Dracul

[AthenaRose]

Named in honor of Vlad III, Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom.

Christmas tree. I think it's the fir and the clove that do that for me. But yep, that's what this smells like on me, pure Christmas tree. A little spicy, and a little bit of sweetness from the orange blossom, but very fresh and deep forest green. I actually really like this.

4/5 Edited August 18, 2008 by AthenaRose

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Strong mint and bitter spices.

 

Immediately on skin: Strong, and not sweet in the slightest. The mint and pine are mixing together to create something extremely astringent to my nose. It’s very sharp and biting.

 

After a few minutes: This scent has warmed up nicely. I’m now getting hints of musk, tobacco, spices, and maybe even a slight hint of the orange blossom. It’s quite complex and I can still smell a hint of the fir or balsam, but it’s sulking in the background.

 

Overall Impressions: In my opinion, this is definitely a unisex if not masculine scent. This blend manages to be warm and chilly at the same time, but it is very musky and downright sexy. It’s spicy, but not overly so… all of the notes are very well blended and create something very balanced.

[maika]

In the imp, a soft mint.

Wet, soft mint and orange blossom...but they complement each other beautifully!

Dry, I can smell the tobacco and the musk. The orange blossom is still there, along with a deep spice not - obviously the cumin and cloves. The mint has disappeared though...for which I'm not entirely disappointed about, but given that the last things I tried with any mint in them made me smell like I had slathered myself in liniment means that I guess that feeling isn't totally misplaced. Overall though, this is gorgeous! I was expecting a much more masculine scent from this and it's not, just deep and warm and balanced and gorgeous! Very gender neutral.

[angelicruin]

Imp: Pine, woodsy scent with a hint of sweetness

 

Wet: Pine mingles with mint & orange blossom

 

Dry down: Mint & musk become predominant notes, but I still smell the orange blossom in the background.

[stefrand]

ITI: It smells like cedar astringent.

 

Wet: Sweet, with just enough musk. Cedar cedar cedar. Good thing I like cedar! A little bitter, but delightfully so.

 

Dry: Smells a little piny and acidic, yet also quite sweet.

 

Drydown: Wow, this has a lot of throw. The musk is relatively strong, and I think that is what is so...err, ambient. The pine has faded, and I smell a little more incense now. I can smell the sweetness of the orange. It is a little spicy...I guess that's the clove and cumin? And it has a tiny bit of the smokiness of the tobacco. I'm not getting any mint. Dracul is mostly cedar and sweetness and musk and spice, I think. I have seen it compared to Old Spice here, and I can kind of see that. This is warmer and more complex, however. A much deeper and richer scent.

Final Thoughts: This ended up giving me a headache...the black musk kept amping more and more on me. On my husband it smelled woody, musky-sweet, smoky, and not nearly as strong. It wasn't quite right for him, either. Swap/sell.

Edited December 7, 2008 by Stef

[greenranger]

Tobacco, mint, and orange blossom...with spices. Ah, the fir is drowning out the rest.

 

 

Drying, this is mostly a fir scent on me, with some dry tobacco and maybe the spices, in the background. The orange blossom and mint are both gone.

 

It's nice...however, I'm not in love with it.

 

Although, perhaps aging will help it? I'll hold on to it to see.

[Lyrical]

In the bottle: a strange mix of orange and Vick's Vaporub!

 

Wet on skin: dark, musky orange and clove, with a faint hint of mint. Orange blossom always smells of chocolate orange to me, and this is no exception!

 

Dry on skin: rich, creamy orange blossom over tobacco and spices. A little earthy, warm and soft, and surprisingly good! I've been sitting here wondering what reminds me of Bakeneko, and I think it must be this one. Very comforting! The "colour" is orangey brown. It dries down to a warm, smooth spicy scent with a hint of orange - lovely!

[GeorgeJr]

Shockingly , I love this Sarcasm doesn't always travel across the netz well , so I'll just say I'm kidding about the shocking part . I totally am in love with the labs black musk note . Add tobacco , fir & clove and it becomes a big love fest on my skin for my nose . I really like the touch of citrus too , adds a classy note to the blend indeed . When I read the description , I was a little worried that it might be a little too busy for my tastes . And it is quite a mix of scents for sure . But , my god do they go well together .

[Suu4LC]

In the imp, this is mostly black musk, tobacco, and fir. A very dark, rich scent. Yep, on my skin, it's those same three notes at the forefront. A rather masculine blend, earthy, dark woodsy blend. This is far too heavy and looming for me, and I'm not a huge black musk, tobacco, or woodsy fan. If those first three notes intrigue you though, definitely check this out!

[Tal Shachar]

On me this was a very refined orange blossom with a hint of clove and pine. I distinctly remember a time when musks terrified me because they were all so loud on my skin, but I guess times have changed. Even the mint is nowhere to be found, and mint is usually not shy on me. This feels gentle and warm and not at all masculine, quite pretty, and considering the dangerous orange/clove/pine combo I should be glad it doesn't turn into car air freshener. But...but I wanted the black musk and tobacco! Not fair.

[rayvn1]

Dry and spicy, this had great throw and lasted a really long time! Mostly musk, cumin, and woods on me maybe with a hint of dragon's blood or wine that sweeted it up in the backgrounds. Fantastic

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Why have I not tried this one before now? Whyyyyyy?!? *shakes fist at the air* This is so freakin' delicious! Creamy, sweet, sensual, and woodsy with pine and a hint of...lime? That's what my nose gets anyway, though I'm certain it's the orange blossom combining with some other note that reads as lime. I don't get much clove, but I know that note is contributing in some way to my love of this blend, because: "Hello, I'm Luna, and I'm a spice-a-holic!" If you don't happen to share my love of all things spicy, fear not! The spice in this blend is not anything that stands out in any obvious way, but just contributes to the background of the fragrance. Also, something in this blend is so creamy and really quite sexy...not at all what I was expecting. I want to douse myself in this...it is SO GOOD!!!!!!! Sexy forestliciousness! Must. Have. More!

[WidgetAlley]

I can't believe I've never reviewed this, I've had it forever!

 

Imp: This is almost entirely fir, mint, orange blossom and smoky cumin and tobacco at first. No hint of the balsam or the black musk (thank God.) It's surprisingly creamy and sweet, but still outdoorsy.

 

Wet: All mint and orange blossom at first, then tobacco and spicy cumin and fir. The black musk is a faintly powdery note in the background, but doesn't go dirty animal on me, thank God. Incredibly woodsy, but still complex.

 

Dry: The same, a smoky-sweet bitter wood smell, but it's vanishing fast. If this lasted longer and the musk weren't so powdery, I'd invest in a bottle. As it is, I'll enjoy my Imp.

[Ceri]

In the vial: Hmm, very green. A nice mix of fir and mint with a touch of floral. Smells very clean. Quite nice.

 

Wet: Fir and mint. A very woodsy smell that leaves you feeling refresh.

 

Drydown: Still very fir and mint. The orange blossoms came out after half an hour or so to soften the scent.

 

Overall: A very clean and outdoorsy scent. Smells quite nice but not for me.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Ceri

[March]

The first time I tried this, I thought it was horrible. I had it on my arm next to a really sweet-smelling BPAL, though (burning through testing a bunch of new imps!) and Dracul smelled acrid, lifeless and awful in comparison. Upon opening the imp this morning though, I found out that I was sorely mistaken in my judgement!

 

This starts off quite complex, with the mint and the fir and I think the orange blossom vying for dominance on my wrist. However, after quite a short time already, it settles down to a nice, probably 'masculine' mixture. I think I smell mostly tobacco now, and black musk (which I'm definitely learning to identify in the scents that have it! This reminds me of my faves Haunted, Iago and Czernobog, so it must be there).

 

I really liked the initial stages, and while the drydown is gorgeous on me, I think I'll try this in my scent locket to see if I can retain some of the notes that were there in the beginning. Or maybe layer it. Oh, the possibilities!

[catattack]

Imp: Men's cologne

Wet: Sweet resins, pine

Drydown: Pine and cologne. That might sound bad, but it's actually a wonderful blend. There is a sugar-sweetness to this blend and the pine is not overwhelming. It's there, but just enough that you'd recognize it, not enough to make you think Pine-Sol. There is a sweet resin scent that is so delicious and amazing!

Overall: What a fantastic scent! This is a scent that would smell wonderful on a man or a woman. It's like a resin-candy lollipop.

[Seismogenic]

In honor of this week's massively huge vampiric update of awesome, I figured I should test the only vampiric scent that I currently have. All the more so since I was initially surprised the update had no Vlad references, until I remembered that he already had an oil. D'oh.

 

In the imp: Some evergreen, some citrus, definitely some clove, and something chilly. I assume the chilly is the mint, though it doesn't smell outright minty here.

 

Wet on skin: The tobacco has announced itself, though as a distinct but smooth backdrop to what I already smelled in the imp. The mint is more minty, but the citrus is (unsurprisingly) less citrusy.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the clove is standing out as one of the main players, and I'm thinking the cumin might be edging in there now as well. The mint and the fir are melding into something sharply dark green and not so cool in temperature anymore. Citrus has pretty much left the building. The tobacco backdrop is still going on. At one hour in, the cloves and tobacco are playing very well together, though the sharpness of the fir and maybe the cumin are keeping it from going entirely clove cigarette on me. There's definitely no citrus left, and anything that might be mint has blended in too well to be distinct.

 

Five hours later: Mostly clove and tobacco, still pretty prominent. There are still enough traces of other notes to keep this from being a dead ringer for clove cigarettes without the smoke, but those traces have blended smoothly enough together to not be describable note by note.

 

End of the day: I thought I'd hosed this review by going to the beach, actually. But now that I sniff my wrist, I do not smell only like Huntington Beach, but rather like Huntington Beach with vampires smoking clove cigarettes. There is, despite submersion in salt water for an hour, still a hint of clovey tobacco on my wrists. I suspect that these would be more than faint traces if I hadn't gone swimming.

 

Overall: This is pretty darn awesome. I like the smell of clove cigarettes, so having that as sort of a base is a good thing, and the addition of the evergreen and minty notes give it more depth. It's a dark scent, but not heavy enough that it's a bad idea to wear in the summer. It also has insane staying power, as evidenced by the fact that even the Pacific could not wash it away. Definitely a keeper! I'm also sure my imp is pretty aged, since I got it at a meet n' sniff, and it has the old logo on the label, so I'm also going to say right off the bat that aging this is a very very good idea.

[milo]

At first, I get a spicy, fresh note, maybe the mint? Gradually Dracul dries to a spicy, musky 'dirty' scent. It actually reminds me of Crypt Queen, but with more spice, and less fruit. I love a lot of the notes here, black musk, tobacco, orange blossom, clove, and mint, so it's no wonder I really like this blend. I say it's more of a feminine 'outdoorsy' blend, with the balsam peeking through. Sexy vampires, Yah! I'll probably spring for a bottle when my imp is gone..

[crebbsgirl]

Cumin and mint do not agree with my skin at ALL! This ended up smelling so bad I had to wash it off! It started off nicely though, with a musky, masculine kind of vibe. I'm disappointed. Damn skin chemistry!

[annamango]

DH said: "what the hell is that one, it smells like you just crawled out of a your coffin" !!!

So, yes, he hated it, but damn accurate naming!

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: incense and heavy perfume, a bit of tobacco

 

Wet on Skin: incense and rootbeer float (when the rootbeer has lost its fizz and fused with the icecream)

 

While Drying: a bit of freshness showing through… fir and mint? And a woody note; is there patchouli in this, or is it just the orange blossom that is reminding me of Vixen?

 

After a Little While: mostly incense with a faint hint of rootbeer on wrists; incense mingled with the fresh, almost foresty scent in elbows; a lot less overt than Vixen, but similar in some respects

 

Later: a bit of musk comes through periodically, moreso as time passes

 

Final Thoughts: Sexy... but not to the level of my true love, Vixen.

Dracul earns a 4/5 on my skin.

[KesHiro]

Frimp in one of my orders and part of my marathon testing this past weekend.

 

This is such an interesting scent! It's very different, unlike anything I've smelled before . . .

 

In the vial, I get orange blossoms, something bitter, and spices -- most likely the cumin. Once I have it on, it turns into a musky tobacco, with touches of cumin and clove to sweeten it up ever so slightly. As the oil begins the drydown phase, the tobacco subsides and gives way to the wood, musk, and orange blossoms. Ultimately, I'm left with a musky, herbal, woody blend with the faintest trace of something sweaty. It is by no means unpleasant . . . it is extremely feral and dangerous. It smells like an alluring wild creature you don't want to be around. Very evocative of its namesake and very interesting!

 

I'm on the fence of upgrading this to a bottle. I like it, but I don't think I'd wear it all that often. I'm keeping my imp, though, because I find this so fascinating and different.

[impolight]

:::DRACUL:::

*Bats eyelashes*

This stuff is superb. Dracul is the essence of all that is deliciously creepy in Eastern European lore.

This is where the mythos of Europe meets the Dragons and the mysticism of the Orient.

The most apparent notes, initially, are the Fir, the orange blossom, and the crushed mint...It is easy to imagine a noble or a warrior of a forested, mountainous, superstitious community annointing themselves with this wonderful fragrance with the purpose of empowering themselves to overcome opposition and assert a position of supreme and ruthless power...

Skinside, this takes on a bigger, brighter, bolder life... This is brilliant!

This isn't the worrisome grin and the flapping cape, this is the unexpected surprise.

This is the tactical ingenuity, the unbridled violence and the exotic wildness that seduced the civilized world and reserved mannerisms of romanticised and idealized London!

The subtlest trace of the scorched cumin is there, but it wasn't at all expected to accentuate and compliment the rest of the formula as well as it did. What really popped, though, was the Balsam. Having not been very familiar with the Lab's version of the note and not having come across it any of the other formulas tried to date, there was little to no confidence that it would be at all identifiable. Once it started to display its' regalia, though a memory swam to the surface... FLEXX Balsam & Protein shampoo (this is only meant as a high compliment from this perspective as it used to be a favourite before it disappeared from the shelves of local supermarkets).

Dracul is utterly fantastic! It has a good throw and, though a small amount was applied for a trial basis, it was still readily identifiable on pulse point the following morning.

Dracul is a beautiful psychosis.

Spectrally, Dracul is Crimson, Purple, Tangerine & Gold.

Dracul is decidedly masculine, yet would lend an unsettling quality of intrigue for Her.

[kunoichi]

In the vial this is a lovely orange musk dusted with spice, reminding me somewhat of Christmas - probably due to the orange and cloves. On my skin, however, an almost bitter sharpness of the spices and tobacco cuts through and then blends the background of the orange musk. After a few hours the spices and orange fades and it smells of a 'fuzzy' musk; on me, fir tends to have a scent that is, well, 'fuzzy' and hard to describe, but it is soft and swirled in amongst a rounded musk.

 

It is quite lovely, really, and may work well as a character scent for my Ordo Dracul Ventrue vampire in the Requiem game.

[surf-tormented]

I thought I wrote about this scent before. I recently got a new imp of it. I like it. I reminds me of dirt, spices and sensuality.

 

I get a real earthiness out of it, no mint or chocolate really. It's dark and tasty. The downsize is that it fades quickly into a spicy resin, losing its individual notes.

 

It is spice and dirt for about a half hour and then it is gone. Bye, Dracul, been good to know you. I wish it was stronger and I wish the mint would come out on my skin, even lightly. I get no orange blossom either. Just dirt which I assume is the balsam, spices from the clove and cumin and a very slight smoky note from the tobacco. The heavy notes blend together to make a spicy resin odor on me.

 

Pleasant, but not bottle worthy. I will use the rest of my imp up, tho!

Edited February 20, 2010 by Madame Nyx