Belladonna

[Prolixity]

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 the bottle: Fresh, powerful, strong pine, needles and bark; a sweet undertone - mint? Maybe?

Wet on skin: Sharp rich woody freshly-broken pine branch.

Dry on skin: Pine on top of everything, and there's definitely something minty in this - it's got the very particular bite of mint to my nose. Juniper?

Over time: Sappy, sticky, resinous evergreen, juniper berry, and clear green mint. Oh hell yes.

Overall: Oh yes. This is what I expected and wanted out of Hemlock. This is delicious. So green and sharp and planty. It's not a winter pine; it's a warm dark midnight pine, a forest at night in the deepest darkest part of the woods. The husband finds it too medicinal, but I love it. 4.5/5

Edited February 22, 2006 by Prolixity

[ariansdreams]

This is my first review for a perfume oil from Rappaccini's Garden. Whee!

 

First Sniff (in the imp): it smells kind of like stale gummi bears. Okay seriously...It smells very green, but with a bite.

 

Wet: Urgh. Very medicinal. Kind of like Vick's vapo-rub or something similar. I am getting a cool smoky-ish note, though. There is something in there that reminds me of a Christmas Tree. Or pine woodsmoke. Hmm.

 

Dry: This is much better upon drydown, but it's really faint. It becomes more smoky and less...vicks. It almost dissapeared into my skin, but if I push my nose right up next to my wrist, I get a sweetish, smoky, pineish smell. I might wear this camping or something...if I could get past the gross vick's smell that it has when it's wet.

 

Overall: This oil is interesting. I think I'm going to swap/sell it though. I can barely smell it on me, and the wait for the drydown is torturous. The oil itself is green (in color) though, which is pretty cool!

[Victory]

Belladonna is definitely herbal. I don't know which herbs or plants, but they're really present on my skin. I didn't detect any pine, which is just as well for me, but I did get the mustiness, which isn't. I appreciate Belladonna for the idea, and even for the way it smells, but I don't know that this is one I would wear. Very interesting, though.

[Celestyna]

Like the floor of a forest. A good kind of woodsy with almost a sort of earthy pine. Freaking me out, though because Belladonna is one of my fave porn stars but she wears this nasty Bijou-like stuff. *g*

 

In all seriousness, though... I can't pull off that woodsy of a scent.

[t_for_tau]

Pine mixed with jasmine and lillies....I like this. (Sadly, all my girlfriend can smell is, in her words, "Olbas Oil and bubblegum" ) To me is is beautiful and dark and sharp all at the same time, with the femininity of the floral over the pungency of pine and an almost eucalyptus smell. Really fits the concept.

[BrightRedScream]

All I can say about this is: It tingled on my skin, and it smelled just like Vics Vapour Rub..

I tried it twice just to be sure - and I didn't love it either time.

 

It's just...too much for me.

 

To the swap pile!

[RavenVelith]

Bottle: Green...and vick's vapo rub.

 

Wet: Grass and vick's vapo rub.

 

Dry: ....vick's vapo rub.

 

This scent did not like me. I did not like it.

Though on the upside, it cleared my sinuses!

[atropine]

this was one of my first imps, but when i opened it, all i could smell was head lice treatment

 

once on, i got a faint note of angelica, but not enough to make up for the nit shampoo smell. i think this one's off to the frimp pile, and i sincerely hope it works better on whoever gets it...

[eviltemptressdq]

when I opened the bottle and sniffed, I immediately moved my head back on this one. "P.U.", I think. As always, I give BPALs the benefit of one testing, so on with it:

 

on my wrist? foresty... almost medicinal in the potency. Too strong for me. And it didn't change much as I had it on for a bit...

 

It ALSO made my nose tickle, suggesting a bit of an allergy to something in it?

 

I'll give this one a 1 out of 5. I totally disliked it, and extra minus points for the allergic reaction. hehe.

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

hint of mint/eucalyptus, herbal and floral

 

wet:

same as bottle really

 

dry:

wow… there's the eucalyptus, some pine, some strong herbs, and somehow a soft floral behind it to soften it all. Definitely as others say, a dark forest scent. Changes constantly between the various notes.

 

overall:

I like it! Not for everyday, but great for days I feel (or need to be) nasty to everyone!

 

rating: 6/10

Edited May 10, 2006 by HennaFairy

[moonarcana]

sniffing from the bottle - somebody mopped the forest floor with Pine Sol

 

on the skin - somebody mopped my arm with Pine Sol

 

after about 10 minutes of debating whether to go scrub my arm to get that smell to go away, something magical happened...a beautiful woodsy scent started to come through, trimmed with the faintest floral tone. The Pine Sol totally retreated and turned into a soft and very pleasant aroma similar to a blanket of fallen pine needles.

 

after about an hour the scent all but disappears into my skin. I want it back - but I'm not sure if putting up with a good 10 minutes of nasty is worth it!

 

This is my first sampling of Belladonna but I plan to give it another try on another day. I will update my review if I discover any differences from this first impression.

 

Rating: 2/5 ...if there was no Pine Sol stage it would be a 3, if the fragrance lasted longer it would be a 4.

[desu]

In the imp: A sharp, green herby scent.

 

On me: The sharp green is still there, but now it's backed by an intriguing darkness of sorts. It'll be interesting to see where this one goes.

 

Later on: Still sharp and green although not as strong.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

nyquil. eucalyptus. pine-sol. vap-o-rub.

 

all of these things make me queasy and i feel quite ill now.

 

of all the scents i've tried (i've only just begun reviewing them, but i've got quite the stash going!) this is the first one i'm going to have to wash off, rather than let it morph and change on my skin to see where it ends up.

 

another minute of this and i'll have a migraine.

 

a footnote (now that my hands are clean)... i don't eat tomatoes. for hundreds of years, people thought they were poisonous and only pretty plants. they're closely related to Belladonna -- so maybe that's part of my problem here. i hate the taste, texture, feel, smell (etc) of them, and i think there's a tomatoey element somewhere under the pinesol.

 

or maybe i'm just wierder than normal today.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Green life savers.

 

First on: I smell eycalyptus and body odor. This is unpleasant. There's a flower in there somewhere, but I can't place it.

 

Drydown: Still mint & body odor. Gross.

 

Overall: Ew.

[yellowrose]

This imp is being circulated as part of the General Catalogue swap.

 

In the bottle: green-tinged oil with sharp medicinal smell.

 

This is one scent I'm not eager to try on my skin, so I'm sniffing it from the bottle only. It is very medicinal-herby and recalls long nights spent trying to breathe with Vicks Vap-o-Rub smeared everywhere. Not for me.

[silver_dollar]

In the imp: Vicks Vaporub.

 

On my skin: It calms down a bit, but it's still quite astringent. This is another one my dog likes, by the way.

 

After a minute, the astringency fades so although it's still there, it's not so noticeable, and some kind of floral note comes out. I'm not usually a floral girl, but this one's pretty nice. I think there might be some kind of tea in here, too.

 

After a while, the floral starts to smell more and more like honeysuckle. So yeah, this one's a keeper.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Green, floral.

 

On me: Well, this is interesting. It's a green/floral but is so different from Asphodel. It is still kind of a gloomy/rainy scent, but is brighter and more complex on my skin. There's a hint of something woodsy/spicy. Fantastic scent!

 

Verdict: Definitely a keeper. I don't think I need a bottle, though.

 

Rating: 4/5

[Nekomata]

The best part of this blend is the green/yellow color. It is very green, sharp and medicinal. Every bit as poisonous in scent as it should be.

[nerdcraft]

I should first mention that I love the pale green color of the oil! It's kind of evil and sickly looking.

 

in the imp:

Wowza. Very pine-y and herbal. Like an herbal medicine of some sort. I almost think I smell eucalyptus.

 

wet:

Still really sinus-clearingly medicinal. It does smell very sharp and plant-like, but I can't really imagine wanting to smell like this.

 

dry:

Well, it gets less sharp as it dries, and I was starting to think, hey, this isn't so bad. It's sort of like dried green and floral decorations at Christmastime - the pine, juniper, eucalyptus and deep berry scent mixed together. And then...it totally disappeared on me. After 5 minutes, it's mostly gone!

 

season: definitely winter

office-friendly? maybe - kind of noticeably sharp at first

 

overall:

This was definitely an interesting scent to experience, and I'm glad I got the chance to try it because it changed my mind from my inital reaction ("Oh...no.") to being able to see the beauty in it (the way the dried herb and pine scent evokes wintertime very nicely). Not for me personally as a wearable perfume, but quite evocative and could work on the right person - I think this one could be great on a guy.

[edenssixthday]

Belladonna is a strong, green-herbal scent full of camphorous overtones. It’s earthy and smells like your fingers after you’ve been pulling weeds from a garden. It’s an interesting scent, but not one I’d wear for fragrance purposes. Staying power is good – it doesn’t even come off when I wash it, although the throw seems to be about average once it dries down.

[Miseraya]

I got this as a very generous frimp in my order. Thank you labbies!

 

In the bottle: Vicks Vapo Rub.

 

In the oil burner: Vicks Vapo Rub. I had Eric waft it at himself, cleared his sinuses.

 

I can almost smell something other than Vicks Vapo Rub, but everytime I think "There's something else in here" my nose says "I'm not sick, stop making me smell this!"

 

Sorry labbies, I tried.

[provocateur]

In bottle: a nice woody herbal scent. it's hard to decipher the notes separately on this one.

 

On skin, wet: Hoo lawdy! It's a sharp astringent woody... thing. It managed to clear out any sinus problem they seriously thought of having.

 

On skin, dry: A somewhat headachey, airy dried herb blend.

 

Conclusion: Well, at least I know what to keep around when I have a sinus infection!

 

Rating: 0/5

[porcelain72]

My first review here...I'll work on making them more lyrical as I go along...

 

In bottle: medicinal mint. It wasn't until I saw a few people here mention the name "NyQuil" that it occurred to me: "yes, that is what I am smelling." And yet, I went ahead and put it on anyway.

 

The second it touched my skin, NyQuil turned to pine-scented air freshener. I hugged my SO goodbye for leaving for work, and his only reply was "Wow, that's pine." And yet, I left the house still wearing it anyway.

 

A few hours later...I'm on the fence with this one. There's a nice herbal scent, yet still that unmistakable edge of pine. No further minty freshness so far, thank goodness. I usually reapply once halfway through the day, I don't think I'll be doing that with Belladonna.

 

We'll see if the pine fades and the nice herbal remains before I decide if this is a keeper, or another addition to the trade/give away drawer.

[jenleigh]

I should've known with Snow Moon that pine scents are weird on me. That was one that I thought was a lovely one in the imp, but morphs on my skin, and I'm getting the same kind of reaction with this one. It's a morpher, definitely.

 

I can't figure out what I'm getting from this. One second I smell it and it's mint, the next sniff it's a Pine-Sol kind of scent, and the next, it's a green herbal lovely thing. I'm hoping that with extended wear, this one will decide where it wants to be. It's lovely wet and in the imp, though.

[cranberry]

Initial impression: Sharp. Juniper. Slightly acrid. It tingles a bit where I applied this. It’s like the sharp bite of crushed evergreens.

 

As it dries: it softens. It’s still quite green, evergreen in fact. This smells like juniper and maybe a touch of pine. It smells like there could be flowers tucked away behind all the greenery. This becomes stronger the longer it wears.

 

After it’s been for a few minutes, I like this oil more and more, the longer it wears, the more I sniff my hand. It’s still strongly evergreen but considerably softer than when I first applied.

 

Overall: It’s very fresh smelling, but a little more herbal/floral now. Wow, this oil really changed a lot!