Dragon's Tears

[Loligo]

Bittersweet yet powerful: salty aquatic notes and bursting with dragon's blood.

At first, I get the resiny lilac smell of Dragon's Blood, muted with a dry sort of herbal smell. It *does* smell like the beach, but I don't get the smell of water at all -- I get the smell of hot sand and dry beach grass.

Then things start turning powdery and soapy. At first in a cool way -- for a while it smells like I'm sitting at the beach with a bunch of other people, and I get a whiff of that person's perfume, and that person's shampoo, and maybe a little healthy, salty sweat. But eventually, the nose-prickling soapy scent just gets too strong. Argh! Soap! The bane of my BPAL existence.

[Falathwen]

This was a gift from the lab.

My first impression was that this reminded me of sweet/sour sauce. It is strongly salty/bitter and equally strongly sweet/ fruity. The opposing notes balance each other, but I found the combination disconcerting. It does feel alien…like something exuded by a magical creature like a dragon; but it did not feel comfortable to wear as perfume

[couscous]

Dragon's Tears truly is a dragon at the beach. It has some salty, tangy note mixed with the dragon's blood.

 

While I suspect that NOTHING will EVER overpower the mighty, gorgeous dragon's blood, these salt tones it down and make it less resinous, more fresh/clean.

 

It's beautiful, and the best part is that you don't need to be a fan of aquatics to wear it. You get the tang of salt right when you first smell it, and on the drydown- very subtle.

 

This could be a summer fragrance for those who enjoy DB resin, just as Dragon's Eye, with the strong lilac note, is springtime Dragon.

[quikslvr]

Salty, light, aquatic dragon's blood. Delicate, with power layered underneath. Tinges of a camp from childhood to me, for some reason, with an edge of spice. Light: high spring, summery--lakeside. Softens from bright winds to the easy afternoon breezes near the lake. Work apropos.

[gwynhwyfar]

In the bottle and wet: Oh, look. Dragon's blood standing on my head and jumping on me, just to make sure that I know that it's there.

 

With drydown, the dragon's blood started to behave as the other notes began to make themselves known. As those notes came out, I got a rather aquatic and green floral along with something almost salty.

 

That floral resolved into a very distinct lily on me with an odd but not at all unpleasant hint of mint. All of that sat and reclined on the squished into submission dragon's blood, which behaved and just acted as supporting cast to give the florals and greens a nice resiny spiciness.

 

This, along with the other two that I've tried, may have changed my mind about dragon's blood in blends, even if the dragon's blood itself is just far too pushy when left alone on my skin. I think it's fairly likely that this will eventually become a big bottle and I have some desires to play with layering this with more mints to see if I can intensify that mint without ruining the floral-dragonblood balance.

[jj_j]

The salt and water scent stayed with me much longer than I expected; in fact, the dragon's blood didn't come out until the scent had almost faded away.

 

Is it lily in there? I'm having a hard time identifying the floral note that comes out in Dragon's Tears - it almost wants to be a white floral, but isn't, and it isn't sweet enough to be mimosa ... lilies are the only thing that seem remotely right, and I'm honestly not sure about that. The sweet warmth of dragon's blood is just enough to confuse - and delight! - my nose about this scent, which dries down to a particularly wet warmth.

 

Very nice; I'll definitely use up the imp.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Watery, salty dragon's blood.

 

Wearing: This remains fairly true to the bottle scent. After a few hours, the dragon's blood has sweetened considerably, and the salt has faded.

 

Final Impressions: It truly evokes dragon's tears, but I don't really like it.

[Muppetk]

Okay, this was confusing.

 

This is gorgeous sure. But it smells almost exactly like Dragon's Eye to me, and wears pretty much the same way. (Largely lilac, some rose/dragon's blood underneath, good throw, and lasts for hours, same as the Eye.) I really wonder if my imp was mislabeled. There's a hint of a clean, light, ocean air scent to it, but it's light enough that I could be imagining it. This will definitely require a second testing.

[oatmealneko]

Vial: Tangy ozone! No resin, oddly enough.

Wet: More tangy ozone, similar to that in Lightning. There's a bit of resin, but not much. The ozone is laying claim to this scent in this stage.

Dry: Tang is gone & there is only ozone & resin. What happens when ozone (which likes me) & resin (which likes me) get together?

 

ozone + resin = rubber

 

Rubber scent means I SCRUB. Hard. Probably means I can only take one or the other, I shouldn't wear both in the same blend or this will happen.

[Angela]

Before I begin, this is my first ever real review so bear with me if it's boring...

 

I've had this imp of Dragon's Tears for a while now, and I think the red color of the blend scared me away from trying it on. Well, today I slathered some on out of sheer curiosity.

 

In the bottle - It smelled really, really bitter to me with a watery undertone. I didn't think I'd like it at all.

 

Wet - Much like it smelled in the bottle, but with a tad more warmth for good measure. It started to get better with that salty smell that began with waft through with a hint of florals. This is getting REALLY complex.

 

Drydown - What do I smell? Smoke? This seriously smells smoky to me, and I don't think any other oil has ever had that effect on my skin. I LIKE it. It's like a smoky room where the people smoking are huffing on really sweetly scented cigarettes, and tht salty/floral undertone is still there.

 

Dry - This one was a suprise. I LOVE it. I don't think I'm going to spring for a bottle quite yet, but I see another imp in my future after this one runs out.

[joseybird]

Yeap, salt water and dragon's blood!

 

Dragon's Blood smells like heavy lilacs with a touch of orange to me. The aquatics give it a salty tang and a very slight wateriness, but the dragon's blood is definately at the forefront.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: dragon's blood and a salty aquatic note

 

First on: Whatever that salty note is, it's strong. The sweetness of the dragon's blood is taking a back seat to it, though they blend together nicely.

 

Drydown:The salty goes away, but I'm left with an ozone tang, a hint of db, and some florals.

 

I liked this at first, but unfortunately the more I wear it, the more I don't like it. I think most aquatic scents just aren't for me.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Fresh smelling. Clean and breezy.

 

Just On: Ooh, watery. Fresh clean sea water. A hint of dryer sheet smell (in a good way). Like many other scents, I can't stop smelling it.

 

An hour or two later: Dryer sheets and breezy. It's not too bad. Something not so nice is just barely peeking out.

 

Around 6 hours: Dryer sheets, in a scent that I am not *quite* fond of, but that I'll deal with. It's not too bad, but it's lost some of the freshness it had, the breeziness.

 

12 hours: Faded dryer sheets (in the good way again). Pretty much that's it too.

 

Overall: I rather like this, and between this and Dragon's Milk, I'm going to be trying more Ars Draconis scents.

 

After reading other reviews: It seems like I more or less concur with others on this one. I get the saltiness, although I don't get a lot of Dragon's Blood from it.

[wickedgoddess]

Preconceived Notions - This is something I got as part of an imp lot, and I wasn't particularly interested in it. I like dragon's blood, but I don't love it, and I haven't found any blends containing it that work for me. Same with aquatics; they're nice enough, but generally not something I want to wear. So it was with low expectations that I tried this on.

 

Wet - wow, this is nice! The texture is very thin and yes, watery, and expecting it not to last, I slather more on.

 

Dry - the dragon's blood and the aquatic element compliment each other beautifully. The aquatics soften the dragon's blood sweetness, making this a soft, spicy, slightly sweet but neither floral nor foody blend. I don't get much salt from this though; certainly not the same salt note I got from Jolly Roger.

 

This is beautiful. There really is very little change during dry-down, and this has a moderate amount of throw and lasts about three hours on me, which is much better than I was expecting. I will definitely keep the imp, and it's very likely I will end up with a big bottle of this as well.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 4.

[moukin]

When I sniffed this in the imp, it smelled very watery and fresh! The dragon's blood is present througout, but it smells like dragon's blood swirling in fresh clean water.

 

I put this on after I showered. I work in gardens all day so I get very hot and sweaty and dirty.

 

This was the perfect after shower scent. Fresh and clean and wet.

 

Eventually it dries down to slightly flowery/powdery on me, but not really in a bad way at all. It's very pleasant.

[brownbear]

Ok, this isn't my official review just yet. I just wanted to say that right after I got this in the mail, my very good friend, Sara, came over. I was showing off my new perfumes that were sent to me. She went through them, sniffing each, and then she came to . . . Dragon's Tears. She exclaimed, "Oh my god!" and immediately started slathering herself with it. The rest of her visit she kept smelling her wrists. I cannot yet comment on any notes or anything, but Sara, who really doesn't like perfumes all that much, and thinks it's weird that I like dragon's blood, loooooooooooooooves this one. eh, go figure.

[pensive]

Imp: Salty.

On me, wet: Fresh, aquatic.

Drydown: Clean, yet powerful, but the dragon resin doesn't take over at all. I know it's there to keep the salty goodness from fading quickly. Dragon's blood is one of my 'glue' scents and it does the job without being predominant.

Impression: The waves crashing towards a cave where a dragon lurks inside.

Verdict: Bottle for sure.

[emz83]

Starts off very clear on me and then is taken over by the Dragon's Blood resin until it becomes almost a single note. d'oh, stupid skin chemistry!

[JazzieCazzie]

Received as a frimp from the Lab ... though I love Dragon's Blood I had never ordered this one because I am not a big aquatic fan ...

 

I didn't make my usual Bottle, Wet and Drydown notes on this one so will just do a summary (which in this case is more of a "summery") ...

 

It's a lovely combination, when wet, of my beloved Dragon's Blood and calm salt water. I think this would make a great beach or vacation scent. I am putting aside my imp to take with me when we go to Bethany in August ... it gets a little too rosy for me on the drydown which would keep me from buying more.

 

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it about a 3.5

Edited June 18, 2005 by JazzieCazzie

[Orodemniades]

Hey, an oil with DBR that I can wear!

 

It's light, lovely, and aquatic. I don't care for DBR, but this is one scent with it that I could happily wear to work.

 

One I'm keeping!

 

Oro

[tourmalinqueen]

The first thing that hit me with Dragon's Tears was something piney, maybe even like eucalyptus, then something darkly floral, if that makes sense. Whatever it is, it combines with the dragon's blood to make the "aquatic" smell others refer to. It reminds me, in a nutshell, of a spicy good quality incense, which I guess isn't a surprise as many incenses include dragon's blood resin. I am thinking the floral smell I pick up on is some lily or maybe jasmine? Something flowery in there. It fades to a delicious incensey glow, and I mean FADES. On my skin , the scent was basically gone in about an hour, maybe less. Not a scent to "share" or make an impression with for me as you couldn't smell it unless your nose was an inch from my skin. Too bad as otherwise it could easily have become one of my favorites. Into the swap bag.

[AngelFireHeart]

I find this a very melancholy oil, it actually makes me feel contemplative & sad when I wear it, but underneath that top scent, there's a very different undertone, that's strong & pure & very alive & warm.

One of my favourite scents, I find it quite calming & focusing.

This is my normal everyday scent, & is lovely worn on my skin or in my perfume pendant. I've found that on me this scent lingers a long time, although after the initial application the Aquatic note does dampen down a little for me, & allows the warmer tone of life created by the dragons blood resin to come through.

I'm so taken with this one I have 2 x 5ml's ... perhaps a little excessive but hey ho!

[eisoj5]

At first I couldn't tell the difference between Dragon's Tears and Dragon's Eye--Eye had always struck me as somewhat salty to begin with, but now that I've got one on one wrist and one on the other, it's really clear that Tears is very salty under the dragon's blood, and Eye is waaaay more floral.

 

I really like the Tears, though; it's more subtle and blends well with my skin chemistry. Not really sure where the aquatic notes went on me, but it's very nice.

[ChupaChup]

Dragon's Tears is exactly like its description, right down to the bittersweet part. It's amazing how Beth gets the salt into her scents, I never really thought of it as having a smell before. Unfortunately, there is a battle raging on my skin between the bitter and the sweet in this scent and the bitter seems to be winning. Off to swaps.

[Little Bird]

The dragon's blood in Dragon's Tears isn't as awful or rotten as it usually is on my skin. It's still a rotten wildflower sort of smell, but it's not as strong here and it smells sort of clean. If that makes any sense at all to anyone. It smells more clean and metallic than resiny/floral. Dragon's blood, heavily salted. I get the salt, but not a real aquatic smell.

 

Very odd. I'd never wear this. But it's something that I enjoyed smelling just because it's so strange. Salty-metallic floral.