Seraglio

[MaeKitty]

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.

Bottle: Almonds and Nutmeg
On Me: Thank god the almonds die down on this one. The rose steps forward with the neroli and orange peel, spiced with the nutmeg. Then it fades into soap. Another pass.

[Jheya]

In the imp:Almond.

 

On skin: Initially it remains a blast of almond, but after a few seconds it begins to settle and let something else peek through. Within a minute the almond has sunk completely into the background and vanished. I can't smell it at all any more, and I'm left with a cool scent that's predominantly citrus and rose. The rose soon takes over, meaning that all I can smell is powdery rose and not much else.

 

~1 hour: Though it has now diminished in strength, this is still rose and nothing else. As it is no longer overpowering it's a lot more pleasant, and a fresh rose scent rather than the soap that rosy blends usually become on me. However, I'm still not keen on rose even when it does work, so this imp is off to find a new home.

[seamor]

Wet: A really, really good citrusy, spicy rose. Not sweet or submissive as I would have expected, but self-possessed and challenging. I LIKE it!

 

Drydown: More of the same, with a bit less edge. A brief threat of the candy-rose effect that so often happens on my skin, but it passes. Mmmmm ....

 

Dry: The citrus and the rose are eaten, and I am left with a warm almond, sandalwood, nutmeg, clove combination which is perfectly lovely, and lasts an hour or two. I like it, but am disappointed to have lost that first wonderful spicy rose scent. Maybe in a scent locket?

 

The whole thing lasts about three hours on my skin, with rose for the first hour or so. Not too bad. For a minute there I thought I'd found a rose I could wear, but no ...

 

If you you like rosy, spicy scents and do not have the flower-eating skin, I highly recommend Seraglio.

 

Hey, can anybody make me an icon in which a many-toothed (in rows, like a shark) skin monster is seen gluttonously devouring bushels of flowers?

[Ginspu]

I expected to actually like this - I thought the almonds and spices would be nice, but unfortunately, all I got was orange and rose, and then it went to the dreaded soap in about an hour or so.

[Emerrific]

Out of the imp this was almond-y sweet with the sandalwood and spices adding depth. Once on my skin the neroli and rose stepped forward, adding some lightness. I kept getting whiffs of citrus-y almond that reminded me of the bags of candied-orange-flavored almond I buy at the farmers market.

 

Almond often goes weird on me, but this stayed true and I was in a yummy sandalwood-marzipan haze for about an hour. It mostly faded at that point, but I still get an occasional light whiff of the rose or sandalwood a few hours later.

 

I like it a lot and will use my imp.

[dluszcz]

I worried about trying Seraglio- and I found that I should haveworried, but for a different reason than I expected. I got Seraglio as a frimp a few months back, but put off trying it due to the almond note ( I figured it would be the someone that made me nauseated when I tried Vampire Tears). Instead- I should have feared the clove!

 

In the imp, this was all that incredibly sweet almond that is quite like cherry-flavoured lollipops. As soon as it hit my skin- POOF!! Cloves. Incredibly strong cloves with an underlying linimentiness. I feared that it would stay this way, as it pretty much does with The Clod and ThePebble, on my skin. After a bit of drydown, the clove is still extremely dominant, but I can detect a bit of the rose and perhaps some orange peel.

 

I'm afraid I don't feel very sexy- more like a pomander. Or a cloak closet. I think I've learned my lesson: my skin amps clove something ridiculous; from here on out, if clove tempts me, I'll smoke it, or bake a ham or something!

[marared]

All I get out of this is the almond. Can't deal with the almond. Am sending it on to someone else for enabling purposes...

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get the almond right away, and then the orange peel - mmmmm.

 

On my skin, the almond is even more prominent - deeper in, there's a hint of the rose and neroli.

 

When it dries, it's very soft, very warm, but also very subtle - well-blended, and can't really pick any individual notes out. I don't think I'll keep this one - although it's lovely, it's not a WOW for me. Sad, though.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: 2-layered almond, both nutty real almond and benzaldehyde-y almond extract, followed by delicious orange oil (slightly sweet, like candied peel), a hint of sharp-fresh neroli.

 

Wet: The rose slowly begins to emerge, while the neroli soapens. Almond and orange notes still by far the strongest. Some dry, warm sandalwood. No spices.

 

Dry: Almond much fainter, orange softened. The neroli has gone utterly soapy, and the rose has amped fully - it is a beautiful, lush rose. The sandalwood stays light.

 

Later: After 30-40 minutes, the spices finally emerge, though they are light, with more nutmeg than clove coming through. The sandalwood has amped, and with the spices, give the blend a lot of heat. Rose and soapy neroli still powerful; only slight whisps of orange and almond.

 

Summary: The almond and orange completely disappear after an hour, leaving behind a blend of rose (it's deep and a touch powdery), heavily soapy neroli (alas, I have yet to find neroli that doesn't do this), dry-hot sandalwood, and touch of light, warm spices. Decent throw but fades very rapidly.

 

Not my thing at all, but a useful exercise as it confirms my suspicion that my skin devours almond (as well as lime, grapefruit, and orange).

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: straight up sweet almond.

 

wet on skin: the almond is still there but softer, and there's a hint of the sandalwood and a tiny whiff of something floral. but it's tiny.

 

dry down: it's turned all rosey. everything else has vanished. this is bulgarian rose, though- big, over blown, just starting to fade from it's prime.

 

in all: a must for rose fans!

[aestien]

Bottle: almond, orange, rose and spices

Wet: delicious citrus and almond with ROSE

Dry: the citrus fades and this becomes a predominantly almond and rose blend, with hints of delicious spice

 

Heady does describe this blend. It’s full blown rose, sensuous almond with lovely warm spices. Warm, rich, luscious.

[Raqassah]

Wet: Roses with a hint of bitter orange and clove.

 

Drydown: Rose soap with light musk. Not very exciting on my skin today. A bit raw or unfinished.

 

Dry: Okay- a bit ordinary – very very rose. Don’t get the complexity of the base notes or top notes. Try again when matured.

[quigza]

In the bottle: Almond oil. Bitter almond. And maybe a little blood orange & flower

 

Wet: Almond and a little of rose and blood orange. Oh no. As it’s drying, I’m starting to get baby powder.

 

Dry down: See all of that above? It fades fast into baby powder. On me

 

1 hour later: Gah – couldn’t take the baby powder anymore. I washed it off

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Almond plus

 

On Application

Almond and rose. This was a frimp with 2 of my least favourite elements

 

Dry Down

The drydown isn't too bad. The rose is not the most prominent note initially. Almost dirty and dusty rose and sandalwood after 5 minutes. This is actually quite nice at times and then the rose amps up. Nice but not me

 

Rating (0-5)

2

[greenranger]

On me, wet, orange peel.

 

Drying, I get a whiff of almond as the orange peel fades, and then I smell rose. At the moment, all I smell is rose, which, since I do seem to amp rose is no surprise at this point. Bulgarian rose seems very nice, but, it's covering everything else up very thoroughly.

 

Ah well. I had to try. Chalk this up as another rose perfume on me.

[tinyvulture]

if you’ve ever used Lush’s ‘A Ring of Roses’ buttercream, this scent is quite similar. soft, romantic rose and invigorating, citrusy neroli combine in an unexpectedly lovely way. well, unexpected for me, because i often find neroli bitter. here, however, the rose accentuates it and it becomes a thing of beauty. i detect only a hint of almond and none of the clove or nutmeg. i think this is nice to put on fresh out of the shower in the morning -- the citrus wakes you up and the rose calms you down, and you’re ready for the day.

[alicia_stardust]

This is a beautiful melding of rose and orange peel, with neroli not far behind. The clove and spices sit behind things and just sort of add a warmth and creaminess to the rose/orange without coming across as too spicy or strong. This is very feminine and light and the rose is a lot more gentle than usual. I really like the way this comes across as bright and feminine without exactly feeling like a floral blend.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Faint spiced rose.

 

Immediately on skin: All I get from this is very fresh rose with a little spice from the sandalwood.

 

After a little while: Hmm. No almond. But I do get some nice rose, neroli, and a bit of sandalwood. It’s pretty, sweet, warm rose.

 

Overall Impressions: Where’s the almond? The scent is nice, but I was looking forward to the almond in this. I’m a little disappointed, but it was a nice rose blend.

[Ravenclaw79]

Wet: Sweet and wonderful, all fruity and lovely, orange peel and nutmeg.

 

Drying: Hello there, almond. Nice to see you. But why'd you have to kick everyone else out of the party?

[crebbsgirl]

On me, this turned all rose. I was hoping the sandalwood would take more of a dominant role, but it didn't. Instead this became a very intense floral. It was alright for me, but as I'm not a fan of florals, I think I'll have to pass.

[djsiberia]

wet/in imp: sweet almonds (yummmm) and orange peel.

 

dry: after 5 minutes...the almond disappears and i can smell the orange peel, rose, sandalwood and yucky neroli. no cloves. no nutmeg. this one is an imp only item. it's too bad almond went away.

 

wait for it..15 minutes later. orange bug spray. no..orange scented bug spray soap? maybe this needs to be given to someone who could wear it without turning into something yucky.

Edited August 31, 2008 by djsiberia

[poisondove]

Initial Impression:

Almond party in the imp. Very sharp and pure almond-y goodness.

 

After Wearing It:

Almond starts out very strong (which is good) but I can smell powder chasing on its heels (powder seems to be the default 'not working' for me).

 

Final Thoughts:

It went to powder within 5minutes. I am not sure if today is just a bad day or something (even Mouse's Long & Sad Tale went powder for the first time)

Very frustrating. Must try again another time (*tucks it away*

[Electric Maenad]

Dang. You know, this sounded really sexy and delicious, and I was really looking forward to trying it. And for the first ten minutes or so, it smelled like a fresh box of the best Turkish Delight ever - all sugared rosewater and almond and orangey goodness. And then the rose went STOMP STOMP STOMP all over everything else and it just smelled like soap.

 

Nutz.

[obsidienne]

Seraglio is a surprise because it turned out to be a totally rose blend on me; it starts off like a light sweet almond that I can barely smell in the imp (it was like a ghost-scent in the imp) and then the overall blend gets a bit stronger once liberally applied. The rose took over during drydown; all the other notes support and influence it, but don't really speak up on their own. Therefore, I get a very beautiful rose that smells like rose-almond & rose-orange and a little bit like rose-[sandal]wood. I can't seem to detect the neroli, nutmeg or clove.

 

Also, Seraglio is for me extremely light in both intensity and throw, and I have to slather it on... and even that's not enough. Therein lies the disappointment for me: it's a gorgeous perfume, but it takes a lot of effort to keep on smelling it without having my nose permanently stuck within one inch of my wrist.

[sqwook]

Wet: maraschino cherries

 

Dry: Hm, rose more and more, and I can't pull off rose...