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Always been curious: formula for Dragon's Blood?

post #1 of 20
Thread Starter 
I thought a Google search would pull up plenty of results, but nary a one is showing. Anyone happen to know the formula for Dragon's Blood?
post #2 of 20
3 cows
6 sheep
1 goat
1 small village
1 dragon
1 knight in shining armor
post #3 of 20
Well since you probably already know that Sangre de Grado is actually an herb, are you curious about what makes up the fragrance? I think there are a gazillion different combinations of what makes up the fragrance of DB, though most all include incense, patchouli, amber, myrrh, vanilla, and sometimes sandalwood.
post #4 of 20
Thread Starter 
I'm not even aware of what Sangre de Grado is (just looked it up on Wikipedia) :P

From the other notes you listed, am I right in presuming Dragon's Blood is essentially a base chord composed of various base notes? I've never seen Sangre de Grado essential oil (if such a thing exists).. but yes, if Sangre de Grade and the other notes you listed are the components, then I'd really like to find out the ratio of each if at all possible. Thanks

Edit: lol Ecaruthers
post #5 of 20
Boy I have no idea where to start with that. You might search for an EO blend with the same name? Most suppliers I purchase the fragrance oil from won't give you the specifics of their recipe. Sorry I can't be of more help
post #6 of 20
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Outlandish View Post

Boy I have no idea where to start with that. You might search for an EO blend with the same name? Most suppliers I purchase the fragrance oil from won't give you the specifics of their recipe. Sorry I can't be of more help

Yeah, to me the smell is very unique... I have no idea how it's made. Some things I read online say it's a "tincture made from Dragon's Blood resin" ... ok? I really have no idea what Dragon's Blood resin is... seems weird that almost every oil supplier carries it yet recipes for it are nowhere to be found. Surely the secret has to be out of the bag by now.. I hope? !!
post #7 of 20
As far as I know is "dragons blood" a fantasy name, it smells like the perfumer that makes it wants it to smell. So when you purchase it from different suppliers you probably get very different fragrances.
Beside the herb mentioned is dragonsblood the name of several red resins, some of them have some smell others are not fragrant at all.
post #8 of 20
Thread Starter 
Strange.. every dragon's blood oil I've ever smelled smells exactly the same (possibly slight variances from batch to batch)
post #9 of 20
It's like "Amber," which is usually a combination of different plant resins mixed with herbs.

Essential7.com sells a product they call "Dragon's Blood Essential Oil" which appears to actually be a resinoid extracted from Croton lechleri. That's basically like calling labdanum absolute "Amber Essential Oil."
post #10 of 20
Thread Starter 
As long as it smells like Dragon's Blood, it's a recipe I want. I'm sure there is no definite 1 formula for it, but every version of Dragon's Blood I've smelled is quite similar to one another, so any recipe will do.
post #11 of 20
I think it's just one of those mystical pseudo-hippie head-shop boutique fragrances, like you see at Renaissance Festivals and such. Could be ANYTHING!
post #12 of 20
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nymphaea View Post

I think it's just one of those mystical pseudo-hippie head-shop boutique fragrances, like you see at Renaissance Festivals and such. Could be ANYTHING!

And the greatest DIY perfumers in the world, right here on Basenotes, can't crack the code!?!??!? Sad! :P

(here's to hoping a little reverse psychology works!)
post #13 of 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by flouris View Post

As long as it smells like Dragon's Blood, it's a recipe I want. I'm sure there is no definite 1 formula for it, but every version of Dragon's Blood I've smelled is quite similar to one another, so any recipe will do.

OK, I'll bite. Where have you bought or smelled Dragon's Blood? Was it an EO at a head shop? A cologne offered by a niche designer? Can you give us a manufacturer's name? Can you describe its smell at all - spicy? sharp? herbal? woody? smokey? Since I've never smelled it, I need some help recreating it for you. But I can't resist being lumped with the world's greatest DIYers.
post #14 of 20
For what it's worth:

Dragon's blood is a bright red resin that is obtained from different species of a number of distinct plant genera: Croton, Dracaena, Daemonorops, Calamus rotang and Pterocarpus. The red resin was used in ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense, and dye. It continues to be employed for the aforementioned purposes by some.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_blood

I did a search on Google with these terms: dragon's blood incense
post #15 of 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by ECaruthers View Post

Can you describe its smell at all - spicy? sharp? herbal? woody? smokey? Since I've never smelled it, I need some help recreating it for you. But I can't resist being lumped with the world's greatest DIYers.

ECaruthers, you've been helpful to me in the past, making excellent recommendations when I was looking for a good essential oil supplier. Would you mind if I sent you a bit of dragon's blood resin to deconstruct?
post #16 of 20
Dragons blood (resin) gives a very special scent when added to incense. I use it a lot when I mix my own incense.
It does look like clotted blood!
has anybody here made a tincture of it? And how did it turn out? I would love to try it in e perfume.
post #17 of 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by flouris View Post

I thought a Google search would pull up plenty of results, but nary a one is showing. Anyone happen to know the formula for Dragon's Blood?

I am in the same boat as you, though I have found some information that has not been posted here. now someone mentioned using the Dragon's Blood resin to make a tincture, now to do that you simply add the Dragon's Blood resin to saffron oil and you can play with the amount of resin to get the strength you desire. However, since it is a tincture, and not an essential oil this way you would have to shake it before every use to ensure that the tincture had not separated. As for what Dragon's Blood resin is, and to do away with misconception that it is a hippie headshop mix up that changes from manufacturer to manufacturer, I have to explain its origins. Dragon's Blood, has long been considered a sacred scent by Buddhist monks and has recently become a very popular scent in incense lines. Now to make a resin there has to be an essential oil that is mixed with an organic powder that will slowly burn when placed on a red hot coal. while I do know all of this I am sad to say that I do not know what goes into the essential oil. However, I once read an article that stated that one of the main ingredients was jasmine, and it was put through a distillation process, and that several home manufacturers had trouble with the law when their fragrance stills were found, due to the police thinking they were making booze. So if you can figure out the other scents that go into the Dragon's Blood oil, you could make it at home with a simple distillation process, but not everyone has that luxury.

Now that I've realized how much I've rambled lol Ill go ahead and leave it that.

Sothar
post #18 of 20
Several red resins bear te name 'dragons blood'. I am familiar with some of them, none has a very pronounced odour. Used as Incense they smell to me like molten plastic.
Therefor I dont think that there is a relation (other than the name) between fragrances with the name dragon's blood and resins with that name.
post #19 of 20
Hi everyone!

I do not know if I will add something, but ...

Here in Brazil, dragon's blood is known as an oleoresin extracted from the trunk of a single amazon tree that has the same dragon's blood name (sci: croton iechleri). It does not have a solid form. It is a red viscous liquid instead, as FrouFrou had mentioned earlier, and is sold in raw form without any mixtures.

It is used by amazonian indians for centuries as medicine and sacred rituals. I can’t tell if it can be also used in perfumery nor that smell it look, but I suppose it can’t add much by itself.

If anyone wants to buy brazilian dragon's blood (in portuguese, sangue de dragão) or other well-known essential oils of amazonian plants as copaÃ*ba (oleoresin), cumaru (tonka bean), pau-rosa (true rosewood), pau-santo (guaiacwood) and pimenta-rosa (pink pepper) try the site below. Definitely worth checking out the brazilian patchouli essential oil, which is different to the Caribbean patchouli (is fresher and is more herbal). For anyone who manufactures soaps, worth to try pracaxi oil, which is better than argan oil.

I would invite you to try priprioca (cyperus articulatus) essential oil and breu-branco resin (protium hepytaphyllum), which are unknown even by perfumers of Brazil, but this site does not sell them. If someone wants I can also look for suppliers who sell out of Brazil.

http://www.viessence.com.br/

The website is only in portuguese. For international orders it accepts only credit card. To order values over USD.3,000. 00 (approximately 1,500.00 Brazilian Real) send e-mail to:

atendimento@viessence.com.br

p.s.,

I do not have economic interests in it…

And…

Absolve my Google’s english.
post #20 of 20
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arborvitae/8010832618/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arborvitae/8004501879/

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to add anything to this thread but I have a bottle of what is labeled "Dragon's Blood". It appears to be at least one ounce. The bottle is about 1/4 full of maybe a 1 liter bottle? I'm just guessing at the size. Some of you who are more experienced might know the actual size of this kind of bottle in the photos above.

If anyone wants it, US preferred, please send me a pm.
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