Dracul

[me & lola]

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.

 

Oh. Yes. This is the one I want to smear all over some dark-haired guy. Until I find that guy, I may just wear it myself, but it definitely feels masculine to me.

 

On my wrist, this is a rich, murky musk with a thick swirl of tobacco. The fir is there, but not overwhelming like it sometimes gets. There is just a tinge of orange blossom to beckon you in deeper and then the tickle of mint at the back of my throats when I inhale deeper. It only morphs a bit as it wears on my wrist, varying shades of sweet and dry.

 

There's some serious throw on this one, but it's mostly the musk that throws. There's a sexy, musky cloud around me, but you have to pull in closer to pick up the other elements.

 

 

On the inside of my elbow, where the skin is a lot warmer, the pine flares up and is a thick coating over the other wonderful smells. I like that, too, but not as much. It's too sporty.

[achildoftime]

I really dig this. It's a really deep musk with tobacco and clove to start. It dries very much the same, but there is a wee bit of citrus noted. I'm quite fond of citrus in general, so it's always a welcome addition. In this case I think it's particularly welcome because it breaks up a pretty dark and brooding scent to give it some complexity. The orange blossom is never more than a suggestion, but it's presence is very important.

 

I really like this, even though it is pretty heavy. It weighs me down, kind of like vetiver does, but not in a bad way. I just have to be in the right mindset to wear it.

[Nikki Scarlet]

This was a frimp. From reading the notes, I don't think I'd have ordered this myself as it has a few notes that don't tend to agree with me, but I'll try any frimp for science!

In the imp:
It's . . . interesting. I can smell the mint and orange blossom and I like those, but they're buried under the tobacco, black musk and bitter clove, which I am less enthusiastic about. All together, they kind of remind me of the breath of a heavy smoker who's just downed a can of cola.

On me, wet:
Whuf. The notes in this I actually like fade to the background as the more bitter notes begin to amp. This is a heavy scent on me so far, and I'm not liking it. It's a bit headache-inducing.

On me, dry:
The lighter notes start to come back after it dries down, and it returns to being a scent I would dub "interesting", but still a little nauseating for me, and therefore not something I would want to wear.

Verdict:

I wish I could wear a lot of the scents that people consider to be "sexy" around these parts, but to me they're always just too heavy and do terrible things to my head and stomach. To swaps with you!

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: What a curious combo! I can smell all of the notes. The tobacco and balsam stand out to me the most, backed by the black musk, and then I get the crushed mint and orange blossom, with the spices lingering in the background.

 

Wet: The black musk, tobacco, and balsam notes are the first to leap out at me, followed by the crushed mint and a bit of orange blossom. The tobacco variety featured here is actually a sweet tobacco, and it's rather lovely.

 

Dry: The sweet tobacco continues to reign, backed by the black musk, which is a lot tamer now, some balsam and fir, and a breath of the crushed mint and a much smoother orange blossom note. I normally amp clove, but it isn't a main player on me, and neither is the cumin. The spices just seem to be adding more warmth in the background. Although orange blossom can be problematic for me, it isn't a problem here.

 

Verdict: This is lovely! I did not expect to like Dracul as much as I do, given that it had cumin and orange blossom listed among the notes. I'll be keeping my imp, but no bottle upgrade for me unless I either use all of my imp or start running low on one of the other tobacco scents I already have.

[Pardona]

2 & 1/2 yo Dracul:

Just applied: Spicy-minty. This smells interesting
5 minutes: A large fir sprouted in my little spice garden - there's some mint growing at the bottom as well. I think a little bit away someone is smoking unfiltered cigarettes?
10 minutes: Something here is definitely taking over everything else - and I think it's the balsam of Peru. There's some spiciness dancing underneath, but other than that, the balsam is ruling everything else for now. It's definitely not unpleasant, though. *So* fresh!
15 minutes: The balsam is a *little* less... sharp? and I can smell the spices a *little* better, but otherwise not much has changed.
20 minutes: Okay, the balsam has definitely softened now, although it's still there, and the spices are a deliciously warm counter to the sharp balsam. I'm not *that* well acquainted with different spices, but I can definitely pick out the cumin, which works great for me, since I *love* cumin!
Half an hour: The balsam still, and on top of the cumin, I *think* I can identify the cloves? The bitterness of them is making it a bit hard to differentiate from the previous sharpness of the balsam, but since that has mellowed some, I'm pretty sure it's the cloves setting in, while the balsam has calmed down.
40 minutes: Yeah, not much has changed. The balsam is still there, and it and the warm spice - mainly the cumin - are blending beautifully together.
50 minutes: Still the same, although it seems to be dulling down abit, which in the case of the balsam is nice, but the spice seems to be just barely there anymore.
An hour: Still the gentle balsam-spice mix, which doesn't seem to be dulling down any more. There's *something* else there, but I'm having a hard time identifying it. Maybe the orange blossom? Not sure.
An hour and twenty minutes: Warm spice, and just... sharpness.
An hour and 40 minutes: Spice and sharp, although the sharp is is a little bit less so? Maybe a teensy but of the musk?
2 hours: Spicy musk, with the sharp still there, but less so. Very nice!
2 hours & 30 minutes: Musk, spices have almost faded, still a bit sharp.
3 hours: Nothing really new, and it's all just mellowing out.

 

Final verdict: starts out as with spices and balsam of Peru, and the spices have to struggle a bit to survive, but they *do* survive, and smell wonderful, especially the cumin. The musk establishes itself later on. Not at all what I was expecting from it, but a wonderful scent all the same. If I had to pick a color for this scent, It'd be something like yellow earth.

[RedPersimmon]

Just as dementia_divine noted, this is mostly sweet tobacco and black musk with just a hint of minty citrus on top. It's deep and bottom-heavy but softly sweet/bitter/earthy. It's in the same family as Auriga from the 2017 Yules. I think this would be best in cold weather.

 

 

Edited to Add: This lasts very long on me. Eight hours later, I get whiffs of musky tobacco and wonder where it's coming from.

Edited June 9, 2018 by RedPersimmon

[garbagewitch]

Dracul starts out crisp, clean, and slightly sweet—cool, sharp fir and mint, with an undertone of something warmer and sweeter, orange blossom and tobacco I think, with the musk giving it all a gentle fuzziness. As it dries down, the warmer notes come forward more, tobacco becoming darker and earthier, while cumin and clove pop out to provide a hint of sharpness against the furry black musk. The mint and fir still linger, creating a cool backdrop for the warmer notes.

 

Definitely one of the most interesting scents I've tried. The contrast of warm and cold notes makes me think of bright sunshine on a crisp, snowy day, then coming inside to a gently crackling fire, or a pair of cool, pale hands disappearing into a dark woolen coat carrying traces of pipe smoke.

 

It's also one of the more perfumey BPAL scents I've ever tried. All the notes are so well-blended, it took quite a few days of wearing it to pick out all the individual notes; the kind of scent that's definitely something someone chose to wear and not what they just naturally smell like, but in the best way.

 

Dracul is dark and refined and a little intimidating, without being overpowering or malicious. If I had to imagine the person who would wear this, I'd imagine a very well-dressed, austere man--the kind of man you'd describe as a gentleman without even thinking about it--who starts out quite aloof, but gradually gets warmer and more welcoming as the evening goes on, though there’s still an air of distance and darkness to him. This is the scent of that person who you fantasize about noticing you, but would absolutely terrify you if they actually did.

 

This is not the kind of scent I would have chosen for myself, but the more I sniff it, the more I enjoy this. Not sure yet if there's a full bottle in my future, but absolutely would recommend.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Fresh lemons

 

Initial Wet Application: I guess the lemons I’m getting is really the orange blossoms? There may be a faint whiff of mint keeping this fresh. I think I can also detect the fir and balsam which is keeping this woodsy and nice.

 

Dry Down (first 15 minutes): I liked this and although it got a little soapy with the dry down, it was still fresh lemon and pine needles on the forest floor. Once it dried completely there was mostly the same.

 

My Reaction: I’m mostly getting some balsam with lemon. I had expected this to be darker and I’m surprised I didn’t detect any of the tobacco. Maybe this is what the forests of Transylvania smell like? That’d be nice!

 

Rating: 2