Ace of Wands

[yeahbutnobut]

Ace of Wands

 

In the imp: clear red dragon's blood with almond and something else-maybe a spice or floral? Carnation maybe?

Wet on skin: dragon's blood with something sweet, perhaps spicy as well.

Dry on skin: this is nice-it's dragon's blood with a sweet floral with spice, which I think is carnation? DB sometimes tends to smell slightly floral, especially if mixed with a floral scent. Whatever it is, I like it. It's a very pink-red scent to me, with pink spiced carnation and red fruity resinous-ness of DB.

After a while: still carnation and dragon's blood. And possibly a bit of cloves? Carnation tends to smell like cloves anyway, but maybe also cinnamon? It's not obviously spicy though. It's intriguing, but the one scent I'm definitely sure of is the DB. In here, it now smells juicy and fruity-maybe there's something fruity here too? It seems like it. It's also a warm scent. Not hot, but with a slight hint of spice that's not obvious but lends sweet warmth.

As I smell this, I do get something fruity. Cherries, maybe. Or even red musk? that sometimes has a fruity, cherry like scent which I love. That and dragon's blood. And maybe a sweet citrus-not tangy at all here, but sweet citrus.

Verdict: this is another intriguing tarot scent. Wands is the suit of fire, and clearly the red scent of dragon's blood seems to indicate this. However, this is also a pleasant, yet very red, floral-sweet with a bit of spice with perhaps some red musk too. I'm thinking carnation is in this. It's a lovely 'pink-orange' warmth that goes nicely with the slightly fruity and red scent of the dragon's blood. A beneficent flame, the positive energy that fire can be when it isn't destructive. There may be spices and citrus, or something fruity, here as well. And maybe musk as well. It's so baffling working out the notes in here, but it reminds me somewhat of the enigmatic fiery floral blend that was Fire Eater, although they are both different scents. A fascinating scent to get to know.

[Blood onmy hands]

First on... dragon's blood and almond? Almond always smells like boozy cherry to me (reminds me of cough syrup). Maybe a hint of cinnamon as well, there is definitely some sort of spice in the background.

 

In the drydown I am getting the menthol Vicks scent that previous reviewers have gotten. Plus it's getting a bit of a baby powder smell to it.

 

This is pretty medicinal and gross on me. Probably my least favorite of the Tarot blends so far. Sorry Ace of Wands

[Undine]

Sigh. I had high hopes for this, because I could use more of this element in my life, but when I saw the red vial, my heart sank. Ah, dragon's blood. Your flat musky repulsiveness squashes out everything else. Dragon's blood is all you are.

 

I really can't assess how this might be on someone else: unfortunately, I can't even get anything other than dragon's blood. It does have an herbal, almost medicinal smell in the imp, along with a wetter smell: almond? floral? I quite like the herbal smell, actually--it seems inspiring. Too bad that dragon's blood is so poor with my skin.

 

So, on my scale, it's a 1.5 out of 5, but that's just me.

[aidenraine]

Initially when wet I am overpowered by the sharp scent of Vicks vapor rub. It's an incredibly pungent menthol smell, and it burns my nose for a while.

 

As this is drying it becomes a bit floral, and the pungent smell dissipates a bit.

 

 

The floral stench actually gets sucked into my skin relatively quickly and then disappears.

[cuervosueno]

Ace of Wands is on my wishlist for more. I remember it as being a lovely dragon's blood scent with spice--maybe cloves?--and incense.

 

Was I on crack when I smelled it?

 

Because now that I'm sniffing it for the tarot circle, I don't even get that much Dragons' Blood. What I get is a blast of camphor or eucalyptus that others note--that medicinal smell. While there is likely dragon's blood in here, I don't get much of its sweetness.

 

Ok, wait. As the initial bitterness and menthol-like note fade, some of the creamy spicyness creeps back in. I agree with whoever suggested red musk--there is a powder note I get from musk in this. And now its turning slightly incense like.

 

so perhaps it was this I waited for? It is like flames, like tiny flames creeping up a torch. And I do like the later stages, but that first blast is something to be reckoned with. Appropriate, I suppose for the card, which contains the seeds of all fire can do, both for good and ill.

[filigree_shadow]

This is a bright red oil, and it smells fiery. It smells like it has something in common with Pain, whatever that menthol-like note is. It also has some wood behind it, but it’s hard to detect behind the strong Vick’s Inhaler scent.

[Elrianra]

In the bottle, this is sticky sweet but spicy as well... dragon's blood I think, with cinnamon and cherries. A very strange and potent blend, both fiery and sensual. Wet, this has a tangy sweetness as the cherries really play up with something floral but dusty... roses and, yes I think poppies. After it dries, this is all sticky cherry candy with a bitter whiff of spices that I think is cinnamon and possibly neroli. Warm, this has shifted to dragon's blood and a moss or lichen... dusty with a subtle spice to it. Quite lovely but a little odd in the sudden change... upon OCD level wrist sniffing, the cherry is a very faint sweet sticky note in this. How odd. It hovers between spicy and sweet with a resonant undertone that makes me think of sandalwood and sage at the same time... possibly both? In the end, this is too vague - too mutable - for me to truly comprehend anything from it.

[juniperus]

Marachino cherries and spice - there must be almond here in some small amount. I'm also getting dragon's blood, I think that's encouraging the initial cherry. Warm, sweet - but not morphing into bad-sweet on my skin. This has a herbal undertone I can't quite place, and a smokiness.

[edenssixthday]

Ace of Wands - This scent is sweet and aromatic, and reminds me of a combination of licorice, eucalyptus, dragon's blood, lilac, cherry, and Pepto-Bismol. It's not something I would be drawn to as a personal fragrance, yet I've worn it a few times and can't stop sniffing my skin when I'm wearing it. I still don't care for it as perfume, but would definitely like to find another use for it -- perhaps in my oil burner. Fascinating scent -- fiery without the traditional spices of "fire" scents, and warm despite the coolness of the eucalyptus, and powerful. It makes me want to learn more about the Ace of Wands card. The throw is very strong and the wear length is above average.

[nightbird]

this smells like spice - it's a hot smell (if that makes sense). I also get a hint of cherry and maybe eucalyptus?

 

once it's dried on my skin, the eucalyptus/medicinal scent explodes and that's about all I smell.

[supremegoddessofall]

Spicy. Maybe dragon's blood, maybe cinnamon. A bit of citrus in here, too. I think there's a bit of floral in the background, but it's fairly subdued.

[jasmine]

Immediately after application, this is a brisk, sharp scent with a bit of fruit underlying a melange of spice and a bit of floral drifting over it. It's exceedingly complex, but the spice is dominant as a fiery fuzz in the nose.

 

(On a side note to those with sensitive skin: something in this blend immediately made my elbow react. My skin is often picky, but it's going all to tiny red spots over this application. It didn't hurt; it just became colorful, and the color lasted fifteen minutes or so. Consider yourselves warned.)

 

I think there's dragon's-blood resin in this, but it's not a full, blossomed dragon's-blood resin -- something thinner, a bit more gold than red. Beyond that, placing notes is very hard, particularly as the fruit and floral have dried up on me. It's just a wash of faintly sweet spice.

 

Now the sweetness fades, and it's only spicy. I can detect some wood now -- cedar, perhaps? It grows more difficult to detect, but it stays that way, a low, woody blend topped with dragon's blood, for quite some time.

 

I can't say this is a badly done scent. I can see it capturing the spirit of its name. I just can't say that I want to smell like this.

[fiddledragon]

In the vial: cinnamon, red musk, dragon's blood. The musk and cinnamon are strongest in the vial, and the oil itself doesn't have that distinctive gloppiness of the strong dragon's blood blends, so I'm guessing that's not a main note. It is an impressive color, though.

 

On me: cherry menthol cough drops. Ok, now I'm confused! I'm guessing, given how it smells on me, that this note may actually be mullein rather than eucalyptus. Now that the menthol kick had tamed down, I think the "cherry" note was me misplacing the dragon's blood. The cinnamon is gone (odd, given how much it amps on my skin; maybe I was smelling some of the sharpness of the mullein and thinking it must be cinnamon because this is a fiery scent?) The musk is warming up on my skin and lurking in the background...it's a more distinctive musk than red musk usually is on me; less of the hippy shop and more of the sexy that other people seem to usually get from it. Maybe it's actually a blood musk? Dry, this is a sweet warm dragon's blood and musk scent with maybe a hint of spice. It's not unlike a less spicy Mars or a tamer Dragon's Musk. The mullein keep sticking its nose out every so often and being slightly disorienting.

 

While the scent itself isn't overly dry, it brings to mind a dry heat. It's a nice cozy fireplace with warm glowing coals in it, rather than a raging fire. Nice, but not really a favorite. Maybe it'll get better with age; I think this is a fairly new imp.

[cranberry]

Damn. I’ve finally come across my nemesis. This oil does not like me and I do not like this oil.

 

It’s a strange and discordant blend of eucalyptus, red musk, maybe some almond. My reaction when first applied was that this was all wrong and that I’ve never smelled anything worse in my life. And that’s saying a lot.

 

As it dries, the red musk becomes stronger and more prominent, and dukes it out with the eucalyptus. It smells better as it dries but nothing will take away that first reaction and the combination of top notes on my skin.

 

Ahh, now there's dragon’s blood here too.

 

This is a crazy oil – musk, eucalyptus, dragon’s blood, almond (?)….it makes me want to read about the card and try to figure out why such a strange mix of oils would personify that card. The musk and dragon’s blood is beating the eucalyptus into submission and this oil smells much better now. It’s turning into a very nice red musk blend. Now that its completely dry and been on an hour or so, this is really good. It reminds me of other great red musk blends like Fenris Wolf or Lovitar. I like it but not enough to wear it again, or at least any time soon. My imp will do me just fine.

[Vampy]

I was wary of this one, because although I like burning actual dragon's blood resin, all of the dragon's blood blends from bpal I'd tried so far excepting Bloodlust went sickly sweet and headache inducing on me. Bloodlust was the sticky, warm and mellow dragon's blood that I know and love, but I had given up on finding another DB winner amongst bpal blends.

 

Well, I was very pleasantly surprised.

 

When I first sniffed the vial, I was more baffled than anything - lightly spiced cherry cough syrup. Not unpleasant, exactly, but odd, and not really something I want to smell like. It was in fact a very hot smell, though I'd be hard-pressed to put my finger on why, as it isn't very spicy - just bright and hot.

 

Then I tried it on, and as soon as it dried, there was that glorious mellow dragon's blood scent. Joy! It's almost all dragon's blood, with just a faint background of other smells rounding it out. There's a faint whiff of clove or possibly carnation, and a faint whiff of something like cherry - it might be almond essence. Maybe a touch of cinnamon? If so, it's very light. The overall effect of the scent is intense heat, without being particularly spicy. The only thing I really have to complain about scent-wise is that it doesn't last very long or have very much throw on me.

 

One thing I noticed about this blend though - it seems to make me a little jittery. This might merely be because lately I have been a little jittery in general (I have generalized anxiety disorder and sometimes it's worse than others,) and that the pure heat of the smell is just agitating me more than my nerves can really stand atm.

 

I'm a little sad that I finally found another bpal dragon's blood scent that I love, and it's discontinued.

[storme]

In the imp: lots of dragon's blood, maybe a little almond, and some feisty spiciness - cloves, perhaps.

 

On me, wet: woody musky dragon's blood with some spices. The almond-cherry note has backed down a bit.

 

On me, dry: hey, this somehow morphed into a very strong sandalwood note. There's some sweetness and acrid-spice too, but the dragon's blood has vanished.

 

Verdict: Hmm, well, that's quite the morpher. But not one I'll be keeping, I think.

[suki]

in the imp: eucalyptus and dragon's blood

 

wet on skin: dragon's blood is pulling ahead, but the herb is keeping the sweet aspect in check nicely.

 

dry down: dragon's blood and a slight hint of...sandalwood? copal? vervain? i can't quite place it. it's like the Dragon's Blood is the "fire" and here's something under it that's the "fuel".

 

in all: this is the third Ace i've tried and as with the others, the sentiment of the card holds true. i will try to find more and in the meantime will wear this one whenever 9 feel like i need to have a little fire lit under my butt for motivation!

[zankoku_zen]

Okay, this definitely has menthol/eucalyptus in it, as it dries, I get more of the cherries and cinnamon. Perhaps a touch of almond. But in general, this is a cinnamon + dragon's blood blend. The oil itself is RED.

 

On the drydown, I believe I smell some sandalwood.

 

Meh.

[theseagrows]

i looked at the color of the oil in the decant and knew i wouldn't like this one, because...dragon's blood and yep, i smell dragon's blood strongly at first, then i get something kind of bathroom-cleanery something in this seems woody but i can't place it. there may also be some spice to this. woody/spicy dragon's blood with something floral that smells like bathroom cleaner on me. not much of a winner, but i love the tarot blends in theory, even if the scents don't work!