Al-Araaf

[sophia_helix]

Honeyed lilies, dry lotus root and fae flowers.

In the bottle:

Quite sweet. A whiff of honey.

Wet:

Still sweet, although it's sort of...musty now. Probably the dry lotus root.

Drydown:

This stayed far too musty and fussy as it dried down, very old-lady perfume. I wanted it to open up and be yummy sunshiney lilies and honey, but it kept smelling like dried flowers kept in a dusty room.

Guess I'll stick to Tiger Lily for my honey lilies fix -- I should've known better than to cheat on my old favorite. Edited November 25, 2007 by Shollin

[SeaMonkey]

Sweet! Its toeing the line between floral and herbal. It started out floral, then is becoming more herbal. OOH! I used to wear Venezia by Laura Biagotti and this is starting to remind me of that, only cleaner and better. I'm going to have to buy a bottle before it goes away

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is sweet, floral, and a little juicy. The honey is there, but it's tempered so well by the floral notes that I hardly recognized it at first.

 

After a while, it becomes earthier, drier. It also fades to barely anything, sadly. This is a lovely and delicate scent, but alas, it doesn't last long enough on me at all.

[malabar]

I got mostly honey from this one, but it was not cloyingly sweet as I'd feared. Pleasant but not compelling.

[sarada]

I've had strange luck with certain honeyed florals. Tiger Lily was an early hit for me and the only blatant floral that I have in bottle form. Honey Moon is currently occupying the "favorite Lunacy" spot in my heart. So despite my not liking honey in a lot of other scents, it's usually worth a try.

 

Happily, Al Araaf seems to be another case where the honey is delicately sweet and floral without being cloying, perfumey or headache-inducing...or sickeningly sweet. It's much lighter than Tiger Lily and not quite as scintillating and complex as Honey Moon but I would definitely say that one of the honeys present in that blend might be in here as well.

 

It's a bit too light for me though, and fades to a wisp of a golden scent...like the Kama Sutra honey dusting powder, if you've ever tried that. Count me among the ranks of those who are going to stick with Tiger Lily and Honey Moon, since they so mysteriously work for me, against all reason!

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - a lovely honeyed lily scent. Simply gorgeous.

 

Dry - soft honeyed lilies; perhaps a bit too soft. Once dry I can barely smell this. I do like this scent, but it's a bit too light on my skin.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3 .

[Scarlettfish]

I cannot believe how overwhelmingly successful the DIMV series has been for me. This is utterly GORGEOUS. Honeyed lilies. Gorgeous honeyed liles. It's fresh and feminine and romantic and sweet. Absolutely adore this one.

[LittleGreyKitten]

I've really liked a lot of the DiMV oils. This one is also nice, but it's not absolutely bowl-me-over yummy like some. It smells kind of non-specifically sweet. I can smell the honey after I re-read the description, but it's more muted than other BPALs with honey. I don't know what lotus root really smells like, so I'm not sure if it's coming out or not. Some soft, soft floral is there too, but quietly. I happen to very much like the honey that Beth uses, and indeed I like Al-Araaf. It just doesn't knock the socks off, that's all. It has some stiff competition, though.

 

I'd give it a 4 out of 5. Quite wearable, not too strong, but not totally amazing on me. I wouldn't fear wearing it to work and bugging people with over-potent perfume, though.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: very aquatic, but then some flowers and sweetness come out. pretty.

on: very sweet, wet, and fruity. pretty.

half an hour later: the sweet lilies from tiger lily, plus a slightly fruity note that i'm assuming is the lotus root and a burst of flowers.

1 hour later: soft, powdery, slightly soapy, and floral.

1.5 hours later: soft and floral.

overall: this just end up boring on me.

[arabella]

First Impression: Aquatic, floral, a bit of lime and a touch of honey.

 

Dries down to: A lighly sweetened floral with an edge.

 

Additional Comments: I really like this blend; lily and lotus both work well on me. Honey usually doesn't but it's perfect here. There's also a sharp edge to the blend, which gives it interest. I usually prefer a stronger scent but that would somehow be inappropriate here.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[jasper17]

In the bottle, this smells wonderful - honeyed floral to my nose, not too sweet or flowery.

 

Initially on, it retains that scent but after about 20 minutes, it's gotten a really sweet, really sharp thing going on and reminds me of some commercial scent I've tried bedore and it's kind of giving me a headache. I was hoping for more of the honey to come out but on me, it does't seem to be so.

 

Into the swap/ sale pile it must go.

[QueenFae]

Lovely, beautiful lilies and honey! A gloriously simple scent, yet so utterly magical. It's a light, yellow/white scent for me, definitely a flowery floral, but somehow subdued. I had a big bouquet of white lillies for my wedding, and this reminds me very much of that. It's beautiful, creeping and seductive.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Honey floral

 

On Skin: Yay! Honey is the dominant note! I LOVE BPAL honey, it’s my favorite note by far. Here it takes the lead and is sweetened even further by the lotus. The florals are light but compliment the scent well, giving a more feminine feel overall. This scent is sweet but not cloying, a perfect balance. This is what I wanted Honey Moon to be like, but Honey Moon had the herbals which took it one notch down for me. Al-Araaf is so gorgeous, I need more. I don’t love it as much as O or Honey single note, but more than Honey Moon so it’s my 3rd favorite honey scent. After about 15 minutes, there is a slight herbal scent but not as strong as Honey Moon. I wonder where it’s coming from though? The throw is very light (I wish it was tronger darn it), but the staying power is medium.

[mandragora]

In the imp: Honey-sweet florals

Wet on me: Not much change from the imp but now with a hint of something sour (almost fruity sourness).

Drydown: Sourness gone, the fresh smelling sweet florals remain but is muted.

Later: Honey makes an appearance and gives depth to the scent.

Verdict: This scent is lovely in it's simplicity. On a scale of 1-5, it's a 3.5.

Edited March 10, 2006 by mandragora

[klio]

I am in Mad Love with Al-Araaf.

 

First try:

Folks have been recommending honey scents to me, and I've heard wonderful things about Al-Araaf. Sampling it, though, I was surprised that--on the first sniff, wet, dry, and hours later--it was a uniform, generic perfume much like anything handed out on a department-store sniff card. Even with the scents I absolutely don't like (yes, you, De Sade), none of them were so uninteresting. I seriously considered just passing this along to somebody else.

 

Thank goodness for the...

 

Second try, a few days later:

In the vial: Honey and a hint of vanilla.

 

Wet: I'm wary of vanilla, but this is a boozy vanilla extract I can really get behind. I can't get enough of boozy scents--my favourite part of drinking is being surrounded by the aroma of a really good, complex wine or liqueur.

 

Oops?: The description says nothing about vanilla. Where am I getting vanilla from?

 

Dry: The generic "I am perfume!" smell still hovers at the top, but beneath it is a creamy honey/vanilla mix. Weirdly, the perfumey smell is strong on my left wrist, and the honey/vanilla is more prominent on my right wrist.

 

Throw and longterm: I've had it on for about 6 hours, and all the while I've been sitting here at work I've been catching whiffs of this remarkable scent. It has perfect throw on me--not overpowering, but I don't have to attach my nose to my wrist to smell it. It has not altered in any way except to get a bit fainter. It's a little dessert-y, like a nouvelle-cuisine confection of hand-milled ice cream, vanilla beans, and flan, under a delicate webwork of spun honey rising like a golden net above a white china plate. A small crystal glass of honey liqueur, something lighter and brighter than the sort of mead I would usually order, has no doubt been set beside the plate. The waiters here are very attentive.

 

Overall: It's a fascinating blend, distractingly delicious. I wish for a dozen bottles of this, to be able to scent a bathing pool with it and soak in a bath of floating lotus flowers while Egyptian handmaidens tend me.

Edited April 4, 2006 by klio

[euterpe414]

I am so happy to have finally got this one (I missed ordering it when DIMV was up). In the bottle, it smells almost exactly like Tiger Lily to me. However, when on my skin, unlike Tiger Lily, Al-Araaf stayed true to the scent of honeyed lilies, and did not go sharp on my skin. Perhaps it's the Lotus keeping things on the sweet side.

 

This is a very gentle spring/summer blend that I am going to wear on those days when I don't want to be overly perfumed but still smell sweet and delectable!

[eviltemptressdq]

this is a deep floral/sweet fruity scent... after it was on me for about 20 minutes, there is one strong scent standing out... I'm not familiar with the scent of lotus, but maybe that is it?

 

Very strangely, this smells FAMILIAR. I dont' know why! I wish I could place it...

 

I love this scent!

[edenssixthday]

Al-Araaf is another very soft and sweet scent that is slightly on the warm side, and I suppose that's from the honey note. Unfortunately, I don't care for honey scents, even if it's just the tiniest drop. The florals are pretty, but the honey sweetens them in a way that I find unappealing. This is another scent that I found very disappointing. I had hoped I would love it as much as so many others do, but it's just not going to work for me.

[abejita]

I got this one solely because of the "honeyed" part of the description. I adore honey. Honey honey honey! Okay. Review time: I didn't like this one when I first applied it. Wet, the honey had a powdery edge to it that reminded me of my much-disliked (though I tried, oh, I tried!) Osun. Strangely enough, when dry, the honey smells wet and juicy! There is a delicate floral behind the honey and lilies, but I think that the lotus root is what is really tying all of this together, keeping it from being a bunch of sweet top notes. Though the scent isn't faint, I would use "soft" as an adjective to describe it. It's very pretty and comforting without being common.

 

I'm a little sad I wasn't around for this one's release. 8/10.

[Galatea]

In the Imp: Very light and lightly sweet. Like sugary water really.

 

Wet: Very feminine, sweet and light, almost sparkling. This would be perfect for little girls, in fact it reminds me of afternoons spent playing tea party.

 

Dry: I really like this, but it is so light, so pale, as to be nearly missable, even with my nose attached to my wrist. Then it only lasts about an hour.

 

Throw: Nearly non-existant.

 

Overall: It's a sweet, very pure and innocent perfume; and while I do like it and appreciate it for that scent it evokes, I don't think I'll wear ir much. Also it's just a touch too light. Maybe if it were mixed with something else it might work better for me.

 

[strawberry_star]

Hmmm.

 

I put it on and it smells slightly soapy, but not like soap but more like shampoo. In fact it smells a lot like the ever so old school Prell. My mom hates that shampoo, heh. It has absolutely no throw on me whatsoever and I have to put my nose up right against my arm to smell it.

 

I dunno. I really wanted to love this because it sounds like something I would love but it's not really appealing to me at all. At least it didn't turn plastic this time like all scents with honey on me tend to do.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Soft, sweet, wet floral. Very gentle and quiet.

 

Wearing: Al-Araaf reminds me quite a bit of Tiger Lily, with a little something extra that smells a lot like tea. It’s really gorgeous – and no soapy lilies! Woo!

[Shannihilation]

In the bottle this is very sweet and floral. It's pretty. Very light and "airy".

 

On me? Pretty much the same. Very light and airy. A sweet floral. It has almost no throw though so it's definitely more of a skin scent. It's almost but not quite powdery on me.

 

I like it, but I'm not sure that I love it.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Honeyed lotus.

 

Pre-review thoughts: I'm a little wary of the lotus root, but who knows.

 

In the imp: Honey and lotus. Very sweet, and warm.

 

On skin, wet: Very, very sweet and flowery, with a touch too much lotus. Honeyed lotus, this one.

 

On skin, dry: Sickly sweet lotus root dipped in honey. Light and and flowery; very girly. Not at all my type of thing.

 

Conclusion/Notes: This does remind one of Tiger Lily, but I think I like TL better. It's just too... sweet, flowery, girly, and thick on the lotus root for me.

[fairy]

When I heard this had honey in it I thought "uh-oh" as honey turns "sweaty" on me. Fortunately this never did that. I sometimes get a faint sniff of the honey but otherwise this is a gorgeous, clean, flowery scent.