Ladon

[sth0]

The hundred-headed dragon that guards the garden of the Hesperides: dragon’s blood resin, golden apple, apple blossom, white musk and hyacinth.

Wet: Whoa, what IS that odd smell? Almost chemically, like a Glade Plug-in scent. Smells like some kind of green flower and generic apple melange.

As it dries down, the apple matures and mellows out. The hyacinth takes a back seat (that has to be the Glade plug in smell in the wet state) and lets the apple drive. The dragons blood resin is a nice heart which holds the two very green, springy scents together warmly. I do like this fragrance but I think it is pulling a little syrup-y on me, which is odd. I may give it another go later!

[Magpie]

Ladon

 

In imp:

 

Mmmmmm. Sweet, sweet apples. Fresh and delicious, with a touch of resins underneath.

 

On:

 

Probably even sweeter, but still with a nice depth of scent that means it isn't too sicky. Becomes a little more anchored as it warms. Truly smells like a soft, warm garden on a summer evening. Hyacinth begins to come out. What's nice is that the dragon's blood doesn't come out crazy overpowering - this is wonderfully well blended with complementary scents and the musk stops it from getting too floaty and sweet. Could be a bit too sweet for a lot of people, but I like how rich and warm it is.

 

Drying:

 

As it gets dryer, it loses some of the rich, juicy fruitiness and becomes a bit powdery dragons blood, which is a shame but it's still nice. There's still a freshness and richness to it that is very pleasant indeed and brighter than a lot of other perfumes.

 

Throw:

 

Pretty good, but not over the top.

 

Lasting:

 

Smells good for several hours.

[ResinManiac]

Sweet appley flowers, dragon's blood floating around behind it. Pleasant, but when I first received it it smelled exactly like caramel apples right down to the peanuts embedded in the caramel. Still smells like that sometimes, the whiffs of the snack haven't left it totally. Nice for those who love fall, or traditional fall snacks.

[noacastle]

Wet: Unfortunatly, this smells a bit like rotten apples on me.

Dry: It's turned a bit sweeter, thankfully. It's not quite as...corroding anymore. The apples are a bit fresher now, but all in all it still doesn't smell particularly pleasant. It's quite sour.
Hopefully the sweeter crispness will take over completely in another hour, but I don't see myself using this again; at least not more than a few times.

This is my first apple-scent and I was hoping it would smell crisp and fresh, blended with the deep rich dragon's blood resin but... Ladon really doesn't go well with my skin chemistry.
Quite possibly it's hyacinth that goes bad on me and turns the apple rotten, cause I seem to recall another hyacinth perfume also having gone south. At least I hope that's the case, because I really wanted to like the apple scent.

[sunlitgarden]

In the imp and wet on my skin, Ladon smells like a fresh/tart green apple (Granny Smith type) plus sweet spring florals (which tend to be the kind of florals that I prefer, and that work on me). Some of the other dragon's blood scents are kind of cherry-ish on my skin, but this one isn't; it's more deep and almost spiced.

 

Most apple notes vanish quickly on my skin, especially the "fresh/tart" note as opposed to sweet/spiced. But Ladon's apple note lasts all day. The tartness does fade, and it becomes sweeter over time.

 

It's a very nice scent, but it does kind of remind me of a bathroom potpourri or soap. Not in a bad way -- it's very high quality -- but it's that sort of generally inoffensive, pleasant sweet-floral scent. I think this would be a great introduction to BPAL for people who enjoy more "mainstream" floral scents.

[Pumpkinn]

I don’t know exactly what dragon’s blood is, but I skimmed through the dedicated thread and, judging from my own experience, would agree with others that it’s something like cherries and roses.

 

Ladon was kinda funny for me, though. It was either the first or second fragrance I tried after receiving my order and I thought it smelled like dirty incense. However, I tested it again so I could better understand what was going on and it is much prettier now.

 

On skin, I’m able to pick out just about every note (except maybe resin and white musk; those are vague) upon application. I smell apples, florals (especially hyacinth), and the pleasant cherry-rose of dragon’s blood.

 

A few minutes later, I’m thinking it’s the dragon’s blood that deepens the fragrance for me. I’m still getting apple and plenty of hyacinth, which brighten it up. But my paper test is also getting deeper. It smells like that same dirty, ashy incense that Ladon was on me when I first tried it.

 

The paper test recovers, though, and now we both smell similar: lightly sweet, fruity, floral, but grounded, perhaps by the resin? It’s not overly sweet, flowery, or headache-inducing/offensive for me (compared to say, Juicy Couture’s Couture Couture or Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. And I don’t often get headaches, especially not from fragrances).

 

After about 20 minutes, Ladon feels a little muskier on my skin and more apple-blossomy on the paper. I like them both.

 

This smells pretty!

My only concern is that the hyacinth brings to mind a generic idea of bathroom freshener, but I’ll probably finish the imp before making a firm decision either way.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Delicious, fresh, golden apple! There's also some apple-blossom & soft, musky-resin sweetness hidden behind it once you get past the first juicy hit of apple!

Wet on skin: A heavenly-sweet golden delicious apple! Too perfect to be real! After a few seconds I start to get some soft & sweet resiny-musky florals coming through, but the apple is still the main note on me. SO lovely! I don't smell like Ladon at all... the garden that Ladon guards, sure, but no dragons here!

Dry on skin: Ahhh, here's the dragon! He's been rolling around in flowers & crushing golden delicious apples all over himself! Despite the dragon's blood resin, this is a really soft & feminine scent on me! Not quite as stunning as it is first up, but still really pretty! I keep noticing occassional wafts of sweet floraly-apple without even sniffing for it (though when I sniff my wrist, the dragon's blood resin is still the main note), which is pretty impressive, as I didn't put much on & I only applied it to the one wrist for testing!

After a few hours: A sweet, appley-floral (mainly apple & apple-blossom, I think?) over a soft, warm & lightly spiced resin.

Verdict: This one is so pretty! It's warm & resin-y, while still being sweet, floral & feminine! I love it! I'll be upgrading to a bottle when my imp runs out, for sure!

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: The golden apple note stands out the most to my nose. A floral and a bit of the dragon's blood resides in the background.

Wet: Golden apple, followed by the dragon's blood resin.

Dry: Apple, apple blossom, and dragon's blood. The combination of the apple and the dragon's blood isn't very good on my skin.

Verdict: I tend to love apple scents, but this one just isn't one of them.

Edited January 22, 2015 by dementia_divine

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sweet, fresh-pressed (not commercially bottled) apple juice.

 

Wet on my skin: Definitely golden apple juice, with hints of dragon's blood and flowers.

 

Dry: This is primarily apple and dragon's blood on me, with everything else in the background and deepened a bit by the musk. It's quite a pretty blend, and thanks to the darker notes, doesn't go quite as sweet as some apple blends tend to do. Dragon's blood resin likes me and tends to go a bit spicy, and YES it does that in this blend. It's now a spicy apple, almost like holiday candied apples but not quite venturing into foody territory. If I inhale deeply, it sometimes threatens to go soap, but thankfully it seems to be behaving itself. All in all, it's a rather pleasant, soft red and gold autumn scent. I probably won't need a bottle of it, but I'll definitely be keeping the imp.

[Rachel L. Fox]

This scent is so beautiful. When you put it on, you get a big burst of apple that dries down to an apple-y, resinous floral. My words can't even do it justice; it's so splendid and evocative, and puts you in mind of far-away fairytale lands where dragons might live. It's empyreal and lovely.

[ShunnerOfHugs]

This perfume is a pleasant, mild floral smell on me. I like it, but it's not something I'd wear by itself very often, and I decided I'd try to swap the Imp. Especially after a couple hours when it started smelling soapy.

However, I accidentally splashed a bit of Bard onto my shirt while I was still wearing Ladon. (Don't judge me. Those imps can be difficult to open.) The honey layered on top of the apple smells AMAZING. I'm keeping the Imp, and I'm eventually going to purchase larger bottles of both Ladon and Bard so I can wear them together.

[Teamama]

Dragon's Blood has magical properties on my skin. A little DB domesticates notes that I can't usually wear. Ladon is MY white musk scent .

 

Wet, the apple is a little high-pitched, but once it dries, the full range of notes are present. Apple, apple blossom and hyacinth are really beautiful together. White musk (which ordinarily smells like the worst sort of cheap nasty body spray covering stale BO on me,) is soft, warm, and grounds the blend. A real GC treasure.

[roseus]

This is beautiful! Tart apple and hyacinth (one of my favorite flowers) with clean white musk. The dragon's blood isn't super prominent for me (which is perfect) and just adds a little spice.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm! I don't usually like apple scents much (or at least not as perfume, I love them as room scents). I'm actually not hugely crazy and DBR either. But somehow, together, they're working for me. Momentarily. Then it starts to smell like artificial apple flavoured bubble gum. Blech!

 

 

Dry: This settles and fades down to a faint, sweet, DB and apple scent. It's ok, but I still find apple is just not something I want to smell like.

[whisperstilled]

Wet: Apple apple apple, as others have pointed out. It really does smell like an apple candle, but there's enough juiciness to it to keep it pleasant.

 

Drying: The musk is barely there, but now I'm getting the hyacinth. I usually avoid apple blends like the plague, and I hate dragon's blood, but the other notes are so well blended that I'm digging this.

 

Dry: Dragon's blood is beginning to peep out, and this bad boy is getting nasty. The apple really does deepen into something a little darker and more complex, although I still smell zero white musk. Not my fave, but I liked this way more than I expected to.

[Coldfire]

Imp: Dragon's blood and apple!!
Wet On Me: faint traces of the floral over the apple and dragon's blood. this could go to RAID scent quickly. crossing fingers it does not
Drying Down: faint apple over the faint dragon's blood. so far no signs of the RAID scent
Dry: This is actually not bad. Dragon's Blood can be VERY overpowering on me. I don't think I'll reach for the imp to wear again so to be fair it will go on the trade pile for someone else to love or discover

[mishi-bear]

On me, dragon's blood resin tends to be a sweet cherry floral. In Ladon, it stays that way, but the apple adds a layer to it that keeps it from being too powdery and sweet and rounds the whole scent out. The hyacinth and apple blossom give the floral aspect of the blood resin an extra layer of depth. The musk is barely there.

 

I enjoy Ladon. I always love the apple scent in every bpal that has it, but it disappears so quickly on me that it's just upsetting. My skin devours all apple. In the case of Ladon, it pretty much devours the whole scent, making it fade after barely an hour or so.

 

It's a shame, because I love it so much while it lasts! I slather it on as much as I can just to enjoy it before it fades. And even though it fades so fast, a part of me still wants to get a bottle size of it, just so I can have even more to slather.

[freyasfae]

I got this as a frimp with a BPAL order, so it's not something I would have ordered on my own because dragon's blood and apple, two scents I love, I HATE on my skin. This is no different. In fact, the combination makes it even worse. BUT, if you like dragon's blood and apple, this is for you - the floral notes are there, especially closer to the skin, but it's mainly dragon's blood and apple.

[achildoftime]

I've been finding that I'm not crazy about apple notes in general, but this one is a bit different. It's sweet dragon's blood base mixes really nicely with the golden apple. I was skeptical about the 'golden' aspect because it usually means resin, but it's just like a golden delicious apple. It smells sweet and juicy. I'm a big fan of this and it actually makes apple work for me a bit.

[alyelle]

Another one I've had for years and somehow never officially reviewed. Expect a lot of these as I organise my masterlists, ha. This is from a late 2009 purchase and I've soft-reviewed it four times in my journal - in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2018.

 

In the imp: during the early years, a very sweet apple juice scent, topped off with apple blossoms. As the imp aged, a hint of grass or straw, and by 2015, a wee hint of soap. That's probably the dragon's blood.

 

Wet: soap, heavily, during the initial tests, which balances out a bit. As of today's test, there is still a laundry detergent quality, but barely.

 

Dry: as a young imp, a buttery and rich apple, like apple pie, heavily covered in soapiness. As it aged, a series of grassy, meadow scents, apple blossom, fresh dew, and by 2015, a contender for my permanent apple scent. Today it was soapier than my past testing notes led me to believe - but having said that, my all time favourite apple is extremely hard to come by (Snow, Glass, Apples) and my backup is now discontinued (The Hesperides). Despite my dislike of most DBR scents, this one works quite well, so I'd stick by that assessment, perhaps with the caveat that 3-6 years is the ultimate age to be using this.

 

Staying power is decent, about 6-8 hours.

 

Stars: ★★★★½