Silk Road

[Faeried]

A panoply of cultural treasures, spanning the herbs, flowers, oils and balms of the Romans, the Byzantines, the Mediterranean, the Levant, Northern China, Eastern Europe, Iran, the Bulgar-Kypchak, Mesopotamia, the Crimean Peninsula, Anatolia, Antioch, and North Africa.

Like it's description says this is a hodge-podge of scents. There are too many to even begin to try to break them down, but over all it's a very pleasant scent.

For me it has a warm cinnamon-ish tone to it, so I definitely see myself wearing it during the holidays.

[Trish]

In the imp: Soft sweet cinnamon with other stuff I can't pick out.

 

Wet: Yep, definitely cinnamon. But soft non foody cinnamon. There's also some herbs and I'm pretty sure I can smell cloves. After about 5 minutes I get saffron too. Oh yay! I've discovered I really like saffron. It's a little incensy but it's light and not at all nose wrinkling (and I like incense). This is extremely well blended.

 

Drydown: Woods! I think it's sandalwood but it could be a rather soft and subtle cedar. This is really reminding me of a softer less cinnamon sweet Hamadryad. The cinnamon is dying down rather rapidly too.

 

Dry: Oh this is lovely! Soft spices, herbs and wood, gently warmed by the sun and beautifully blended and swirled together. There's some soft florals too, but they're just rounding it out, not overtaking it. It's light and doesn't have much throw, but it has definite presence.

 

Unfortunately within 90 minutes it was all but gone . However I did only put a little on plus my skin chemistry has been a little funky the past few days.

 

 

I got several oils with cinnamon in them in this order, this was the last one I tried and it is probably my favourite (lthough Sin comes very close). I don't know if I'll get a 5ml though as I already have 5mls of Morroco and Scherezade which I adore, plus it doesn't last long (subject to further testing). Then again... I do love me some spices and this is different from both of them to me. Plus I think I could wear this in summer.

[Natch]

in the bottle: mmm... spicy! (go figure, right? ) fresh cinammon, clove, nutmeg and a plethera of more exotic spices that I can't identify

 

wet: Hellooo cinammon! The spices are really fresh, strong, and slightly bitter. They don't smell as if they've been baked into food but as if they are drying under the hot sun just a few feet away from where you are standing.

 

dry: the cinammon and other spices have sweetend a bit, and I get an oddly clean, but still spicy scent from it. Like a cool mountain breeze is blowing over the silk road... or something... how it got there, I don't know. Or maybe it's some sort of wood I'm smelling? Of course, if it were wood, I'd have to say pine... which doesn't seem quite right either.

 

overall impression: This is really spicy and delicious, but I get an odd, very slightly household cleaner undertone from it... weirdo skin. I think I would love my old wooden furniture to smell like this... or maybe my entire apartment... but I'm not so sure about my body... too bad I don't have a burner, or I'd give it a go as a room scent... or maybe I have some nice wooden jewlery I can rub it in to? Although it's light, it still wafts a bit from my skin, and since it smells so clean to me, maybe it's worth a go as a summer spice.

 

B+

Edited September 15, 2006 by Natch

[supremegoddessofall]

Kind of generic incense-y. I think I smell some myrrh and maybe a touch of patchouli. Amber's in there, too. It's pretty quiet for an incense scent - I put it on about 3 hours ago and while I can smell it, it's barely there. I like it okay, but there are other incense based scents that I like a whole lot better and have a lot more throw.

 

Score: 3 out of 5

[fiddledragon]

On me, this smells like raw cinnamon raisin bread dough. It has that grain-flour smell, some sweet dried fruits, cinnamon, and a yeasty bread smell. It's not a bad smell, but not really one that I want to smell like. I've put it in my "to age" box since this was fresh from the lab, and hopefully that grain note will calm down a bit. The cinnamon's probably going to do its spice of doom thing, but I can always hope for a miracle.

[em_h]

Wet: Cinnamon, and something green.

 

Drying: This is pleasant; almost entirely cinnamon/cassia, with not much in the way of other notes, but nice. A bit of an undertone that reminds me of some kind of body oil, a nearly scentless presence of something.

 

Dry: Disappointing, actually. It dries down into mostly that vague body-oil scent. Not bad, but not really anything. Virtually none of the panoply of components are choosing to make themselves evident on my skin.

[Tess]

The notes for this aren't really listed, but I don't think it'll work with me... Florals with herbs and oils? Hrm.

 

In the vial - Lots of spicey herbs. ...I don't like it. At all. I wish I could be more specific than that.

 

Wet - It's spicey and medicinal and... I just still don't like it at all.

 

Drying - Ew, ew, ew! I'm sorry, but this is terrible on me. Big Red that's been chewed for awhile after you taken some cough medicine that's had a bay leaf soaking in it. ...yeah, I don't like it. I think I can pick up some ginger, but not a twinkle of sandlewood or amber.

 

Dry (15 minutes) - I hate doing this, but I just have to wash it off. This is just terrible on me.

 

Overall - I'm glad some people love it so much, but it's just so very not for me. The combination didn't mix at all, with an oily note just making it seem slimey. Oh well.

[Diva Urd]

In the imp: It smells like a... band aid?!

 

*passes over to the husband*

 

Yup, band aid city.

 

On me, the band aid smell vanishes after complete dry down and turns into spiced tea, kind of similar to Blockbuster, yet not, if that makes sense.

 

It stays at that point until it is gone completely (which only takes about an hour or so).

 

Nope, this one sadly didn't really gel with me... off to the swap pile!

[vacpl]

This is an amazing scent. Very complex and goes through a lot of changes on my skin.

 

Wet and at first drydown it was spicy. Not hot, but very spicy. That quickly changed into a spice shop-type smell. I grew up near Philly and went to the Italian Market. Definitely a spice shop scent.

 

About 15 min. after I put it on I was getting an orange rind scent. A bit bitter and I was really hoping it wouldn't last. Thankfully it didn't.

 

Now, about 45 min. later, the scent has morphed again. It's deeper in almost a cakelike way, though not foody. Not too sweet, with a bit of oil - maybe almond or apricot oil? Not fruity though.

 

This one's hard to pin down. I imagine it to be a bit like walking into a tent in the Middle East at the end of the day. There are a bit of cooking smells (herbs & spices), body oils, and just a tiny hint of flowers from a nearby oasis.

 

One thing I've noticed is this has lightened considerably in a short amt of time. I don't know if it'll fade quickly or if it's just its nature to be one for slathering.

 

I think I'll have to try it a few more times before deciding on this one. Glad I got an imp of it though. It seems very wearable.

[spaceprostitute]

Wow, I really wish I got all of the wonderful stuff everyone else did from this one.

 

It's a medicinal balm, sort of akin to some of the badger balms out there. It's not very strong, but I'm assuming there is some sort of sandalwood in there and it's turning a touch acrid on my skin. This just isn't working for me. Faint spices, if any, just mostly light acrid wood. Luckily, for me, it fades quickly. It might work as a lotion and be a good, daytime office scent and then possibly layered with something a touch spicier or maybe sweeter, but as is I couldn't wear this as a perfume.

 

I'll be sticking with Scherezade.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i'm sure this is lovely on some of you... however for me, this is i-wish-i-was (generic or store brand) Gold Bond Lotion

and... the dust on the floor at the end of the day in an herb shoppe.

[aquazoo]

Also very nice. Cinnamon, mmmmmn! That’s mostly what I’m getting, though, no other notes are coming up on me.

[ND¢]

It does seem complex. Initially much too cinnamony, though a more subtle, non-red-hot cinnamon. Add in some faint wood, a graininess and that whiff of almost-pickle and you've got it. I like it, so I'll keep the imp and see how it works with me.

[sofiaviolet]

I can't pick out any individual notes. This smells like really old but still somehow pungent potpourri that's covered in dust. Ew.

[Carolyn]

Ever get the impression that everyone else is smelling a different imp?

 

My Silk Road is very...nice. It's a citrusy tea scent, like Bulgari's green tea scent, which I overdosed on in the 90s.

 

I didn't get a drop of cinnamon or spice. Just a light, citrusy tea scent that is very generic to my nose but very easy to wear and likeable.

 

If you like Shanghai, you should like this one, too.

[mtlaise]

I'm with you on this one Carolyn... Silk Road isn't a scent I ever would have thought to try, as I tend to like the really obviously foody smells, but this was lovely... It's not necessarily an every day scent for me, but definitely one I'd wear occasionally. I'm not really good at picking out individual notes yet, so here's my general impression of how this scent worked for me.

 

Wet, this is slightly spicy and very sweet. I tend to not like scents that are too sweet, but this one calms down on the drydown, with the spice coming up a bit more to tone down the sweetness. Once it's completely dry, it keeps the same balance between the spice and sweetness, but is much softer, and quite nice as a light summer scent.

[Quiara]

At first sniff, this is cinnamon and something slightly herb-y. It doesn't grab me, but it doesn't run me off, either.

 

Wet: CINNAMON. Yup, pretty much cinnamon -- and maybe a clove or two. Then some light florals start swirling around like dust in a sunbeam.

 

Dry: This settles down into a deep tea scent on me. For quite a while, it smells just like cinnamon sunset tea I get at the Barnes & Nobel cafe, but then the cinnamon tones down and I'm left with a damp, sweet tea.

 

I like it, but overall, it's not something that really grabs my attention. It doesn't demand to be worn the way Queen of Sheba does. I layered it with Sudha Segara out of curiosity and wound up with a milky ginger tea that I quite liked. I don't know yet whether I'll keep the imp.

[oh_the_horror]

Wet: Cinnamon like crazy. I could smell other components at first but the cinnamon quickly took over everything.

 

Dry: Dusty cinnamon with something sweet and delicate. I'm going to guess that the cinnamon I smell is actually cassia. I seem to do ok with cinnamon scents, but cassia amps up on me like crazy until it dominates everything else.

[impadua@aol.com]

I just got this as a frinp from the lab.

 

I can't really distinguish different notes in it, it is so well blended, and gives me a feel. It's as if I close my eyes I can feel the warmth of the sun, and smell the spices at the outdoor market, and there went a breeze with a citrusy/incensy smell in it, and I turn a corner and there I am at the Renissance Faire, with the smell of cinnamon, neroli? tuberose?gardenia? in the booth I am next to, and.I.am.in.love. I know this scent.

 

It is the scent of happiness. Spring days, gentle breezes, I am truly in love.

 

I must buy a whole lot of this.

 

You lab minxes, you have discovered my weaknesses and I am paying for it....happily.

[baranoouji]

Dove soap?!

 

No cinnamon, no exotic spices, no hedonistic incense, no burning winds across my face.

 

Just crazy-assed amounts of Dove soap.

 

Fine, Silk Road. Be that way. See if I don't send you to the cornfield.*

 

*By which I mean, swap pile.

 

Edit:

 

So having realized that I tried this while my skin was doing strange things, I thought that I would give it a second take:

 

It smells like cinnamon and something oily/soapy, and something bready. I can see where I thought that it smelled like Dove, but it's more defined with other smells.

 

I can't tell if I want to eat it or put it in a bowl in my bathroom.

Edited February 20, 2007 by baranoouji

[tinyvulture]

first off, i think i smell saffron with a hint of cinnamon. there’s something creamy, too. it reminds me a lot of bengal or morocco – spicier, though, with stronger throw (not as strong as three witches, though!) the perfect level of spice, i’d say. after it dries, it takes on kind of a “cinnamon candle” or “cinnamon potpourri” smell. it’s ever-so-slightly soapy. i still really enjoy it.

[filigree_shadow]

I was really looking forward to Silk Road -- it was one of the first BPAL oils I tried. I didn't understand at the time why it didn't smell very good on me but other people in the thread thought it was so wonderful. (That was before I understood about skin chemistry.) I kept trying it, thinking I must be missing something, but I kept not liking it.

 

I like the spicy part of it just fine, but there is some grain note or something in this that makes it smell kind of like bread. Only... not good bread. It doesn't smell like moldy bread or anything, it just smells off somehow. I'm not sure what note that is, but it doesn't work on me at all.

[monsteralice]

Wet: Cardamon tea in a carpet shop.

 

Dry: Warm, rounded, and spicy.

 

Duration/throw: Good throw for the first few hours, them makes a gradual retreat.

 

Silk Road is a great "exotic" scent; one drop and you feel well-traveled even if you don't have a passport. This is definitely a keeper, and probably a bottle purchase.

[moon_lemming]

When I opened my imp of Silk Road, a scent hit me that reminded me of my grandma's house. Not the one who smokes -- the one who does crafty things and whose house always smells like some good smelling ... herb? Flower? I've never figured out what it is. I guess the note list for this oil isn't really going to help me, huh?

 

On me, there's a huge whiff of lemon, along with something green and herbal. Sounds like it would smell like lemon cleaner, but it doesn't. There's some sort of wood or resin keeping it from going that route. Also, after about ten minutes, I notice some cinnamon in there. The lemon fades back as the cinnamon moves up.

 

Finally it becomes a mix of cinnamon and herbs and spices, so well blended that I can only pick out the cinnamon, with a teensy drop of lemon in the background. Very warm and sunny.

 

Wow, this smells really good. Not much throw, but it makes a good "skin scent," I think. The cinnamon is making the spot where I applied the oil itch and turn red, but I'm not usually this sensitive to it, so I think I might retry it when my skin's not so dry. Totally worth it.

[lightgatherer]

There are no specific notes listed for this scent, and I couldn't begin to tell you what's in here. I get a slight hint of spice, a touch of something musky, a bit of fruit, and a fair amount of floral. This all goes together well, and it does indeed make me think of far-off travels. Given that there isn't anything that stands out here, though, it doesn't have a lot of appeal to me. It's not a bad scent, but it's not me.