Blood Rose

[welcometothefamily]

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

 

In the Imp: Rosy (duh) and sweet.

Wet: Still smells rosy but slightly less sweet, and somehow velvety. This rose is gentle and unassuming, and in no way old ladyish or overpowering.

Drydown: This is lovely. I can smell gorgeous fruity dragons blood, and the rose is giving it a beautifully light and velvety overtone. If there's wine in this, it's only adding to the fragrance as a whole, as I can't pick it out as an individual note. It's sweet, but naturally so, not sugared or syrupy.

Verdict: This is beautiful. I really like it. I'll definitely be keeping my imp, and possibly a bottle some time in the future.

4/5

[themeaningofV]

Ahh, geez. I like rose, but rose doesn't always like me. When this hits my skin, it becomes an awkward combo of dragon's blood and musty rose, with a hint of wine in the background. It becomes completely resin when it dries down and is quite pleasant at that stage, but it's not worth the hours of waiting. Swap, and a shame, too - I was so looking forward to this one.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Very strong wine note made too sweet for my tastes by rose. The dragon’s blood smooths it out and adds a fruity richness. This is not to my taste, but does fulfil its concept well.

[BlueberryPie]

ON ME: Oh my god, THIS is what dragon’s blood resin smells like? My god, what have I been missing out on? I’ve been staying away from that note because blood doesn’t usually work on me, and resins make me nauseous, but this...my god, this. This was what I’d hoped BPAL’s strawberry note would smell like, sweet and fresh and juicy (though this is more on the sugary sweet side than the accurately strawberry-like side). At least, I think it’s the dragon’s blood resin that’s doing that. I’ve smelled BPAL’s rose before, and this isn’t it. And this definitely isn’t how red wine smells -- at least, not real red wine. Must. Try. More.

 

I wouldn't say this is my favourite ROSE blend, per se, because it doesn't really smell like roses to me. But this definitely got me intrigued in dragon's blood resin.

 

SCORE: 10/10

[theredkilt]

In the imp i smell Dragon's blood resin and something flowery.

 

Drying: Dragon blood resin is backing away and i'm left with a powdery wine rose. It's not something i enjoy, so it's a pass for me.

[unlaced]

I got a bottle of this in a swap, according to my swap partner it was aged 4+ years. Which is kind of the only reason I wanted it because fresh dragon's blood is awful on me.

 

From this scent I got a smooth, velvety red rose with a base of dragon's blood. I guess four years is enough aging because this dragon's blood was kind of cherry-fruity but it didn't go into fake cherry cough syrup and floral hell like the fresh kind does. As I wore it the rose kind of fades a bit and melts into the dragon's blood. Overall, I really like it. Kind of surprising for two iffy notes on me.

[Deliciousness]

in the imp: Smells like grape kool-aid, without all the sugar.

Wet on skin: The rose comes out along with the fruity and sweet undercurrents of the dragon's blood.

Drydown: The rose is the most prominent note. The wine is coming out, making the blend a little more deep and complex, while the dragons blood lends a wonderful sweet (but not too sweet), fruity edge.

 

I am happily surprised how nice this blend turned out! Sometimes rose can be dry and somewhat ... "meh", but this is a juicy, grape-y rose scent. I'm enjoying my imp for sure.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sweet fruity rose powder.

 

Wet on skin: Sweet fruity rose powder, with a little dust thrown in.

 

Dried down: Sweet dusty rose, now.

 

Throw: Not much, but that's probably a good thing, as sniffing the back of my hand made me cough.

 

Verdict: *** I think this went a little too dusty too quickly, on me. Normally, I don't mind dust as a scent, but I probably have too much of it around here already (it makes me sneeze). I'll probably have to pass on this one.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: The wine is the strongest note, but I can also smell the Lab's dragon's blood note and the rose.

Wet: I am getting more dragon's blood on my skin (which is like a somewhat spiced floral with a bit of cherry to my nose) and a fair amount of wine. The rose is becoming more prominent the longer this sits on my skin. The rose ends up becoming the dominant note, but the other notes are still present, and they certainly aren't faint.

Dry: Boozy, fruity rose and dragon's blood resin. The wine is the dominant note.

Verdict: This one is not for me. I am just not very fond of the way these notes play together.

[Veronica]

This is initially all wine on me. After awhile, it dies down and the rose comes out. "Voluptuous" is definitely the right word to describe this rose--it is deep red rose at the peak of its bloom, very strong and perfectly floral (no wet or dry note). It is a strong, strong almost single note rose--like breathing into a Valentine's Day bouquet of 24 lush, red roses. Sweet and floral and heady, with just a whisper of the resin at the end. Pretty, but not for me--the Lab has so many great rose blends, this one is just a bit much.

 

EDIT: After an hour or so the rose fades and it becomes fruity wine and dragon's blood sweetness with just a hint for floral.

Edited March 31, 2015 by delighted

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sweet rose and sweet dragon's blood.

 

Wet on my skin: Mmmm. Sweet, pretty rose and dragon's blood. No wine yet.

 

Dry: This is a delightfully pretty, sweet, borderline sexy scent! The rose and dragon's blood are evenly balanced and neither goes too heady or overpowering. There's just a hint of sweet red wine, just enough to bring a more sophisticated and mature feel to this blend. Beautiful and red red red.

[d0gbones]

In the imp: Sickly sweet bubblegum

Wet: It's more like Parma Violets now but still TOO sweet. I think it's the wine.

Dry: Ah, rose! I was worried it wouldn't come out. The dragon's blood and wine actually work really well as a backup to it, I was so worried when I first smelt it but it's wonderful.

[freyasfae]

Very rose, I think it is the red wine that makes it a sweeter wine, some berry notes from the wine, it makes for a fall rose. The wine seems to amp the dragon's blood resin which is just too berry for me, but it is drowning out the violet element of dragon's blood that I don't usually like.

[evil_laugher]

Starts out like a rich fruity candy. After some time, you get a mustiness, almost a staleness. It never smells like rose to me, though I could imagine it providing that dusty element in the background.

[joopjoop]

Boone's Farm 'wine' and crumbly rose bath salts. On me this was not a winning combination.

[Convallaria]

Classical rose got eaten by a dragon? The rose is very Goldilocksy, not too musty, not too clean. Dragon's blood is business as usual on me - sweet, berry-like, amped. Pretty, but too sweet for my taste, and nearly all dragon's blood-heavy scents end up samey on me.

[agirlnamedfury]

Rose and fruit punch.

[Giger]

I'm not sure if this is what the scent is "supposed" to smell like, but on me it's EXACTLY like the strawberry-scented roll on lip gloss my mum used to have in the 90's.

 

Way too sickly sweet on me, unfortunately. Lucky it was just an imp!

[achildoftime]

It's extremely sweet for me. I actually get almost no rose at all and mostly just get the dragon's blood and wine. It's just like a thick syrup to the nose. For me, once it dries I get the rose, but it's just doused in sugary sweet dragon's blood. It reads kind of like fancy, but sugary soap. It's decidedly not for me.

[garbagewitch]

Starts off almost painfully sweet, red and syrupy, with a light but distinct floral edge. Goes rosy very fast, but stays sweet and red. There's just a tinge of wine to it—like someone made a sugar syrup to dip the rose in, with just a slip of red wine. The dragon’s blood gives it a slightly sharper edge, but that just makes the rose slightly more realistic.

 

For a while, the dragon's blood and red wine come out more and all three notes are out arm-in-arm; the combination gives the impression of a deep, red rose drenched in a syrup of spiced red wine. Then the rose pushes its way to the forefront, with the other notes only lingering just enough to dress it up and give it more dimension: the dragon's blood gives it a spicy edge, the red wine gives it a slightly drunken sweetness.

 

Outstandingly flirty, but not necessarily sexual; it might tumble into bed with you enthusiastically or recoil when you lean over to whisper filthy nothings in its ear. It might aspire to seduction, but if it does, it certainly doesn't have the subtlety to pull it off.

 

There's something about this scent that feels almost overeager and brash, but in a very feminine way, like a young woman trying to figure out how to be womanly. It's a dark red velvet dress cut daringly low and bandaids covering ankles that aren't yet used to high heels. It's lipstick prints left deliberately, delightedly. It's drinking a little too much, laughing a little too loud, trying too hard, but still charming despite it—perhaps even because of it.

 

It reminds me of a line from Rebecca: "I wish I was a woman of about thirty-six dressed in black satin with a string of pearls." Not childish exactly, but almost painfully youthful in its desire to be older, more sophisticated than it really is. This isn't a perfume Rebecca would have worn, but perhaps it's the kind of perfume Maxim's second wife would imagine her wearing.