Seraphim

[porcelina]

A perfume sacred to the highest of the angelic hosts: calla lily, wisteria, white sandalwood, Damascus rose and frankincense.

oof. seraphim is a cloying white floral over powdery sandalwood. not for me.

[catrinella]

Imp: Greens and calla with a warm base, probably the sandalwood.

 

Wet: Ooh, rose! That wasn't in the imp. I expect it to disappear soon as my skin is frighteningly efficient at eating rose.

 

Drydown: The sandalwood and frankincense has come up to mingle with the fading rose. At this stage, it does smell like a complex commercial perfume, although I don't have a problem with that.

 

1 hour: Rose and strong sandalwood. It's still throwing quite a bit, although I applied very little.

 

3 hours: Faded a bit but still obvious. It's now sandalwood with a warm frankincense undertone, which I like a lot.

 

Verdict: Unsure. I can get the warm wood notes elsewhere without the hour or so of commercial perfume, but I do like it even in that phase. I'll put this in the "try again" pile.

[monsteralice]

At first the lily scent was very strong, then the rose took over. Now I can't decide which I am smelling, they have blended so well. On me this is a bright floral - the resins don't come out at all, which is a shame as I was hoping for more presence from them in the blend. I don't get a sense of angelic beings here, but it could be the scent of the gardens in the Silver City.

 

It lasts for a few hours before requiring reapplication, I make it a medium for duration.

 

Without the resins this just isn't me, but it should work well for someone who likes lily, rose, and a sense of brightness to their perfume.

[Limelight]

I agree with porcelina's point - cloying. It's too sweet for me! I'll bet real seraphim aren't this sweet. Probably some bad combo of the frankincense and calla lily. To swaps with ye.

[YoakeNoKami]

Pretty much the same all the way through--my reaction to this is: "Augh!!! The florals ate my arm!"

[pooka]

Wore this one for a night out on the town at my favorite piano bar...

 

In the imp: Tough to put into words, but I like it... it has that sort of haughty, pointed, refined scent that you would expect from an angelic being. Rose was the most noticeable element, with the frankincense close behind... it kind of smelled like a wedding bouquet (or, at least, what I imagine a wedding bouquet would smell like, never having held one myself).

 

Upon the flesh: Even more sublime. My body felt like a greasy stack of meat that the oil was sternly trying to overpower; "don't pay attention to this gentleman, he's far too unworthy to wear a scent as perfect as ME." More complexity of the florals as time went on, but... well, it kind of smelled like I spilled industrial-strength cleaning fluid on myself. Really nice cleaning fluid, but cleaning fluid all the same.

 

As time wore on...: Mercifully faded out into soft sandalwood and wisteria (I think) notes. The rose and frankincense worked really well at the beginning, and these two worked really well at the end, but in the middle they were really fighting for conquest of my skin. Much like you would expect warring angels to do.

 

I'll use up the rest of the sample, but that's probably about it... I agree with the assertions of previous posters that it's a bit too much like "traditional" rosey perfumes out there. (Though, given how things went for me last night, I suppose some people are quite fond of the scent.)

[bryghtrose]

In the bottle, it's faint, and high, and once it's on the skin, it develops. The sandalwood comes out, and the calla lily and rose float on top of it. But the notes are all separate-- they don't blend together.

[vampkat]

Wet: ACK! Sandalwood and frankincense

Dry down: Still ack!

Dry: GET IT OFFF!!!!!!!

A big fat ZERO

[seamor]

Wet: Oh! Apparently that sharpish spicy note that I have been thinking is red patchouli is actually sandalwood! (Further nose training desperately needed.) I like it! SOOOOooo much!

 

The flowers come up on drydown - a little too sweet for me but, with my skin, they won't be here long.

 

Dry: I was right. Now I have frankincense and sandalwood. This is a great combination! Probably not what Beth intended, and not particularly seraphic, but pretty darned yummy, ja, you bet!

 

Uh-oh - I thought the flowers were gone, but now I'm getting wisteria. Well, gosh, that's not bad either. (Wow! Wisteria actually smells purple!) But again, too sweetly flowery for me.

 

I guess I really just wanted that frankincense and white sandalwood combination. Maybe my skin will eat the wisteria pretty soon ...

 

 

Yikes! The wisteria just keeps getting purpler and purpler. There's almost nothing left of the other notes. If this doesn't fade soon, I may have to wash it off.

 

Bizarre. My famously flower-eating skin amps wisteria?

 

Well, I love wisteria an' all, but this is just getting to be too much. I don't think I actually like smelling purple. Red, okay. White, okay. Tan, green, orange, yellow, yeah. Purple, not so much.

 

Just not cut out to be a seraph, I guess ...

[savage_rose]

This smells just like the Tinkerbell face powder I had when I was little! Oh man, I LOVED that smell...I'd put the powder on just to be able to open the compact and take a whiff. Maybe it's the lily-rose combination. Whatever it is, this is so warm and lovely. Mmmmm...

[megank4]

A nice soapy floral smell. Wait, those aren't the notes? I guess I can slightly pick up the calla lily and wisteria. Fades quickly. Next!

[voodoocatwoman]

Lovely.

 

In the imp and wet: I smell the calla lily and sandalwood.

 

Dry: The sandalwood warms up and the frankencense steps in as well. It is, IMO, a cool weather fragrance as it is sweet/spicy.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: I'm a really sad geek in that my first thought to this was: "Well, yes, usually the highest order, unless you're counting the Zohar or Berith Menucha, which are admittedly a bit far over on the Kabbalah side of things to be properly compared to the pseudo-Dionysian heirarchy... although Isidore of Seville never could quite make up his mind on that one..."

 

... yeah, don't quiz me on Angelology, you'll be here all week.

 

Moving swiftly onwards, I have mixed feeling on this. The Seraphim and I aren't on particularly close terms (As far as you can be on close terms with an order of angels) - I don't feel the same kind of empathy with them as I do the Cherubim or the Arch-Angels. Sandalwood tends to make me go 'meh' to things, and I don't adore frankincense the way I do some other incense resins, but I'm quite intrigued by the wisteria and calla lily. I'm thinking this is going to be quite light, but I hope it's distinct enough to keep up with my admittedly rather... exuberant tastes.

 

In the imp: Okay, what the hell? Bubblegum?

 

Another sniff and... nope, that's bubblegum.

 

On the wrist wet: For science! That... smells totally different.

 

Hmm... bit more like it. Sandalwood, I think, frankincense and what I think is the wisteria - the 'bubblegum' is, I believe, actually the calla lily which isn't coming through quite as strongly now. Lets see how it dries...

 

Twenty minutes later: Hmm... nah, I don't like this. It's a sort of sharp, squeaky-clean floral which gives me a bit of a headache. It's not faint or weak, which is what I had feared, in fact it's quite potent - it's just really not the kind of thing I'd like to wear.

 

Verdict: Swap pile, with no regrets

 

Tl;Dr: A sharp, clean, floral with a light touch but potent throw and lasting power.

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Seraphim is soapy rose. Dry, it's rose, lily, and wisteria. This is very pretty and feminine. I'd say it's a keeper.

[crebbsgirl]

On me this is very, very rose-y. I can faintly smell the calla lily in the background. This is very sweet. Some hours later the incense-y notes come out. But it takes a very long time. All in all, this is a very, very strong floral on me, and I'm fairly certain it's headed for swaps.

[skepticism]

This is such a beautiful scent. Didn't get the "angelic" feel, but it's definitely sophisticated, feminine and floral. I get a lot of a freshly cut rose type of note coupled with the other florals listed (not too keen on identifying those specific notes). I'm not getting much frankincense, which is kind of a bummer since I like resin notes. I suppose that may be why I don't associate anything "angelic" with it. It didn't dry powdery or sweet...it just kind of maintained the same scent from wet to dry all day. I like this scent but I already have/had other perfumes similar to this.

[Iceblink]

Reminds me a lot of Rose Cross, but with less rose and more lily. The frankincense is unfortunately starting to smell like old candles on me. A little soapy but not horribly so. If you can handle frankincense better than I can this is worth a try; the floral part is clean and pretty.

[Dianora]

I'm not a huge fan of floral, but I picked up this imp mainly because I liked the idea of smelling angelic, I think. In the imp, this is overpoweringly sweet floral. I quibbled. I didn't want this on my skin, I could already tell that the flowers were too much for me. In the name of science I pressed on. Wet on the skin, yet more flowers, really way too much for me. Like others have said, it's just cloying. I don't get the sandalwood or frankincense at all. Dry, this is pretty much the same. My skin ate some of the sharpness off, but I can feel myself drifting off into headache land. It's all floral, overpoweringly so.

 

All in all, this is not how I imagine Angels or Seraphim to smell like. It's extremely floral, way too sweet and overpowering, and it reminds me of fussy old-lady. It needs to come off of my skin NOW.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Cloying. The flowers and incense are too sweet and too strong. I’m going to opt out of skin test due to the strength of the scent in imp giving me a headache.

[djsiberia]

smells great wet, then on dry down, smells like spicey soap

not for me

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Penetrating aromatic floral over a resin base. I don't get much rose at all, but the wisteria is strong.

 

Wet: The rose starts struggling to be heard over the other florals. There's a sharpness about it, very volatile.

 

Twenty minutes: The balance of the florals has shifted over to a less familiar territory. Meanwhile, the non-floral elements are struggling to integrate more completely. It's starting to come together, but I'm not sure I like where it's going.

 

One hour: Much better balanced now, but I don't like the top floral note as much as I had hoped I would. It smells a bit like the old Arpege bath salts my mother used when I was a teen.

 

Two hours: Still dominated by the top floral note. I don't like this enough to keep it.

 

Three hours: The rose and sandalwood are more noticeable now. They've given it a more eastern sort of scent, like good Indian soap.

 

Four hours: Mostly sandalwood with some rose now. Interesting evolution, but it still goes in the trade pile.

[lilirose]

In the imp- rose and deep incense

 

On skin, wet- Lovely! The florals in this reminds me of #20 Love Oil- very bright to the point of being nearly citrusy. Could it be that both have rose and wisteria? (I don’t know the notes in #20 Love Oil at all- just a hunch.)

 

On skin, dry: Awesome staying power and throw. Still reminds me a bit of #20 Love Oil. I don’t really smell the lily notes (they fade on me in other blends, too). I like the incensey background very much; it adds a gorgeous depth to the floral.

 

Verdict: Like this a lot, may have to spring for a 5ml.

[cymbeline]

Smell alike: ???

 

Color impression: fresh blue and glorious white

 

On me: A glorious symphony in wisteria settled with a nice white sandalwood. The result is beautiful, glittering even if basically not really me at all!

 

Wearing: I am not so sure. Wisteria tends to morph on me depending on my circle. For the moment, it goes all catchy and alluring but I don't know if it's gonna last! I need more testing ^^

 

[zankoku_zen]

This one started out as a dirty, green scent. It turned pretty smoky fast, with hints of lilies and what I thought was patchouli. It was a very somber blend.

[Skirt]

This one starts and finishes as rotting vegetables on me. I think it's the rose & frankincense battling it out for who can stink it up the most - but they're both dealbreaker notes on me. The sandalwood peeks out, but then gets a whiff of what's going on and promptly dies. I really wanted to like this, but, I think it's the one that finally proved to me that not only do florals and I not get along, they daydream of suffocating me in the night.