Blood Amber

[angelicruin]

Slivers of warm, pulsating blood forever crystallized in golden amber resin.

I'm getting almost all dragon's blood out of this blend, and not much in the way of amber. Edited March 22, 2010 by angelicruin

[devilot]

Blood Amber:

In the Vial: Dragon's blood.

 

Wet: Super dragon's blood. Quickly shifting, thank goodness. Or is it good? Not sure...

 

Drydown: Dragons blood meets baby powder.

 

Verdict: I'm blaming the baby powder on the amber. I can't say I'm a big fan. Not great, but not bad, just not anything special. Not memorable.

[Saya]

Lots of Dragon's Blood. At first there's a hint of spice, but that quickly gives way to the Dragon's Blood which dominates the blend. I like the smell of Dragon's Blood in small doses, but it's not something I'd want to smell like all day.

 

I'll pass this imp along.

[mari4212]

In the imp, and on me wet: Honeysuckle, or maybe a soft lilac? Something sweet and floral. Definitely not what I was expecting, given a dragon's blood mix. Dragon's blood resin tends to go strongly cherry on me. Amber is not strongly present.

 

Drydown: there's still a floral tone to this, but the amber is showing up now, as that warm/dry sweetness I love. This is very light, a definite skin-scent on me.

 

Overall, not at all what I was expecting. I thought going in that the dragon's blood was going to bloom big and bloom cherry on me, and that it would be almost overpoweringly rich and heavy. Instead, the amber softens it all, makes it warm and dry and slightly spicy, and with only a little floral sweetness. What I ended up with is a lot better for me than what I had anticipated.

[furiana]

Now this one I like! It's a softer, more melded version of the Lion. It smells strongly of cinnamon when wet, then equal parts cinnamon and amber (well blended) when dry.

 

ETA: I tried it again today, and it's still working good. These notes or combo of notes must work well for me!

Edited May 27, 2010 by furiana

[voorishsign]

Frimp from the lab, and it was on my wishlist too Thank you Lab ninjas!

 

In the imp - just like it says on the tin - dragon's blood and amber. Very nice!

 

On wet - mostly dragon's blood, but some of the powderyness of the amber is there too. Very soft and warm and beautiful.

 

Drydown - a gorgeous blend of dragon's blood and amber. I love this oil <3 This imp is a definite keeper. Soft and warm and utterly comforting. Beautiful! Thank you Lab

[meredevachon]

In the imp: Juicy sweet, but not overpoweringly so.

 

Wet: The amber comes out to tether the dragon's blood, keep it from going out of control.

 

Dry down to several hours later: Blending into a lovely mix of the two. I'm put in mind of those glass objects with flecks of gold leaf in them, in this case red glass (obviously) with lots of gold leaf, and for some reason I'm picturing it heart shaped. But instead of being cold and hard like glass, something squishy. (I swear that makes sense in my head)

 

Overall: Nice throw, which to me means not too much, but I can smell it without having to sniff right along the skin. Lasts for hours. Sweeter than I normally wear, so it's probably not one I'll pick up all that often, but lovely all the same.

[Venneh]

Exactly what you'd think looking at the description in the vial and on my skin - blood amber, with the blood being dragon's blood, and just really excellent. Moving onto a full skin test, possible test against Dragon's Blood. Full skin test still shows a heavy emphasis on the dragon's blood, amber may be deepening it, testing it against Dragon's Blood later tonight, prolly.

Edited June 24, 2010 by Venneh

[SophieCedar]

delicious dragons blood and warm amber. Soft sexy and sweet. Slathering this on my next date with my sweetheart,

[Ryokumuji]

Frimp from the lab. Dragon's blood! All dragon's blood to my nose, which smells a lot like lilacs to me. I can smell the amber wafting around in the background, but only just a tiny little bit, at first. Now the scent is drying down, and I'm getting a lot less of the dragon's blood and more like something... a bit powdery and gold. Which I'm guessing is the amber. I'll admit to you guys, I'm not sure what amber smells like on it's own. Anytime I've worn amber, it's been part of a blend, never on it's own. It's turning kind of warm and resiny, the Dragon's Blood is fading off into the background. It's a pleasant enough scent, not something I would have picked for myself though.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Ryokumuji

[blu°]

I used to love this when I was new to BPAL. It's very much a dragon's blood scent, set off and anchored by the amber. It's warm and incensey. Somehow during the years I discovered that ambers don't really work well on my skin, and with my nose more spoiled by more and more BPAL blends, I now notice that it doesn't work for me in Blood Amber neither. It feels as if my skin chemistry breaks open the amber and then the nicer parts of the scent get burnt away in an instant and what I'm left with is just a crumbling cracked open and burnt out shell. Which still smells pretty much alright with the dragon's blood, but here and then I get a whiff of something slightly off, and there's other dragon's blood incense blends that don't do that, so I don't really use Blood Amber much anymore.

[fashionfaerie]

Oh WOW! I've smelled my way through dozens of BPALs looking for just this one. It starts off really sweet, spicy, dusty floral (honeysuckle or acacia-ish) on my skin, then dries into warm, sweet, spicy honey. I know that it doesn't have a honey note, but skin chemistry being what it is, I'm just happy to finally get that effect wherever I can find it. Blood Amber has some nuance and depth to it, though it's so mellow and soft that I can see wearing it as my default (better than) skin scent.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: Oh, my beloved dragon's blood! How I've missed you so! This is gorgeous dragon's blood with something darker and smokier behind it.

 

Wet: It lightens up right away, and goes sweet and floral in a way that reminds me of Dragon's Eye. On the drydown, it gets a bit spicier.

 

Dry: Yep, still a lot like Dragon's Eye, but slightly spicy and powdery.

 

An Hour Later: Still the same! Fairly soft, though; dragon's blood blends are usually stronger on me.

 

Overall: I love pretty much all dragon's blood blends, but I prefer the darker, muskier ones, like Blood Amber had been in the imp. It wears a little too sweet and pretty for my liking.

[lavenderfrost]

Meh.

 

If you like amber and/or dragons' blood, give it a shot because it's a good, even mix of both. As for me, I'm glad it was a frimp. Just not my thing.

[Incendiare]

Pretty much powdery dragon's blood in the vial. It's practically the same on my skin. The amber is sort of there but the dragon's blood is far too domineering to really notice the amber. Dry, the amber is peeking out a bit but the dragon's blood is still nagging in my ear.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Uh, light herbs and incense? Did this get an incorrect label?

 

Wet: What? I can barely even smell this. Dang, I must've gotten a faulty or super old imp, because I know dragon's blood, like you would recognize a hated rival on the playground. And this is just amazingly soft for it. I guess I can smell some of the familiar spiciness, but it's got none of the usual cherry cloying insanity?

 

Dry: Apparently I'm not the only one feeling like this opened up as a light floral. How very unusual, though. This is the lightest dragon's blood I've ever encountered, bar none, which is great for me because it usually bowls me over.

 

Overall: I'm still amazed by this. I really didn't get any amber, or even dragon's blood for that matter! Maybe my sniffer is broken but this feels like uber light florals and a hint of incense. Very much a gentle skin scent.

[yakiguri]

Unfortunately all I get is Dragon's Blood with a tiny, tiny bit of amber in the background. As I only like Dragon's Blood if there are other, stronger notes to quiet it, this one's going to the swap pile.

[brittanywut]

In the imp: Dragon's blood, slightly fruity.

 

Wet: Same as above, with a tiny bit of amber.

 

Dry: Once again, same as above. Kinda disappointed that nothing has changed, but ah well. Dragon's blood is lovely, as is amber.. I guess it's just my weird body chemistry! It's nice, very warm and sensual.

[parrot_suspect]

I have found a new favorite to add to my Top Ten. I've always like dragon's blood as a note, but for some reason I overlooked this blend, perhaps because it's not in the Ars Draconis line. Frankly, it would fit perfectly there; it has a lot in common with those oils. It starts out with the dragon's blood being the dominant note -- heady and somewhat floral, but in a good way (bear in mind I am a not a fan of overly floral scents) -- and then as it dries down, the amber makes itself known. Soon what develops is an incensey, yet sweet and kind of bright scent. Clean, but not soapy or sharp. Musky. It has a Ren-Faire type of vibe, but it's not hippie-ish, smoky, murky, earthy or spicy. Perfectly balanced. It's one of those rare scents that crosses boundaries; you could wear this to work, or for a night out, or even a night in. It just smells really, really good and "blooms" on the skin. I've received several compliments on this.

[Suu4LC]

Amber tends to go powdery on me, so it is such a hit or miss note for me. I've never had much luck with dragon's blood either. But this has been on my wishlist for a while, so I am excited to give this imp a shot.

 

This is nice in the imp-sort of a light musky dragon's blood with powdery amber.

 

Yup, on my skin this is a musky, juicy dragon's blood with amber...it hasn't gone TOO powdery yet, and hopefully it will stay that way! Nice and sweet and pretty.

 

Yeah, this actually never gets too powdery. It loses a bit of its sweetness on drydown, and smells less sweet and musky and more rich and resiny. It really is a pretty straight up dragon's blood and amber resin scent.

 

On full drydown, however, this does go quite powdery on me. Like sweet dragon's blood powder. I would definitely recommend dragon's blood fans try this, or if the combo of dragon's blood and amber sounds good to you, this smells pretty much how the description describes it. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me!

[MadameFaye84]

Dragon Blood and amber...yes! One of my favorite incenses is this and that is what Blood Amber delivers. Very warm and sensual. When feeling sassy and sexy this is one of the scents I'll reach for. A little goes a long way. Might have to spring for a big bottle.

Edited January 21, 2012 by MadameFaye84

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Thick dragon's blood with the most subtle aspect of sweetness from the amber. It's definitely a bewitching scent at this point.

 

Wet: On my skin, the dragon's blood becomes even more potent, but there is that touch of sweetness that I can get on deeper sniffs. It feels a bit heavy / indulgent to wear right before I go to the gym though.

 

Dry: Dry and post workout, the scent is now balanced in terms of the dragon's blood and the amber. It's sultry and attractive, but be prepared for a strong scent when wet and the first stages of dry-down.

[cosmoblue]

In vial, flowers and resin.

Wet, it is still a very floraly amber. I was hoping the age would bring out the fruitiness of the blood amber I tried at the will call before, but alas it did not.

Dry, still floral dragons blood with a bit of amber.

[Kit Foxly]

Test #1: I had such high hopes for this one!

 

Unfortunately, it seems I didn't have an accurate idea of what Dragon's Blood smells like, or at least not on my skin. It turns into an almost cloyingly fruity smell (fruit that's just started to rot, at that! Though oddly enough, not the cherry smell that many people get?), and makes me feel awfully queasy – not a good thing! Especially when I'm on-site and can't wash it off!

 

It settles somewhat after the first hour, and the amber is nice when it eventually comes out some hours later, but not worth the process. It was gone by lunchtime, but then I put it on at around 5am, so that's quite some staying power.

 

Test #2: Okay, weird. I braved this again, a year later, despite some trepidation. No sign of the nauseating over-ripe fruitiness; it just smells like amber buried under a layer of florally-fruity perfume. Nothing awful this time, but it's still not a keeper.

 

[Edited to fix a typo]

Edited October 13, 2012 by Kit Foxly

[Alethia]

Initial thoughts: This was a frimp in a recent lab order. Amber tends to go very powdery on me, but I have discovered a love for dragon's blood resin, so we'll see what happens!

 

Wet: This is a stunning floral with only a hint of amber. Wow.

 

Dry down: The amber comes a little more to the fore now, grounding the florals and making it softer and just a tad spicier. This is actually really pretty, and not what I expected at all.

 

Dry: Beautiful floral, a little spicy, soft enough that it's not a piercing floral, and completely unexpected.

 

Final thoughts: I can't get over how awesome this smells. Blood Amber stays very close to my skin, and it's just superb and not what I was expecting at all. The wear time was also awesome (close to 6 hours before I really had to try to smell it).

 

Verdict: The imp is a definite keeper, and I think this one may turn into a bottle.