Blood Rose

[isyche]

Sensual, robust, and silken: voluptuous red rose bursting with lascivious red wine and sultry dragon’s blood resin.

This was worryingly sweet and candy-like in the vial, and I was afraid it was going to turn out uber-sweet like Persephone did on me.

Happily, however, as soon as I put it on, it dried right down to become something like a combination of Dragon's Heart and Black Rose. I couldn't really detect the wine at first, it was mainly the dragon's blood with the rose as backup - a dark dry red smell, like a dried red rose instead of a black one.

Later on, the wine started to come out and made it slightly sweeter/juicier (like the rose was coming back to life?), but it never got cloying at all. Another one I really like.

ETA: the more I wear this, the more I love it - it's a beautiful dark gothic-y blood-red scent that makes me feel like Drusilla from Buffy or Phedre from Kushiel's Dart. Edited September 28, 2005 by Shollin

[Isis]

LOL @ 'like Black Rose on Prozac!'

 

I really wanted to like Blood Rose so badly, but when I first applied it all I could smell was a hefty overdose of the red wine and dragon's blood resin. It was so overbearing it made my throght tickle!

 

The rose did come later on, bursting head on- but along with the other prominant notes of the dragon's blood it proved simply too heady and rich for me!

 

I can however, appreciate how many people love it as the choice of ingredients compliment each other so well.

[renaissancerouge]

Yummo- Strong, rich, ruby goodness that neatly balances the resiny and the rosy. Highly appropriate for masked balls, defenestrations, and salacious trysts. This is the velvety courtesan in a bottle that I was expecting from Old Venice.

[omly]

I opened the package with just this imp inside and was assaulted by the rose and wine. Whew! Wonder what the mailman thought. You could definately smell it through the package.

 

On my skin the fruitness of the rose rounded out. Dark purple and moist, the wine was not boozy as I had feared. Quite the opposite it was more like grapes than wine. In fact within a few minutes it had turned to grape dimetapp. Where did that beautiful rose go? It did return a few hours later, but I can't get past the cough suppressant stage to wear on a regular basis.

[Bratkat]

I love rose scent . BLOOD ROSE is moist, juicy, fruity black cherries and mature roses. not too heady. a bit medicinal but very likeable. drydown is very nice and long lasting. an interesting rose scent. sensual and lady-like. I will wear this alot - for day or night. will purchase a 5ml.

[malanna]

I don't like rose, but this isn't an obnoxious rose scent. This is rose ice cream. It's not milk-y, but it's not a fresh rose scent. It made me stop and think about whether I liked it or not (I tried violet ice cream today and that was my same reaction). I wasn't too sure what the answer was, but I was reminded of Persephone, which is a bright, sweet scent with rose tones. This has more rose and isn't so bright and sparkling. I couldn't smell the dragon's blood (which is very sweet), but I think the red currant was the thing that made this scent like Persephone.

[Ceridwen]

My first impression of this after taking the lid off were very strong rose tones, with something softer lurking behind, The smell stayed pretty much the same when I wore it on my skin, but after a while the dragon's blood came through, and started to smell, well, exactly like blood, which was not particuarly pleasant. The second time I wore this however the dragon's blood didn't come through like this, and it stayed rich and juicy, with something lighter and fresher that made me think of the green rose stem, rather than of the actual rose.

 

ADDED Sept. 9:

 

I really love this one now. Just taking the lid off and smelling the rich velvety rose makes me think of a gothic castle with red velvet and furs and candlelight. It smells so gorgous like a red wine that I almost want to drink it (disclaimer: don't).

Edited November 28, 2004 by Shollin

[k00kaburra]

This was one of the free imps Beth gave me in my very first order and the uniqueness of it turned me onto BPAL more than the original order did. This was also my first encounter with dragon's blood, now one of my favorite notes.

 

In bottle: It's sweet and fruity, but with the strength of the dragon's blood resin and the rose. This complex scent isn't light enough for spring or summer, but the richness is perfect in the autumn.

 

On me: Rose is the dominant note, tempered by the dragon's blood and sweetened by the wine. Rose normally smells a bit off on me but combined with the other ingredients of this scent it is perfect. As someone said earlier, it's rose with a bite to it. It's a fierce rose for a fierce woman.

[LiberAmoris]

“Yet Giovanni's fancy must have grown morbid, while he looked down into the garden; for the impression which the fair stranger made upon him was as if here were another flower, the human sister of those vegetable ones, as beautiful as they--more beautiful than the richest of them--but still to be touched only with a glove, nor to be approached without a mask."

 

---from Rappaccini's Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

There was a time when I thought I could not wear roses. An otherwise singularly lovely junior high school teacher wore a single note of rose perfume every day; it was so strong that you could smell it 20 minutes after she left the room. But if there’s anything BPAL has taught me, it’s that rose is delightful when blended artfully.

 

Blood Rose is amazing to me. The rose is so perfectly balanced with the darker, berried notes. The first day I wore it, I was reminded of Hawthorne’s classic short story Rappaccini's Daughter. Blood Rose for me is that blend of the beautiful and the vicious. I love it and I have officially put it on my Big Bottle for Slathering Purposes list.

[Longstofly]

Blood Rose is a very sexy scent. I am not usually fond of plain rose and I was afraid this one would do this on me anyway but instead I get a wonderful combination of red wine and roses. It dries down to be more rose than anything else but I love it!

[Murasaki]

I love Blood Rose. The name alone attracts me. I think of velvet petals perched at the nape of some pale skin beauty. The intial smell from the vial is sweet like the Boone's Farm wine I drank in college. On the skin, the top note is sweet roses, maybe a little soapy. I think of shampoo Sanrio might make with Hello Kitty on the bottle. The middle note and base notes are where the scent grows up (blossoms?) into an adult sexy fragrance. I get wine and incense like a Dionysian rite for the middle note. On dry down, I get a sweet peppery amber on my skin. The whole thing is like a flirtly girl growing up into a full fledged sexy woman. Amazing!

 

Murasaki

[Witch's Dagger]

Blood Rose

 

I got this in a swap with Mandarin. Thank you very much

 

Preconceived notions:

I love dragon’s blood and wine, and though I wasn’t sure about the rose, the comment Shollin made of sangoire put it immediately into my wishlist. I had to at least try it, right? So, when it was on Mandarin’s list of 5 ml bottles for $5.00, I couldn’t resist.

 

On the bottle: I cannot describe this scent: it is warm, it definitely has dragon’s blood, but the dragon’s blood is resting in very sweet burgundy wine. And I get roses, too, faintly. But really, that’s not how it is. It’s simply Blood Rose. One scent, excellently blended.

 

In the bottle:

Wow. Sweet cherries. Now I know why people associate cherry with dragon’s blood. The sweetness is not the sweetness of candy, but cherries in a thick syrup.

 

On me:

The cherries immediately give way to rose and huh?

 

(pause to collect myself, my body is being strange)

 

NORMALLY, the cherries immediately give way to the smell on the bottle - a very deep, smoky, dragon’s blood with sweet red wine, and roses in the background.

 

When I’m testing it now, finally, for the review, I’m getting roses. Hmm...

 

Later: Ah, there it is, that scent I so adore. I’m glad the rose has moved back to the background again.

 

Final impressions: This tends to be a pretty stable scent on me, which I've found to be true about the oils in general. I'm not sure if I just have stable body chemistry, or if I've gotten particularly stable scents, but once something has started drying down, it generally doesn't change. So, basically once it stops being cherry (which happens in a couple of seconds at most), it remains the way it is on the bottle for a long time. I love it. It is elegant and carnal, as Shollin said, and the notes stay very well blended. It is mysterious, it is dark, it is sensual, and it is lovely. I’m so glad I have a bottle of it, because I think it may very well end up being my signature scent, even though I wasn't looking for one. This is just... wow.

[OdetteOdile]

This is exactly what I'd hoped Blood rose would smell like.

Decadent, fermented grape, boozy rose, unmistakably deep red.

I'd wear this to hear Rasputina perform.

 

(And, as Anita Blake mentioned in the Buffy fragrance thread, the character Drusilla definitely might have worn this)

[miss apple]

Blood Rose

 

In the bottle this is very sweet and rich.

 

Once on, it is a bold ,voluptuous rose. Deep, red, velvety roses blooming in all their glory. The Dragon's Blood sweetens the rose and the bit of wine mixed in brings this to a heady complexity that is lush and wonderful One of my favorite scents .

[Spanglemaker]

Blood Rose

 

 

Wet the dragons blood and rose are strong but well blended. Neither scent over powers the other.

 

Dry this mellows into a soft fruity rose scent. Very nice.

 

Generally I don't like florals but I like this.

[Miggins]

Blood Rose should have been wonderful, although I’ve come to the conclusion that my skin must smell very similar, as I could barely smell Blood Rose at all. There was the barest hint of rose and a tiny whiff of dragon’s blood, which is almost soapy on my skin. It’s helpful that I can now say “my skin smells virtually the same as Blood Rose”, but I want to wear something that enhances my natural smell. Off to the swap pile with you!

[tempete]

Blood Rose initially smelled like grape juice - this must be the wine! It actually dominates the scent so that it's hard to detect the rose or the dragon's blood resin, both of which are unusual phenomena on my skin. Although it's an unexpectedly fun scent, it's not for me so it's off to the swap pile.

[inkstone]

IndigoWhatever threw in an extra imp of this in a swap with her.

 

In the vial: Wow! Roses! And even more roses! There's a background note that I think is the wine blending with dragon's blood. It doesn't smell like wine by itself nor does it smell like dragon's blood by itself, but it does smell like them together. I think.

 

Wet: Roses again, followed by a faint spicy, incensey note that isn't incense. Er... I think that's the dragon's blood. It doesn't stand out quite like it does in Dragon's Tears or Dragon's Milk, so my nose is having trouble picking it out.

 

Drydown: Roses mingling with wine and dragon's blood in the background. The dragon's blood gives it that faint metallic fruity smell that I associate with it.

 

Final thoughts: No way! It's a rose blend that doesn't go powdery on me! I could feel (smell?) it trying to, but something was holding it back. I guess I have the wine and dragon's blood to thank for that. This actually makes me look forward to my first order (which hopefully will be coming in the next couple of weeks) since I ordered Persephone. I'm hoping the fruits back up the rose there as well as the wine and dragon's blood supported it here.

[summer]

This is one of my favorites. It's a simple scent to my nose -- a lush, velvety, red, red rose. The dragon's blood just seems to make the rose scent richer. It's not stem and leaves -- this one is all thick, velvety petals. A gorgeous rose scent. Whereas Persephone is a bright, sparkley rose scent, Blood Rose is a smoother, darker, more slowly-pulsating rose scent. I love them both, because neither are dry rose scents. Blood Rose is languid, while remaining true to it's roseiness.

 

I wear it when I want feel especially feminine, and a little bit haughty.

 

[Ariella]

Honestly, the first time I put this on I did not get along with it at all. All I smelled was grape cough syrup. I was pretty disappointed, cause from the site description and all the raves on here it sounded like it would be perfect for me. I settled on shoving it into the back of my designated BPAL box and attempting to forget about it for a while.

It kept calling to me, though, and so occasionally I'd wear it and then decide that I was right in the first place and we just weren't meant to be. But what do you know, I start liking it and even craving the smell (actually, I'm wearing it now).

It's not something I smell and go 'hmmm, that smells nice,' no, it's always much more of a 'whooaa.' It's very much of a formal scent to me, something I could see fitting perfectly with dressing up in black and going out in the middle of winter.

This would be a long stemmed blood red, almost purple, rose with no leaves and big thorns. A romantic rose, not a garden one.

[violetblue]

Ohhhh, where Rose Red is an angel, Blood Rose is the devil! Dark, heavy, incensey rose, I swear I can smell the wine too! Where Rose Red is innocent, this one is passionate, sexy, wearing garter belts and dark lingerie. Love it, I think it would be a great bedroom scent too.

[DiamondHeart]

This scent screams ripping a man apart in bed, scratching your nails down his back, screaming his name, and leaving him begging to be between you legs again, while you just calmly deny him- you're done with him now.

 

Given what I'd like to do with my now-exboyfriend, my inner bitch has found her favorite scent!

 

~Diamond~

[fairywingmaker]

Why oh why do I ruin everything with rose in it! I love this so much in the vial, it's full and deep, spicey and sweet. On my skin, I turn it to powder. I think I will try to use this in a burner...I would love my bedroom to smell like this. Gorgeous scent, I just kill it.

[diabolique]

oh, how i love this one. it made me feel so confident last night (the first night i've properly gone out to socialize as a free woman) that i could woo any man i wanted to.

 

it's sexy, deep, and gorgeous. i do get the sweet tart smell from the wine note that i'm all too familiar with, but it mellows down into a dark, wet, slightly fruity scent and the rose shimmies its sultry little way to the top of the blend. this is downright sexy. i love it.

[VorpalBunny]

I wanted to try this one because I love rose scents, and I love dragon's blood. On me, the wine sours the rose smell, and it smells like a bit off. It smells a bit like juicy rose, but has that touch of oddness from my skin chemistry. Not necessarily bad, but I like other rose scents better. It does have great staying power though.