Silk Road

[OdetteOdile]

Silk Road

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.

 

Well, bother. I really wanted to love this - I was all prepared to love this. Great name and great description.

Unfortunately, it just didn't work on me. It pretty much just smells like mint syrup - very sweet & just not that distinctive.

I think I am picking up some very faint amber and cinnamon, but the syrupy mint dominates - which doesn't smell bad, but with all the other wonderful BPAL scents to wear, I probably wouldn't choose this one.

It's really clear from the reviews that this scent is very sensitive to body chemistry, and mine just doesn't seem to have blended well with it. Ah well.

[Em-]

Silk Road is a case study in why I describe myself as having floraphobia (which is steadily being cured with intensive BPAL therapy, but there are reasons underlying any fear...)

 

This is a scent that was on my spreadsheet as a "to be researched" blend - meaning it sounded intreaguing, but I was nervous that there might be notes that would disagree with the demons in my brain. But, before I got around to reading the reviews (which it turns out would have only encouraged me to order an imp, anyway), I had the opportunity to sniff this, an I absolutely loved this in the imp.

 

In the vial, it is floraly, without being overwhelming, with a nice, not too entree-like hit of spice to anchor it. On my skin however, it is like walking into an intense, aromatic flower garden with a spice shop at the rear. All of the scents are absolutely lovely, but I am completely taken over by an intence hit of what I think must be jasmine which is spoiling all of the other notes for me.

 

I've been wearing this for almost two hours now, because I put it on before my morning commute, and then wanted tot ry to write the review while still wearing it, and I am seriously starting to loose vision. Time to scrub my wrists. I'm a sad panda, because this was a really beautiful scent...

[~AmusedMuse~]

My impression: Dark, seductive and very complex changing scent...unfortunately something in it makes me want to sneeze and I am not allergic to anything. I would love to smell this on my man if I didnt have sneezing bouts...but it is all that the description says it is and more

[gangstaknitta]

In the bottle this smells dark, nutty and spicy. It smells rather masculine to me, but then again I like sweet and spicy scents. On my skin, it softens and there seem to be some florals popping up in the background. It's nice and earthy. After a few hours, it smells pretty faint, but more like fresh dirt, which I love. Silk Road is a nice autumn scent. It's not something I'd normally try, but it's a keeper.

[friendthegirl]

I get a very faint spicy scent that is similar to Old Morocco, but not quite as strong.

 

It's also a bit powdery and I don't know if I like it as much as Old Morocco.

[ashtonrose]

So, I am a Wanderlust fan. I totally wish that Beth would make a bundle package of these. I'd be hopping on that list asap! Silk Road is my neck and neck competition with Morocco. They both bring the inscents together with such wonder. My DH says it smells like walking through the market in Baghdad (hope I spelled that right). If that's the case, I'm going on his next trip. Definitely a Keeper this one!

[Ms Density]

I'm reviewing Silk Road after falling in love with it. Yes, that's right.

 

My first experience with Silk Road conjured images of fruit stripe gum. All too often do I conjure up these quick judgements upon first trying out a fragrance. That's just not fair. No BPAL scent deserves the pigeon-hole treatment. I'm just too eager for the BPAL experience. I should start meditating or something before to clear my mind. It might seem ridiculous, but watch me try it.

 

Silk Road has become my essential summer scent. There is nothing like stepping out into the hot sun and having this cinnamony, spicy musk radiate from you. I can almost visualize it, raying out like an iconographic halo in hues of red and rust and vibrant coral. This, to me, is Wanderlust defined.

[porcelain_doll]

Received: As an imp in first official shipment, for which am most thankful (bows graciously toward Lady Elizabeth)

 

In Imp: At first, got nothing but floral and fruit. Initial thoughts? Uh-oh. . .

 

Initial impression on skin: Slightly sweet and spicy, not necessarily as floral, just a touch of--cherry blossom? Orange blossom? With slightly peachy dry-down in there, somewhere.

 

After about an hour: Now am getting cinnamon/ginger, possibly some white musk or white sandalwood, but there's definitely something white down there. Saffron, but only fleeting. Something powdery, too, like a soft carnation or well-aged amber or ambergris.

 

Final thoughts: I think this one's going to be like Snake Oil--gets better with time. I rather like this, and this one will be another Big Bottle order-er. If I could dare to compare it to something commercial--and I will--I'd say it's similar to Guerlain's Mitsouko, except it actually WORKS. I could never wear that one, but have often been fascinated by it, as it's what I call a Bombshell original (Jean Harlowe wore it, it's rumored her husband doused himself in it just before he committed suicide). I am so digging on this one! Yup-yup, big bottle time! So feminine, slightly dainty, but ALL WOMAN! Oh, Beth, darling, THANK YOU!

 

Edited July 27, 2005 by porcelain_doll

[sarahmarie]

Silk Road doesn't need my review, but...I love it, so I feel like reviewing it anyway.

 

I wasn't sure about this blend when I read the description - as wonderful as it sounded in theory, I was afraid it would be strong, and I'm often overwhelmed by incensey, musky oils and florals too. But to my suprise, Silk Road remains very light - so light, in fact, that I had to keep reapplying as it faded away fairly frequently. It wears very close to the skin on me - I seem to lack throw most of the time, actually. The lightness is probably my only real complaint!

 

When I first put it on, it's all spicy and warm, with a little incense in the background. As it dries, ginger and florals come out to play, but in the most surprising, nice, light way. It's a very evocative scent, and smelling it makes me think of...I'm not sure. Something I can't put my finger on. Its incense isn't at all overpowering, and the whole warm, spicy, smoky combonation is very sexy. I am joining the throngs of Silk Road lovers and putting a bottle on my wishlist ASAP. Yay for Silk Road!

[pekeana]

Silk Road is spicy and woody -- more woody than spicy on me because my chemistry is apparently really strange. It's nice, it's pleasant, but it's not something I'm going to race out and grab a bottle of.

[DarkMouse]

In the bottle : mmm.. exotic. Spices, incense, and (uh-oh) flowers of some kind.

 

On my skin: Definitely spicey.. but its a cinnamon stick spice, not a peppery spice. I'm picking up myrrh and possibly saffron in there too.. its a very warm scent on my skin. I know there are flowers in here.. but they aren't slapping me over the head, so I'm fine with them right now (I'm another floral-phobe) I'm thinking its maybe carnation. I get the impression of trunks loaded with spices, silks and incenses from far off places.. its definitely conjuring its namesake with me.

 

In general: I definitely like it.. but I'm not sure I want to smell like this. It would be absolutely perfect I think as a scent for my linens since my bedroom has sort of a silk & exotic type theme going on. I could definitely sleep wrapped up in this scent. Its very dreamy..

[Tesseljoan]

Silk road on me is a lovely cinnamon with a bit of orange, and possibly a bit of amber. One reviewer said it reminded her of Snake oil and Three witches, and I agree, but like to add Aunt Caroline's money draw as well. The cinnamon stays very true and spicy on my skin. Surprisingly lovely scent.

[Eros]

Light, fresh cinnamon from imp to skin. After a few minutes there's a lovely, sweet spiciness and amber(I think), coming through, as well, along with a touch of creamy vanilla. Very nice!!

[MaryMoon]

I'm not so good at picking out notes, but here goes:

 

From the imp it's a vey light smelling spice, with just a hint of sweetness.

 

On the skin I get the tinglies (which means cinnamon), and then possibly a light musk on top of it. As it dries, the immediate spice mellows and that underlying sweetness starts to peek through.. almost a vanilla muted mandarin with a touch of woodiness underneath.

 

I love this - it certainly does evoke an image of a caravan market pawning their goods under a midday sun.

[stardreamer]

I got an imp of this from chai_girl, forgetting that I'd ordered one with my CN order! But that's okay, because I like it enough to have two imps, one for home and one for travel.

 

Lots of amber in this, which is good -- amber works on me. In the bottle and fresh on, I get more of the floral notes; however, they fade faster than the amber and incense. After a couple of hours, it's like a sweeter, less forceful version of The Lion, amber and spices, clearly in the same scent family. I like it better once the florals have backed off a bit. Staying power appears to be moderate to good, given that I only put on a tiny bit this time. Definitely a keeper, and one to consider wearing to RenFaire!

[shayelea]

In the bottle: I really liked this in the bottle, which is funny because I wasn't expecting to. This was an imp to fill up a swap that needed three items minimum. In the bottle I get lots of spices, but primarily cinnamon, under which is a very faint breath of a rich but light flower - which I think is gardenia. I usually find gardenia a little too heavy and powdery, but it's very light here, so that's promising.

 

Wet: Ooh, now the cinnamon really comes out. The flowers I don't smell so much when it's wet.

 

Drydown: The more this dries down, the more the gardenia bursts through, and the more it smells like "fancy bathroom soap." The cinnamon is still going strong, so I'm hoping maybe the gardenia will calm down a little.

 

...Unfortunately, the more time goes on, the less impact the cinnamon has, and the gardenia goes a little sharp and soapy. It doesn't smell bad on me, but it's not going to be one of my favorites. Rats, I loved this at first. The first one I tried from my new batch.

 

(I'm not seeing hardly anyone mention gardenia - which is funny, because I tweaked to that right away. Maybe it's not gardenia, but just something that smells like it on me?

 

On the other hand, a lot of people are saying they smell amber in here. I don't actually know what amber smells like, but I was hesistant to try it, since resins don't always like me. But nothing about this went fantastically wrong on me, like with some of the scents I've tried, so now I'm excited to try more scents with amber.)

[HoneyHoneyNY]

As soon as I put the imp up to my nose, I went mmmmmm! It smelled spicy with an undertone of florals and tea maybe?

 

On my skin wet, it smells very spicy. I can pick out cinnamon, but not the other spices, and a nice smell like sweet tea. There's something resiny there, and then at last a breath of sweet flowers. As it dries it remains pretty true to the imp. I can smell the amber coming out and turning soft and dry like amber does on me. Is there musk in here? I'm not sure, but there's a warm skin scent coming through to my nose.

 

This is a beautiful blend where no one note dominates. It's complex, and gorgeous. I think it might be overwhelming it hot weather, but it will be lovely in the autumn and winter. This would be a great scent for dressing up, or when I want to feel like a "grown up".

[Blueelm]

Oh wow

 

When I was a little girl there used to be this bookstore that my mom and I would buy things from. The store always smelled so incredibly good. The smell of new books, ink, incense, woods, fabrics, spices, oils and candles all meshed together into one comforting scent.

 

This makes me think of red and gold silk. It actually has a bit of the smell of raw silk to it beneath the spice. I have no idea what note that would be.

 

The fragrance starts out very sweet and spicy, and becomes more creamy and resinous. Too many wonderful spice notes to pick out, but I definitely get amber, musk or ambergris, cinnamon, and a slight floral (perhaps ginger flower?).

 

I want to eat this fragrance up! I wish my whole house smelled like it.

[Koumori]

Lovely, lovely! This is a delightful, exotic scent that crosses Asia and the Middle East. It's deliciously complex in the bottle. On me, I got mostly sandalwood for the first 20 minutes or so, and I was afraid it would end up smelling too soapy for my taste; but that was not the case, as the other notes warmed up and joined in quickly. Sophisticated, spice and tea, not overwhelming. Definitely a winner.

[themerrybaker]

Something that hasn't been mentioned....

 

This would be a good gender-neutral scent. It brings back happy memories of my grandfather's shaving soap and brush. .

[fathom]

In the imp: delicious! Very spicy and inviting. This smells like a purely spice scent to me.

On the skin: Amber waves of grain. This smells grainy, somehow, like a good oatmeal cookie with plenty of spice in it. I imagine this might be a very seductive scent for the right person.

It gets a little soapy on my skin as it fades, though. Not badly, just a little bit. It's still beautiful.

[Nehushtan]

I am not a floral person, oh no. Hell, I'm not even an herb person! Give me resins any day, I say. All the same, I was intrigued by the description of Silk Road and ordered a 5 mL unsniffed.

 

This scent takes me back to my childhood, to murky impressions of outdoor bazaars full of coiled baskets and boxes of jewel-toned silk brocade sheath dresses. I would lift the lid of a basket and stick my head in, vaguely worried about snakes and snake charmers, and smell this smell. I would open nesting dolls, and this scent drifted out of each successively smaller doll. It was inside little bitty wooden boxes with flowered enamel covers and inside enormous brass-latched carved chests large enough to store a St. Bernard. Most of all, though, it permeated the clothing, exotic silk dresses and scarves, dyed vivid and garish and beautiful. Do you all know that scent? The dyed silk scent? This is it.

[Undine]

Mmm, what an interesting scent. I expected this to be like Baghdad (which I love), but it's not nearly as ambery or resinous for me. Nor do I really smell much in the way of florals. Instead I get a whole passel of spices--cinnamon (a high note), and although it is so well blended that anything else is a sheer guess, perhaps cardamom, pepper, saffron, nutmeg, sandalwood? I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if it included a little rose. There is something sweet under everything, but it is overwhelmed by the spices (well, I think my skin amps up cinnamon).

 

For me this is dry, spicy, a little woody, very gourmand: not chai exactly, but chai-ish, or like a packet of herbal tea. A very good representation of its name. Whoever said it is gender-neutral is quite correct--it would be equally excellent for either men or women. I also think it might layer nicely with Baghdad or, hmm, Cathedral? I will have to try this.

 

It doesn't have tons of throw, and it fades faster than some scents--but it's not too bad in either regard.

 

This is one of those BPAL scents that is very different and special, something I don't think I'd find anywhere else.

 

Myself, I wish it had just a tad less cinnamon, but overall it's very nicely balanced and delicious. I'm not sure if I'm going to get a bottle or not, but I think I may. So on my scale, it's a 4.5 out of 5.

[Little Bird]

I quickly wrote down my impressions of Silk Road the first time that I wore it. It seems to shift rapidly on me. This is what it smelled like to me: Dish soap, sweet floral bubble bath, bubble gum, a burst of cinnamon, fruity bubble gum.

 

Soapy fruit bubble gum with a sprinkle of cinnamon underneath it all. In the drydown some exotic spice smell comes out more. I don't have any clue what that spice is. Like cinnamon but not as strong or sharp. This is very light. Whenever I smell it my brain rapidly thinks, "Soapgumspiceflowers."

 

Very strange. Unique and pretty in its own right. I'll probably be swapping my imp... it reminds me of something that I can't place, but I just don't love this.

[LiberAmoris]

Silk Road is my favorite cinnamon blend. I bought a bottle unsniffed when it first came out, and it's become one of my essentials.

On me, this is like a less-foody, dry Chimera. I get lots of intermingled spices and a hint of citrus. On drydown I feel like there's a bit of coconut, although that's probably just my nutty sense of smell playing tricks on me. It's lovely and my bottle is aging so well, it's just getting better and better.

 

ETA: 10 years later, it's still great and the aging has only improved it. The cinnamon has mellowed and the spices are burnished. So pretty!