Sanguinem Menstruum

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

It would indeed be a difficult matter to find anything which is productive of more marvellous effects than the menstrual discharge. On the approach of a woman in this state, must will become sour, seeds which are touched by her become sterile, grafts wither away, garden plants are parched up, and the fruit will fall from the tree beneath which she sits. Her very look, even, will dim the brightness of mirrors, blunt the edge of steel, and take away the polish from ivory. A swarm of bees, if looked upon by her, will die immediately; brass and iron will instantly become rusty, and emit an offensive odour; while dogs which may have tasted of the matter so discharged are seized with madness, and their bite is venomous and incurable.
-Pliny the Elder

The copper tang of blood musk, swept by a cloud of dying bees and red poppies of madness.

Jinkies, i don't wanna be first!

i had no real interest in this scent, based on the notes, but i was going to an event anyway and so happily brought along a donation. (and was a fairy for a few other folks).

One of the first things i did when i got there was sniff this on a friend, and it was amazing on her. i sniffed it on her off and on, and on a few other people, and finally got around to sniffing my bottle and holy cow!

i've tested it a time or two since i got it on Friday night. And i don't get blood musk. not really red musk, either, but that's closer.

sniffed from the bottle, and wet on skin, my initial thought was that it was the love child of Snake Charmer and Smut. but much softer than either of those

after a while, it settles into something almost powdery - maybe dusty? - not like baby powder but possibly a dark amber, but maybe that's bees being fuzzy?


i freely admit i'm not entirely sure what a red poppy smells like. this isn't the best review to start off a thread, and i apologize for that essentially i wanted to make sure that anyone who was, like me, not interested in something with the copper-meat blood scent didn't pass this up...
after Day Old Ham i feared the worst from this!


after about six hours, on me it smells oddly almost exactly like Gentle Lentil, my old favourite Lush shampoo, although maybe with a little dark musk or dark amber mixed in. which i've got no explanation for.

[poofie]

The loveliest fairy picked this up for me, and I've just put it on. It's mostly my frenemy RED MUSK first and foremost; I struggle with red musk because it's just so powerful. One little dot of this oil pressed between my wrists is plenty for me to wear! Once it starts to dry and settle, I smell what may be beeswax - it's not sweet enough to be honey, I think. I also get a bit of down and dirty smell that reminds me of patchouli, but I wear patchouli so infrequently I'm not confident in identifying it. I'm not getting anything that says 'poppies' to me, which is kind of a shame because I love me some opium smells and I was wondering if the poppies would be in that vein.

 

Overall, it is powerful and sexy and a little smutty (literally Smut-ty, with all that red musk). A fun perfume that's good for staying in, and for such a good cause!

[Psuke]

The loveliest fairy picked this up for me, and I've just put it on. It's mostly my frenemy RED MUSK first and foremost; I struggle with red musk because it's just so powerful. One little dot of this oil pressed between my wrists is plenty for me to wear! Once it starts to dry and settle, I smell what may be beeswax - it's not sweet enough to be honey, I think. I also get a bit of down and dirty smell that reminds me of patchouli, but I wear patchouli so infrequently I'm not confident in identifying it. I'm not getting anything that says 'poppies' to me, which is kind of a shame because I love me some opium smells and I was wondering if the poppies would be in that vein.

 

Overall, it is powerful and sexy and a little smutty (literally Smut-ty, with all that red musk). A fun perfume that's good for staying in, and for such a good cause!

 

^^I agree with this entirely, although the "dying bees" is definitely honey, rather than beeswax, to me. The honey sweet that compares to the sugar sweet of Smut. The poppies make it warmer than Smut, at least to my nose.

 

This definitely has major throw, and staying power. The tester I applied this morning is still going strong! I am so happy to have a bottle.

[LizziesLuck]

This is so fresh out of the mail I barely let it come to room temp, but I am so excited to try it that I can't wait!

 

 

Wet: I think I'm getting Dragon's Blood and red musk mixed together...but it's not quite red musk? But similar. There's a floral note which I have to assume is the poppy - I've only tried it in one other scent, so not a great frame of reference. There's a sweetness for sure, and I think it's honey rather than beeswax, to my nose. Loving it so far! It's dark and sweet and a little bit sinister. There is a dark, earthy. almost chocolatey quality that comes out as this dries. So intriguing!

 

 

Dry: Man this smells good! It's really rich and resinous, and I do feel the blood musk has an element of Dragon's Blood to it. It's not as strong as red musk usually is on me, but the musk it for sure there. I'm getting a really rich honey too. Not much of the floral, just sort of a vague dustiness (which sounds weird, but it's really pleasant) which I think is the poppy. Overall, I love this. So much depth and richness, and just the right amount of sweetness. Nothing salty or coppery, which I was a little worried about. It's kind of sensual, actually. I am so glad to own a bottle!

 

Thanks again to my lovely fairy!

[zankoku_zen]

Dragon's blood, red musk, and a touch of honey and poppy. There's a light floral note (I'm assuming poppy) that floats above the musk and the dragon's blood. Good throw, decent wearlength.

 

Rich, tangy, musky.

[VioletChaos]

In The Bottle: A bit of the red musk we Smut fans all know and adore, paired with the juicy red of poppy flowers. I think this might be love!

 

Wet On Skin: I...I'm definitely feeling this. In addition to the above, there's now a sweet lilt of honey wafting through and an earthy edge of dragon's blood to ground it all and prevent it from becoming cloying.

 

Dry Down: Take all the things I've already mentioned. Then let them bloom and warm and swirl around you like a thick red velvet cloak, enveloping you in earthy honey dust and musky, sexy power.

 

In All: Thick oil- it goes farther than you think. The throw is heady, medium to high, so just a dab to start out before you know what it's capable of. This scent is sexy, womanly power. I suspect it will age magnificently.

 

SO thankful for my W/C Faery for getting this for me!!!

Edited February 10, 2017 by VioletChaos

[AirimirOfGondor]

I'm so glad I found a fairy for this!

 

This is my first oil with blood musk ever - and MAN is it strong! When it arrived, I applied the teensiest bit to my wrists from the bottle cap, and my DH asked me to wash it off! And I was OK with that, because it was too strong for me at the time too!

 

Wet, this is strong, strong, strong! It's sweet, with just the smallest touch of something sour, and something not quite metallic, but on the verge.

 

As it dries, it's still very strong, but much sweeter and very nice. There's a wonderful honey, but it's not quite as sweet as normal honey. But then it's sweeter still from the poppies (I guess? I've never really smelled a poppy before so I'm not sure).

 

When fully dry, it's a very rich, well-mingled musky-honey-sweetness. There's a shade of something incense-y to me as well, though I can't quite place it.

 

It has as very long throw, and lasts a very long time. After I had applied some to wrist/elbows the other day, I put on a hoodie. Now, quite a few day later (maybe a week even?) I can still smell it on the hoodie (I cycle through a lot of hoodies throughout a week, so they're all clean, don't worry! ).

I'm thinking about experimenting, and getting some fractionated coconut oil to dilute it a little; it's just so strong!

 

But all in all, I really love it!

[verystarry]

The first thing I smelled in the bottle was honey. I know some people are saying beeswax but I think it's for sure a honey note. When I put it on at first it had that inscencey, snake oil kind of vibe but less spicy, just warm and sexy. I'm assuming that's the blood musk. I have had other red musks before but it's not the same, this is incredible. As it dries down I smell the musk and the poppies! Oh my god the poppies! The poppies and the musk are just out of this world and honey with this, makes in altogether one of the best blends I have smelled in a while. Thank you!

[twilighteyes]

So glad I sprung for a bottle! I'm a huge musk fan. If I've learned anything from BPAL, it's that the description can not always be trusted (if it's scary) but sometimes Gore Shock and Day Old Ham happen. But those are only two out of how many? So you might as well go for it and be pleasantly surprised, right??

 

I get honey and musk - I want to say siberian or red, but the oil is not very dark colored. The poppies come out more during the dry down and seem powdery to me (in a good way.)

 

One of my favorites!

[Dark Alice]

Band aids. Band aids and glorious red poppies. *sigh* This decant is off to the swaps.

[DiZZysTARdust]

I'm conflicted about this scent and hate to leave this review but maybe in the future i can come back to it. I wanted to try this scent for the honey/poppy notes. In the bottle i smell blood. Not dragon's blood, not evocative of blood, legit a bottle of blood. I tried it on anyway. On the skin it smells pretty much exactly the same. Very strong, congealing blood. And perhaps because of the name, it doesn't just remind me of wound blood but actual menstrual blood, with that end of cycle mustiness. This has never happened to me before but it made me a little nauseous. I tried to keep smelling to see if it changed but it didn't seem to. I feel like the honey/beeswax was just underneath the blood smell but it wasn't distinctive, it just seemed to make it bloodier. It has a medium throw. Not sure about how long it lasts. I will be trying this again but not right away

 

ETA 9/10/20: so i tried this scent again finally and i have completely changed my opinion of it, as i have become a dragon's blood convert thanks to bpal. It def smells somewhat coppery-bloody in bottle. But on the db comes out and it's so beautifully sweetened by the honey, which gradually overtakes. I am in love with this scent 

Edited September 11, 2020 by DiZZysTARdust

[Lucchesa]

So, red musk and I have a problematic relationship. Whenever we're out with friends, like honey or poppy, for instance, red musk is really disrespectful towards them, shouting them down. But red musk's cousin blood musk is a total joy and could teach red musk a thing or two about relationships. In Sanguinem Menstruum, blood musk lets honey speak first, and then the two of them converse for a while until poppy shows up and is allowed to have her say as well. And the conversation is pretty hot, and it goes on a long time.

 

My husband thought this was "a little chemical-y." So I won't wear it for him. I'll anoint myself with it when I want to feel as powerful as an ancient goddess whose adherents leave offerings of honey and darker things. I'll slather it on days I want to do something apeshit and have it not be my fault because, you know, her cycle. I don't have that excuse biologically anymore, so I'll wear it when I want to channel into that primordial female gloriousness. Maybe I won't wear it a lot, but it ought to be memorable when I do.

[gloame]

Mm, like honey and red sweetness. There's a tiny bit of tang underneath, but overall this is really feminine and confident, while staying soft. It's a quiet warrioress. I really dig it. SO GLAD I remembered to bring the donation to will-call to get one of these!

 

Where I'd wear this: On a feminine crusade

[Pixie-elf]

This smells like Smut and O went and had sex in a bed of Poppies.

 

The honey is light, the red musk is lovely, it soars, and the poppies give it a fantastic floral tone.

 

On Nate? It's strongly red musky, with a hint of floral and a good hit of honey.

 

It smells fabulous on him or me!

 

He actually said "If this is how menstrual blood smells I want more of it." I think we'll be looking for another bottle because he really likes it.

 

I feel like a super powerful woman wearing this.

 

I think he does too.

[torischroeder9]

In the bottle: Blood musk and honey. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's blood musk, honey, and poppies in just about equal amounts. As it dries, the poppies become the star of the scent, strongly supported by the blood musk and gently sweetened by honey. 

 

Oh my goodness, this is lovely. The poppies remain showcased, the honey-type scent is similar to the "pollen-dusted honey" in Against Idleness and Mischief (soft and just a touch dusty, not cloying), and the blood musk warms and grounds everything. 

 

In the same scent category as Third Charm and Infernal Lover but a step more elegant. Good throw and wear length as well.