Seraphim

[GlowJob]

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

 

I'll disclose this right now: florals are by far my least favourite scent category. There are a few blends that work on me that use florals subtly but they're few and far between. Seraphim is a bit of a heartbreaker because the lilly is the strongest note and I think if the lilly was missing from this, I might actually like it as a bedtime perfume. The lily is just all old lady soap on me.

[Jangzonrice]

floral..starting with white floral then lily gets stronger. The floral is rounded with incense to make it much better than it would be if it were just florals. Not my favorite, but it is likable which is unusual since I hate lily fragrances.

[rinster]

This was a frimp and although I probably wouldn't order it on my own, I am glad to try it. The most prominent note for me is the lily, followed by the rose. I think if I could have picked up the the frank and sandalwood, I would have liked this a bit more. This reminds me of Easter or funeral flowers, so this is a pass for me.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: The sandalwood & frankincense stand out most to me, but I can pick out all the other notes too. Very woodsy, but still delicate & pretty.

 

Wet on skin: About the same, but the florals are slightly stronger now.

 

Dry on skin: More floral now -I can't really smell any rose, as is normal for my skin, but the wisteria & calla lily are there. The sandalwood & frankincense round it out nicely without overpowering it like I thought they might. This is really lovely. Definitely suits the name!

 

After a few hours: Same as dry, but much more faded.

 

Verdict: This is a really pretty & subtle perfume, though not especially exciting once it's faded.

[milo]

So very sweet! Bright, sweet heady florals. At first it smells like sweet peas, then more like lilies, and boy is it STRONG! I don't usually like blends like this, but I'm enjoying this while listening to snow blowers in the neighbourhood. It makes me think of a warm, spring day. Nice, for now, but this isn't really my style. More like my Moms, and I bet she would love it.

[SophieCedar]

Huh... my scent profile has changed with chemistry over the years, apparently. When I 1st started collecting in 2009, I woulda made a finger cross and hissed at Seraphim. Now? It speaks wonders in my ear, just reading the notes.

 

Its straight-forward, no fuss, wonderful clean florals with grounding enlightening frankincense. The wisteria has staying power against the calla lily, I'm surprised. Overall color/texture impression is ivory tulle with eyelet lace. Anyone getting married soon? Grab this!

[slyvanestra]

I don't wear many florals but this one is beautiful to me. It's grounded rather than too soppy-sweet, deep and comfortable and complex without being busy. I immediately thought of sunlight through a stained-glass window catching incense smoke inside an old church sanctuary, somewhere warm and contemplative. It'll definitely go on my list for 'autumn perfumes'.

[Casablanca]

On the wand, this is lily and wisteria, with a light-handed graininess from sandalwood and frankincense.

 

On my skin, calla lily! And a little wisteria. This goes kind of high-pitched and thin-smelling on me. I expected the calla lily to go to soap on me, and it doesn’t. But it’s not a full-bodied, exciting blend on my skin, either.

[rachelos]

The frankincense smells like motor oil or burning rubber on me unfortunately.

[Bamels]

Frimp. Someone gave me a lily selection, but I hate florals. Reluctant to try this given the description. It's got quite a throw and just smells like generic floral to me. Will see what happens when it dries. Nope, need to rub it off! Old lady.

[Cali]

This is almost what I expected cathedral to be, however it's very faint on me. What a shame! Soft, sweet florals surrounded by a dusty frankincense. Lovely~!

[roseus]

Oh, this is glorious. Clean and sweet lily and lilac brightened by frankincense. Pure and bright.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: The lily and high-pitched wisteria stand out to my nose, backed by the white sandalwood.

 

Wet: The lily, sharp wisteria, and rose take the center stage. Behind them, I get some of the white sandalwood and frankincense. The wisteria and rose combo is sharp and somewhat sour on me, which confirms my thoughts on it not being a very good note combo on me after having this happen with Ode on Melancholy.

 

Dry: The floral notes continue to reign, although the wisteria and rose have calmed down slightly, and I am getting a lot more of the white sandalwood than before. The frankincense note is not a really strong variety and seems content with its background role.

 

Verdict: The rose and wisteria combination is too much for me, even though it does mellow out eventually.

[spookyumbrella]

I dont get any frankincense, just white flowers with a touch of nose tickling pollen. 

 

It's a very classy, simple white floral that could be worn any time except for the height of summer. It's probably a little too potent for that.

[Zorra]

Seraphim is a scent I have liked ever since I had just discovered BPAL 11 (?) years ago, but somehow always forgot to wear. Now that I rediscovered it I can't stop wearing it. Fortunately I have three imps. Seraphim is plural for seraph which mean burning one. That is not what Seraphim (the perfume) smells like. It is, however, a very angelic scent, a majestic angelic scent. The calla lily is the most obvious note but the frankincense and sandalwood make it majestic. The rose cannot compete with the lily on my skin, something I have noticed with other scents as well. The wisteria I cannot point out, but it's there. This is not just a lily with a  frankincense and sandalwood base, there are other flowers in the game. But most important about this scent is that it's a majestic angelic scent. When I have finished my imps I WILL buy a bottle. I won't forget about Seraphim again.

[LilBaephomet]

This is another new addition to my collection thanks to The Tournament of the Underdogs. If I were to consolidate this fragrance down to a moment, I would say it is a crystallization of Nina Simone (and much later, Lana Del Rey) crooning “The Other Woman/ Keeps fresh cut flowers in each room.” It is a strong recommendation from me for anyone who likes a light floral whose richer components further elevate said lightness into the true radiance of a sunlit garden.

 

On the forefront, the calla lily and wisteria aptly capture the airiness of delicate fresh flowers in a crystal vase that still exude that wafting, wet, green chlorophyll note from where their stems were cut. As it begins to dry and settle, the notes of sandalwood and rose create the dusty halo through which the floral sunlight streams into this frankincense cathedral.

 

The fragrance is beautifully light, so if you are someone like me that tends to select robust fragrances and then apply them with the intent of being smelled through the gaseous cloud-cover of Venus, then this could be a beautiful moment of respite for those in close proximity to you, or a great exercise in testing just how much skin you are capable of covering with perfume to achieve a similar effect as you would get with aforementioned huskier fragrances.

[gothteacup]

I am perpetually on the hunt for perfumes containing wisteria, so I’m looking in the general catalog to see what turns up. 
 

Seraphim smells dry and mellow in the imp.

When first applied I detect a lot of rose, and something slightly powdery, probably the lily. 

 

As it dries, the powder fades and more of the frankincense comes through, and there is the precious wisteria, if I mush my nose on my arm and sniff real hard, and it’s lovely, but it’s mostly drowned out by everything else at this point.
 

Later, its much softer than I expected with notes like lily and rose-the frankincense and sandalwood are prominent and provide a nice background to the florals.

 

Overall, this is a soft rose/lily and frankincense/sandalwood backed scent with just a very faint bit of wisteria. It does add a unique touch to it all. 

Pretty, but not enough wisteria for me. If you’re looking for a gentle rose, this might be one to check out. 

[PancakesRaichu]

All I can smell is the calla lily on first application (but no complaints as it happens to be my favourite flower).

 

Later on, I can sense the wisteria and the sandalwood. Sadly it goes from fresh and clean-cut to floral and soapy. 

 

 

[pommelo]

ok this perfume made me realize sandalwood is a death note for me 😭 i bought this for the calla lily, which i LOVED in Death on a Pale Horse, but here it's sadly  overpowered within minutes by the sandalwood, which gives a dry dusty soapy temple-y feel, sorta like in those really badly done sandalwood soaps. 

i've given this bottle sooooo many chances, over months, and even brought it to travel to force myself to use it. but it hasn't changed much from first sniff.

 

on my mum though, the blend of lily, sandalwood and frankincense works beautifully, and it becomes this ethereal white floaty floral that everyone else is saying. 

[Weirdgirlpilled]

Definitely not my thing. Happy that I didn't blind bottle, but I am ALSO happy that I got an Imp because it's making me realise that light/white florals are not my thing!! That was the common theme throughout all the oils I tried but did not like. Bayou, Ouija, Veil and now this! This smells like my mom or grandma, which again, lovely, but not something I personally want to smell like. I will be gifting this to a friend or my mom! I'm positive they'd love it. 

[AbbyNormal]

I’m not the biggest fan of florals and I loathe rose so reading the scent nots I was already apprehensive. I know there are several florals in this but to my nose it was rose, with more rose, followed by some rose, and for fun, a touch of baby powder. This is the fastest I’ve ever washed off an oil and I put on the tiniest spot possible with the imp cap. Even that tiny dot and it was throwing like it was playing for the big leagues. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by AbbyNormal

[ShadowEtienne]

Seraphim is a beautiful scent on my skin. I amp lilies much of the time, which is good because I love them, so unsurprisingly, on my skin, the cala lily is the star. The lab's cala lily note on me isn't the big bright juicy nectary and slightly spicy lily of say Black Lily (or my beloved Tiger Lily), but it is fresh and floral and crisp. There is a sappiness of still growing plants to the flower, and also a deweyness.

 

Rose and wisteria are there, but they provide mainly a floral backdrop to the much more powerful lily. Rose warms the scent some, but this is not a sweet rose, just soft and warm. Wisteria adds a slight spice that is excellent at blending into the wood and resin.

 

Sandalwood isn't strong in this on my skin. Considering it's my least favorite note here (not bad, just neutral), I don't mind. It's mostly providing a background sense of wood. Frankincense plays a much stronger role, giving a soft, warm, resinous backdrop with just a hint of resinous spice.

 

I appreciate that this scent isn't sweet at all on my skin. It's still a beautiful lily but it's different from many of the others that I've tried, and I'm definitely keeping an eye out for more cala lily.

 

I think this is the point where I realize that while I'm picky about it, done well I really appreciate frankincense.

[asoursweetsixteen]

~~frimp review~~

 

on wet, it smells super floraly and kind of incensey? I find I smell incense in a lot of bpal smells that don't have them on the notes but maybe I'm just silly. after a minute, it smells very soft, kind of like baby powder, probably from the mix of lily and sandalwood. 5 mins after application, the rose is coming through, and it's beautiful! angelic is a great work to describe it. after maybe 45 mins, it smells primarily of rose and a bit of sandalwood. it's super pleasant and faint now, and I'm happy since I love rose.

 

despite all my praise, this is still super grandma perfume (like most bpal florals on me), but it is nice enough for me to overlook that. sometimes I just wanna smell like a grandma

[Assimbya]

Wet, this is lovely on me - soft, delicate florals, predominantly wisteria and rose with a little calla lily, sharped by the delicacy of the frankincense, but on me the sandalwood comes out more on more on dry down, and after about 30 minutes of wear it's unpleasantly woody and acrid, as sandalwood unfortunately often goes on me. Disappointing, as the wet phase is so lovely, but it would work better for someone whose skin chemistry didn't do this with sandalwood.

 

(Nothing that I have two imps of this, one new and one several years aged. In the new one I get more of the florals than the old one, but both follow this same progression.)