Hell's Belle

[Nemesister]

Sweet, smoky and sensually wicked. A thick, steamy scent, truly sinister in its voluptuous sexuality. The perfume of a demon's favored consort, or of the devil herself. Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice.

in the bottle you can smell the smokiness and the creaminess. once it's on your skin and is dry it semlls the same as perversion to me. perhaps a bit smokier.

it has a spicy floral smell to it. like peppered flowers!

i like it and just like perversion i can smell coconut when there isn't any

[Phaedra]

When first applied, this is a very sweet, lush floral. There's a bit of spice to this too. It's a thick, wet smell. It's similar to Sacred Whore of Babylon but not as cloying. This is very womanly and sexy. As it dries down and mellows it reminds me of The Living Flame but with more of a vanilla note. I'm going to try this a few more times before I decide if I want a bottle or not.

[girlmadasbirds]

i tested this at the black broom and at first, i loved it. smoky, sweet... kinda creamy with a hint of coconut.

after several minutes though, i sniffed it again and the spice had taken over. it ended up not working for me.

[theshapeshifter]

A generous freebie from the Lab, that I never would've ordered on my own. Shows what I know!

 

In the imp: Sweet and sexy. Can't quite place any notes.

 

Wet on skin: Really smoky, with a layer of floral and something burnt-sugary underneath.

 

Drydown: I'm still having trouble picking out specific notes - probably because I'd forgotten what was in the description, but it's spicy, sultry and smoky, with this sweetness that's kind of dark. Sort of Mae West meets Siouxsie. I love it - and I got a lot of compliments on it tonight!

[misty]

This a quite lovely. Hell's Belle is really a spicy, smokey floral. I really like this, although I could see myself growing bored with it quickly. I guess I'm trying to say that I'll use my imp, but I wouldn't order a bottle.

[Rheliwen]

Oh wow!

 

Out of the bottle this smells similar to Hollywood Babylon to me. It has the same sweet, incensy quality to it.

 

Wet: OMG! I love this! It actually smells like sweet musky sandalwood to me. It has a creamy, spicey, woody texture to it.

 

Dry: This gets a bit more musky and I lost a little bit of the sweet woody notes a bit. But, after about an hour on, it dries to a really nice sweet musky blend, more similar to it's wet stage. Sometimes when I sniff it, I get a clovey tobacco smell. It isn't the leaves, but the smell of the smoke itself.

 

Verdict: Wow, Hell's Belle has reminded me of my true scent love. I've been led astray a bit with the warm weather and lighter scents. This is smokey, warm, spicey and very sexual. I'm definitely going to need a bottle of this for the fall.

[Splendid Molerat]

Sugar, sticky-sweet flowers, crackling flames.

 

Compelling, but I don't believe I could sustain the level of mischievous-ness required for Hell's Belle to be a convincing fragrance on me.

 

My niece, on the other hand...

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): A little hint of sweetness, and something I'm really not familiar with.

 

Just On: Still some sweet, I could like this.

 

An hour or two later: A touch of spice, with some kind of fruity scent. No clue what, but it's pretty.

 

Around 6 hours: A smoky, fruity scent now, and faded a little. I like this one. Not, love, just like.

 

12 hours: Mmmmm, sweet powder, and I like that a lot.

 

Overall: This is a keeper. It isn't really spicy, and it isn't overly sweet, just a pretty scent that I would probably wear to church.

 

After reading other reviews: I don't know if it's the magnolia that I smell, but I like it, and I may have to try others with magnolia in them to see if they work as well as this does. I could see getting more of this one.

[fragrantgrasse]

On my skin, Hell's Belle isn't spectacular. Maybe it's the mandarin and magnolia, or could it be the oleander?

I had no idea that oleander had a scent! I see it along the sides of the freeway and I imagine that only as poisonous a plant as oleander could survive those toxic fumes but it thrives!

 

So, I wish I were getting more of the soft, coconutty richness other posters have mentioned, but at this point in it's evolution, Hell's Belle is being too pointy on me and not soft enough.

 

I am getting some of the smokiness - and because of this more subtle note I almost imagined I caught a whiff of vetiver.....but, no.

 

Overall my impression is more perfumy floral with a touch of fruitiness.

 

edited for typos

Edited May 18, 2005 by fragrantgrasse

[tempete]

WANTED: A scent to wear when I'm in the mood to cause trouble.

SOLUTION: Hell's Belle!

 

Hell's Belle is a smoky, yet creamy floral scent that is sweetened by the mandarin note, deepened by the musk note and made knock-dead sultry by the spice notes. It fades to a spicy drydown with subtle hints of the other notes. I would have NEVER picked this scent out for myself, so I am very thankful that the Lab sent me an imp!

[isyche]

On me, Hell's Belle is warm, sweet, creamy sexy floral with touches of smoke and spice...the mandarin stays in the background. I agree with the 'caramelized magnolia' description.

 

Wow, I wasn't expecting this to work on me since gardenia and jasmine hate me, but apparently magnolia likes me. This is what I wanted (Old) New Orleans to smell like. It's very Southern-belle-crossed-with-femme-fatale. I feel like I should be giving sultry looks, batting my eyelashes, vamping it up and showing cleavage I don't have. It's not very “me,” but I like it.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: More spices. It...I'm very sad to say that this kinda smells like vomit in the vial. At least to my nose. I think it's the combination of the musk, the spice and the sickly sweet flowers.

 

Wet: It calms down nicely on, though. To a floral mandarin scent, which is actually interesting and somewhat pretty. The spice gives it a nice kick without being too overpowering though the mandarin is fading a little too quick for my tastes and leaving me with spicey floral.

 

Dry down: This scent is a lot lighter than I would have expected. It has a gentleness to it that belies the components. I also think this is the first mandarin blend I've tried where I can smell the mandarin. It fact now it's gone to mostly spicey mandarin, which is somewhat odd as magnolia usually loves my skin and uses it as a springboard.

 

Dry: Spicey mandarin with just a very faint floral tone. The musk provides a background and while this is nice it's nothing I'll wear.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Magnolia.

 

In the imp: Magnolia, mandarin and musk. Very cool and spicy so far.

 

On skin, wet: Hell's Belle is immediately very soft, musky and spicy. It's very floral, but not overpowering. I love the mandarin in this, which isn't fruity.

 

On skin, dry: As it dries, the oleander appears, and, with the magnolia, gangs up and oppresses the musk, mandarin and spice, leaving a heady, bitter-sweet floral. That something creamy along the bottom is a bit nutty now, and rich, like a muted cocoa butter.

 

Conclusion: This reminds me of something, or someone, that my mind can't figure out. It's a nice-enough musky floral that just isn't me: I'm not a floral kind of girl.

Edited April 18, 2006 by Aredhel

[slave1]

In Bottle: Musk and spice.

 

On Skin: The musk is strongest… the oleander and magnolia second. Ooohhh… a musky floral that is beautiful. The mandarin is showing itself now… yum! This is sexy… the spices are even sweet. It’s such a contradiction, sweet yet wicked. It’s very dark and intriguing, you can’t ignore this scent. Another one I want a bottle of. As the scent wears on the magnolia becomes the strongest note. A bit sickly sweet for me, but still a beautiful scent.

Edited January 23, 2006 by slave1

[yummysushitoo]

Lush, definitely sensual. I could really catch a fruity scent, sweet but not overpowering. I also caught flowers that were rich with personality.

 

A little later, I detected a hint of something spicy. Not hot-spicy, but exotic-spicy.

 

A very lovely, womanly scent. A little heavier, so I would say it's more appropriate for evening. A year-round scent, perfect for steamy summer nights, and keeping warm in the winter.

 

Loved this one!

[tesao]

*when* am i going to learn that musk is just WRONG on me????

 

hell's belle is strong. it goes on strong, it has huge amounts of throw, and it stays. and stays. and stays.

 

the musk overpowers almost everything. in addition, there is a heavy floral note that is heavy and sweet.

 

after drydown, hell's belle went sort of soapy on me...another bad sign.

 

when everything else has gone, there is a definite citrus note that lingers.

 

not a keeper.

[QueenFae]

Definitely one of my signature scents. this is the perfume I've been searching for my whole life! The mandarin combines the the softness of the oleander to form a magnificent, creamy sweetness that under - shadows the glorious spices. It's a strongly spicey smell, but the creaminess balances out so perfectly; the effect is outragoeusly alluring and sexy. One of the sexiest BPAL oils of all time. Bravo Beth, perfection in a bottle!!

[wichapi]

I enjoy reading the reviews here, thank you all. And I've been lurking, off & on for a while - so this is my first "vocal" venture on the forum. Hell's Belle, one of my instant favorites, has a deliciously nasty backnote like burning sulphur... gunpowder... or a freshly lighted charcoal incense briquette. This is what instantly grabbed me; cutting through veneers of spicy sweetness to an inner cinderlike sizzle. I know this contradicts the "creamy" effect so many have mentioned, and maybe its just my nose, but I can't shake the sensation of sparklers on a hot July night.

[cuervosueno]

Hell's bells! This is gorgeous!

I'm not a floral person, but lately I've been experimenting with them since I've run my way through other scents and want to branch out.

So I thought hell, why not?

Ordered an imp, got impatient, got another imp in a swap and I still may have to get a 5 ml.

It starts so sweet I can't believe it--honeysuckle sweet. I remember Oleander and Magnolia from Calif. when I was a kid, and I don't remember Oleander smelling so sweet, so perhaps it is the magnolia? In any case, its sweet and a lovely white floral and I adore it.

Drying down--say in a 1/2 hr or so, it turns even creamier....like burnt sugar and white florals over a pale swathe of green....and I don't like coconut at all as a scent, but there is something slightly nutty in the later stages too that grounds this.

What a wonderful scent! I need more!

eta: forgot to say that the mandarin comes out with the burnt sugar phase, adding a nice citrus brightness.

Edited June 10, 2005 by cuervosueno

[Orodemniades]

What the - ?

 

Okay. Where on earth is this pickle-y smell coming from? It's the same note that's in SWoB and Debauchery - how does my skin do this??

 

I'll try this again in a couple of weeks, see if it's just some funky hormonal thing, because apart from the pickle, the rest of this smells fab...

 

argh.

 

Oro

[nineveh]

This smells just like Sacred Whore of Babylon on me. Good in the imp, but straight magnolia with something burning underneath once it's on my skin.

 

The burning thing fades and a sharp spice comes out instead. It's getting better, but I don't like how my skin is amping up the floral aspects. I think I just need to stay away from heavy florals; they drown out everything else on me.

[brownbear]

In the bottle this one smelled like a sweet, slightly spicy, sexy floral. On my skin it stayed that way for about 20 minutes then just went a little too far. It got a bit cloying with my skin. oh well (they really need a *shrug* icon on here, it seems to be my most common gesture) *shrug*

[blaqpearl]

This is one that I longed to have work for me. When I finally got my hands on some I was really excited. I loved the creamy smell in the imp. Wet it really smelled divine. I wanted to chew my arm off. As it dried it turned weird. I think it was the oleander or maybe the magnolia. I guess my chemistry isnt diggin to many florals lately.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Dark brown spices, the sort that get baked into a cake. Also a deep, deep musky note. Hints of mandarin orange. Indistinct florals.

On me: On the skin, magnolia comes out of hiding and into the foreground. There's also that hint of coconut others mentioned - I wonder if that's oleander? Very creamy, extremely lush fragrance. This is very thick and is almost foody, somehow. I've been looking for a good magnolia BPAL perfume and this is the first one I've liked on me. I didn't even order this one; it was a gift from the lab, so congratulations, Labbies - you did it!

[urraca]

I ordered this before I had tried any BPAL and when it arrived it worried me because in the intervening time I discovered that spice is not my friend and musk bores me. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Hell's Belle goes on dusty and sweet and it retains that split personality throughout. A thick, dark, musky scent dominates, very interesting and complex. It reminded me of the aged dregs of some sweet liqueur. In the background there is a thin scent of pretty flowers. This is very much a scent of innocence corrupted, or perhaps debauchery that wears innocence as a thin mask, fooling only those who wish to be fooled. The spice only peeks through late in the dry down and it is so faint it is inoffensive to me.

 

My one quibble is that the scent didn't last all that long, despite being so powerful. Of course, it is the hottest day of the year and I think of this as a winter scent anyway.