Seraphim

[inbigtrouble]

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

This was an unexpected extra in a forum purchase that I recently made. Seraphim hadn't even made it onto my wishlist when I read the description. Just goes to show that I can't always anticipate what something will smell like on me based solely on the notes.

That said, this may be one of the best, serendiptous BPALs I've connected with! In the vial, it is a light floral with some earthy tones and a definite sharpness to it.

On my skin, the same earthiness and floral notes are there, but there is also a pleasant, fruity Sweet Tarts smell! I love the combination of the sweetness and the slight sourness. It is really quite pretty and light on me; not overwhelming or headache-inducing in the slightest. Fresh and clean.

This unexpected fnid might become a staple/big bottle for me.

[sarahmarie]

I recieved this as a gift imp in my most recent order.

 

I didn't really expect to like it - flowers and frankincense are not generally my bag, especially not the frankincense, it's usually very heavy and headache inducing on me. But Seraphim is quite a surprise! It's soft and light, not a heavy breath about it! It's very pretty and definitely angelic - innocent, pure, and very very beautiful.

 

I smell flowers (probably wisteria? I don't know what wisteria smells like. It's a soft, white scent with just a touch of soapiness, though) and sandalwood, with a little bit of a powdery (in a nice way) frankincense base. It's slightly perfumey on me, but it still invokes images of angels and softness and light in a way that overpowers the slightly stereotypical perfuminess. This was a total surprise, but I really, really like it.

 

Also, my spouse took the biggest, longest sniff of my arm *ever* when I tried this on and offered it for sniffing. Hee.

[Lilithlefay]

At first the rose is very dominant, after a few minutes it calms down and I think I smell the lily or maybe that is the wisteria. Very floral, but not a heady floral. I don't smell the frankincense or sandalwood at all in this. It is sweet, it took about 10 minutes for the incense notes to surface, so very light and pretty. Still a little rosey too. I will definately use my imp.

[Brianne]

In bottle:

Warm floral

 

On me:

Seraphim is a definite floral, no doubt about it. But the part of this that stands out to me, is that it's so fitting for the image of a Seraphim. It's not just rose and lily, it's a soft forgiving rose and lily. The soft remnants of the church incense clinging to the petals of the rose. It's feminine and lovely, and a nice little twist on the floral.

 

Final note:

It's too floral for my tastes, but it's still very nice!

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle - You guessed it... it's floral. But it's a very -nice- one, all clear sweet notes, very pure and clean. I don't know exactly what the notes are, but I'm guessing it's mostly the wisteria I can pick up in the bottle.

 

Wet - It remains fairly sweet on my skin, though the frankincense immediately becomes more noticeable. Still clean, still pretty; a light scent that nonetheless manages to retain a sense of 'self'. Wisteria, rose, and frankincense. Very, very nice. (And it doesn't go 'whump, I'm INCENSE' like so many things do!)

 

DryThe rose is the last of the floral notes to take hold (not surprising really), mingling pleasantly with the residual woody scents. It still fails to be 'churchy'; it's all around a lighter, more springlike scent, yet completely lacking in the sharpness of most "light" scents.

 

Final opinion - This is up there with my favorites. I like that it's floral, but not pungent, powdery, perfumey, or anything else unfortunate. It's also not overpoweringly stinky. ^__^ It's not as sweet as a lot of things, but it doesn't lose anything for its lack of sugary tones... it's a nice 'daytime' scent, something you can just wear and not worry about offending the allergies of anyone around you on the bus or at work. And the wisteria makes me happy. (I grew up in a house where the porch was /covered/ with a massive wisteria vine.)

[Monster]

I tried this without knowing what the notes were and the first thing that came to my mind was, white flowers...mosre specificly, lilies. This is an extremly flowery perfume. The flowers completly upstage the sandalwood (which is barley detectable to my nose).

 

On my skin, the flowers are still very present. This oil smells like "Spring". It's soft, pretty, and white.

 

I can appreciate this one, but it's not for me. I just can't do heavy florals.

[herongale]

Seraphim

 

In the bottle: this is very sweet. It reminds me of one of the cardinal Aveda blends, and is actually not dissimilar to the personalized blend I had made up for me a year or so ago. I get whiffs of baby powder, geranium, and even magnolia. The rose is only obvious once I am looking for it. The overall impression is that of something clean but abundantly floral and fragrant.

 

 

Dry (because I have some on right now, about 3 hours old, so will describe this first): The scent remains pretty true to what I get from the bottle, but more muted and somehow "yummy." I find myself wanting to gnaw on my wrist.

 

Wet (a new swipe cometh): Again, this is utterly true to the bottle scent. It's like a candy almost. I feel like a hip Momoko doll with this on. Some of the accents remind me of my grandmother: old-fashioned, a little Fashion 220-ish. But the overall impression is that this is very girly and young. It seems to suit my body chemistry v. well.

 

Verdict: would buy a 5ml! For sure!

[olympia301]

An old fashioned kind of perfume with the roses that my mother used to wear. Very pretty, and don't get me wrong, it's a full and fruity floral. But this just has to do with my taste not the goodness of the blend. I have smelled similar perfumes in the past and Seraphim just reminds me too much of them. It's just not enough of the new to make me want to go out and buy a bottle of it.

 

However, it is charming.

 

The icon is a firework which reminded me of one of the seraphim.

[herdivineshadow]

This is a very light and airy scent. The rose note is fairly strong on me, a bit like rose-scented incense though. I'm not sure whether I really like it though, it's certainly non-offensive to my nose, but it doesn't really stir me.

[feline.by.design]

Seraphim smells nice, but not really my thing. I believe someone has already said that this smells like the generic sort of department store perfume, and I would agree. That isn't to say that it's gross or anything; Seraphim is a finely-crafted light floral that is quite lovely. The notes are fresh, but there is one note in particular that I can't quite pick out which doesn't agree with me.

 

The rose note in this does not go powdery, which has been a problem for me with rose fragrances, but I'm still not really stirred by this. Thanks go out to the Lab, though, for allowing me the opportunity to try Seraphim. I think this would suit friends and relatives who are more into the traditional fragrances the word "perfume" conjures up. Having been spoiled with the numerous offerings from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, however, my collection of "traditional fragrances" is minute compaired to the numerous innovative oils I've accumulated and continue to accumulate.

 

It's nice, just not for me.

 

-doreen

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - I'm not sure what wisteria smells like. This smells like gardenias, and I love gardenias so I am happy. A pretty white floral scent.

 

Dry - Hello powder! Once again, rose does it's disappearing act. This is 90% powder, with a soft floral in the background. No sandalwood, no frankincense. Another for the swap pile.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[atthis_uk]

Vial: Light, fresh, faintly spicy floral.

 

Wet: fresh and clean, can't distinguish any particular notes.

 

Dry: Developed into a nice floral, light and not at all cloying, like early spring flowers. After a while, it started to smell exactly like the hyacinths in my garden in spring. I have no idea where that came from, but I liked it.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Sweet and ever so slightly spicy florals.

Wet on me - Very similar to in the bottle, but slightly sharper. I think that it's predominantly the lily that I can smell.

Dry on me - First it fades to almost nothing leaving just a clean powdery scent, but the the incense returns and it's rich, slightly sweet, but not heavy. This is my favorite part of the blend.

[SeaMonkey]

In the vial, I smell the calla lilly and wisteria.

 

Then I spilled it on my rug.

 

On my rug, it smells of wisteria and white sandalwood.

 

When I rubbed my arm into the carpet (which hurt btw) I got a nice white sandalwood.

 

Everyone else agreed that the living room smelled good after that.

[niter]

Imp

The first note was sweet florals and then the lily came right up to shine. This smells very bridal.

 

Wet

This smells just like a bridal boquet full of roses and lilies. The notes just keep strengthening...almost to the point of glistening with dew. This is a very pretty blend.

 

Dry

Same as wet, except softer.

[quikslvr]

Light, light, light. Calla lily at the forefront (love that single note!). As it dries, it darkens a little--there's a solid base to it that I assume is the frankincense. Once it's dry, if I put my nose to it, it comes off as soapy--a kind of masculine, spicy soap. What a fascinating combo: we've got a very floral, feminine start, then a masculine base comes in, and the combination leaves you with a very gender-neutral scent (on me, anyway). Amazing! (and true to some myths, for that matter)

[ajcj213499]

This smelled beautiful when I first put it on, but 15 minutes later it went plastic on my skin, maybe it was the lily...

[smallvoice]

I had high hopes for this one. In the imp, it smelled very green and fresh to me, like freshly cut flowers, and maybe even a little bit aquatic. Just lovely, I couldn't wait to try it.

 

Wearing it, though, is another story... that watery note vanishes and suddenly I feel like I'm allergic to something in it. It's heavy and floral and not at all what I imagined it might be... I'm disappointed at my chemistry.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is rose and incense, strong and faintly sweet. As it dries, I can smell a little of the lily, but not the other notes, as the incense intensifies over time. In the end, the rose blooms again, and it becomes pure floral incense on me.

[ABrokenAngel]

In the Bottle: Wow that calla lilly is really strong. It kills everything else and that’s actually rather sad.

 

Wet: Hmmm something happened here. I’m willing the say it’s my age old enemy Frankie that’s killed all my beloved scents.

 

Dry Down: It smells like setsuma lotion …. Weird.

[Ayln]

I do not like sharp florals, and this was no exception. I recieved it as a frimp, and I would not have tried it otherwise. I have no experience with lilies, but if that was the floral that killed the scent, I'll know what to look out for next time.

[angharad]

YAYROSEANDSANDALWOOD!

 

Ahem. Anyway.

 

I can't pick out the lily note in this; mainly I get the beautiful blend of rose and sandalwood that I was hoping for and just love. There's something else, too, but I think it's the frankincense that I smell. It deepens the scent, providing a foundation for the rose and sandalwood. This has okay throw and lasts for a few hours. Definitely a keeper.

[undream]

Like shriekingviolet, this one, to me, also smells exactly like your typical fancy women's perfume. In the imp, I am also getting a ghost of a grape smell? It hits me briefly somewhere in the back of my nose. But this does not last long and disappears once on my skin; it is all perfume from there.

 

Up close, there is something that also smells particularly clean about it, and it takes me a moment to realize it is exactly like fresh, clean laundry, or like walking into a laundromat; the sharp detergents, the clean, heady fabric softeners. And wow, this oil keeps fighting with itself on me! One minute, I can detect incense in it, the next, it is a much lighter, sweeter scent sans any incense at all. Very interesting.

 

Occasionally, I catch a gorgeous sweet floral note in the throw as well, but she is fleeting. And too bad, she could make this oil a definite keeper. Wish I knew which note she was.

 

This actually is a very beautiful oil. I never was one for the type of perfumes that this oil brings to mind, so I am thinking that Seraphim is just not for me - but this one is complicated. I suspect she'll be going up for swaps, but I may need to test it out a few more times before I make up my mind.

Edited February 2, 2006 by undream

[Caltha]

Seraphim

Well - I never did expect to like this, it was for a christian friend. It starts out as chokingly sweet flowers, lilies and roses (biblical enough I guess), an almost rottening sweetness. Then it dries to incensey, oriental, only vaguely floral, soap. What's with all the soap these days, is it my skin or did I only pick up too many risky floral scents?

[Thaleia]

I can't even say how much I love this scent. It's angelic, evocative of heaven, etc. obviously, but I'm in Heaven. This is a perfect Easter Sunday scent, pale pastels and sunlight. I'm not struck speechless very often, but the most I can manage right now after smelling this is "aghahgh" or a close approximation thereof. This is Ode on Melancholy (one of my favourites) with the depth of sandalwood and frankincense, less evocative of sadness and loss, and actually gives a sense of hope for better things.

 

Must get a 5ml. Right now. Thank you, Lab, for sending me this. 10/10.