Serpent's Kiss

[itsuki]

Seething with passion, yet utterly cold-blooded. Dragon's blood, vetivert and spice.

This is a freebie from the Lab , and a scent which I would never have chosen to try otherwise.

In vial: The color is just so fascinating, I spent several minutes staring at it. It's a deep, dark red. Ooooh, pretty.

On skin: Wow, spicy!! It's definitely a RED HOT scent, all-consuming like fire. I was reminded of those cinnamon Big Red chewing gums, and in a good way.
It is perfect for when you need to add an extra zing to your day, it's better than coffee.

Dragon's blood has never worked on me before, but this proved to be the exception.
I cannot understand why an oil that contains all the things I fear (cinnamon, dragon's blood and vetiver are all big no-no's) works so well on me. This is ridiculous!
*scratches head*

I really really like this!

[Monster]

Again, Dragons Blood turns my stomach.

This smells like pure dragons blood to me. Very heavy and sharp with the vetivert.

 

If you like Dragons Blood, this one is for you.

 

I couldn't apply this to my skin, just due to the fact that dragons blood makes me sick and is really hard to wash off.

[Little Bird]

This is another case of a bad run-in with dragon's blood for me. It's very strong, cold, and almost metallic in this blend. And it's doing its usual rotten flowers smell as well. Rotten flowers and metal.

 

After 10 or 15 minutes a bit of cinnamon starts to come out. It's a very sharp cinnamon and it's making my eyes water.

 

Half hour mark - this smells like dragon's blood and old spice . I just washed it off. No more kissing serpents for me.

[aessedai]

Now, I love Dragon's Blood. I knew this.

The mystery spice in this scent, though? Amazing!

It is so reminscent of an old general store or candy counter. Ya know those stick hard candies? Yea. It reminds me of those. Now, to find out what that mystery spice is, so that I can seek it in other forms!

[joseybird]

Very heavy Dragon's blood muddied and darkened with ashy vetiver and spices...Not...for...me...

[Orodemniades]

Uh, patchouli and Dragon's Blood.

 

Hmm. With cinnamon? Hopefully the cinnamon will kick the Dragon's butt...

 

Oh, DBR, I always have hope that you and my skin will get along, and once again, I am disappointed. Sometimes you work, sometimes you don't...

 

Oro

[lemurcatta85]

the vertivert made me gag. So much so, my boyfriend asked if I was going to puke. :|

[LyndaM]

Once again I'm foiled by my nemesis, Dragon's Blood. On me it's a fakity-fake cherry-scented-plastic note, and I just can't do it. I catch whiffs of the vetiver, which is interesting as I haven't tried many scents containing it yet. It's giving an almost medicinal touch, here.

 

This one just didn't work for me.

[Fefferbella]

Dragon's blood is pure cherry on my skin. Sadly this is all I could smell from this blend.

 

Off to the swap pile.

[brownbear]

This started out smelling woody and spicy. It's dark and mysterious smelling. Then it got spicier and then it turned into rice. Really weird. It smells exactly like rice on my skin. ugh.

[cupide430]

Serpent's Kiss

 

Fairly strong vetivert at first. After a while, an almost violetty sweet spicy scent. Interesting, but so not for me.

[BlueStar]

This is a dragony spicy indecence.

 

Wet: Dark and gloomy, sinister and seductive. This stuff is hot and snakey sexy.

 

Drydown: Another scent that starts great and the vetiver makes it suck on my skin. Vetiver is a hit and miss for me. When it's good its really, really good and when it's bad its awful!

 

Verdict: Why won't it work.

Edited December 12, 2005 by BlueStar

[judas_kiss]

Hmm...I was a bit afraid to try this one out b/c all dragon's blood blends have not agreed with my chemistry thus far. That said, this one and I (despite my on-and-off-again relationship with vetivert) did not work. It was just too much. I must say the sweetness of the dragon's blood was tempered by the vetivert nicely. The spice is a nice touch. But, it just wasn't me.

[SeaMonkey]

In the imp, its cinnamon and its scary, because cinnamon doesn't work on me. It either leaves welts on my wrist or is just stinky

 

As this dries, its vetivert and cinnamon. I'm only getting a little bit of dragon's blood, but this is still really strong. The vetiver and cinnamon eventually dry to a strange woody scent that I'm not sure if I like or not

 

*edit---here comes the itchy welts........ouch. Time to wash this one off. Pity, because I was just starting to like the smell*

Edited January 7, 2006 by SeaMonkey

[Thaleia]

I tried an imp of Dragon's Blood recently, and was surprised to find out that it smelled like flowers in springtime. I'm smelling this now, and in the vial, it doesn't combine well with the vetiver and spices, to my nose. It smells and looks like raspberry vinaigrette.

 

Wow, that is one fiery scent. The cinnamon comes out on my skin almost immediately, backed up by the vetiver. The dragon's blood resin is somewhere in the background, adding sweetness to the cinnamon spice. This is a weird spicy/floral/resiny smell, and ... I smell like a salad bar. I'd prefer my dragon's blood by itself or with other florals to complement it. 2/10.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: all vetiver and spices.

on: lots of vetiver. some spice.

1.5 hours later: odd. this is getting almost fruity on me. however, it's still mostly vetiver.

3 hours later: fruity.

overall: this is interesting, but not something i would wear often.

[Neely]

In the bottle: WOW, bright, bright red! I smell Dragon's Blood, and spice.

 

Wet: Dragon's Blood, cinnamon, something woody?

 

Dry down: creamy cinnamon, but not redhots cinnamon like I got with Chimera. This is very nice!

 

30 minutes: creamy, woody, cinnamon.

 

Conclusion: I like this one, it smells good. Cinnamon behaves itself in this blend on my skin. I might get a big bottle of this one. Still love Spanked for my cinnamon fix.

 

Rating on my skin, this is a 4.5.

 

ETA: edited because I forgot I already tried it and tried it again. I got the same great creamy cinnamon spice, but then the Vetiver turned funky bitter on me, so it didn't smeall as good. Chemistry must change with hormones. Hmmm.

Edited March 10, 2006 by atropos

[smallvoice]

It has vetiver in it, and I still love this scent. I've noticed a pattern with me reacting poorly to vetiver, and have concluded that I generally don't like it much. Serpent's Kiss is just... it's everything I love about Ars Draconis and then a kick of spices that are fiery and rich and warm... The dragon's blood sends up this creamy note, and it's like... it's sort of like if you made Hamadryad into a tea and added cream and sprinkled some extra cinnamon on top... that's sort of what this smells like to me. This is so very much a keeper.

 

ETA: Oh! It's what I wanted Blood (From Bewitching Brews, for reference) to smell like!

Edited February 17, 2006 by cordia

[fiddlehead]

Serpent's Kiss

 

I get a strong hit of cinnamon from this and can hardly pick out the Dragon's Blood. Underneath the cinnamon scent is a weird note that I now know is Vetiver. My nose is getting more educated! Anyway, this eventually dries down to a blend of cinnamon, spice and vetiver, near as I can tell. It reminds me of a very spicy Burial. I like cinnamon but I think the Vetiver will be too strong for me in this one.

[ovxi]

Hmmm, thought I'd already posted to this thread, since this is one of the ones I like a good bit. Guess not-- I shall remedy that now.

 

Fittingly, Serpent's Kiss is one of the oils that bites me, which I suspected when I sniffed the bottle. I love cinnamon, but cinnamon is ambivalent at best toward me. Doesn't bite as badly as my beloved Eclipse, though. And I'm lucky-- Serpent's Kiss doesn't change much on me, so I can get my fix by wearing it in my hair. (Which, for those concerned about staining, is dyed blue, and the colour is unaffected by the oil.)

 

I'll agree with those who said it's a hot scent. Very much so, the firiest I've yet met. I got this as a present along with the rest of my order. Fine job, too.

 

It's not a daily-wear scent for me. I'm not generally that red and firey. But when I want an extra kick, this stuff is amazing. Because I can't play the slather-game with it, I'll probably continue to use it pretty rarely, but it's a gorgeous scent, and I intend to make sure I always have an imp. Plus, the insanely bright red of the oil in the bottle is really pretty. If this is dragon's blood and vetiver as well as cinnamon, I'm definitely interested in checking out other blends with those elements. I may upgrade to a 5ml on this one one day. I like it a lot.

[PixieSkull]

Dragon's blood, vetivert and spice.

In the imp: Dirty and cherry. Mostly dirty.

Wet: Oh wow this is horrid! Must be vetivert and the DBR together that don't mix with my chemistry.

Dry: Much of the same. Something like really old peanut butter and dirt and twizzlers.

 

Category: NEVER-AGAIN

Rating: 0/5; almost made me ill

Overall: Alright, vetivert hasn't been bad on me before but after trying this one twice, I think that's what's off. It was so gross that I had to wash it off immediately, but then it was a persistant bugger and would NOT wash off! Poor blend, there was a greatness to the sound of it.

[sideviewhotel]

Meh. This is mainly vetivert on me. ;_; I was hoping for more Dragon's Blood & spice, but, nope. All vetivert. Swaps, definitely.

[Nekomata]

Very true to the description when wet. (Strangely my husband thinks it smells like cocktail sauce i the bottle. O_O)

When it dries it smells like allspice/christmas candles. A good blend for anyone who likes spices!

[juniperus]

Bottle: spice and...gotta be the vetivert. damp burnt wood-bits from a campfire. hint of sweet.

Wet: more of the sweet and spice. the spice is getting me in the sinus a little, but I'm not sure why.

Dry: reminds me of a grandmotherly witch's cottage in the afternoon sun - drying florals, warm aged wood, and spices. sweeter than I usually care for, but not offensively so.

Later: A sweet spiciness that doesn't smack of bakery - very interesting. The spice and vetivert remain strong til the end, the sweet present but not so much that I can so easily pick it out of the pine-up. Really interesting, I keep sniffing my wrist, pondering it.

[abberlaine]

The oil is a thick, bright orange -- cool!

 

Wet, I get hit with very, very strong pepper and vetivert. A few minutes later, the spice diversifies and the vetivert fades back down. The only other blend with Dragon's Blood I've ever tried was Dragon's Hide, and that had a very strong orange liqueur/cherry component, which I'm not getting here. Still, like Dragon's Hide, Serpent's Kiss has the feel of something that a grown-up basement geek would wear to impress the ladies.