Blood Amber

[neuilly]

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

For me this is mostly Dragon's Blood with an actual floral note in the background. There may be some amber but I'm honestly getting floral. Either way the dragon's blood is far too dominant for me.

[Floria]

Origin: purchased on the forum.

In the imp: juicy and fruity. Oil is a rather attractive red color.

On application: still juicy, but no longer gives the fruity impression. Smells rather familiar... wet lilacs?

Yep. Lilacs. No obvious sign of the amber, unfortunately, but I like lilacs so this is still very wearable.

A couple of hours after application, still lilacy, although it varies between "wet lilac" and a sweeter, sort of "candied violet" scent. It never quite goes into soapy territory, however.

 

I'm a bit sorry that I didn't pick up on any of the amber, but at least now I know what dragon's blood smells like on me, and that I like it.

[MtMoonKitty]

I got this as a frimp quite a while ago. I didn't care for it then as it tended to go quite powdery on me. I can't say how long this is aged, but I think at least a year.

 

This is very much dragon's blood, but not the floral dragon's blood that I am used to in Beth's blends (maybe its the age). This is heady, incensy, resinous and a little smokey. It smells just a little like Snake Oil on me, only less sweet and no vanilla. The tendency to turn baby powder is gone. I have been wearing it for about 2 hours now and it still has the same effect as wet only quieter. It has some throw even though I didn't apply much.

 

I like this much better now than I did when I first got it. I am glad I didn't give it away. This will probably never make the bottle list, but I will enjoy the frimp.

 

Edited over a year later: I just purchased a bottle of this. LOL! I opened my empty frimp and thought OMG! I gotta have this. I tried so hard to get just a little more out but alas, I will have to wait for my new bottle to age.

Edited January 1, 2014 by MtMoonKitty

[surlygurl]

I pulled this imp out of my imp box and said "gee, did I like this? How long has it been here anyway?" and dabbed some on my wrists. WHOA Dragon's Blood! Now, I like little bits of DB here and there, but this is almost single note, with that floral thing that DB does riding high. Not really my thing.

 

Once dry, this is lovely. The amber comes out and melds with the DB, creating a grounded yet still pulsating scent. Very soon after this stage - the lovely stage - it disappears on me. Maybe I just no longer notice it. I'll keep my aged imp and wear it when I want to feel all-powerful (rarely).

[JazzieCazzie]

Dragon's blood. Amber. Two of my absolute favorite BPAL notes. In fact, maybe my two FAVORITE BPAL notes. What's not to like? Nothing. So why on earth had I not figured out I should try this YEARS ago?

 

Instead, it took me until January 2012, when I went out to LA to visit Cazzie Lite (who moved out there after college). Hubby made lunch plans with his high school buddy who now lives in Burbank, and I got him to drop me off at Dark Delicacies so I could just nose-browse the BPAL display for two hours with a little bit of spending cash burning a hole in my pocket.

 

Yes, I sniffed nearly every bottle there -- literally. The only exceptions were scents I'd already tried. And I thought narrowing it down to three scents would be tough until I came across Blood Amber (luckily quite early in the mix, since the GCs are alphabetical and the first ones I hit).

 

I only bought two imps (bought a total of six imps, two each of three scents) but have it on my "big bottle" wishlist for when the day comes that I am gainfully employed again.

 

IMP: Dragon's blood. Amber. Actually, in the imp it was more like dragon's blood, dragon's blood, dragon's blood and amber.

 

Dabbed ... okay slathered ... onto both wrists and crooks of arms.

 

WET: Dragon's blood amps up to big-time floral on me (it's so interesting how it has different effects on different people, for me it's very lushly gardenia ... before I learned to identify it, I would note that blends with DB reminded me of White Shoulders, my first "adult" perfume). But it didn't take long for that golden amber to rise as well, its sharpness providing the perfect balance with the DB.

 

DRY: These two scents are among my favorites because a) neither ever goes wonky on me and they are both, for lack of a better word, "comfort" scents for me. There's something about amber that brings to mind safe times of childhood, the pharmacy across the street, the smells in the closet where we kept the clean linens and medical supplies. God knows why that would be comforting, but it is. It's clean and lovely and I would imagine that if I could have a little cloud of this scent hanging over my head every night I'd never have another nightmare or bout of insomnia, it is just so calming and comforting.

 

OVERALL: This is one of the most perfect -- and to me quintessential -- BPAL scents. An easy 5 on a scale of 1-5 and a big bottle purchase as soon as it's feasible. If I didn't have two imps I'd do it now.

[Deliciousness]

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

 

In the imp: A lovely floral, with a touch of dragons blood

Wet on skin: Dragons blood, with a hint of a sweet fresh floral in the background. The floral may be lilacs or lily of the valley?

Dry on skin: The floral note becomes stronger and compliments the dragons blood

 

This scent is supposed to have amber mixed in, but I am not getting that on my skin. What I am getting is this wonderfully lush floral, like lilac, or lily of the valley.

This is a very pretty scent, but unfortunately, my skin eats this and am left with only a whisper of fragrance after an hour or two.

Edited March 19, 2013 by Deliciousness

[steelgoat]

I just got this as a frimp with my last order and I have always wanted to try this one, so I was pretty excited. I don't really know why because I'm not a huge fan of dragon's blood because I amp the crap outta sweet and it's a little overwhelming on its own. But I *LOVE* amber.

So initial impressions, straight out of the vial I was a little worried because it seemed to pretty much be a DB single note. But after a little time on the skin, the DB backed away and the glorious amber stepped in. And now, I don't know how or why or if maybe I'm crazy and my nose is broken but this - this smells like my beloved Black Opal.

I am sorta baffled and completely ecstatic. I have been in mourning of its passing for nearly a year... And here this comes along and it's like, "Yea, dude! Been here the whole time!"

The only difference to me so far is that it doesn't have quite the same staying power. But whatevs!! I shall douse myself profusely with it!! Haha!!

yay.

[damonkitty]

I really wanted to love this one. I tried Dragon's Milk and loved it so I figured I would give another dragon blood scent a skin test today. Not so happy with this one . A little too much dragon's blood. I love amber, but I do not get a good amber throw even after wearing it about an hour. It turned into a bad air freshener scent on my skin. This just did not work well with my chemistry.

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab, and an especially welcome one, because I had wanted to try Blood Amber.

 

In the imp, it’s strongly floral dragon’s blood. Wet, it tones down a bit, but gets stronger as it dries. Several hours after application, I can smell a faint undertone of amber, but no more than that. This is almost all dragon’s blood on me.

 

It’s disappointing: I recently tested Dragon’s Musk, which I liked much more than I expected to, and that raised my hopes for Blood Amber. Amber is almost always good on my skin, but in this blend the dragon’s blood overpowers it.

[vanilla323]

Not sure what year my bottle was from, got it off the forum, but it had the original lace looking label.

 

This scent did not work for me at all! After falling in love with Dragon's Milk I wanted to try another dragon's blood type scent. But this one was just a powdery, dusty, icky mess. It did nothing for me and barely showed up on my skin. I don't know if it was the age of the bottle or what but it was nothing. Just light musky, powdery amber. No throw and obviously didn't stick around longer then 15 minutes. Too bad.

Edited May 6, 2015 by vanilla323

[theredkilt]

Wet: hello dragon's blood! you are incredibly powerful . the wet stage reminds me of Dragon's Blood only less fizzy and intense.

 

Drying: the amber mellows the DB and a blanket of sweetness set in. I'm liking what i smell, I think i'm smiling and i think i will need a bottle of it!

[Scarlettmortem]

This perfume is a BPAL favorite! It's warmly cold, fresh and thick - the best way to describe it.

 

Wet, I get a fresh coldness.

 

Dry, I get a soft powdery warm spiced Amber with a far distant chill.

 

This can be worn during all seasons, all year long. Love.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Mostly the cherry-floral sweetness of, yes, dragon's blood. There's something vaguely warm and spicy at the base, but I wouldn't immediately identify it as amber. Indeed, instead of the cuddly, slinky warmth I usually associate with amber, this feels decidedly fresh, even brisk. Huh. This should be an interesting experiment - amber has a tendency to either go to powder, or turn the whole blend into pure gold on my skin, while dragon's blood tends to go either too sickly-sweet, or morph into a bog-standard department store perfume. I wonder which one will win out?

 

Wet: I got an immediate sense-memory of some mainstream perfume or other, but I can't really put my finger on it. Something containing jasmine, perhaps? Anyway, I'm getting brisk, subtly spicy florals, with that cherry note still hanging around. But after a few minutes of this, the florals settle into heady, slightly indolic jasmine, and the cherry burns off. Still no amber.

 

Dry: The dragon's blood burns off after six hours or so, leaving a soft, powdery, skin-level amber. A little more subdued than I'd like, and I do miss the oddly jasmine-y dragon's blood, but I can live with this just fine.

[Veronica]

Hot, warm amber with a deep blood note. Very pretty, with that kind of sweet, fruity note dragons blood tends to have.

Edited December 21, 2015 by delighted

[spikyfairy]

Frimp from the lab. Disclaimer: I actively dislike dragon's blood, and am ambivalent about amber, so I knew this would be a no for me.. But I seem to be determined to test everything I come across, so -

In the imp: Slightly medicinal fruity-floral.
Wet: Dragon's blood, which on me is like lilac or wisteria, but with a weird bitter-fruity undertone. Not a fan.
Dry: Amber comes out. Powdery, dry, bitter, floral. Pass, thank you.

[Kay Torres]

So much powdery floral.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Mmm, rich DB (which seems to be of the more floral variety - I know the Lab seems to use several different Dragon's Blood notes). The amber is taking a back seat right now. I do like DB, but I amp it SOOO much, it becomes screeching and I feel too self conscious when I wear it, unless it's combined with the right notes. I don't think this combo is going to be a winner for me, sadly.

 

 

Dry: It went very green and herbal? And then pretty much disappeared. Weird! Not for me, I guess!

[roseus]

Normally I am not a big fan of DBR, it tends to go a bit screechy cherry-floral on me. However in this scent the amber grounds it quite nicely! Warm and musky, and just a touch fruity. Quite addictive to sniff.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Spicy, cherry floral dragon's blood with a bit of amber.

 

Wet: The cherry-floral dragon's blood note reigns. This is more blood than amber. The strong dragon's blood seems to be forcing the amber to remain in the background.

 

Dry: The dragon's blood note is still the star of the show. I have to put my nose really close to my skin in order to be able to smell any of the golden amber, but I am getting more of it during this phase of the scent.

 

Verdict: This is too heavy on the dragon's blood for me, but I'm glad I got a chance to try it!

[gloame]

Dry, spicy, warm. Definitely sensual and pleasant, but nothing that screams "Must have!" to me.

 

Where I'd wear this: Late summer afternoon date

[Lucchesa]

Slivers of warm, pulsating DRAGON'S blood forever crystallized in golden amber resin. I should have read the reviews, or this should be Dragon's Amber. Dragon's blood very rarely works on me, and this is not one of those occasions. It's only a little amber and a lot of the sickly sweet fruity-floral DB turns into on me skin. I was hoping for something more like blood musk and amber. Oh well, I'll pass this one on.

[monocainsheresy]

Amber and slick, wet dragon's blood! Very nice, but I personally prefer regular Dragon's Blood. This has a little tinge of honey.

[RoseOfLuna]

In the bottle: Getting a lot of the amber notes, with a hint of dragon's blood.

 

Wet: Very amber-y, honestly it smells kind of like a Home Depot a mile away. That's probably the resin!

 

Dry: The blood note comes trickling in, and sweetens the whole thing. Not as much like a distant Home Depot now.

 

Overall impression: I like things that are warm and musky like this. It's a bit androgynous on me, which is also a plus. It doesn't stay on me for very long, and the throw is pretty small.

[artisjok]

Blood Amber claws it’s way into my nostrils, a screaming dragon studded with flowers, almost soapy as dragon’s blood can be on me. It’s high pitched and fierce for the first 30 min. Then, amber shows up and winds it’s way around the dragon, petting it’s head and diluting the screaming rage with some resinous powder. There’s a transition here that is too powdery for my liking, yet the notes end up balancing. They come to terms with each other and I’m left with an enticing feminine incense. It’s surprising me how I love this final stage, comparing to loud wet stage. 
 

 

[Rane.]

Received as an imp. It has a spiciness to it that reminds me of cinnamon. When it mellows out it is a simple amber.