La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente

[phoefromelsewhere]

Soft, lush myrtle and dry, sweet melilot with wild rose, pomegranate juice and peach blossom against a background of deep aquatic notes and a twirl of melancholy autumn breezes.

In the bottle: fruity and rosey.

Wet: Rose. There is stg pungent and tart (pomegranate I think) there as well. I’m bit worried about this one due to the combination, since Persephone hated me.

Drydown: Urgh. This smells like nail polish remover. Unfortunately, the smell is sufficiently rank enough to merit washing off.

Finally: Roses and pomegranate are a definite no for me. Oh well, thought I would give it a shot anyway.

[shelldoo]

in the vial: fruity peachy sweet

 

wet still very peachy but w/ an edge i assume is pomegranet

 

dry down. rose comes thru which is very nice as i prefer rose smells to fruity gorgeous. scent

[OdetteOdile]

Lollipop sweet, pretty, soft, romantic.

I'm not able to pick out any notes (although I can almost distinguish the peach - but it's very well-blended) but it dries down to a lovely, uncomplicated, feminine fruity floral.

An extremely easy scent to wear, and probably a good one to use if you're introducing someone to BPAL who has mainstream perfume tastes. (Although it's much nicer than most mainstream soft fruit-floral perfumes).

Also a good one to give as a gift for a young woman.

Edited February 28, 2005 by OdetteOdile

[regyt]

The lab threw this in as a freebie with my last order. Along with a lot of other florals. How I dislike most florals. Still, I am dedicated and adventurous, so I gave it a fair try. And I appreciate the generosity of the lab!

 

I know this is a floral, but at first wet on my skin I was mostly getting peach, which was lovely, and then the rose started to join in, lightly and inoffensively. It was wet and juicy and more peach than anything with some very light florals, and I was starting to like it, when after an hour - bam! - sweet baby powder. Off to the swap pile it goes.

 

Now I'm really hankering after a scent that stays light damp aquatic peach even after it dries down. Have to find something like that.

[Sara]

Initial shiff: Bright, almost sparkly floral with a hefty punch of fruit.

 

Swipe: Hey....I thought I smelled fruit! Now it's just florals, fast becoming a scent I "recognize" from artsy fartsy country shops my mother would drag me into as a kid.

 

Drydown: Hmm..It's a pretty scent, for sure, but it's just not me. It reminds me of country stores and my mother. Very, very strongly of my mother. I'll bet she would love this scent. It's floral, soft, and very feminine in the drydown.

 

Overall: This is a lovely woman scent...unfortunately, I'm not into it.

[Tesseljoan]

In the bottle, this smelled promising, fruity and a little bit flowery... unfortunately, my chemistry has a tendency to turn most flowers into a generic perfume smell. This one is no different: a sharp perfume smell.

[Sheila]

This is a lovely "skin" scent for me--soft and gentle.

 

When wet, this smells like peaches. Then it dries down to an indescribably soft, warm scent. I can't recognize any individual notes, just a general sense of quiet. This is a pensive scent. I'd like a big bottle for days when I don't want to wear a strong scent that others can smell.

[em_h]

In the bottle: very fruity, almost like some kind of fruit-flavoured candy. This makes me apprehensive.

 

Wet: fruityness dies down, luckily, though there's a slight citrusy overtone; can smell the flowery notes more. There's something nostalgic in this smell -- I think it's a bit like a bubblebath we used when I was a kid. As it starts to dry it seems more like rose-scented soap.

 

Dry: still getting rose soap, though a nice classy rose soap. Fairly mild and gentle scent, clean, somewhat comforting, really quite pleasant. Oddly, I get a bit of a milky overtone. A friend of mine said she could smell some musk in it, though I didn't.

 

My only problem is that it faded quickly; there was hardly anything left of it after three hours.

[inkstone]

In the imp: Soft, fruity floral.

 

Wet: Aw, the fruitiness barely comes out at all! That makes me sad. I wanted the peach and pomegranate. It's almost entirely aquatic, rose and myrtle.

 

Drydown: Oh dear, this gets worse and worse. It goes to soap.

 

Final thoughts: I had such high hopes for this one. It's light and gentle and I think for someone with the right skin chemistry, it could be quite pretty. Alas, my skin chemistry isn't it.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Rose and fruit.

 

On Skin: Yum! The peach is delicious and it mellows out the twang of the rose. Very interesting… the swirls of aquatic notes give it the most intriguing blend. Again, I don’t like rose, but the other scents help hide it. I almost smell something minty as well… This is one I’m saving for sure.

[bellis]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of this scent as sparkly. I barely get any florals from this for some reason, it's just a sweet, tart, aquatic smell that's almost carbonated. It tickles my nose. This is a very fun, effervescent scent, but it's just not me.

[Silvertree]

Fruity and floral, La Bella Donna Mia Mente reminds me of the Medieval recipes I've made that list rose as one of the ingredients. This is a lovely, womanly scent that is more "traditionally perfumey" than many of the oils I've tried so far.

 

However, I don't know if I'm ready to wear it yet. Perhaps when I have a grown-up occasion, and I'm all dressed up to go out. Somehow it seems disrespectful to invoke this lovely lady when I'm running around in jeans and a t-shirt or going to the office.

[cricketshay]

I received this imp as a freebie with my Ides of March order. I don't think I would have chosen it for myself based on the lab description. I tend to shy away from fruity florals in general.

 

In the vial~I'm reminded of Juicy Fruit gum. I don't think this is going to smell very nice on my skin. I can detect an slight undernote of flowers.

 

Wet~Spicy Juicy Fruit. Icky! It sort of burns my nose. I have never had that happen before.

 

Dry down~I kept thinking maybe it would get better as it dried. I have had several blends that start out icky but as they fade and are absorbed become very lovely(Samhain was like that) This one isn't that way. It smells like the bottom of an old lady's purse. I have to wash it off since it's giving me a head ache.

[yummysushitoo]

Mmmmmmpeaches. And mmmmmmmmmpomegranate. Love this already. I also get a slight hint of the aquatics and a bit of the warm, dry-leaves smell of Autumn.

 

This is a soft scent, but not light; it does have some weight to it. I also just barely get something green, too. Is that the myrtle or melilot? I've never smelled either. I don't smell any rose, however.

 

Since this is a bit of a heavier scent, I would say this is better for evening. And perhaps late summer/early fall for the time period.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Spiced soap.

 

In the imp: Crisp, sweet rose and what I this is pomegranate.

 

On skin, wet: An aquatic floral, most definitely. Very light and breezy. The rose doesn't overpower, which shocks me.

 

On skin, dry: ...Floral dish soap. Damn it! Slightly spicy dish soap, but dish soap all the same. It reminds me of a craft mall up-state.

 

Conclusion: I love how it begins -- lush and aquatic and only vaguely floral -- but it becomes dry and soapy. As a dish soap, it'd be great. As a perfume, no go.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Aredhel

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the bottle: Wet and crisp. I notice summer herbs and clear pools of rain.

 

First on: Orgasm! A very white aquatic note with a slash of peach and a tartness from pomegranate. I'm also still getting a very light green herbal note.

 

After a bit: It turns a bit talcum powdery, but not in a baby powder scent. In a slightly perfumed dusting powder way. Still very crisp and clean with a faintness of tart juicy fruit.

 

A bit more: This reminds me so much of something that I can't put my finger on. A shampoo scent? A lotion my mother used to wear? Maybe it was something I concoted with the perfume making kit I had as a child. This is very feminine, still slightly powdery, still fresh.

 

The image this brings to mind is a little girl, sitting at her mother's vanity in a white bathroom. On her one side is a bowl of cool water with some fresh herbs and rose candles floating in it, on her other side is a bowl of white peaches. She's just spilled a container of dusting powder and is playing with a lipstick called pomegranate.

 

I really want a 10ml of this.

[Lady Ravenglass]

Mmm. Fruity In the imp, this is a lot like The Unicorn - a smooth, juicy melon, but drying down, more fruit comes out. The aquatic note comes through behind it. There's an odd hint of something I can't place, which might be the peach (I seem to have strange luck with peach and apricot) but makes me think of lotus - something a bit too sweet. I think it's a keeper - it might even go on my bottle list, but I'll wait and see how it pans out again. The aquatic note reminds me of Dragon's Tears - it does cut through the fruit a bit and stop things from being overly sweet and heavy. In fact, the whole thing is a bit like D.Tears, but without the 'red' note. If that makes any sense at all...

[Gin]

This is a very calm, quiet scent. Initially, I can smell vines and leaves and water, along with a touch of peach, but it dries into a soft aquatic.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Fruity and fantastic! Pomegranate and peach dance together upon a still pool of cold water, while flower petals float in the air overhead.

On me: Hints of autumn and age creep into the blend. The fruit is still bright but it is ripe; a day more and it would be overripe. The petals are bright and lovely; a day more and they will begin to brown and fade. The pool of water grows colder every day; the breezes are no longer fresh and balmy, but have begun the change to winter's winds. There's the slightest hints of spiciness and dry leaves; this is a perfect transition scent, encapsulating the brightness and light-joy of summer and the beginning of autumn's crispness and heavy spices.

[zankoku_zen]

In the bottle: I can't quite place this. Something sweet and yet floral. I think I smell some of the pomegranate.

 

On Skin: I smell something kinda sharp but tasty.

 

On Drydown: It has a clean smell to it. I can catch whiff of the peach. It's very comforting.

 

Verdict: Keeping the imp. Dunno if I'm ordering more but since I got it from a swap. I will totally use most of it up.

[arabella]

First impression: It's a very wet and airy fruit scent - but the fruit isn't a conventional one - it's more like lichee or kumquat, something oriental - like lichee fruit jelly with a very slight hint of mint and dusting of icing sugar.

 

Dries down to: A summery, airy, juicy scent - it's absolutely lovely. It reminds me of those konjac jelly cups that were banned because they're a chocking hazard. I used to love those.

 

Additional comments: On checking the description, I see that I'm probably getting the "hint of mint" from the myrtle and the "dusting of icing sugar" from the melilot (which, if I'm not mistaken is clover). The airy and watery notes are definitely present. The rose isn't discernible at all and since it usually "kills" every note in a blend for me, this is a huge bonus. I'm very impressed with this one. It doesn't last long on me but I'll have to try it as a room scent in the summer.

 

Lasted: Less than an hour.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5 (It would have been a 5 if it lasted longer.)

[olympia301]

I had high hopes for this one, but it just isn't doing anything new for me despite the exotic ingredients, fruits and fabulous name.

 

It's a great concept and who could resist smelling melilot? I enjoyed the fruits and the perfumy components a great deal, too. I think I will send this one off to the swaps, though. I bet there is a newbie out there who is itching to try melilot, and I can't hold up La Bella Donna, now can I?

 

The icon is the plant belladonna or deadly nightshade.

[ScrimHazard]

I totally forgot this had myrtle in it. My skin picks up myrtle and just sort of runs away with it. I can still smell the myrtle 12 hours after I put the perfume on. However, for the first 4 hours I smelled not only of myrtle, but of sweet fruits and got whiffs of flowers warmed by the afternoon sun. I love that smell. It complicates the scent, which I appreciate. In the bottle I was a little intimidated by the fruitiness, but on my skin it warmed and blended so lovely.

[Reinier]

This is an odd one on me... I can't really place any of the notes but I know its fruity and floral. I'm thinking maybe rose? Either way, whatever it is, its beautiful... Light and soft, yet it has great staying power. I'm thinking of makinga spray with it for my hair I put some in an oil burner last night and my bedroom was filled with this lovely scent - I could still smell traces of it when I woke up. I bought a 5ml of this unsniffed and I am so glad I did.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Kinda fresh and kinda sweet.

 

Just On: Sweet fresh air.

 

An hour or two later: Nice fresh sweet breezes.

 

Around 6 hours: Fresh breeze, a tiny hint of sweet.

 

12 hours: Another burst of sweetness, carried oin a fresh breeze.

 

Overall: This is definitely one I'd like to get more of. I had no expectations, and I really like this scent.

 

After reading other reviews: I got none of the floweryness, and all of the wonderful fruity sweetness out of this one. It hits the big bottle list.