The Flaming Sword of the Cherub

[PaganPrince]

But when Eve plucked the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, when she and Adam were driven from Paradise, there fell from the flaming sword of the cherub a spark into the nest of the bird, which blazed up forthwith.

The searing red blaze that drove the First from Eden: dragon's blood resin, Ceylon cinnamon, and black amber.

Oh Gods, *gulp* I've never been first before!

This is my first test of a decant that may still need time to rest so I'll edit this if the need should arise, but so far I'm really enjoying this. Dragon's blood and cinnamon seem to be notes that can stomp all over the party for a lot of people, but this is so beautifully blended it's sweet and spicy, but grounded by the amber. It's a little sharp when wet, but the amber really saves the day as it dries down and I can only hope that trend will continue as it ages. I'd call this gender neutral. I'd also call this a full bottle purchase!

[mermaidsdream]

In the bottle: Deep and complex, almost plum/musk-like.

 

Applied: still a bit of the musk, but it fades quickly. There is a hint of resin (the amber), but it gets overwhelmed by the Dragon's Blood ...

 

Dry-down: I'd forgotten how much Dragon's Blood Resin smells like roses. And that's pretty much all I got. All day. On the plus side, unlike rose scents, it doesn't turn to baby powder on me, but it overwhelmed everything else in there :\

 

I do suspect this one will age well, but with the Dragon's Blood being the predominant note in this on me, I'm likely not keeping this bottle.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Wow. This reminds me of the first time I smelled BPAL. It's so quintessentially BPAL, I can't even describe it. It smells like something else I have tried before, long long ago. It's much more than the sum of it parts - I almost smell musk. I'm enthralled by it. Suddenly I am back in my tiny little basement apartment, during university, discovering BPAL when I should have been studying. Makes me happy.

 

 

Dry: Scherezade!! Somehow, crazily, this reminds me of Scherezade. It smells more like red musk than DB, then add in the spice...crazy! Now, I don`t have them side-by-side right now, it could just remind me of the MEMORY of Scherezade, but either way, that`s why this is so totally `BPAL` to me. I do like it a lot. Not sure if I need more, but I do really like it. Will have to test again (and against Scherezade to see if I`m crazy)

[SophieCedar]

I agree with everything LizziesLuck said: about it conjuring an association to scherezade, smelling of red musk instead of db, and being totally bpal. Its kinda like Scherezade Light. Its that pervading, sensual, mysterious scent that filled the 20 ft radius of my newly growing bpal stash back in 2009...oh the memories!

[zankoku_zen]

Cinnamon, red musk, and dark dragon's blood resin. The comparison to Scherezade is apropos. Good throw and wear length.

[Foodie]

The Flaming Sword of the Cherub is fiery indeed! When first applied I got a very strong dragon's blood incense burning smell. But when dry the cinnamon is the strongest note, with a delightfully dark, sweet amber smoldering in the background. I LOVE dragon's blood but this blend is not too DB heavy... it's there but not overpowering. A spicy, racy, sultry fragrance perfect for warming up your soul on a cold winter's night.

[VetchVesper]

Peppery dragon's blood assaults my senses at first. I'm guessing the cinnamon is what is giving me that nose tickling sensation, but I wouldn't have recognized it and it's not amping on me, which is unusual. I wasn't too impressed when I first put this on, but I kept getting whiffs, and now I'm considering a bottle. This sweetens and smooths out considerably with wear, I'm guessing b/c of the black amber and yeah - red musk. Mmmmmmmm.....

 

Thick, sweet, and resinous.

[JazzieCazzie]

I'm with them (insert little upwards-pointing arrow here) in that this reminds me SO much of my beloved Scherezade, one of my Top 3 all-time GCs, and also that this is a truly quintessential BPAL scent, the kind that I've never seen another company come even close to being able to create.

 

So with that ...

 

Bought a few imps worth in a decant circle (enough to earn the bottle!) and after first sniff immediately bought a back-up bottle (and got in just in time ... thank you, Lab!!!!!)

 

In the bottle: Incense, gorgeous gorgeous incense. I really don't get individual notes on bottle sniff, just this lovely blend.

 

Applied to wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: I'd say my only disappointment re: this is how very LITTLE throw it has ... it's super light. I actually applied a second toothpick's worth on both wrist and in crook. It is absolutely LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY. The Scherezade comps are dead on. The cinnamon does NOT burn, the dragon's blood does NOT go hot-house flower as it does in some blends (I used to think it was gardenia before I learned how to identify it on its own), and the amber is the beautiful ribbon that ties everything together.

 

DRYDOWN: I can't really differentiate between early and late drydown because it just dries pretty quickly. I get very little of the cinnamon though I know it's there (no burn, just that tiny spice). The dragon's blood in this (I mentioned something similar in my review of Deluge of Blood) is what I used to refer to as "my comfort scent" ... for some reason, sometimes DB goes lush hot flower on me and other times it's almost incense/resin on me. Not sure why. In this case, it's very much the resinous note that makes me think of favorite scents of my childhood.

 

Overall, this is a clean, lovely, comforting and subtle scent. It's very unique, not at all perfumey, but light enough in terms of throw to be a go-to scent I would feel comfortable wearing "out" with no fear of offending people who don't like smellies.

[Spaztic]

Wet on the skin: smells like Dragon's Blood with a cinnamon root beer vibe....my skin chemistry is so weird but I REALLY love this!!

 

Drying: Dragon's Blood and Cinnamon chewing gum, still loving it

 

This might be the cinnamon perfume of my dreams!

 

Comforting

 

edit: it just came to me! This scent smells a good deal like Thrills gum, that purple gum in the yellow package...I LOVE that gum!

Edited February 5, 2017 by Spaztic

[Blood onmy hands]

The dragon's blood and black amber are like a dry, hot incense and dried blood scent on me, with the cinnamon coming in dry, sharp and intense. I would normally hate this type of cinnamon, but I kind of like it mixed with the other red notes and the incense feel of this blend. It smells very heated and dry, like incense in a desert. As others have mentioned, it does have a bit of a dry, red musky feel to it in the drydown. I've been liking dragon's blood again lately and this is a spicy, incensey, musky, red dragon's blood. I have a couple decants of this and think that's enough, but I might track down a bottle at some point...