Reenah

This one had a strange, but very linear transformation on my skin. From the bottle through the first hour on my skin, it was all a heavy, chemical-y soap. Sometime after thet it switched to a pure, somewhat tropical floral, probably freesia, or maybe lilac. It pretty much stayed that way until it died. It had none of the depth or drunk-on-power kick that I think Dragon's Blood ought to have. *sigh*

So I only tried this (and Dragon's Blood) out in Nail Polish Etc. and did not buy it. In the bottle there was a definitive DB, but it was waaaay too soapy; the vannila-honey was lovely and soft, but the softness allowed the soap to completely overpower it. Wet, the incredible honeyed vanilla milk became stronger but the soap was still VERY prominent. At this point I made my purchases and walked out the store. At some point over the next two hours the strong soap smell transformed into freesia! It was the strangest thing in the world to put my wrist to my nose and find an entirely different scent than I had when it had dried two hours earlier. It was so wonderful, very girly, with the sweet floral and the sweet vanilla: I really wanted to drive back to Nail Polish and buy it. (Interestingly enough the regular DB also went from soap to freesia.) Buuuuut Dragon's Milk had nothing to do with DB on me, sadly. I love the power and depth of DB and I've had some great sucesses with other brands' dragon's bood and I'm kinda upset that I won't be able to satisfy my cravings with BPAL. Ah well, still a nice scent. I'll go see if anyone's trying to sell of swap theirs.

As a newbie, I HAD to buy it, if only because it seems to be almost universally loved. I get that now! It was quite spicy in the bottle, almost herbal, but the vanilla was there. On my skin, it's a consistent journey towards the vanilla, with warm spices showing up while wet. That warmth combines with the vanilla at some level, to a somewhat amber affect, about 2 or 3 hours in. There's some powder, but not nearly as much as there was on my friend when she tried it. This is VERY warm; something I'd want to wear every day in the spring and summer, and maybe even the early fall, but I have a feeling it will really clash in cold weather and even as a nighttime scent.

In the bottle: Buttery to the point of butterscotch, with a underscore of cinnamon. Wet: The cinnamon went REALLY sharp (it bit my nose even with a cold), the butter dies down a bunch, it gains a sugary aspect and a vanilla-y one, maybe even a cookie feel. Dry: Still a lot of cinnamon and spice, but the butter, sugar, and vanilla melded into something wonderful and bakery-esque. There might be some nuts I can't detect with this cold. My friend called it a "dark bakery". Perfect!

In the bottle this was an overwhelmingly bitter floral, with a tiny damper of what might be vanilla. When it was wet on my wrist the bitterness was still the prevalent note, but the vanilla took on a distinctness that gave hope that I didn't just pay $3.50 for a tiny vial of cleaning product. As it dried, the sweeter flower came out, probably the orange blossom, and the black narcissus died down. As an hour or so wore on the bitter scent took on thicker qualities, almost a musk, providing a nice base for the sweet floral and vanilla. Overall, it has a nice complexity and is more sophisticated than the other two imps I got (Gluttony and Jester). As for being a love potion, well, I can see how the thick, balmly flowers might give it a sort of aphrodisiac feel, but it didn't do it for me. This is nice to have as an imp, but nothing I'm going to buy more of at the moment.