Hellfire

[ladymeag]

A scent celebrating Sir Francis Dashwood's Order of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club. A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass.

This scent in the bottle isn't very evocative for me but it sure is once it's on.

In the bottle: Booze and a general incense smell.

On Me: Wet, this is lots of tobacco and I have a sudden fear it's going to go soapy or bug-spray, as tobacco scents sometimes do. As it dries down though, it's suddenly a haze of tobacco smoke mixed with incense and musk in a leather chair still warm from the musk-wearer sitting in it.

On Spouse: MUSK! and tobacco. Super-strong musk here, barreling over everything. Leather is completely lost. Spouse says: smells like a boozy men's club.

[Balame]

A lot of great things have already been said, but when I first put this on I was among the confused... why did it smell like incense-y grape? Then I noticed "lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass."

 

It is TOTALLY the sweet, sexy incense from the Yules' Midnight Mass (which I love)! The powder everyone is noticing is from the ambergris. I don't generally like powdery smells, but I've always loved the delicate, cuddly sweetness of ambergris, and it's still nice here. It has never read as baby powder to me. The musk/tobacco/leather make this more of a lascivious, grownup scent (between them the leather is the least apparent). The imagery of a bunch of snooty, rich but lovable older men settled around a fire is right on.

 

That being said I don't think this is particularly "masculine," and if anyone wants an oil that would do well at a party, I'd go with this.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Balame

[MoonlitWolf]

Dear God...Where do I even BEGIN?!

 

:love!:

 

Hellfire has been one of my top favorite BPAL scents for a while now. It was love at first sniff, not even going to lie. I ADORE IT.

 

Such an incredibly sensual, arousing, dangerous little perfume oil. Unisex and it smells as if it were just made for my skin!

 

 

 

...did I mention I love this oil?

 

 

I can't live without it!

[claudia6913]

Pipe tobacco and ambergris is front and center in the wet stage. Little sweet, little salty, and just now going a little smoky. Not getting the "hot leather" which was honestly the note that I was most worried about. This actually reminds me more of a Smoke shop and not "hellfire".

[Incendiare]

I was expecting this one to be too heavy and dense for my tastes, but it's actually quite pleasant. In the vial, it's sweeter than one would expect, like a sweet juicy incense, but as soon as I put in on, there is a burst of ambergris, then it disappears. I'm surprised I don't get any leather, but I'm sure this imp has aged for a few years now. As this starts to dry, the scent goes drier itself. Like overly dry tobacco. I swear there is spice in there too, like a bit of cinnamon? It's better than I expected but I would never purchase a bottle.

[Zii]

I was hesitant with this out of the bottle because it was very heavy and slightly bitter in the bottle. But when I tried it the lighter scents amped beautifully. I am really surprised the description says there is no vanilla because there is a distinct sweet note that I am having difficulty placing with the listed ingredients.

 

Wet: Very heavy with the tobacco. It’s very amped on me and leaves a great chocolaty smoke on my skin. Notes of spice, burnt caramel and musk. Very layered with vanilla and smoke cutting at the richness of the musk and tobacco.

 

Dry (an hour): Much more on the sweet and smoky side now. Smells like vanilla pipe tobacco.

 

Dry: (6 hours): It’s pretty much all vanilla now, in the best way. It’s still smoky, but has gone very sweet and subtle. Sometimes vanilla throws too much when it's the dominant scent, but the smokiness that's been present the whole wear tones that down.

 

I adore this scent overall. I think it hits the right line between masculine and feminine for me. I dislike many men's scents for being too musk heavy, and many perfumes for being too sweet and this has the benefits of both with none of the things I don't like. I will most certainly be buying a full bottle!

 

--edit--

If I had to have one complaint, it's that this scent stays very close to my skin. Been huffing my wrists since I put it on.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Zii

[Erinofhere]

This is another one of those scents that morphs on your skin. In the bottle it smells a bit like toilet cleaner.

On my husband’s skin it smells much better. The tobacco is very sweet but the musk and resins settle it down. We don't pick up on any leather note. Not getting much smoke. Sweet tobacco and resins is pretty much it.

Its okay...but not a favorite.

[MCS4096]

I swear this has honey in it. How does this not have honey listed? It's got that sort of sour but sweet body smell that is totally bpal's honey note. I love all the notes listed, but somehow this doesnt smell like I'd expect them to smell.. I don't really get any leather, and the ambergris barely registers. I guess I'd describe it as sweet dry tobacco... This totally has honey.

 

I do like it, and find myself sniffing it in an effort to decide what I'm smelling, but it does have a slightly sour tinge that I dont mind really, but might make me leery to wear this in public.

[lulu333]

Cloying, powdery, dusty old boots and sickly vanilla. Terrible.

[lookingglass]

I think this is a good dupe for Inez! I don't find this scent heavy or dark. I find it slightly sweet and powdery with a clean, musky finish. Gender neutral, nuzzly, yum.

[wisdomeagle]

Very sweet, and I didn't get any hint of leather and almost none of incense. A faint whiff of smoke as it was drying, then just sweetness that I think is musk. I agree with above reviewers that there's almost-vanilla.

 

I got this in an Incense Imp Pack from the lab, so I was really hoping for more incense. :/

 

The long-lasting sweetness is pleasant, but not particularly evocative for me.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Sweetness (which could come from either ambergris or tobacco) over a strong incense base. This feels like a very masculine-leaning scent, but more importantly, a very substantial one; something that I could really sink my teeth into.

 

Wet: *Much* smokier and more leathery - a definite man-smell. It's still a little sweet, but just enough so that it's still wearable and not pure man-funk - I put this down to the salty-sweet smell of ambergris, although the salty aspect seems to be getting lost in all the smoke and leather and general manliness. I found this one very reminiscent of Dee, which is one of my favorites. However, Hellfire is a bit lighter, much more cologne-y, and the tobacco leans a bit sharper. Like Dee, this one stays fairly close to the skin.

 

Dry: More sweet, kinda boozy, and only a little smoky. It moves more sweet and less smoky as the day goes on. Still reminiscent of the old boys' club, but now maybe it's the younger generation that's a little more open to letting the girls in than their fathers.

 

While I like the scent on its own merits, I kinda have to get it for the name - "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is arguably the greatest Disney Villain song of all time.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

In the imp: pale golden color, smells sweet but alcoholic (in the cologne sense)

 

On me: Much lighter than I expected. Gently sweet, like white honey, while wet, but drying it turns to ambergris. Ambergris doesn't play nice on me; it turns too sharp. This would make a lovely dandy's cologne for a Byronic hero *or* heroine if ambergris is ok with your chemistry.

[nightwing]

ITI: There is no listed booze note, but in the imp, I swear this smells like straight up boxed red wine. Grapey and sharp and gross.

Wet: The wine note seems to have resolved into the musk and incense. It's not boozy anymore, but it still has an odd grape feel.

Drying: The leather and tobacco are raising their heads, much more vanilla and soft than I would have expected. This is less bondage and chains and more smoldering seduction. This one is very sexy and it has a lot of throw, but it's sophisticated rather than dirty.

Dry: I finally have the ambergris, and it's really wonderful. It's mostly the musks and incense, but the other notes round it out wonderfully and it has a great blend. This scent belongs to an attractive sophisticate with a cigar in one hand as they rake their eyes across your body. It'd say it trends masculine, but I think this would be stunning on the right sort of lady as well.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sweet incense and fresh tobacco leaves.

 

Wet on my skin: This is very much sweet incense and musk, with sweet tobacco.

 

Dry: Again, sweet incense, sweet tobacco like that in a fine cigar or maybe a pipe, and the undercurrent of musk and ambergris making it almost creamy and soft. It's not the rich, strong leather and incense smoke I hoped for upon reading the notes, but it's nonetheless a beautiful scent on me. My skin loves this musk and incense. As it wears a bit, the hot leather is finally coming out and gives it that dark, seductive quality I hoped for with the first application. Oh yessss. Leather, incense, smoke, and musk. Perfect. This scent is black, swirled with grey and red smoke.

[ResinManiac]

Leather makes its happy well anticipated appearance, clouded by all the smoke and possibly ambergris. This becomes really masculine really fast on me, with a hint of bitter medicine floating around somewhere close in the background. Some leathers and musks work well on me but this is sadly not one of them, maybe a guy could pull it off more adroitly?

[Veronica]

Something wet and metallic, reminiscent of fresh blood.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: The tobacco note jumps out at me the most, followed by spice (it smells like there is cinnamon in this, similar to that in Plunder), and then the hot leather and musk notes, and lastly a bit of ambergris.

 

Wet: Cinnamon, even though it isn't listed as a note. I wonder if this is part of the incense note? The spice-y aspect reigns for quite some time, but as the scent is drying down, a sweet aspect of the scent begins to emerge. I think it is coming from the dark musk note? But this isn't the same dark musk found in Cheshire Cat or the Trading Post's Mikado Saloon hair gloss. It's almost wine-like. I wonder if there is a wine note in this? The leather note is lingering in the background.

 

Dry: Spice and something reminiscent of wine mostly, along with ambergris. The leather and tobacco notes continue to take a background role.

 

Verdict: Well, that was unexpected. The dark musk, leather, and ambergris notes made me think this could be like a cousin to Mikado Saloon, but this is absolutely nothing like Mikado Saloon hair gloss. Something in this is rather off-putting to my nose (whatever is creating that sweet, boozy aspect of the scent), and I'm tempted to go wash it off. It's grape-like. This is not my cup of tea.

 

I did try washing this off, but the scent didn't want to go away!

Edited August 20, 2015 by dementia_divine

[Musamea]

Testing a very aged (5+ years) imp

 

In the imp: strong, but so well blended it's really difficult for me to pick out any one note; there's a slight sweetness here that may be coming from the musk, but it's tempered by the other notes – overall sweeter than I would have expected (I feel like I have a scent memory of some of these notes, but haven't done enough sniffing recently to be able to distinguish what it is/what other Lab blends I've smelled it in)

Wet: The sweet note stays (seriously what is that? Musk? Ambergris?, with a nice whuff of leather if I inhale deeply; the incense also comes out to play a bit more

Dry: initially the sweet scent is amped, with leather just lingering in the background; as it dries, the sweet note (which I think I'm now deciding is the dark musk) is toning back and it's a swirl of tobacco and incense smoke (definitely incense smoke – this isn't a wet incense smell at all), the leather is mostly gone. Overall – sweet smoky musk. Interesting but ultimately a pass for me.

[aquazoo]

Sweet to start, fruity. I’m not getting anything firey or smoky.

[LizziesLuck]

wet, this is very sweet and boozey. Almost a little effervescent! Wasn't expecting that.

 

It quickly morphs into...something else. someone up thread mentioned toilet cleaner. I can totally see where they got that from. It's not unpleasant though, I'm just not sure I want to smell like it.

 

 

It goes back to being sweet and boozey. Hard to pick out notes. I certainly don't find it masculine. This makes no sense to me, based on the listed notes. I get no tobacco, no leather. No ambergris. Maybe it's sweet incense I'm smelling? It's really fruity though. If this were a decant rather than a Lab imp, I might think it had been labeled wrong. I do see others have found it sweet and fruity...who knows. Lol. I don't think it's for me, either way.

[Cali]

Something lemony or lime-y and a very faint sweeter note embracing a lovely warm tobacco and leather.

Cold winter wind booming against an old castle tower. In the tower there's a small room, with a wooden floor, well-built and furnished furniture, on which bottles of booze and a group of men scatteredly sit, sucking their glowing pipes, most of them staring at a roaring fireplace.

Not for me personally but it's lovely and intricate!!

[Kay Torres]

Omg, wet this smells like a bad boy should smell, and it kicked my libido into overdrive this morning. It smells like leather, tobacco, man skin, and sugary brandy kisses. Where is that vaguely alcoholic smell coming from? I don't remember seeing any wine/brandy notes listed. It's having a one night stand with a biker and then getting up in the middle of the night to wrap yourself up in his leather jacket and huffing the collar.

 

Dry? It smells exactly like my great grandfather's green leather recliner. He would sit in it and puff away on his pipe while watching The People's Court back when it was Judge Wapner banging the gavel. Not so hot anymore when it smells like your Pap-Pap.

Edited July 18, 2016 by SunsetKay

[Mermaid-on-Land]

When first on my wrists I get a clean cinnamon scent (which is not a listed note but that's what I got lol). That disappears within like 2 minutes, and for about 15 minutes it had no scent at all. That really confused me, I practically had my nose glued to my wrist and couldn't smell anything. Then I kinda got distracted and when I came back to it a couple minutes later, it had reappeared as a warm ambergris with a slight leather note. This is the first I've smelled ambergris where I could make it out by itself and I really liked it, so that was cool! It was warm and ambery but somehow had a salty ocean feel at the same time. The musk lingers in the background pretty smoothly with the leather, and the tobacco and incense don't come out for me too much. It began fairly strong but lost throw a couple hours in. Overall this was unexpected for me. I expected a fiery burning cinnamony scent for some reason (I think I confused this for the description of Inferno *checks* Thats the second time I've done that, wtf me?) but anyway, this was a more gentle scent than what I expected. It was smooth and kind of mellow, and like some previous reviewers it sorta reminded me of a guy drinking expensive brandy in a leather chair by the fireside in a library. I liked it but not quite crazy for it just yet, I'm gonna wear it a couple more times and see how I feel.

[Casablanca]

Soft tobacco, ambergris, and a curl of incense. I kinda pick out leather, but it blends into the more prominent tobacco. Not that anything here is strong -- the whole is fairly soft-spoken on my skin. I like this, though the musk doesn't smell as fine to me as many musks.

Am I smelling just a little orange or bergamot in here?

Later on, I get lots of ambergris. Mm.