Dragon's Claw

[fiddledragon]

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

This is a pale orange color, unlike the deep reds of some of the other Ars Draconis varieties.

Wet, I mostly get dragon's blood -- a nice mild version, possibly because this looks like a fairly new imp.

Dry, the sandalwood comes out. Now, normally I really like sandalwood when it goes incensy and tolerate it when it goes dry-woody -- it usually amps on my skin so that it's too dry if it's that variety, but it's not actually unpleasant. But wow, one of these sandalwoods doesn't like me. I smelled like cigarette smoke. Not BPAL's "tobacco" note, which is a beautiful warm unburnt smell, but like cold stubbed-out cigarrette butts. Much saddness. I just wish I knew what it was so that I could avoid it in the future! I'll retry Dragon's Bone if I want to satisfy the sandalwood kick I've been on lately.

[Monster]

Ew...Dragons Blood....I can't let this touch my skin so unfortunately I'm going to have to review it as best as I can by just sniffing it out of the imp.

 

The color isn't bright bright red, which is good because it means that it's light on the Dragons Blood. It's more of an orange pink in color.

 

Out of the vial I smell almost all sandalwood with a hint of dragons blood. There's an almost bubble bath scent to this one.

[Faeried]

Sharp spicy notes, underlying florals.

 

The sharpness to this one was overpowering, so sadly I had to put it in the trade pile, with some other imps.

[maijasu]

I have weirdo chemistry that chews up sandalwood and spits it out, so unfortunately, all I smell is sweet dragon's blood. It's ok, but I don't need to keep it.

[Lit Chick]

This is very nice. At first, it's very dragon-blood, but in a much lighter way than I was expecting. It's fresher somehow. In the dry down, the woods really take over. I started to get nervous, because the only really awful reaction I've had to an oil was with Grandmother of Ghosts, and it started to smell similar. However, this wood was much softer. It melted right into my skin and turned into a very cozy scent.

It's very masculine, but in a protective (not sexy) sort of way. It's a warm cuddly blanket smell.

[supremegoddessofall]

Exactly what it says it is - dragon's blood and sandalwood. I get more dragon's blood than sandalwood, but then I tend to amp that anyway.

[storme]

In the imp: dragon's blood over woods, lots and lots of wood.

 

On me, wet: dry dusty sandalwood, until the whole things warms up a little and softens to a warm, golden wood.

 

On me, dry: Warm, soft, slightly dry sandalwood over what smells like a woody dry dragon's blood. It has almost no throw, though.

 

Verdict: In theory this scent seemed tailor-made to appeal to me, but actually it's nothing that special on my skin, alas.

[arabella]

First Impression: Very dry dragon's blood.

 

Dries down to: The blend softens and warms up.

 

Additional Comments: This is simply perfect harmony. It just feels like a warm enveloping glow. I probably wouldn’t wear this out but I'll definitely be using it as a comfort scent.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[tempestteapot]

This was almost all sandlewood on me. Which is a good thing because Dragon's Blood usually turns into 'dirty diaper'.

 

As it dries down there are some subtle flowers that come into the mix. I like it.

[Voleuse]

Absolutely sandalwood, so dry I almost feel like it's leaching the moisture from my arm. Yikes! In a minute, however, the dragon's blood appears, turning the blend into a pleasant incense. I like wood scents, and this one is gorgeous, sun-cracked and sweet and a little smoky.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Sandalwood, smooth and a bit perfumy.

 

Wet: Thick resin, with dry sandalwood coming through. There's a slightly floral vibe in there, too.

 

Drydown: It becomes a soft woody scent, very discreet but clearly solid and present. It makes me think of ivory, for some reason. Then again, it also has the famous "pencil shavings" scent, which I like. After a while, it becomes quite perfumy again, fragrant sandalwood.

 

Overall: A very good blend for wood lovers, and I don't get much dragon's blood, which is definitely a bonus for me. I don't really like sandalwood that much, but this blend definitely makes me want to try other Ars Draconis blends to find the ones that might work for me.

[PixieSkull]

Vial: Definate sandalwood with an afterthought of DBR.

 

On: The DBR jumps out first, being all cherry and sweetly plastic like a child's toy, pleasantly, of course. The sandalwoods are lighter than I expected but lovely.

 

Overall: It's like I expected. Sadly, I don't know if I'll wear it. I have plenty of sandalwood scents now.

[QueenFae]

A dry, parched, yet soft dragon's blood blend. The sandalwood notes are are very muted and almost sweet. I thought the undertones were resin or smoky when I first sniffed this. It's not at all woodsy; just smooth and a touch earthy. I like this, it's very nice and subtle. I wish it had a bit more throw, but it is lovely just the same.

[Iceblink]

Dry, dry, dry sandalwood and dragon's blood to sweeten things up a bit. This is the manliest dragon's blood blend I've tried. Not much throw, nothing I'm too wild about, but nothing offensive either.

[Dinah]

This frimp came with my last order, and since I've develope a bit of a fascination with dragon's blood recently I'm very glad I got to try it.

 

Fresh on all I get is the sweet, fruity, resinous smell from the dragon's blood, almost too strong and fierce. As it dries that smell gets tempered by the sandalwood - it turns into a round, mellow, very sexy and faintly masculine smell. Warm woods and sweet resins and just perfectly blended. I love it.

 

For some reason, I think this is what Severus Snape would smell like - I can't really explain why, but it seems to fit.

[RemAkimichi]

In the bottle: The same sharp alcohol sting that all the Ars Draconis have -I'm assuming that's the Dragons Blood resin- but with more wood.

 

On me (wet): Still sharp, but unlike most the other Ars Draconis scents, this lacks that note that gives me a headache (thank God!) and has a hint of something woodsy and faintly sweet. It is immediately a very light oil, with a short throw.

 

On me (dry): Still light and sweet, but the sandalwoods are much more prominent, though I have to work to smell them.

 

Overall: What IS it about these blends that always end up smelling like alcohol on me?? It must be the dragons blood resin, which makes me terribly sad. While some of them are alright so far, the only ones that I really, really like are Dragons Milk and Dragons Blood.

 

Dragons Claw is a nice scent, but nondescipt on me, and I'm certain my skin will eat it in the next half hour. So while it's a great scent for work because of the light throw, I wouldn't invest in a bottle.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: mmm... sandalwood....

 

First on: This reminds me of one of those Oriental sandalwood fans. I can barely smell the dragon's blood, but it's lovely.

 

Drydown: All sandalwood, no dragon's blood. I love the sandalwood scent and will have to show it to a friend who is obsessed with it.

 

Overall: This is awesome. I wonder how it would be over Dragon's Reverie?

[wolfwynd]

Wonderful and sweet, I've never tried Dragon's Blood before but I think this is the sweetness I can smell. I love sandlewood and this has 3 types I look forward to trying more. I may get a bigger bottle but I'm not sure.

[dixiehellcat]

I got this one this weekend from my Switch Witch, the last dragon scent that completed my set. Dragons blood and sandalwood, 2 of my absolute favorite notes, and they work together VERY nicely. Maybe a big bottle of this in my future.

[Nia]

This one's odd. I smelled it without remembering the lab's description, and I didn't really detect the sandalwood or any "dryness". For the first minutes it was a bit old-ladyish (by which I mean a cloyingly sweet floral blend; think sweet jasmine/rosey). Then there was a tiny hint of soapyness, which luckily went away to reveal a soft but very persistent spicy floral. The sandalwood doesn't come out much, but it is the sparkle that adds mystery to that lovely floral-sweet note.

[Naamah_Darling]

Dragon's blood and smooth, somber sandalwood are clear in the bottle, easily detectable. I believe this is the palest in color of the Ars Draconis oils I've yet tried. The oil itself is a light straw color, like venom.

 

The dragon's blood sweetens the sandalwood a little and keeps it from being too dusty once it goes on the skin. The sandalwoods here are a nice blend of notes; spicy, woody, smooth, cool. This is, indeed, a polished scent, very elegant and refined, but with a hint of an edge.

 

An edge that grows keener as it wears, a spicy, almost harsh aura of old wood, dirty wood. Yet the blend itself is clean, uncluttered, not noisy. There's not much going on here, it's a very still scent: just two elements, playing around one another.

[Alastriona]

Wasn't a choice, but now it is! The imp is gone!!

 

Just one of the cleanest scents I have ever encountered. What is is in the bottle is quite different from what it develops into as it matures. It put me off upon first sniff, but it became another creature quickly.

 

The best sandlewood creation I have ever encountered and it lingers in your mind so you keep returning to it. I find it a very comforting scent which seems to lift away tension. Brilliant creation!

[targeter]

In the imp, it's almost overpoweringly sweet.

 

On, it has a good amount of throw, and starts out as pure dragon's blood. After about 30 minutes, it's progressed to an incensey scent and is hanging closer to my wrist. After about 1.5 hours, it's still hanging close to the wrist, and is pleasantly sweet and sandalwoody. Not something I need a bottle of, and not something I'll wear a lot because it's a bit too perfumey for my personal taste, but still very nice.

[JennyGardener]

At first, I was deceived by the Dragon's sweetness. I wasn't sure this was the beast I'd heard so much about. However, shortly after disarming me with its faux sugary aspect, the Dragon unsheathed its claws. These claws are very hot and dry and sharp. Dragon's Claw is a powerful scent, and the more it tears into me, the more I like it.

[The_Merf]

When I first tried this imp a long time ago, it was mostly floral. Now that it's aged a bit, there is more sandalwood, both in terms of what I smell in the imp and what happens when the fragrance is wet. However, the aging has not seemed to change the drydown for me all that much--it's still very floral there, although after about twenty minutes or so, it goes into what I can only call "stale sandalwood" or "burnt sandalwood" stage. There's very little dragon's blood here (either the standard kind or the 'cleaner' Dragon Moon kind) for me to detect.