Dragon's Hide

[quikslvr]

Flame-kissed, warm, smooth, and highly protective. Dragon’s blood, leather and a hint of smoke.

Very bright, sweet dragon's blood start. Within minutes, though, I could smell the darker kick of leather, with the smoke on the last second of the inhale. The leather and smoke combination is perfect for this scent--conceptually it's perfect, at least. I'm not sure I'd wear it to work, though. Although, I find that since the waft is mostly dragon's blood, it's probably not too edgy for most of my cohorts here. It's the direct sniff that picks up on the leather/smoke combo, for the most part.

Once it's hours old, though, the leather/smoke emerges in the waft.

[emz83]

Very bright and sweet on me, the leather and musk never really kicks in and I keep smelling sweet, powdery rose that's maybe a little bit deepened.

 

Gah, and I was looking so forward to this. I think I need to give up on Dragon's Blood Resin.

[Tess]

I'm rather fearful of all the people who said that this is super strong on them, as Dragon's Blood nearly killed me with flowers...

 

In the vial - Helllooooo, Dragon's Blood. *ogles* This is coming across as the super floral lilac/honeysuckle mix, with just a little something smokey in the background. I'm worried about this.

 

Wet - All lilac, all the time. I can't tell the difference between this and Dragon's Blood yet. =/ Please, leather, please come out and play before I'm forced to deal this the "BPAL removal soap" hand.

 

Drying (After refreshing my nose with coffee) - Oooooh, there's the smokey leather coming out! This is a very interesting scent on me, almost the feeling of standing under a bedecked canopy of flowers in nothing but a leather corset. The florals (lilac, honeysuckle and, I'm pretty sure, jasmine) are still hellishly strong, though.

 

Dry (1 hour later) - Too much floral. I'm getting a migraine from this.

 

Overall - In the end, I washed this off or at least tried to, as even the special soap didn't get it all. I just cannot wear Beth's dragon blood scents without getting ill.

[pensive]

In the imp: Leather, smoke and the yummy of dragon blood.

On me: Starts out sweet, goes down to mellow smokyness pretty fast.

Impression: Fall, leather jacket time.

Verdict: Ars Draconis line.

[JazzieCazzie]

I am torn between this and Dragon's Bone as my favorites from this line ... adding both as big bottle purchases down the line (the fall, perhaps???) ...

 

 

There must have been something in my childhood that had the Dragon's Blood scent in it because how else can I explain that ineffable pure pleasure this scent gives me, that feeling of comfort and warmth?

 

I love the slightly salty, outdoorsy drydown that is the perfect offset to the sweetness of the DB.

 

On a scale of 1-5, this is definitely a 5.

 

REVISITED AND REREVIEWED MARCH 2013:

 

Being quite the Dragon's Blood fan, I decided to be Daring and Bold and, today, amidst my current "try every imp and bottle I have," actually test-drove FOUR different DB imps.

 

Surprisingly, Dragon's Hide turned out to be my least favorite of the quartet and the only one that landed in the swap box (it may simply have not aged well since I think it's the same imp from the original review in June 2005).

 

IMP: Very little Dragon's Blood, but rather a very perfumey scent.

 

Dabbed on left crook of arm.

 

WET: This hit me like a smack in the face, before I'd even bent my head to sniff it. The leather popped out right away combined with a perfumey scent that bore very little resemblance to Dragon's Blood (the only one of the quartet that had morphed in this manner). It smells like old perfumey leather -- like a stuffy hair salon, the combination of hairspray and used faux leather swivel chairs.

 

DRY: Sadly has the most legs of any of the four but those legs are cheap department store perfume on me.

 

OVERALL: This is the lone dragon that didn't age well for this damsel. Obviously, in my case, the leather offset the DB.

 

SCORE: On a scale of 1-5, this has decreased from a fresh 5 to an old 1.

Edited March 5, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[sheepzeit]

Dragon's blood always ends up smelling like clean soap on me. Not anything bad, but not something I tend to want to smell like all the time. This blend is very much Dragon's Blood, but with a nice thick layer of leather underneath. A tendril of smoke drifts through it before it fully dries.

 

On complete drydown, though, it reminds me of bandages. Or the smell of a clean doctor's office. I'm not sure leather scents work on me because so far I've had no luck, but at least this is a very clean scent, if not necessarily a romantic image of a powerful, beautiful dragon.

[Elemcee]

This is the first Ars Draconis scent I've tried. There's a definite sweetness here which must be the dragon's blood, but that is layered underneath the sharp spicyness of the leather and smoke.

It is a somewhat masculine smell, but there is a femininity here, too. For some reason, I can smell something floral - something like rose.

It is laid back, yet dominant; luxurious, yet effortless.

Also, it has already been said best by others, but I think this is exactly what a dragon's hide would smell like.

[Finny]

Lovely, leather and dragon's blood.

 

It is a very masculine scent to me, as I don't get any of the sweet spicy floral I usually get with dragon's blood. The leather reminds me of the leather in Dead Man's Hand, not the leather of De Sade or Tintagel.

 

Very nice!

[tempete]

In Dragon's Hide, the leather note dominates over the dragon's blood resin, which adds just the faintest touch of sweetness. The dragon's blood resin does emerge a bit more during the drydown, but it's still mostly about the leather on me.

 

Beth's leather note is very masculine-smelling on me, so this imp will go into my swap pile.

Edited July 9, 2005 by tempete

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Dragon's Blood, with something familiar that I can't quite name.

 

Just On: Yes, dragon's blood, and I canNOT figure out what else I'm smelling, but I *know* it.

 

An hour or two later: That something else is there, faded but there. The dragon's blood seems to be gone.

 

Around 6 hours: Barely there. Just that little thing I can't figure out.

 

12 hours: Gone.

 

Overall: This is great. I can see wearing it every so often.

 

After reading other reviews: I think it's the smoky leather thing that I couldn't identify. I'd love to see more Ars scents come out, because most of them have ranged from pretty okay to wonderful on me.

[telesilla]

Once I realized I liked dragon's blood; I added all the Ars Draconis that don't have rose in them to my list.

 

In the bottle and wet on me: Dragon's blood.

 

Drying down: Dragon's blood with something almost harsh underneath.

 

Dry: It's kind of smokey; I'm not getting much of the leather, but this definitely a masculine version of dragon's blood. I'm not sure if I like it or not and I'm not sure if a guy would like it on account of the slight sweetness of the dragon's blood.

 

After a little more time to dry, I think I'm putting this in the swap pile. It's not evil or anything; it's just kind of meh.

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: On the first sniff, I got mostly dragon's blood...not a lot of leather at all, and only a little smoke. Oddly enough, when I smelled Darkness in its bottle 10 minutes later, I thought that it smelled a little like Dragon's Hide. However, I resmelled the two of them many times before I tried DH on, and the smoke was stronger with each sniff.

 

Wet: Dragon's blood was the strongest note, but it was modified by something. However, it didn't seem like leather or smoke to me (or what I expected leather and smoke to smell like). I got the slightest smell of well-aged paper.

 

Dry-down and wear: The smoke and leather started to come out, though the leather remained subtle. Someone else said that there was an incense-y quality to the smoke, and I would agree with that assessment. I smelled as though I had been working with old books in a room where incense was burning, and the residue of the room had blended into my skin. That's all fine with me. I'm happy I bought a 5mL of this.

[Lilithlefay]

I think this would smell amazing on a guy and if a guy wore it I probably wouldn't be able to stop smelling him, but it doesn't work on my skin, much too masculine, but on a guy however...that would be a different story. It smells very leather and smokey and I must find someone to test this on!!!!

[joseybird]

Sharp dragon's blood and tobacco smoke...I normally like tobacco scents, but this scent makes me smell like a smoker

[DarkMouse]

In the bottle: wow.. look at how red it is! I hope I like this.. it would go great in a dragon perfume bottle I have. I'm smelling leather (DeSade leather, not 'new car scent'.. this seems hopeful) and sweet dragons blood.

 

On my skin: uhm.. damn. This is waaay sweeter and prettier than I'd have thought "Dragons Hide" should smell like. I'm not getting much of a smokey smell at all.. its being overpowered by the floral dragon's blood scent. I can smell the leather.. but its to the background and its still not making this scent any less "girly" for me.

 

Verdict: as it dries down its getting more wearable, but its not something I'm going to be buying a bottle of. I'll keep the imp and wear it out but probably won't be getting more when its gone. There are other Ars Draconis scents I like much better than this one.

[brownbear]

hmmm Not bad at all. It seems to me like Hellfire (which I like, especially when I feel like I need to have some balls) mixed with dragon's blood. Though I don't know if I like it better than hellfire or not. I'll have to do a side by side comparison. Basically I get a burning, dragon's blood.

[Blood onmy hands]

I really should just give up on the Ars Draconis line. The lab keeps sending me freebies though, and I can't help but try them on. I'm helpless to resist.

 

Dragon's blood does not work on me. It smells like sickening sweet rotten wildflowers. Like you put a bunch of wildflowers in a vase and then left them for a month.

 

In the drydown, rotten wildflowers and leather. I don't find leather smells really appealing unless they are far in the background and held there by other good scents.

 

The combination of dragon's blood and leather leaves me nauseous. This is already heading to my swap pile.

[QueenFae]

I love dragon's blood, but I really don't like leather. This one goes straight leather on me, with a faint hint of the dragon's blood floating in the background. Smells like a cowboy who has been burning incense. Ugh, just not for me.

[urraca]

A kind lab frimp. Yup, it is dragon's blood, leather and smoke. The smoke is more cigarettey than I would like --- I think that is the effect of the leather. The first time I tried dragn's blood I got a sweet fruityness. More recently though, I get the soapy, floral scent some have mentioned. Not for me --- more Ars Draconis for the rest of you!

[zillah37]

I got this as a frimp from the lab in my very first bpal purchase. I had perused the line, but decided against trying anything because it just sounded too ... spicy, I guess? However, I tried this on and was so pleasantly surprised that I ended up ordering more from the Ars Draconis line.

 

This smells like warm leather on me with a hint of smoky sweetness, like the aftertaste of clove cigarettes. It stays pretty strong on me until about 5 hours where it starts to soften up and becomes a bit powdery almost, but still a pleasant, welcoming smell.

 

I'm so happy that the lab included this imp in my purchase and turned me on to the wonders of Dragon's Blood.

[empi girl]

frimp from lab, and one I would never order, due to dragon's blood being a main component.

 

Starts off badly for me, heavy, bitter, dark, just-turning-floral with a leather edge that actually softens the dragon's blood.

 

Stays this way for 90 minutes, and then it has actually morphed into a very pretty scent, warm, sweetly floral, slightly fruity, not heavy at all. If it weren't for the 90 minute wait, I'd keep it.

 

And am I ever surprised that I ended up liking it!

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Soap, and a faintly acrid, smoky smell.

 

On, wet: Stronger, more acrid smoke. No leather, no more dragon's blood/soap.

 

Later: Stays pretty much the same as wet. The leather peeks out towards the end of the scent's lifespan, but enh. Not impressed.

[SnornL]

Every time I open the imp, the first sniff I take is very sweet & somewhat floral (I'm not familiar with dragon's blood, but from first impressions, I like it!), and it's only when I raise it to my nose again that I manage to pick up the hint of something darker underneath.

 

Wet on my skin, this is gorgeous, and exactly what I imagine a dragon's hide should smell like - warm leather with the pulse of dragon's blood just below the surface.

 

However, as it dries, I find I can't shake the mental image of a dragon in a bathtowel and shower cap. It's still quite draconic, just very cleanly so, and I'm not sure what to make of that.

[aidenraine]

Hmmm I am also mostly getting straight dragon's blood. Cherry musk with a bit of a sour/woody spike to it.

 

Something slightly soapy.

 

I don't smell the roughness to this that "hide" suggests to me, no real smoke.

[Shollin]

Finny included this as a generous swap-freebie to round out my Ars Draconis collection.

 

First sniff: I doubt I’ll be able to wear this, but it’s truly fascinating. Thick, rough leather and the redness of dragon’s blood.

 

Wearing: The dragon’s blood is far more prominent than I expected – my skin generally makes leather take over, but here it’s staying in the background. At least until it dries, and then it goes just a bit too cowboy... I'm afraid I can't wear leather even when it's combined with my worshipped-and-adored dragon's blood. But what a cool concept.