Black Hellebore

[djsiberia]

... Hellebore resembles the wild rose, but does not belong to their family. The scent is a pale green herbal, darkly rooty, with a faint rose and peony-like overtone.

an herbal light rose scent. reminds me of spring

[Leopard403]

Ah, so *that* is what peony smells like! Black Hellebore is a scent I would classify as bright and fresh moreso than floral or herbal, which was an unexpected surprise.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Imp: definitely green in impression

Wet on Me: I like me some green herbal. I’m sensing there is more..but it needs to come out of the scent shadows and play

Drying Down: faint but not too delicate. Green and clean. Almost soapy but not quite

Dry: clean green. Thankfully no rose overtones. Touche of peony…no dark rooty thing tho. I like.

 

[tinyvulture]

like roses mixed with lots of dark green stems, leaves and thorns. not a true rose note, but something in the same family. it’s a rich, warm, powdery floral, balanced by herbal greenery. i would enjoy a lotion or soap with this scent. it’s feminine and sexy, but also clean and understated.

[Monster]

Hmmm...very interesting scent! This is a slightly sharp, herbal and mildly floral blend. As it dries the peony is the strongest note. The rose in this isn't very strong (even for me, someone who amps rose).

 

I think I like this blend wet a lot more than the dry phase. Dry, this just smells like generic BPAL floral notes with green things thrown into the mix. It's pretty, not bad on my skin but just kind of "meh".

[Aldercy]

Black Hellebore smells like... *struggles*... like hotel.

 

Do you know what I mean? Not bad, but like that pervasive hotel smell... kind of an astringent, dry, impersonal floral that just floats out of the hallway carpet, the sheets, the curtains. They must use the same cleaning supplies at every hotel in the country, because they all smell like that.

 

I do detect peony and nonspecific herbs, but I can't get over the scent memory association!

[voodoocatwoman]

Soft powdery floral. A very benign scent. Pleasant and unassuming.

[reynardine]

In imp: soft floral, touch of herbs, very nice.

 

Wet: very pretty, the peony shines out with a bit of herbs (can't pick out which ones).

 

Drydown: My skin is amping the herbs. The floral has faded into the background.

 

An hour later: A faint herbal smell. Spring/summer scent, for sure.

 

Pretty, but not quite me. My husband really liked it on me, though. Said he thought it smelled "spicy". Will probably use up the imp because of that.

[Redillon]

In the Imp it's strong, herby and floral.

 

Wet: I really can't pick out any particular notes. (I suck at that) I get a very floral scent on me with some green. Not dirty green, but a green from vines or stems.

 

Dry down: Very strong on me. My skin is amping the Peony(?), it's making me a little sick. I'm getting a little aqua smell too. A little water-ish. Maybe I put too much on? It's a nice scent. I do like it. I'll keep my Imp but I don't think I'll get a bottle.

[Iceblink]

I like the herbal aspect of Black Hellebore but the florals in it go soapy on me quickly so I end up with herb-y soap. Which would be a great smell for soap but not for perfume.

[bluering]

Oh goodness! After reading all the reviews of the imps I bought I am starting to wonder if there's something wrong with my olfactory bulb! I don't think I'm nearly as acute as the other sniffers!

 

Either way - Black Hellbore was *divine*

 

I love peonies, I want great big bushes of them in my yard (when I get one) but Peony was a little hard to find in this, the whole scent came across to me as wonderfully sweet and powdery, in a scent I know as "honey"

 

The really odd part is it smells (on me) almost exactly like Theirry Mugler's "Alien" so when I smell it the only thing I can think of is honey, and deeep dark purple!

[ralenth]

Imp: Dark green floral. *swoon*

 

Wet: Soft, crushed herbs and peonies.

 

Drydown: Black Hellebore is a little powdery, but still a lovely delicate floral.

 

Dry: Spring! Soft floral without the dreaded rose rearing its nasty head.

 

Overall: I could see this being a nice go to on lighter scent days.

 

ADDED March 3:

 

Bright peonies and sharp green vines. As it dries, it tends toward powdery sweetness. Overall, it's a nice, light floral perfect for a spring day.

[Jenn2D2]

In the vial: light green with an undefinable "sweet" background, with a bit of fresh plant roots

 

Wet: still sweet, rounding to more of a sweet pea smell with freshly crushed, sharp green notes

 

Dry-down: all of the sweetness has gone, and left behind a sharp, pungent green note which has lasted for hours and hours

 

This smelled very nice in the vial, and when it was first on the skin, but pretty quickly became far too sharp for me. I might like this in a scent locket, but it is too headache-inducing for regular wear.

[Rouge]

I'm not a great fan of "green" scents, and I often find rose goes rather sour on me, but I live in hope!

 

In the vial - A dark, green scent with an earthy undertone. Thre's a lot of fresh green sap here.

 

Wet on the skin - This is actully rather nice! It has fresh and clean top notes, with the barest hint of sweet florals.

 

Next stages and dry down - The blend warms up a lot as it develops on the skin, the rooty note being more like vanilla than wood or earth.

 

Othe thoughts - This scent would be perfect for wearing with casual outfits in early spring. It also strikes me as somewhat androgynous.

 

 

 

 

[countessmouse]

"Oh wow!" green and sweet in the bottle but immediately floral on me, both wet and dry. Lots and lots of peony with a little bit of rose and some green. This one is a keeper.

[furiana]

 

Imp: Pleasant in an odd way. I think?

Wet: Ew. It smells bright-pink and fake. I think it smells like a My Little Pony: girly with a hint of plastic! Moderate to strong throw, unfortunately; I don't want to smell like this.

Dry: This smells like the perfumed plastic toys that I was supposed to like as a five-year-old. I didn't. Moderate-strong throw.

 

Once it fades, the sweet floral single-note is almost pretty.

 

Verdict: Nothing but floral on me. I guess that's peony?

 

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Cool yellow oil, faint citrus greenness.

 

Wet: Sweet, fresh burst of floral green and tanginess.

 

Dry: A hint of something commercial, but it fortunately stays behind. A blend of clover flowers mixed with hyacinth with an undertone of herbs.

 

Final verdict: I just kind of lost interest in this scent and didn't bother to write down my other observations. It is definitely well-crafted, but didn't capture my imagination.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: whoa! Pink peony and soft rose. There's only a slight underlying green herbal smell.. and that's with tons of slathering. On 1st test, all I smelled was peony. Unexpectedly sweet, cute, and very pink!

Drydown: It's peony and sugar with a touch of sweet rose. Like Alice but cuter. I can kinda equate it with Euphoria from CK as well. I'm really amused with the way I'm amping this...this is one to wear if you're in court defending your innocence. You'd smell so sweet & pure they'd have to believe you...but let's hope that day never has to come...

Edited December 1, 2010 by SophieCedar

[widdershins]

In the imp it is fresh and slightly soapy. It makes me think of freshly scrubbed skin that is lightly perfumed from using a special expensive soap.

 

On my skin the soapy aspect gets stronger into this almost detergent like feel. Nevertheless, it is delicious smelling detergent. One of those spring floral laundry soaps.

 

After it is dried, about 2 hours later, finally the peony, roses, and greenery peek out, close to the skin. That freshness is still lurking.

 

This blend surprised me at how clean/soapy it is....but I like it!

[girlcalledmoment]

I really like Black Hellebore, but it's far from black. This is one of the whitest scents I've encountered from BPAL, and it's reminiscent of classic aldehydic offerings from the mainstream like Chanel No. 5, Balmain Ivoire, and for me, most closely, Estee Lauder's Estee, which is almost wholly white, gently spiced floral soap.

 

Black Hellebore goes on very sharply - a bit like you've dug out a nail-full of hard soap straight from the dish. Though it has heaps of throw at this point, its true beauty becomes apparent at least an hour later, when it is creamier, lightly green, very white and gently musky. The soap is by far the strongest note, but it's sweet and elegant - the soaps that come in delicate bunched wrappers, sealed with round floral stickers.

3.7/5

[Gateau]

In imp: grassy cut flowers, mmm, promising.

 

Wet: nice fresh cut grass and flowers, plus some herbs. Nothing specifically rose or peony.

 

Dry: through that floral grassiness I'm getting clean soapy scent -- maybe this is the peony. That clean scent is reminding me of your basic "fresh scent" deodorant. Now that earthy rooty scent is coming out, and combined with the deodorant is making me think of armpits, the kind of smell it's nice to run into organically on a lover who maybe came home from the gym and then took a shower, but not one I want to wear.

 

One for the swap pile.

[Maleficium]

imp: fruit, very light and green and sweet. very lovely i think.

 

wet on skin: still very green and light. smells a little like a garden full of flowers after a rain.

 

little bit later: I smell a little bit of rose. still smells like a wet garden.

 

verdict: wayyy too delicate and sweet for me, and I'm not a fan of florals. It's a pretty scent, but not for me.

[whitsunweddings]

In the bottle: Green, herby. I would rub this on a chicken.

 

Wet: Still herby, but I can smell the florals coming through underneath.

 

Dry: I can't distinguish between the herbs and florals. It smells kind of like fancy moisturiser, the kind you buy a female friend from the pharmacy when you need a last-minute gift (everyone's done that, right? Right).

 

An hour or so later: A bright, almost fizzy mix of flowers and herbs. It's quite powdery though. It's the sort of thing I could see myself wearing when I'm an elegant old lady, but not so much now.

[becca_s]

This was a frimp from the lab and it is definetly dark and rooty! It has a very earthy smell on me. As it dries the florals come out a bit more but they still take a back seat to the dark earthiness in this. It's probably the most earthy scent that I have tried, it actually smells like gardening and digging in the dirt.

[angelamaria]

In the imp: description is pretty spot on: it's a green herbal--something close to lavender to my nose-- with a kind of rose/peony tone, but not light, not "friendly": a kind of dark, almost-brooding flower.

 

Wet on skin: this is a creamy green/herbal scent with a bit of those florals in it. It's actually refreshing without being bright or light: a more "quiet introspection" sort of refreshing (does that even make sense), like the feeling you get after you've wrestled with an idea for a while. This feels alive and vibrant without being sharp or bright or cloying.

 

Dry: the florals have come out more now, on par with the green herbal notes. It's creamy and almost heady, but the green/herbal notes do keep the flowers in line, resulting is a very pretty and girlish scent that does not go towards childish or even teen-ish. It's very well balanced, a simple, uncomplicated, beautiful scent.

 

Verdict: the blends in this category just doesn't get a lot of love, I feel. I suppose it's a bit too simple for most folks, but that's the beauty of it for me. This is very pretty, and I've gone and ordered a bottle.