A Black
Blood Concept (2013)

I've read that the concept behind Blood Concept Black A has something to do with the opposites of the “adorable” and “poison.” Mandrake root and angelica seeds represent the poison, the danger… the narcotic… captivation. I guess that the ginger, coffee, sandalwood, and benzoin represent the adorable or maybe the comfortable. Rather complex ideas and maybe even self contradictory…I have no idea how these operative concepts shape this fragrance or why they were chosen – I only wanted to review this because “A” is my blood type.

I don't get much “danger” out of this – actually it's a nice fragrance: It has a unique linear texture. The combination of these some of these notes like mandrake root and Angelica seed joins with the more typical ginger, coffee, sandalwood, benzoin, and amber to form this pleasant representation of my blood type. The mandrake and angelica provide a gently resinous wildness that's edgy and a small bit visceral. I particularly enjoy how the ginger smooths out the resins and provides a minor rooty sharpness to the accord. The coffee provides another bit of interest and I certainly connect the concept of coffee with the concept of comfort. The sandalwood provides a platform for all the actions of the other notes. The accord is not what I would call sweet – the benzene and amber add to the texture but are not at all aggressive. As I said, it's linear… it is more like a skin lotion than a regular EdP, which it claims to be. I've seen this concept work well in several fragrances, but it doesn't work here because, as pleasantly interesting as the accord is, it is weak in sillage, quite short on duration, and not at all intriguing. Most of Black A's existence comes to me as a recessive skin scent.