Hell's Belle

[Cielamara]

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.

Hell's Belle was a gift from a friend's swapbox back in the fall.

The first time I tried it--it didn't quite work on me. There was this strange fresh-dirt smell that was lurking under all the sweetness, and that just didn't quite work for me. However, on a hunch, I layered it--I spritzed Avon's Haiku first, and then applied Hell's Belle.

Wet: Yes, yes, I know that musk is there. Musk LOVES my skin--I put anything that has musk in it and it sets up camp on my skin and starts dancing. Hell's Belle is no different.

Settling: Well, maybe it is a little different. The musk is there, yes, but that magnolia is absolutely exploding, and the mandarin is almost sickeningly sweet. It's the kind of sweet that that last bite of dessert is--you know, the one you shouldn't have had because it's only just this side of too sweet.

Drydown: This has OOMPH, as in, a sweet, heady shadow that trails behind me all day. This doesn't require touch-ups during the day at ANY point. It is sweet, sweet, sweet...but in a far different way than, say, my beloved Suspiro. This is...the sweet of the afterglow of a gorgeous Southern woman having sticky, sweaty, musky, scream-the-walls-down sex with the tattooed bad boy from the other side of town. This is sleazy, this is slutty, this is going to church in a too-short skirt and LIKING it.

In short, this is what I wear when I'm feeling somewhat defiant and I want to smell like an absolute tramp.

I've received a number of compliments on this fragrance. I don't know yet what its future is in terms of bottle purchases, but I have enjoyed my imp tremendously.

[magpiedee]

Hell's Belle... is like the sassy pirate wench that beat the crap out of Anne Bonny and stole her ship and is now drinking her rum through a straw in a coconut while working on her tan.

 

 

Seriously, Hell's Belle is what I had hoped Anne Bonny would smell like, because it is the perfect epitome of a fun-loving pirate wench for me. Knee-high black boots, big, floppy hat, floofy white shirt, lipstick the same red as the blood on her cutlass.

 

In more concrete perfume terms, HB is warm, golden, languorous, swingy like a hammock. Well-rounded, like it has aged just enough. It's the color of sun in rum, or of polished golden birdseye maple. Maybe just a touch of green and brown, but mostly gold. The imp, immediate smell and drydown are identical to me, and the scent keeps going for a good, long while. I am 100% behind Hell's Belle. She's me pirate buddy, and we read Cosmopirate together while we paint our toenails, yarr.

[Isuke]

OH MY GOD. How I love this scent. Must get a big bottle when I have money again. It's such a lush scent, smoky and so utterly sexy it makes my toes curl. The magnolias are wonderfully, playing off the softer spices to make a utterly sexy 'Southern Belle' scent. Wearing it, I feel myself standing straighter, walking with a bit more of a sway and generally feeling like the whole world needs to kiss my boots. LOVE.

[storme]

In the imp: Sweet creamy fruity magnolia. In no way as sharp as I'd expect from mandarin.

 

On me, wet: *cough splutter* SPICY MUSK. This is a dark, deep red, peppery scent suddenly, and the smell in the imp is totally not like the smell on my wrist.

 

On me, dry: Hunh, there's a sunblock-ish coconut scent to it over the top, soothing down those hot spices and making this much creamier and softer, but still spicy in a delicious way. There's a fair amount of magnolia, not much mandarin, and I have no idea what Oleander smells like.

 

Later: man, the longer this is on the more everything else fades except that coconutty sunblock smell. After one beach holiday when I was a student, I hung up my sarongs as a curtain, and every time a breeze blew into my room there was a waft of sunblock and bleached linens and warm beaches. This was that smell.

 

Verdict: This was lovely in the imp, utterly bonkers on me when wet, and then it became.. sunblock. It's not an unpleasant scent in any way, but really I should just apply some sunblock if I want this scent. It'd be better for my skin. Swap pile time.

[moon_lemming]

I'm not sure what oleander smells like, but I can pick out the magnolia, the mandarin, and the musk. This is a spicy back-of-your-throat scent and it smells HOT. In the "heat" sense of the word, as well as the smokin' sense. Hell's Belle is one sexy vixen.

 

I'm definitely keeping the imp and I'll retry this one closer to fall to see if I want a big bottle.

[damuddymeg]

imp: sweet floral, with a hint of musk.

 

wet: the floral goes spicy and dirty, not the way I'd expected this to turn, AT ALL. It is warm and bright and musky, all at the same time.

 

dry: This loses some of its brightness during the drydown--I'm assuming this is the hint of mandarin fading. The musk and spice notes stay, and turn quite creamy. The floral is never overt. I hadn't thought I would like this, but I'm finding myself quite drawn to my wrist, atm. This sticks quite close to my skin--I think a big bottle will be in order.

 

note: I think my imp may be aged--I received it in a sale lot, and have no idea how old it might be. I'm thinking that I'll get a bottle over the summer, and keep it in a nice, cool place until fall.

[Eunice]

Oh, this is sexy! This is musk and magnolia and only the slightest hint of mandarin. The Mandarin grabs your attention and the mush and magnolia drags you in for a closer sniff. There is a creaminess that I can't place. Sooooo lovely! Sex in perfume form!

[joiedecombat]

The spices more than anything else leap out of Hell's Belle on my skin. In the initial wet stage I could smell the mandarin, but that faded as it dried, leaving mostly just the spices with no real trace of the florals or musk. Unfortunately, it's not really my style. I was hoping to smell the magnolia and oleander, and they never really came out at all.

[sophia_helix]

This one didn't grab me. The spices are reminiscent of Snake Charmer or Snake Oil, I guess, but this seemed a little heavy and oily. None of the notes were very prominent on my skin, and the overall blended effect wasn't very unique. Probably just a chemistry thing, as usual.

[ladymissspyder]

I got this in a swap from Diana (thank you!!!), and I have to say that this is great! I have a hard time wearing florals, and this is just a lovely blend of suntan lotion and magnolia on me. And oh, how I love magnolia.

 

It's a little light, though. I had to apply it twice to get a decent sniff of it. But that's OK. I prefer my fragrances to have a bit of throw, but that's not always appropriate.

[angharad]

Sadly I don't get any spice from this. It's all sweet and fruity florals, which is actually just fabulous. I also don't get any musk, either, except at the very first when the oil is still wet on my skin. At that stage Hell's Belle is a bit more smoky and dark. After drydown, though, it's just the mandarin and florals (not familiar with oleander or magnolia enough to specifically identify them). It's lovely and sassy and I think I want a bottle of it.

[kourika]

The first time I tried Hell's Belle, I loved the scent, but one of the notes irritated my sinuses enough that I wasn't sure I'd be able to wear it on a regular basis. However, my wee imp sat in its box for at least a month before I tried it on today, and wow! Hell's Belle mellowed over time, and there was no sneezing today! It goes on with a hint of tropical smells and fades away to a sort of almondy scent, at least with my chemistry. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long though, so there's just a hint of perfume left on my wrists.

[theseagrows]

ooooh i love this one. i thought it might be overly floral, but it's really not. it's very warm and spicy, kind of a spicy floral/floral-oriental. reminds me of haunted with florals added, like a richer more complex haunted. definitely getting a big bottle of this one!

[eviltemptressdq]

I was a little reluctant to test this one, because I tend not to like the darker colored oils... but, of course, I give everything a fair shot! After a sniff that wasn't bad, I put it on my wrist...

 

surprise surprise! I LOVE this! spicey, but has a sweet flower-y scent in the background that mellows that spice out. They are very spot-on describing this as a "sensual". it makes me feel sort of sexy! I guess I'll have to have the boyfriend sniff me and see what he thinks... hehe...

[malanna]

This was kind of nice. A bit of incense wafting about, backed by magnolias. However, when I was sniffing it, I felt as though it smelled like some BPAL perfume. I couldn't put my nose to it...until I realized it smelled like a musky Gingerbread Poppet! At least, that was the closest thing I could think of at the moment. A nice scent, but not for me.

[misfitroxy]

Nothing's really jumping out at me in the imp. There's a sweetness that's present in a lot of oils for me, but I can't detect any one note or element.

 

It seems to be sinking into my skin as it dries. I'm catching a bit of the oleander and magnolia, but they're not heavy in the least. Just pleasantly sweet and rich.

 

Something about these flowers tend to make them turn almost chemical on my skin, like they're tinged with rubbing alcohol or hairspray. And it just seems to be getting stronger the longer I sit with it.

 

I can't say I'm getting any spice from the blend either. Also, my allergies aren't really appreciating it, from what I can tell. Ah well.

[copyshopclerk]

In the imp - This was my first frimp from the lab! Overwhelmingly, it reminded me of when I spent a summer in Florida working at Disney World, and how sometimes I'd take the long way home after work just to enjoy an evening out. The scent of this in the imp is what the night air smelled like waiting for the monorail out of the Magic Kingdom - I guess that's the magnolia, maybe the oleander too? Anyway, it's a deep, sweet floral in the imp.

 

Wet - Same Florida florals, but can pick out the musk (similar to that in Haunted), and some spice as well that wasn't apparent in the imp.

 

Dry -Same musk and spice, the florals have moved to the background now. Not bad but I don't love it. Hours later – mostly just a spice.

 

 

I'm glad I got to try it because I'm pretty sure I never would've picked it out on my own and I did like the memories ir brought! But I'm not in love with it enough to want to order it.

[gravedigger]

So, the other day, I put on some Hell's Belle (my first BPAL order!) and went out to read my book in the hammock under the big willow tree in our yard. I was absolutely exhausted (I had stayed up all night with some girlfriends the night before), so I knew that I wasn't going to be reading for long, but I thought I'd try it anyway. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, approximately 100 degrees out, the birds were singing, there was a nice breeze blowing, and the last thing I remember thinking before I drifted off to sleep (ten minutes after sitting down ) was "man, this is absolutely perfect for this moment." I didn't really like the scent itself (I hate orangey smells, and florals aren't really my thing either), but, combined with the soporific environment, it was stunning. Of course, by the time I woke up, the scent was all gone (or maybe it wasn't - I went straight from the hammock to my bed for several more hours of sleep - I wasn't paying much attention to anything).

 

Sorry if that was hard to follow - I tend to go a bit parentheses-happy.

[Nemesister]

perversion's younger, sassier sister!

 

smells very similar to perversion and is just as sexy. has the same almost coconutty and spicy scent.

 

i love this...big bottle needed!

[maribouquet]

This scent has grown on me tremendously - it came to me in bottle-size (10 mL) as part of an eBay purchase that contained several imps I wanted.

 

I don't know what magnolia or oleander smell like, but I'm willing to bet that they are the source of this oil's creamy, velvet-petaled scent as well as a sharper floral tang, both of which I've come to love. Beneath that I can pick up the mandarin, sweet but subtle, and rolling in and out of everything there are wonderful, grounding touches of spice and musk (- cinnamon maybe? also something that comes out in the drydown that reminds me of nag champa.)

 

At first the sharper, tangier aspects of Hell's Belle made my nose wrinkle, but the creamy sweetness seduced me night after night before bed. The more familiar I've become with this blend, the more I've come to appreciate and savor its layers.

 

This isn't a scent I wear during the day, say to work or out with friends, etc. It's more of a nighttime, stay in at home or out on the shadowed edges of a garden party scent. Along with being lovely and rich, it's also highly complex, comforting and undeniably, beautifully carnal. If I were going to get lost in a hedge maze at night with someone truly wicked, I'd want to be wearing Hell's Belle.

Edited August 10, 2006 by maribouquet

[edenssixthday]

Hell’s Belle is strong and heady, thick with magnolia and spice. It reminds me of something I’d smell on a genteel old lady who is armed with a sugary-sweet Southern Belle drawl. This scent definitely has its charms, but the magnolia is too strong for me. I love magnolias and am always thrilled by springtime visits back to the South, but it’s just too rich for me to wear in a perfume. I feel like I’m probably highly offensive to others even when I have only the tiniest drop of this fragrance on, and it makes me incredibly self-conscious, and that’s not the experience I want from a perfume. After the full dry-down, this also takes on a slightly candle-wax type “after-scent” to it that makes it all the more unpleasant for me. I’m glad I tried it, as it evoked imagery from my past life in the Deep South, but it’s got to go.

[Diva Urd]

In the imp, I mainly smell mandarin, with an undercurrent that is mostly floral.

 

On me, I get a little more of the musk, but the mandarin dominates. It is a nice enough scent, but I'm not as impressed as I'd hoped I would be. Might be my regular citrus problem - mandarin works best of all citrus fruits, but there might be a tad too much of it in this for me. It just turns a bit too sweet for my liking.

 

I'm gonna keep it around, because sometimes I feel like something uplifting (which this definitely is for me), but I don't think it's gonna become a favorite anytime soon.

[sofaking6]

One of the happiest aspects of being a BPAL noob has been discovering just how much my skin loves musk. It truly makes me more fond of myself. Is that dorky? Of course.

 

Hell's Belle is a great scent. It starts off all spicy floral on me, but not a real flowery-floral. So far I haven't liked any lemon-citrus scents but I'm finding a strong affinity for orange-citrus scents.

 

As it dries, the musk takes over the floral and this settles into a heady, warm, sexy, spicy lovefest that holds true for hours.

[likie]

In bottle: A really great blend. I don't know whether it's the kind of thing I'd want to wear all day, but these scents just mix so well. I'm guessing that's the oleander I'm smelling, a floral surrounded by the musk.

 

Wet: A 'touch' of spice? Wow! That's intense. It's more warm musk (which will probably end up being blah on my skin), and less and less of the greenery and floral scent as it dries.

 

Dry: Eek, it's nothing but spices and musk. What happened to that light citrus and crisp oleander? Curse you, skin chemistry. It would have been pretty nice for an evening out, otherwise.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: musk and sweet sultry florals.

 

wet: spicy and warm! I like it!

 

dry: spicy and warm (good for fall/winter) but I am not sure about this---it's a little heavy in a bad way. I'm not sure it is "me."

 

Verdict: it's not unpleasant, but it is not really pleasant either. I think there is a "too perfume-y" note that is probably from the particular musk being used. Some like me and some don't...still working out which do which.