Dragon's Hide

[lilirose]

Flame-kissed, warm, smooth, and highly protective. Dragon’s blood, leather and a hint of smoke.

I adore Dragon's Blood, I adore leather. I adore this scent!

In the imp: leather.

On skin, wet: leather and more leather. Oddly enough, when trying Whip (a rose/leather blend) a couple of weeks ago, I got no leather at all. At first, Dragon's Hide was all leather, like my ex-boyfriend's jacket that I used to love to bury my face in because I loved the smell so much.

Drydown: The dragon's blood starts to rise up sweetly, along with a touch of wood smoke. It just keeps getting better and better.

Six hours later: now it's mostly dragon's blood with a hint of leather. Still wonderful.

I'm giving this a 5/5 and adding it to my 5ml wishlist. It's awesome just as it is, but if I layer it with one of the Yule rose scents that are on their way to me, I might even get the scent I was hoping to find in Whip. I can't wait to try it!

edited to add lab description Edited November 11, 2007 by lilirose

[megank4]

This one was on my "do not purchase" list, when I received it as a frimp from a decant circle. None of the ingredients appealed to me, but after trying Dee yesterday with leather in it and enjoying it, I decided to try it today. Ick. All smoke. Not quite sure what dragon’s blood smells like, but this scent is not appealing to me. I didn’t scrub it off, just applied another. I think this will be one that I gift to MIL and say “If you like it, I shall buy it for you.”

[HatterRenoAxel]

I got this one as a gift from a friend who's a BPAl nut

 

In the imp: Dragon's blood pure dragon's blood I love the smell of it but it was a little over powering

 

On skin wet: My skin seems to amp up the smell of the dragon's blood but you can detect a hint of leather and smoke

 

On Drydown: You can pick out each of the scents now The leather the smoke but the Dragon's blood is still the main note to this.

 

It lasts a fairly long time wore it to work tonight lasted a five hour shift and sweating only seemed to increase the strength of the smokey smell.

 

I going to get more of this scent. I love the notes of it and how it smells are my skin.

Edited December 20, 2007 by HatterRenoAxel

[filigree_shadow]

Dragon's Hide is very lovely. On me it smells strongly of dragon's blood at first, but when it's dry it's mostly leather. But it's sweetened up considerably by the DB, which makes it seem much more interesting to me than a straight leather scent. Also the smoke comes out more later on.

 

My husband wears quite a few BPAL oils with leather in them, so I'll be passing this over to him to see how he likes it. I know I'd like it if he wore this.

[emerald_ibis]

At last! A dragon's blood blend that I can wear!!

 

Seriously, most of the time, dragon's blood gives me a headache, and I cannot stand it. However, when mixed with leather and smoke...

 

In the imp and when I first apply it, all I get is dragon's blood and just a hint of leather. It may be due to the age of my imp, but the dragon's blood note is not terribly overwhelming, either. It fades pretty quickly and becomes a gorgeous, sweetly smoky leather. I am planning to order a fresh imp soon so that I can compare it against the aged version (no seriously, dragon's blood frightens me 99% of the time), but if the fresh version is just as nice, this may very well be a bottle purchase in the near future.

[donnatron]

Imp: Sweet and smoky. I chose this by closing my eyes and thrusting my hand into the imp lot.

 

Wet: Smoke! I had no idea what the notes in this were when I chose it. But all I could smell was sweet smoke, like pipe tobacco.

 

Dry: DELICIOUS! Sweet from the dragon's blood, sexy from the leather, and sultry from the smoke. When I opened the imp I was like "maybe I should wear this particular scent tomorrow." I can't because it makes me want to jump myself and that's somewhat inappropriate for school and work. I adore this scent. However, I'm not sure where I'll ever wear it. I can already tell that it's too sexy for my every day life, but if I wear it out dancing it will amp up the leather to rank proportions.

 

Throw: Good. My skin loves dragon's blood, though. So if you amp the other notes, please be careful because I don't want my review to be responsible for a crappy night.

 

Overall: If I lived in a world where it was socially acceptable to jump people whenever I damn well felt like, this would be my signature scent. However, I don't, and so I have to reserve the sweet, sexy, naughty, sublime scent of Dragon's Hide for special occasions lest my lily white reputation be damned

[ImperatrixMundi]

No smoke, just leather and db. db wins over leather, I amp db and swallow leather, always. A bit more complexity from the smoke would have been nice. But hey, maybe I should try layering it with that unloved imp of Djinn sitting in the swap box?

 

It does have something warm, sexy and commanding though.

[greenranger]

I was worried about this when it arrived. I had just tried another scent that had dragon's blood in it, and that particular note had gone all cloyingly sweet cherry-floral on me. However, when Dragon's heart did NOT do that, I took heart(heh) and opened this imp to try next.

 

In the imp, it smelled sweetish, but I couldn't identify anything else.

 

On me, I smelled the dragon's blood, and then...oooh...

 

Woah, smoke and leather!

 

mmm.

 

It has since settled down to a warm leather jacket scent...y'know the boyfriend's jacket that mysteriously ends up in your closet or on you instead of on him. A warm leather jacket that has been worn by a sexy man around campfires. I am liking it on me...but, I need to try it on the husband...so that later on I can steal it back and think of him while wearing it, just like the jacket.

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: Dragon's Blood, with a slight dark edge.

 

wet on skin: same.

 

dry down: interesting. the leather doesn't seem to be coming out on me at ALL.

 

in all: on me, the leather was just eaten up. on my boyfriend, the leather is very strong. so, maybe it's something having to do with hormones? whatever it is, i've got plenty of DB blends that are superior on me to this one. if you're lucky enough to like leather, and if it mps on you, then give this a try. as for me, i'm content to sniff it on my BF.

 

 

 

[mazaru]

Dark red and smoky, deep, but my skin drinks all the leather within seconds and soon it's pure dragon's blood, smelling a little like shampoo. Eventually it develops some smoky hints, but on me the lack of leather unbalances the scent completely.

Edited May 7, 2008 by mazaru

[ouch!]

YAY MY 100TH REVIEW!!!

 

This is a slightly smoother mor smoky take on Dragon's Blood for me.

The Dragon's blood is always the most predominant note in any Dragon's Blood Blend. But this has the faint smell of Leather & once dry it's kind of smoky!

 

It's nice, but by far not the nicest dragon's blood blend.

 

However, whenver I wear anything with Dragon's Blood. I always get a sense of empowerment, and this still has that effect on me so....

Edited May 19, 2008 by ouch!

[charshark]

In the imp: Leathery.

 

Wet: Leather with dragon blood resin.

 

Dry: Smoky with dragon blood resin and a hint of leather.

 

Overall: I don't like the smoky smell on the dry down, but I like it while it's wet!

[kittycatpurr]

In the imp: Sweet and interesting, I barely get any smoke.

Wet: Almost a cherry alcohol smell.

Drydown: Disappears.

Dry: Silly sweet, not that interesting.

Later: After having smelled flat cherry soda on my jacket cuffs all day, now I can find that bit of smoke in the imp. Overall, dragon's blood doesn't work for me.

[eyeska]

Definitely darker and leatherier (har) than standard dragon's blood. It's sweet, but has a darker, MUCH less flowery sense about it. I don't get the "sexy" feel that some other reviewers get, or the sense of it being masculine, and it's not my perfect leather blend (it's also the first leather I've tried thus far), but I'm not put off by it in the least. Others who've smelled it on me have been favourable, but I've not gotten any "oh, wow"s.

 

I actually bought this because, er, I have an RPG character who runs around in dragonhide armour. This puts me directly in her mindset, as she's the archetypal "tougher than she looks" sort of person, so this actually fits her even better than I hoped. I doubt it'll be something I get a big bottle of, but the imp is intriguing and something I will definitely be keeping around long after the campaign is over.

 

Very, very cool idea, and definitely pulled off well, in my mind. Just not quite perfect with my chemistry.

[GingerGunlock]

I like dragon's blood as a note, and I like certain leather notes that come from the Lab, but the combination of the two, plus whatever the "smokey" quality was didn't do anything pleasing on my skin. I tried it a couple of times, thinking perhaps aging would improve it, or my nose would improve, but on me, Dragon's Hide just didn't work out. Which is unfortunate, because like Eyeska, I had a D&D character who had dragon hide armor (red dragon, to be exact), and I was really excited about having a scent evocative of this.

[indybear]

Like the other Ars Draconis scents I've tried, I put this one on and have to grit my teeth for the first five minutes. This comes on STRONG and not really pleasant on me at first - I have to stop myself from scrubbing it off. After that, it calms down into a lovely scent - Dragon's Blood with smoke and leather in the background. The longer I wear it, the softer it gets, not as in "scent going away" but as in "we're all playing together happily". Even now, the next morning, I'm still sniffing my wrist.

 

I never did smell strong leather notes. I think the leather just mellowed out the other notes.

 

All in all, once past the initial application, I love this scent and will be getting more!

[stillalive]

This is a leather scent that actually smells like leather on me. It's a good, down-to-earth smell. Puts me in the same yummy place as Silk Road.

[taramarie]

On me, Dragon's Hide is dragon's blood (plumeria on me) and a little bit of leather, no smoke at all. I think aging might help, so I'll hold on to this.

[Enferdame]

In the bottle, I smell leather and dragon's blood. It smells masculine to me, but I'm interested to see what happens on.

 

At first it's the perfect balance of dragon's blood, leather and smoke. This is exactly what it's supposed to smell like, I can see sitting next to a warm live dragon. It's totally spot on.

Oh cry. My skin love to amp the dragon's blood into something lilacy, and this is no exception. Even worse, the leather goes away completely. It's still pretty smoky, for now, but the dragon itself is gone. Stupid skin. For a brief fleeting moment I smelled exactly like a dragon.

 

I want to keep this though, for the day that I have a boyfriend. He has no choice but to wear this scent, especially if he can hold on to the leather notes, because in that stage it's a sexy masculine scent. I'm almost debating trying this on every guy I know and the one who can keep that initial smell wins the boyfriend title. Oh, if only...

[ladylavy]

This is an imp I've recieved.

I haven't smelled Dragon Blood (I have another imp of Dragon's Heart that I have yet to test) so I cannot refer to it.

 

In the imp: it smells veeeeeery sweet and flowery, with a hint of warm and metallic tones

 

Wet: very, very flowery with a vey light touch of spice.

 

Dry: still flowery. No leather and smoke detected. On me, it's just a flowery perfume. It did't last very long - after a couple of hours it was completely gone. From the smell I couldn't relate it to a dragon.

 

I think my skin kills everything tha's interesting in this oil and so it's not my kind.

I'm curious to try Dragon's Heart and see if it reacts like this!

[stardreamer]

Normally I steer clear of dragon's blood because it does nasty things on my skin. But I think the leather must be taming it down in this one; although I don't actually smell leather, I'm getting a "cedar and smoke" vibe off this, quite autumnal and pleasant. It doesn't morph much, and the staying power is very good -- 12 hours and still quite noticeable on my wrists, though the throw is long gone. Bottom line: I like this a lot better than I thought I would; it's a keeper, though it's definitely going to be a fall/winter scent only.

[mochi227]

ordered this imp because I was intrigued by the combination of dragon's blood, leather, and smoke

 

in the vial: totally floral!

 

wet: very floral, and sweet. I guess this is Dragon's Blood. almost cloying.

 

drying: it's changing. it's less floral and less sweet. the leather is coming out now.

 

dry: the most bizarre thing happens when I wear this. I feel INVISIBLE. yes, invisible, as tho I have no trace. perhaps this is the "protective" aspect to this scent. i put it on after a shower after a very tough workout. normally I'd be feeling randy and fetching, but I felt completely and totally invisible. i don't notice much smoke. the smoke and leather are very well blended so i sense something charred, something dry. i understand the metaphor for protection: the dragon's breath has smoked its hide, strengthened and toughened its already scaly exterior. out of battle comes hardening, protection, the coat of a warrior built from strength both inner and outer.

 

verdict: I will have to work with this one some more to know if I like it. The scent doesn't thrill me, neither does it offend me, and the "invisibility" power might be useful for those days when I truly do not want to be noticed. fades but never quite disappears. average throw.

[Nachtwulf]

Well, since I had a minor impsplosion, I might as well review this.

 

Dragon's Hide is, as far as I've been able to tell, the 'purest' of the DB scents. This basically smells like warm, red dragon's blood and, for the most part, little else. It's not that the leather notes aren't there... in fact, when I breathe -out-, they linger there in the background, but largely, they serve as a mellowing quality for the EXTREMELY prominent dragon's blood. Mind you, I really rather like this. I like dragon's blood, but it does tend to go kind of damp and sharp; the leather note keeps this from doing so, and thus it remains nice and rich and mellow.

 

If you don't like DB, then you'll hate this, I won't lie. But if you like it, and sometimes want something simple without a bunch of other notes stomping all over the place, then this is a great choice. It's not floral and it's not too sweet, so it'd be great for men, also.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp:Sweet, sweet, sweet. Fruity, cherries, berries, sweet. I detect no leather at all.

 

After 5 minutes: The leather predominates. It's smoky. Too smoky. But the sweetness is still there. It's sweet candy leathery smoke. It almost chokes me.

 

After 10 minutes: I had to wash it off. The smoke and leather were bothering me. Almost as if I shouldn't be covering myself with a Dragon's hide. As if it was warning me....Strange.

 

Overall:Not for me. I like dragon's blood, but this blend in particular is too smoky and was giving me a headache.

[ReikoSazanami]

In imp: Sweet dragon’s blood with an undercurrent of leather. Reminds me of a much-subdued Wrath.

 

Wet on skin: Lots and lots of incensey dragon’s blood with just a hint of smokiness. The leather is beginning to peek through, the same one I smelled in De Sade.

 

Drydown: Yep, that is BPAL dragon’s blood all the way. It’s like I actually have the incense burning in my room, and the leather makes me think that I have a good friend nearby that I can curl up with. Very homey, but just a little bit mischievious.

 

Overall: Incense on the go. Maybe not a scent I would wear too often, but one for when I’m feeling homesick or lonely. “Protective” was a perfect description of the scent. Very comforting.