Dragon's Musk

[doomsday_disco]

Dominant, passionate, devastating. Dragon’s blood and five deep musks.

In the imp: Musky dragon's blood. The dragon's blood in this is a lot stronger than it was in Dragon's Bone or Dragon's Claw.

Wet: This is sharp. I am getting more musk than dragon's blood, but that doesn't mean that the dragon's blood isn't strong, because it is. I think one of the musks is black musk. I am getting some lemon or something lemon-like from this scent.

Dry: Sweeter and even muskier now. This is mostly just musk on me. I am generally not a fan of musk scents (aside from pale musks), but this is a pleasant surprise. I can tell that there are several different musks present, but I am able unable to identify them. I'm not getting much dragon's blood during this phase.

Verdict: The dry phase of this one is nice, but I don't feel like I need a bottle of this one.

[Veronica]

This starts off very red and resin-y from the dragon's blood but surprisingly dries down to a very lovely, creamy musk scent. It's warm and sensual and creamy, similar to Morocco without the spices. Very sexy!

[tallan]

Dragon's blood is one of the first notes I learned doesn't work on me, so I've wisely stayed away from the Ars Draconis line. That came to an end when I got this as a part of an Ebay lot, and happened to like it a lot.

Huh.

It's soft and musky and dark pink in my mind - terribly romantic. I get visions of medieval dresses and long tresses and other things which do not rhyme but is part of the same narrative - princesses and knights and... faires, things like that. Very, very pretty.

I'm keeping it.

[LexieBlom]

Dragons Musk imp

 

Wet/Bottle - Dragons blood and musk, pretty accurate to the name. Slightly sharp, however, which I wasn't expecting.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Very potent dragons blood, followed by hints and tits of musk. Still slightly sharp, hoping that softens a bit in the drydown.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - Musk becomes much more prominent, and the sharpness does indeed die down as I was hoping. Musky, sensual, sexy and powerful!

 

This is definitely a keeper, and I'll add a bottle to my wishlist!

[roseus]

Overall this scent is very "red" to me, which isn't my thing.

 

In the vial: primarily dragon's blood, a little bit of musk.

 

On wet: gets a little bit spicy, with some resin-y sweetness. The musks start warming up.

 

Dry: creamy and musky, with sweet-ish dragon's blood. Nothing wrong, but nothing really right for me either.

[LizziesLuck]

I thought I hated Dragon's Blood for years, and I avoided it. But recently I've realized my tastes have changed, and there were also notes I mis-identified when I first started collection that I need to revisit. Dragon's Blood is one of those, so I was excited to get a frimp of this from the Lab, as I already know I love Musk.

 

 

Wet: Musk, and something resinous, a little sweet, kind of spicy. "Thick" smelling. I assume that's the Dragon's Blood, and so far I like it. There's almost a floral quality to it. Interesting! I quite like it.

 

 

Dry: Quite pleasant. I like it, but it's not mind blowing on me. I don't feel the need to seek out more. I am really happy, however that I have discovered I do not need to avoid Dragon's Blood. In fact, looking forward to trying it in other scents.

[freyasfae]

Oh, this is pleasently surprising. I got this as a frimp and was convinced it would not work for me because I have yet to find a dragon's blood that works for - it mainly ends up smelling like fruity violets on me, but with the musks (which musk in any form does tend to love my skin), this is really pretty. It manages to be musky, but light at the same time (probably because it gets a bit powdery on me, but not in a bad way). It's not as dark as I had anticipated, more like a white dragon - like Falcor than Kahleesi's dragons.

 

In comparing my response with others, I imagine this goes lighter on me because Dragon's Blood usually goes fruity soap (particularly violet which is a DN on me), but with the musks this becomes less soapy and more white queen.

[Casablanca]

The lab's dragon's blood mix smells to me like hints of actual dragon's blood resin in a warm, sweet, cherry-toned floral. I smell that, and seem to also pick up red, white, and black musks, and possibly the skin musk of Neutral. As to the fifth... could it be an Egyptian musk? I'm getting something here that reminds me very much of that.

I like this blend for a musky mood.

[Sio Bhan]

After reading the description and following my love of musk, I purchased an imp. On the first sniff I could only detect Dragons Blood. While that is beautiful, it was too floral. Putting the oil on my skin did not remedy the initial scent and I was stuck with the incensed floral. I left it aside for three months to develop and when I came back to Dragons Musk I could indeed detect the musk, but apparently floral is just not my forte. Applying it to my wrist, it was unchanged and though an utterly stunning fragrance, it just did not suit my personality. It wasn't evil enough!!! The Lilac-esque aroma reminded me of a household spray used to disguise odour, such as a toilet spray. Nevertheless, it is still a beautiful scent and would compliment the right person, just not Sio.

[achildoftime]

I get more musk than dragon's blood. I can't pick out any musk in particular. It just smells generally musky with some dragon's blood off to the corner to start. It smells pretty rich when freshly applied, but it mutes itself in about ten minutes. It becomes a low skin scent very quickly and is mostly vaguely musky and only a touch of sweetness. It's a shame that it doesn't last longer because it start off nicely and with promise, but fizzles. Oh, well.

[Coldfire]

Imp: dark and deep musks with just the faintest touch of dragon's blood
Wet on Me: there is the dragon's blood more than the musks need to be careful how this goes. Dragon's blood can sometimes go Raid on me.
Drying Down: nice smooth powdery musks
Dry: a dark baby powder. Happy to have tried. But will put in the trade/sell bag.

[gloame]

Masculine and dominant for sure. It's got a kind of green tang underneath the blood. Really interesting scent, but not my jam.

[Joyleaf_]

Musk and Dragon's Blood has a tendency to go powdery on me. Its almost as if my nemesis myrrh is in this blend its so baby powdery. Im starting to suspect that Dragons Blood has the same effect on me a soft, powdery dry down that blurs the edges of all the other notes and drowns them in the quiet, irrepressible blizzard.

Other than the excessive powder I can make out a nice dark musk - like a shadowy figure. Ah well, thats okay, not everything can be winners.

[theseagrows]

a frimp from the lab! i tend to avoid the lab's dragon's blood. it's not terrible or anything, just not my cup of tea. however, sniffed the imp of this and i think it could be promising. when first applied i smell the familiar cherry/lilac dragon's blood thing with a hint of musk, though the dragon's blood is most prominent. after awhile the musks balance out with the dragon's blood and i am quite liking this! this is the first ars draconis scent that i have liked on me. definitely a keeper.

[boomtownrat]

Happy sixth birthday to my bottle of Dragon's Musk! 😄 I'm glad that I gave it so long before reviewing it, because over time it's turned into the scent that I wanted it to be.

 

Lately I've been in a musky mood and in need of empowering scents. I hadn't worn Dragon's Musk in a while, as the dragon's blood resin note has always been more cherry-floral than I'd like it to be. Then someone mentioned in another thread that they think of DM as an autumnal scent and it reminded me that I should try mine again. Coincidentally, I reached for it and saw that I've had it for six years as of this month.

 

Dragon's Musk used to be weirdly salty on me, in addition to that flowery, sweet DBR. I guess the musks were combining in an unusual way, or my nose just got confused, but in any case, it was consistent overy many attempts. But I wanted it to work and I thought it might change a lot with age, so I stored it in my cabinet and waited. I'm glad I did, because at some point, the saltiness faded into the background and the musks have blended gorgeously.

 

As for what musks are in it, I can identify the sensual sweetness of red (or maybe Siberian?) and the lemony tang of black. It's not as heady as you'd think, with so many musks present. Now that it's an older bottle, it's mellowed into something a little more potent than a skin scent, which is why I believe there's skin musk in it. Green musk would make sense and could be the reason for the saltiness. That would leave one last musk, and it could be the "dark musk" note that's also in Titus Andronicus, which feels like a distant cousin to this.

 

It took a few years, but Dragon's Musk is worth the wait. I could wear this everyday as a default scent.

Edited November 8, 2018 by boomtownrat
Weird paragraph breaks

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Mostly musk. I can pick out a dark musk first, followed by red musk. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, I get dragon's blood -- just dragon's blood. This is a little surprising but not unheard of, as musks are often slow developing notes on me. And my estimation is not far off. As it dries, dark musk once again gains prominence, though the dragon's blood is still a main note. Given some time to develop, I find that the musks primarily work to temper the sweetness of the dragon's blood, which is work they're happy to accomplish while remaining in the background. 

 

On me, this is not too different from Dragon's Heart, except that I think I like the more rounded scent of that blend a bit better. 

[myrrhmyrrh]

In the vial: oh! I don’t know what to say! I don’t have a sophisticated enough nose to analyze beyond the given description: It’s magical, like I just uncorked an enchanted phial of something powerful beyond my ken.

 

On me, wet: it’s musky and incense-y, certainly- the musk checks the incense to prevent it from becoming churchy or anything like that. There is a medieval legend that the chrism oil comes from the earwax of dragons from beyond Babylon (cf Jean-Pierre Albert, Odeurs de Sainteté) and this reminds me of that tale- not least the dangers involved in culling it

 

On me, just dried: sexy now, mysterious, and also still daring, something “foreign,” something from farlands, even otherworldly

 

After 15 minutes: It’s settling down, a little less daring, and a little more comfortable, soothing. I’m wondering if I can perhaps smell orange, like dried peel coming along and sweetening the dryness a bit – still very sexy

 

After 30 minutes: Morphed a little in something vaguely medicinal now, which is Not Sexy.

 

After 1 hour: fading rather, especially quickly for a scent that came roaring in - only the slightest hint of medicinal.

 

After 3 hours: no more medicinal, husky musky, soft and furry

 

Verdict I’m a floral girl all the way but in its first phases I was almost convinced to change my ways or at least make an exception, until that medicinal moment, so I’ll need to pass on this frimp but was happy to conduct the experiment nonetheless. I’ll pawn it off on the fella and see how it morphs on him.

[RoseThornAndOak]

Well @myrrhmyrrh, your review is perfectly sophisticated compared to mine. All I got was powder and metallic must from Dragon's Musk.

 

If you love the Lab's dragons blood note, I say give this a shot. It just doesn't suit my skin as much usually although there are always exceptions to the rule.

 

[myrrhmyrrh]

@RoseThornAndOak (what a lovely name - it reminds me of the poem in Wylding Hall) 

 

Aww, you're very kind to say so! What should I give a shot, exactly? A different scent or Or did I misunderstand and you're saying I should give Dragon's Musk a second go? 

[bellumed]

One of the least dragon's-bloodsy (a terrible word I've just invented) blends of the Ars Draconis line, which for me is a good thing. Mostly just yummy musk combined with that cherryish dragon's blood.

 

I would go so far as to say that this is downright tolerable! Okay, I'm just not big on DB as a note. In seriousness, if you're the same but want to explore this category, I recommend this one as well as Dragon's Hide.