Baghdad

[OdetteOdile]

Baghdad

Amber, saffron and bergamot with mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood.

 

Oh my - this is wonderful. My favorite so far of the summer 2005 new scents (along with Elegba.)

It starts off quite strong and woody.

As it develops, it gets sweeter and muskier.

It smells like it belongs in the Morocco family, without actually smelling like Morocco. (No carnation in this, that I can detect.)

On me, the rose is completely subtle and secondary to the spices.

It's utterly gorgeous. I don't actually know what saffron smells like, but there's something in the spiciness that's complex and rich and a bit foody, so maybe that's it.

I'm not a fan of overpowering sandalwood, but it plays well with the other notes in this and doesn't pull a Diva.

So does the nutmeg, and so does the mandarin (which I can smell if I really pay attention).

This is one of the best blended spicy-rich scents I've tried. If the notes were people, they'd be a group of movie actors who all have dramatic, dominant personalities and talents - but who have worked together previously, respect each other, and really like being part of this particular ensemble, so they're all playing very nicely together.

(I just saw Gosford Park - can you tell?)

I am so ordering a bottle of this.

[arabella]

First Impression: Amber and spicy roses.

 

Dries down to: A soft, powdery rose with a hint of something rich and exotic underneath. A lovely scent I could wear every day - especially, on spring evenings.

 

Additional Comments: It's so nice to find a rose scent that's not totally "in-your-face" on my skin. This is a pale rose that's been smoking opium and is just drifting languorously around the room, which is full of Persian rugs, heavy draperies and has sweetmeats on all the tables. I can't specifically pick out any of the other notes but the whole is definitely the sum of the parts.

 

Lasted: Still faintly there after being on all night.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[empi girl]

In the imp and on when wet, there is a scent of soft rose (not in your face, not astringent, but very mellow) coupled with sandalwood, perhaps a hint of nutmeg and the idea of dry heat. This is really intriguing and unusual, but it does change as it dries.

 

It then becomes more "perfumey" for lack of a better word. Rose is still present, but the other ingredients (except the mandarin, which I don't detect at all) rise up and join the rose to create a soft, sweet, slightly powdery blend which has good staying power, is pretty in it's own way, but for some reason really reminds me of high-quality store-bought perfume that an older woman (say, 60-70) would wear. The plus side is that I have discovered that I can actually wear some roses. But I'm still going to put it on the swap shelf.

[Tesseljoan]

I find Baghdad hard to describe by itself, so I'll just say that on my skin, it smells similar to a less cirtussy, more rosey Scherezade. The rose makes it a little soapy, so I prefer Scherezade over Baghdad.

[DarkMouse]

In the bottle amber with backnotes of saffron & cedar

 

On my skin it smells very 'perfumey' to start with (which now I realize is the rose) but then warms up with the saffron and sandalwood. I smell cedar, musk and saffron the strongest... If there is a floral I'm smelling when its dry, its going to be the carnation & spice mix from the dry down of Sri Lanka

 

In general: Baghdad is the more wearable love child of Kathmandu & Sri Lanka. It lacks the 'in your face' incense smells of Kathmandu and my all time favorite Scherezade. I really like this one though, and could end up buying a 5ml in the future.

[Fyre_in_Winter]

Baghdad smells very incensey and non-descript perfumey in the vial. Once on my skin it became a sharp, slightly dry spciy incense overlaid with a soft rose. Normally rose turns to lemons on my skin, but this one stuck true. The spice is a bit dry for my taste... but it is very interesting coupled with the rose. It mellows out as it dries down, with the rose tapering off nicely. The amber is present in the extreme drydown with a hint of spice.

 

I'm on the fence about keeping this one... there are certainly enough spicy and incense blends I prefer, yet it is hard to find a good rose on me. A few more test runs are definitely in order.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Rose and amber incense.

 

Second Impression: Slightly sweet, perfumey and resinous. Pretty, but not knocking my socks off.

 

Final Analysis: The long drydown is rosey incense, similar to NK Rose Avenue. Nice.

[cupide430]

Baghdad

 

Incensy and warm. This is a fairly light, warm blend. Quite powdery and definitely incensy. As this dries, a deeper note is coming out and to the forefront. And now, a burning hair note is coming out. What the? Where'd that come from? Now there's a sort of harsh note coming out, though the burning hair note is gone. The harsh note, which I think was the mandarin, is gone. The burning hair is gone. What is left is a warm, sweet incensy blend which smells like it is mostly sandalwood.

[Reinaluna]

Baghdad: Well like Sri Lanka, I kind of had high hopes for this one. This blend went way too strong and masculine on me. I did not smell any saffron, amber or sandalwood, I just got a lot of heavy musk with just a bit of rose mixed in. Im kind of bummed that this new batch of spicy ethnic middle eastern blends did not work on me. This one is going to a good home though.

Edited August 9, 2005 by Reinaluna

[cranberry]

Baghdad is the first BPAL oil I've tried that's gone generic soapy, powdery floral on me.

 

In the imp it smells pretty good - warm, spicy, saffron but I still get a touch of powdery floral. Is that the amber doing that? I've always had a good relationship with amber so it must be the combination of ingredients and my perception that's doing it.

 

On the whole, it's pretty unremarkable on me and makes me think of doilies, big overdone floral prints on a cream colored background, and dry dusty skin. Not my kind of thing. Oh well.

[Orodemniades]

Bottle: I can smell rose and 'stuff'.

 

Wet: Almonds, a hint of vanilla, something foody like an almond cookie, something florally powdery that I think might be the mandarin.

 

Drydown: 45 minutes in and it's much the same, must be the musk, amber, and sandalwood...I just want to eat my wrist! I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Morocco and Queen of Sheba, but this is more like Snake Oil gone really, really, really interesting! At the same time, this doesn't smell like Snake Oil...it's soft and sweet without being floral. In fact, I don't smell rose at all, and I lurves me some rose. This is so skillfully blended that to be honest, after a while I can't smell any individual ingredient at all - fab!

 

Overall: I love this!

 

ETA: There's a note in here that I don't like. I'm thinking it's the saffron (don't like it in food, either), and it really reminds me of the bitterness of orange blossom. I'm not sure I'm going to keep my bottle after all.

 

Oro

Edited August 19, 2005 by Orodemniades

[Khaman]

OMFG, out of all the imps I've tried so far, for simple pleasure of wearing, this is by far my favorite one. I may very well have to get a bottle of it. The 10ml one.

 

It was very rich and musky in the bottle, but nothing I could really get a handle on. When I put it on, it started off still very musky, but I got the hints of some beautifully deep rose.

 

Within ten minutes or so, I began to smell like rich cedar, with the musk almost like incense in the background. Love it. Love it. Love it.

[darkling]

Baghdad reminded me strongly of a dusty market. It brought to mind the image of the wondrous marketplace from Neil Gaiman's "Ramadan" segment of Sandman.

 

Baghdad had very faint notes of fruit and rose but more prominently that of sandalwood and spices. It was woven through with the dry scent of dust and sand.

 

While this is a lovely scent for evoking a specific image, I can't see myself wearing it frequently.

[rhubarbbear]

baghdad smelled very dry in the imp. woody dry. mostly cedar to my nose...and a little bit of spice. it evokes sand and an ancient desert.

 

on my skin it starts smelling like a man's scent (this seems to happen to me a lot, so maybe my nose is off! or i'm weird ). and then the masculine bit goes away and it smells like soap. woody soap.

 

sigh. so many of these desert themed ones have been going wrong on me lately, and it makes me so sad! good thing i still have a few to cling to

[olympia301]

This one disappeared so thoroughly on me that I wondered if there was really anything in the imp! Right before vaporization, I got a faint whiff of some sort of perfume with a good dose of wet-summertime-washrag-that-wasn't-so-fresh. In other words, Baghdad and I didn't find any happy ground. I swapped it away and hope it ends up in a good home with someone who can bring out its best aspects. Sorry, but there was little I can say about it.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Light floral and spices.

 

On Skin: I expected this scent to be heavy and strong. It’s atually quite pretty and light. The sandalwood and musk give it a deep masculine edge, but then the rose seeps through and makes it have a feminine side as well. The amber is soft and sexy, while the saffron and nutmeg give a warm spice. I don’t really smell the mandarin or bergamot. After about ten minutes something weird starts showing itself. It does not agree with my skin, it’s a animalistic musky note that just seems too pungent. It reminds me of a wet dog.

[tesao]

in the imp: spicy rose scented sandalwood.

 

on my wrist, wet: as above, with citrusy notes.

 

on my wrist, dry: bah. it's getting soapy. why me????

 

drydown: hmmm. this is better. this is a toned down version of what it smelled like in the imp. i don't get any saffron, which has always smelled bitter to me.

 

i can't decide about this. i liked it, then i didn't and then i did. i'm going to be trying this one again before it goes anywhere. that's one of the things that i love about bpal. a new day, and the same scent could be totally different!

[Miss Lynx]

This is a lot more flowery and "perfumey" than I'd expected. Maybe it's just my skin amping up the florals again, but to me it smells predominantly floral, and very sweet. The spicy and incensey notes don't really come out until after it settles in for a while -- a while as in at least half an hour. At that point, it's quite nice, but very soft and subtle. And it doesn't really seem to have a lot of staying power once it gets there.

 

*sigh* If that lovely stage it gets to when the perfumey overkill dries down would only come a little sooner, and last a little longer, I'd really like this. But as it is, it's a bit of a tease. The pleasant phase of the scent shows up late and leaves early, like a party guest who wants to make the point that they have more important things to do than spend time at your little soiree.

 

Probably going to swap it, though I may try it another time or two to be sure.

 

Grade: C+/B-

[Ishtar]

The first time I tried Baghdad, it turned heavy and masculine on me. Not that it is inherently a bad thing, but I could not really see myself wearing it.

I tried it again tonight and this time I am pleased to report that my nose seems to "get it"!

 

There is definitely something reminiscent of good quality incense in this blend, layered with an amber note that strongly reminds me of The Lion.

The elaborate spice mix and the delicate rose lend much depth and interest to this scent. In other words, it is not just another amber blend or just another incensey blend.

The amber dries down to a slightly powdery/dusty note. Nothing overpowering or unpleasant at all, though. Overall, this is a very well balanced blend that is delicate and elegant when it could so easily have turned heady or one dimensional. Bravo!

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Sandalwood... I'm not getting much else yet.

 

On: Ah, there's everything else! I definitely smell the musk and spices, and I can sense the amber lurking underneath. I was really worried about the rose in this, as roses are my nemisis, but it seems to be staying in the background, adding to the blend rather than overpowering it. Once in a while I get a waft of mandarin.

 

This one is similar to Scherezade on me - sweet and smokey incense. Quite lovely!

[jewelbug]

New imp from the lab! Wheee!

Bottle: Initially I think of dark tea. This is sweet, a bit of warm spice, but not overly foody, since there's some floral to this too. We'll try this as a his and hers.

 

Me:

Wet: Wow, orange and spice, but its also almost creamy smelling. Also floral. The spice strikes me more as a mellow cinnamon bark than a nutmeg.

Drying: Warm musky spice. No longer orange, still some bergamot at the end. Very nice. Also still a bit of floral (if I had to guess I'd say musky dark rose). I like this floral. And since it's rosy, that's surprising. It's very sexy with the spice. I'm also thinking it’s a bit christmasy.

Late dry: Yes, this is a dark spicy, musky floral. It's very well blended, working nicely together. Its also powdery--but not the bad sort of powdery. The sort of powdery I get from amber so that it clings to my skin and becomes part of me. Amber powder with spices ground in. It's very nice. I’m not sure if its "me" or not, but damn, its beautiful. There is something green to it too, which sounds odd with the rest of the mix, but damn, it works.

This lasts for 4+ hours (I went to bed), and ends in a warm amber powder still spicy with sandalwood. I love how amber melds with my skin. The throw is good, too.

 

Him:

Wet, it is much weaker than on me: sweet musky spice, dry, warm, bergamot at very end. A tad powdery

Drying: Mellow cinnamon bark like on me, but with a hefty bit of baby powder floral. Too much powdery floral for my man. I still think its got spice but he's totally un-enthralled with it (powder), so it's definitely not for him.

 

Overall: well, not for him. For me…. I love it for its complexity. The problem is that my husband doesn't seem to think it's all that impressive. "Run of the mill floral" says he. The fool. Oh wait, now he says he likes it. But is that cuz he doesn't wanna offend? Grrrr, I can't tell. I will keep the imp and test him again later. My poor little guinea pig…

[Little Bird]

First on, Baghdad is so sharp that it actually threw me into a sneezing fit. Sharp tickling rose with a hint of candied orange peel. It then quickly morphs into sharp tickling roses and STRONG baby powder.

 

I think that this is the first perfume that has gotten this reaction out of me. Sneezing and watering eyes. It's like I'm allergic to Baghdad. Sad because I actually like the rose note here. It's just agitating me in odd ways. It's probably the amber that turns to baby powder on my skin, as it often does.

 

I'll probably be swapping my imp. The combination of sneezing, watery eyes, and baby powder is more than I can handle.

[Muppetk]

Wet: waaaay dry woods (bleh!) with some odd spices mixed in. I think that's the saffron, but also other middle eastern spices.

 

Dry: Thank god the super dry wood calmed down - still an element of that though. The spices blended better, and the musk came out a bit to round this nicely. But no rose or sweet for me. I guess my skin is pulling it's usual number on the fruit notes, sluping up their weetness and leaving an unbalanced perfume.

 

This is definitely an interesting perfume on me, but interesting more than yum for sure.

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Overwhelmingly musk in a way that reminds me of The Body Shop's White Musk oil, but it's darkened by the sandalwood amber. There's a teensy bit of sweetness that might be the nutmeg, but I'm not getting a real nutmeg scent out of this. I can smell the mandarin very faintly in the background, but no rose whatsoever; and I'm not sure what saffron or bergamot smell like so I can't be sure if I am or am not catching these.

 

Wet: Goes very sweet and almondy for the briefest second before the sweetness disappears completely and I'm left with almost pure sandalwood. If I try really hard I can still catch the musk in there, but I'm not getting any other note.

 

Dry: The musk and amber have returned, and possibly the nutmeg, but it's still predominantly sandalwood. There are no traces of mandarin or rose. Normally I love sandalwood, but something in this blend is making giving it a strange bodily odor.

An hour later: Why do I smell almonds? Otherwise, the sandalwood and musk, and I assume the other notes, have all melded into something undistinguishable, which I can describe by repeating those three words: strange bodily odor.

 

Overall: I need to find out which note turns into sweat stench on me, because this keeps happening with theoretically nice blends. Baghdad is one place I won't be visiting if this is what it smells like.

[Monster]

Baghdad is confusing to me. I have 3 imps of it here. I received 2 frips with 2 (recent) separate orders. I lso have an additional one from a swap. The two the lab sent me smell of cinnamon, or are heavy on the nutmeg. I can't figure out which one. There definilty seems to be cinnamon in the two the lab sent to me. The one I received from a swap smells completley different...maybe more the way it's being described in this thread. It's a heavy musk with a hint on rose.

 

I'm not sure which is the correct Baghdad. I really love the nutmeg/cinnamon one, the one I received from a swap isn't good at all. Are these two the same, but one is alightly aged? Or is this a case of mislabled imps? Not sure. I just know that the two the lab sent me smell like Christmas spices with a hint of musk. I'm not gettiing ANY rose at all.

 

Maybe I'll order another imp from the lab in a couple months and see what that batch smells like.