Time's Infliction of Eternity

[suki]

Time’s Infliction of Eternity:
A sanguine blend of Dragon’s Blood sedum and black tea.

I must confess that I have a predisposition to adoring this scent. BPAL's Dragon's Blood is my favorite of all Dragon's Bloods and how can I NOT like mixing that with Black Tea?! It's all speculation, but here's hoping...

In The Bottle: That sweet, bloody, almost-lilac of pure Dragon's Blood and something sweet under it. I'd read somewhere that Red Musk was a note in this blend, though it's not listed in the official description. However, the sweetness matches the red musk note of Smut, so maaaay-beeeee

Wet On Skin: The slightly lemon-y black tea note of Dorian is making itself known rather strongly! Dragon's Blood, at this point, is still on board, but has taken a surprising back seat to the tea note. Curiouser and curiouser, indeed!

Dry Down: Balance achieved- the black tea has settled a bit leaving room for the DB to come back a bit more to the fore- not as strongly as it had been in the bottle, but certainly an equal presence to the tea, which is now more moderate. And yes, there is, almost as afterthought, a sexy edge of that red musk peeking through. Whether a hidden note or my imagination, who can say- but I sure do like it!

In All: Many of my favorite Black Phoenix scents bare the mark of Beth's complex hand at work- oh, how that woman can take a million notes and create a fine thing from them!- but every now and then, there comes along a scent that is stripped down and yet still complex on it's own merit. Time's Infliction is certainly one of those scents. Medium throw (go easy with first application- save the slather for *after* sufficient testing!) it's accessible enough for occasional daytime usage and yet heady enough for an intimate evening out when flirtation is on the menu. And with the resin playing a prominent part, you can bet this is sure to become ever more compelling with age.

Lovely love.

[razzlecupcake]

This is *delicious*, and I am so glad I jumped for the chance at it. It is the same lovely Dragon's Blood I adore so much mixed with a slightly dry tea smell. I agree with the above review that the tea dominates wet, but the drydown is much more balanced. :all of the love:

[midnight_aeval]

I was hoping the Dragon Blood note in this leaned in the resiny direction, of course if this was the case I'm sure the scent's notes would have specified, but that's me being hopeful! This is the floral dragon's blood note that rules those blends in Ars Draconis. First applied, the blend is stronger on the Dragon's Blood, very dominant, which is not surprising given my history with DB. As it dries, the black tea comes to the party and creates a nice balance from the overly floral DB. For such a "simple" blend, it's remarkably complex.

[Poenari]

I adore the Lab's dragon's blood, so the only question for me in this was how Dragon's Blood "sedum" compares to Dragon's Blood "resin". Upon bottle sniff, ahh, there it is, the dragon's blood that I am familiar with, quickly followed by the tea. On skin, and I only lightly tested this instead of my usual slather, after the dragon's blood dries there is an almost green note- as if it was green tea rather than black tea. Hmmm... I don't understand this, but that green note is quickly subdued by the black tea. About 1/2 hour after application, this has mellowed into a soft blend of dragon's blood and red musk. I have a zillion red musk blends from the lab, and yes, I feel like it's in there somewhere. This is a very lovely scent and I think it will only get better with age.

 

 

edited because my laptop is stupid

Edited October 6, 2013 by Poenari

[mymymai]

ITB: I was expecting something much stronger, much more resinous. Instead, I get a really lovely scent composed of fragrant black tea and something pleasantly floral and perhaps a touch of licorice.

 

Wet: A very floral, almost licorice smelling dragon's blood mingles with darker tannin-laden tea (like English Breakfast). It's gorgeously dark and enticing, while still being slightly sweet and now faintly resinous.

 

Dry: Once dried, the scent becomes a very subtle blend of floral dragon's blood and faintly sugared tea. It's a bit more gentle now, but still a very attractive scent.

[ellebelle]

This scent is stunning. I am not a HUGE dragon's blood lover, but something told me to take a chance on this and I am so glad that I did! The wet stage (on me) is dragon's blood with a GIANT HEAP of lemon. I'm not a lemon lover, so I was concerned - but I shouldn't have been! As it dries, the lemon fades into a general sugared tea kind of scent which mixes beautifully with the dragons blood. Definitely a keeper as I've got nothing like this in my collection. <3

[AmyO'Shields]

I think it's the tea note here that translates as licorice/anise to me. It did the same thing in Jibiki Danuki...yikes. I couldn't even skin test my decant...couldn't get past the licorice vibe.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Herb Girl

[kashmira]

I find it fascinating that this one turns into a liquorice/anise tea. It started off sweet and lovely, but in a few minutes, it turns into the familiar smell of anise. If I sniff really hard, I can pick up a bit of a "red" note, but by far and large, the dominant note is liquorice.

 

It's not unpleasant per se, but it is definitely something I'm going to let age for a long time.

[OctoberGwen]

Note: my decanter has listed the notes as "Dragon's Blood Sedum, Red Musk, and Tea."

 

This blend is beautiful; very dragon's blood-heavy upon application, but then the red musk (and there is most definitely red musk in here) comes forward and they swirl together with the tea. The three elements really play nicely together.

 

Unfortunately, I just don't love dragon's blood; it is far too sweet for me and can sometimes even induce one of those nausea-producing headaches. This makes me sad, because as a red musk whore, I can say that this blend is red musk heaven. Ah, well.

 

If you love dragon's blood and red musk, hunt this one down. You will die happy.

[Lethran]

Review: This is the strongest tea note I’ve ever smelled in a blend. There is a hint of licorice to it, which is possibly a phantom from the way the dragon’s blood sedum mates with the tea. In any case, the two blend together well, with the dragon’s blood a bit stronger. Wet: Strong and heady. I’d swear there was lemon verbena in this now. I’m guessing this is whatever was giving the licorice accent in the bottle. I’ve never smelled sedam, but I’m guessing this is an aspect of that, the way carnation smells spicy. Either way, the Dragon’s Blood Sedam has big throw, while the tea fades into good support. Dry: Mostly dragon’s blood.

[Monday]

This is the softest dragons blood Bpal that I have smelled so far.

On my skin wet: Soft cushy dragons blood mingling with red musk and a hint of lemony tea. I also get a honeyed scent from it. The tea takes over for a while when its drying down.

On my skin dry: Honeyed tea with the softest red musk ever, the dragons blood lends a floral touch to it. Warm and red with lots of throw.

It reminds me most of Eldritch Dark bath oil which also has that smooth red musk and slight floral feel. I like it but I'm not sure if I need more than my decant so far.

[zankoku_zen]

Dragon's blood, softened with tea.

 

It's warm, gives a coiling warmth vibe, and is a strong blend.

[Zii]

Am I glad I didn't end up buying a bottle of this blind or what. My chemistry does not agree with this at all....

 

First off, there is absolutely no tea in this. None. At least nothing that smells like any black tea I've ever brewed. As for the dragon's blood, it is by turn roses and licorice. It is missing all the complexity I love out of Dragon's Blood, and is cloyingly sweet and bitter all at once.

 

Not even giving this a chance to dry down. I don't need the headache.

[keileya]

I bought this unsniffed off eBay on the strength of reviews + knowing that dragon's blood is one of my top super awesome amazing fantabulous frabjous calloo-callay notes. This has proven to be an excellent lifestyle choice. I only regret that I have but one bottle to give for my ...quest of smelling awesome, I guess.

 

In the bottle, it smells very much like well-steeped (almost oversteeped) black tea and a very faint hint of dragon's blood, with a teeny tiny bit of anise hiding in the background like it's part of the tea blend. Wet on skin, the astringency of the tea note comes out full-force -- I swear I can smell the tannins. It's kept from being mouth-puckeringly polyphenolic by the warmth of the dragon's blood, though: the end result is a smoky, steamy, warm cloud of coziness. The astringency of the black tea keeps the dragon's blood from being too sweet/fruity, and the dragon's blood keeps the black tea from being too tart/astringent. If this scent were a GC in the Ars Draconis line, it would be called Dragon's Smoke or Dragon's Steam: the smoke note isn't the harsher almost-acrid burning of Brimstone or Djinn, it's the warm waft of fragrant steam from a nice cuppa.

 

In the drydown, the hint-of-anise from earlier moves back in, and this time it's brought all its friends: the blend picks up hints of fruit, but not the usual floral/fruit of all the Lab's dragon's blood blends I've tried so far, instead being the ripe, juicy fruitness of plums or grapes that were picked at the perfect moment. Over the first hour, that fruity, licoricey, tea-like goodness softens slowly and blooms into a meld of resin with just enough sweetness. The throw is decent, but mannerly -- not a punch-you-in-the-nose cloud of PERFUME!, but the same sort of gentle fragrant steam of a well-brewed cup of tea. (That is, with moderate application, it's enough for my wife to smell seven or eight feet away on the other side of the office, but only as a hint.) It's a concentric-circles scent, too: with my wrist up close to my nose I get the full fruit/anise/tea/musk/dragon's-blood deal, while when my hands are on the keyboard typing I get a near single-note dragon's blood. (The resiny, low-pitched notes of the dragon's blood chord, not the floral soprano notes that sometimes overwhelm. Considering the bass notes of dragon's blood is my favorite part of the chord, this is a good thing.)

 

After an hour or two, it settles in to being soft musk and dragon's blood, with a rich, almost vanilla, overtone to it -- just a touch of cream in the cup of tea. It stays there for quite some time: at eight hours I was still getting noticeable scent, and it didn't fade entirely until ten or eleven hours. (That's impressively long on me: between chronically-dry skin and a genetic disorder that affects my body's collagen production, thus changing the chemistry and composition of my skin and its pH balance, my skin eats perfume oils like nobody's business.) By the time it finishes on me, it's a mannerly, resinous incense with lingering hints of the smoke still managing to stick around.

 

I spent the entire time I was wearing this sniffing myself and declaring "Oh my God, I smell amazing." Because: Oh my God, I smell amazing. I may have to pause for a week or two in my quest to smell Every BPAL Blend I Can Get My Hot Little Hands On (I, uh, may have had a critical failure of willpower on the last few orders) and just roll around in this one for a while.

[aiobhan]

Bottle/Wet: Dragon's Blood! Musky, pungent, warm, sweet. Love it.

 

Drying: The dragon's blood always warms up very sweet and spicy on my skin, so I'm loving that, but the maltiness and sweet-dried-tea scent is starting to come through.

 

After an hour: Musky, sweet, and the perfect balance of black tea leaves and dragon's blood.

 

I love this.

[dottie_doom]

My very first review! I was lucky enough to grab a bottle recently and am oh so happy that I did. I should preface this by saying that I LOVE Dragon's Blood and LOVE Tea notes, so basically this is my dream combo.

 

This scent did not disappoint. It has the lovely sweet floral notes of Dragon's Blood mellowed by the tea which is so so lovely. I find this scent to be very comforting. It is a bit lighter than most Dragon's Blood scents, but still has lasting power. I don't pick up the lemon or licorice notes that other people have mentioned. I have only worn it once so far so perhaps I'll notice those notes later on.

 

This is just a beautiful scent. I might need to find another bottle!

[porcelina]

this smells like floral black tea with lemon. there is something that reminds me of licorice and there is musk that kind of reminds me of black musk but i don't know if it actually is. this is a really pretty and unexpected scent!

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Very sweet tea, with some almost floral notes. Feminine and pretty. Instant love! Hoping it doesn't morph much, this is beautiful. Tiny hints of spiciness are barely detectable.

 

 

Dry: This is beautiful and simple. Tea, and spicy/floral Dragon's Blood. I love it. And the label art is gorgeous.