Blood Pearl

[zankoku_zen]

Lustrous, sanguine, soft and lavish: soft orris, blood musk, and coconut.

This one is a floral musky coconut.

I would say it's like spicy dragon's blood and coconut. Which really, if I think about it, are two notes I'm not crazy about. I think the orris lends to it a very high, almost piercing, floral edge to it. And yet, not entirely crazy since it does seem like a lush tropical sort of white floral.

[iiinterstate]

wet on me: blood musk, pure and simple. *hopes for coconut*

 

about 10 minutes later: Okay, now it's blood musk with a hint of orris.

 

An hour later: much the same, maybe a little tiny bit of coconut. It's nice, but nothing thrilling on me.

[starcr]

Blood Pearl reminds me a little of Manila--not the specific notes, but the general feel. Tropical, with a touch of woodiness underneath it. Quite coconutty. It's not my new favorite scent, but I certainly like it well enough to keep it around. Unfortunately, though, it didn't seem to have much staying power on me.

[Suu4LC]

Very very musky sweet blood note and a hint of coconut is what I get in the imp...I think this will be too musky for me.

 

Hrmph, yes, farrrr too musky on my skin. I love that sweet blood note, but here it is just too musky and the coconut is just the faintest whisper. Dries down to a generic musk and fades fast.

[anastasia]

This is not something I would wear in regular rotation but I am enjoying it. I don't get any coconut that I can tell though. I get mostly orris and what seems like a teeny bit of dragon's blood. It is kind of a fruity orris. I am just getting to know orris so this has been nice.

[thelaurenator]

I actually like this, and I usually hate dragon's blood. It just smells like soft, slightly floral coconut on me. Simple, but nice!

[ouch!]

This is quite bizzare this oil. I does actually smell pearlescent in the way of being creamy, with something biting there too...

Very strange but definitaley a nice smelling oil. There's a fruit element to it...almost like berry sweets. I think that's the blood musk..it sorta reminds me of the wine grape-esque note in Blood Phoenix and Blood Lotus. Except that there's this creamyness behind it. The coconut is there but barely, it's just adding to the overall effect in it's own little way.

 

But the coconut is a faint breath then it's gone, and the fruity sharper side of this oil takes over..

 

This is definately a deep red smelling oil.

 

 

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, this is Dragon's Blood and Orris.

 

On my skin, it's a sweet musk that takes on a light floral quality. I'm not really getting any coconut, but the more it dries, it goes a little cinnamon on me.

[ephemera]

I really, really should have known better. Dragon's Blood hates me in everything except Dragon's Milk, and for some reason when I got this as a frimp I thought, "Why not?" and dabbed it on.

 

Then spent the next 5 minutes scrubbing it off. Whoops.

[dorothy humbird]

Very soft, smooth, and (dare I say it?) pearlescent. The hazelnut is lending a warmth to it that is comforting. (Whoops! No hazelnut in this one. Must be the orris-coconut combination.) I'm not sold on it yet -- something about it smells kind of lotion-y, or suntan lotion-y. (Got to be the coconut.)

Still, oddly soothing.

Reminding me of Cordelia? (They have no notes in common so this is kind of inexplicable.)

[magikalbrownies]

i smell the musk---and dabbles of coconut.

 

not sure what it is about this one but i like it. like...really like it.

 

 

[chimera87]

I don't even really smell dragon's blood in this, but I do get something a little fruity. It smells like white musk and orris with something a bit fruity in the background. This becomes way cloying on me, and i will not be keeping this. Such a shame that I got absolutely NO coconut from this. I figured it would have the same amount of coconut as Black Pearl, but no such luck

[cleske]

Anyone who knows me would be able to tell you about my long-standing, epic hatred of coconut, but since this was a frimp from the Lab I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt, like quite a few other scents I've been unsure of. I was wrong. Coconut and I will never, never, see eye to eye. I can't stand it. Off it goes into the away!! tin.

Edited May 10, 2009 by Charlene

[voodoocatwoman]

I don't smell not one iota of coconut. This is orris all the way. I like the way it smells (because orris is one of the ingredients in my personal horoscope scent) but the intensity of the orris is giving me a bit of a headache. Definitely not a slathering scent. A little dab'll do ya!

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Lush's Candy Fluff powder.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Candy Fluff still, but uh, more powder, less candy.

 

Dry, on Skin - Alright, this is just...weird. Blood Pearl, why do you smell exactly like a product called Candy Fluff? I have Velvet Unicorn on one wrist, I have Blood Pearl on the other, and really, they're going together quite well. I could've gone out wearing these two, and not a person would notice two contrasting scents on me. They both smell like sweets. This smells exactly like Candy Fluff powder, but wait! Coconut tries to peak around the corner, but it gets tampered down with powder and a general 'candy' scent and curls up in a ball, to be heard whimpering away only on occasion. This is almost sweeter than Velvet Unicorn, more cloying. How did this happen? The notes do seem sweet, sure, but this is pure candy. Weird, but not necessarily bad. I wouldn't bother with a bottle (if I want to smell like this, I'll douse myself in Lush's powder) but I would be happy to tell someone asking me about this perfume that the sweet candy scent they are smelling is in fact, named Blood Pearl.

 

Okay, wait, even better than the Candy Fluff comparison: this smells quite a bit like Lush, period. When you walk into the store, and that vague, generally sweet, powdery scent is just everywhere? Sort of like Blood Pearl!

Edited May 26, 2009 by AlarmAgent

[Argentwolf]

I do smell coconut and orris. It's nice, but even with the musk, it's just so darned meek that I really can't put it on my list of keepers. Light throw, average longevity.

[Indigo78]

Yum... in the imp and wet on my skin, this is a scent that is very calming and ripe at the same time. Like green and pink on the same palette. Dangerous and exciting, but really soft - it is also a young scent to me. I don't know what blood musk smells like... but within 10 minutes the coconut totally vanishes beneath something like pineapple and miscellaneous flowers. I think it's a little soapy, too - or at least it's reminding me of something soapy.

 

Short wear length & even shorter throw.

 

Edited August 9, 2009 by Indig0

[crebbsgirl]

This went into headache-inducing territory for me. The coconut never came out, and the orris just took the reins and slapped me clean in the face. This is NOT a blend I can wear apparently. It was overly powdery, with a hint of floral (and I think that may have been the orris going violety, which it has been known to do on my skin). There was no sweetness here, but rather a dry and grating scent.

[Alexanne]

Blood Pearl (aged 10 months)

What a cool scent. Its interesting, to say the least. The musk dominates, the orris not far behind leaving a slightly green scent. I couldn't smell the coconut until 10 minutes after I had applied, and it was only a faint after note. But it was welcome addition to the oil, with a true-to-taste smell. After about 20 minutes however, this turns soapy. After an hour, it is barely even there - even when I put my nose right up to my wrists. Just faint soap.

Reminds me of this: "The ocean crashes into the cliff hanging outwards toward the distance. The island is swarming with life; the trees blooming in fruits; the animals nursing their young; the moss creeping over the forests. It is springtime, and all is alive and beautiful. The sweetness of the air suffocated any negativity that could arise. But within the island hides that of a cavernous dwelling, where only the deepest of secrets reside. Inside, where the fresh air hardly ever wonders in, it is stale and musky. Only a tiny note of life remains as the breeze finds its way through the crevasses, but it is almost completely captured by the overwhelming fear of the unknown. Here, the darkness suffocates you're consciousness, and within your subconsciousness it grins. There is no escaping yourself."

Verdict: Would not buy again, but I'll keep the imp around for novelty. Soap smell is not my favorite, however.

Edited October 11, 2009 by Alexanne

[ImperatrixMundi]

No coconut I love it but the lab coconut note always smells like faintly sweet plastic on me, it is like my olfactory blind spot. Blood musk is a sweet, fruity musk, more pink than red. It has something oddly tangy and drowns out the beloved orris.

 

So I got blood musk and sweet plastic all the way, with rather little throw. I had to slather this on to smell anything. What a heartbreaker!

 

 

[fallingfortruth]

I got this as a frimp when I was getting a few of the Luau Lounge scents, and I wanted to try it to see what it would do on me... And mmm.

 

In Imp: I think it's the orris that smells really green, with a tiny moist smell from the coconut behind it.

 

Wet: It's sort of a spicy, sweet scent- I think it must be the Dragon's Blood? Not herbal at all.

 

Dry: Smells like all day at the beach- the musk and coconut smell like suntan lotion on hot skin, and it's pretty sexy, all told.

 

Not something I want a bottle of, but I'm definitely going to rock my imp for as long as it holds out- apparently this is another musk that I DO get along with!

[tajana]

Wet: Starts off a bit green, but the green almost instantly softens up to reveal a soft floral. Within a minute or two that kind of just mashes into this sweet coconut musk. I'm not getting anything spicy or winey or dragon's blood-sy out of this, which I was expecting...

 

Dry: Baby powder at the beach. A dusty smell that I can parse as being composed of some floral (orris) and musky tones, but which mainly just comes across as bland powder mixed with coconut flakes. Surprisingly, I did not not get anything "red" that I've gotten out of any of BPAL's other "blood" scents for a while. About an hour later, I caught a few wafts of something like dragon's blood and coconut, and realized it had to be Blood Pearl.

 

Overall: I was pretty hopeful about this because I like coconut, but this just falls flat on my skin.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Dragon's Blood and a floral musk.

 

Wet: Floral musk with a wisp of coconut.

 

Dry: Gorgeously soft and luxurious floral musk. With coconut rounding it out.

 

Many hours later: Hmmmmm... this smells like a pearl SHOULD smell. It is a round, glossy smell. A tiny hint of coconut and the most loral dragon's blood ever on me. This does not smell so much like a BLOOD pearl, but I could definitely imagine this as the scent of a pearl laying on the curve of a naked belly in the moonlight. (IF pearls had smells, that is)

[fairnymph]

Light peachy amber oil. Sweet in an almost berryish way, a little creamy and rich from the coconut, slightly powdery soft from the orris. Not particularily musky.

 

Dustier and powdery - the orris explodes on my skin. I also get bit of that soapy, nasty dragon's blood air freshener note - that must be the 'blood' effect and contribue to the light sweetness, though I still get something berryish as well. A tart berry - raspberry - oh wait, this is BLOOD orange - and quite lovely. I get dry, warm wood, I think that's contributing to the dusty effect - I'm positive it's cedar. The coconut strikes me as black coconut, because it's not very foody and has a more 'masculine' tone and depth to it.

 

Of course whenever there's my beloved blood orange in a blend, it's with a bunch of other notes I really hate, point in case. SIGH. The orris continues to dominate, very violety and very powdery,and the coconut has amped up a little bit but remains only lightly sweet and foody. The blood orange is holding pretty well, but combined with the orrisy powder it makes me think of orange and raspberry flavoured pixie stix - a definite flavoured powdered sugar effect. The cedar has faded quite a bit, just lending a dry warmth without actually being distinct.

 

Warm powdery, citrusy-berry blood orange pixie stix with lots of violety orris and a faint hint of dry wood and dry coconut and teensy bit of soapy dragon's blood. An odd blend, and not what I expected - but definitely too powdery and dry for me. Moderate throw but fades quite a bit.

[devilot]

Blood Pearl:

In the Vial: Sharp. Blaming the orris.

 

Wet: Immediately, that sharp orris mellows into the classically dusty orris that the lab seems to use. Though, I've experienced other coconut notes at the lab that also wind up dusty on me.

 

Drydown: Not sure what "blood" musk is like, but I tend to do well with musks. This musk comes out at the very end, which seems characteristic of musks in general.

 

Verdict: All in all, a lovely blend. Not a diehard love, but intriguing enough that I'd love to hang onto this imp for awhile.