Hellfire

[Alohasca]

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.

warm and classy, as feycat put it. in the imp it smelled uninteresting and too strong. i apllied more than half the imp on chest, shoulders and wrists and went forth into the world, to brilliant consequences. thanks for this perfect beauty of a scent!!! i've never before felt so pampered by and identified with a perfume! it's so me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ajila]

Wet on me this is purely tabacco. To be specific it smells of the loose tobacco my Grandfather used to use to roll his cigarettes. Unfortunately this is not a happy association for me and will mean I will get rid of this blend. As it dries the leather becomes more apparent. Dry on me it smells of what I would call a traditional aftershave. I'm sure this will be a very sexy, very warm blend on the right person, but the scent associations make it possible for me to consider wearing it.

[Medici]

This was the reformulated blend, which allegedly smells nothing like the original creamy psychotic butterscotch.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised, having thought it'd be a very masculine scent because of the leather and tobacco - but it works really really really disgustingly well with my chemistry.

 

The tobacco is predominant, but in the sweet, musty, fresh-cigar-and-badboy-smoking-it kinda way. I wonder if I could persude my S/O to wear it - but if he doesn't, I will.

 

This is another 5ml on the roster.

[bellis]

This is what I hoped Perversion would be on me: sweet, smoky, and very very naughty. This is my perfect clubbing scent. I was expecting it to be more masculine, but on me it's perfectly sexy and girly, albeit a powerful and bawdy girl. A 5ml of this is definitely going on my next order.

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Definitely dark and musky, with a faint creaminess that isn't exactly pleasant.

 

Wet: There's the bourbon!... oh, but now it's gone, and has been replaced by tobacco. It's still very dark and musky, and very hard and tough, if that makes sense.

 

Dry: This gets smokier as the minutes pass, and usually I love smoky scents, but not this one. It smells too much like pipe smoke, and then there's that creaminess in the background that makes it all seem so wrong. The combination of these scents just doesn't seem to work well at all.

 

An hour later: It grows stranger and more unpleasant as time goes by. It reminds me of something, but I can't think of what; I wish I could so I know to avoid whatever it is, too.

 

Overall: I'm amazed at how wrong this blend seems, after smelling so many exquisite and brilliant melded scents. Beth is, normally, a complete and utter genius, but if I had to rate her skill based on Hellfire alone, my rating wouldn't be very high.

[Little Bird]

I love this when I first put it on. It smells like sweet tobacco, golden amber, and gorgeous smoky church incense on me. Sweet and golden and mouthwateringly good.

 

Then, in the drydown... it smells rancid and burning. More like campfire smoke and rotting milk. I'm getting some of the sickening sweetness of 'honey butter'. The chill of leather in the background is also very off-putting to me.

 

Thankfully, this fades quickly after the rancid stage. My skin just eats up the fragrance. I love the way this starts out, but the drydown is horrible on me. This will be going to my swap pile.

Edited August 29, 2006 by Blood onmy hands

[urraca]

A generous lab frimp. Nothing I would have ordered so I'm grateful to be able to try it. Very boozey in the vial and on first application. The booze all burns off quickly though and I'm left with something that smells sort of "boaty" --- old ropes and tar and salt-sprayed canvas. It isn't the way I want to smell, but it is interesting.

 

ETA the next morning I still have a strong botterscotchy scent on my skin which is really lovely

Edited September 10, 2005 by urraca

[HoneyJubilee]

This one smells interesting in the bottle, but I don't think it's for me.

 

It smells a bit like smoky fabric softener on my skin It's kind of like putting on freshly washed clothes and then going out to play in a brush fire...and once in a while I get something that smells like musty old books.

 

In the bottle this smells far less smoky to me, but I'm not really sure what the notes are. I don't really have much experience with separating the notes of perfumes...yet. There is a little bit of sweetness to it and it does smell kind of familiar, but I'm not sure why. It reminds me a little bit of my grandfather (tobacco?) and the tackroom of a barn (leather?).

 

I like the scent in the bottle, though it does smell more masculine than something I'd usually wear...but that's ok since I don't like the scent on my skin anyway. Maybe I can use it to perfume something other than myself, or just sniff it in the bottle now and then.

 

Many thanks to "defencmen" on ebay (not sure if he/she is a member here) for generously sending this along with my purchase

[vyvyan]

Smells warm, soft; I can catch the leather, and what I suspect is the tobacco. A little bit of incense is tickling my nose in the verrry back. This is a warmer, slightly lighter scent than I was expecting from the description. Lovely, but not as me as I thought it would be.

[darkitysnark]

Hellfire

 

I've had this imp for a while, it was a swap from the ever thoughtful minilux (hi! ). Didn't realize I haven't reviewed 'til now! (nice WSYWYG reply feature, btw, me likey).

 

So...

 

In the bottle:

Heavy, manly, a little fruity (I always get fruit from leather).

 

Wet, drydown:

Incense and musky BO. Can't really put it any other way. I'm a little frightened by it. This oil has incredible throw on me, and I keep glancing sidelong to all the other bus passengers to see if they are picking up on my bizarre funkiness.

 

Later:

Leather and I have an interesting relationship. I want to love leather, but leather does weird stuff to me. Leather goes all sweet and berries and just. Not. Leather. I want leather to just be who he really is, he doesn't have to hide!

 

Anyways, I'm getting leather like leather is around me, and baby powder, and still that funky spicy BO, with a dry incense in the background sort of holding it all together. Not immediately something I would glom onto, but... but...

 

I felt dead sexy all day long. Sure other things might have attributed to this, but every time I've worn a "smoky" oil from The Lab... I just feel very rawr. Like I could grab the next person walking past by the ears and just ravish them. And leave a good smelling corpse.

 

And this oil lasts and lasts and lasts.

 

Summing up:

Not an instant hit, but it's grown on me. Anything that gets such a strong emotional response needs to be on hand for exacting medicinal purposes.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Buttery and super sweet tobacco

 

On me:

This is a pretty heavy scent at first, it's very sweet and buttery and just kind of overwhelming. Like standing in a closed room full of people smoking cigars, drinking rich liquors, and lounging in leather highback chairs. It's got that smothering sort of quality, and yet is rather luxurious too.

It does end up drying a bit lighter, but it's still rather sweet smelling and the tobacco note is pretty prominent here. Nice incense note in this as well.

 

Final note:

I don't know that I'd wear this very often, but it definitely is the perfect scent for what it represents!

[Trixie]

(My first review here on the day of receiving my first yummy box of goodies from the lab):

 

The first whiff from the vial was of minty cocoa.

 

Upon application and further wearing I don't get any of what I anticipated from reading the reviews and description: I don't get gentleman's quarters, leather chairs, and pipe or cigar smoke at all. I don't get creamy/buttery. I get something else that's more high-pitched and powdery . . . something I've smelled before but as yet cannot recall by name or memory.

 

I anticipated Hellfire being very masculine but this is not a scent I associate with any gender. It's not deep, resonant, dark, leathery, or smoky to me at all.

 

I asked my boyfriend what it smelled like to him and he said, "some kinda soap! Zest? No . . . Irish Spring". But I think he might just be teasing me and wants me to stop sticking my wrists in his face.

 

I think I'm going to have to order a whole bunch of imps to find the smokey leatherman I'm looking for, because Hellfire is not him.

[Fefferbella]

First impression: Not good. I thought I'd love this one, since Perversion is my favorite scent (so far)...

 

On the Skin: Still not sure after 10-15 min... then WOW. once it really warmed up to my skin it was amazing. Almost chocolatey? Smokey and rich. Mmmm.

 

I'll give this one another shot. First impressions can be wrong, right?

[ancilla_morte]

in bottle: it smells just like an oil my mother used to put on a lightbulb burner around christmas time. I forget the name of it, I can't go find it because its put away with christmas stuff. I know it was a blended scent, not a single note. Maybe I will update this review when we get our christmas stuff out. Or maybe it will drive me bonkers until I go on a raid one day in the attic. heh.

 

wet on skin: I was kind of afraid to put it on since it was so strong in the bottle. Still getting that christmas oil smell. But now I can definitely smell the beginnings of tobacco, leather and incense.

 

dry on skin: definitely smelling pipe tobacco. and leather. alcohol?? is that possible? At first I thought it was rubbing alcohol, but now it smells a lot like bourbon or brandy or something.

 

final: It isn't an unpleasant smell. in the bottle, wet on my skin, it was never unpleasant. but it is a little overpowering, I only put the teeniest drop on my wrist. I do sort of like it though. I never knew either of my grandfathers, and this definitely smells like a very old fashioned man's library or something. something one of my grandfathers would have smelled like from time to time. leather, pipe tobacco, hard liquor, just...antiquity. I've always sort of liked the smell of pipe tobacco.

I won't buy this, but I'll keep the bottle around to swap a couple decants and just to smell.

Edited October 29, 2005 by ancilla

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle: Sharp, bright scent that I can't really identify. Is that supposed to be the leather?

 

Wet, on me: Musk and leather duke it out. The leather is pungent - a newly (and cheaply) tanned smell versus overwheming musk. It's so masculine I feel like I'm crossdressing.

 

Dry: Huh. Suddenly, there's a smoky, slightly sweet scent with a tiny powdery undertone. I didn't care for it wet, but this is nice. I can't wait to see how it smells on the husband.

 

ETA: On my husband? Smelled like cat pee. ::sigh::

Edited November 3, 2005 by harmonyfb

[hypatia]

This was a gift imp from the lovely Fishwomon.

 

In the bottle, Hellfire smells kinda sorta like leather, but I'm starting to think that leather is one of those notes that either disappears on me or else my nose just doesn't recognize it for some reason, because I can't detect it after applying the oil. Initially, I get the cherry scent others have noticed, and the brandy. The tobacco comes out in the drydown. It turns into a dry, sweet, tobacco scent; I think there's some wood in the background. I don't smell smoke from it, but I can almost taste the smokiness on the back of my tongue when I sniff my arm.

 

This is so evocative. I'm getting mental images of dark wood paneling and deep red paisley-patterned wallpaper. Or -- I know! I once read an interview with Edward Gorey in which he said his favorite genre was "the sinister-slash-cozy." That's what Hellfire is: sinister/cozy. Dark and warm all at once.

 

I initially thought I wouldn't wear a scent like this very often, but there may be a 5ml bottle in my future.

[Eros]

I can't even begin to describe what I smell in the imp...tobacco? Herbs??

On skin it immediately goes all green herbal. After a few minutes, leather soaked in sweet, green herbs. There's also something that while barely there, is almost candy-sweet. Hints of incense and smoke with a dark, musky background. Very complex and quite lovely. I'm really liking this one

[herdivineshadow]

Somehow every oil I try this week turns into a single note with tiny mini hints of other things waving at me from very far away. Hellfire is all tobacco on my skin, soft, not too dry, springy tobacco like the kind my dad is not supposed to be smoking. There's a tiny undercurrent of leather, but nothing else. To the swap pile I think.

Edited December 2, 2005 by Shollin

[Yagathai]

In the Bottle: A tangy, dry smell, like candied mandarin peel, with undertones of leather and something sweet. Could it be the incense? I get no pipe tobacco -- and I ought to know, because I smoke a pipe -- or ambergris yet, but ambergris usually makes itself known with me on dry-down, and not initial sniff-test. Reminds me a bit of Tezcatlipoca, not in overt scent, but rather in undertone. Must be the leather and the musk -- though I could swear there's some cocoa in there somewhere, too. From the description, I thought this scent would be a lot heavier, but this is medium-weight (though still pleasantly complex).

 

On my skin: Suddenly, immediately after application, something minty emerges. Mint? Or maybe wintergreen? I wasn't expecting that. Maybe it's the incense combining with the ambergris to produce a sharp, spicy odour that reminds me of wintergreen. As the oil dries and settles down the impression of wintergreen fades. Yep, that's definitely the incense taking a strong position in the fore. The leather is still there in the background, but it's a supporting role and not one of the leads.

 

After a little while the ambergris comes trotting out to take a couple of laps around the track, but it's very much a background scent. At around the same time, something emerges that might, charitably, on a good day, be mistaken for something that vaguely resembles a sweet pipe tobacco. The musk, so delightfully rich in the bottle, starts to go sweet and powdery (as certain musks tends to do on me). In some scents this is advantageous, but I don't think that Hellfire benefits from the sweetness.

 

Final Verdict: Hellfire reminds me of Torture King in a way -- complex, rich, spicy and too goddamn sweet. That musk! That accursed musk! I'm most of the way to loving this scent, but then I catch a whiff of that baby-powder sweetness and it's all ruined. The complicated, intriguing smokiness of the ambergris and incense and tobaccoish are all there, striving to please and craving attention, but that damned musk just won't let them shine. Sigh.

 

You know what? That rat-bastard musk isn't going to win. I'm still going to give Hellfire a thumbs up. It's a thumbs-up with reservation, but the rest of the scent is just too wonderful to let a little sour (well, sweet) note ruin the rest of everything. Hellfire is a tangy, attention-getting scent with decent throw and stay good for a sophisticated party or for standing out in a crowd.

[sarahj]

Hellfire

 

in vial: smells very sweet, almost like honey

 

wet: less sweet...tobacco and musk

 

dry: tobacco, musk, and incense...and every once in a while I smell a faint hint of honey...lasts 5 hours

 

verdict: yum...must buy big bottle!

[valentina]

In the imp, this is a sweet leather. On my body, it's total leather, because that's what I amp if even a drop of leather is in the formulation. I simply can't wear leatther -- with my body chemistry, I simply smell like a leather goods store.

 

I put it on my husband and it's great -- I can truly pick up on the musk at first, but after a few minutes, and lasting beautifully, is a wonderful tobacco-leather-spice scent. What it reminds me of is walking into a humidor of a fine cigar store -- there's tobacco first and foremost, but also a lot of spice, and the damp warmness that come from the musk. It's very masculine and sophisticated.

 

I do believe my husband has ordered a bottle!

 

valentina

[jazlyn]

Hellfire is warm, comforting and protective. Rising and swirling incense and tobacco smoke. This is a very nice scent (even though I don't really like tobacco), but I don't think I'll be wearing it so... off to swap!

[kilobytesprite]

I bought this in hopes that it would help me forget that Noir is gone. *sniffle* Anyway...

 

I love smokey notes and that's the first thing that hits me in the bottle.

 

On me, the smoke fades a little and it's boozy on top. After a while, the inscence starts to pop out. It's not Noir but it'll most assuredly do.

[theseagrows]

i so wanted to love this one...i love many of the leather scents. when it first hits my skin it smells really good- leather plus tobacco-warm scents, but as it dries it turns to powdery leather, which is no good. maybe it was the incense? i'm not sure, but i was very sad when the leather faded and a powdery scent took over.

Edited April 19, 2013 by theseagrows

[Ayln]

This smelled like a smoky, bitter version of Perversion on me. I definitely got the leather, but it wasn't very balanced, and I would really rather have more Perversion =3