La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente

[sedona]

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.

This was sweet and somewhat woody in the imp and when applied.

I'm getting better at picking out notes and there is a definite aquatic feel to this held together by the florals. I didn't get any peach until it had been on my skin for about an hour. There is a hint of tartness which may be the pomegranate.

Over all I find this very green and aquatic. Not for me.

Off to the swap pile for someone to love.

[belegwen]

This is my favorite so far. It's light, sweet, and generally makes me feel like a fairy princess.

 

There's a drink that one of my favorite restaurants makes: frozen peach nectar and champagne, swirled with sangria. This is what would happen if you replaced the sangria with pomegranate juice.

[willowtreeling]

first impression is of a fruit punch-y smell...a good one, not Hawaiian punch or something, but....

on me, it smells mostly flowery, but not in an overwhelming, OMG FLOWERS! way that usually happens to me.

a little fruity, but I can't distinguish any particulars--I wish i could smell the fruit a bit more.

These smell like a warm group of posies--not blood red, and not pure white, but pinks and lavenders and yellows and blues all mixed up together. I like to smell a little more...earthy than this, but I think it would be perfect for someone who likes florals...

[modernsaints]

Wow I have no idea what it is about this blend. My notes simply read: "something... not me."

 

In retrospect, looking at the notes, I think that means "I like fruit, I like aquatics, I like peach, I don't like rose." I remember it being really vaguely nice, but something in it just felt horribly off, and not-me. I think it was the rose, sadly. There are some good notes in here though, and if rose likes you I bet this would be lovely and fresh and sweet.

[Lexie]

Wet: Very juicy fruits! Especially pomegranate and peach.

 

Dry: Still mainly fruits, but with a floral undertone. It has an interesting aquatic element too. I can smell also the autumn breeze on the background, but I have no clue what note(s) is in it.

 

I get association of red, orange and yellow from this scent.

 

It doesn’t have a lot of throw and it fades quite fast.

 

Unfortunately this isn’t my type of scent. (I don’t usually wear scents that are mainly floral and/or fruity.) It reminds me of Titania which is also juicy and fruity with aquatic feeling.

[neuilly]

Honestly this is a really nice scent but something about the aquatics mixding with the rose is giving this a fancy soap feel. However, it's one of the few aquatics that I think I could actually pull off. An aquatic for the non-aquatic lover?

 

It's a very soft aquatic floral with rose feeling subtle when on me it usually takes over. There's only the faintest tease of fruit in the background.

 

Very pretty. I was surprised at how much I liked this!

[taramarie]

In the imp, La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente smells like peach and something else, maybe the melilot and myrtle. Wet on my skin, I smelled apple and rose. Where the apple came from, I have no idea. Drying, the apple smell was replaced by peach and pomegranate, with the rose as a base. Dry, the aquatics make the fruits juicy and the rose dewy. I like it. It can't top Persephone, but it's a nice alternative.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: pomegranate!

 

Wet on me: peach! Not too bright though. Some soft, wistful rose.

 

After a few minutes: Aquatics start to come out and blend with the fruit. A little soapy, but not bitter.

 

Drydown: Still soapy, unfortunately. I can smell rose and peach but they're *very* mellow and this is a sad scent rather than a bright one.

 

A sweet, pensive scent; unfortunately the soapiness means that I wouldn't exactly want to douse myself in this stuff.

[northatlantic]

In the imp: Sweet fruit, almost melon-y...possibilities?

 

Wet: I agree with the earlier reviewers, the first whiff reminds me of a peachy Danube until ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROSE! sigh. It doesn't even wait until drydown, it's a sour rotting-stem rose, and suddenly I smell like a vase of week-old flowers. eeeeewwwwwww. I don't know if it's JUST the rose, because I wouldn't know melilot if it walked up and bit me and myrtle in other scents I've tried has gone really sharp, but something here is combining really unfortunately and the rose is as usual pushing and elbowing her way to the forefront. sigh.

 

Drydown: Sorry, couldn't wait for it, had to go scrub my arm. This beautiful lady may be made for both love and pain but pain's all I'm getting.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Fruity, with some damp, earthy notes under it.

 

Immediately on skin: This is fruity, but not overly sweet. Unfortunately it is very powdery on me. This feels very “cool,” and is a bit floral.

 

After a few minutes: I can smell the rose now, but it’s very subtle. It’s blending nicely with the pomegranate and peach blossom. This does have a cool feel to it, as well as being just slightly aquatic. It’s sweet, but it’s blended beautifully so it’s not overly floral, fruity, or aquatic.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend is soft, light, and nicely blended. It’s slightly fruity but not heavy on the pomegranate, and it’s lightly floral, but any one flower doesn’t overpower the rest. It’s an interesting blend, and has a cooler feel to it. The ethereal feel of this reminds me of the Unicorn, so if you enjoy that scent you might want to try this.

[greymatter]

A sweet little girl I know summed it up like this: "It smells like a pretty girl with flowers."

 

Yup. I have to agree. It's a sweet floral. Not my thing, but nice enough.

[aleciarivas]

At first this was just what I wanted- soft and fruity-floral. Then after about an hour, the rose jumped out and bit me on the nose. WAAAAYYYY too strong, and all of a sudden the fruit jumped ship and all I get left is rose-rose-rose-rose- oh right and -more rose. :cough: This one is getting passed on to someone else who either loves roses or who this will work better on.

[The_Merf]

Sharp floral when I put this on my skin--my first reaction was to cough! It very quickly becomes more fruity (peach, not pomegranate) and and aquatic (I've been trying lots of aquatics lately, it seems!). There is also the sense of "autumn breeze" in the background. As I expected, the rose (I'm not actually sure which type of rose note Beth used here, but when I associate this scent with a color, I think of a medium pink--not pale, but not bright pink) does start to come out, but it remains tied up with the peach and aquatic notes so it doesn't become too sharp. The rose is moderated like it is in Erato (at least on my skin), but here's it's done through the filters of peaches other florals. I'll definitely hold this one for retesting.

[Indefatigable]

In the vial: wet pomegranate, with some flowers making it heavier.

 

On me: augh, baby powder right away. This is a bit distressing, it smells like that horrid perfumed stationery from the dollar store. I'm not sure which note is doing that, because I can tell there are also some nice flowers back there somewhere.

 

I'll try this again sometime. It's stuck in baby powder mode, and it's making me cough a bit. Something in there is really not working. Meh, I wanted to like this one.

[Limelight]

This is another scent with an Ingenue vibe to it, tho not quite as young as that word implies - it's a fresh floral for the mature young woman who's been around a bit. The aquatics don't dominate, but smooth out and add depth to the myrtle and peach blossom. This slightly sweet fragrance lasts at least three hours on me. Quite nice, not sure I like it enough to buy, but I'll enjoy my imps.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Sweet, very lightly green but in a weird way I can't place, I swear almost minty. A hint of floral, light musk, light citrus.

 

Wet: Much more floral, perfumey but not heady - it's a very clean floral. Muskier, as everything is on my skin. Still sweetness but it's milder; green/mint and citrus have mostly dissipated. Maybe the 'cleanness' is the 'aquatic notes' ?

 

Dry: Fruit is coming out more, and I can smell the wild rose. It DOES have a sort of autumny scent - maybe the combo of freshness and fruit. Definitely a very feminine scent. There's an herbalness to this but it's not that green/sharp/fresh herby - it's very soft, soothing herby. The floral notes seem to be fading quickly on me which is strange because usually those are the notes that linger longest on my skin.

 

Summary: It's mellowed to sweet, soft herbs and a smell I'd almost call incense-like. It's a nice scent, but not for me. Too sweet, not fresh and green and citrusy enough; it's a very soothing scent. Decent but not strong holding power.

[marared]

I got this as a freebie quite a while ago. I love it in the vial, when it still smells fruity, but on me the rose dominates within minutes. It doesn't smell bad - I'm sure someone would sniff my wrists right now and go mmmm - but I really prefer to smell rose on the flower rather than in a perfume. I'll certainly finish off the imp, though.

[djsiberia]

wet: very sweet and perfumey. dry: very floral and sweet, i'm not picking out any rose notes, but i can definitely smell the pomegranate juice and peach blossom.

 

it's starting to give me a headache...it's very very strong and floral and about 20 minutes later it's starting to turn into a soapy smell

Edited April 9, 2008 by djsiberia

[voodoocatwoman]

This is a nice one.

 

In the imp: there's a sharpness in the midst of florals- maybe it's the pomegranate juice?

Wet: Fruity with flowers at the rear.

Dry: Soft, pretty. Florals are subdued but there is a little fizz there too.

[savage_rose]

Florals, and something that smells like tartness and plum. It dries a lot like Erato does on me--sweet, floral, light. BUT, there's a current of something slightly musky. This is so nice!

[thatpirategirl]

I'm not a fan of rose scents at all... But I have to say, I love this one. The rose is light and blends sweetly with the peach and pomegranate, and it's all amazingly refreshing together. There's something autumny about it when I sniff it straight from my wrist; but when it's just wafting around, I get more of the mood of a summer morning after the rain, and being out in a garden with a fruity drink. And it's got great staying power! I've had it on for over ten hours now.

 

Definitely the best rose scent I've tried. Other than that, I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

Edited May 15, 2008 by thatpirategirl

[filigree_shadow]

Very pretty. The rose in this is exactly the sort that I like -- soft and velvety and not overpowering. The aquatic notes make it smell dewy, and the dry breezy notes give it a delicate quality that I like a lot. I think the velvetiness I get from it is probably from the peach blossom, and I think it's perfect.

 

I would put this one on my bottle list straight away except that after about half an hour I can barely smell it. That's too bad, because I really like it.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Rose peach pomegranate.

 

Wet on skin - Rose, peach and a tiny bit of baby powder and aquatic notes.

 

Dry on skin - Rose, peach, baby powder. This is a sweet, girly scent. It's just not me.

[starwild]

Imp: Fruity and floral, in a dry way, with something grounding it out.

 

Wet: Fruit and flowers over a punch of something kind of harsh. Kind of makes me want to sneeze.

 

Dry: I can smell the aquatic notes now. There's something really fierce underneath, and I'm not sure what it is, but it's almost like musk. And the rose is poking its head in.

 

This one's not really me, but I'll keep the imp and maybe use it for the right occasion.

[ankhfangirl72]

Hmm, I'm not sure what it is, maybe the pomegranite, but this smells an awful lot like Samhain when I first put it on, although it has a bitter edge to it that isn't there in Samhain. Under the fruit there's a darker musky kind of smell which I'm not liking very much at all. I'm sticking with my Samhain. It's a pity, it wouldv'e been good to have a GC equivalent in my collection.