Blood Pearl

[LiberAmoris]

Lustrous, sanguine, soft and lavish: soft orris, blood musk, and coconut.

I quite like Blood Pearl, which is a complete revelation, since Black Pearl was an absolute no-go on my skin. Blood Pearl is very similar, but it's drier somehow, with that muted musk that I love. It's like a red veil thrown over a lampshade. It's diffuse, mood-enhancing, wonderful stuff. And it has that pulsing glow that the other blood musk blends have.

Definitely keeping the imp, and would consider buying more in the future.

[sarahj]

Blood Pearl

 

frimp from the Lab

 

in imp: orris

 

wet: orris and musk

 

dry: mainly orris...why no coconut???...very dry scent

 

verdict: not for me, but I may try this on my husband and see how it smells on him...he tends to have better luck with orris

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: Soft sweetness with a dissonant side note.

 

Wet: Sweetness pairs with a deeper hum that is almost salty.

 

Drying down: It grows softer and blends together more. As it is, the mix comes across as perfume-y.

 

Dry: It has undertones that are bitter and salty, but the body of the scent is smooth and sweet.

 

Later: It smooths out more, but that converts the bitterness and salt into more perfume-like smells. The combination is interesting, but stronger than I would have expected from the description.

[maribouquet]

Blood Pearl is soft coconut and the violet tang of orris. After about ten minutes it melds into a sweetened orris with a slight woody note that I suspect may be the blood musk. Ten minutes more gives me a little less sweetness and a bit more musk.

 

Very pretty, with reserves of vitality like a banked fire. It's tropical without being overtly coconut, and puts me in mind of an island siesta: soft bed, shades down, breeze passing through. Or a nap after a good scrub in the shower after a long morning at the beach.

 

Dries down to a light skin-skimming scent. I enjoy it, but I don't think I'll wear it much, so it's off to swaps.

[supremegoddessofall]

Mostly orris, although I do get a touch of coconut underneath. Not particularly musky. Orris usually smells kind of sour on me, and here is no exception.

[bettybaker]

So, this is a really unusual scent. It smells like spicy baby shampoo, but oilier. This is something a harem beauty would wear as part of a campaign to usurp the head wife; it's diabolical, sultry, and intriguing. I'm very interested in it- I keep putting my nose to my wrist. It makes me feel like wearing eye-liner and flirting in a mysterious, sophisticated way.

 

Whoops. There goes flirtatious e-mail number one. Next I'll be calling someone and letting loose coquettish one liners. Soon I'll be oiling the shoulders of long-haired men and whispering schemes into their ears. Tantalizingly.

 

I'd wash this off before I get myself in trouble, but I'm having too much fun.

 

Make cookies, Betty. No Illicit phone calls.

[n1k1ta]

Welcome to my New Orleans. This is exactly the scent I would smell when I walked into certain French Quarter shops. I'm not sure if it was incense combined with the smell of old wood or if it was some other combination in those old houses, but this is that scent. It takes me back and I think I'm going to buy a full bottle of it.

 

The iris (soft orris) note is extremely strong in the beginning. But that fades to the background to become a feminine touch. The coconut isn't too sweet and adds to the floral of the iris. The blood musk is what really comes out on me.

 

Blood Pearl smells like temptation.

[ilona]

Gah! Orris! Yeah, I had to go wash this off. This is a strong dry floral iris soap. Never got any coconut or any musk at all.

 

Sorry to say, but this totally smells like old lady to me...

[lookingglass]

I thought that this was violet, but no...it's orris. Hmmm. The musk here is divine. Have I smelled it before? I don't know....but I am a musk LOVER and this is very different from anything in my collection. The coconut is just sweet enough with the freshness of the floral and musk. Simple, but I like it!

[myoubi]

Surprisingly, I like this fragrance -- surprising because it contains coconut, a note I usually find cloyingly sweet, and blood musk, which is usually too dark for me. This certainly isn't a perfume with universal appeal. It's a deep velvety-lush scent that has throw but doesn't scream its presence; on someone else it could be vampy and sexy, but on me I find it oddly comforting. Like having a big fuzzy pet monster that's scary to everyone else but nice to me.

I can smell all the component notes, they're distinct, but the combination takes the edge off of all of them -- the coconut isn't sweet and cloying but velvety, the blood musk doesn't have the nails-on-a-blackboard feel it usually does on my skin, but growls rather than stinks. The orris makes it more delicate. I'll keep the imp, although I doubt I'll need more.

[fiddledragon]

It's like a red veil thrown over a lampshade.

 

That quote describes Blood Pearl very well. On me, it's mostly coconut and musk, though I still really don't have a clear idea of what orris smells like, so I could be getting some of that, too. The musk is muted and almost a bit waxy, but not in a bad way. The coconut isn't too sweet...this is an unsweetened dried coconut rather than a lush coconut milk or sugary coconut candy scent. It sticks to my skin in a nicely subdued sensual way.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells like that dry papery orris note that I remember from Dance of Death, plus a wonderful sexy musk. The coconut is stronger when it's dry than when it's wet, but it's not a whole lot of coconut, just enough to round out the scent. Something about it smells a little bit like wood to me, but that's probably just the dryness of the orris.

 

I used to have a 10ml of Blood Pearl, but the coconut in it was much stronger than in this little imp I have. I sold the 10ml, and then I read in discussions about Perversion that as it ages the coconut scent in it isn't nearly as strong. I wonder if I had just let that 10ml of Blood Pearl sit in my BPAL box for another year or so it wouuld have been close to the scent in this imp. It's quite pretty.

[femmefatale]

Waahhhh, where is my coconut??? At first it's just strong and slightly sharp orris. As it dries the musk comes out and softnens it, but still no coconut.

I think this would work better for hubby, though if I can find some single note coconut to layer this with, then I think I would love it for myself.

[phedre]

In vial: coconut and musk. This reminds me of Lush's King of Skin, the old one with the gold dust.

 

Wet: Pretty! Definitely coconut oil, but also cocoa butter. Soft musk.

 

Drydown: Definitely King of Skin. Something's going a bit off on me, likely the musk.

 

This smells EXACTLY like King of Skin now. It's eerie.

[isabella]

smelled too much like sunscreen for me....

[Nia]

I am wary of this one, as I hated Obatala and I don't normally like coconut as a perfume, but this has enough flowerr in it to make the coconut behave itself and not go rancid or smell like artificially-coconut-flavoured yoghourt. As usual, BPAL musk makes friends with my skin, and if the floral butterflies that twinkle about are orris, I love orris.

[LadyCrow]

Wet, Blood Pearl definitely smells like musk and dragon's blood at first, with the deep, deep sweetness of the latter, but the coconut makes it rounder and more tropical. As I kept sniffing myself, I got visions of being on a porch somewhere lush in the Southern US, somewhere with fruit trees, drinking big drinks. (I have always depended on the kindness of strangers!) Blood Pearl is really nice -- rich without overpowering the nose. The orris did stick around the longest, leaving things a bit perfumey-powdery for my taste at the end, but it's worth that minor point given the comparatively long time this stays vibrant. It's a skin scent on me, which is good for the times you want to smell like these notes, but not overwhelm everyone within ten miles with your sultry sexiness! (Three miles, okay...)

[nightchild80]

In the Imp (wet): I smell the musk, but it seems to have a spice note in it. And I get the tiniest hint of liquorice. Not a good sign.

 

On facial cotton (dry): Ooooo! The coconut is showing up, but it's refreshing, rather than the heavy cream I was expecting.

 

On me: I like how the musk is soft and the coconut gives it a twist and a little life. However, this scent may give me a headache if worn in excess and a drop seems to go a long way. This one has me a little stumped.

[cvelis]

In the vial

Musk!

 

On me

Musk at first but then the orris comes out to play. Unfortunately, no coconut for me and orris gives me a headache!

 

Final verdict

Nice light floral with a nice musk touch. I just wish the orris played better for me. Off to swaps!

[anshara]

Note: I don't think I've ever reviewed Blood Pearl, which is strange considering I've been wearing it practically since it debuted. In fact, it's so strange, that, something tells me that I HAVE reviewed it, and, I just cant find the stupid post..... So, yeah.

 

In the imp: Boozy Cherrywood, tempered by an almost powdered milk sweetness (YUM)!!!!!!

On wrist wet: aquatic coconut with a dry dragon's blood base (Dragon's Blood + my skin= cherry brandy)

Initial drydown: The aquatic note and alcohol begin to settle and the slight floral undertone of the Orris comes through.

 

Mid Drydown: Mmmm, very nice I love the coconut in this, it's drier than the one in Snow white, yet, not dry enough to feel woodsy. At this stage the Dragon's blood deepens and becomes aged cherry brandy... Almost a cherry port... The Orris is there but only as a light floral hint.

 

Final Drydown: Dragon's Blood Morphs again becoming a muted backdrop to powdery sweet coconut laced with the delicately floral hint of Orris..... Light throw, excellent longevity. Great scent to wear when you're trying to make a good impression.

As you can tell, this is one of my favorites. It's the perfect marriage of sophitication and feminine delicacy. I'm so glad I have several bottles.

[simplethings]

Blood Pearl in the bottle: Smooth, but a bit astringent. I think I can smell vanilla.

 

Wet: Hmmm, slightly floral… not by much though. A different kind of floral. I don't smell coconut.

 

Dry: pleasing. I think the coconut comes off as vanilla on me. This isn't something I'd wear, but, it has really great qualities. Smelling it is relaxing to me.

 

After a few hours: The scent is still nice but becoming somewhat powdery.

 

Overall: 2.5 out of 5. Nothing really in here that I love.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Coconut with a hint of...flowers? I guess that's the orris?

Wet on skin: Coconut. With a bit of soap.

Drydown: Just a peek --a peek, mind you-- of something that is neither coconut or soap, which I guess is the blood musk. Really tame.

Dry: Same as the drydown.

 

My rating: Not bad, but not for me. 3/5

[monkey1123]

I love Black Pearl, so I'm a bit biased, but Blood Pearl is AMAZING on my husband. I put some in a little roller-top bottle for him to make it easy to apply (he once spilled nearly an entire bottle of Black Forest, so I'm a bit wary). It's like Black Pearl but just a little bit spicier or muskier, very sexy.

[n3m3sis42]

In the imp:

Incense? Musky incense?

 

Wet:

Still sort of incensey or maybe herbal... I'm guessing what I smell is the orris. I am not sure this review will be all that helpful since I don't really know what any of the notes (except coconut, obviously) smell like. Anyway, after it's on my for a couple of minutes, I think it smells a bit woody, and then the musk also starts to come out. I don't smell any coconut yet, which is okay with me because too much coconut for me is not a good thing. As it dries down, I am maaaaaybe starting to smell a little hint of the coconut, but if so, it's so well-blended with the other notes that it's not easy to pick out. What I am mostly smelling is wood and musk.

 

Dry:

The coconut finally comes out. I think that what I said in the beginning about "obviously" knowing what coconut smells like might have been wrong. I was expecting an in-your-face sweetness like suntan oil (because when I bought virgin coconut oil for my hair one time, it smelled that way, too). In this, the coconut seems to be lighter and sweeter. This is one of those blends where I am pretty sure I can smell all of the notes, but they are blended so well that together they are truly more than the sum of the parts. (Did that even make sense?)

 

Very nice.

[stasha]

In the bottle: Deep incense and musk. Not as overpowering as a lot of musks thank goodness.

 

Wet on skin: Same as in the bottle except it's so light I can hardly detect it.

 

Dry on skin: This is way too "new age" shop to me. I'd be into my room smelling like this though.

 

Eh!