Scherezade

[JennyGardener]

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.

On me, Scheherazade smelled like too much patchouli. I can't stand it.

On my friend who loves patchouli... This friend, who is reserved and self contained became ultra sexy! She smelled like someone mysterious and seductive whom you would want to take to bed and spend all night pleasuring. It was amazing, since this lady, of all my friends, is the shyest and most private of the crew when it comes to sexuality. I loved it on her and she loved it, too. I gave her the imp, and I hope she wears it often!

[LadyCrow]

In the imp: Very sharp, almost biting. I guess that's the saffron, backed by the amber.

 

On me: More of a skin musk, with less of a throw, than others of the same type I've tried, but still lovely. It's not a knockout punch of a musk; there's something sweet behind it in the drydown, like vanilla, and it's just very subtle, smoky, and commanding yet inviting. A fine tribute to the storyteller of legend.

[cvelis]

In the vial

Red musk!

 

On me

Creamy spicy incense. Quite lovely. Is that saffron I smell? Man..this is up there with Morocco, not as sweet but definitely a gorgeous incense. I love it.

 

Final verdict

Potential bottle coming my way..

[Honor]

I can't believe I've never reviewed this before as it's one of my favorites, but it's so complex, it's hard to describe.

 

In Bottle: Red. Musk. Mostly this, w/ what I think is amber coming through and an overall "Spicey" smell, but nothing discernible.

 

On Skin: I've heard others say there's patchouli in this, but I'm not smelling any (thankfully,as it amps on me)

Again, strongly red musk, but with a creamy, warm quality to it...saffron definitely comes through, as well as cinnamon and again, a plethora of spices that I can't name but are just, "spice"

 

Dry: Warm, creamy spicey musk. Pure and simple, but not. This is so complex I can't pick out individual notes, but it smells DIVINE. Whenever I wear this, I get looks from boys...no matter what I look like.

[kawaiiferreto]

Oh wow. I knew this would be great on me; I don't know why I waited so long to try it!

 

Wet on me this reminds me a lot of Smut but without the booze note: very very musk, but with a little bit of sweetness.

 

Dry this is still mostly the red musk, but the saffron and other spices soften it up and make it less harsh. It's still reminding me a lot of Smut, but this is much more subtle. For me this is daytime Smut .

[bryghtrose]

I smell like a head shop

 

Thankfully I don't smell like shawarma, which is what the term "Middle Eastern spices" brings to mind.

 

At least it fades quickly.

[frozendish]

When I sniffed the imp, Fenris Wolf immediately came to mind. Must be the red musk.

 

On my skin, the red musk initially overpowers everything else and all I can smell are grape skittles. Not good. Once dry, however, Scherezade morphs into a delicious, spicy, sexy scent that has a pretty decent throw. I love this! A little bit powdery, but in a good way - no babies.

 

Definitely getting a big bottle of this!

[tanyak]

This is very much like morocco and queen of sheba on me...

 

I put it on last night not having a clue what was in it. (I was with a friend and had slathered on samples of many of her oils on different spots on my body, lol) It was BY FAR my favoirte of all the oils of hers I tried last night. My novice nose couldnt pick out a single note. All I kept saying is, "What IS this???? Its sooooo, ohhhhh....I love it!"

 

When I got home and looked it up I had to just laugh. Spice and musk are two of the best scents on me as I learned from other oils I have. The ironic thing is that I didnt PLACE either at the time...it had an almost floral scent on me...like the carnation in morocco. Then again, Queen of Sheba gets a floral like scent on me too, go figure...perhaps its just some sweetness though that I mistake for floral. I dont know. I am too new at this to really be confident of the individual notes I think I smell, lol.

 

For me, this scent is rather light and airy. But then agian, all of the darker and spicier scents go light on me. I still love it none the less...and I can promise that ONE of these 3 will end up on my big bottle list, but I wont know who until I wear them side by side and make a final pick. Scherezade is in the running, thats for sure!

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

First of all, I'm intrigued by the lush red colour of the oil! Now, the scent – mm, spicy! But it's not the kind of spice that stings or burns – it just sort of... seduces you!

 

First on:

It's faint and warm – I think I'll need to apply this more richly! It reminds me a little of dried roses, which is weird.

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it's a rich and spicy scent that reeks of senusuality. It's warm, it's gentle, yet it's bold at the same time. I love it!

 

20-30 mins after application, it remains perfectly lush. I can almost sense a little vanilla in there now, but it might just be my mind having a scentgasm.

 

Finally:

It's sensual, enchanting – it's a keeper!

[evilbee]

I had to see what the fuss was all about on this one because it's so widely loved.

 

However, what I learned was that I don't like red musk. It's swarthy, sweet and cloying and absolutely does not work on me.

[constantdistraction]

Mmm, this one is gorgeous. At first it's strong and brazen--not in your face, but it has a commanding presence. I'm not usually fond of strong perfumes, but this is different.

 

After just a few minutes it mellows out, becoming more soft and sultry. It's spicy and feminine, but not exactly sweet. If it makes sense, it's an ancient kind of sexy. To me it brings to mind the women who lived during the time of the Trojan War. I can picture a bottle of this on a cosmetic stand alongside kohl and lip stain.

 

As much as I love it, some people I've asked opinions of do not. Apparently it smells strongly of patchouli. I'm still debating getting a bottle--if it passes the boyfriend test, I'll go for it! At any rate, I'm keeping my imp.

[hellomoonglow]

In Imp: Whoa! Stronger than what I like.

Wet: Musky. Spicy. I like this but right now, just out of the imp it smells very manly to me.

½ hr. Dry Down: For some reason, this reminds me of the Strawberry Shortcake doll I had as a kid. When you squeezed her belly, she blew strawberry air on you. It was yummy. It smelled a lot like this on the dry down! I need a bottle of this.

[n3m3sis42]

In the imp:

All I can think of is "cologne". Sorry, I know that's lame.

 

Wet:

Mmmm, red musk. Very warm and yummy. As it dries down, which it seems to be doing quickly, I can also smell some spices that kind of remind me of Indian food (oh, right... the description does say "saffron and Middle Eastern spices," DUH). The other notes seem to be overpowering the red musk, which is one of those things (like cream) that my skin seems to basically eat up. Okay, now that it's dried down more, I take it back. The spices have calmed down just a bit and everything is blending quite nicely. The throw from this seems to be mostly the musk now, which is not a problem for me at all.

 

Dry:

I'm not sure I'm getting the pure sexiness a lot of people seem to get from this, but I like it. I will have to give it a full-on wearing soon and see how it works out for me.

[dydan]

I am still new to the wonders of BPAL and I knew this scent was pretty popular. I added it to my Wish List and resolved to look for an imp to see for myself.

 

I was a little hesitant when I first sniffed the bottle. It was a little too heavy on the musk and I was afraid that wouldnt jive with my skin chemistry at all. When I first got into BPAL I was told to always try it on your skin no matter how bad it smells in the bottle.

 

Initially on my skin it went right to that hideous soapy smell. Oh noes!! I resisted the urge to run to the sink and wash it off. Thankfully this scent does what many BPAL scents do and it morphed.

 

Heaven!!

 

It definitely reminds me of the smell of an old occult shop I used to frequent way back when. This was an old store that had so many books they were literally piled from floor to ceiling. The rows were so narrow you had to squish yourself down them but if you were persistent enough you'd inevitably find a treasure.

 

This scent is a treasure. Wonderfully mysterious and feminine. Love it!!

[PurpleHeather]

In the bottle: Heavy and incensey.

Wet: Incensey with a woody background note, faint soapiness. Is warming up nicely.

Later: Gorgeous, mellow, incencey and spiced. 8/10, and an addition to the bottle list.

Edited August 13, 2007 by PurpleHeather

[funkmoppet]

Nooooooooo!

 

This is SO sexy from the imp and wet. Heady red musk, incense and spice - pure sensual bliss.

 

Then it wastes no time in going straight to doom-powder on me. I suspect an amber culprit in here somewhere. Black amber? Either way, this one was a crushing disappointment.

 

Grrrr skin chemistry!

[ralenth]

Warm, softly spicy and musky, Scherezade is absolutely lovely. It seems like the younger, sweeter sister of Malice. Definitely bottle-worthy.

[Mixxi]

In the imp: Sweet red musk & incense.

 

Wet on skin: Why on earth is this turning to soap on me? Red musk never does that to me (or even amber)!

 

Dry on skin: Thank goodness the soapy aspect dies down and I'm left with what I hoped for. Sexy red musk (loses it's sweetness on me but red musk always does.. in a good way) & spices. If I sniff at my wrist hard I can still smell a tiny bit of soapyness though but this has a ton of throw and I can't smell soap in it's throw.

 

Overall: The initial soapyness has me worried as I thought this would be definate love. So I'm slightly weary. Might have to try this one again at some point before deciding whether I really like it or not.

[Pottersville]

Another one that went overly sweet with my weird skin chemistry. And it went soapy too pretty quickly. Not a success.

[Dark Sparkle]

Scherezade is a lovely, warm and spicy oil on my skin, but I still think I prefer Snake Oil and Sin because they are more in-your-face, which I love

[idoru]

Possibly the exotic spice scent I've been looking for since my introduction to BPAL. I probably know better than to think it's THE one, since each amber, musk, and spice I try keeps amazing me, but it's gorgeous.

Seductive (to the senses more than the libido) and wise all at once; the kind of scent that reminds you that the original "1,001 Arabian Nights" had to be edited for, ahem, delicate English readership.

 

In the bottle: surprisingly sharp. Saffron, do I detect cardamom?, my delicious friend musk; spices that speak of incense and starry skies rather than crowded street markets.

 

Drydown: the initial hint of sharpness mellows within the first 30 seconds [?!] to a beautiful, enveloping cloud of spice. It feels strong, but I mean that as "I kept my husband from executing me for a thousand nights by telling him stories" feminine strength, not 'strong scent oof'.

 

Impressions: dry & overall, I absolutely love it, but it doesn't last as long as I'd hoped. Not that I mind reapplying in the least, it's just that slathering would only mean I might kill people around me with my glorious scent for the first 10 minutes I had it on. 5ml list for sure.

By the end of the day, faded to a warm hint of saffron.

[Iceblink]

I adore red musk and was looking forward to trying Schez, but whatever those Middle Eastern spices are does not work on me. All I got was generic dusty spice, sort of like a pile of incense ashes after the stick's burnt out. I haven't found any blends with saffron that work on me yet so maybe that's the culprit.

[brit_brat100]

Dark...I think there's a note in this that is common with several other dark oils and it gets amped on my skin because I can never name it, but I always recognize it. This mellows out a bit, to something almost sweet and very warm. This is super complex...I think I might like this.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: So warm and spicy!

 

Wet:Very spicy and warm. I don't get much sweetness but that's okay because the warmth is so yummy!

 

Drydown: It gets even spicier as it sinks in, that I did not expect. A little to spicy for me, personally, but still beautiful.

3.5 outta 5

[greymatter]

The red musk killed this one for me. It always smells greasy and dirty on me. I wanted to love it - spicy, musky love, it should have been, but alas: evil red musk!