Blood Lotus

[talula_fairie]

Lush, velvet-red blooms born from the blood shed in the eternal battle between Set and Horus the Avenger.

 

In Bottle: sweet, fruity floral with something dark behind it. STRONG.

 

On skin (wet): I was really worried after sniffing the bottle...I've been in floral overload due to a set of imps I won on ebay...anyway. This instantly went to a sweet, luscious scent on my skin. Allllllllmost too sweet at first, but the dark, leering notes beneth the sweetness kept it from crossing the line into candyland.

 

On skin (dry): This dried into a very, very pretty soft scent that wore close to the skin and lasted 10+ hours. I put it on about 2 hours before going to bed and still smelled it in the morning. It smelled of honey, vanilla, and soft overripe fruit. A really beautiful scent, and one I will probably want to wear every day. DELICIOUS.

 

ETA: Lab Description

Edited November 15, 2006 by talula_fairie

[em_h]

Wet, it's sort of fruity with a disturbing undercurrent of chlorine. Luckily this chlorine note (some florals do this on me; it's a mystery) moderates down rather than amping up. Mild bubble-gum sweetness of lotus, a hint of spiciness warming it up; quite pleasant. Every now and then, though, I do get a waft of bleach, which kind of detracts from the overall effect.

[The_Merf]

I've only had the dreaded "amoxil" effect with one other oil--Undertow. Blood Lotus comes off as a sweeter version of amoxil. This is 99% pure bubblegum lotus on me, with just the tiniest hint of dragon's blood. Off to swaps with it!

[femmefatale]

I really, really wanted to like this one, but I didn't get any of the scents that other lucky reviewers got. Instead, it just smelled like a department store perfume my grandmother would wear. Even after the dry down it did not improve.I will probably try it one more time, but if I get the same scent I'll be sending it along to someone who it works with.

[lookingglass]

I never thought that lotus smelled like bubblegum, but here I definitely get it when it is wet. Drying out it gets much more juicy, rich and sexy. For a single floral it is very wearable for me.

[Carmencita]

In the vial: So sweet. A sharp sweetness. Fruit and concentrated sugar covered in artificial honey.

 

On my skin: Cloying. Something spicy and a little peppery behind it. Candy and syrup and gellied fruits.

 

Later: Fades to a soft sweet incense scent reminiscent of Scherezade (spelling), but with less incensey resin and more pure essence.

[ForeverLastcXs]

I absolutely adore Blood Lotus, and I already know I want to get a 5 ml of this one when my finances will allow.

 

The scent is sweet in the bottle, but wasn't so sweet that it completely turned me off in one sniff. Then again, florals and I generally get along, so that's not much of a surprise. For the first 20 minutes or so, the scent is a little TOO sweet, but throughout the day it becomes a lot more subtle and really exudes femininity, confidence and sheer sex appeal. That's how I feel when I wear this one, at least. I can't refrain from repeatedly sniffing my wrists with this, nor can I make myself believe how incredibly good I smell! This one's a keeper.

[filigree_shadow]

So, Blood Lotus means it has lotus in it, right? I'm having a difficult time detecting any lotus in this -- it doesn't really smell like lotus usually does on me (which is kind of bubblegummy). Whatever else is in this makes it smell smoky and a bit hazy -- it's much darker than lotus usually is. It has a lovely soft sweetness to it.

 

Very pretty blend. This one works on me a lot better than most of the Garden scents do.

[forspecial_plate]

Blood Lotus is a fairly potent, sweet and fruity floral. I do get the hint of bubble gum at first, but as expected the dragon's blood pretty much takes over after just a few minutes, because that's what it usually does on my skin. After a while it backs off some, but as with most blends containing dragon's blood, this does very little to excite me. I already gave away my imp of Black Lotus, otherwise I would do a comparison. As I remember, that one worked out better for me, although I gave it to someone I thought would enjoy it more than me.

 

I just am not a big fan of dragon's blood, and I can smell it in this blend. This isn't a bad smell at all...nothing repellant about it, nothing turning sour or bad on my skin. Just doesn't do much to 'grab' me like so many other scents do.

[asciident]

Wet: Mrm. Strongly perfumey. I'm apprehensive right off the bat. Definitely floral, but nothing says blood to me.

 

First on: A definite red floral smell, but very deep thanks to the other notes. It's still overwhelming, but I'll wait for drydown to judge it.

 

Dry: I don't know; I normally love blood perfumes, but the lotus is ruining for me. It's just too heavy-n-floral. I wanted to like it, but the throw is enormous and I just can't take it. I'm going to go wash this off; it's not for me.

[monsteralice]

Wet: Fresh blossoms and dusty dragon's blood.

 

Dry: Same.

 

Finish: All resin, and maybe not just dragon's blood.

 

Duration/throw: Good throw; I got a compliment from a woman on the other side of a wide counter, even though there were lots of cooking smells on her side.

 

Lasts well; still sniffable at 8 hours.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Sickly wine and red musk, just like in Blood Rose.

 

Wet: Absolute bubblegum, grape-flavoured. Is there orange blossom in there?

 

Drydown: Red musk, definitely, and sweet wine ala Lady Macbeth, with a discreet floral in the middle. It clings close to the skin, dark and a bit mysterious, with a very sweet fruity component, and aquatics from the lotus, definitely.

 

Overall: I'm surprised, this isn't as unpleasant as I'd anticipated. Blood Rose beat me in the face with ghastly red musk and sickly rose, whereas this is a very subtle blend although I recognise similar components. It's mostly sweet wine on me, too sweet to my taste, but certainly not the catastrophe I was anticipating, seeing as I hate lotus usually.

[naeelah]

I'm pretty much just chiming in to agree with the other reviews.

 

This one has a distinct dragon's blood base that has the typical almost-fruity-but-not-quite quality. It's sweet and thick smelling, and it blends well with the lotus. I'm not familiar with lotus, but I have to assume it's similarly sweet and thick, because this is a very syrupy scent. That's one thing I love about dragon's blood -- it's sweet and fruity, but being a resin, it's always grounded with that soft organic quality.

 

This is a rare one that smells the same on me from bottle to final dry down. It has almost no morph. Other dragons blood based fragrances dry to a patchouli-like, dry resinous quality, but perhaps because of the lotus blend here, this one is remarkably consistent, with good staying power. Light throw.

 

This was a freebie, and I've really taken to it. I love almost anything with dragon's blood, but this is a nice spin on a floral base. However, I wouldn't categorize this as a floral. Interesting and definitely a bit different. Very nice! I would definitely consider getting 5 ml of this.

[cuervosueno]

I never really got the lotus=bubble gum scent until now. Probably because I haven't tried many lotus blends!

 

But yeah--intriguing enough in the imp for me to try it, sweet and fruity. But on it is dragon's blood bubble gum. Yikes!

 

Then it starts turning even wierder--sort of like rotting fruit and dragon's blood bubble gum. Guess this isn't for me.

[rockchickie]

Wet: Cherries!

 

Dry: I don't know. It's definitely floral. There's dragon's blood buried deep within it but there's something funky that I can't identify. The best I can describe it is soap and dirt.

 

Rats...I wish I was better at identifying notes so I could figure out what to avoid.

[tinyvulture]

lotus is usually way too sweet for me, but it’s toned down in this blend to where i can actually appreciate it. this is a sweet, fruity floral, backed with powdery incense. the lab has a certain incense note that smells like bananas on my skin, and that’s what i smell here. i haven’t noticed any dragon’s blood. i’m really surprised at how faint this scent is, considering how bold the lotus normally is. i don’t get much throw from it at all. a shame, since it’s the one lotus blend i’d wear regularly.

[Limelight]

Oh, barf. This is definitely not for me. The bubblegummy lotus isn't the problem, it's the conflict it seems to have with dragon's blood on my skin. It comes out with this blanket of sweetness anchored down with a metal-herby foundation, and the combo turns me off. This is just further confirmation that dragon's anything and I just don't make it together. To the swaps with you, dear, thanks anyway!

[LadyCrow]

Disclaimer: I am insanely biased toward anything with dragon's blood in it; it plays absolutely perfectly with my skin chemistry.

 

That said: The lotus gives this blend that familiar sweet, lush ripeness. But instead of going yucky-sweet the way it does in some other blends, it's kept in check by the smoky, incense-like resin.

 

I'm not sure I'd wear this as regularly as I would some of the other dragon's-blood blends, just because I don't always want to smell sweet and fruity. It's more of an evening scent -- maybe a concert, a club, a bar. It is, though, a really nice demonstration of the way lotus can be kept from cloying and instead made to play smoothly as part of an overall perfume.

[Extispex]

In the imp, bubble-gummy lotus. On my skin, the dragons blood amps way up, and the lotus note goes soapy. I generally like dragons blood, but the lotus note just isn't working out for me in this one. I can really see this being pretty on someone whose skin chemistry it loves.

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, Blood Lotus wavers between bubblegum and a sweet floral. Surprisingly, I like that -- I'd definitely eat something that tastes like wet Blood Lotus smells. Dry, it's light and powdery. I'll age this and see if it improves.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Medicinal.

Wet: Smells kind of like generic men's cologne/body spray. There's something like dragon's blood, but also some weird ozoney layer.

Drydown: Weird feral edge to it that's overtaking the dragon's blood. Still smells like a man coated in body spray.

Dry: Someone else mentioned red musk. Yup, it smells like a pile of dirty cats to me with the coolness of ozone/aquatics over them.

 

My rating: 2/5. Nothing to jump with glee for, but not nauseatingly bad.

[somnambular]

To be honest, this smells like straight up gummy bears to me. In the bottle, wet, after the drydown... all gummy bears.

 

I love to eat gummy bears, but this is not the scent for me.

[JennyGardener]

Blood Lotus smells like red cherry suckers. On the drydown, it eases into something muskier, but it's still pretty sweet. It reminds me of sticky sucker residue on my little boy's face. Not something I really want to wear. I would recommend this to sweet fruit lovers.

 

Faerygirl: Smells like candy at first, but then it smells like rotting spices.

[kopper]

nodding in agreement, jennygardener. Blood Lotus is almost too sweet for me to wear. It smelled lovely in the bottle, but I got it on my skin and the two just didn't play well together. Off to the swap bin...

[Miss Lynx]

Lotus is one of those notes I tend to fear, and dragon's blood (which I'm assuming is in here, since it's in pretty much every othe BPAL scent with the word "blood" anywhere in the name) has always been kind of dodgy on me -- sometimes good, sometimes not so good. But I recently got a frimp of this, and it didn't smell to frighteningly sweet in the imp, so I figured I'd give it a try.

 

On first contact, it's pretty sweet all right, but not too bad... There's enough of an incensey edge to it that it doesn't smell like perfume overkill. Yet. But high sweet florals like lotus do tend to amp dramatically on me, so we'll see... It's also got an interestingly fruity aspect to it -- someone mentioned red wine, so maybe that's it. Not sure. Anyway, that improves it for me, as fruit notes generally behave themselves better on my skin than florals go.

 

And strangely enough, it doesn't turn awful on me at all! After half an hour or so, which is usually plenty long enough for florals to do their worst on me, it's still pretty pleasant. Sweet, but not overly so, and a bit like Dragon's Reverie, which also worked on me despite my expectations of horror. I don't think this is one that will become a favourite, but the fact that it's turned out at all nice on me is astonishing, really. I might have to keep it just to reassure myself that I didn't imagine the whole thing...

 

Grade: B