Scherezade

[shriekingviolet]

Category: Bewitching Brews

 

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.

 

Initial Impression:

Musky, but not at all overbearing. Very smooth and warm.

 

After Wearing It:

This is really smoky and complex. The musk is smooth, hot and sensual, making me feel light headed and content in that "good buzz" kind of way. Musks can often turn rancid or too overpowering on me, but this was just right. Emboldening the red musk are a multitude of spicy scents that give the fragrance a full flavor without subtracting any of the smoothness of the scent.

 

Final Thoughts:

A very apt scent for a storyteller. It inspires and excites while still lulling and relaxing its audience. Has a clear Middle Eastern feel. A winner!

[Koumori]

I'm still looking for a dance scent for my veil, and I'm not sure whether this is it or not. The saffron note turns out to be the most prominent on me, which is an unusual one for a perfume and one that I like very much; I think I'd like a little bit more of the spice, though.

[Ypres Eep]

I'm in love. In the bottle: Complex, spicy scent. On me, this is Snake Oil with a warm, musk rather than the vanilla. Perfect! Spicy, soft, not candy-like. Über-sexy! -Also very long-lasting. As soon as I use my sample up, I wil have to reorder. Edited March 14, 2004 by Ypres Eep

[sirensongsouth]

I have to agree, this is a lovely spicy warm musky scent. I am in love, its a smooth sensual musk with the lovely exotic spices that are similar to those in snake oil. This is pure bliss, and how I like to smell and conjuring up the mental image that I would like to project to the world, even though its night and day away from the me that most people see. This is going into heavy rotation, its really really nice.

[roisnoir]

I want to love this.

But there's something in there that is going weird on me.

It smells like incense on me - like the back room of the little middle eastern jewelry shop I like, which is a positive association, but not something I want to smell like.

It's got a weird under-scent that makes my molars itch. Sort of amber-ish, without the powdery smell.

 

 

---

 

It's been a loooooong while since I wrote that.

I've done a complete 180 on Scherezade.

I'd swapped my orginal imp, and finally re-ordered it, because I'd been craving it for some reason.

Now I've got a 5ml on order, and I'm about to finish my imp.

 

Incense and spice and a heady, heavy cloud of glorious scent follows me around when I wear this, and I'm loving it totally.

 

I feel decadent and capable and confident.

Edited December 2, 2004 by roisnoir

[Lady_Ell]

This is my new "grown up" scent. It's so glammy and sophistocated on me, I can't get over my bad self. It's like a grown-up version of Snake Oil, or a less bracing version of Old Morocco. It's not really sweet, exactly - it's more like your body exudes a natural sweetness with its help. The spices are really soft yet firmly placed - they're not going anywhere, they're just observing what your body is doing with the musk and adding their $0.02 to make a beautiful, complex scent.

 

Note: when wet this smells almost disgustingly perfume-y, but after 5 minutes it settled down and became very nice.

 

(edited due to grammar/misspelling)

Edited April 26, 2004 by ladylatemar

[twistygirl]

Oh, this is just gorgeous. The first time I wore it, it didn't seem to agree with me, but I have been wearing it today, giving it a second try, and today it is breathtaking. Soft, sweet, but not cloyingly so, and rich, rich, rich. It smells like rich golden brown. It's incredibly sexy, and I am adding this to my list of 5mls to order.

[hypothermya]

When I was first diving into all of my new imp ears, Scherezade was one of the first to be plucked up and opened.

 

In The Bottle

 

When I first smelled it, I couldn't help thinking that it reminded me of an occult bookstore, with the heavy incence smells and the strong, overpowering musk. When I handed it to my sister's boyfriend (who had no clue who Scherezade was, or what sort of ingredients were in the perfume), he told me that it smelled like "old books." I was delighted and instantly knew this was going to be one of my favorites.

 

Wearing It

 

When I put this on this morning, the scent was so strong it was overwhelming. I had to roll down the windows in the car for my boyfriend's sake, and hoped that it would die down a little. Sadly, another part of me was hoping that it wouldn't die down, because the heady smell of it was delightful. After about 40 minutes, it finally mellowed out a bit. I find myself thinking that it is rather like Drakkar in that you really need to put aside a good half hour before you need to be in close proximity with others; I certainly wasn't upset by the initial strength of the smell, but I'm sure that my boyfriend would appreciate if I didn't put it on *just* before hopping into the car with him.

 

Right now, it's very faint and reminds me a great deal of a spicy, warm, middle eastern smell. It's blended so well that I can't really identify any of the scents individually, but it still reminds me of books, and incence, and very faintly of the soft, warm, wrinkled flesh from the hand of an old middle eastern woman.

 

I'm a little afraid that it won't last the whole day, which makes me think I should carry the imp ear around with me in the future...

 

 

 

It makes me want to smell my wrist every twenty seconds. It's exactly the sort of scent that I'm going to wear every day in summer and winter, but I'm not so sure about a spring scent. It's really relaxing, and comforting, and makes me want to wrap myself up in my bed with a good book. This is definitely on my list of favorites.

Edited May 18, 2004 by hypothermya

[Reinaluna]

Sherezade is a lot like Old Morocco just a little less sweet. Even though I do like this one because is has that middle eastern flavor I dont think Ill buy any bottles of this because I have a big bottle of Old Morocco

[Northernminx]

Smokey, spicey, and complex. I loved this one but it lasted about five seconds in it's smokey/spicey state before it soaped out on my skin. I swapped this one down south to some friends who hopefully will have better luck with it.

 

Unfortunate as it was a gorgeous scent... hmm possibly should've tried it as a room scent

[lorajc]

I ordered this cuz of all of the great reviews and a couple peeps that have similar tastes as me loved it. I wore this and it is one of the few scents I was not crazy about. I generally do not type a review for something I didn't like (I don't have the heart to -- go figure), but I thought I would start doing some of them. I really think I don't like red musk or a combination of something in here. I swapped it away after wearing it once. After reading Twisty's statement above, perhaps I should have given it a second chance. Oh well.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: How I love spicy musk! And this one is going to love me.

 

Second Impression: Warm and sensual and very feminine. It is reminiscent of the single note Sibirian Musk only all woman.

 

Final Analysis: This is such a perfect blend, with enough warmth and sweetness to keep it from being overly musky-sexual. It's got a touch of mystery. A slyly sexy second skin scent.

[allamanda]

Scherezade

 

When first applied I can smell the red musk, but with a slight spiciness.

 

As this dries the saffron appears and takes me back to childhood; barley sugars yum!! There are duskier spices underneath, but I can’t identify them.

 

Once I have been wearing this a while I can detect a resiny note that, as roisnoir said, maybe amber, but on me it is warm, gentle and lovely.

 

I really like this a lot, but in contrast to most of the other reviewers this keeps disappearing into my skin. It is very light on me… I guess that means 10mls instead of 5

Edited September 13, 2004 by allamanda

[friendthegirl]

So far, this has a warm, sandy and beachy smell to it. I also think I can detect a hint of saffron.

[Ms. MSGirl]

I LOVE Old Morocco, so I was just elated to find this as an extra with my order that recently arrived!! I had been wanting to try it for a while -- thank you beth and crew!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is indeed spicy sandy hot and dry like Old Morocco, and in order to compare them the following SAT-style analogy seems very apt.

 

Old Morocco is to Snake Oil as Scherezade is to Black Phoenix.

 

That is to say, these former perfumes take out the spices and isolate them, without the vanillas and the almonds and the juiciness of the latter ones. Scherezade is just the dry, incensey spices of Black Phoenix, without any of the cherry or nutty notes that it also has. Which means, it has a different set of spices from that in Old Morocco -- to my nose, Old Morocco has Snake Oil's spices, and this has Black Phoenix's spices. Does that make sense?

 

If you are a fiend for really strong incensey fragrances, I would strongly recommend layering this with Black Phoenix or Spellbound to kick up the incense in those. The combo would be knock your socks off hippie shop lovely. I think, despite the analogy above , that I will layer it with Snake Oil. I love layering Snake Oil with Old Morocco, too, but I think this would be great sweetened up with it as well.

 

It is dry, dry, dry as it dries down, downright sun-baked and windswept. I think in the end I prefer Old Morocco, but this is an amazing foray into just how hot and dry perfume spices can be. It makes me feel so exotic and mysterious..... mmmmm!

 

thank you so much for the chance to try it!

[asa805]

THis is one of my favorite of all the BPAL oils ive tried (cant yet pick a fave out of this, snake oil, hellcat or alice). Its so glorious that i can not stop sniffing my wrists when i wear it. I feel like im spirrited away to a foreign land and strolling slowly through a open market bazaar with foreign people, foreign goods. This also reminds me of the movie alladin for some reason. Could be those mid east spices. This is just glorious and i feel relaxed, very self assured and delicously sensual when i wear this. I just purchased a big bottle and i cannot wait for it to arrive.

 

Edit: Im wearing this for the first time at work and i have gotten two unsolicited compliments! This one has just skyrocketed to be my most fave BPAL scent.

Edited August 11, 2004 by asa805

[TheDarkMother]

I always loved the tales of Scherezade and her 1,001 nights! I am really hoping that this does her justice, along with appeasing my appetite for a good Middle Eastern scent!

 

In the Bottle: It is strangely floral and light. Could that be the saffron? I'm not sure, I don't knwo what the individual note smells like. Could it be lotus? Or is it the red musk? I'm not sure at all, but it is very light. Hmmm...not as spicya s I would have hoped.

 

On Me: Wow...a very crisp floral scent. Wait...its changing already. There is some sort of scent that I keep thinking must be red musk. Its light, feminine, but it is still there, like an oil that Sherezade must have used to coat her hair before she told her tales every night.

 

But its changing on me again already...now its nearly invisible! Its very hard to detect and I think its becoming a little more powdery. That musk scent is still there, but its light, translucent, a slight shimmering powder.

 

And now...gone. Less than 5 minutes and its gone. I love the scent even though it wasn't quite what I was hoping that it would be, but the staying power sucks. Wait...now its playing peek-a-boo on me.

 

So I slather. More on my wrists, a drop on each earlobe, 4 passes through my hair, and a dab on the front of my dress. Wait a minute...now I think I'm getting it! In the Middle East, women of this importance were layered in oils once they got out of the baths. I can see why this fragrance is so light now! I can imagine Scherezade steppign out of the baths and rubbing this oil all over her body and hair in preparation of her next tale.

 

Ok, the slathering saved this imp big time! I like it a lot more now that I understand it a bit better. This just made my big bottle list.

[fairywingmaker]

Spicey, Incensey (in a good way) Mysterious. This is exactly what went through my mind when I put this on my skin. After it dries a bit, the musk and something a little sweeter is coming up. The spicieness is making me very happy. Like this a lot!

[Mandarin]

I love this! The initial bite of saffron is ameliorated by the spices coming up, sweetened and warmed by the musk. This is a wonderful scent, warm and rich and clean. It also happens to go incredibly well with Darkswan's Egyptian Dragon. This is an amazing scent, full of bravura but still amazingly feminine.

[TygherRayn]

Oooh .. I haven't tried this one eith Egyptian Dragon yet .. I might do that. I imagine it's do well with Dragon's Blood too! *grins*

 

It's spicy and sensual .. I think the red musk goes very well with the spice in this. I keep thinking it's going powdery, but then I sniff it again, and it's fine.

 

In the bottle this is delicious. It's almost a green scent there .. I think that's the saffron taking hold almost instantly.

 

Wet, it warms almost immediately .. the musky, smokiness comes through so easily .. and it wafts all around me. I can smell this over everything else, and I only put a little bit on!

 

It warms to a very spicy, sensual scent. I can imagine stepping out of a bath .. an Indian priestess attended by a dozen handmaidens, each one swathing her in scented oils to keep her skin soft, the smell permeating the chamber long after she's been robed and brought to the temple upon the back of an elephant.

[glampyre]

SO completely drool-inducing. I really thought my husband was going to eat my arm off when I offered him a sniff.

 

We both love this rich, deep, red, musky, resiny scent.

 

Do NOT wear this if you are shy and want people to ignore you.

[malanna]

Somehow, I had expected spices somewhere along the line of Snake Oil. However, this is a bit of an incense-y smell. Not Nag Champa sort of incense or incense when walking into a Buddhist temple. Not as suffocating or smoky. It sort of makes me think of what an ivory elephant you'd find in an Asian shop would smell like. I think the incense part is what the saffron lends it, or maybe it's the red musk. Normally, when I think musk, I think animal heat, but perhaps the red musk is what lends Scherezade the incense-heat. The second time I put this on, it was a bit like a warm, red Come to Me, a red soapiness. Then, it morphed back into the incense and after a while, went back to the red Come to Me incense.

 

ETA: I could still smell it at the fourth hour, but it wasn't too strong, nor was it very weak.

Edited September 8, 2004 by malanna

[vividdreamer]

Out of my many imps, this is the one that I can't get enough of. I think it'll be my first 10 ml purchase!

 

As others have said, it's a mysterious scent. And if you apply too much, it can be a bit overwhelming for the first few minutes, but it lasts a LONG time on my skin. So long, in fact, that even after a sweaty day of horseback riding, I got a, "What smells so good?" unsolicited compliment.

 

I wish my nose were more refined so that I could detect some of the individual notes in this, but I can't. It's just a warm, musky, exotic fragrance that envelops and intrigues both the wearer and those who come in contact with.

 

I suppose I should mention that I'm particularly attracted to the deeper, muskier scents (and before BPAL, I'd NEVER have thought that to be the case) and that until Schezerade, I'd gravitated toward the dragon's blood/honeyesque scents (O, Snake Oil, Dragon's Heart), but this one has changed my mind.

 

Absolutely gorgeous. As has been stated many times previous, Beth is a genius.

 

ADDED Dec. 12:

 

Absolutely. Divine.

 

I ordered an imp's ear of Schzerade, and after three or four unsolicited compliments, I decided that I needed to upgrade to a 5 ml. And I'm SO glad I did!

 

Incensy? Yes, but in a spectacular way. One of my co-workers asked if I was wearing patchouli, and though I'm not sure whether or not that's even in the ingredients list, I can see how someone might make the mistake.

 

In the vial:

Dry, somewhat smoky, but with a bit of sweetness that emerges to enrapture your nose and begs to be put on.

 

On:

 

While still wet, there's a slight touch of floral (is this what saffron smells like?), but still that herbally, delicious goodness that makes me want to sniff myself repeatedly.

 

On the drydown, all the scents mix beautifully to create an incredibly sexy, irresistable aroma. This one has a lot of "throw," and I feel all sultry and goddess-like after it has mellowed for awhile.

 

Love, love, LOVE this one.

Edited December 13, 2004 by Shollin

[LiberAmoris]

Scherezade was like a BPAL Greatest Hits album for me.

 

At first, there was a flash of cinnamon and amber that was similar to my beloved Sin. Spellbound came next, as my skin was suffused with the glow of roses. Then it morphed into O for a few delightful minutes. Finally it seemed to lean into the spicy loveliness of Old Morocco.

 

I loved every phase of Scherezade! Clearly, like its namesake, it has many stories to tell.

Edited October 1, 2004 by LiberAmoris

[darestodream]

The only problem I have with Scherezade is that it has caused a terrible dilemma in my scent-lover's heart: Old Morocco or Scherezade? They are both warm, spicy, musky, and, when worn, simply smell like an improved version of me. Scherezade seems a bit sweeter to me, and a tiny bit stronger, as well. It is also my first BPAL that has received unsolicited compliments.

 

When I wear this, I feel a bit more womanly, a bit more wise. I feel like I could lure people into my web and, once ensnared, know exactly what to do with them.

 

The only reason I haven't ordered a larger bottle is that I already have one of Old Morocco, and the two scents really do fill the same niche. One of these days, I will have to put OM on one wrist and Scherezade on the other, and let them finally duke it out until a favorite emerges.