reason I keep on wanting to like this scent, maybe one day...

Edited August 3, 2006 by birdiefu

[fairy]

I put this one on last night and kept having to come back to the bottle to sniff...I just could not place the smell. Then I came here to read the description and felt embarrased for missing it. ALMOND! Lots of yummy almonds. Of course!

 

This is a very interesting scent. I want to not like it because it doesn't go with what I usually like, but this one is nice! I got a few "mmmm, what's that smell" comments with this one. Sweet but not overly annoying sticky sweet. Just enough to make a statement without overdoing it. Love it!

[mountainwitch]

Super-sweet candied almonds. The other notes never really become as prominent as I was hoping, and what does stand out on my skin is almonds and more almonds--and an overall fragrance that is just tooth-achingly sweet. An interesting blend, but just not what I'm looking for.

[steffanina]

Seraglio-

 

In Bottle: Mmm! Almond! And lemon and soap, which is fine.

 

Wet: Soapy. The almond lingers, but soap is predominant.

 

Dry: The almond seems to be receding. Bright soapy scent. If this is "Seraglio," I feel remarkably clean for it. Quick fade, not very interesting.

 

Overall: Uninteresting.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

If it's a rose blend, I'll try it; if it's a Love Potion, I'll try it (I'm almost caught up on those, actually!)--this makes Seraglio a double threat! In the vial, I don't smell rose--I smell almond-orange cookies. On me, the almond-orange cookies have more depth and spice to them, but still no rose. However, this is a fun, unexpected blend--much more playful than I thought it would be. I like it, but don't just madly love it. And since my imp box runneth over, I can resist.

[maijasu]

Wet: Almonds and spice, so yummy.

 

Dry: Keeps morphing between spicy marzipan and soapy aquatic. Love the marzipan; the soap, not so much.

 

Swap.