Dragon's Reverie

[jade_starlight]

Opium-laced dreams of flame, plunder, power and fury: dragon’s blood resin, poppy, amber and ylang ylang.

It took me a few minutes, but I finally figured out just what this was reminding me of: the smell of my local New Age bookshop, almost exactly. Sadly, that is the kind of smell that gives me a headache after about half and hour.

[crebbsgirl]

On me, this was a slightly floral Blood Amber. I get the creamy fruity floral of that blend plus a slight overtone of ylang ylang and poppy. Ylang ylang and I don't get along at the best of times, and in this case, I prefer Blood Amber.

[isisonearth]

Imp: Smoky poppy and heady ylang ylang.

 

Wet: Sort of a confused scent, sweet but sort of dusty.

 

Dry: It just disappears and leaves a very faint bit of dragon's blood sweetness. I'll be passing this one on. It just doesn't have enough power on me.

[diamondstars]

Musky and gorgeous, I love this one. Definitely need a 5ml!

 

ADDED Jan. 31:

 

From the bottle this one smells soapy, but not in a bad way. On skin I 'smell like a hippy shop' according to about ten people yesterday! Again, not a bad thing really. Plus I like the label.

[blacklacestatic]

In the Imp: resiny floral. A lot fresher and less thick and heavy than I expected. I can detect the amber and i'm excited.

 

Wet On Skin: Wow. Normally any dragon's blood blend I put on ends up amping the Dragon's Blood to the point where I can not wear it around anyone. I usually get weird looks and people sniffing the air around me saying things like, "Is someone burning incense?". This is not the case here. The florals actually come forward the most, but they are rounded out nicely by the resiny feel of the other notes, so this becomes richer and has more depth than I would have guessed. It's not a heady floral, it's not a super strong earthy incense. It's a lovely mix of the two.

 

Drydown: Now the amber I love so dear is coming forward, giving this a sexy sweetness. It's like a sexy gypsy scent.

 

Overall: I still don't know if this is going to be a good choice around my boyfriend or at work, but I will get use out of my imp. I won't need a bottle, but I think it is my favorite of the Ars Draconis set. Musky, sexy and mysterious. Feminine, but not in a girly way. In a seductive, womanly way, mostly because of the utra-sexy amber.

[ami226]

in the imp: Hmmmmm. I can barely smell anything, so I am not quite sure what is in there. Kind of reminds me of my first reaction to Snow White in the imp.

 

on the skin: Now I can smell a bit of what I think of as ylang ylang. It is still so light though.

 

This one is going to have to go to a better home...

[thelaurenator]

dragon's blood and some floral I've never smelled. poppy perhaps? Dragon's blood is always weird on me. It's very subdued, yet sharp. I don't really like dragon's blood scents very much...

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Mmm, sweet-spicy floral. I'm definitely getting amber and some dark dreaminess from the poppy. I'm also smelling something that's a little bit like lilac, for some reason.

On, wet: Resins and flowers, with a sweet, sensual weight that does seem a little heavy-lidded and languid. More lilac, and now I smell the yland ylang, too. Still plenty of dark, sweet poppy, with amber grounding the whole thing.

On, dry: Already melded into a unified scent for me: sweet, floral, resinous, decadent and dreamy. There's a touch of smoke from the poppy, and a very tiny hint of powder from the amber and continuing lilac… which I can only conclude is the Dragon's Blood Resin. (Nice! I love lilacs.) Wow, I want to dab this one on and go drape myself on a velvet chaise lounge in a darkened, smoky room, watching visions rise and fall.

Later: This one just gets better and better. I'm getting some red, red cherry right alongside the lilac, which appears to be another scent associated with the dragon's blood. (Again, yum. Clearly I like dragon's blood, and it likes me.)

Overall: It's lovely, lovely, lovely. Not for those who abhor sweetness or florals, but on me, it's delicious, dreamy and intoxicating. I'm so glad I got this as a freebie, because I don't know if I would have tried it otherwise.

 

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

I'm a big fan of just about everything BPAL, but uh, here's the thing: I do not like Dragon's Blood. I don't even like Dragon's milk. I'm just letting you know that up front, because if you are reading this review, chances are you do like Dragon's blood. Now you know where I'm coming from when I say I am afraid. I'm giving it a chance, though, so here we go:

 

Well, I really like the ylang ylang in this blend, straight outta the gate! There's dragon's blood resin, and poppy, and this smells red, and fiery like the flames that mythical dragons shoot out of their noses. The poppy keeps the dragon's blood from becoming excessively sweet which is my major complaint with it typically. Overall this is the least offensive dragon's blood scent I've smelled to date. This smells pretty epic, and conjures images of great dragon adventure stories. I actually like this!

[Usagi]

In the Imp: Dragon's Blood and something sharp and 'perfumey'

 

Wet: Light, sweet Dragon's Blood. This is much lighter than the other Dragon's Blood blends I've tried.

 

Dry: Creamy, sweet Dragon's Blood.

 

This is gorgeous! It really does have a dreamy quality to it, but not at all heavy; sort of soft and ethereal. This may also be the first time that something with amber in it hasn't tried to do a powdery perfume imitation on my skin. Or that the ylang ylang hasn't screamed from the rooftops. Apparently, the notes in this blend into absolute gorgeous without any quarrels at all. Definitely in contention for my favorite of the Ars Draconis (only a few more to go ).

[asciident]

Wet: Almost pure dragon's blood.

 

First on: A very floral dragon's blood.

 

Dry: It's almost as if it's dragon's blood lite at this point.

[awesomeoverlord]

I should preface this by saying that ylang ylang and I very rarely get along...and by rarely, I mean to say pretty much never. With the dragon's blood, the effect is overall oddly soapy. Usually florals like this just give me a headache but here they're being tempered by the resin enough so that this isn't the case. Unfortunately, the result is still soap. Not for me, I guess.

[GalaxyLei]

It smells purple...very light, and I think ylang-ylang mostly is what I get. Soft floral, but not much more than that.

[tajana]

I've never tried a scent with dragon's blood (as a listed note, anyway) so I was pleased that the lab frimped me with an Ars Draconis scent! Unfortunately, I'm not left with a very good understanding of what dragon's blood resin smells like, and the other notes here simply don't play nicely on my skin! The ylang ylang is ferociously loud, and the opium poppy (never a good note on me) gives this blend an oppressively smoky quality. There's s vaguely creamy undertone that feels misplaced, and the overall impression is too sweet. It's got wicked throw, but it's just too much of the wrong kind of flowers for me.

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Strong, sweet dragon's blood

 

Wet on skin: I amp dragon's blood to the highest level of amping, and florals are also strong on me, so this blend is fiercely sweet and sticky.

 

Dry on skin: Well, as much as I love dragon's blood, it needs to be coupled on my skin with notes that will tame it. Florals just encourage it to sweet debauchery. This is far too cloying for me. Oh well...

[rayvn1]

<sigh> I'm not really sure why I keep trying the Ars Draconis series. I know that dragon's blood doesn't work on me. At all. But I have this compulsive need to keep trying them because of the other notes. I love poppy - let's try this one! Argh. The dragon's blood note overpowers all else. To the swaps!

[caffinatedangel]

I thought I'd give it a try. I like the warmth of ambers, but amber + floral = most certainly cloying powdery ew. And this one did just that.

 

It wasn't overwhelming. It just wasn't pleasant to sniff. The throw on me was low, it lasted all day though. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. It has that dark sweetness, but then the floral's I dislike when wrist-sniffed make me sneeze and do the cliche' floral thing I don't care for. It ends up with an overall vibe of just being dark and powdery. Which is almost smokey... but not really that enjoyable for me.

[mgrazulis]

Preface to say that I love most BPALs...but dragon's blood is a note that just never seems to agree with my nose. I can't ever get past the cherry. Yet, I give every frimp a try with "never say never" in mind.

 

This isn't bad too bad. The ylang ylang and dragon's blood resin are a bit soapy on my skin, but not offensively so. I do like cloud of exotic poppy.

 

Will pass this along to a dragon's blood luvin' BPALer...

Edited July 16, 2009 by mineralfairy

[Myrrha]

I've worn this twice now and been surprised both times at how beautiful it is.

 

On me dragon's blood smells a little bit fruity and a little bit like lilacs. Some of the dragon's blood scents end up soapy or cheap smelling on me but this one doesn't.

 

The ylang-ylang and poppy sort of herd the dragon's blood scent into an elegant floral direction and the amber adds richness and depth. Somehow the lilac-like resin and the other flowers add up to something really lovely and unusual.

 

It seems like the amber is staying more in the background in this blend, avoiding the incense shop effect.

 

Lasts about three hours which is a long time on my bpal devouring skin. I put it on my wrists and could catch whiffs of it with my arms down at my sides so there is some throw.

 

I really like this and will probably look for more when my imp is gone.

[bubblefish]

This is a lot gentler and a lot more floral than the other Ars Draconis blends. This smells a lot like the honeysuckle we used to have growing outside the front door of the house I grew up in. And "Reverie" is such a fitting name for it, since it does seem slightly dreamy and slightly thoughtful.

[angelicruin]

This is mostly dragon's blood with a touch of floral on my skin.

 

Tends to go soapy on my skin on the dry down.

[voorishsign]

I've been frimped a few Ars Draconis imps in my time and while I don't think Dragon's Blood is really something for me, they always make wonderful room scents - this being no exception.

 

I expecially appreciate the poppy and amber and picked up mostly on them - a very nice earthy, dusty smell, lifts the spirit and calms me down. Excellent blend

[milo]

Wet, this is a disaster. Sharp, acrid and pungent. My husband was walking behind me after I first applied it and said I smelled like Raid, which is pretty accurate. Dry, this is a different story. I get delicious amber and an almost dreamy, drug like hypnotic feel which must be the opium scent. This is somewhat powdery, but I enjoy powder in moderation. This blend is hypnotic and sexy as hell. I could imagine a fortune teller wearing this blend. Seriously contemplating a bottle after my imp is gone.

[loubric]

The ylang-ylang is the most prominant in this blend. It's very sweet and very warm. Dragon's Blood tends to do very well on me and this one is no exceptions. A mixture of fruitiness and floralness. LOVELY!

[SophieCedar]

The ylang ylang was eaten up by it's mates..?

 

This is a lovely dragon's blood twist. Very spring, very translucent. The opium is not heavy or oppressive. Floats around with lovely wafts from time to time.

 

In imp: blood takes center stage and there's a lily-ish essence creeping around.

Wet: opium poppy bursts forth and the dragon's blood sweetens.

Drydown: amber patiently waited for these 2 to quite down. It's lovely and warm!