Blood Kiss

[theredshoes]

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.

Bought a bottle of this at the late, beloved, lost BedlamBedlam (GOD I miss that store, it was like two blocks away from my house).

In the bottle: A very weird sort of chemical cherry cough syrup. Eek....

Wet: Blast of honey at first! Thankfully, that settles down. Also, a bit of licorice, which on me is probably the clove. I don't get much wine, or vanilla. I do smell a bit of the musk. This is a sweet, dark blend with bite -- maybe that's the vetiver, which ordinarily I don't like, but I think the wine and honey and vanilla and other sweet notes are stomping it down. This perfume is very mature, subtle, rich but not overpowering -- it seems very well-blended, or at least it's behaving that way on my skin. It's a kind of date-and-dinner-out, winter evening, grown woman perfume. Maybe a little more dark and musky, and less fruity, than I usually like, but it's good. It would go great with FMP and an LBD. I feel underdressed wearing it in jeans and a sweatshirt!

Drydown: Wow, this has real staying power....hours later, and after a walk during which I got rained on, it's still pretty strong, and hasn't morphed a lot. Maybe it's gotten a little sweeter. Not quite my thing, but it's a really interesting mix of sweet and musky with a little edge.

[bubastis]

dingdingding we have a winner

I was a bit scared to try this blend at first because of the vetiver, a note I strongly dislike...but this is just gorgeous! I don't smell the vetiver AT ALL!

This is all honey on me, my skin tends to amp it and since it is one of my favorite notes I'm very pleased with that. The honey stays dominant throughout the drydown, but it gets deepened by the vanilla and the musk (which I also adore) and I get a slight hint of sweet cherry but not overly so.

I will need multiple bottles of this...so far (I've tried around 35 blends thus far) Blood Kiss is competing with Snake Oil for first place among my favorites.

[MiasmaResonance]

This is the sister of Bloodlust, to me. I like it, but it's not what I wanted it to be. Oh well!

[lucycat]

In the imp: Winey grape.

 

Wet: Fruity wine. As it dries, it gets powdery and creamy—that must be the vanilla--but it’s a good powder.

 

Dry: Honey, cherry, and a little bit of musk.

 

I’m surprised I’m not getting more clove, a note I usually amp. I can’t detect it at all. Nor do I get vetiver or poppy.

 

This is very nice, and I think it will age well.

[Miss Despair]

A complete morpher on me.

 

After an initial blast of red berries, cherry cough syrup, and strangely enough, a hint of cocoa, it settles nicely into a floral (poppy?) wine with honey and vanilla. It's quite sweet, but the vetiver and musk keep it from being cloying and give it a slightly masculine edge. It's delicious and sexy in this stage, I really love it.

 

A couple hours later, the wine fades, the vetiver is nearly gone, and clove, hiding until now, comes out and blends nicely with honey and vanilla. There's that peek of cocoa again?

 

This is a great musky-sweet blend that I enjoyed in all its forms, although the way it smells right after drydown is my favorite. Fruity, sweet, floral, vetiver... hnnnngh so good.

[applecider10]

On first application, this is a cloyingly sweet, highly artificial...cherry, and maybe clove? It's kind of cough syrupy.

 

Eventually it becomes a huskier, more natural clove, but there's an undertone of synthetic cherry on me that's NAGL. It also fades super fast on my skin. Swaps!

[Deliciousness]

In the vial: Sweet cherry flavored cough syrup.

 

Wet on skin: Wow, this remiss me of a Cherry Halls cough drop, but with that vapor stuff in it, kind of like eucalyptus or menthol. This reminds me a bit of Samhain, but without being soapy.

 

Drydown: I'm still getting the menthol, or "cool" feeling, but it's not nearly as strong. The vanilla is coming out and is sweetening and warming this blend, so it's not as cold as it was when wet. I can detect a touch of wine and musk, which I really like. The cherry on the other hand smells a little artificial, at least to my nose. I'm not getting too much vetiver, unless that is the scent which is making this menthol-y. Surprisingly, I'm not detecting clove, which is fine by me, because I normally amp it to high heaven.

 

I'm not too sure I was expecting this blend to smell and remind me of a fruit forward Samhain, sans soap. Weird right? I think I like this blend, but am not too sure. This deserves a re-test.

[RubyWoo]

With a name like Blood Kiss, and the fact that it was in the all time favorites category, I expected this sent to be IT. But alas, I smelled like wet Robitussin.

 

Wet: Cherry cough syrup.

 

Dry: Musky cherry cough syrup.

 

 

I won't be purchasing this again, but I feel like it has a lot of potential for the right skin combination. Always, get an imp first! You don't want to spend 20 bucks to smell like cold medicine.

[Marrasuhri]

This was my first big bottle from BPAL. I ordered tons of imps, but I wanted to get one big bottle too. This seemed like a safe decision, because the description is really, really appealing. I'm not a big fan of red wine, but I thought that maybe it's not so bad after all - other notes sounded like a dream.

In a bottle, it smelled like a mixture of perfume, wine and medicine.

When I applied it on my skin, I realized that honey isn't my note. On me, honey smells like a person who hasn't showered for a long time. The red wine also peeked through a bit too strongly for me.

Aside from those two things, I have only good things to say about this scent. I expected something vampiric, and that was the first word that came into my mind when I smelled my skin. This probably sounds sacrilegious, but when I took a quick shower with water only, red wine & honey faded a bit and then the smell was simply gorgeous. Lush, not overly sweet, pleasantly musky, and my love note, vanilla, makes an appearance. It's aristocratic, makes me think about remote castles with old, huge libraries and red curtains.

This one will have it's place among my nightlife scents. It'll go well with my victorian styled skirt, I'm sure about that (for me, it's important to match the scent with the occasion and/or clothing.) It's also a really good scent for men too (I know many of them are, but this one especially stand out), and if someday it doesn't do it for me anymore, I shall give it to my beloved. Though I'm sure I'll lend a drop or two for him anyway. Grrr.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Marrasuhri

[EnchantedMoon]

Blood Kiss is one of the first bottles that I ever purchased years ago. It was love at first sniff. Today I received a new bottle and it occurred to me that I have never reviewed this scent and it truly deserves a shout out!

 

Blood Kiss is a dangerous yet, harmonious scent. It is sexy and danger in a bottle. The cherry in this blend does not have an artificial smell to me. I think it blends beautifully with the vanilla, honey, and spicy clove. It is definitely a sexy and yummy kiss

 

The darkness of the vetiver, poppy, red wine, and feral musk make this sexy dangerous! It changes the blend from sweet yumminess and adds sex on top.

 

Vampires always come to mind when I think of this blend. Not Nosferatu vampire, but a sexy blood sucker that you want to bite you and then turn around and give you a deep Blood Kiss

[blacksh33pboi]

[The Lab's description of this scent]...i think that is the most sexual and dirty description of something i've ever heard without it getting into actual sexual dirtiness.

 

Anywho.

 

My experience:

 

 

I was nervous that this was the soapy one that I was smelling in my imp pack, but that was Wrath! This one is AWESOME so far. I can smell the vetiver, something a little herbaceous but also sweet in an odd way... a teeny bit of the vanilla now. And also the wine, oh wow. It really does smell sort of dangerous yet attractive... like a vampire! heh. Fifteen minutes later, the cherry pops out and the vanilla is a little more noticeable. Gah I love this one. Ooooh yay half an hour to 45 minutes in and i can catch the cloves (Clove is one of my favorite smells)! And an hour later now the cherry has died down a bit on my wrists and it's all about the vetiver and spices. The cherry/wine is still noticeable on my neck, however. ...And now, four hours in, it's pretty much spiced wood. Somewhat of an incense-like note! And still quite noticeable, too. Subtle and discreet, this ain't (but it isn't obnoxious or over the top either). It's so tasty. Definitely one of my faves and definitely need a full-sized bottle of it.

[hammy]

In the imp - This is a touch metallic. Then again, maybe I’m getting that impression because the label is old and stained.

 

Wet - The sweetness of the honey is rapidly making itself known. Too bad it’s a problem note for me.

 

Drydown - Aaaand now we have vetiver coming in to ruin things for me. My skin drinks up the sweetness of this quickly and completely; the only thing left is the darkness of the other notes.

 

Verdict - This could be nice on the right person, but it’s not for me. Swap.

Edited January 8, 2015 by hammy

[alyelle]

A freebie I've been trying on and off since 2009. I don't much care for the early stages on me - they're not something that I think suits me at all - but this is such a long lived scent, and so nice by the end of the day, that I'm constantly torn about whether or not I like it overall.

 

Imp: Very strong on the clove and amber notes, with overtones of sweet cherry

 

Wet: Amber (as always, it amps like wildfire), vanilla, and honey

 

Dry: Once the honey and amber dies off a bit, the cherry emerges - though at first it's very sickly cough syrup cherry, not blossom. I'm constantly disappointed that I get no vetiver; that's usually another note that amps on me and one I quite like, as it grounds the sweeter blends really well. The red wine/musk combination is also noticeable and probably what puts me off about the early stages of this; both musk and wine are hit-and-miss on my skin, and here, they're tending strongly towards a miss.

 

By the end of the day - and I mean a good 10-12 hours after application - this has morphed into a wonderful amber/poppy/cherry blend that I really quite like. I wish I knew a way to speed up the process of reaching that stage, because it's a solid 4 stars. The earlier stages are probably a 2 to 2.5 on me, and defintiely not something I'd choose very often. I doubt I'll ever buy it, but I've yet to get rid of it when the lab sends a freebie, so I suppose that says something.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: What the heck IS this?

 

Wet on my skin: Immediately, I got a waft of something that smelled strangely like chocolate, but with a sickly-sweetish yet sour note that reminded me unfortunately of vomit. This was almost certainly the honey, which usually and unfortunately ends up smelling unpleasant on my skin. My first instinct was to wash it off, but I remembered something about this one smelling much different dry than wet, so I left it...

 

Dry: I am glad I didn't wash this off! As this dried, the sour note faded quickly (within 10 minutes), and was replaced by a sensual, spicy fragrance that reminds me a little of Wrath (which I love). The clove and cherry came out first, followed by the poppy and wine. I don't smell the vanilla much, but the honey is still there to add that vaguely sharp sweetness in its place. Underneath the spicy-sweet surface of this is a warm, musky, and almost earthy undertone. It's a scent that I can only describe as "heady." Definitely something to wear to a smoky, dimly-lit bar or maybe to bed with a lover. It's probably not something I would wear on a regular basis, but I'll keep it!

Edited January 27, 2017 by DiesMali

[nameoftherose]

In the imp, it's mainly potent cherry and clove. Straight out, it's a fantastic mixture of cherry, clove and a savoury undertone which I am guessing is the vetiver (but might also be poppy - or perhaps even the feral musk?). The combination is gorgeous and mouth-watering - the cherries really do come across as the reddest kind, oozing thick juice; at the same time, the dustier, more abstract notes give the scent a darkness that prevents it being overly foody.

 

At the early stages, the different components are all fairly distinct; as it dries, however, the notes blend together much more seamlessly. It has a lovely, warm throw of vanilla and honey mainly, with the occasional hints of cherry and vetiver. The latter really grounds and thickens the blend in a wonderful, sophisticated way. It's a bit like cherries and booze smeared over cold stone. Completely dry, it is a beautiful soft vetiver enveloped gently in the sweeter notes.

 

For me, words from the Lab description such as 'vampiric' and 'swollen' are spot on. This is rich, potent and thoroughly mouth-watering. It has a strong, distinct character - bold, confident and frank, provocative and inviting especially in the early stages, more subtly alluring later on. Love it!

[agirlnamedfury]

After getting a frimp of this in my last order and looking up the notes and scent description online, I thought I would love this. Cherries? Wine? Vanilla? Clove? Yes please!

 

Unfortunately, once I applied it to my skin all I could smell was the vetiver. I can't even get a whiff of any of those other sweet notes mentioned above. Sadface.

[stellamaris]

Just got my first big bottle of this! And I love it!!!

The vetiver is the wet note for me, but the dry down is all sweetness and a little bit of that fizzy blood thing. Cherry, yes, vanilla, yes. Gorgeous, yes. The vetiver does hang around in the dry down, but it is definitely in the background.

Not as aggressive as Blood Rose but in the same family.

 

note on reviews, as soon as someone says "cherry cough syrup" I cannot buy the thing fast enough. Cherry turns into the most amazing delicious stuff on me.

Edited April 7, 2015 by stellamaris

[Malaena]

In the imp: Cherry cough syrup. This gave me pause as I tried something last night with dragon's blood for the first time and it was a disaster.

 

Dry: Holy mother of god. It's honey, clovey wonderfulness. The cherry is very light and eventually disappears. I can't stop sniffing my wrist and I want to bathe in this zomghelpmeeeeeeee!!!!

 

ETA: I got a bottle at will call and holy hell it smells scary in the bottle!!!

Edited May 31, 2015 by Malaena

[DoktorDandy]

Hoo boy, another disappointingly weird one.

 

In the Imp: Red, vegetable-y tang that reminds me of rhubarb and sour liqueur (Chambord or Creme de Cassis, anyone?)

 

Wet: UGH WHAT HAPPENED? It hit my skin and immediately turned to slightly rancid dark chocolate bonbons filled with soured red liqueur, and the cherries suspended in their centers have gone bad. Old rancid florals.

Puts me in mind of standing in a dark second hand store on a sticky humid summer day- somewhere in the back somebody spilled a cherry coke days ago, didn't clean it up and now the wasps are getting to it, wherever it is. A dark, sticky stain on a musty polished cement floor, speckled with clumps dead ants.

 

This is a sour smell, and caused me to gag on first sniff. It conjured up profoundly creepy mental associations.

 

Who might this work on?: I feel like this isn't the oil's fault- this probably lies in my own skin's chemistry. My guess is that this could be a special kind of lovely if someone tends to amp up chocolate or dark cherry notes or if dark notes go sweet and languid on one's skin. I seriously doubt that this would be this gross on everyone. Glad I at least tried it.

[SimplySyra]

Like many others have mentioned in this thread, Blood Kiss turned into a all up vetiver party on my skin. It's a real shame because the notes in the description had me drooling.

 

Imp: Cherry with an oddly sweet and savory tone. Not juicy so much as thick?

 

Wet: Vetiver. Just so much of it. All the vetiver. If I huff really hard I get a smokey spicy sweetness that could be the vanilla/honey combo but it's just absurdly overwhelmed that I can't tell.

 

Dry: Just a fainter version of the wet stage now.

 

If your skin doesn't swallow up that savory cherry I got at the beginning or the smokey vanilla I can just barely detect, I can imagine this being an absolutely delectable scent. Unfortunately, all I can do is imagine.

[lady_pandora]

I think I expected Blood Kiss to either be dragon's blood or to be like Midnight Kiss, which did weird things on my body chemistry. It's neither. What it is is an awesome scent that makes me wish I still went clubbing ever. This is gloriously decadent and goth.

 

Initially, I get mostly vetiver with a little bit of red fruit around the edges that i can't really identify at that stage. Eventually I'm able to pick out BPAL's red wine note as it becomes more prominent, and another red fruit that I think must be the cherry. It stays mostly smoky vetiver/cherry/wine for a few hours and then shifts to smoky vanilla/honey/red incense (reminds me of something in Midnight Mass). It's one of those that tells a whole story in my head--it's sultry for when you're out dancing, and then morphs into a soothing scent for when you get home and crash!

 

Anyway, it's gorgeous, and I'm so glad I started giving vetiver blends a chance. They don't all work, but when they do, mmm. This may be a bottle, and if it's not, then it's only because I rarely go clubbing anymore. This might be a little much for tamer settings.

[Inscrutable]

Wet, it does have a cough syrup vibe but that doesn't last long. As it dries and warms on my skin, it becomes jammy, savory and heavy with sensual muskiness. I get a slight blood like coppery whiff along with Hamentashen cookies or Clafouti pie and the thinnest veil of powder. (flour?)

This is drool worthy.

[elka_knits]

I went looking for this because miss stellamaris likes it so much. I know I had an imp of it. After hours of searching I looked on scentbase to see if I had made any notes or put it in my frimp pile or whatnot. Here is that review:

 

in bottle~ very smoky. Like cigarette tinged hair or person.... cigarette over perfume

omg wet on skin..rancid sweat socks smell what the heck is in this? vanilla no way. Cherries a bit... that wine sourness that morphs into beauty in Athens maybe. Clove seems to be a problematic note for me... harsh and back of throat tickle like when smoking a clove cigarette {which I loved the smell of but still} maybe that is where I am getting the cig connection from. I am not getting vetiver. This scent is a definite morpher but it is from one gross thing to another gross thing with a hint of sweetness underneath. So much promise. So much skin chemistry ruining half the notes.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: I'm mostly getting the wine, poppies, cherries, followed by the clove.

 

Wet: The clove is the most prominent note on my skin, followed by the cherry note. The honeyed vanilla note begins to emerge after a few minutes. I was afraid of the vetiver note, but it is just helping to add a smokiness to the scent, along with the clove note. The poppy and wine are becoming more prominent on the drydown.

 

Dry: Still clove and cherry dominant. The spot where I applied this to my arm is very warm, but it does not burn. The wine and poppy notes are pretty strong as well. The honeyed vanilla note resides in the background.

 

Much later: There's a fair amount of vetiver present now, along with the wine note. After a few hours, the vetiver note becomes very strong, overtaking what remains of the other notes.

 

Verdict: I'm conflicted with this scent. I love the clove note. The cherry note hasn't turned to cough syrup on me. This is far more pleasant than I thought it would be, and I really think the scent fits its name. But the wine note makes this a little too fruity-sweet for me, and the vetiver ends up being too strong for me after it has been on my skin for a few hours. So I guess I won't be wearing this one again.

Edited September 14, 2015 by dementia_divine

[LexieBlom]

Blood Kiss imp

 

Wet/Bottle - Wine? Uhoh! Okay Lexie, prepare your rubbing alcohol to remove this as fast as possible if necessary. Wine, Poppy and Cherry are 3 of the notes that agree with my skin the least. Remind me why we're here again?

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Mostly vetiver, which is one of my favorite notes. Slightly bitter and sharp, maybe from the poppy and cherry. The wine is an after thought, which isn't too bad yet.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - The vetiver is still the most prominent, but the wine and poppy still make this very sharp. It's also very dry and bitter, like a nice wine. I love wine, I just don't love it on my skin.

 

While this definitely isn't for me, it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be.