Penhaligon's • Bluebell • Fragrances

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cullyflight on 7/14/2006 7:17:00 AM more reviews by cullyflight

Age: 30-35   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

A soapy, metallic, icy and sharp mess. The scent I would buy for my favorite enemy. It seems to be intended for to keep people at distance. I expected to smell a very different flowerscent, but the flowerpart in it is very common - like you smelled it a thousand times before. I almost doubt it even has anything to do with bluebell blossoms at all. In any case it is mixed up far too coldhearted without compensating this by providing refreshment.
Although I saw it listed as an ingredient, I could not detect any cinnamon in this one.

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*TOP REVIEWER* browneyedelise on 6/8/2006 8:37:00 PM more reviews by browneyedelise

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I asked for this as a high-school graduation gift mainly because of the beautiful packaging and the list of powerful or stylish women who wear it or have worn it (the Queen of England, Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, Kate Moss...). As soon as I got it, I knew it had been the perfect choice. This fragrance is pure flower. It's not cloying or sweet or specifically blended so that one note comes out over all others. I can detect the clove, cinnamon, hyacinth, what have you, if I smell and concentrate, but offhand it just smells beautifully floral. I agree, it CAN smell metallic in the bottle, but once you have sprayed it on, it is just lovely. Like a stalk of bluebells in a sun-dappled forest, it entices you to sniff as much as you can, for the scent itself is so lovely yet fleeting, you cannot get enough. I don't know why people are saying there are no perceptible scents to a bluebell--perhaps they are confusing them with bluebonnets, which look slightly similar and indeed have no smell. But bluebells always have had lovely fragrances, in my experience, and this perfume smells just like it. Penhaligon's has perfected the tiny base of warmth in a bluebell's scent with the cinnamon note, so they are almost exactly similar. This scent lifts me out of my Ohio home and makes me feel as if I am in an English wild-rose garden in a gown of rustling powder blue taffeta. I also love the small sturdy bottle and the lovely little grosgrain ribbon round the top. I do not regret asking for this at all, and it is something I will wear for a long time.

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*TOP REVIEWER* amykelley on 4/21/2006 10:29:00 PM more reviews by amykelley

Age: Unknown   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

Bluebell starts out as a sour metallic scent, and dries down to a sour metallic scent over cinnamon. Truly awful. I was really hoping to like it, too.

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azzurro on 4/18/2006 11:41:00 PM more reviews by azzurro

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

This is why Bluebell gets three lippies:

1. I tried three methods to smell it (sniffing it straight from the bottle, sniffing it straight after being sprayed on card, sniffing it waaaay long after it's been sprayed onto a card and tucked into a regular notebook - about 6hrs.) With the first method, it smelled a bit... metallic (might be how alc and metal sprayer bits smell when they interact). With the second method, it smelled like... harsh metallic! (is there something wired differently to my nose?) Under the third method, the metallic smell has mellowed considerably (though still noticeable) and there is this green and watery smell. It does smell like walking in a subtropical forest after a rain eventually. I try to love this fragrance, but I'm not willing to smell like some metallic substance for the first couple of hours it was on me. Probably I should try spritzing it straight to my pulse points the next time around.

2. The packaging is plain N-I-C-E and S-T-U-R-D-Y. The bottle is made from glass and it has this grosgrain-ribboned glass cap that fits snugly onto the spray. The bottle comes in a sturdy thick little box that you should never throw away - it's a close fit to the bottle and it's great for travelling! I don't like decanting perfumes for travel so my box gets a fair bit of knock marks (I'm on Lavandula), but other than that it's just plain good.

3. Price-wise, it's expensive... but then again, this is a niche perfumery brand, not your mass-marketed department store brands (I still consider Estee Lauder and the likes as mass-marketed). This is still bearable to purchase compared to other niche brands, but I need to go to Escentuals at Singapore's Raffles Hotel or Tangs' Dept Store to thoroughly sample and purchase it. Costs SGD130 for a 50mL eau de parfum bottle, to which you can get a GST refund if you're a temporary visitor. Btw, SAs at Escentuals also give generous samples when you make a purchase, which is good considering they stock brands such as Serge Lutens/Annick Goutal/Diptyque and a number of other nice brands.

Overall, it's a good product, but the smell's probably not for me... so I won't repurchase for now. Until later!

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5lover on 4/8/2006 10:38:00 AM more reviews by 5lover

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Great description of dirt after the rain! However I can never smell bluebells at all in this, the woods they grow in - sure! Lasting power is good but IMO this isn't what I would call a glamorous fragrance, the earth note is too pungent to me. In all a nice fragrance, but not if you want to smell sophisticated, maybe good for a walk in the woods? Not for evening wear either.

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trippc on 3/27/2006 10:08:00 PM more reviews by trippc

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

Another winner from Penhaligon's! At first when I sprayed on the perfume it smelt like fresh dirt after the rain, but developed into a beautiful bluebell fragrance (well thats what my Mum said, I've never smelt bluebells) with a hint of rose poweder in there. A very light fragrance. Not extraordinarily long lasting, but sufficient. Subtle and sweet.

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*TOP REVIEWER* tippie on 3/21/2006 8:29:00 AM more reviews by tippie

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

Bluebell is a pretty, fresh and very true to scent hyacinth.I recently purchased a beautiful bottle of it and was so excited to hurry and open the sweet little box and spray away! No dissapointments whatsoever ,everything about this lovely fragrance is beguiling, it smells of spring , Easter and the purple hyacinths in my garden.
Notes as listed on the sweet little box,top note:cyclamen,middle note: hyacinth,drydown:cinnamon.I have worn Bluebell for three days now, and all I detect is the smell of fresh hyacinth ,no cinnamon, no cloves.Staying power ,about 4 hours.Love reapplying!

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*TOP REVIEWER* nelci1 on 3/17/2006 12:10:00 PM more reviews by nelci1

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

Clean, delicate, a little bit sweet, cold and comforting at the same time. A lovely (and a bit spicy) and very British hyacinth/lily scent. It makes me feel beautiful, positive and innocent! And a fragrance that makes me feel like this deserves 5 lippies!

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kimble on 3/9/2006 9:12:00 AM more reviews by kimble

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

I love Penhaligon's and their products. I also love I capture the castle and as others have said for that reason adore the Bluebell perfume bottle and packaging. Bluebell is a very evocative scent and one you sniff over and over until it fades. I just wish it lasted longer, but it's beautiful while it lasts which on me is quite a long time- 4 hours or so.

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sussicue on 2/26/2006 9:02:00 AM more reviews by sussicue

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

A beautiful spring scent that really can conjour up images of a fresh spring morning. Freshly cut flowers- I detect a strong hyacinth and also carnation. The dry down is very pretty. Lovely packaging.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Artifical4 on 12/28/2005 7:51:00 PM more reviews by Artifical4

Age: 44-55   Skin: Oily, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Green    

My Beloved Penhaligons ,your romantic sweetness and loving nature. Memories of walks in the Moorish hills ,rows on the River Avon. Nights of Passion against a brick wall of the next door pub. Naughty silken undies with harsh woolens. Scoffing up gateaus with the man of your dreams ,wind in the fast going motor car. Kenilworth castle and baskets of wine. The history ,the romance that is a bluebell Hyacinth on silken skin.

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*TOP REVIEWER* wunverdoll on 12/11/2005 11:42:00 AM more reviews by wunverdoll

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

This is a very special smell and its either a love/hate thing. It reminds me of a breezy day in the english countryside, its quite soapy too. I think its quite nice and the bottle is lovely.

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bobsyouruncle on 11/10/2005 7:25:00 PM more reviews by bobsyouruncle

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

I used to love this very English scent but either my nose has changed or Bluebell has! My husband loathes it(he actually calls it 'bug spray')

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sushi_victim on 8/1/2005 2:39:00 PM more reviews by sushi_victim

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

This is a very clean, delicate feminine scent. Its pretty not sexy. But still very nice all the same. It is also Sadie Frost's signature scent. The bottle is absolutely darling.

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*TOP REVIEWER* hirondelle on 6/25/2005 8:21:00 PM more reviews by hirondelle

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Bluebell is delicate almost to the point of being mincing--as unlike its famous devotee "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher as it is possible to be. I imagine this wafting off of her during question time in Parliament and it gives new meaning to the term "mixed message." I also find it hard to conceive of the hard-partying Kate Moss wearing this, though reportedly she does. Opposites attract, I suppose. And there is something very English about this well-behaved scent. There is a distinct blast of hyacinth at the beginning; I don't get anything metallic or chemical at all. It mellows into a slightly spicy carnation, a bit like Malmaison, but unlike the Floris the clove doesn't take over. There is nothing complex, sexy or mysterious about Bluebell, but I still find myself liking it and I can easily imagine buying a small bottle.

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*TOP REVIEWER* smellslikeleaves on 5/11/2005 4:24:00 PM more reviews by smellslikeleaves

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

My goodness, what a rollercoaster ride this fragrance was! It opened terribly, with a harsh, sour, metallic quality which is typical of hyacinth on my skin. I weathered through this phase to get to the lovely, gentle, slightly powdery drydown of moss and fresh wildflowers, the kind you would encounter while walking through a grassy field, a clearing in the middle of the woods. There is a slight kick of cinnamon which adds complexity to this phase. But then it had disappeared altogether after an hour. *sigh* I wish Penhaligon's fragrances were not so fleeting!

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*TOP REVIEWER* Maximina on 5/2/2005 12:19:00 AM more reviews by Maximina

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

I couldn't wait to try this as I read it was one of Kate Moss' favorite fragrances but how I was disappointed. At first it is qute horrible and artificial and metallic/smokey, green smelling. After 10 minutes or so it becomes more soapy and cleaner yet warm, very like a Crabtree and Evelyn fragrance Summer Hill. Then it morphs into an almost rose scent. And then after 30 minutes it's gone. It's nice enough after the horrid start, just nothing too special to make me want to wear it. *Sigh* (love those bottles though!)

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coral on 12/29/2004 6:12:00 PM more reviews by coral

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Brown    

Apparently the Queen uses this as any chemicals or musk notes upset horses, so she has to use something natural. Both the Queen and the Queen Mum favoured floral scents though I'm told Diana liked this too. Bad mistake to try and smell like your mother-in-law!! Personally I find it so sweet as to be cloying although anyone who has read *I capture the castle* mind find it evocative. I'll stick to Caron thanx!!

Bernadette

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haladin on 12/12/2004 8:18:00 PM more reviews by haladin

Age: 19-24   Skin: Oily   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

This is my mom's. I just took one sniff of this and...YUUUUCKK!! This is just horrible. As a rule, I never liked strong florals but if I had, I certainly wouldn't anymore after sniffing this! This is so strong that even spraying it lightly makes you smell like you've taken a bath in the stuff. It's sort of a heavy, powdery old lady perfume that really just smells like chemicals. I gave it two lippies instead of one because the horrible chemical scent at least isn't a horrible generic chemical scent. Nothing else going for it though.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Araindrop5 on 8/11/2004 4:16:00 AM more reviews by Araindrop5

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

It does smell like fresh wildflowers. Unfortunately it wasn't interesting enough to captivate me. I happen to prefer lush, exotic, heavier florals so this was a little light and ethereal for my current taste in florals. However, I can see how others who love fresh wildflower scents would love this. It does have that distinct old English fragrance house quality to it. One interesting piece of trivia: As the Neiman SA sprayed this on my wrist she mentioned that Bluebell was among Princess Diana's favorite fragrances.

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