Belladonna

[sh1mm3r]

The devil’s herb, which he cultivates with skill and pleasure. According to lore, the spirit of this plant may take the form of a breathtaking, achingly beautiful woman, deadly to behold. This scent is a tribute to such a dark and magnificent plant: a rich green and floral blend, earthy and haunting.

 

In my huge pile of imps from my last order, this is the last one I tried. But, surprisingly to me, I like it quite a bit.

 

In the bottle, I didn't think it would smell good on me. Then there is the wicked green color.

 

Wet, it smells like a deep damp forest, but it isn't the wood smell that comes, out but more of a mossy, tree bough smell. Woods are not nice on me, they are always bitter, but this is nice.

 

Dry, it reminds me of walking through the forest at my house where there were a lot of ferns on the ground. And the ferns in a flower arrangement. It isn't sweet at all, which is nice.

[rhubarbbear]

when i first saw this i was quite impressed with its lovely green color

 

first scent was very green and herbal- sort of a freshly mown herb kind of smell. i put it back down, but a few days later decided to try it out. i thought something light and herby would do me some good.

 

well, the little trickster morphed on my skin! turned very floral, with only the faintest vaporub undertone. when dry it was an odd mixture of flowers and vaporub. not really me, but on the other hand, my husband did not complain about it, as he has when he really objects to a scent.

 

belladonna confuses me!

[JazzieCazzie]

IN THE BOTTLE: This may be the greeniest green that I have ever greened. Greengreengreengreenygreengreen. And that is NOT easy to type. Also a little bit of PineSol but that is momentary.

Dabbed on wrists but carefully because a little green sometimes goes a long way ...

WET: Green, astringent, green, fresh, green and slightly medicinal though not in a bad way. It's also somehow candy-sweet at the same time. It really wafts up off my wrists bigtime.

DRYDOWN: OK, don't laugh, but I keep getting little whiffs of Band-Aid. Like one of those kiddie doctor kits with the candy pills.

This one fades pretty quickly but while it's going it is green (duh) and springy. I think it would be a nice scent for a spring evening dinner al fresco. Not an every-day scent for me but definitely a keeper!!!

 

I have to edit this several hours after posting ... especially addressed to Lucretia and Phaedra ... this is the second time I have worn this scent and I know I have said on this board about 82 times that fruit doesn't work for me ... yet when I stuck my Belladonna's wrist in the face of my husband his immediate reaction was "strawberry!" (Lucretia) and when I had my daughter sniff she said "smells like cherry cough medicine" (Phaedra). Neither of them liked it, by the way ... which surprised me a little.

 

I don't think anyone else among the sniffers on the board made fruity references ... and I really like this and can't believe I would have been stealth-fruited. So it's kinda weird ... I would love to know exactly what the notes are!

 

REVISITED/RE-REVIEWED FEBRUARY 2013:

 

So, more than eight years later, am revisiting this via a new imp purchased from the Lab in an impapalooza purchase earlier this month.

 

IMP: Green, green, green and herbal with a slight zing that I can't put my finger on as a note.

 

Dabbed on both wrists and crooks of my arm, feeling it's pretty safe, light and IIRC doesn't have long legs.

 

WET: I still can't put my finger on the note that stands out. I am no longer getting the "band-aid" smell (which I guess may be benzoin) but some astringent (in a eye-opening way, not a Bonne Bell 1006 way) and a sweetness that is not green at all.

 

DRYDOWN: Again with the very faint tinge of fruit. I don't think it's a red fruit, though. Maybe pear or apricot? Or maybe just the green of the plant that is more like the leaves of a fruit tree? I also get some soda in there ... 7-Up?

 

OVERALL: My problem is that somewhere within all of this green and refreshing complexity is a note that just doesn't work on me. I recognize it vaguely on drydown but even after all these years can't yet determine which note it is (it's one that is generally good when wet but cloyingly sweet when dry). I've had a few scents like this where I've really liked them wet but can't really stomach them dry.

 

Vacillated back and forth on this but finally put it into the future swap box because I can't keep it wet all the time.

 

SCORE: A 3 on a scale of 1-5.

Edited February 27, 2013 by JazzieCazzie

[Aurelius]

My imp is a freebie from the lab.

 

Mmmm...piney. Like Christmastime. But there's also a woodsy, earthy note along with it. At first the pine jumps out on my skin. But on the drydown there's a slightly sweet smell. It's almost "wrong," like flowers dying and drying; it's a vaguely cloyingly sweet smell. This, to me, seems to embody the Devil's herb. I love it!

[linaerys]

I like the poster who said greengreengreengreengreen.

 

Initially: piney and medicinal

 

First hour: the green balances with a round cool floral note of bluebells, or rhododendron or even clear spring water.

 

I'm really liking this so far.

[Lit Chick]

I was so hoping to love this. I love the smell of woods, and pine, and juniper. But my skin likes to take a note and run with it. It was eucalyptus this time. I smelled like Vicks/Halls/NyQuill... and it never morphed into something else. The florals never came out - and while there was a hint of the pine, it was in a vapor-rub choke hold. This could make a nice room scent, though.

[ashtonrose]

Belladonna has room for growth on me. I have tried it several times. It seemed very much like the incense that are used in mass on holy days, but then it had a touch of sweet green grass. As I tried it more often, the "holy days" smell fades quicker and it is a deep green smell with that touch of sweetness.

 

I haven't given this one away. I like it but it's not an every day scent for me.

[moomin]

I really can't make up my mind about belladonna.

 

At first sniff I get a very green, sharp, piney eucalyptus scent, not unpleasant but not really something I want to smell like. On me the medicinal smell doesn't last long at all, and settles into something I can't find the right words for - it is a sweet-powdery-plant smell which I keep sniffing. There is almost a hint of honey but not quite.

 

It does fade very quickly on me - only the faintest trace left after an hour.

 

I think I'll have to give this one a few more goes.

[FireInCairo]

I have an imp of this blend. It is indeed very green. There is almost a vapor that comes off of this blend...a bit like Vicks chest rub in a way- but certainly not as strong. This is one herbaly devil...

[sarahmarie]

I love how green it is in the imp! Eep! I can't decide if it looks friendly or evil - and that's perfect.

 

Exactly as others have said, it's very sharp and biting in the imp, but it morphed *very* quickly on my skin into a softer, sweeter, powdery-in-a-nice way blend. Behind the powdery softness, there's still something woody or even nutty, and a hint of the sharpness from the initial wet stage. It's very different than I expected, and I think it's different in a good way. I'm not sure if it's me, exactly, but I think I'll at least give it another try. It's a very intriguing oil!

[silverangel]

Very, very green and very earthy. It's a bit overpowering for me though. It's kind of got a punch to it which is a bit more punch than I need...or eve maybe than I derseve. It kind of has that thing where it lingers in my nostrils. Kind of like when you've been inhaling bleach fumes and then after when you're in fresh air you seem to breathe bleach still.

[Finny]

Green and bitter in the imp, I like this though. It has a fresh and sharp feeling to it. I think it will be a wonderful springtime scent. Its scent reminds me off when the ground is beginning to thaw out and the first shoots are coming up again.

 

I am going to hold on to the imp for springtime and see how I like it then.

[Serenity]

This is very bitter and piney on me. It certainly captures the "green" in the scent description. I feel like I'm wandering through an old evergreen forest.

 

Not my thing in a perfume, sadly.

[luxuria]

I thought it was absolutely certain that I would loathe this. I don't like herbs, I don't like green, and I'm not too big on florals. All together?

 

However, the color of the oil was just too pretty to resist..a nice pale green.

 

Wet, it smells very herby and floral but in a deep sort of way rather than a light one but without heavy. As it dries my skin pulls out some more wood. My overall impression is that this smells like a gorgeous forest at twilight. There's the trees, the leaves (lots of them!), some flowers on the ground and a teeny bit of earth, and it isn't light enough to smell "day" but not heavy enough for night. It also has a sort of sweet tinge to it, surprisingly. Not a sugared sweet, though. I'm not sure how to explain it. I like this- I'm not in love, but I do like it!

 

[edit] This has really grown on me. And I mean REALLY. I have a bottle on the way. It's so lovely and different.

Edited March 7, 2005 by luxuria

[anmorata]

Belladonna

 

In the imp and on my skin, wet: I smelled nothing but evergreen trees. Pine, specifically.

 

After a few hours of wear, the pine smell faded into a soft floral. Not -too- bad.

 

I don't really care for smelling like Pine-Sol, though, so this scent is definitely not for me.

[autumnviolet]

wet/inbottle: *laughing* pine-tobacco smoke-chocolate! Odd sniff.

First impression-uh, ok. Pine and green stuff and a harsh tinge of bitter smoke. It did make me sleepy and feeling slightly bewitched.

Dry down-softens into an elegant powdery greenness unlike anything I've ever had before. I loved it 3 hours later. The sniff is powdery, green herb but sweetish.

Oddly relaxing.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: This is woody and very deeply green. This is a beautiful forest night and strange but beautiful things lurk in the shadows...

Wearing: This is a little bitter upon initial application, but it quickly mellows into a beautiful shimmering green cloak. It sweetens as it dries, but maintains its earthy mysterious greenness.

Final Impressions: Simply beautiful.

[ChupaChup]

I swapped for Belladonna based on the reviews. I was hoping to find something akin to the first imp of Hemlock I got, before it was changed to be so Vicks Vapo-rub-y. Well, Belladonna ain't it. Ew. It's so bitter, I get none of the floral sweetness others mention, that would have been a tremendous help. I get a strong note of vetiver from this, not me at all .

[Pixie-elf]

Belladonna:

 

In the Vial: A dark green scent.

 

Wet: Earthy, Dark, Green...

 

Dry: Earthy, and I think I smell sage in this.... Herbal, nice... I smell whatever floral it is but have no clue what it is, just a sniff of it.

 

Conclusion: If you like Earthy Floral Green Herby scents, this would be for you. I'm not into them though... It's feminine I think, and dark green.

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the bottle: Medicinal, herbal, pine with a hint of BO

 

First on: Very strong, menthol, pine and that weird BO note

 

After a few seconds: Ahh, the BO note is smelling more like dill.

 

After a few minutes: Earthy, musty, medicinal, herbal with an undertone of dill. Very much a dark green scent. It's gotten much softer though.

 

A few more: Leafy, earthy. The dill is gone now.

 

This is what I would imagine a "witch's garden" would smell like, deep in the woods hidden by marshes. I've tried to grow the herb to no avail, so I can't compare the actual scent. Not my cuppa tea, but I would highly recommend to those who like dark green earth scents.

[shelldoo]

this is a trickster

 

wet it was sharp, bitter, greeness

 

as it dried it became a beautiful berry floral, the green was still there but way in teh back, and teh bite of sharpness is gone completely, the first probably 3 min i hated it and almost wanted to wash it off, but by the 5min point it was sweetening and getting gorgeous

[ccdoodleme]

First time I tried Belladonna didnt think I really cared for it. I didnt like the initial smell from the imp. I had to give it another shot.

 

Wet on my skin, very sharp, but not repulsive at all.

 

Dry down, I'm sooo confused, still somewhat sharp but sweet at the same time. Makes me think of clean crips linens that have dried on the clothes line.

 

This reminds me of something from my childhood, and I just cannot put my finger on it, but it's something very familiar...for some very odd reason I keep thinking of my grandmother, who passed, I loved her so dearly. Once I figure out what this scent reminds me of I will post back.

 

I really do like this scent.

[darkling]

Belldonna smelled the same on my skin as in the vial. It is a sharp, green scent that has a richness and boldness to it.

 

There is nothing tame or passive about this oil. In some ways it reminds me of a green (as opposed to woody or brown) version of Wolfsbane.

[surf-tormented]

Belladonna brings to mind a forest green...more so to me than Black Forest does...but it fades. It reminds me of a forest with a lot of herbal tomato-ish smelling plants, I think people who have grown up in the country would know this smell...it is weedy forest smell, and it is great, despite the weird terminology.

[quimerula]

Green and sharp at first, in a kind of "cleaner" way. Is it eucaliptus what I smell?

 

It's almost medicinal, but as time goes by it looses a bit of it's pungent scent and a hidden floral garden apears (but very subtle).

 

Nice and fresh, good for both winter and summer.