Dragon's Claw

[mimulus]

Smooth, polished and lethally sharp: dragon’s blood resin and three sandalwoods.

Something about my skin makes this very close to Monster Bait: Ventriloquist's Dummy on me. I think 'dry woods' and I do not get along. Hoo boy.

I can smell the Dragon's Blood underneath it all, being all warm and sultry, but I really have to reach past the woods. The woods. The woods. *runs* Edited July 7, 2008 by Shollin

[Miss Lynx]

On the whole, the Ars Draconis series has not been good to me -- dragon's blood may be one of my favourite incense resins, but the oil on my skin is unpredictable and often goes candy-sweet in a really unpleasant way. But I figured three sandalwoods should be enough to bring anything under control...

 

And sure enough, it's not overly sweet -- initially. That slightly syrupy element that dragon's blood tends to bring to a scent is there, but it's not overpowering. The overall effect is more incense than candy, thankfully. However, the scent is also really, really light -- I almost thought it had disappeared entirely at first, but it's there... It's just very soft and staying extremely close to the skin.

 

Ironically, I tried this at the same time as another dragon's blood scent (at least, I assume it's got dragon's blood - it doesn't really say) -- Blood Lotus, which I expected to go horrifically sweet and perfumey on me. Why ironically? Because Blood Lotus has actually turned out to be pretty nice on me, while this one is -- well, going all perfumey. Not to an unbearable extent, but as it's settled into my skin it's developed that sharp, cloying, commercial-perfume sort of edge that ruined nearly all the other Ars Draconis scents for me. The sandalwood is making a valiant effort to counterbalance that with incensey niceness, but it's not quite winning the war.

 

Someone please explain to me how three kinds of sandalwood, a note that is usually excellent on me, failed to tame the dreaded dragon, but lotus, a note I live in fear of because it usually turns into bubblegum on me, somehow did? This makes no sense...

 

Grade: C+/B-

[aquazoo]

Well that’s... interesting... It’s got the subtle but irresistable draw of bass notes. It settles into spicy. Keep!

[starwild]

Exactly as described: dragon's blood and sandalwood goodness! I once read somewhere that sandalwood is supposed to be an aphrodisiac? This scent makes me believe it! It's the driest of the Ars Draconis I've tried--although I haven't tried Dragon's Bone yet, just as a caution--and yet it's not the least bit bitter. You get the characteristic sweetness of the dragon's blood and the spiciness of the sandalwood working together, and it makes me feel downright sexy and a little dangerous. Mmm. This is perfect for when you want a dragon's blood scent that is utterly NOT floral. I love it. It doesn't have the same complexity as my beloved Dragon's Reverie, but it's gorgeous all the same.

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Sharp, almost bitter sandalwood, and the lilac air freshener scent that is dragon's blood to my nose.

 

On wet: Sharp and bitter is duking it out with woody, almost peanutty sweetness. Ah, and here comes the detested DB...

 

Drydown: The sandalwood's totally taken over (yay!), and I smell divine! I'm getting the sweet, pink-gold sandalwood that's present in Tushnamatay, another that's dry and woody, and another that's almost spicy - although I suppose the dragon's blood could be contributing to either of those effects. DB's only ever made me smell like a bathroom spray, so I can honestly say that I'm absolutely clueless as to what it might be doing at this point, lol!

 

Overall: I fully expected the dragon's blood to kill this blend for me (because it hates me with a fiery passion), but thanks to my beloved sandalwood, I smell fan-freakin'-tastic - something I *never* thought possible where DB was concerned. I am positively delighted at finding my first wearable dragon's blood scent. 4.5/5

Edited October 4, 2007 by furygrrl

[ariosa]

Dragon's blood and sandalwood -- things that work on me, and this didn't disappoint. The sandalwood was quite sharp on me at the beginning and took about a half hour to mellow with more of the db taking over to sweeten it up a little. But... I don't LOVE this as much as I thought I would. It's nice, but pretty faint on me.

[Brianne]

A very simple blend - mostly sandalwood, but really on the "woody" side. It goes on like Dragon's Blood but quickly turns to sandalwood. Simple but wearable if you enjoy sandalwood!

[valentina]

Dragon's Claw smells really great in the imp, for I do love resins a great deal, and this is the merging of two resins. However, I was more than a little hesitant to put it on my skin, because my experience with both elements of the scent, Dragon's Blood and sandalwood, is spotty at best. Dragon's Blood gets a little too, well, bloody on me, to the point of smelling a bit gamey. Sandalwood can turn bitter and pungent on my skin, to the point of smelling like dill pickles and cedar. So the merging of these two scents should portend the perfect storm of UGH.

 

But that didn't happen. It's really quite nice -- the sandalwood cuts the blood smell and the Dragon's Blood cuts the bitterness of sandalwood. It's certainly not a sweet, innocent smell, but then when the hell did I ever really care to wear demure, innocent-smelling fragrances? I find that Dragon's Claw smells the most like the Dragon's Blood incense that I love to burn, and likewise sets me in the same mood as the incense. As a result, I find this scent evocative, yet calming. Dragon's Claw is also a very unisex blend, but certainly is working for me as a smouldering, dark scent. Truly, a very nice blend that is wonderfully balanced.

[Neely]

In the bottle: dragon's blood and sandalwood, very nice.

 

Wet: dragon's blood and sandalwood.

 

Dry down: DRAGON'S BLOOD, and sandalwood. Ok so I amp DB sooo much. This may not work on me after all.

 

30 minutes: sandalwood has stuck a lance into dragon's blood and stands with his foot resting on the carcass like Captain Morgan. This smells very nice.

 

Conclusion: this turns into just a soft lovely sandalwood. I was worried about the DB, my chemistry just makes it almost impossible to wear. Aries for instance, which has so many lovely notes and I get DB singlenote from it, which always smells like some floral on me. Not this. Aged this will be even better.

 

Rating 1-5: 3.5-4

[hkhm]

imp: sandalwood and... flowers? does dragon's blood always smell like flowers to me?

 

wet: lovely, rich sandalwoods. the floral feel of dragon's blood is there as well but the primary scent here is sandalwood.

 

dry: there's a bit more dragon's blood coming out to lightly mix with the sandalwood. this is a really lovely sandalwood scent.

[aestien]

Bottle: earthy sandalwood under dragon’s blood

Wet: incense and earthy sandalwood, under dragon’s blood

Dry: straightforward sandalwood dragon’s blood

 

Slightly sweet florals over earth and the dust and incense of sandalwood.

[Pendragon]

Dragon's Claw - sooo hard to describe! I suppose 'nice' isn't going to cut it, is it?

 

Okay... well has an almost salty-sweet edge, with light soft leather and I definately can smell the sandalwood, but not strait away - I get wafts of sandalwood as I am pottering around the house, it reminds me of the smell new wooden incense burners have fresh from the shop - the lingering scent of nag champa incense that you know will forever be in the grains of the wood. The sandalwood is so refined it could easily be mistaken as musk-like.

 

It's quite sharp when first applied, however it dries down into a much softer woody smoke scent with sweet dragons blood rounding it off. I think the sweet dragons blood and sandalwood is what is giving it an almost 'salty' smell. Not salty like dragons tears, but sweet salt if that makes sense. It insights a colour that is very similar to the colour in the vial - watery warm red and ochre. Enveloping warmness.

 

Overall it is a smooth and enchanting light-incensy blend, possibly gender-neutral. I am loving the claw right now!

[WillowWoman]

My first BPAL review ever!

 

In the imp: Wow. SWEET. Very sweet, very strong. I don't smell any sandalwood, just... a very strange sweetness to my untrained nose.

 

Application: Sharper than I thought it would be. Good, but still STRONG STRONG STRONG.

 

Drydown: It has no idea what it wants to do. I get flowers. I get powder. I get flowers. I get a headache.

 

Dry: So worth the headache that I got while it was figuring out what to do with my skin. The sandalwood comes out, and oh, is it glorious. I smell so delicious that I can't stop sniffing my wrists and it's such a dry, warm scent. Vaguely sexy and not overpowering at all. Very womanly on me. Warm and real and earthy and I think I want to smell like this for the rest of forever, amen.

[arsenicsauce]

I liked this in the imp, but as soon as I put some on my wrist it just smelled like nice soap. Very sharp, almost overpowering. It calmed down after an hour or so into just sandalwood with a little sweet undertone I could smell with my nose pressed against my skin, but that's a little too long for me. I don't think I'll be keeping it.

Edited February 6, 2008 by arsenicsauce

[voodoocatwoman]

In the imp: Deliciously sweet, but with a bite.

 

Wet: Sandalwood, soft and exotic, blending with something warm and sweet. I am almost thinking something on the order of jasmine or gardenia sweet.

 

Dry: Gorgeous. Spicy. Sweet. Warm. Wow. I love this like no other.

[djsiberia]

in the imp : dragon's blood

 

wet: dragon's blood and a smidge of sandal wood

 

20-30 minutes later : where'd the dragon's blood go? now its just sandalwood

 

50-60 mionutes later : oh dear. i appear to be turning this into baby powder...still no dragon's blood and the entire scent is already fading away.

 

*sigh* i was hoping to like this one a lot and i'm a bit disappointed by it.

[steelxrose]

Dragon's Claw... I get far less of the blood in this one than I have in the other Ars Draconis scents that I have tried. This is more a smoky-incensy sandalwood scent. I'm not sure if I like it or not, may have to go for another trial before I decide one way or the other.

[eyeska]

Delicious. I was looking for a simpler sandalwood scent, and here it is - sweet but not foody or cloying in any way, spiced, and warm. Definitely getting a bottle.

 

The throw starts off on the HUGE side for me - quoth the fiance, "Wow, I don't even need to bury my face in your chest to smell this one!" - and then settles a bit after a half hour or so, though it's still good enough that I don't need to contort myself to smell it on my collarbone. It also stays for hours and doesn't morph (possibly because my skin seems to like both of the notes, and possibly because it's just not complex enough to have a lot of space TO morph).

[ImperatrixMundi]

The initial scent is dominated by the Dragon's Blood but the Sandalwood takes over on drydown. Sandalwood turns kinda powdery-soapy on me which is a pity. It is a very simple sandalwood scent and as long as it lasts on my skin before the soap phase (30 min) the two notes compliment each other nicely.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, well - it's hard to get anything out of the imp directly for me.

 

On my skin, the sandalwoods dominate - there's just a hint of dragon's blood's rich spiciness.

 

When it dries, the dragon's blood and sandalwood are about on equal footing, but they're just not a good combination for me.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

Surprisingly floral in the vial... What the hell?

 

First on:

It's anything but floral once it hits my skin – it's ”dark” and ”thick” in nature. I'm a little charmed...

 

Dry:

After about 10 mins, it's a resinous scent, darkened by something like patchouli. Mmm. Dark and beautiful, this one.

 

An hour later, it's still a dark, hot, glorious scent. Like a scorching desert wind mixed with incense.

 

Finally:

Keeping, most certainly. It makes me think of Set, I think... It doesn't appear ”sharp” to me, just – dark and powerful.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: a sharp spike of something perfumy.

 

wet on skin: ahhh, the dragon's blood has come in *whew*

 

dry down: it's interesting, because the sweetness of the DB is tempered by the sandalwood, but i don't actually *smell* the sandalwood. it's like a muted Dragon's Blood.

 

in all: some people find DB to be too sweet or too cloying. for them, i think this is a fine version.

 

 

 

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Lots and lots of DB, with a tiny hint of sandalwood in the background. Uh-oh... DB-heavy blends tend to go plasticky-sweet on me...

 

On me: Whew! Here comes the sandalwood to rescue me! Wet, it's mainly sandalwood with a bit of dragon's blood, and once it dries down, it settles into a nice balance of sweetened wood, without any of the regular plasticky, PEZ-y side effects DB tends to have for me. It has decent throw, lasts long... whoo yeah, I really like this!

 

Bottle for sure!

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Dragon's Claw is just dragon's blood resin (which turns to plumeria on me). As it dries, a hint of sandalwood starts to show. While I love DBR, not enough sandalwood shows to make it distinctive, so I'll pass this on.

[greenranger]

Wet, dragon's blood.

 

Drying, dragon's blood, with maybe wood as a base. Personally, I am hoping that the dragon's blood fades a bit to let the sandalwood through soon. The dragon's blood blends last well on my skin, but, just dragon's blood isn't what I was looking for...