Dragon's Reverie

[CitizenBree]

Opium-laced dreams of flame, plunder, power and fury: dragon’s blood resin, poppy, amber and ylang ylang.

I think it's becoming evident that dragon's blood and I don't really mix. Which is weird because I do like lilac and it smells like lilac to me. But when i put it on, something else happens. It ends up taking up a very old timey scent, like a grandmother's powder room.

With Reverie, it's a bit sweeter and less floral than the other Dragons I've tried.

This one also doesn't seem to last as long.

[kunoichi]

In the vial, this is a pungently ferocious scent of dragon's blood resin underscored by ylang ylang, and presumably the scent of poppy. It mellows on my skin, with the florals coming out from behind the pungent aroma, softening it until it becomes almost - but not quite - tame; it is a very interesting aroma, with a slightly sweet edge rounding out the powerful resin. After a few hours, it is the scent of amber which remains, tinged slightly with a vague hint of dragon's blood resin.

[melrose]

First on, wet: Wow, this is really sweet! Not what I expected from an Ars Draconis blend.

 

Near drydown: too sweet for me, but okay, nothing exciting.

 

Far drydown: it smells an awful lot like Ysatis, a perfume that is really awful on me. I have next to no experience with poppy, but I suspect it's no one note, but a combo that's causing the problem.

Edited May 12, 2010 by melrose

[moon_lemming]

Okay, it's official: the Lab's dragon's blood blend and I are incompatible. I don't know WHY it works in Dragon's Milk, maybe the vanilla? Dragon's Reverie is not as lucky for me; the sharp floral that I hate -- maybe jasmine, maybe not? -- takes over here. It's also powdery due to the amber.

 

Away with you!

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting dragon's blood and what's either poppy or ylang ylang. On my skin, I'm getting mostly the poppy and the ylang ylang. We'll see what this does. Poppy and ylang ylang and fades quick, not for me.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Venneh

[sarielswish]

In the vial, it's highly resinous, sweet and heady. Very nice, but hopefully not too strong. Color, flame red.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm mostly getting amber and ylang ylang, which is a pleasant surprise. It's a very womanly scent - something I'd imagine a Chinese empress wearing or something. :-)

 

10-15 minute drydown - Slight powderyness coming from the amber, but that is expected, especially with my chemistry. Now I'm starting to get a little more of the cherryish sweetness of the dragon's blood and the depth of the poppy. So far, I have to say that this is my favorite of the Ars Draconis line.

[rawgirl75]

I have such a hard time describing why I love Dragon's Reverie so much. It's one of those blends that I wear only once in awhile (because I have so many others!) and thus rediscover my love for it over and over again.

 

~

 

In fresh imps, the amber, poppy and dragon's blood notes tend to make this powdery. Happily I report that goes away with aging. This is definitely another one of those blends that needs atleast 6 months to a year of cellaring before it really comes into its own.

 

Dragon's Blood was too floral soap on it's own and Dragon's Milk, although deliciously creamy, amps too sweet on me. With Dragon's Reverie however, the amber softens and smooths the florals and the ylang-ylang sweetens it up for me without overdoing it.

 

~

 

I broke down and ordered a bottle of this earlier this year after I realised how much I would be heartbroken if this ever got discontinued. And it solidly reigns on my Top 10 list to this day.

Edited July 13, 2010 by rawgirl75

[Vega]

Sniffed: Light, spicy dragon's blood.

 

On skin: Poppy gives a spicy embellishment to the red, juicy dragon's blood. Can't quite smell the amber, and I occasionally get a whiff of ylang ylang. The spice gradually smoothens out and blends with the dragon's blood. Simple, light yet full-bodied, uplifting, sweet and spicy. Very benevolent for a dragon's daydream! Dragon's Reverie is very similar to Blood Rose, albeit a bit lighter and spicy.

 

Verdict: A very pretty scent indeed. But Dragon's Musk is my go-to for dragon's blood, so I don't think Reverie will get much action. Still, it's a lovely variant of the Ars Draconis blends!

[forspecial_plate]

I can wear these notes separately, or combined with other notes. But together, they are just too powdery and wind up reminding me of household cleanser. It's not quite the soapiness that I get from lily, but almost as bad. Come to think of it, I'm not sure there's anything with ylang ylang that I actually enjoy wearing, so maybe that's the culprit. I like opium and poppy notes, and I like dragon's blood in some blends.

 

I think I just need to go wash this off now. : (

[ravenzwart]

at first it's a little like wings of azrael but it gets a little soapy

 

right now i have 5 scents on me so i need to try some on tomorrow

Edited November 10, 2010 by lucifera

[Altaira]

More feminine than straight Dragon's Blood. Interesting, but I think I feel a headache coming on, will test longer later.

[Gateau]

Received this as an extra when I bought a bottle from a generous forum member. I had been avoiding the Ars Draconis blends, and this confirmed that is a good choice for me. It's just not a direction my nose and chemistry like to go in.

 

In the imp: hippie head shop sweet incense

 

Wet on me: still strong whiff of hippie incense, but I can now detect a white flower note with that pleasantly slightly bitter soapiness they have. Feel a little twinge of headache coming on.

 

On the drydown: this is getting more balanced, with the top sweet note (ylang ylang?) balancing with the spicy incense and mellowing out, but it's still giving me an overall impression of a hippie store I used to frequent. Headache intensifying.

 

I washed it off when I got home. I actually liked the faint remnant that got left behind, which was more spicy and resinous than sweet. Not for me, though.

[angelamaria]

In imp: spicy, slightly floral, but not overwhelming. The florals here are nice and tart, leaning towards being cologne-y, but not tipping over.

 

Wet on skin: well then, the amber has gone noticeably powdery. There is a bright note amping somewhere--a kind of spicy floral scent, but the ylang ylang seems more prominent to my nose. Granted, I'm not exactly sure what poppy smells like yet. Slightly resiny.

 

Dry: sigh. The amber has gone overwhelmingly powdery. Otherwise, it is a nice, slightly musky floral, not heady but "there". It's an elegant sort of floral, chin up and all that. I kept sniffing my wrist here, and I feel quite betrayed by the amber here.

 

Verdict: this would have been a keeper if the amber didn't trample over all of the other notes after going to powder (leaning towards baby powder, not smoke, although neither here not there). Oh well!

[tkannon]

I have tried this multiple times and have loved it every time. Its sweet but still has the resiny quality that grounds it. Doesn't last as long as I would want it to. Its definitely leading me to try more dragon scents.

[Gargoyle]

Wet - A sweet musky floral. Looks like this is one of the heavier scents I've tried.

Drydown - The dragon's blood and amber are coming out more, the floral has faded a bit (yay!). A few people have used the word "languid" and I have to agree. I feel powerful, like I could crush you with my tail but I'm too busy basking at the moment.

[stellamaris]

Of all the Dragon's Bloods I have tried I chose this one for the Big Bottle, as it's a bit more sophisticated IMO.

This smells just like Objet D'Art and Spirit, a Los Angeles haunt for me, when I lived there.

This is like Dragon's Blood, and Heaven.

It has no edge, just soft incense.

[iamzuul]

In the bottle: Oh my. This is... oddly red, in scent, if that makes any sense. (Synesthesia, go!) Not strongly red, but faintly while not yet becoming pink. There is a sort of medicinal aftertaste, which may be the poppy, but it is mostly covered by the dusty amber and floral ylang ylang. It's very... interesting, and cologne-y.

 

Right after application: The cologne-ish-ness pops on the skin, but is muted a touch by the amber. There is something at the bottom I can only detect occasionally, though, that I'm not sure I like. It's hard to describe. Floral soap? It's not quite bad enough to definitively say I don't like it, but.... I'm thinking I won't like this.

 

Final impression (30 minutes later): .... the longer I wear this, the worse it gets. Like the Seraphim, the bottom note that rises up is one that smells like heartburn tastes - acrid, sour, and gross. I guess florals just won't work on me.

[yakiguri]

Dragon's Reverie is certainly lighter and more powdery than the other AD scent I've tried (Dragon's Musk), and I agree that it's a languid scent. This soft-yet-sweet floral is reminiscent of vintage powder puffs dusted across one's body, a clean yet deep scent. I'd definitely love this as a body powder. Even so, I don't imagine wearing this enough to warrant a bottle.

[sunstone]

Disclaimer: I do not know what each note smells like on its own, except amber. Descriptions will be vague.

 

In bottle/imp: Resinous, with a touch of floral sweetness.

 

Wet/Drydown: Heavy, almost overpoweringly floral. The amber is struggling to balance it.

 

Several minutes later: This is a potent blend; it's too strong to enjoy with my nose nearly touching my wrist. Time to back off an inch or so. The blend of amber and the flowers is still strong, but there's...a sharper, more cologne-ish thread in there. Quite pleasant.

 

Also, after about fifteen minutes, I swear I can smell woodsmoke. Must be something about my nose -- Sunlitgarden doesn't detect it on me right now.

 

Verdict: At first I was hesitant, but now I'll definitely keep this imp.

[symbiosis]

In the bottle: The amber is what hits me first in this scent, but it seems to be sweetened with something. It smells like almond, but I know it's likely coming from the poppy.

 

On my skin (dry): This smells...a bit like grandma to me. It's not horribly offensive like some overly floral scents can be on me, but it's certainly not something I smell and go "yum." I'm not sure that I'd even use this in an oil burner or for any other use, because I'm just not that in love with it. Will be putting this one in the swap pile!

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweet flowers and dragon’s blood

 

Drydown: Poppy comes to the forefront. It’s languid and enchanting. Musky, spicy dragon’s blood darkened by sweet opium clouds.

 

Dry: Hard to pin down. Sweet, clean resins and cool glowing florals.

 

 

 

 

6 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[calivianya]

I feel duly bound to record and review everything that comes my way - which is why I didn't just throw this into the sales pile without sniffing it first. Dragon's blood is my arch-nemesis - it is a really sickly cherry floral smell to me. This is sickly floral, amped up by the poppy and ylang-ylang. Dragon's blood on steroids. I quite unfortunately got a drop of this on my finger while opening the imp, and I need to go wash my hands now.

[Mechanical Death]

I was looking forward to this one. Not sure what I think of it yet. Somewhat undecided.

 

In the imp-- super sweet. The opium is overpowering almost everything else and is bringing out the sweet notes of the dragons blood, killing off the spicy notes it usually carries. Dragons blood to me usually smells very strong of mulling spices-- heavy on spiced orange while still sweet and incensy.

 

Wet on skin-- the sweetness amps further. It smells like a cousin to blood lotus, which I liked a lot, but this is cloying where as I didn't find blood lotus to be.

 

As it dries it becomes a little dustier, but that cloying sweetness still hangs around. I get some poppy, surprisingly not much yanglang. I find yanglang to be a beautiful floral but it's lost in this blend.

 

hours later it dries down to a sickly sweet softer blend with a hint of of incense smoke but I still don't get that spicy resinous dragon's blood I would expect. When I sniff my wrist it's incredibly sharp and headache inducing. Eugh. I feel sick wearing it.

[Wren12]

Still new at this...but I'm trying to get my sniffer up to snuff, as it were...

 

This is the second Dragons Blood based scent I've tried and I officially love Dragons Blood and I think it is a fan of my skin chemistry...

 

In the bottle this is sweet and sharp, and smells...reddish purple, if that makes sense.

 

On my skin the sweet tones down and the floral is more prominent, I'm thinking this is the ylang-ylang? Still sharp though.

 

On dry down it's still sharp, but the dragons blood has changed to a more resinous scent, with the sharpness lingering through.

 

May have to buy a bottle of this one, I already got a bottle of Dragon's Milk, which I adore, so I think I may find the whole line alluring...

 

But...after wearing it for a bit, 2-3 hours the scent is almost completely gone. I reapplied, but I was sad. Dragon's Milk is very much the winner in this battle.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Wren12

[sth0]

I do like this scent but it almost smells generic in some sense. There is just something about it that makes me feel very ambivalent toward it even though it is a nice warm and spring-like fragrance.

 

While it was drying down, my eyes were watering quite a bit. I am not sure what was causing this, if anything, because I have other scents I have sampled with all of the notes present in Dragon's Reverie and have not had this issue with them. I am even on allergy medication. So that was a bit concerning.

 

The strange thing about this one is that the drydown smells a lot like the wet state. There is not a considerable change for me. It has a slightly shorter than normal duration and the throw is there but very short. A good floral wrist-sniffer.