Scherezade

[Celogrl]

A master storyteller who possessed unfailing courage and compassion, a sharp, quick wit, and a true understanding of human nature. Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk.

Gorgeous from the start to the finish. What a lovely, Middle Eastern harem-y type of fragrance. I really didn't notice the saffron that much, but this stayed very linear on me, and it was very light musk and heavy on the sultry spices all the way through. This is most likely the first imp I'll get a big bottle of! I walked past my husband, and he said something to the effect of: "Bring that back over here!" He couldn't get enough of the smell, and honestly, neither could I. I am going to apply another wee dab before bedtime. Maybe I'll go to the Casbah tonight in my dreams!

[wolfie13]

When I first got this, I sniffed and sniffed in amazement - it just smelled so darn good! Spicy, musky, incense - my favorite things.

 

Upon wearing, I sniffed myself just as much. Hell - I was in love with MYSELF wearing this for the first hour or so.

 

But then....... This just became SO heady and SO cloying, way too florally, musky and perfumey. And remained that way. And remained. And remained. I couldn't even wash it off.

 

So i tried again another day, applying just the tiniest bit, in anticipation of the blow-up. It wasn't as bad, but still goes much too far for me. And not in a sexy way - more in a trying-way-too-hard-to-be-sexy way.

 

 

(ETA: I'm beginning to suspect that saffron and I may not get along - I didn't like Bastet or Kathmandu either.)

Edited May 17, 2005 by wolfie13

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- At first sniff I could have sworn this smelled just like poppers. It even gave me a bit of a head rush!

 

After 15 Minutes - After it settled down it went to baby powder right away. Well, a musky baby powder mingled with the scent of Indian food. This has that same red musk in it that I didn't like in Dragons Heart or Bastet.

 

Summery- I really, really wanted to like this one. I love spicy scents, but this one just did not agree with me.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 4/5

Summarised in a word or two: Muskier Snake Oil.

 

In the imp: Smoky, musky and spicy!

 

On skin, wet: Strikes me as a darker Snake Oil, much heavier on the musk. I swear, there's something like vanilla in it!

 

On skin, dry: Softer. The musk is even stronger, the spices deeper. Still, it's not a strong scent. It doesn't have much throw; it's more of a second-skin kind of scent.

 

Conclusion: Absolutely lovely, but I'd have to slather, and I don't have that kind of patience. Another one to eventually try with an unscented lotion.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Aredhel

[cricketshay]

In the vial My first thoughts were "mmm this reminds me of Spellbound." Very musky. I like blends with musk in them.

 

WetA very light Spellbound without the strong Patchouli. The musk smells delightful on my skin. It reminds me of old book stores. I like.

 

DryUnfortunately this blend fades fast on me. I like scents that have staying power. I still liked it right up until it disappeared.

[emz83]

This was lovely, warm, and spicy; simultaneously down to earth and yet glamourous which is difficult to do. However, cinnamon always gives me a slight headache and the patchouli and inscence comes out strongly enough (on my skin) to remind me too much of the Berkeley streets. I think I will always associate this as a "place" scent rather than a "person" scent, or perhaps it's just one of those scents that kinda sits on my skin and does it's own thing rather than being part of me.

[Dark Angel]

Out of the bottle, this has a strong incense smell, like a hippie shop. This quickly mellows into a warm, spicy, exotic fragrance. It is gorgeous. Unfortunately, it fades quickly on me, almost completely gone after a couple of hours..

[blaqpearl]

I am on the fence with this scent. At moments I think it is too masculine and then the scent really intrigues me. I try to imagine myself wearing this and it is hard although I really love the smokiness and sensuality of it. I was hoping this smelled more of incense but it doesnt to me. I have smelled this before but I cant quite place it. Hopefully it comes to me. I cant really detect the different notes but it is a nice scent but not for moi.

[nineveh]

Wow, I really like this one. It's extremely dark, spicy, and musky. I recognize the red musk from Spellbound, and although I don't know what saffron smells like, there's definitely an exotic quality to it. It has the same feel as Black Phoenix, but isn't as sweet.

 

I was sad about Snake Oil not working on me, but this makes up for it. I'll wear it when I want to feel intimidating!

[empi girl]

I wanted to love this, as I love red musk, and thought I liked saffron, but I think perhaps I like the idea of saffron instead of the reality of it.

 

I get, in the very beginning, the red musk from Spellbound, but it is quickly covered up by the saffron, which is strong, and also perhaps some ginger (says spices...perhaps?). Ginger and I don't get along too well either. Definitly I don't get patchouli or cinnamon, as other reviewers did. The overall result on my skin is similar to when I've eaten Indian food, and then later the scent comes out of my pores. It is definitly the saffron doing it, and it is a note I will avoid in future.

 

So, not a keeper, and a bit of a dissapointment.

[brownbear]

first whiff: eh, nothing special. a little boring and faint

i put some on just to try it. wet: the same, boring

about half an hour after i left the store: whoa, why didn't i buy that? oh man oh man oh man It just got stronger and more developed on my skin after a while. I smell spices, skin, and oddly, babies. not baby powder, but actual babies. baby skin. weird, yet pleasant. i'll have to pick some up the next time i'm there.

[Tesseljoan]

This blends perfectly with Karma lotion by Lush, which I just slathered on as well. It is deep, dark, spicy and musky, but in a strange way not very prominent. A skin-smell, well, more the way I would want my skin to smell like. Sexy and mysterious.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): I'm expecting this to be too dark for me, but here goes... Incensy and resiny.

 

Just On: Oooh, I get the resin and incense, but there's a sweetness that's dark and rich floating around there too. I'm LIKING.

 

An hour or two later: Hmmm, I can't decide what I think of this. On the one hand, there's a tiny little bit of sweetness playing peekaboo here and there, but it's also got a rather stale smelling thing coming out. But it's dark and incensy, and nice at the same time. I'm getting a picture of a dungeon master, striding through his dungeon to check on the prisoners, but with a whiff of something sweet, as if he may have been dallying with one of the scullery maids earlier.

 

Around 6 hours: It's faded down to a hint of spice.

 

12 hours: Amber and incense, and very faint at that.

 

Overall: I thought it would be too dark, but I can see using this scent when I'm feeling evil.

 

After reading other reviews: Hmmm, I think the musk is what my skin made stale in it, but since that didn't last, I like the scent. Storyteller, dungeon master, I guess they *could* go hand in hand. <giggle>

[Janie]

A warm, spicy musk when immediately applied, which fairly quickly changed to a powdery scent. Then it was gone in less that 60 minutes. Shame, that. Nice while it lasted.

[JazzieCazzie]

This is a re-test and first review of a scent I ordered as an imp based on the notes ... I know the first time I tried it I had a bad head cold and knew I liked it but put it aside for further testing ...

 

BOTTLE: Perfection. Really one of the perfect scents in an imp.

 

WET: An amazing combination of spice and wood, a definite OMGOMGOMG scent. I immediately write this down on the "gotta get a big bottle later" list ...

 

DRYDOWN: There is a brief time when the saffron gets a little TOO saffrony for me, but even then it only detracts from the mesmerization (is that a word?) a tiny bit, and it goes away ...

 

This has lots of consistent but not overpowering throw and it lasts a good long time. It is a divine, exhiliarating and at the same time calming scent. I also think it would layer well with some others.

 

On a scale of 1-5, this is officially a 5.

 

REVISITING AND RE-REVIEWING IN APRIL 2013:

 

Working my way through my entire BPAL collection, A-Z, to do comprehensive reviews and/or updates. Always a good day when I get to Scherezade, even though I always want to add an extra "he" in there somewhere. I have a bottle and a half of this and still have "get another 5 ML" on my to do list so that gives you an idea of what this scent does for me.

 

IN THE IMP: I can't even begin to figure out exactly which notes transport me. If I could, I'd buy them up in every possible combination, but I've never tried a BPAL with this specific effect. It is absolutely a scent out of my childhood, though to the best of my knowledge we did not keep saffron, red musk or middle eastern spices in our linen closet.

 

Dabbed liberally on my wrist and into the crook of my arm.

 

WET: This is, much like another favorite, Shub, which I test-drove yesterday, one of the rare great scents that smells exactly the same to me in the bottle, wet on my skin and dry on my skin, equally divine. Spicy and exotic and yet comforting at the same time. I want to just nuzzle into it.

 

DRYDOWN: It goes light and spicy without getting too sweet or powdery.

 

OVERALL: This is the closest thing to a potential lifetime "signature scent" that I could imagine from BPAL. I think it's the answer to the question that I hope I never get, "If you could only have one BPAL scent for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

 

I wish there were a Scherezade candle. And lotion. And room spray. And bubble bath. And ... well, you get the picture.

 

On a scale of 1-5, do you even have to ask? 5.

Edited April 9, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[Eros]

When I tried this the first time, from a recently acquired imp, it was really medicinal(saffron??). Thought, uh oh, 'cause I snagged a 5ml before the imp arrived. After a few hours the medicinal smell faded and it morphed into...Snake Oil. A bit lighter, maybe, but Snake Oil, definitely. Lasts for hours.

 

Second try(next day), from imp: Applied a little more this time, much better, not as medicinal, yay! Still there, but tolerable. Very Snake Oil like but not quite...Very nice. Again, lasts a long time and has a decent amount of throw. Liking this more and more.

 

Bottle arrived today and I immediately applied. I LOVE this!! From beginning to HOURS later, its a smooth, warm & creamy incense with a touch of sweetness. A definite touch of the exotic Middle East. Very sexual and erotic. Amazing throw but not at all overpowering. Its absolutely beautiful.

Also must mention, a few hours after the second time I tried it, on a whim, layered it with just a dab of O. To DIE for

So, alone and/or layered, GORGEOUS.

[coulrophobe]

On my skin, Scherezade is smoky, musky, a bit spicy... and just a little rough around the edges. I see the similiarities to Morocco, but Scherezade turns more masculine on me. Definitely not in a bad way, though.

 

To me, the difference between Morocco and Scherezade is like the difference between "sensual" and "sexual." Probably has to do with the different musks involved (I'm not sure which is in Morocco, but I was assuming white). Scherezade is a bit more raw and assertive - definitely a good going-out scent for when I'm feeling particularly predatory!

[telesilla]

This also came from the fanfiction groups meet and sniff. It was on my wish list for more reasons than the just liking the notes listed. I'm all about the story telling, and the Middle East, and the Rimsky-Korsakov, and Dad reading Arabian Nights to my sister and me and doing all the voices, and the whole thing. So um ... yeah.

 

 

In the bottle: Oh dear. This is just generically perfumey.

 

Wet: The minute it got on my skin it was suddenly spicy and sweet and lovely, although I wasn't pulling any notes out of it yet. Kind of incensey but not smoky, more like unlit incense.

 

Drying: There's the saffron and something sweet, maybe just a little honey. And the musk is really light on me, with just a little edge to it.

 

A little later: I can't remember what the more obscure Middle Eastern spices are, so a little googling gives me sumac, which I'm guessing is in here along with cardoman, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and maybe a little cassis. What you might think of as the sweeter of the spices, although they're used on meat as well as in pastries.

 

GF's thoughts: Nancy really really likes it on me and wants to try it for herself. ::hides it::

 

Final thoughts: OMFG big bottle! This is fighting it out for second place with Swank for second place (after Athens) on the big bottle list. It doesn't exactly smell like the bazaar, which is a good thing, trust me on this; real Middle Eastern bazaars are kinda smelly. It smells more like one of the small stores in Iran that sell spices, odds and ends, some perfume and some food items. If you've ever been in a sari shop that also sells Indian spices and food, that's pretty close to what I'm talking about.

[dcmo]

Dry, spicey, musky, very sexy and excellent staying power! I feel like I'm in a long flowing skirt, walking through an open air market in the middle east with each vendor trying to lure me in to buy their wears. I do really feel transported in this scent. It's a favorite

[parrot_suspect]

What a wonderful fragrance this is! I'm so glad I got an imp of it in my last order.

 

Scherezade is billed as a spicy red musk. On me, it's a rich, powdery blend...soft and intriguing. Kind of like Snake Oil without the vanilla. The spices aren't strong and peppery, just gentle and soothing. The musk isn't the soapy variety (it's nothing like, say, Kiehl's musk), it's powdery and elegant. Imagine FM Musc Ravageur without the lavender note. Scherezade smells a bit like a musk-scented stick of incense, if that makes any sense.

 

This is the kind of fragrance that would work well for almost any occasion. It's soft and mellow, yet sexy and deep. I'll be getting a 5 ml (or maybe even a 10 ml) of this in my next order.

[Phaedra]

In the imp the oil is a deep, rich cocoa brown, the color of root beer. Wet it smells spicy and musky, very exotic. It goes on a bit sharp at first with a hint of cedar (aka pencil shavings on me). I was worried this note would take over but luckily it doesn't. After about five minutes a sweet almost floral note develops. Then it warms up into a blend of sandalwood and vanilla- spicy and exotic. On the dry down it smells a lot like the single note oude. I really love this one!! This is the sexy, exotic, incensy blend I've been looking for!! I am a bellydancer (as a hobby) and this is the PERFECT scent for bellydancers. Seriously, if you are a bellydancer RUN AND GET SCHEREZADE!! This is what I was hoping Mata Hari and Salome would smell like. I think this would even work on some men. It reminds me a bit of how the Muslim men in my neighborhood who sell body oils and incense smell. I am getting a 5ml of this in my Carnival Noir order

[DarkMouse]

in the bottle: ohhhh... wow! How perfectly musky, indian spicey, incense- resiny, wonderful can you get?

 

on my skin: Its so warm and musky.. and the spices are so well blended that I can't tell what stands out, if anything. I can smell the saffron and something that smells like musty old books or fabric from a middle eastern imports store.. thick with incense smoke. This takes me right into Arabian Nights, and would go perfectly with bellydancing garb.. I hear Dead Can Dance (Salterello to be exact)when I smell this.. its so sexy and dark.

 

comments:This is my favorite BPAL scent to date.. and nothing has topped it yet. This was the first BPAL scent I picked out that I wanted to try, and the one I wanted to 'love me' the most.. I concidered buying a 5ml straight off the bat and I'm sorry that I didn't, because I LOVE this scent so much. If middle eastern scents (sandalwood, saffron, resin, nag champa) are your thing.. this is sheer perfection. I am buying a 10ml of this... and I'm going to wear it every day.

 

[Em-]

This is a scent which I put in my first order and was exceedingly excited about. Then, when the order came, I was not so hot on it. Partially it was because I had a lot of other oils to try from swaps, and had started to revine my tastes more, and partially because in the vial, Scherezade smells...dry. As a scent encapsulating North Africa should, perhaps.

 

I really do love the scent of this blend, though, and it spells delightful on. I adore the saffron and the amber and, well, frankly, just about everything. However, as a couple of otehr people mentioned, this blend does just sort of sit on my skin - while it smells quite delightful, it does not make itself a part of me in the way that my other favorite blends do.

 

The answer, I think, is just a dab of Snake Oil - the scents are very complimentary to me (Snake Oil smells almost like diluted Scherezade on my skin) and the oilyness of Snake Oil helps the dryness of Scherezade blend better with me...

 

Together, they are a winning combination...

[slugbait]

Got this little imp in a swap with zenvodunista.

 

After reading everyones glowing reviews, I said “Ooow… I want to try that one!”

 

When I opened the imp, I get a whiff of musk that was similar to Satyr, then followed by a slightly powdery note. A little bit of spiceness slips through, and is a bit perfumey. Drying down, it smells similar to Othello, the light muskiness bit, but on me this smells like something else. It gets a bit wonky on me. The only thing that comes to mind is old lady douche. Yeah, weird, but I’m not liking the association. I bet this would smell fantastic on someone with the right body chemistry. Unfortunately, mine just doesn’t jive with it.

[termite_of_justice]

This is going to be a quickie review, because I have my wrist glued to my nose. I'm not sure how I feel about Scherezade.

 

I layered it over dry Snake Oil, because on its first try (and two layerings) Snake Oil has no throw whatsoever. It's a bit foody for me, anyways. In these reviews, some people said that Scherezade is Snake Oil minus the vanilla.

I'm not getting that at all. Snake Oil was smooth, and round, and (a little too) foody, but it was sweet and nice in its own way. Not sexy.

Scherezade is a spicy, thick blend. It's sharp and it tickles your nose. It smells complex (probably just because I'm too dense to pick out particular notes ).

 

All in all, I think I like Sin better—but I suppose I need to take my imps on a couple more test drives.

 

Edit: About three hours later (Neither Sin, Snake Oil or Scherezade have any sort of staying power on me ) it's mellowed (and faded) into a faint, faint, faint but smooth blend of spices, with just enough sharpness to lend interest. I like it like this, but it doesn't ooze confidence like Sin did with me. I swear, nothing sticks to me. It's barely dry before POOF! it's gone.

Edited July 22, 2005 by termite_of_justice