Medical Procedure

[GoldenRubee]

Linen, tobacco flower, white sandalwood, and dragon's blood resin.

I love Beth's dragon blood blends and that's one of the reasons why I was so interested in this and purchased it unsniffed. For those of you who like dragon's blood-you will be happy, for those of you who don't-you will be happy too. This is dragon's blood resin which is much, much lighter and very wearable. It is almost an ambery, musky scent and when combined with the sandalwood gives off a remarkably gorgeous woody note. The linen and floral are light on me but do combine to tone down the dragon's blood. This is heavier than some of the other Lupercalia's I have reviewed this year but still with trying. Not at all too heavy or cloying.

[ellebelle]

Tobacco flower is one of my favorite notes, and this doesn't disappoint. It is heavy on the tobacco flower with a smooth backing of sandalwood. I don't get much of the dragons blood or the linen. This is a sophisticated scent to me and wordier than I thought it would be.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Pretty! The tobacco flower is dominant, but the other elements provide beautiful support. Seriously, this is a very clever blending, with linen, sandalwood, and dragon’s blood each supporting a different aspect of the flower. Wet: still tobacco flower dominent, and really, it’s all about showcasing that flower. The linen is stronger on my skin, and is now more distinct, while the other elements are still bulstering and adding nuance to the flower note. It’s lovely. Not me at all, but wonderful to smell. Dry: Fast fading into sandalwood with a bit of linen. So sad.

[Invidiana]

The linen note here reminds me of The Coldest Evening of the Year, which I love, so I initially had high hopes for this. However, I feel the white sandalwood ultimately ends up too dry on my skin, like that same bone-dry white sandalwood in Bony Moon, and amps much too much to allow the nicotiana and dragonsblood to shine through. I think I'll stick to Coldest Evening for now.

[Mellifluous]

I was looking forward to this a lot because I love dragonsblood, sandalwood, and linen.. but this wound up being a bit too heavy on the tobacco flower, and mixed with the dragonsblood to turn into a rum/cologne/aftershave smell. No good for me.

[Aldercy]

On my skin, this actually reminds me pretty noticeably of a stronger Black Lace. With linen and tobacco/tobacco flower being the only notes in common, I find that kind of surprising, but I'm certainly not complaining. This has more throw and has a drier, more raw quality about it... like Black Lace's older, scruffier brother.

 

The linen note is warm, worn and crinkly, almost with a tea-stained parchment quality to it. Really awesome and not at all perfumey like commercial "linen" and "cotton" notes usually are. There's tons of that distinctive tobacco flower note, which I love but if nicotiana is not your thing, steer clear. The sandalwood is there, lending a slightly musky aridity to the background, but it's very faint. I'm not a huge sandalwood fan, but it really works here. Dragon's blood resin is totally absent as far as I can tell, to the point where I'm wondering if it was forgotten. The oil is even perfectly clear, without a hint of pink to it, which I've never seen in a scent containing dragon's blood before.

 

Medical Procedure is my definite favorite from among my Lupercalia decants and I'll probably get a bottle in my next order.

 

ETA: This lasts forever. Like for 36 hours. It's frankly ridiculous.

Edited February 18, 2012 by Aldercy

[Circaea]

I agree with Mellifluous on the men's cologne impression. Medical Procedure is too strong and manly for me. A lot like Minamoto No Yorimitsu Cuts at the Earth Spider (which shares the tobacco flower and sandalwood notes), but whereas Minamoto went manly soapy sandalwood, Medical Procedure goes manly aftershavey sandalwood. Which is a shame, because I love sandalwood when it's soft and warm and sweet, but not when it's high and sharp and piercing. I need to learn to steer clear of the tobacco flower. (Going off to add it to my notes of doom.)

[theseagrows]

hrrm, this smells very odd on me. i can't even pick out what notes are coming forth, but i am guessing tobacco flower and linen? it smells floral but there is something sharp and green or aquatic in this mixed with the floral scent. it's very crisp and leans more towards the masculine. i was iffy on this scent, but loved the image so much that i had to try it, but it's just not for me.

[Dark Alice]

This smells like generic men's cologne with a strong linen note on me. This one is nauseating as well and needs to find a new home ASAP.

[Incendiare]

Now that's some strong linen. It automatically makes me think of Black Lace. It's crazy how when you have them side by side, the linen in the Black Lace now pales in comparison with the linen in Medical Procedure. Sorry for going on about Black Lace, but this is now making me look at BL in a different light. Before, it was more cologne-y and sharp to my nose, but now, up against Medical Procedure, I can finally smell the vanilla and cognac in there and the sweetness in general is more noticeable. To me, that just shows how much stronger the linen is in here. Anyway, Medical Procedure is cleaner and brighter in the vial. Wet, Medical Procedure is mostly linen with an added touch of the tobacco flower. As this dries, however, the sandalwood begins to slowly inch its way in, and most of the lab's sandalwood notes smell like a vague, dry wood to me. The DBR never made it to the party. Now that this has completely dried on my skin, it's lost its clean vibe. The linen has completely vanished and I am left with that dry sandalwood.

[ami226]

This is a nice, clean scent. Smells like clean, washed skin. Whatever is causing the soapiness, though is too much for me. It is really strong!

 

Definitely not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Linen with a hint of sandalwood. This is a clean, manly aftershave. Ditto with the hint of soapiness.

 

Better than Old Spice.

[Little Bird]

I'm always intrigued by linen notes, but this is all tobacco flower all the time (unless the linen is making the tobacco flower even soapier than usual). This smells similar to blends like The Lady on the Grey and Tobacco Honey, where the tobacco flower also amped up and overpowered all the other notes on my skin. It's dry, sharp, soapy, white floral smell with a bit of sharp, gritty smokiness to it. I just find it soapy and gross smelling, unfortunately.

[milo]

I'm really getting lots of tobacco flower here, a note that I find strong and aggressive. After a bit, something fresh pokes through, but the whole effect is far too cologney and strong on me. I'm hoping it will wash off as I'm going out.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Tobacco flower and linen! This has fresh, clean feeling to it. I dig it.

 

Dry: This faded fast on me. It's now a very, very light tobacco scent, with linen being dominant. It's very nice, but not for me.

 

 

2/5

[yewberry]

This Charming Man. A very attractive men's cologne. I can kinda tell he's not really into me, though.

[filigree_shadow]

Usually DBR overpowers everything in a scent, but for sure not in this one. I wouldn't have even guessed it was in there. It basically smells like tobacco flower and linen, as most of the reviews state. It's a clean scent, but not straight up laundry detergent. Definitely reminds me of some the the "Lace" scents. Actually I think I like this one better than most of those I've tried.

 

I don't usually wear "clean" scents, but I definitely don't object to this.