Belle Vinu

[heathercaley]

Red sandalwood, vanilla, rosewood, osmanthus, and white peach.

This is truly lovely indeed. Slightly peach, with slight sandalwood/rose undertones. The vanilla isn't too apparent. It seems as if the vanilla is present only to sweeten everything up just a little. Refreshing and very feminine. I like it

[lensflaaare]

Wet: Right away I get red sandalwood, rose wood, and a little bit of peach.

 

Dry-down: It sweetens up a lot more (probably because of the osmanthus and peach), but the scent is still mostly the woods. Very nice! It reminds me of peach orchards in the fall.

 

Dry: Soft, flowery peachy goodness. So, so nice.

[angelicruin]

Wet on my skin, it's predominantly rosewood. Ooh peach wafts in a few minutes later. This ends as a woodys rose and peach scent on my skin. Delicate and just a little sweet.

[aquazoo]

Usually I like woods, but this is not starting well. It's mellowing a bit better, but a tad salty. Not for me.

 

[surf-tormented]

This smells a lot like Cheshire Cat to me, though the notes aren't alike in the slightest! It's so odd. It is completely Cheshire Cat on me!

 

Which is good, because I like Cheshire Cat, but bad because I just swapped for a bottle of Cheshire Cat and don't need another bottle of something that is that close in scent to it. I wish the bottle of Cheshire Cat was here right now. I would love to compare the two. On me, they are really close to the same thing, except maybe the Cheshire Cat has more throw!

Edited February 10, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[lilwhiterabbit]

This is one of the few of the first round of imps I've ordered that I've smelled on me and immediately decided to get a bigger bottle. Normally, even if I like a scent, it really has to wow me for me to want to make the leap to a 5ml, due to the increased expense. Belle Vinu is definitely something I will eventually buy.

 

In the bottle, this is very sweet with a little sharpness. I love peaches in blends, so that's really what calls to me, and mostly what I can smell prior to application. Maybe a bit of floral in the background.

 

On my skin this does wonderful, wonderful things. I can smell every note and they're all working in harmony to create a beautiful blend. The peach brightens it a little bit, the rosewood deepens it and the vanilla warms and calms everything down. It's just beautiful. Definitely on my short list.

[Lethran]

In bottle: This is lovely. The peach, osmanthus, rosewood combo is delicious. This is floral dominant, but unusual and quite well blended. Wet: tbe peach is a little stronger on my ski, though the whole thing maintains a lovely balance. It’s an outdoors sort of scent, rich and lively. Given time, a bit of sandalwood comes out, making the blend even richer. Dry: Alas it goes a bit artificial after a bit. It ends up rather dried flowers and vanilla.

[pandorasmuse]

In the imp: Blossoms and bug spray?

 

Wet: THERE WE GO. Peaches! Much better.

 

Drydown: Peach and woods. I don’t smell the vanilla right off, but I feel it in the back of my nose.

 

Later: Feminine and innocent, but her motives aren't so pure-- as I wear Belle Vinu, she turns back into bug spray. Sad! Off to swaps.

[nnaylime]

I will admit that the only reason I picked up a bottle of this is that "Beauty and the Beast" is my favorite fairy tale. I was also very intrigued by the sandlewood and rosewood, but also a bit skeptical because 99 times out of a 100 I strongly dislike vanilla in scents.

 

This would be the 1 time in a hundred that it doesn't bother me. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to even pick it out. I smell the peach and the sandlewood most strongly. I'm guessing that osmanthus is the floral that I don't recognize, which is also very nice. This has quickly rocketed to my top five (with Rose Cross, Angeronalia, Lines Written among the Euganean Hills, Rosalind, and Aureus being my other favorites). I would recommend this to other vanilla "skeptics" like myself. I'd also suggest it to those that like "clean" scents like Rosalind, or those that like subtle fruits like Katharina.

[Dharklady]

In Bottle: Sandalwood and a fresh clean scent with a slight touch of floral.

 

Wet: A mist of piercing peach with just a touch of an almost linen like floral that changes to a vanilla sandalwood and back depending on when sniffed.

 

Dry: Soft vanilla and sandalwood with occasional sharp notes of peach.

 

Notes: Pretty, not sure if it’s really me, but pretty.

 

[odalisque]

How very odd. Belle Vinu joins Rage and Jezirat-Al-Tennyn in the list of scents where I smell something different from everyone else. My impression of Belle Vinu is almost overwhelmingly green -- it's unusual in that it doesn't go to dryer sheets or Glade on me, but against a faint cool rose it left the impression of stems and greenery, like a still-chilled bouquet of roses from the florist. Imagine my surprise to come and read the notes, and find out it's supposed to be a warm and slightly fruity rose scent! I wonder if the osmanthus (not very familiar to me) screwed with my nose or chemistry that much.

[SophieCedar]

Elegant and soothing! I didn't expect to like this as much as I do.

In imp and first wet, the peach is strongest, vanilla 2nd, and sandalwood 3rd.

Drydown: osmanthus comes out with vanilla, sandalwood fades to the back. I can still smell wafts of peach.

 

Great combination!

[tailoredshirt]

My first thought when I smelled this wet was that I got roses, but then I looked at the notes and saw rosewood listed instead, so I'm wondering if rosewood smells at all like roses? That's probably a dumb question. Anyway, I got roses/floral and something fruity. After a while, the peach really came out, and it was syrupy, probably in part from the vanilla. Fruits always do this to me.

 

Dry, this was nothing spectacular on me. Syrupy peach, with vanilla and floral in the background. I was really hoping the woods would come out more, but they were nowhere to be smelt.

[Venneh]

I'm getting the peach, sandalwood, and osthmanthus in the imp, we'll see what it does. On my skin, it's peach and osthmanthus. We'll see what this does.

[rayvn1]

Sooo good! Sweet, lovely peach and vanilla with a floral undertone. Fresh and perfect for the morning.

[NicoleJoy]

Wet: Very green, very woodsy, very not-what-I-expected.

 

Dry: Still a little green, a little vanilla, a little peach

 

After 30 minutes: Vanilla, sandalwood and peach. YUM! I love this! LOVE it!

[ModderRhu]

Belle Vinu

This smells different from what I expected. It's a good thing I love wood, because they dominate this blend. I get the slightest whiff of peach and maybe osmanthus in the background. I don't really smell vanilla. I can tell the peach is white, and it's not sweet. It almost has a bitterness and an herbal quality to it. Freshly picked. It doesn't sound nice, but it is. It's different from the peach I'm used to, like in Imp and Les Bijoux. That peach is WHOA SWEET and almost syrupy. I'm not used to peach being such a background player. It intrigues me.

[proserpine]

This is so pretty! A light peachy rosewood that would compliment LUSH Uluru (rosewood, sandalwood, lemon myrtle). I LOVE how this smell, but it fades within 30 mins on my skin

 

If that lasted longer on me, I would definitely buy a bottle or two.

[Monster]

I have to say, I the Labs peach scents.

 

I think the lovely Belle Vinu is actually Eishheth Zenunims little sister.

This is virtually the same on my skin, just gentler, less grown up. This is girly, flirty and fun whereas Eishheth Zenunim is more adult-like, sultry and sexy.

 

This is absolutely gorgeous! Belle dries into a slightly herbal peach sap. Love this one!

[birdiefu]

I got Belle Vinu as a frimp. Today I was going through imps and sniffing a few a never put on before. Came across Belle Vinu and opened her up. *Sniff*...*sniff?*...*snnnniiiiif??*. I have discovered my first BPAL olfactory black hole. Belle Vinu smells like nothing to me. Well, perhaps a bit like "air", in that I sense some sort of presence of scent there, but it is so very vague and light as to almost not be there, and that I cannot say *what* that almost-scent smells like.

 

I applied it to my skin, in the hopes that some chemistry would happen and a scent would appear. Nope. Or, maybe the barest hint of soap when I smoosh my nose to my arm and huff, or perhaps that is just the residue of whatever I showered with.

 

I had to search reviews to see if this phenomenon occured frequently with this scent, and apparently it's just me. I am surprised to see the notes, as peach is one of my nemeses that smells like cat pee. Apparently this is the best behaved peach in the world, as I can't smell it.

[FathomBelow]

This reminds me of another BPAL I can't remember...Tweedledum? Yes, it smells exactly like BPAL figs! Weird. Must be from the peaches, I guess, although I don't think peaches and figs smell at all alike in real life! Anyway, it's nice enough, especially as Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. But all the same, I don't think it's bottle worthy.

[Suu4LC]

Oooh I remember being so excited when this blend came out, but sniffing at will call and not really loving it. However, I am looking forward to giving it a full test. I love vanilla and peach, but wood scents are hit or miss on me. They tend to amp or go powdery or pencil shavings-y.

 

In the imp, this is a bright sharp peach-y scent with a little vanilla. Maybe a touch of something floral? Not really noticing the woods.

 

Hmmm..yeah on my skin it's a sharp floral peachy scent with a touch of wood. Really not noticing much wood. A lot more floral than I thought it would be. As it dries though it goes WAY woody-mostly the sandalwood tbh. Only a touch pencil shavings-y. Yeah, the more it dries, the more woody it gets. TOTALLY different from that sharp, bright floral peach scent I got at the start. As I said, my skin just amps wood.

 

This ended up being a powdery wood scent on me. I'm so sad I lost that lovely peach floral-I think this could be so lovely on someone that doesn't amp wood like I do!

[JLH]

Wet, this is mostly woods, and is much sharper and dryer than I expected. Something (the osmanthus?) gives this a very soapy edge as well. Between the soapiness and the woods, the vanilla and juicy peach are all but overpowered.

 

But after it dries, the woods recede into the background and more of the delicious fresh peach comes out. It's a realistic and tart note, and it goes so well with the woods!

 

I really enjoyed the dry stage of this blend, but I wasn't wild about the wet stage. I think it is worth waiting for the lovely drydown, I just wish that wasn't necessary.

[mxtine]

Sharp sandalwood, rosewood, and citrus. It's a woody floral and very perfumey.

[Ronnieroo88]

This to me like something in between the local east-asian giftshop and home goods store chain (sandalwood & rosewood?) and a generic "country apple cinnamon" candle. I don't really get much peach at all just a light "sweet fruit" scent that's barely there but tones down the musty sandalwood/rosewood a bit. I personally don't really like it but if I were ever to wear it it would be in the fall. I can see people who like "comfy" "warm" scents but don't want to smell overly vanillic and foody liking this stuff.

 

I'm beginning to suspect peach is not a good note on my skin. I can't smell it at all in Fae, Belle Vinu, or in mainstream perfumes like Lancome Tresor.