Bat's Blood

[cuervosueno]

Vengeance can be yours.

Interesting that somewhere when this was resurrected, there was an old link that said this was pretty much the original voodoo blend.....less vetiver? Was that it?

In any case, i just got a sniffie of this to try and it is gorgeous...despite its intended purpose.

Dragon's Blood for sure, but also a floral...I can see why people say lilac and perhaps that's it, but it would be cool if it was a night-blooming flower for the bat part of the deal...

Anyway, it's dragon's blood plus floral, and unexpectedly soft and lovely.

eta: here, by the way, is Beth's post about this from the questions about Bat's Blood thread. I believe this post was 2004:

While the vast majority of our voodoo blends are perfectly aligned with their traditional use, Bat's Blood has been altered slightly. The current incarnation can be used for the same nefarious purposes, but it is not limited -- much in the way that the traditional Black Cat formula possesses a dual nature. Though true voudoun Bat's Blood is dominantly Saturnian, I have tweaked our version of Bat's Blood towards a Mars-Mercury. It is still appropriate for use with its original intent, but when worn as a perfume, the effect is akin to a darker, more intense High John the Conqueror. In addition, it can still be used in magickal formulations where literal bat's blood is required.

For those of you who habitually throw curses and would like a stronger, darker Bat's Blood, simply adding an infusion of 1:1 vetiver and dragon's blood to the oil will restore it to its snarkier state.

Bat's Blood was added to our catalogue after numerous requests. For the safety and sanity of our client base, I did so, but elected to modify the formula. Mea culpa.

I wonder if that means the original voodoo formula needs more dragon's blood, or that there isn't dragon's blood in the BPAL version? Interesting question, but to my (untrained) nose, this smells like dragon's blood. Edited December 20, 2006 by Shollin

[themerrybaker]

I've seen Bat's Blood recipes that include dragon's blood and myrrh, and one that includes magnolia and mint. This Bat's Blood seems to be the dragon's blood type. It smells really sweet - which is what some people say about vengeance.

[emzebel]

Mmmm. I don't know about vengeance, but I am definitely likeing this blend - it is a deep dark dragon's blood with a resiny floral - I'm not good enough with my flowers to identify it, but it it just lovely, dark and deep.

[juniperus]

Fresh blooming lilac, specifically the reddish-purple variety. The sweet of dragon's blood hovers underneath, and eventually sweetens the lilac reminiscent of blooms past their prime still sitting in their vase...and fades very fast. Lovely, but briefly...might need to try in a scent locket and keep this well away from my ebil skin.

[asciident]

Wet: Dragon's blood.

 

First on: Dragon's blood is amping up, but I do detect something dark and floral.

 

Dry: My skin has amped up the dragon's blood so much that it's all I'm getting. Eh. Off to the swap pile.

[LadyCrow]

I'm getting basically dragon's blood, with jasmine or a similar flower amped somewhat (dragon's blood by itself tends to smell like lilacs to me anyway), and a tangy, spicy top note -- a pepper? -- for the bloodiness. In short, this isn't dramatically different from the pure resin -- which is great! I love dragon's blood! This is a keeper!

[funkmoppet]

Frimp from a Lab auction.

 

Dragon's blood. Usually an invitation for my skin to behave badly, but this blend can be added to the "Dragon's Blood I Can Wear" list.

 

Just a shame I don't like the blend. Sweet Dragon's blood when wet - no mistake. It's loud and proud.

 

Also loud and proud is the sweet floral that amps up through it. What florals? No idea. But I do know they're not the kind of florals I like, so their presence really kills this one for me. I suspect Jasmine - which would explain my nose-wrinkling reaction.

 

I think for my Dragon's Blood needs, Blood Amber is enough.

 

This one is just too sweetly floral for me.

[yeahbutnobut]

Bat's Blood

 

In the imp: floral dragon's blood.

Wet on skin: floral dragon's blood but now with a hint of sweet spice.

Dry on skin: dragon's blood with lilac, but also with a soft sweet layer reminiscent of the honeyed vanilla in Dragon's Milk, or the sweet ylang-musk in French Love, or heliotrope, or tonka. I also smell something like a creamy spice, like clove. There's always that bitter, sharp red bite of dragon's blood, but it's sweetened and softened a little. Hmm, interesting. They do say revenge is sweet.

After a while: the dragon's blood now consumes the lovely sweet notes, and develops that odd 'crayon' scent I got in Dragon's Milk. Any oil which is bright red usually means that the DB will amp like crazy, and this is no exception. It reminds me of AhDuno at this point, but a little bit sweeter. In fact, this is what I was expecting from AhDuno, but that one was pretty much dragon's blood SN.

Then the sweetness comes out again, that soft Dragon's Milky sweetness with a floral-spicy scent, now reminiscent of carnation. It seems the DB and the sweet spice are battling to see which scent wins and becomes the dominant fragrance on my skin. At one point it smells like red crayons, and then like sugared lilacs, and then back to dragon's blood.

Verdict: dragon's blood, especially these days, is one of those scents that can amp like mad if there's too much of it. Some scents with it, like Red Moon, are perfect, but too much and I smell like colouring pencils or crayons. This has too much DB for me. Though the supporting notes are very pretty-I can't say what they are but there's something sweet, something floral, something spicy too. Maybe carnation or a spice note (clove?) and vanilla and heliotrope or lilac? Whatever it is, it is pleasant, and was what I was hoping to get with AhDuno. But in the end, the dragon's blood takes over and becomes a little too aggressively dominant for me to enjoy this as perfume. One for swapping/selling, I think.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? no-again, it's too much dragon's blood. And I don't feel experienced enough to use it for it's voodoo purpose either.

[aquazoo]

Definitely that blood scent, hot and spicy. I can't speak to the effects, haven't tried it that way yet. :-)

 

 

[tragedy]

dragons blood, faintly... but why do I get ylang ylang?? like so strong it could be a single note. ylang ylang has happy memories for me... so would it suit its purpose? nah...

but it smells pretty

[zankoku_zen]

Definitely has dragon's blood, as it is sweet, spicy and just a little floral. Like lilies. I'm not a big one for smell, and probably not for purpose either.

 

So I'll send this one away.

[Shollin]

The resurrected version:

 

First sniff: Liquid Red Hots. Very much a sweet spicy-cinnamon explosion.

 

Wearing: The Red Hots hit my skin and developed a glorious deep undercurrent of dragon’s blood. Wasn’t expecting that! There’s still sweetness and spicy-cinnamon floating above, but mostly it’s deep rich red wonderful dragon’s blood.

 

Unfortunately, as it dries, the dragon’s blood fades away and it’s back to Red Hots.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

A very aged old school "inkwell" 5mL bought on eBay.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Honestly, I would never have bought this for the intended purpose of the oil, because I'm not a vengeful sort of person. But, I love the name and I love the old inkwell bottles. Plus, the reviews of the scent as perfume sound somewhat promising (I love dragon's blood and I like lilac, but the other florals have me worried), so maybe it'll be nice to look at and nice to smell.

 

First sniff:

 

Definitely dragon's blood. It has the rich, slightly lilac-like floral-resin vibe of dragon's blood. But there's also something almost musky here in a vaguely animalistic way. And maybe a touch of some sort of floral.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Dragon's blood and some sort of very faint herbs, maybe. I am getting a little bit of a floral scent (it's a bit like lilac and a bit like jasmine), but that could just be the dragon's blood.

 

Dry down:

 

In the end, it dries down into a decidedly feminine dragon's blood and lilac scent with some spice (cinnamon or clove, I think) and muskiness backing it up. There could be some myrrh in here, too, but it's faint. This like a less floral version of Dragon's Eye with faint spice, resins and musk added. I also get patchouli on the very late drydown (probably around 8 hours after application). I don't smell it at all until that point, but it comes out at full force on me then, which is great for a patchouli lover like me.

 

The bottom line:

 

I have to admit, Bat's Blood is a surprise winner. I mainly bought this bottle for aesthetic reasons (and it wouldn't have upset me in the slightest if it had smelled horrible), but the scent is actually very pretty! I know these weren't intended to be worn as perfume, but I don't know that I'm going to be able to resist wearing this one.

 

ETA: I read through the other reviews again and noticed that Beth mentioned that this could be worn as perfume and that the effect would be akin to that of High John the Conqueror. I'm okay with that. I can always use something that'll help me feel more confident and if Bat's Blood helps people think more highly of me, then that's fine by me.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Penance

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

quick review of my resurrected bottle before it goes to live with someone else: dragon's blood and purple. hyacinth? lilac? something dusty-light-purple smelling.

[filigree_shadow]

I'm really surprised this one wasn't popular, even as a perfume. BPAL's dragon's blood note is exquisite, and this blend is amazing. If you like dragon's blood with a soft floral note (not exactly sure which floral note -- but it makes me think of something dry and white), try this.

 

I have a bottle of the resurrected one, and at this point it's quite a few years old. Aged, it is . Very, very nice.