Hell's Belle

[gloame]

Sweet, smoky and sensually wicked. A thick, steamy scent, truly sinister in its voluptuous sexuality. The perfume of a demon's favored consort, or of the devil herself. Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice.

In my eternal quest for a magnolia blend, I ordered an imp of this with my Lupers.

First sniff, it's tangy and brighter than I expected, although not exactly a 'bright' scent. I think that I just have to accept that mandarin (or any orange note) just overwhelms everything else on me and I need to stop trying. I can barely detect some oleander underneath, but it's mostly all orange to my nose.

This isn't my magnolia blend.

[lizabelle]

Surprisingly enough, this isn't terrible on me. The few times I've tried magnolia perfumes in the past, they have without exception turned into rotting fruit/flowers on me. This one isn't, and in fact it's kind of nice. The flowers have a fruity edge, helped along by the mandarin. The musk (red, if I had to guess) is very prominent, as is the spice, which I can't place but has the same quality as cinnamon/clove. I've never smelled oleander but the two florals are blending into a single, creamy pink scent. I'm not sure I like this quite enough to get a bottle, but I'm floored that I've found a magnolia blend that I can wear!

[Nikki Scarlet]

Received this as a frimp from the lab.

In the imp:
There's something about this scent that's reminding me of other scents I've tried and disliked, BUT somehow it's working in this one. I went into my first sniff of this completely blind (ie: no idea what was in it) and liked it. Now that I've had a look at the listed notes, most of them are scents I don't think I have much experience with, other than the sweet mandarin. I suspect that's actually what's making me like it on the whole -- I love citrus. It doesn't actually smell citrusy in the imp, though. It just smells sweet.

On me, wet:
Ahhh, the sweet mandarin is coming a little further forward. I like! . . . aaaand I've spilled a bit of my imp on my blanket. So, good thing I'm enjoying this so far!

On me, dry:
It gets a little more spicy and smokey as it dries, but on the whole this is a really well-blended scent. I'd say the mandarin is the dominant note, but that might just be mostly because it's the one I most recognize, and it seems well tempered by the florals. The musk and spice keep it nicely grounded and add a bit of sex appeal to the sweetness.

Verdict:
I think this may be big bottle-worthy! The throw is pretty low on me and gets even lower with time (not a lot of lasting power, methinks), but it's a lovely, sexy scent that I'd be willing to give a good thick slather if needed.

[Lucchesa]

Whoa, oleander! That was the dominant note on me, wet or dry. Not a problem - I don't adore oleander, but I like it , and if it's going to let a scent last a little longer on me, I'm all for it. Especially when there's mandarin involved, and creamy magnolia. (I couldn't identify any specific spices.) I applied it several hours ago, and although it's totally a skin scent now, my wrist still smells terrific. This wasn't dark or smoky on me -- I was a little worried deep musks would translate into problematic black musk, but they did not. It's sort of sexy and confident. Very nice!

[ianastar]

By the description I had high hopes for this.

 

Wet and right on the skin it reminded me of something from LUSH/BNever maybe like Cocktail? I couldn't place it but it was a lovely mix of floral, spice and something sweet.

 

However on the dry down more of the musk came out. On me its almost all musk with a little bit of spices right now. I really wanted to keep that initial scent when I put it on. Its not terrible, but just not what I had hoped for.

[achildoftime]

It's a creamy orange floral for me. It's really smooth, and a little sweet. I get a hint of spice I think is clove, but might be cinnamon. It's a spicy note, but it's there to act as a counterpoint for the sweet orange and magnolia. It's a little dreamy, and would make for a lovely spring scent. I was expecting more musk, especially if it was supposed to be a breed of red musk because that's one note that is usually strong on me. Either way, I still enjoy this even if I wouldn't think 'hellspawn' from sniffing it.

[lady_pandora]

This was a frimp in a recent order, and once again, the Lab knows me better than I knew myself! I might never have tried this, since the whole "belle" concept is just not something that really fits me, but wow, this scent is beautiful.

 

The dominant note is a creamy, just this side of edible, lush, hypnotic floral, I think mostly magnolia, though I don't really know what oleander smells like on its own, so it might be in here too. The mandarin manifests as occasional bursts of citrus, kind of effervescent, with a pleasant bitterness to offset the big big sweetness of the magnolia. I can't particularly make out musk or spice, but I'm sure they're playing some kind of role in this gorgeousness. Not much morph, lots of staying power. This is Top 10 material for me and a definite big bottle eventually.

 

Absolutely classic. I'm a nerd so this reminds me of Stella Mayfair drinking champagne, but this is classic enough that you could wear it to church with your grandma if you wanted to, and no one would know about the Hell but you. It's pure Belle.