Reviews of Bluebell by Penhaligon's

So much more than a simple LotV or a standard Hyacinth formulation. This really does the whole spring woodland experience. Sure, the Hyacinth notes hit first, but the quality reminds me of Spring walks in the Fontainebleau Forest, combined with English woodlands. Perfect for the young at heart, or the aspirational youth looking for a woodland floral. Don't doubt it, it is wonderful.

I bought this without knowing what to expect, and having no idea what bluebells smell like. Well, apparently they smell like Hyacinths! To me, this fragrance is full on fresh cut hyacinths, with their stems and everything, and some morning dew thrown in that ups the wetness/juicy factor. There’s no sweetness added, this is just flowers. Sometimes I do think I smell a hint of roses in the background, but as soon as I concentrate on that thought, it disappears. This is an eau de toilette, but for me, it performs like an edp. It has a moderate sillage/projection without being too loud and overpowering, but people around me do remark at how pretty my perfume is. That portion lasts around 4-5 hrs on me, and then it settles into more of a skin scent which continues to power on for at least another 4-5 hrs. At the very end of its wear, for maybe the last hour or two, it smells more of a clean and powdery scent with just a slight hint of flowers. I think this is absolutely gorgeous and nothing like anything else in my relatively small collection. If you want to smell like real flowers, and not fruity or vanilla sweetened flowers, look not further. I think Princess Diana had exquisite taste and I completely understand why this was a favorite of hers. This is one of my favorites too.

I smell hyacinths in all their full, unfettered glory here with Bluebell. Their unapologetic stemmy, sharp greenness that opens the senses, the dewy, floral splendor, and their spicy, cinnamic undertones. I find it to be the ultimate hyacinth soliflore, which may very well be off-putting to those who may want their hyacinth to be tamed and relegated to supporting player, maybe even a walk-on appearance.

Here it steals the show, for better or worse, but for that I adore it. I truly believe some folks may not have had the pleasure of experiencing hyacinths and their fragrance up close and personal, or maybe they would be put off by them and therefore be put off by Bluebell, which is all fine and good. Stop sniffing hyacinth-centric scents, then. It may not necessarily be the fragrance, it may just be you—Luca! In all seriousness, if it were just Princess Diana and me who enjoyed Bluebell, then I'd just be fine with that. Happy Spring!

It has a floral-astringent smell at first. Lots of green follows. Piercing hyacinth, LOTV, and galbanum. More flowers expose themselves. Green and floral bounce back and forth in the middle. Spices from the base slowly creep up.

Galbanum and clove are the strong notes, to my nose. I get an almost metallic vibe here as well. A vague vegetable note, too.

This is an odd, green-floral. Not too bad, if this, is your thing. Not quite for me but, well done.

Smelling of Hyacinths and Lilly of the Valley, Bluebells is simple yet rich in beauty. There is a green note galbanum is noticeable, a worthy scent worn by Princess Diana among other fragrances Only reason it isn't a 5 stars is like all Penhaligon's it is fleeting and stays close to the skin Longevity is only fair.

Spray this on one, and judge it from those first few seconds, and it would be easy to dismiss this scent as screechy, synthetic and offensive. Images that popped into my mind were scented all purpose household cleaners or those small aluminum tins (with the tear-off lid) of air freshener for your car.

Several wearings of Buebell later, I realized that Bluebell replicates a very realistic hyacinth flower (in nature) with a mild mix of spicy (not creamy spice...much more muted) and slightly soapy notes. For me personally any time I smell a soapy floral I can't help but think of lily of the valley and Diorissimo - but now after having worn Bluebell I can wrap my head around other soapy floral accords. The texture is one of freshness, sparkling cleanliness and...for lack of a better word 'pretty'.

Well done and worth the price of admission!

This guy can comfortably wear a hyacinth fragrance (I love wearing Anais Anais by Cacharel - not a hyacinth fragrance per se...but another soapy floral) but perhaps other guys might be a bit uncomfortable wearing this one as a stand alone fragrance rather than 'butch' hyacinth fragrances like Hyacinth And The Mechanic by Andy Tauer and/or Chamade Pour Homme by Guerlain.

Don't expect this one to last too long though...longevity and sillage are below average. I am totally okay with that: A lingering cloud of flowers all around me for hours can be a bit annoying.

This fragrance makes me smile. It smells just like Hyacinths, and reminds me of Spring. It is not very sophisticated or clever; it is just lovely. Knowing how simple the formula is (I worked on the Bath Oil version when there was a technical problem ) I think it is clever to have achieved such an effect.

Genre: Green Floral

A simple, if also rather crass, green floral, without much depth or development. In this genre, go for Diorissimo, Andy Tauer's Carillon pour un Ange, or Divine's L'Infante.

I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately it isn't for me. It opened with a scent of cinnamon gum and then developed an undertone of rose. It lasted around 3 hours and completely disappeared.

A nice floral
The main issue I have with this scent is a very synthetic initial top note, but after about fifteen minutes a nice hyacinth with lily of the valley and jasmine merge into a traditional floral composition.

Touches of cyclmane and galbanum are noteworthy.

The end adds a sweeter component that is mingling with the florals, but neither the clovenit the cinnamon that I get are more that afterthoughts in me.

I do not get much development, but it is nicely done. Moderate sillage, a decent projection and nearly three hours of longevity on my skin - the performance os nit great after the first hour or so.

Not exciting, but traditional and crafted very well. 3/5 The soap is of beautiful intensity.

I found a used box of Penhaligon's samples on Ebay. I had read so much about this house and was anxious to try the perfumes. It contained a sample of Bluebell which, i understand, was one of Princess Diana's favorite scents. This turned out to be the only one of the lot which I liked. it doesn't turn to talcum powder, as many of the other Penhaligons do, and lasts a long time. You have to be sparing, though. It is rather heady. I like the combination of sweet and spice.

Ok, let's stop for once playng the good boys and girls game.

Sometimes I forget how much a perfume can be ugly and annoying. Anytime it happens I reach for Bluebell as a reminder. Horrifying synthetic floral at its worst. Simply abominable.

Ok - bluebells have no smell, so they have represented a chemical dump instead -- really quite nasty. Cheers.

Flower in a bottle! To all of you who seem to want to liquify a flower and have the 'most natural smelling floral' in a bottle, this is it.The top notes and mid notes have the same dense, natural, pungent aroma that you smell when you press your nose inside a flower. Very natural, but I don't think that's what most people are after, when it comes to it.The drydown is better, with woods, white musk and a floral component.I would rate it unisex to the feminine side.

Bluebell really captures what this fragrance house is all about. Unashamedly english, in the most charming, individual and nostalgic way, it is an unusual fragrance that certainly merits a try. It is quite extraordinary how it captures not just that hyacinth-like sweetness, but also an earthy and wet sense so reminiscent of woodlands and misty, dew soaked mornings. It is fresh and clean, yet it can go funny on skin and end up smelling like wet earth, but you won't find this kind of scent anywhere else. Its unique charm is undeniable, as is the bottle and packaging; a perfect take on vintage with a contemporary twist, which is what the brand should be aiming for.

When this first opens, the sweetness is almost gourmand ,then it gets greener and greener but the sweetness never really goes away on me. It becomes linear on my skin which I love. Although this is EDT , it does last for quite some time. Wonderful

A meek and timid offering, redolent of long forgotten flower pressings. The insipid and unsatifying citric opening is dispensed with quickly, and the fragrance moves with similar haste through a badly assembled collection of poor quality floral ingredients. One is only thankful that this tedious experience is at least a brief one. This is not awful, just pointless

I liked it, but perhaps that's because I have an appreciation of more simple, natural fragrances. It you need a complicated, heavy-breathing scent, this won't be for you. It is crisp, cool. Like someone said before it reminds one of springtime, of fresh little buds poking up through thawing earth. The smell of flower bulbs and damp dirt. My only concern with the three penhaligon's I tried was that they do not have good longevity. They absolutely did not stay on my skin, they were gone in an instant. I have to apply to my clothing and run a little through my hair in order to make it stay with me for a few hours.

It reminds me of that fluorescent light of some public bathrooms (the light that shall make it impossible to find ones blood vessels), and it is the only scent that I have got sprayed on that I felt I had to scrub of as soon as possilble. I have onely one word for this: terrible!

Lovely, fresh, sweet, crisp, hyacinths in spring. One of the 3 or 4 perfumes I wear when I have a hangover because the general aura of it makes me feel clearer-headed and freshly-showered.

Freezing cold, artificially fresh but thankfully not so perfumey sharp as, say, Light Blue. Even my sister who likes cool/fresh scents (like Light Blue!) found it too cold. Perhaps it does smell like blubells look (because surely they don't have a smell? And if they did it couldn't possibly be so cold!): blue, fragile, delicate, but it's not something I particularly appreciate. Not horrible though, a scent of this type might easily have been much more horrible since I don't normally agree with them. Just a heartless snow queen of a scent that doesn't blend with the skin chemistry at all.

The truest Hyacinth I've ever encountered, beautifully supported by Jasmine, Rose, and Lily of the Valley, resting on clove and cinnamon. This has none of the annoying "green" notes of this flower present in so many commercial products derived from hyacinth oil. It is as fresh as the day the flower opened, sweet and not cloying. A true masterpiece in its simplicity - smells like Easter morning!

9 Notes:

Top: Citrus
Middle: Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley, Cyclamen, Jasmine, Rose
Base: Galbanum, Clove, Cinnamon

The smell to end them all, if I could have only one I THINK...yeah, it'd probably be this. So very English and reeking of hyacinths and wet gardens, although I'm told no hyacinths were hurt during it's production, it's as blue-smelling as it's box. A smell to aspire to, it's fresh like bruised petals trodden on by a young girl, venerable and ageless on an older woman. Possibly a dandy and daring man could get away with it since there is almost a spicy jasmine hint towards the end of the first sniff you take. The bottle has a vintage style label and cute blue bow. You take it home and feel like it's something you earned. Ladylike and one for life.

Someone gave my mother a bottle of this when I was in my teens. She didn't get on with it (she was a Madame Rochas lady) but I loved it. Absolutely gorgeous - a really joyful fragrance. I would definitely buy some again.