Blood Kiss

[Fleurdelys]

Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk.

Whew! This is a complex and darkly sweet scent. I'm still learning what notes I like, and what I don't. There's something in this scent that I just don't like. I'm thinking that perhaps it's the vetiver or the dragon's blood, because I'm not as familiar with those scents.

That being said, on me, this scent was almost reminiscient of an expensive tobacco blend. It's sweet, musky, and dark. Sorry I can't be more precise. Anyway, it's just not me. Swap!

[evilbee]

In the bottle:

Oooh, swollen, creamy cherries with something just a bit rotten behind it.

 

Wet:

The same as in the bottle, but with a tiny nip of something bitter and medicinal introducing itself.

 

Drydown:

This is exactly as described. It’s tasty, like licking dark cherry juice and cream from lips layered in lipstick.

 

I detected the clove about 15 minutes after I put it on. Over the day I noticed some yummy, vanilla/spicy scent wafting up to meet my nose and thought “ooh, something smells really tasty” then realized it was me!

 

It won’t be everyday wear because it’s rather… luscious. But I sure will have fun with the imp!

[salamandrina]

I love this. It's everything I've wanted in commercial perfumes, but couldn't find - feminine, sexual, dark and complex.

 

Wet was all cherries and honey - so much honey I could almost taste it in the back of my throat (weird how smell and taste are so combined).

 

As it dried, it was vanilla sugared cloves, like kissing someone after smoking clove cigarettes. It was fabulous, and it made me feel slinky, like a film noir femme fatale. I could smell something darker and gritty in the background, but it didn't overpower on me, just grounded the other scents, and kept them from being cloying.

 

Definitely a going out scent, but too much to wear to work.

[sookster]

deeply dark, mysterious and sexy is how i felt when i applied this blend....

i get the tiniest hint of clove and thick dragon's blood....i feel ferocious

when i wear this scent and it just gets better and better as it morphs into

an insanely wicked perfume.....***growwwwwwl***...a tigress is born~~~

[mockturtle]

Wet: Very cherry -- sweet and dessert-y, the honey is strong and warm here.

 

Dry: More vanilla than cherry, now. And it's definitely a smooth, creamy vanilla. Can pick up a tiny bit of clove if I look for it.

 

Overall impression: A darkly sweet and foodie scent that I like -- surprising! I'll have to pick up another imp at least of this one, since I'm definitely using mine up!

[kitty_stockings]

This scent is, hands down, my favourite BPAL scent thusfar. Here's how it goes:

 

In the bottle:

- Deceptively sharp. It smells like an almost medicinal cherry, but has a richness to it that reminds me, so oddly, of polished wood.

 

Wet on skin, and up to two hours after application:

- Instantly warm! This turns primarily into a rich vanilla honey. I feel that the red wine note (or is it overrippened cherries? hard to decide) and the spice is what follows after the initial sweetness to give this scent a "dark" warmth, one that prevents it from being overly foody or overly sweet. It is a very rich, deep scent.

 

Dry (over two hours later):

- The clove has faded quite a bit, along with the complexity of the scent, leaving mainly the vanilla. Still very warm and cozy, and the sweetness has mellowed into a powdery hint. I still smell GREAT!

 

This scent LASTS all day long: I still caught a whiff of it moving around the apartment 12 hours after application. I singlehandedly made my department computer lab smell amazing, and that's VERY high praise considering what the computer lab usually smells like! This scent is also excellent for this time of year, when one wants a cozy, warm, spiced scent to cuddle up with: very calming, and an excellent contrast to the bitter cold outside. Its darker undertones make me feel really sultry, as well Definitely pleased to have purchased a big bottle of this without ever having sampled it before!

[Stumbeline]

In the imp this smells sharper than it does on me. It's a darkly sweet scent, that starts off on me with a bang of vetiver. That's okay, I like vetiver. It reminds me of a deeper version of Centzon Totochtin, I think that's the dragon's blood. Dragon's blood always smells a little like citronella on me, and Blood Kiss has that same effect. The wine in this is nice in the backround, I love wine scents. Overall, it's a good sweet scent that I would wear out dancing, but it does smell almost identical to Centzon Totochtin on me.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Very black cherries... covered in chocolate and booze? Smells tasty, like "Mon Chéri" chocolates (these are cherries encased in black chocolate with a kirsch filling).

 

Wet: Cherries and musk, still with a chocolatey and boozy scent. The vetiver in the background gives the scent a green tinge, which is slightly weird. There's also a very soft vanilla and musk scent in the background.

 

Drydown: Hmm... honey and wine and cherries and vanilla, with a hint of black chocolate (yep, still getting it) or perhaps tobacco. It's dark and delicious, and very creamy - this is the first time I have a cherry perfume that doesn't make me nauseous. The vetiver seems to be all gone, replaced by a very pleasant but soft scent of cloves.

 

Overall: It's like Dracul's sensual vanilla-and-cherry sister (fitting, also a vampire scent). I have no idea how this chocolatey scent comes through, because I know it's not in the ingredients list, but that's how my brain registers one of the notes (or a combination of them). It's rich and creamy, and you just want to get lost in it. Not a favourite (I'm really not a fan of musk), but definitely enjoyable. It has a lot of throw, too.

Edited December 17, 2005 by Meg

[jasper17]

In the container, I got a huge whiff of something alcoholic and fruity, maybe a little metallic, too.

 

First on, very strongly scented cherry, to the point of being medicinal. Also, a little smoky.

 

After wearing for the past 8 hours, the cherries are still evident, though no longer medicinal. Kind of honeyed over and with a bit of vanilla in the background.

 

Good staying power for me.

[Charitie]

It sounded so good.....so much anticipation when I opened the imp to test it.

 

 

Cinnamon apples. Hrm...not a bad scent....

 

 

Then it touches my skin.

 

*sputter* I smell like a damn glade plug in. Not a "nasty" smell..but nothing I want to walk around smelling like

[crescentwench]

mmmm. juicy berries and some sweetness that must be the vanilla. just perfect. absolutely sexy and delicious. my skin totally amped the wine and the sweetness, but not the vanilla. seems to be a running trend here....

[spidersinmyhair]

This is a very dark and sweet scent as noted by many past reviews.The cherry is very evident upon first opening the vial,mine was an imp.Unfortunately,it reminds me very much of Red Queen,which nauseated me when I wore it.Not sure what they have in common other than the cherry.Other cherry scents seem very nice.I have a feeling I don't like vetiver,but to be honest,I'm not sure what that is.I'm just beginning to get an idea of particular notes that I love and those that I hate.I must pass on this.

[Merlu]

Okay.

 

Blood Kiss made me experience my weirdest, stangest BPAL olfactory experience ever.

Now, that said, the review.

 

In the imp: Smells like very black cherries dipped in dark chocolate, accompanied by a glass of red wine. There's something dark and evil in the scent... as if the cherries were poisoned, and an evil witch is hiding nearby, just waiting for you to eat them. That keeps it from smelling edible.

But... as soon as I sniffed the imp, I started salivating. Not that it smells like something I would want to eat, or anything.... just an instant physical reaction. Weird.

 

Wet, on skin: Holy crap, I just morphed into a hungry, salivating dog!

That aside.... it smells rich, complex and deep. It's sweet, but still dark. Sexy and seductive, yet evil...warm and cold at the same time. Like kissing someone who just drank something cold.

 

Dry Now the person's mouth warms up... the cold edge is gone.

It becomes very warm, enticing and compelling. The chocolate is gone, the wine is more present. I keeep thinking this really smells like blood, not its true smell, but its feel, thick and deep red.

And it flows.... Blood Kiss keeps morphing, but the change is so gradual, even organic, I hardly notice it.

After a few hours, it becomes smoky, like clove cigarettes, with a hint of cherry.

A smoky vampiric kiss.

 

Now I don't know what during its wet stage makes me salivate, but thankfully, it stops when its dry. This blend is so intruiguing and mysterious, I keep wearing it to try to figure it out.

It's quite a peculiar experience, in a good way!

[Miss Lynx]

I'd been wanting to try this one for a while, and finally got to, but while I did like it, I didn't like it as much as I expected to.

 

The simplest way to describe this scent would be to say that it's the non-spicy version of Voodoo. Maybe it's Voodoo Lite. I know it's theoretically got clove in it, but I was not getting a lot of spice. The cherries came on really strong at first, but quickly faded, as they tend to on me. The remaining scent was fairly pleasant, but seemed like it was lacking something. I guess I just expected a little more depth and complexity given the variety of notes in it.

 

The eventual vanilla-vetivert drydown was bang-on identical to Voodoo, right down to the hanging-in-there-to-the-next-morning-even-after-several-hand-washes. Almost nothing lasts longer on me than that combination. And I do like it, I guess I just, as with a few of the others I've tried recently, expected more. Maybe I'm just getting jaded and hard to impress.

 

I will probably pick up an imp of this eventually so that I can try it out more thoroughly, but it's not at the top of my wish list any more.

 

 

Grade: B+

 

ETA (many moons later): Finally got an imp, and I think I like it more this time around, though it's still a case of like rather than love. The spiciness stuck around a bit better this time, and it does seem like it has a bit more complexity. So, definitely going to keep the imp, and I've upgraded the review to a B+, but I don't think we're really in big bottle territory here.

Edited September 20, 2006 by Miss Lynx

[Jocelyn]

In the imp: smells like those little cherry flavored honey stick things you get at health food stores.

On me:...waaay too sweet, just smells kind of gross.

This is the only one so far i have had to wash off...

[angharad]

Oh, God -- vetivert. That's the main note I get from this scent, from imp to skin to fade. When I put it on, the vanilla comes out a bit, and after drydown I can smell the cherry at times, but there's no clove or anything else. Vetivert drowns out every other note in this scent.

 

I'm going to let the imp sit for a while and try it again in a few weeks, but for now...I don't like this one.

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle this smells almost sharp and very musky; almost like something is rotting.

 

On my skin, when wet, the muskiness of before takes over but quickly dries down to a warm, creamy scent. Unlike other cherry notes which smell fruity and sweet on me, these cherries are bitter and tart; a really nice combination with the creamy undertone.

 

Eventually I'm left with a warm (due to the cloves), gentle vanilla-incense scent that is very nice and feminine.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: very dark red cherries, but not too sweet. lovely.

on: sweet and thick. beautiful and dark.

half an hour later: mostly vetiver, with a hint of sweetness.

1.5 hours later: mostly wine, musk, and cherries. very nice.

2 hours later: cherry, vanilla, musk, and wine.

overalll: this is a very beautiful, dark scent.

[Hawke]

In the vial: Something that should be cherry, if it isn't. Tobacco, possibly, and something sharp.

 

Wet: Smoke? Something fiery or a little burnt, at least. Some musky vanilla and something alcoholic, still.

 

Drydown: Ah, here come the florals. The sharpness may be vetiver as I'm not entirely sure what it smells like alone, but I'm pretty sure I don't like it. On the flip side, the honey has come out clearly now.

 

Dry: Well, well. The funky possibly-vetiver (or skin musk, I suppose, there was another blend that had that that I didn't like) and florals disappeared. Just when I was going to give up and toss this in my swaps pile. Now it's warm, thick spicy honey and just a little floral. Maybe I'll hang onto it.

[The Perfumed Ferret]

In the bottle: Velvet cherry, dragon's blood, dark vanilla, and something black.

 

Wet: Oh my god, where have you been all my life?! This is a naughty scent. Wine, dark cherry, a hint of vanilla finshed by a hint of vetiver. Very, very nice.

 

Dry Down: The same as wet, only a bit softer. The cherry is not in your face anymore.

 

Throw: This one actually lasts more than an hour on me.

 

Verdict: 10 ml

[mudtusk]

Well, name alone drew me to this one. Plus I like the vanilla/musk thing (Dorian style), thought the cherry would put a nice spin on things.

 

Unfortunately, this turned out to be an anti-me smell.

The cherry-vanilla mix I found to be an unpleasant combination.

 

With the musk and vetiver thrown in, the best I can describe my thoughts on this one is 'rotting marzipan'...sorry

 

c'est la vie

 

I Score It: 1/10

[astridclaire]

In Bottle: I definitely get the feral musk with a touch of cherry. It's almost almondy, but not quite. I've never smelled vetiver by itself, but I'm guessing the odd, unplaceable smell is the vetiver.

 

On Wet: Rich and intoxicating... and naughty. This is not something I'd want my mother to smell on me.

 

Dry: Most of the sweetness goes away and I'm left with that odd feral smell. Odd, but I can't help but like it. My bf says it smells like I had sweaty sex with a really good smelling werewolf.

[mexicat]

I ADORE this!!! It reminds me of my beloved Centzon Totochtin soooo much!!!Kind of like chocolate-covered peanuts.Mmmmm.. I get a sniff of Rich Wine too,and that super-sweet Honey smell like Samhain to boot!!So....This smells like two of my absolute favorites!!!I am in Heaven...It makes me want to do my "Happy Dance"(which horrifies my children ).Ahhhh...It don't get much better than this!!!

[feline.by.design]

Cherries. No wonder.

 

Blood Kiss isn't my cup of tea because of the above component. The cherry note, and its close cousin almond, just is not pleasant at all on my skin. It's sickeningly cloying, which is no fault of the Lab's, of course, just my own skin chemistry and my nose in tandem telling me that this is rank.

 

Yes, it is chocolatey, but nothing can compensate for the cherry smell. If you like Centzon Totochtin and you have no cherry affliction, you might love this. It's musky, which would be nice without the sweetness. For me, I think I'll need some soap in a minute.

 

-doreen

[moon_lemming]

This was one of the blends I added to my wish list right after I discovered BPAL, because it sounded so damn good. Unfortunately, since then I've discovered that clove and I are not very good friends. So I was wary to begin with. But I figured I'd give it a try, because you never know, right?

 

Well, Blood Kiss, on me, is incense and cherries, and while I'm a fan of incense, I don't like it ON me. And the cherries on top of the incense, just . . . no. I think I'd like to smell this one on someone else, but it's not something I'd wear.