Serpent's Kiss

[cormeretrix]

Seething with passion, yet utterly cold-blooded. Dragon's blood, vetivert and spice.

i liked this one!

didn't think i would, because it smelled so hot and spicy in the imp, but i do! i do!

it's all lovely and red and passionate, but slightly treacherous, too.

yum.

[Finny]

Dragon's Blood.

 

I love dragon's blood, I have been trying all the blends with it. Some are too floral, and some are just right. This one falls into the just right catgory. I love the way the vetiver mixes in this one, the spice adds a bit of a kick to the blend. It is sweet, herbal, with a whiff of spice.

 

:00001651:

[yeahbutnobut]

Serpent's Kiss

 

In the imp: yeesh, this smells frighteningly like strong alcohol. There's also an undertone of cherries or something fruity. Smells like a cross between a really strong alcoholic spirit-the kind that would knock you out from the first sip, a mix of turpentine and cherries (yikes!) and something medicinal. Bittersweet and harsh.

On a tissue: The bitter cherry scent is still there but there is a definite spicy undertone, like sweet cinnamon. Still smells like a sore throat pastille though.

Wet on skin: still bittersweet medicinal solvent-cherry smell. Scary smell! Like a snakebite of scent, I think. As it dries, the bitterness is coupled with a 'hot' smell (yes, it actually felt warm on my nostrils) with hints of a deep earthy undertone-is that the vetivert coming through? I can also smell aniseed, I'm sure. There's something red, fiery and dangerous about this smell. Not really my thing, but it's very interesting indeed! I would also imagine that this smell would unblock a bunged up nose if you have a cold!!!

Dry on skin: this isn't really me, I'm afraid. Too medicinal and sharp for my liking. It's a really piercing smell now, with that bittersweet smell, aniseed and hot spices. I was hoping the vetiver would be more prominent though. I'm still unsure as to whether I like it or not. It's not a perfume I'd wear but something about that harsh hot smell makes me want to sniff it more. I'm hoping it will mellow out with time.

After 15 minutes: the bitterness has mellowed out a bit. There's a piercing, quite fresh, sweet smell like cherries but I suspect it's resiny too. I suppose this is dragon's blood, but I'm not sure, I think there's aniseed or cinnamon in this too. It's not as bad as last time-it's actually starting to remind me of cherry sweets. It still makes my nostrils tingle though-a very strange effect!

After 30 minutes: this is getting slightly more bearable. But it's calmed down-the cherry/dragon's blood is still there with the fire of cinnamon and other spices and I can detect the vetiver in the background. *sniffs again* yup, the vetiver is there, adding an earthy and dark, slightly humid undertone-like the deep grasses and earth where the serpent would crawl into after biting you. And as the minutes pass, the vetiver gets more and more prominent, adding an interesting depth and contrast to the hot spicy dragon's bloody smell. i think i can even detect something very slightly lemony or maybe even cardamom with the vetiver, which is strange but very nice.

Verdict: whoa. This is the most unusual perfume I've ever tried (well, this is probably what to expect with BPAL) and it's intense! At first it seems too much like a cherry throat pastille or cough remedy-medicinal harsh cherry, then it was fiery-it doesn't have a comforting warmth like most spice/cinnamon blends tend to have, but a lethal, harsh heat, fiery and unpredictable. But as it mellows out on my skin, vetiver comes through, softening the fire. It's like a snakebite of intense and almost unbearable scent at first, which then fades away into a mellower, earthier scent, but still dark, brooding, and unsettling. An interesting experience but not one for me I'm afraid. Maybe it'll grow on me, but for now, it's going for the swap.

Edited April 18, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 1/5

Summarised in a word or two: Spicy dirt.

 

In the imp/bottle: Dragon's blood, earthy vetiver and spices! Reminds me of a thick, spicy wine.

 

On skin, wet: I think I had candy once that tasted as this smells. Cinnamony, sweet and earthy. It's nice, but I'd love it were it not for the vetiver.

 

On skin, dry: Despite being a Taurus -- an earth sign -- I've never cared to smell "earthy," and this just reeks of spicy dirt. Not digging this.

 

Conclusion: Red Hots and dirt. Weird, and not my sort of thing.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Aredhel

[blu°]

I like this a lot. And I get the florals as well, as somebody else above said. I guess it's some trick my nose is playing on the dragon's blood. I was going out just after I applied a little of this on my right arm only, and got this lovely scent wafting up to my nose. I kept thinking it's the spring blossoms that are showing up all around, when I realized it was me, which made me quite a happy girl. Back home I virtually slathered this on, wrists, neck, ears. It's a gorgeous scent. I'm not in my most creative writing mood, so you'll have to content yourselves with that.

[byrdie]

TMI ~ This is the third day of my period, and the heaviness thereof is just starting to recede.

 

Vial ~ A little sweet, a little smoky and a little chocolately. Molé?

 

Wet ~ A sharp, herbal incense. Rather dry and dusty.

 

Drying ~ The incense is receding, and now I'm getting spice: particularly cinnamon. It's interesting, though -- I like cinnamon, but there's something in this combination that's making my nose hairs stand on end.

 

Drydown ~ My nostrils have calmed down a bit during the transition. I'm getting cinnamon incense now. This could have been worse.

 

Dry ~ My boss, who has a head-cold, said that I smell stinky like jasmine. She doesn't like florals either. I checked the ingredients: there are no florals in this puppy. I was getting a bit of plasticy resin for a while, but that's faded away a bit. The skin on my face is starting to tingle, though.

 

Fade ~ Okay, this is fading into funky import/headshop incense on me. Funny how I tend to do that to scents.

 

Final thoughts ~ I'm really beginning to wonder if most dragon's blood blends simply make my skin prickle and my nose hairs try to escape through my sinuses? Luckily, I got this:

• as part of a swap
  
• to give to someone else as a sample, per a "creepy scents" thread on the BPAL forum
  

... so my not loving Serpent's Kiss isn't hurting my feelings. It's a little bit of a pity, though -- I like snakes and wouldn't mind owning an appropriately titled oil. Maybe I should wait around to see if Elizabeth makes one called Medusa. It'd match my hair.

[girlmadasbirds]

i wasn't sure what to think of this in the imp.

on skin: whoa, spicy...and sharp. something is making my nose burn and my eyes want to water. it smells interesting, but just isn't going to work for me.

[Faerykin]

Serpent's Kiss

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): This is the fist dragon’s blood scent with BPAL that didn’t go on sweet. In fact, this went on very dark and smoky. This is the first dragon’s blood scent with BPAL that actually turned my nose out of the vial. I do hope that changes.

 

Within 10 minutes, the dragon’s blood begins to sweeten up – I am ever-so glad.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): Thankfully the dragon’s blood continues to sweeten this scent. Though, this is very atypical of dragon’s blood scents I’ve tested from BPAL – this is much darker.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): The dragon’s blood is underscored by a dark, almost-cologne-y, spiciness. I am leaning toward the belief that this would make a wonderful masculine blend. Quite unlike any other dragon’s blood I have tried with BPAL. I’ll have to see what the boy thinks.

 

Mmmm … now a nice spicy dragon’s blood. I like!

[quimerula]

Wet it's dragon's blood and vetiver.

Vetiver is green and dry, and dragon's blood is red and sweet... this is a nice ying-yang scent.

[sarada]

I keep thinking this is called "Dragon's Kiss" because of the dragon's blood in it, and the color...but I finally remembered where to look for it to review it.

 

I really like dragon's blood in certain blends (Bone, Heart, seem to be the ones that I get along with) and vetiver is one of my very favorite scents when used in small doses and blended with other woods, but cinnamon is one of my enemies. Nonetheless the description of "spices" is vague enough to entice me, since other spicy blends (Silk Road and Scherezade, namely) where the cinnamony smell is not heavy or dominating, are among my favorites.

 

This is very similar to Wrath on me though, the spiciness is the dominant note and although I get the pleasant dragon's blood (which does come across vaguely like lilacs to me) I don't get any woody vetiver. The cinnamon smell is strong at first but gradually it calms down and is mostly dragon's blood...which is typical for me, that note always lingers longer than any other in a blend when it's present. And I like it, so that's not a bad thing!

 

If you like cinnamony scents this would be absolutely wonderful. On me it does go through a long "craft store potpourri" phase, though, like anything with that cinnamon/cassia note does. But I am really glad that I got to try it and I like having another dragon's blood variation to play with!

[pensive]

Imp: Oh, is that what vetiver smells like? Well, I like dragon's blood, and cinnamon, so let's give it a try.

Wet: Herby.

Dry: Cinnamon - a dark cinnamon. More of a dry cinnamon.

Impression: I think I like Wrath better, as far as cinnamon goes.

Verdict: Since I already have a good cinnamonny scent, I can swap this away, grateful for the try.

[tempete]

Spiced dragon's blood at first, but then the vetiver note kicked in... oh dear, I don't think that vetiver likes me very much. That's OK, the feeling is mutual, so Serpent's Kiss will have to find a new home.

[quikslvr]

Vetivert springs first, and I'm unsure it agrees with me. After a bit of a wait, it's not horrible. The blood/spice combo mediates it some, making it feral but not all wet-animal pheremone. Mostly the spices of Morocco emerge later, which is great.

[Ardisian]

This is one of my favorite Dragon's Blood blends (though nothing outranks Dragon's Milk ) and it is more serpent than dragon.

 

initially: The vetivert is strong! The minute I open the imp I get the beautiful spicy resin of dragon's blood, and a whiplash of vetivert that smells slithery, green, and above all, venomous! It's actually a little too strong for me initially (and I tolerate vetivert better than most).

 

drydown: after about 15 minutes, the vetivert mellows down into perfect harmony with the dragon's blood. Now the earlier slithery green is weaving in and out of sight, which I like much better. Dragon's blood changes v. little on me and sweetens over time, so by the end of the day I have a light dragon's blood and the vetivert is mostly faded.

 

A wonderful scent when one is feeling a bit of a pythoness oneself.

[donsixgun]

Ugh. All I got was that choking scent similar to walking into a florist...too much of too many things. No likey

[sookster]

hmmmmmm....wow....

 

cinnamon....earthy and dirty

 

after warming up the cinnamon turns into a delightfully sweet blend...almost cinnamon and almond cookies....*drool*......

 

seems my chemistry agrees with all of the lab's cinnamon scents which is a.o.k. by me as i love the way it turns out...

 

will i get a big bottle???

 

a definite maybe.....*slurp*

[Eros]

In the imp, all cinnamon. First applied, a "far away" cinnamon(if that makes any sense), behind a light blanket of something medicinal

Within seconds the cinnamon comes through with a bang~Red Hots candies, and there's a tingle that almost, but not quite, burns the skin. After another few minutes a lovely, soft & creamy dragon's blood starts to emerge underneath. Then, finally, I get a bit of a very light, but bitter, herbal note(vetivert??). Something I can do without.

 

 

Overall, nice...if only that herbal bitterness stayed away...

 

ETA: Forgot to mention, after about an hour or so, I got...salt. The smell of salt. Eh??

Edited July 22, 2005 by Eros

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: The vetivert & spice rules on this one. Sadly this is not for me.

Off to swaps it goes.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: This is a difficult scent to describe. It's warm - hot, as in churning lust and anger - like warm blood coloring your face when you're enraged. Yet at the same time, the vetivert leads this to be a calculating, distant blend. It's like a thoroughly corrupted politician desperately trying to maintain a facade of cool when all he wants to do is completely blow his temper.

On me: It's very, very different. Very heavy on cinnamon. I'm a bit disappointed - while I didn't care for the bottle scent, that at least was unique. I'm rather unimpressed by what I smell on my wrist, because I know I've come across this before - and liked it better - in another perfume. The vetiver still gives this just enough of an edge that I don't wish to keep it, because Hamadryad is much more satisfying for my cinnamon hits.

[malanna]

Serpent's Kiss ends up all spicy vetiver on me. I waited several hours for the dragon's blood to add a touch of sweetness, but all that happened was the vetiver and spice got softer, as all scents do over time. I'm not a vetiver fan, so away it goes!

[arabella]

First Impression: Dragon's blood and something sharp and sour.

 

Dries down to: Dragon's blood, cinnamon, sweet pea and sour cherry. A did a double-take on this one - it's a very unusual and surprisingly, lovely blend.

 

Additional Comments: The sharp and sour note must have been the vetivert - it toned down to the non-offensive, sour cherry note very quickly. I'm sure the spice is cinnamon and maybe, cardamom.

 

Lasted: Unfortunately, only about and hour and a half.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

[Lycanthrope]

In the Bottle or Imp:

Um. Cauliflower. Oh my. That's all I get. Oh no.

Wet, on Skin:

A rousing blend of dragon's blood and... steamed cauliflower. Not working on me.

Drying/Drydown:

No, no, ugh. This has become steamed vegetables on my skin. It's the vetiver, which in this case doesn't work with me and makes it very... pungent. Not in a good way.

Over Time/Longterm:

Eventually becomes a cinnamon resin, but I cannot completely shake off the vegetable aroma.

Final Verdict?

Ah, this time vetiver turned bad on me. This must be the famed vetiver reaction Swap to someone who this works on!

[Dark Seraphim]

I loved the look of it, HATED the scent of it. I smelt leather, but it smelt rotten. Whatever it was, it didn't work to well with me. I couldn't get past the smell test. Not for me. 1/10.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Hmmm, dragon's blood, something else?

 

Just On: Cinnamon on top of the dragon's blood.

 

An hour or two later: Drgaon's blood, with cinnamon weaving in and out of it.

 

Around 6 hours: Still some dragon's blood, not as much cinnamon.

 

12 hours: Dragon's blood, and some spice.

 

Overall: I like muchly.

 

After reading other reviews: I'm so lucky the vetiver worked in this one. Big bottle list.

[Miss Lynx]

Very interesting -- it's a bright flaming red in colour that puts me in mind of that Chinese sweet'n'sour sauce that's so red it practically glows. The main things I could smell when I opened the vial were cinnamon and cloves, with just a trace of something earthier underneath.

 

I was a little wary putting it on because I was afraid the cinnamon would irritate my skin the way Chimera did (though Chimera smells so great it's worth the burn), but no such reaction. On me, I could smell the other notes more, but for a while it seemed almost -- I guess discordant is the word I'm looking for. The individual notes were all interesting, but they weren't blending together; they all seemed to be working against each other instead, as though fighting for dominance.

 

Eventually it began to settle a bit, but it still smelled a bit... wrong to me. It seemed like there was a high end and a low end to it, but no midrange. Sharp high spices and earthy, dark vetiver, but nothing in the middle balancing them out or giving the scent fullness. I guess the dragon's blood was supposed to do that, but on me it wasn't very noticeable. Still, it wasn't a bad scent -- a bit strident and lacking in depth, but there was a nice spicy-earthiness to it. I definitely didn't get any of of the floral notes a couple of other people mentioned -- not a trace.

 

Once it had well and truly settled into my skin, though, it was quite nice. Vetiver was the main scent that really seemed to linger, but not the sort bitter harsh vetiver you find in some scents -- it was more the kind that made me like vetiver in the past, a sort of warm, spicy, woody scent. Maybe it was just that all the notes finally blended together in harmony. Anyway, I ended up really liking the end result.

 

Overall, I don't think I see this becoming a top favourite, because it takes a bit too long to get to the phase of the scent that I like best, but it's certainly not bad. Very gender-neutral too -- it was nice on me, but would probably work equally well on a guy.

Edited August 15, 2005 by Miss Lynx