Blood Kiss

[lilirose]

Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk.

Well, this is a shock. This was among the first imp pack I ever bought, and somehow I’ve managed to not try it until now. I can’t imagine how that happened, exactly- I was certain I had both tried it and reviewed it until I did a search and discovered that I’d done neither. Very odd, considering that it combines many of my favourite notes.

In the imp: Cherries.

On skin, wet: Whoa, so sweet. Cherries and vanilla and honey. I’m not normally a fan of vanilla but it’s working for me here.

On skin, dry: The vetiver starts to come out- I love vetiver and it works perfectly in this blend. Without it this would undoubtedly become cloying, but the combination of vetiver and musk make it sexy-sweet instead of sickly-sweet. It’s still very cherry/honey, at the same time. I’m not getting any boozy smell from it, which is good because that would definitely put me off it.

As a huge fan of Dragon’s Blood, I’m pretty sure this blend doesn’t have any actual Dragon’s Blood, but the various notes combine to make it Dragon’s-Blood-ish.

Verdict- Totally going on my 5ml wish list, right this instant. Edited June 23, 2008 by lilirose

[stillalive]

Oh. My. God.

 

In the bottle I can smell the cherry and Dragon's Blood... yum! A confusing mixture of innocence (cherry) and darkness (blood). I'm instantly intrigued. I put some on my inner arm and my fingers get a wooden sort of scent on them. Sort of a spicy wood, though. Maybe it's the dragon's blood drying? As it started to dry I went about sniffing other vials, then had to close them all and figure out WHERE that delicious honey smell was coming from.

 

It was, of course, my arm. I'm tempted to buy a huge bottle of this and turn it into deodorant. And lip gloss. and soap. and lotion. I want to take a bite out of my arm, lol.

[Suu4LC]

This sounds awesome...except that vetiver is my scent arch-nemesis. Hopefully I won't be able to notice it in the blend, and I just get a sexy sweet musky red scent!

 

Ahhh, darn it, even in the imp I can smell the vetiver *gag* I'm going to risk it and put it on my skin, but my hopes are not high.

 

Clove comes out strong on my skin. I don't really get any vanilla or cherry at all though. Just clove, musk, poppy, and vetiver =/

 

This dried down to a sweet powdery vetiver/poppy mess. To ye olde swaps page!

[IronMollyBlack]

When I first put this on, it's all cherries and wine, but then my skin chemistry kicks in, and the fun starts. It goes through a bit of a "medicinal" stage, with the vetiver and clove kicking in, then it settles down to an incensey smell, with a bite of vetiver, a bit a vanilla and cherry wine to sweeten it, and just a bit of musk. It is a very "me" scent. A bit naughty, a bit nice. Definately in my top ten.

[ErinZ]

Wet in imp:

sweet, dark, earthy

 

Wet on skin:

vetiver popping out

 

Drydown:

at first, it makes me feel like I smell like a smoker with a vanilla floral musk perfume on, but it mellows after a while

 

Wearlength:

hangs on well even a full day later

 

Final impression:

The longer I wear it, the more I like it. It's strong, smoky, and sultry, and fades to a sweet, vanilla musk.

[megank4]

This smells really nice, not at all what I expected. It reminds me of another scent, but I can't think which one and it is driving me crazy. Lust maybe? No clue.

[anardana]

I assumed that this was dragons-blood based. It is not! I rejoice! This is actually pretty nice! Even though it is cherries and vanilla I don't find it too sweet- the musk and vertiver must keep it from being foody.

[innocent]

Putting this on it smelled like cherry snow cone syrup ... but on my skin the vetiver took over. It's not as acrid as some vetiver blends are on me (I can smell the honey in there, valiantly trying to make this wearable) but my skin just amps vetiver too much, in a bad way.

 

Blargh. The other notes sound so good too.

[crebbsgirl]

Here is what I learned from trying Blood Kiss: my skin does NOT like cherries. This turned so utterly sickly sweet on my skin it was near unbearable. I think the cloves may have made it worse. I so desperately wanted to like this one because usually, I really enjoy poppy, honey and musk scents.

[OhioSky]

Reminds me a bit of Lust as well. Definitely cherry vanilla yumminess.

 

This is the first BPAL I decided to buy a full bottle of.

[Allumina]

In the imp it is all honey. As soon as it hits the skin the honey disappears and it's all veviter, which I love. Within a couple of minutes I get what I guess is the poppy, which is floral and sharp and perfumed and old ladyish; It's not pleasant. After a while it calms down a bit and I get the barest hint of cherries and vanilla, but the floral and the disappearing veviter keeps me from liking the oil as a whole.

[Apple]

I put off trying Blood Kiss for a long time because my skin amps and distorts so many of its components in truly awful ways. Previous reviewers mentioning that they could detect dragon's blood resin and red musk - two mortal enemies of mine - didn't quicken my desire, either. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me, though, and I had to know which note would triumph in this clash of the Titans: vanilla, honey, cherry, or vetiver? Of those, only honey amps in a good way on me, so the odds were not in my favor.

 

In the bottle and initially on my skin, it's all cherries and vetiver, which is... interesting. It is slightly medicinal, but not horrifically cough syrupy like I had been expecting. The sweet cherry and dark, smoky vetiver are an unexpected and unusual pairing (and not one I anticipated liking, frankly), but strangely, it works. I don't really get any clove (not surprising as my skin tends to eat that note), but there is a subtle sweet spiciness to the scent. My partner commented that he thought it smelled like brandy on me, which I could certainly see. A couple hours after application, it smells both sweet and clean. Very pleasant.

 

I never got a whiff of vanilla, dragon's blood, or red musk (thank god). Apparently the secret to wearing notes that typically scream on my skin is to combine as many of them as possible into one blend and let them duke it out.

 

I don't really know if Blood Kiss is for me or not, but it's confusing and intriguing enough for me to give it a few more tries.

 

ETA: Just had this exchange with my partner:

Him: "I smell the mango chutney!" (He had made mango chutney the night before.)

Me: "How can you smell mango chutney? It's sealed up in the fridge. I think you're smelling me."

*I offer my wrist; he sniffs.*

Him: "Hmmn. Yes I am."

That's okay. The mango chutney smelled pretty damn good.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Apple

[angelicruin]

Imp: Very smoky

 

Wet: Clove and Vetiver overpower all other notes

 

Dry: I can pick up more of the musk, but the clove and vetiver are just too amped on skin.

[Sapphiremo0n]

The first touch of this little beauty to my skin bit my nose sharply, made me question my choice of scents for the day. A few minutes pass and I cautiously sneak another whiffing of my wrists half expecting to be bitten again by what I assume is the vetiver. Shock supprise and great joy, the little devil that bit my nose has apparently gone back to Hades where it belongs. Now we are spicy and sweet. The clove takes center stage backed by a chours of sweet honey cream and vanilla. Ohh how nice this is!

 

After Blood Kiss has been caressing my skin for a couple hours the sweetness has faded and the sexy scent of blood red wine and musk begin the dance with clove and cherry, mmm. I'm glad I make myself wear things rather than washing off what I don't like at first whiff.

 

This has lasted on me for several hours now. Finally everything has faded out except for the musk and cherry, and i still can't stop smelling myself. Me thinks I will be ordering a bottle of this for the Winter Hols.

[greenranger]

Wet, a heady over the head whallop of wine, musk, vetiver and cherries.

 

Drying, the vetiver is in the lead, with cherries and maybe clove coming up from behind.

 

 

There's the vanilla! Yay! Oops, vetiver takes the lead again, it's going to be neck and neck!

 

 

Now the pack is coming 'round the bend with vetiver and vanilla in the lead, but cherry and wine are gaining! Clove is coming up on the outside. Musk is in the back of the bunch with no obvious way through.

 

 

 

And it's vanilla by a nose, vetiver in second, with cherry and wine in a tie for third.

[NeuroticaGirl]

One of the best scents in the GC. A delicious honey twang but with rich undertones from the wine and dragon's blood. It is warm with the perfect blend of berries. No yucky strawberry. Dark and scrumptious. The kind of scent that makes your head spin.

[charshark]

In the imp: Wine and vetiver.

Wet: Cherries, wine and dragon's blood. A touch of honey and vanilla overshadowed by vetiver.

Dry: Mostly dries down to vanilla with vetiver, clove, cherries and wine. A little bit of musk.

Overall: Sensual and pleasing. It gets better on me the longer it's on, which is nice.

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Hm, seems like a syrupy floral to me, somehow. I'm not very familiar with the different sorts of floral scents out there, but I suppose I could be smelling the poppy. For some reason I'm associating it with lilacs or lotuses, but like I said, I'm not at all familiar with floral fragrance.

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Alright, this is awful on me. Why am I smelling savory peanut sauce? Nothing in here sounds like it would translate into peanut sauce, so this must be just some weirdo scent reaction. Thanks, chemistry. Yech. I'm not allergic to peanuts as far as I know, but I hate the smell and I always feel ill after eating more than say, a spoonful of a peanut-based product. So this is really making me gag.

 

Dry, on Skin - It mellows out eventually, but I can't get over that initial half-hour or so of pure, unadulterated peanut saucery. It might as well have been that I just applied peanut oil as a body moisturizer, used peanut butter as a shampoo, and applied some peanut sauce to my pulse points. It was peanuts, peanuts, peanuts. Now it is more red wine, musk, vanilla, and a plate of peanuts. I'd really love to figure out what note went peanutty on me, so I know to avoid it from now on. I'm thinking poppy, because it is the only one I don't have any prior experience with. This has to be a case of skin chemistry, because really--peanuts? Makes no sense.

 

Edit- Huh, a few other reviewers noted a peanut smell as well! I still wonder what exactly is causing it, notewise, but I'm glad I'm not alone!

Edited October 12, 2008 by AlarmAgent

[cortneyofeden]

I really really wanted to like this one. It's almost all notes that usually either work on me, or that I expect to like. And for a bit, I liked the way it smelled on me. But then for some reason, it just became overwhelmingly, sickeningly sweet (vanilla and cherries? I'm not good at picking out notes specifically at times). It got to the point where I was developing a headache from it, and had to wash it off.

 

It smells wonderful, and yes, sweet, in the bottle, but loses the complexity on my skin.

 

My love agreed. Said that he liked the scent, but that it wasn't one which worked on me. Sad. Onto the start of my swap pile it goes.

Edited October 14, 2008 by cortneyofeden

[Dominique]

In the vial: The oil is a warm amber-brown, the color of light sarsaparilla. I don’t smell much vanilla, but I can smell the musk and wine. I think I can also smell a touch of the clove and cherries. It’s a decadent smell, similar to Lilith, at least in the bottle.

 

On me (dry): Applied to inner wrists. Still no sign of the vanilla of cherry, but there’s a scent that’s probably the vetiver. The clove and wine remain distinct, though the cherry has faded some.

After about 10 minutes – the musk has lightened some, and the cherries begin to make an appearance. From the description I found of vetiver, I’m probably smelling quite a bit of it.

After an hour – no vanilla. I’m beginning to believe that I was misinformed… The wine, velvetier are still heavily present. The clove is faint, and the cherries are long gone.

 

After a while: The vanilla never appeared, to my disappointment. The velvetier, clove and musk created an . . . almost oriental scent, similar to what you’d get with sandlewood. Pleasant, just not what I was expecting.

 

Verdict: The absence of the vanilla and cherries was something of a bummer, but the scent was still quite pleasant. I’m going to try it in a scent locket, to see if it was something with my skin. I’d recommend it, though with the caviat that it seems to be unusually sensitive to skin chemistry.

[Electric Maenad]

I received an imp of this from Maidenhell, and I was a little hesitant to try it because of the vetiver. Oddly enough, the vetiver turned out to not be nearly as much of a problem as the cherry was. It went on cloyingly sweet and vaguely medicinal, which registered as "cough syrup" to my nose. Once it dried, the cherry settled down a bit and the clove and vanilla came up, but I'm also beginning to think that the Lab's honey note doesn't like me much. It just seems to make the scents it's in a little too heavy and "thick" for my liking.

[Dianora]

I think I've found my one true love. No, really, this is so very good. In the imp, it smelled almost exactly like chocolate covered cherries. Odd, because there is no chocolate in it, but it really had the aroma of rich, dark chocolate and cherries. Wet on my skin, the chocolate smell turned into something subtly different, the honey and vanilla combined with clove and cherry to make this sweet and foody. I was sorely tempted to lick my wrist, but managed to convince myself that it would taste very bad. During the dry down, the poppy burst into full, bright red bloom, mingling with the cherry to create a fragrance that literally makes my mouth water, but isn't hugely foody anymore. Finally, once it has dried, it is full blooded and red; cherry and poppy make this extremely lush and decadent, and the hints of red wine and spices temper it and keep it from becoming far too sweet.

 

This fragrance is exceedingly rich and decadent, a good alternative to my favourite black musk and incense fragrances because it manages to be both very dark and sensual as well as sweet. This is no little girl candy fragrance, this seems very adult and sexy to me. I am sensing many more bottles for me in the future.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Dianora

[pacifick]

On my skin this goes straight to vetiver; no cherry, no honey, no vanilla. After about an hour, however, all those notes come out to play, and it's absolutely delicious. The clove makes it a bit warm, I'm guessing the honey and musk keep the clove mellow. I never get any wine, which is fine with me. This might be one of my favorite scents to layer, it can go so many ways depending on what I pair it with.

Edited October 28, 2008 by pacifick

[noacastle]

In imp: a bit dusky, wasn't sure what to expect when I put it on my skin...

 

Wet: A bit complex, still not sure exactly what i was smelling, all of the scents sort of fighting to be the more dominant one.

 

Dry: cherry and vanilla co-side won the battle and are showing off, bragging about just how much they got to offer.

 

After an hour, lasting for several hours the same way: Really strong scent, people around me can smell it, I can smell easily without sniffing my wrists, This scent really stands out on me. Vanilla and Cherry never fading and at one point I thought that it was just getting stronger the more time passed. Yet it wasn't unpleasant. It's a very mellow, soft scent and it's absolutely gorgeous. Next time I just have to be a wee bit careful and apply a very small ammount.

[obsidienne]

In the imp: a bit sharp, woodsy, and sweet, with bright red notes -- this is not at all what I expected from the description! The red wine and cherries are there, but subtle.

 

I can't really describe what this is like wet -- it changes a lot, and quickly, and makes no sense to my nose until it settles down. So if you initially don't like Blood Kiss, give it time, because it ends up at drydown...

 

Gorgeous! Gently sweet, warm, woodsy, spicy vanilla (yes, all of those things!) with some honey and wine tarting it all up. My review seems simple compared to all of the notes that comprise Blood Kiss, but they all warred on my skin in the wet and early drydown stages and didn't distinguish themselves or seem to really like each other.

 

But at drydown it's a keeper. It's a warm, snuggle your nose into your arm and sniff like crazy kind of blend. Beautiful, sensual, and each sniff is a little different to keep you coming back. Big bottle worthy. It just took patience to get there.

Edited November 8, 2008 by obsidienne