Dracul

[Caltha]

Dracul

Named in honor of Vlad III, Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom.

 

An interesting and original scent, I mostly get coriander and citrus. It's masculine, warm, dry, cosy, spicy and a little sharp and bitter, at least when wet. The only problem with it is that it borders on fake cleaning-agent-citrus freshness with a bite. It's alright on me but when my girlfriend wore it as a masculine perfume in drag it went pure cleaning agent citrus on her. Not pretty. I'll keep it for me though, it really is original as long as it stays out of the cleaning department.

[trins-ravengirl]

Dracul.

 

In the bottle I can certainly smell the orange, it almost smells like Grand Marnier to me...oddly.

 

On my skin dry it smells a little of mint, a little of orange, some tobacco and that clove. Possibly musk in the background.

 

A lovely enticing blend if I do say so.

[PurringPulsar]

Dracul

 

In the imp: a real 'tree sap' scent! Sweet yet fresh, almost pine like, but also dark. I smell mint, fir, and black musk, maybe a bit of tobacco.

Wet on skin: a deep, rich, smoky forest scent with black musk and fresh mint and fir, with the tangy tinge of orange blossom and spices.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is gorgeous! Rich, deep, spicy, smoky, dark, with a definite 'forest' feel to it and a light freshness as well. It's complex and grown up, and rather sexy! Sweet, slick black musk is the base note, anchored by smoky tobacco and spiced by cumin and clove-I'm wondering if the Peru balsam is in here as well (I have no idea what it smells like but I've read that's a sweet resinous scent). In between is the orange blossom, adding a slight fruity-floral scent which is also sweet and rather gentle. And on top is the fresh fir and the (now fading) mint. I think the orange blossom is getting stronger, it's sherbet-citrus tones becoming more apparent…

After a while: the black musk in here is almost sweetly resinous or vanilla-like. It's very sweet. It's now balanced against the orange blossom with the tobacco underneath it. Very pleasant.

The only unfortunate thing about this scent is it's not lasting long on me. The black musk sticks around but most of the other notes, apart from the tobacco and the orange blossom, have gone away.

It's not long before I get a lovely amber like scent. I'm not sure if this is the black musk, or maybe the balsam?

Verdict: this started out really nicely-a deep, rich, sweet musky and forest-y blend reminiscent of Black Forest, but deeper, smokier and more complex with spices and orange blossom, mint and tobacco. It's a unique and delicious scent, very unisex and pretty damn sexy as well. it does fade fast on me-the black musk and a bit of tobacco are the only notes that remain after a few hours, along with a mysterious (but very pleasant) amber like note…but they are a bit faint. I like this a lot but I just wish it lasted a bit longer on me because it's very well blended and well crafted as a scent.

To sum it up in a smiley:

Edited April 19, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[PixieSkull]

Imp: Wow, that's harsh! There's a metallic blood smell, something like a rotten swamp is lurking inside the imp.

Wet: The harshness that I first smelled morphed into a lemony orange now. I think it's the orange blossom being lovely on my skin like usual. There is definately something harsh still there, and I think it's the bitter clove. Too many things to pick out on this scent.

Dry: There are woods; the fire and balsam of peru. The harshness has faded. There's a masculinity about the scent now, but slightly hidden. I didn't pick out the cumin or crushed mint or tobacco or black musk in the chaos of the scent, but I don't mind.

 

Category: Woods/Masculine/Complex as hell

Rating: 4.5/5; Beautiful mixing, I love the mixture and the way it morphs

Overall: So this is one scent that I wasn't surprised at. The Fragrant Fellow section of the board has this as the most-recommended masculine scent for a good reason. This is manly sex in a bottle, it's gorgeous on my boyfriend, and even on me! The way it smells in the imp isn't pleasant in the least but the wet to dry is dark and sexual and stalk-provoking. It did fade a bit in a few hours, but I forgive it for that because it is just that nice.

[harmonyfb]

I got this one for the hubby to try - on him, it was just weird.

 

When he first applied it, there was a rush of...citrus. The hell? There's no citrus in this!

 

Once the initial citrus had faded a bit, I could smell the spicy cloves and cumin, very familiar cooking smells. I never did smell any musk or balsam. Huh. By the end of the evening, it was a dry, dusty scent. Definitely not what I was expecting.

[Court Analyst/Strategist]

This is masculine, dry, and bitter with a background of dark musk. There is also has a biting element of fir in it that I find quite pleasant, and a sharpened peak of citrus. I was eager to try this due to the description, but Dracul just turned too bitter once on the skin for me wear this as an everyday perfume, and the mint in particular became too elevated for my tastes from there.

 

Throw: 6/10 (rating). This goes on moderate in throw but the broadcasting power grows faint fairly quickly.

 

Overall: 7/10 (rating). This would be a favorite if all the elements I didn't want to amp hadn't amped on my skin! Mainly, the amping culprits were the mint, orange blossom (both of which I do not have a good track record with), and to a lesser extent the bitter clove. However, I was pleased that the tobacco behaved on my skin chemistry (tobacco has about a 50/50 chance of working on me on the average). The overall result is frustrating, but I think I'll keep the imp around, maybe to test it in a scent locket when I buy one.

 

Court

Edited May 25, 2006 by Court Analyst/Strategist

[GemmaCat]

Down and dirty, sharp patchouli overset with the sweetness of orange blossom. A suprisingly gritty scent but somehow rugged and handsome.

 

I'd like to try this on my fiance, actually.

[eviltemptressdq]

ok, i do admit... my vampire obsession is why i got this imp. Not for what was in it. If anything, the description lists a million things I'm not usually into at all. LOL.

 

But! Surprisingly? I like this! Of course it is VERY "manly", though... i smell the tobacco and orange, and the black musk. it is sort of sexy!

 

*hopes boyfriend will wear this one for me!*

[septima_pica]

Whoa, hey. I just got this because I was curious about the cumin, but it turns out I like it much more than I expected. It's the right combination of dark (the tobacco and balsam) and sharp (fir and clove and mint). The fir's got that almost citrusy smell that some crushed pine-needles get, and the black musk is doing a wonderful job of not getting all powdery on me the way it did in Iago. Or maybe it's just being covered up by the pine. In any case, it's much more awesome than I thought it was going to be, and also seems to go well with Death Cap.

 

This is like Bess but meaner. I like it. If it stays this good, it may become my standard Tough Bitch scent.

 

Edit: Damn and double damn. Powder again. Looks like I need a different one. Nothing else has cumin in it, though, does it? ::swears at black musk::

 

Edit again: Hah! Problem solved -- I used it to scent my mink oil for leather treatment so that my leathers all smell of tobacco and fir and orange-blossom. Super tasty, and no trace of nasty powder.

 

(Octopod's review. This is too...butch...for Kalirren.)

Edited January 23, 2008 by septima_pica

[theseagrows]

this is a spicy and earthy scent, and is pretty unisex if you ask me. i think i mostly smell the musk, tobacco, clove and orange blossom, but i'm not sure as i am not the greatest at picking out notes. i smell no mint whatsoever though- that i am sure of.

 

this reminds me of another bpal ive tried, but now cant remember which one it was. i want to say it's like perversion with no booze or leather. very brown and spicy. i think i am kind of ambivalent to this one. i dont hate it but...it's not wowing me either.

[Eunice]

Wow! The fir, clove and orange blossom together are incredible. The cumin finally shows up after this sits on my skin for a couple minutes. It almost smells like there is some lime in this. Dracul is very strange for me. I love the smell of this but it isn't something I'd want to wear on a regular basis.

[portalkat]

When I first put this on, I can immediately smell the musk, the fir and balsam with some light floral. Then the tobacco starts winding in and out. I don't start to smell the mint and the cumin for about 45 minutes.

 

This morphs around a bit, but the one note that stays constant is the tobacco which wafts around. The tobacco smells very interesting with the orange blossom.

 

After a couple of hours, I smell the musk and the flowers spiced with the cumin and the bitter clove. The tobacco now smells like sweet pipe tobacco. It stays like this for the duration. It never smelled very masculine on me, but slightly sweet, spicy and smoky.

 

This does not have exceptional throw, but it lasts 14 hours plus on me. I really like all of the different stages of this and it's another scent that needs to go on my list.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I get a real jumble here (not surprising, given the list of notes), but the mint and something that smells dismayingly like melon stand out. Where is the tobacco?

 

Wet: I'm about to have a tantrum here, 'cause there's still no tobacco. It's all mint and that annoying melon-like smell.

 

Drydown and wear: To paraphrase Jack Sparrow: "WHY IS THE TOBACCO GONE?" *throws tantrum* I don't want the mint or the basalm, or the pine note--they're all too sharp. I want the tobacco!!!

[midnight_aeval]

I got this one for my husband and when I opened the vial to smell it I *knew* he wouldn't like it.

 

Well, he shocked me, out of all the ones he pulled from his imp box (yes, he has one lol), he wanted me to put this one on him.

 

He loves it.

 

what? boy was I wrong!

 

He said he smells the clove.. I smell the orange, musk, and mint. We both like it on him and he asks me to buy him a bottle of it (!!!) Does this mean I can order some too?

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp:

I can smell FIR, bigtime. I think there is a hint of tobacco, a hint of orange blossom and mint and a hint of clove. But mostly fir.

 

On wet:

The orange blossom really comes out now, but there is a very DARK undertone, which I love. There is some note, though, that is currently on the edge of giving me a headache (but again, that COULD just be work)...

 

Dry: The clove is starting to come out. Almost the headache thing again. It smells like a shop near here. Pleasant enough to walk into for a while, but not sure I could stand to smell it all day long. I will wait and see what this one does after an hour and then several hours.

 

Summary: uhhhh...it's nice but just not me. On my skin, I end up smelling too much like an import shop. Note my fave. Oh well.

[edenssixthday]

Dracul - Based on the scent description, I thought I was going to hate this blend. Beth has surprised me once again! It is gorgeous. I mean, really, truly beautiful. It’s a heavy scent yet it’s subtle on my skin and there is hardly any throw. When I sniff my skin up close, the first notes I detect are clove and mint, and I must say, this may be the first scent with mint in it that I really like. There’s just the tiniest drop of mint, and it’s got the clean, crisp, green scent of a peppermint leaf pulled right off the plant dropped into your tea or water. The oil has a slightly powdery scent to it, which I immediately recognize as orange blossom, as it’s what orange blossom always does on my skin – it’s gorgeous, just slightly powdery. All of this is layered over a bed of soft, but deep and dark musk and a touch of wood. I’m sad at how subtle this is on my skin, as I think it would kick some serious ass in my world if it had better throw. I really like this one and will try it again before I decide whether or not it’s too subtle for my taste.

[Bagfish]

This is a deep dark brown furry scent. I can almost imagine it as a bearskin coat wrapping me up on a cold day, warm and furry but heavy and musky as well, so not quite comfortable.

 

It is incredibly resinous on me, even more so than Saturn which it reminds me of a bit. I can smell the balsm of peru and the black musk with perhaps a hint of clove. The mint and the orange blossom are no-where to be smelled, but I do amp resins. It is quite masculine. I already have a couple of similar scents (Odin and Saturn) so I think I will pass on this one and send it out in swaps.

[neuilly]

This goes through several stages in rapis succession before finally settling. At first there's a very sharp citrus scent...orange blossom? Then it goes into what smells like Red Lantern but with no caramel (I'm assuming this is mostly because of the tobacco coming to play). It finally settles into a nice clove which seems to combine with spices? Perhaps that the balsam? But mostly clove. It's nice deep smell which is fairly masculine. I enjoy it and may go to it when my red lantern is out (although the scents aren't that similar...they just have a similar tone to me if that makes any sense).

[steffanina]

Dracul-

 

In Bottle: Wood and chocolate and...lavender?

 

Wet: Bright and sweet and pine. Oh, lovely pine, not at all like Pine-Sol. I'm in a forest at mid-afternoon; it's overcast and not too warm. I have travel ahead of me but I'm not tired at all and there's the promise of a good night's rest tonight. Oh, yum.

 

Dry: Oh, the wood, the wood and chocolate. It wants to be sandalwood but refuses to be that dull. It grows softly powdery; ooh, I want to bathe in this. It's delicious. And just a little bit masculine. Or it's a female power that I don't usually feel, one of the two. Funny--if it were on a man, I wouldn't love it half so well as I do; it feels too "scent-y" for a man. I love it on me. I feel so powerful wearing this. I totally 0WNZ0RS everyone I encounter. You love me. You want to bow down before me. Admit it. Admit it!

 

Overall: I love.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

end verdict: i like this blend.

 

how i arrived at that conclusion ... well, i can't begin to describe the scent. there's tobacco, yes. and a touch of clove.

 

but this also feels like a forbidden scent, like an incense reserved for certain rituals (or occasions) and not for everyday....

almost as if to wear this as a mundane everyday scent would be blasphemous.

[ceej]

A spicy forest when wet, all evergreens. The orange and clove are sharp at first. As it dries, the forest subsides, leaving the clove over a base of musk.

 

Love it to pieces. It smells wonderful on my husband, too.

[crazyredhead17]

In the imp, this was quite an interesting blend.

 

Wet, it was minty with a bit of woodsy-ness to it.

 

As it dried, the mint pretty much went away and was drowned by all the pines and firs, with a side of tobacco. Apparently, in both the air and in perfume oil, the smell of tobacco gives me a wicked sinus headache. Blah.

[arachne]

OMG! I must have big bottle. *Runs to get credit card*

 

Dracul smells like bottled Yule to me. Certainly it's the balsam fir that has captured my heart. Smells like bayberry and sugar cookies on me.

 

I went to a dinner party last weekend and wore Dracul. The men were intrigued and the women all claimed to be buying a bottle the next day. It lasts a good long while and has a strong throw. This is one of my top 5 favorites!

 

UPDATE: 12/24/06 - so utterly disappointed. My 5ML bottle of this is terrible. It smells nothing at all like the imp's ear that I fell in love with. It doesn't have that delcious bayberry, fir, holiday smell. It smells like watered down mint. Up for swap it goes.

Edited December 24, 2006 by arachne

[Em-]

I had expceted to like Dracul, both as a me scent and as a scent for my husband - he found it to sweet and floral (he amped the orange blossom something fierce). As for me, although I like almost all of the individual notes in this blend, they do not come together into something that I love. Ah well.

[supremegoddessofall]

I'm mostly getting mint and tobacco, which is somewhat of an odd combination, but I also get a touch of herbal foodyness - the cumin? It's okay, but nothing special.