Seraphim

[jasmine]

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

I don’t know what to call this scent. There is a certain floralness about it, but also something that is particularly hard to describe. It isn’t, in fact, smoky, but it seems as if it should be. I may be detecting the frankincense.

I have described scents as layered from time to time. This particularly seems appropriate for Seraphim. There is a high scent (calla lily?) at the top, and something beneath that is either the frankincense or the sandalwood, and may even be both. The top scent is very clean and clear, now.

And now the top scent is fading, which disappoints me... particularly as I can detect a faint hint of soapiness beneath it. Or I thought I could, for a moment. I may be paranoid.

I am definitely picking up the sandalwood now. I’ve realized that the top scent isn’t fading down -- it’s fading up. If I inhale the air away from my wrist, it smells like air. If I inhale the air near my wrist, it smells like a medium scent -- sandalwood? -- in really clean air. The “clean air” smell is where the high scent has gone. It’s an impressive trick that utterly bewilders me. (I wonder if the sniffing is starting to get to my brain?)

That sense of “surrounded by clean air” is neat, and I could see it being useful under the right circumstances, but I would prefer my scent to actually smell like something... and, no matter how impressive the “clean air” trick is, I don’t feel overly impressed by the medium scent underneath.

(Edited to add the lab description when I realized that I was at the top of a new page.) Edited December 14, 2007 by Shollin

[forspecial_plate]

At first Seraphim is just soap on me, which I guess is the lily or maybe the combination of florals. After a long while, the sharp soapiness fades and it has a more woody smell. Not worth the wait, though. : ( The very soapy stage reminds me of violet, which is not a good thing for me. I'm not big on floral scents.

 

Edit Nearly two years later, I got another frimp of this somewhere, and tried it again. Now it strikes me as a 'glittery' floral scent, with a strange, faint undertone of.....bread? Something kind of doughy about it, which I'm guessing is just one of the floral notes going weird on me.

Edited July 16, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[Medici]

In the imp: Florid cleaning solvent.

 

Wet: Much the same, a hint of green floral stem. It's fresh and slightly soapy.

 

Drydown: Much the same but add a bag of chips. There's something funny about this blend, which might be the frankincense (it rarely works with my chemistry.) I am deeply saddened by this - I love calla lily.

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: I find this cloyingly sweet. This is floral a la restroom handsoap.

 

Wet: I cannot seem to get past the restroom handsoap associations enough to pick out notes.

 

Perhaps I'll try it again before finding another home for it, but it is getting a wash-off for now.

[phedre]

In vial: very light florals, somewhat soapy.

 

wet on skin: sweet frankincense and white rose, lily for sure. No sandalwood yet.

 

drydown, after ten minutes: white florals and sandalwood. The soapiness is gone, thankfully.

 

An hour later: this has almost disappeared. The soapiness is back, though. Off to the swap pile.

[myoubi]

IN IMP: Yep, restroom handsoap is right.

 

DRYING: Lily! I think the frankincense is trying to fight its way through though. Who will win?

 

DRY: Generalised floral with frankincense screaming to be let out. Meh. Not for me.

[cuervosueno]

another GC scent I've managed not to try up til this point, when i got it as a frimp.

 

In the imp: what a glorious floral! What is that? It's familiar, and at first I thought it was just one of the lab's roses that actually is ok for me, but I could smell something else that was very sweet....but couldn't place it.

 

Wet: pure wisteria! As soon as I looked up the notes I recognized it. I adore the scent of wisteria--last year I bought one and planted it and hope it comes back this year (I'm not always successful keeping my plants alive). This is sweet, creamy, intoxicating--just like the plant itself.

 

the rose is so faint as to be inoffensive for this rose-hater.

 

Verdict? I wouldn't buy a bottle of it, but I love the imp for the beautiful images it conjures up: sitting on a porch in early spring. There is still a little coolness to the air, but the wisteria has bloomed, and its fragrant purple flowers are a breath of sweetness and promise for the season to come.

 

and this would make a great bath addition when I'm really looking for a spring scent. In that way it reminds me of Prague, another floral I wouldn't want a bottle of, but love in the imp as a harbinger of spring.

[DEMONDAHLIA]

Seraphim... absolutly lovely in the imp .. I get the white flower .. very girly and sweet . On my skin it all goes horriably wrong and soapy.. Im guessing the its the wisteria? That the only note that was unfamillar to me .. I so wanted to like this one too!

[PixieSkull]

Vial: This is sweet, like a kid's new plastic toy.

 

On: So sweet and incensy, very nice The lily and rose are such sweet light florals and the sandalwood and frankincense are so nice.

 

Overall: While I love it now, I don't think it wears really well on me long, it works with my skin chemistry in a negative way that the longer it's on, the sweeter it smells.

[bombus]

The wisteria takes over! it is too sweet for me. I can’t smell anything other than the wisteria. I had great hopes for thin one, oh well.

[Elemcee]

Seraphim is a lovely floral. It is light, warm and bright. First on, it smells a bit like soap, but then becomes a very angelic scent. I can definitely smell the lily in here, which is a lovely smell.

 

This does make me think of a being with a bright halo round their head.

[lapillus]

In bottle: citrusy floral

 

Wet: sweet citrusy floral

 

Dry: sweet white floral, stays very stable

lasts about 4 hours. pleasant but nothing wow. Will enjoy imp (possibly in room scent/bath oils/scent locket) but won't hunt for bottle.

 

Later: : sweet white floral, stays very stable

lasts about 4 hours. pleasant but nothing wow. Will enjoy imp (possibly in room scent/bath oils/scent locket) but won't hunt for bottle.

 

Summary: pleasant sweet white floral, but nothing wow. Will enjoy imp (possibly in room scent/bath oils/scent locket) but won't hunt for bottle.

[mspixieears]

Sweet and floral but has an odd note that reminds me of a slightly musty house. It actually reminds me of a very specific house in England, so also of my childhood. There is one note in this that bugs me and I can’t quite put my finger on it so I think this one is up for swap.

[hepkitten]

Lily grounded with sandalwood...lovely.

 

I definitely agree with those who call this feathery; it's gorgeous, if you like ethereal florals.

[sedona]

In the imp - This is a sweet floral with a hint of tang as though a few drops of citrus are trying to break out.

 

Wet - I can detect rose with a grounding of wood that is fairly strong.

 

Drydown - This is very much a multi-layered scent. The wood and a definite floral are the strongest notes but there are also wafts of green and some sweetness, and surprisingly a hint of dryness.

 

After an hour or so this settles into a much smokier blend as the florals seem to take a back seat. I like this stage

 

On the whole a very complex oil and one that I'll keep an imp around for when the mood takes me!

[Jheya]

In the imp: Florals and frankincense.

 

On skin: Wet on my wrist it's not as floral as it smelt in the imp, but primarily incense based. As it begins to dry the floral notes begin to come through more, softening and rounding out the edges of the scent.

 

On drydown this strikes me as quite a sombre scent, and the incense dominates the blend. There's a faint, soft sweetness to this that's interesting, but overall though I think it's a fitting scent for the concept, it's not a scent for me.

[Bagfish]

Too, too floral. The lilies really rule this scent on my skin. Even frankincense can't get past the mighty power of the lily. Very white, very regal and clean and unblemished, probably suits the Seraphim who I can see guarding Eden with a flaming lily in his hand

[Nia]

I really want more angelic/biblical blends to work on me. I really do. I like blends with calla lily, with wisteria, and with rose. I like sandalwood (red and golden work best on me, though) and frankincense (although I haven't had much luck with BPAL incense). This one should work. Please.

 

On the imp: the cologne-y scent doesn't sound promising.

 

Wet: Weeeeird. This is Vicomte de Valmont's good brother, the one who wento to a monastery. This is definitely a male scent.

 

After a few minutes, the first impression remains. This has all that's good about Beth's more masculine scents, minus the implied sexuality (leather, musk, spice). It doesn't work on me at all, not because the scent turns soapy or bad, but because it's just not-me, in the same ay that I love Belladonna but I prefer it on The Boy. I hope he likes this one.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

In the vial, it's sharp and flowery, as I expected.

 

First on:

Wet on my skin, the flowers are still sharp and prickly, but there is something warm underneath – that must be the frankincense. It does smell a little angelic!

 

Dry:

10 mins after application, it has gone VERY incense-like. I love it! The flowers have faded to the background, giving the ”smokey” and exotic notes more room. Mm. Yummy.

 

20-30 mins later, the scent remains frankincense-with-a-soft-background-of-flowers. It's quite a magnificent scent, actually, especially if you enjoy incense overall.

 

Finally:

I'm intrigued, but not certain. It's a temporary keeper.

[JenM]

Fuller review to follow, but I found this out by accident: Blending Versailles over dried Serpahim smells absolutely divine with really good throw--right up to the point where it morphs into floral Toilet Duck...drove the male sittingn ext to me wild up till that point...the woman on my other side also approved, and she didn't get the morph...

 

ADDED July 25:

 

In the imp: lovely floral with a hit of frankincense

 

On the wrist: Frankincense much stronger, turning into a scent that is actually a bit foody. That could be the wisteria, I suppose. Good throw.

 

When dry: throw still good. Lots of different scents jostling about, none of which my nose is educated enough to identify. A little bit department-store-perfume alcohol, though that could be the frankincense doing something odd with my chemistry.

 

After three hours: It’s morphed a bit. I still can’t differentiate the different flowers. But still strongly present. If I were nasty I would say air freshener rather than perfume. Can’t decide if I love it or leave it.

 

Fades to smelling of old Dove soap in my great-grandmother’s house. It’s lasted nearly 4 hours though. 4/10 or 7/10 depending on whether I’m in love it or hate it mode.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: The lily smells very strong, but the frankincense is in the background adding a warm not to the blend.

 

Immediately on skin: Lily. And a little touch of musky sweetness, but not much at all. The rose is very faint, but it’s there.

 

After a few minutes: This has turned a bit sweeter... like sugar-dusted sweet. It's very floral and almost powdery. That's probably the lily.

 

Later on: This fades nicely... the lavender is still pretty evident, and it's just gently warmed up by the sandalwood and frankincense.

[aquazoo]

Well, it start out soapy... I'm getting some florals coming through, and thankfully the soap has faded. Now it's coming up really nicely. Mostly floral with a bit of the other stuff here and there.

[Dahlia]

Well, it start out soapy... I'm getting some florals coming through, and thankfully the soap has faded. Now it's coming up really nicely. Mostly floral with a bit of the other stuff here and there.

 

I think are all too spoiled with really good soaps out there and so we confuse a good oil scent by calling it soapy. Seraphim is beautiful to me. I really like the Lily. I want to bathe in it.

[Christine Daae]

The imp I have is over two years old now, but I guess I must never have gotten around to writing a review!

 

In the imp, this is holy-smelling lilies. (Incense, especially frankincense always translates in my brain as "holy.")

 

Wet on my skin, it's a white floral heaven. And I love white florals.

 

As it dries, it becomes increasingly more incensey and sweet. I feel like I smell of churches and incense and holiness. This has been one of my favourite imps for scenting my hair for a long time, though obviously I don't reach for it very often.

[maribouquet]

imp: pale gold floral

wet: frankincense and lily

dry: powdery, alkaline floral

 

Calla lily is not playing nice with me at all. Boo.