Aries 2007

[zankoku_zen]

Cardinal fire: the essence of identity.
Black pepper, honeysuckle, opoponax, dragon’s blood, and wild ginger.

Oh lord, this is a mess. So I get the creamy honeysuckle floral in your face with a big shot of pepper but underneath, I get the spicy cherry like dragon's blood.

It's all over the place and all over. I really need to stop trying pepper blends...

[Lamia]

This had a pleasant bite. Didn't last long, but was quite enjoyable while it lasted.

[Shollin]

First sniff: In the vial it’s all spice and resin – the honeysuckle is hidden away. Strong dragon’s blood, a sprinkle of pepper, and something that smells like frankincese to me.

 

Wearing: Dragon’s blood and pepper. I get a tiny whiff of honeysuckle tickling around the edges, but the spice-and-resin overwhelms it.

[loubric]

This is a spicy floral on me. It is very warm and reminds me of local farm stores with hints of potpourri. I think this would be even better as a room spray or used in an oil burner. Pretty though.

[milo]

Lots of spicy Dragon's Blood and honeysuckle here, with just a touch of pepper. It did smell just slightly of vetiver at first, but that disappeared quickly. I'm not really one for Dragon's Blood or heady florals, and this definitely fits the bill. This reminds me of late spring, which is nice, but other that what the scent evokes, this is not for me.

[surlygurl]

I could almost swear that there's red musk in here. Mainly because it goes so wrong on me.

 

I get something red (dragon's blood), and honeysuckle, and black pepper. I suppose the ginger is adding to the spice, but in a supporting role. There's really nothing to ground this scent on me - it's like a watery fire. Too confusing for my poor nose.

[JazzieCazzie]

Like Tartchef, the original Aries 2004 is one of my Holy Grail all-time favorite BPAL scents. I'm down to just one full imp of it (see my review of the 2004 version here) ... and while I was a huge fan of the original celestial series, I admit that to a large degree I was not as enamored of the 2007 reboots of several of my original favorites (like Taurus, Leo and Scorpio).

 

But after re-reading the notes in Aries 2004 and Aries 2007, despite the departure of my precious frankincense, I was still intrigued to re-try the "new" Aries (I had a bottle upon release but it was part of a big destashing). I love dragon's blood and honeysuckle, so was curious to give it a retry.

 

The bad news is it's still a distant second to Aries 2004, but the good news is that I DO like it quite a lot if I treat it as an individual instead of a reboot.

 

IN THE IMP: Wow. That is a lot of pepper. Pepper pepper pepper pepper pepper. And I like pepper in a blend (in wine AND perfume) but this is surprisingly strong, especially given the other notes which tend to be powerful. It's also interesting to see the color, a deep dark amber, compared to the very pale gold of my old imp.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: It's still massively peppery -- someone compared it to pizza and I wouldn't disagree -- but the dragon's blood amps up quickly as it is wont to do with my body chemistry, and coupled with the honeysuckle it's very flowery pepper. The pepper, though, sharpens the floral sent and keeps it from being TOO flowery. I get zero ginger here.

 

DRYDOWN: It takes awhile for this to dry down and, basically, cool down and settle. But when it does it's worth the wait (kind of like hot soup). The combined floral of the DB and honeysuckle really intermingle beautifully with the pepper and I think I even do finally detect the opoponax and ginger. It's less salty (I don't know why pepper goes salty on me but whatever) and slightly medicinal in a good way.

 

OVERALL: While it's no Aries 2004, this new/old Aries is still a keeper. Oddly, to me I find Aries 2004 a "cold weather" scent and Aries 2007 a "warm weather" scent.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 4.5.