The Bloody Sword

[filigree_shadow]

Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace, and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.

A distillation of force, conquest, power and fury: dragon's blood, myrrh, black pepper, labdanum, benzoin, leather, fire, and steel.

NOTE: I'm probably not the best person to review this because my skin tends to amp dragon's blood, which makes it difficult for me to smell the other notes.

The dragon's blood in this is pretty strong on my skin at first, but it fades out into a slightly powdery dark scent. I can smell some pepper for sure, and a little bit of leather. Kind of a metallic undertone, but it's barely noticeable. This scent seems more masculine than the other dragon's blood blends I've tried -- it's darker. I like it a lot!

[Astburygrrl]

Observing the oil itself, it is tinged w/ a reddish-orange tint..very cool!

 

In the bottle: This is so surprising to me..I can smell the sweetness of myrrh yet the bite of pepper @ the same time..the steely note kinda catches at the back of my throat..it actually made my hairs stand up on my neck! My goodness..thats a first.

 

On the skin: the dragon's blood & leather peek out..they are beautifully intertwined w/ one another..the other notes kinda support these two @ the moment. Its such a smooth blend w/ such an enticing, yet commanding presence. Mmm..

 

Afterhours: This has dried down to a smokey blood laced labdanum/benzoin(?) haze..its ever so slightly powdery but so far from 'stuffy' old lady powdery. heh

I really really like this..I'm sure it will blossom into a torrid love affair soon..

[JessicaMelusine]

I got this yesterday and it is delicious; on me the dragon's blood and leather race to the top and then the steely note comes in...mmm. It has a tough, yet very sexy, warrior feel about it and I've never smelled anything quite like it. This is one that I love.

[savage_rose]

I was a little afraid to get this...it sounded like a strong blend that might not agree with me...but I'm glad I did.

 

In the bottle: Dragon's blood

 

Wet: Dragon's blood tempered with something sweet and wistful.

 

Dry: This scent is bitter and sweet at the same time. It's strong, yet supportive...very balanced, and a little earthy.

[cuervosueno]

Like Filigree, who gave me a sniffie of this, I tend to amp Dragon's blood. In fact, I've passed on most of my DB blends, because except for Dragon's Milk with its intense vanilla, they all smell the same on me.

 

but I was intrigued by the steel note and wanted to try this.

 

Per usual, at first it was all dragon's blood. Sweet sweet, and slightly floral. I thought I was also getting something else even sweeter than DB (is that possible?) but don't know what it was. But as it dried down, I started to get a metallic note. hey, how'd Beth do that anyway? But sure enough, DB and steel. Intriguing!

 

After a bit--say after an hour or so, I smelled DB, metal and just a hint of leather, and this time the leather didn't amp on my skin, but it was nicely cut with the sweetness and spice of the DB. I kept sniffing it--really nice!

 

I'm surprised more people haven't tried this--it is both lovely and unique, and really does embody its name.

 

That said, I have to restrain myself from buying every bottle I want, so I probably won't get those. I like it a lot, and am tempted, but it's not different enough from other DB blends on my skin to warrant it.

 

Still, a winner!

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is black pepper and dragon's blood...

 

once applied labdanum and benzoin and myrrh combine and make

this a very, very dark and brooding blend....

 

yes, this is all about darkness to me...it never ventures from its original state

on my skin...

 

maybe i will have better luck in my scent locket for this preciousss ...

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: My decant of The Bloody Sword reveals dragon’s blood that acts like a fruity floral offsetting a masculine blend of notes. The myrrh and benzoin contribute to its sweetness, but it retains the sharp edge that I associate with blends that work well on men. Good thing I have a testosterone-heavy skin chemistry for a woman.

 

Wet: So far I have encountered the Lab’s leather note in here and in Trick #1. Both are yummy. The pepper adds to its sharpness. It still resonates like a cologne, but not a common one. I hope my husband will let me try it on him!

 

Drying down: I get an effect of fruitiness between the resins in the blend. It also carries bitterness and sharpness true to its name.

 

Dry: The pepper and leather are out more. It is still sweet, but the mix has turned rather sexy. My skin gives it almost a vanilla-like undertone.

 

Later: It softens more, but is really long lasting. I put this on this morning, enjoyed it for most of the day, now it’s 5:30pm and I only reapplied for the purposes of this review. I bet the dry-scent would have lasted me until bedtime if I had not reapplied. I think this will be even lovelier on my husband.

[gingersnapp]

Dragon's blood. That's all my skin ever lets me smell.

 

I'm going to try aging this and seeing if the other notes ever become more prominent.

[tamburlaine]

The Bloody Sword is an uncommon mix of oils, it seems, but it smells so familiar, like a Calvin Klein men's eau du toilette. It is a lot less "dark" on me than the description lets on, in fact, it's very sweet and I get very little of the pepper I was hoping would spring up. Alas, the dragon's blood and the myrrh amp on my skin and turn the blend into a slithery-sweet, masculine, club-hopping, almost aquatic blend. (Whaaat? Perhaps the leather note lent to it smelling aquatic, that happens sometimes.)

 

It was an excellent day for perfumery when this blend was mixed up, but it's not for me, which is too bad, because the name is wonderful and the imagery astounding -- but the scent itself isn't matching the description. A for effort, nevertheless; I have a feeling this blend would sell very well with men commercially.

[Thursdae]

The Bloody Sword has great throw. Dragon's Blood radiates off my skin like a Hawaiian sunset, and this blend is no exception. Rather than the berry juiciness of Blood Countess, the impression the Bloody Sword makes is of a powerful yet restrained maturity. A flowering of strength. I felt taller while I was wearing it. It has extra-long staying power, too.

 

If I were a judge, this would be my signature courtroom blend.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle... I can definitely smell the dragon's blood and leather. It also smells musky to me, like warm red musk.

 

On me... dragon's blood and pepper. The sweet warmth of the dragon's blood is coated with a biting pepper note. This fragrance definitely has a sharpness to it that I'm finding rather unpleasant. And it almost wants to go soapy on my skin, but never quite makes it to the full dish soap comparison.

 

Soapy dragon's blood and biting pepper. The Bloody Sword actually prompted me into a sneezing fit

[maijasu]

I was expecting this to be very dark and masculine, but it's surprisingly sweet and pleasant. It does have something faintly metallic about it, but it's a very smooth blend, with no note really dominating.

 

Another unexpected winner--I might need a bottle and will definitely keep my decant until I decide.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

re-reading the notes before i tried this, i wonder why on earth i ordered it.

but then i remember, i was hoping the last three, the leather, fire, and steel, would overpower the rest.

 

impsniff: black pepper (which i hate and will not have in my food) and dragon's blood

skinsniff wet and dry: all the same, pepper and dragon's blood.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sort of sour-smelling.

on: mostly pepper.

1.5 hours later: a bit sweet from the dragon's blood. there are other notes, but i haven't been able to pick them out.

4 hours later: soft. vaguely powdery.

overall: this isn't really anything interesting on me.

[UploadedLobster]

Another bummer that I wanted so badly to work. The notes list reads like a tally of Stuff My Skin Loves, so what went wrong?

 

It's dragon's blood, all the way through. All the other notes seem to be drowned out, which is a real trick given how noticeable myrrh and labdanum usually are. No hint of the leather or black pepper, either; if they're there, it's extremely subtle. Too subtle for my nose.

 

I wouldn't mind having a strong dragon's blood scent, either, except this is apparently the kind of dragon's blood that turns to lilacs. PLTHLECH. BLEARGH. No resin, no benzoin sweetness, no spiciness, none of those 'fire and steel' notes--just LILACS.

 

Instead of a dark, powerful, resinous scent, I got me a spring floral here. So disappointed.

 

 

Lobster Rating

Better than: tetanus

[supremegoddessofall]

Metallic dragon's blood and leather. I get some spicy pepper, too. It does almost smell like actual blood to me. Masculine, but I like it on me.

[Inanna9]

It is uncanny how much this smells like Kumari Kandam on me. There has to to be some aquatic element to this, because it's kicking ass all over the place, except not in a good way. It's even KO'd the dragon's blood, which usually amps on me.

 

Overall, it's not unpleasant, but I can probably get this experience with my imp of Kumari Kandam.

[PilotKitten]

Very masculine-type scent on me. I can definitely catch the woodsy herbal of the myrrh and the black pepper. The dragon's blood is really tempered in this one... it's adding a faint hint of the spicyness but none of the sweetness I usually get from it. The leather in this is like the leather in Whip too... very nice. I shall definitely have to try this one out on my husband.

 

 

ETA - On him this goes *very* pepper-y. After the drydown later though it's a really nice masculine blend... just wish there wasn't so much pepper.

[malabar]

Wow - to me, this really does just what it says: smells like blood. Not Dragon's Blood, real blood. Coppery. I'll have to save it for next Halloween, as I don't think I can wear it casually.

[yeahbutnobut]

The Bloody Sword

 

In the imp: peppery but oddly sweet dragon’s blood.

Wet on skin: a strangely floral-green DB scent with lots of pepper, and out come some lovely resins.

Dry: mmm, I like this better than the Castle. This is a peppery dragon’s blood scent with a lovely warm leather base, hints of labdanum/benzoin, and indeed, a hint of steel. Amazing how there’s a hint of gleaming metal to this. And there’s smoke too-the ‘fire’ perhaps? It’s a warm scent, warm and powerful, but there’s also something to this scent reminiscent of perfume or cologne, an almost citrus-green scent with the slightly floral-fruity clear redness of DB enhanced.

After a while: whoa. METAAAAAAL!!! This really does smell steely. It’s actually quite an ozonic note though-which is probably what I thought was ‘cologne’ at the wet stage. But it smells like wet metal, a hot, forge-fresh sword cooled by rain. I still smell the pepper and some wonderful resinous notes underneath but it’s the steel that’s domiant.

Eventually this becomes less resinous, and smells more like a cool, ‘sporty’ men’s perfume. Metallic but fresh and wet and breezy, like salty ozone. it actually smells like what a good sea spray scent should smell like, but it smells a little too much like men’s sporty perfume for me.

The drydown is sweeter and gentler, but oddly fruity. It still smells like sporty perfume though, but it’s not as masculine now.

And then, just as I thought it would stay like sporty cologne, I smell a gorgeous, soft sweetness. I think that’s the benzoin, and it’s come out and added a lovely sweet resin scent, almost vanilla like, to the overall fragrance. it still smells of steely perfume, but sweeter.

But this pretty sweetness is fleeting and the scent goes back to dragon’s blood and steel tinged sporty perfume.

Verdict: this is so unusual-it really does smell steely and does seem a very appropriate scent for a sword. It starts off with a lovely dragon’s blood and peppery resins mix, but gradually the sword is removed from this forge of spiced resins and the scent becomes decidedly metallic, then cools down a great deal, and smells fresh and almost airy-aquatic, like ozone, a sword in the rain. If Quincey was the cowboy in this series, then this is the ninja/samurai! It also strongly resembles mainstream perfumes in the ‘fresh and sporty’ genre…which is no bad thing. The other components like the resins and particularly the benzoin and myrrh make this different, but there is a slight hint of fresh perfume to it, it’s almost masculine. It’s very well done, very wearable for such a conceptually-themed scent with a definite metallic tinge, but it’s a little too manly for me. I could see this being a lot nicer on a really fit guy though. But I do like it enough to keep.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Just the imp, for that unusual, fresh steel scent.

If you like this, try: The Castle, The Black Tower, Tintagel, Mars, Wrath, maybe Bed of Nails (which I haven’t tried but it seems like it would be similar)

[edenssixthday]

The Bloody Sword - Wow, what a phenomenal scent! It's yet another I wouldn't wear myself as it's not remotely feminine to me, but I imagine it would smell absolutely fabulous on some men. It's very strong, masculine, and virile. The very first note I detect is that of dragon's blood, but it's darkened by myrrh, pepper and a touch of leather. While I can't smell the other notes as distinct fragrances, I can tell they work well together to keep the scent from becoming as dark and deep as it could otherwise, and to bring a touch of cold sweetness to the overall blend. To me, it smells like a very sexy men's blend and once again, I'm hoping maybe this will be the one to turn my husband on to BPAL!

[juniperus]

Bottle: wow, this is interesting! cold steel plus fire..and dragon's blood.

Wet: I caught the pepper, and I actually coughed. LOL the dragon's blood and labdanum are at the fore, hints of the leather way behind.

Dry: the layers are both intermingling and opposed, this is not a static blend at all, not chaos per se...but the clash of the calvaries of two great armies...yes.

Later: very masculine, powerful. though I oft wear very unisex/masculine scents I really can't pull this off. but it's amazing!

[azhure]

In the vial: Very faint dragon's blood and pepper.

 

Wet: Dragon's blood and pepper. There's a slight "metallic" note as well.

 

Drydown: I have no idea what happens with this one - somehow it ends up smelling like a commercial perfume on me. How, I have no clue.

[Dinerdulcinea]

I was majorly bummed by this one. It started off nice and warm, with the Dragon's Blood peeking out to make it a little floral-ish and strange...and then after about 1/2 hour, it went straight to AQUATIC on me! It went to aquatic on my hubby in less than 1 minute.

 

Aquatic is not my favorite thing to wear. I was so sad! WAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[storme]

In the imp: whoa, metallic - dark and oily metal under dragon's blood.

 

On me, wet: a lot of dragon's blood and that metallic-oily tang. The leather is there somewhere too, slightly sweaty - this is a very butch scent.

 

On me, dry: hmm, leathery-oily-metallic-dragon's blood. This is a consistent scent, if nothing else.

 

Verdict: I was envisioning something a little more fiery from this blend - as it is, it might be okay on a blacksmith, but I don't think it's me.