Recalcitrant Dragon

[boomtownrat]

If you don’t finish your peasant, you can’t have any dessert! Scaly green musk, smoked vanilla, tobacco, and white sandalwood.

Three of these notes I love, and green musk I like. I always want to love dragon scents, but dragon's blood resin is usually too loud and floral for my liking, so I was excited to try one that contains no DBR.

A friend who went to Dragon*Con got this bottle for me on Saturday and I managed to get it from her the next day. Hooray for friends who can handle huge crowds, because I sure can't. In the bottle I got whiffs of greenness and a little hint of the sandalwood. Immediately I dabbed a test swatch on the back of my hand. Like Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya. This has some good throw, but it's not a roaring dragon that will stomp all in its path or burn the place down.

Last night I mostly got green musk and vanilla with a hint of sandalwood, and it reminded me a little bit of a slightly animalistic Dorian. As it matures I'm guessing the tobacco will emerge more, since he's only a baby dragon right now. Maybe he's too young to indulge in tobacco products.

It's been about 15 hours since I put it on and I can still smell the musk, which is impressive. Normally anything I put on my wrists or hands will be gone in the morning, either worn off onto the bedsheets or drunk up by my thirsty skin. Today, the lingering musk is recognizable as the one in Palus Nebularum, but it's also a cousin of Li'l Menes' Feline Entertainments. I didn't get that similarity at all last night, but it's not a bad way for a scent to go out.

Now that the bottle has settled overnight, I've put a little on my opposite wrist. I'm still getting a hint of Dorian, only now he's morphed into a dragon, and that dragon sure has grown up fast. He's gotten into the tobacco now. As it dries, the notes all blend fairly equally. Time will tell if I've finally found my one true dragon scent, but it's looking good.

I think Recalcitrant Dragon would be great on any gender. For those who love Dorian or Jareth, I think it's a must-try.

[bheansidhe]

Like clove, white sandalwood will usually dominate the top, middle, and bottom notes on my skin. True to form, this dries down to 90% powdery vanilla / white sandalwood and 10% green musk. It's like a green-tinted Paladin, which is nicely ironic given this is the dragon and not the knight, but I already have Paladin.

 

Clean, slightly soapy, but mostly powdery. Oh well.

[Gwydion]

In Bottle: I'm getting what I assume is an accidental ocean accord. I'm thinking the green musk is dominant with strong tobacco support. The sandalwood elides the musk and tobacco and the smoke from the smoked vanilla. The smoke is really intense with the green musk. I suspect this will be too musk musk given my natural scent and tendancy to amp musk. It does smell very green dragon though. Wet: So much prettier on the skin. I lose the accidental accord that was overwhelming me. It's a lovely crisp green scent. The sandalwood pops on the skin, and proves to be a lovely partner to the dominent green musk. The tobacco and smoked vanilla are soft, but give the green dragon and appropriately smokey feel. This works in a way I would not have guessed from the bottle. Dry: Very, v ery men's cologne/aftershave. It's really mostly green musk with a bit of aftershave.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: This smells awfully leafy to me. Perhaps it is the combination of the green musk with the tobacco and/or dry white sandalwood note?

 

Wet: Yes, this reminds me of fallen leaves that are turning, but aren't dry yet. It doesn't take long for the scent to calm down in its leafiness, but it is still quite leafy to me. I'm getting the green musk, tobacco, and sandalwood, but the vanilla note hasn't emerged yet.

 

Dry: Green musk, tobacco, and dry sandalwood, with a hint of the smoky vanilla. This one reads as masculine to my nose.

 

After a while, the smoky vanilla note emerges more, and it becomes mostly smoky vanilla, sandalwood, and tobacco on me.

 

Verdict: This one is too reminiscent of leaves for me. I'm giving the decant to my brother, who really enjoys the scent.

[stubbornfire]

So, so good!! Wish I could have ordered more than a decant!

 

First on, it's a hazy green musky scent. Sandalwood pipes up quickly and these two dominate the scent. If I give it some time though, vanilla starts to show itself in the background. If I'm a little more patient, the tobacco finally pulls up in the bg and parks itself there with the vanilla.

 

I didn't have it on for very long, but it was gorgeous. My first shot at a green musk and it made me love it. Definitely have to add this to my 'hunt down' list.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh god, I wish mr. zee_zee had my skin chemistry because he would smell amazing. AMAZING.

 

So yeah, combined together this smells like a sophisticated musky cologne. I get musk, sandalwood and just enough vanilla to sweeten it up at the top but enough tobacco to pitch this straight into masculine territory.

 

This is like discovering that sweet, adorably cute geeky boy is hung like a porn star. It's that transition between "cute and cuddly" and "do me on the kitchen table, now."

[Glambie]

I'm just now trying this after letting it settle for several months. I may be in the minority here, but this is absolutely breathtaking! I am a huge fan of Lyonesse, and this has that same beautiful creamy, sweet aquatic quality that makes me think of lying by the ocean, bathed in soft sunlight with salty, wind-blown sea hair. It also doesn't hurt that Beth personally gave this bottle to me after I noticed they undercharged me at Dragon*Con. lol It's a surprising hit for me and a sentimental treasure. If you love Lyonesse, you MUST track this down!!

[Roogna]

very biting and green. comes off more plant-green and musk. there is a very nice vanilla sandalwood, but *sniff* mostly a very biting, almost acrid green.

the vanilla sandalwood does come out more after 30-60 minutes, but still has a bite.

 

reading the above reviews....I should note that I LOVE Jareth and really like Paladin. This doesn't remind me of either in the slightest.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: This opens with a blast of what I can only describe as, "green". That quickly fades on my skin, leaving the most amazing vanilla. Wow, this is good on me! Not what I expected. Vanilla and sandalwood, feminine, so pretty! Hints of tobacco, but it hasn't amped up and stomped all over like it usually does on my skin.

 

 

Dry: OMG THAT VANILLA NOTE!! It's sugary and musky and I love it. I agree with Dementia's review though - there is a leaf note in here to my nose. I like it. It makes it different from the other vanilla's I have. This just jumped onto my DISO list!

[Happicuppa]

So I love green musk. But as far as my green musk love goes, this one is more animalistic than oozy green like Pollution and 51. Not a BAD thing, but surprising.

 

In Bottle: Sharp, bitter, maybe a hint of smoke

Wet on skin: Smokey sharp green musk, but the tobacco is coming through and ....

Dry: AND there's the vanilla. Far less sharp now, no longer herbal, but definitely still an animalistic musk vs. the oozy luminous green musk in my other loves.

 

Verdict: This is actually a lot more masculine than I thought it would be, but luckily I tend to migrate to the more andro scents of BPAL. I think this is an interesting scent, to be sure! I like it. I don't think I need MORE of it, but this 5ml will get some love. It's not an overly sweet vanilla, nor is it too smokey or too tobacco-infused. I think it's well grounded, and I'll also be stealthily applying this to the husband to see how it goes on his skin.

 

This continues to get more lovely as it dries, btw.

[lizabelle]

In the bottle: Kind of scary, although I'm slowly learning not to be scared away by the first sniff. Sharp and green and a bit piney.

 

On skin, wet: Ooh, vanilla. I've been addicted to vanilla in all forms since I was born, pretty much, so this is right up my alley.

 

On skin, dry: It's a Snickerdoodle cookie!! Seriously, I'm actually getting confused thinking there's something delicious nearby when it's only my arm. Somehow even the butter and brown sugar are there. It's so rich and warm and I'm in love.

 

Overall: What a nice dragon this turned out to be! Let the poor thing have his cookies.

[Verios]

I can remember when my bottle of this first arrived (courtesy of a very kind friend of a friend who picked it up for me), I thought it was intimidatingly sharp and green in the bottle (which seemed appropriate for a dragon scent, but not necessarily wearable). On initial application, it remained a sharp greeny sort of smell (maybe the sandalwood and green musk? I don't know for sure what it is/was)...but then, after a short period of time, it morphed into everything I hoped it would be: that sharp greenness was still there, but it smooths out, and the musk marries up with the smoky vanilla and tobacco, so it ends up as this gorgeously musky, smoked vanilla (it's not heavily smoked, but I think some of that does come through) & tobacco, with that hint of biting green scales, as if to remind you that this IS a dragon.

 

This dragon also has a generous throw to him - I don't find it overpowering, but I do catch frequent whiffs.

 

With aging (since I just tested it again today), the initial sharpness has lessened, and the time before it hits the stage where I start sniffing appreciatively, with a contented sigh is lessened. Absolutely love this, and I may end up trying to hunt down a second bottle.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Vashtya

[torikitty]

I got this based on the last few reviews. It's definitely leafy and green when it's wet. During drydown, the vanilla starts to inch out. So now we have a sweet, green branch. The tobacco rounding it out to be somewhat masculine. The green musk ends up sweetening up, and with the sandalwood, it takes the masculine edge off. This reminds me of a shampoo my grandma used to have. Suave? Green, clean, slightly sweet.

[Little Bird]

Powdery white sandalwood, what smells like bpal's cologne-y, wet, green leaves note with a hint of sharp bell pepper, and a non-sweet vanilla with campfire smoke.  Too powdery and not sweet enough for me.