Simply Belle

I LOVE THIS SCENT. *ducking the rotten tomatoes* All the hate on here for this fragrance has taught me one thing above all others: with fragrance, you absolutely CANNOT know whether or not you will like something unless you smell it yourself. You can make all the educated guesses and well-planned blind buys you like, and if you're lucky, at least half the time you'll be right, or at least pleasantly surprised. But if I were going by reviews posted on here, I wouldn't even CONSIDER blind buying Simply Belle. And that would be a shame, because on me, it turns into a beautiful, light, sparkling scent with staying power. Of all the notes listed, the only ones I'm getting clearly are musk and lily-of-the-valley, with an occasional whiff of jasmine or heliotrope. I don't claim to know what perfume would represent the Mid-Century Modern era, other than the ones that were so popular then -- Arpege, Chanel No. 5, Shalimar -- all good scents, but not what the midcentury modern woman applied right after a morning shower or spritzed on to run daytime errands. Somewhere in my childhood memories linger the Jergens colognes. They were inexpensive, sold in drug stores and dime stores, under fanciful names -- Pink Frosting, Marimba, Morning Glory. They were aimed at young teen girls, young women, and modern homemakers. They were safe to give in office or church Christmas exchanges, as teachers' gifts, or to nieces, grandmas, moms, aunts. They weren't perfumes in the sense that Arpege is a perfume, weren't as pronounced as Avon fragrances, made no pretense to being exotic or expensive or exclusive. They were literally cheap cologne, but they didn't *smell* cheap. They smelled clean, light, sparkling, and comforting. They evoked crisply ironed cotton dresses, ice cream socials, first dates, afternoon teas. You didn't expect them to last long or announce that you had entered the room -- the whole idea of these scents was to be pleasant, unobtrusive, and refreshing. In a word, charming. That's what I get from Simply Belle. I can spritz it on after my shower and feel like Loretta Young or Donna Reed, greeting the day smelling lovely and feeling refreshed. I don't need it to be a powerhouse from Chanel or Guerlain, and I don't need it to project a come-hither vibe like a Mugler or a niche-chouli. I have all those for that. I do wish it had a more fitting, funkier, MCM-flavored bottle -- something like the one for Britney Spears' VIP Private Show with its glitter Lucite top, or an aqua frosted teardrop bottle with tiny glittering gold atomic starbursts. And I also wish they'd quit giving away those damned free samples at F-net, just because it cheapens the appeal. But I do love Simply Belle, and if you have it in quantity and hate it, let me know and perhaps we can work something out.

Well, darn... I went and got that full sized bottle... and I LOVE it! There. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm going to be in that tiny minority here and say I like this fragrance very much. It's indeed a very clean (not sanitizer, more like Philosophy soaps) scent with predominantly violet-heliotrope-musk notes. I didn't get much of the other notes as listed, but then again, my "nose" is definitely that of an amateur frag lover. The scent lasts an incredibly short time, maybe 20 minutes tops, then you have to shove your nose into your wrist/elbow to find it barely detectable but, whatever is still detectable, is not bad at all... unless you dislike violet. Perhaps, if I come across another vial, I will apply it to a scarf or something, not skin, and maybe it will last longer. Anyhoo, I found this fragrance to be cute but in a good way, thankfully not resembling any of those syrupy sweet, sugar overload heavy vanilla concoctions of today that make me gag. Honestly, if Simply Belle was not so grossly overpriced for a skin scent, I would buy a full sized bottle.

This truly is simply belle! As someone who has tried easily over a thousand perfumes, I would still choose this for an everyday perfume, especially in the heat. I would receive the tiny samples in my fragrancenet orders and never really tried it on skin. One of my friends ended up buying a full bottle, and I tried hers, and instantly fell in love! If it weren't for her, I would never have really tried it! It is so clean and fresh, and makes you feel like you just hopped out of the shower, and is especially great on a hot day. If I'm feeling like I need to freshen up midday, this is the PERFECT scent for that. Instantly makes you feel clean, without a heavy burst of citrus, which a lot of freshies have. This is is going to be staple in my collection, because it's a beautiful clean musk, without being powdery as some white musks can do. Perfect balance of musky, clean, and slightly aquatic which provides that shower-clean feeling. If you ever get a sample in your fragrancenet order, I highly recommend actually trying this one!

I am also not understanding the hate. It's definitely a daytime perfume. For me, it's a Godsend because I work somewhere people get so offended if you wear any kind of perfume that they can smell. This is such a light fresh whitewater Floral that I can't imagine anybody thinking I'm wearing perfume almost. But I do suspect that I will get compliments for smelling nice. I will come and re-review this if I don't get compliments. One person said that it reminds them of mom perfume and maybe that's why I like it. It's just a very clean light scent but has some stay power, and I honestly would like to smell this scent if I gave someone a hug. I definitely wouldn't choose it for date night, but it is literally the ideal office scent if you don't want to offend anybody or scream that you're wearing perfume. I'm absolutely in love with this as my new daytime scent. And it certainly is worth it since I got it for under 30 dollars.

I bought it after getting a free sample. It's amazing how our chemistry works. Sniffing from the bottle gives you a fresh soapy smell. But when you put it on, this is where all magic happens. Sometimes I smell almond, other times strawberry. I put a lot over my clothes and hair. Throughout the day I feel fresh and enjoy the surprising notes. It's easy to mix with other perfumes too, make them all play together and explore :)

Love at first sniff. I received a vial of this scent with an order from FragranceNet. To me, this is a total ringer for the beautiful scent Amazing Grace used to be. It is an elegant, classy fragrance. The price is certainly right. When I finish the vial, I will be ordering a bottle.

I'm not usually a big fan of such sweet scents but the peach in this is so nostalgic for me. The sweetness and the fruit accords reminds me of nectar and makes me think of summertime as a child.

identical to a sunscreen i smelt on a girl when i was a kid. id love this scent on any girl, would work best at the beach

I love it I don't care I'm in love.

Like most of the rest of the people on here, this was a free sample in my Fragrance.net order (I'm surprised it looks like this has been included as a sample from them since at least 2014??). I figured this was a lighter scent and wanted to use up most of the sample so I was a bit heavy handed on this. It immediately smelled pretty alcoholic, then powdery floral that I could smell within about 6" of my skin. It definitely is a pretty 'thin' scent. The juice is clear and I kinda get that feeling from it too, it's not really a strong perfume smell or anything that really says 'perfume'. It makes me think of bubbles actually. It's light, clean, soapy, and there's not too much to it. It kind of gave me childhood flashbacks with the bubbles smell for a moment. After a couple minutes, I smell violet with actually a touch of spice that's nice. After only about 5 minutes, I already smell it just on my skin, and somewhat lighter, and I had like doused myself in this, so that's surprising. I see a lot of hate for this fragrance. I don't hate it, I think it actually has some kind of cute and clean happy innocence to it. But yes, the longevity is pretty bad. 15 minutes later and it's more musky with sometimes the slightest bit of vanilla I can detect. I think this is more of the 'body lotion' scent, and really if you wanted a clean skin scent, this is actually pretty nice. I honestly was rooting for this perfume at about the 20 minute mark because it seemed like it might make it to at least an hour as a skin scent. But 30 minutes in and *poof*- I think back to what I said earlier about it reminding me of bubbles, and now it just popping and disappearing. I applied so much and there is like no trace left, except the tiniest, smallest hint with my nose directly to my skin.

I will be one of the few who wanders off the usual path of negativity this fragrance seems to bring about in many reviews. I understand to some degree why people give it negative reviews due to the very light scent and projection, and its very short lifespan once applied. I completely get it because I don't like that either, but the scent itself, for some odd reason I've come to love like I love few others. It just makes me think of things that are soft, light, airy, pretty: like newborn babies, baby animals and light blue sky with white airy clouds. I've never smelled Amazing Grace, which some say it's similar too, but I don't think it smells like Carriere or Laila, both of which I have. It's a comfort scent, and I feel very comfortable in it. On days I wear it (I have 100s of perfumes) I do find myself spraying it several times a day because I love the smell, and I often am unable to smell it on myself for more than an hour or so at a time. But apparently others can still smell it on me: it's my designated church perfume, and recently in church a friend of mine hugged me and told me I smelled good. I don't mind wearing a scent that others can only smell when they come in very close to me like that, I wear perfume for myself and nobody else. For this reason, I'll continue to love and wear Simply Belle, and enjoy how comfortable I feel in it.

Joining the club with "I received a sample"... well now I have a couple of samples. Touched a dab to the back of my hand. This is a very simple (hence the "simply" i suppose) white musk touched with floral. I absolutely see the comparison to Pure Grace. This is a perfect fragrance for someone who works in a crowded office, because it's light, floral, soapy, inoffensive, and with the least sexy and most innocent musk of all time. I can imagine walking behind someone who's wearing this and catching a pleasant waft, but I would assume it was someone's shampoo, perhaps. I could see someone enjoying this who doesn't really know a ton about perfume, but just wants to smell pleasant. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But this isn't for fans of complicated fragrances that go through stages. *edited to add: I have found a use for this fragrance! I find it to be quite nice as a "palate cleanser" of sorts - during weeks when I've been testing too many fragrances and have a confused nose, a day of wearing this will bring my nose back down to earth, ready to work again another day. It's such a clean, soapy, simple fragrance that it's a nice break from big, smoky, complicated fragrances (which I adore of course)... it's like a little nasal siesta.

Some pretty harsh reviews here. I, too, received a free sample vial with my FragranceNet order. The scent is lovely, a fresh floral that almost smells like laundry. It reminds me of one of the Philosophy Grace fragrances, but I can't remember which one, or even Jennifer Lopez Glow. Granted, my skin eats up perfume, but unfortunately, the sillage is not good and after just 10 minutes, I already can barely smell it on me. So the lasting power is on par with that of my Olivia Grace Boutique Apple & Clover body spray, a scent that I can't even wear to the gym due to its poor staying power. I just wear it at home when I want to smell nice. That being said, I would never throw away a perfume that doesn't smell bad. Send your samples my way and I will keep filling up my mini atomizer with them and wear it at home. :)

Add me to the camp that likes this. It does indeed smell very similar to Amazing Grace (clean, fresh, dryer sheet smell) but has an extra dimension with a warm, rounded base (powder notes of violet and benzoin). I think it is the base that makes this perfume successful. I like the smell of Amazing Grace fine but I wouldn't wear it because it's too one dimensional, without any musk or deep notes to balance. Particularly with the base notes of Simply Belle, I like fragrances with a powdery violet note such as Ultraviolet by Paco Rabanne, and this has plenty of that note to hold my interest. The added benzoin and lily of the valley makes this a little deeper and prevents it from being as cloying as a more stand alone violet would. The longevity and sillage are average, unremarkable but not worse than average.

A good "clean" scent for women. Starts out similar to Dove bar soap, but develops to resemble clean lotion or moisturizer. It's also a bit ozonic, like spring air. Really, it's not as terrible as the reviews here state, instead I think people are just tired of receiving samples of it. Since it's a house brand of FragranceNet, that'll likely never change. I think I'll take my numerous carded samples of this scent and put them in a decant to use them as linen sprays, but I may also give my girlfriend a couple. I certainly wouldn't mind her smelling like this, since she already does anyways, when she's fresh out of the shower. Also, the dry down DOES resemble suntan lotion! @rufflesbows review below really nailed this one.

I've changed my mind on this one. When I first smelled this and wore a tad if it, it really reminded me of Elizabeth Arden True Love a perfume I couldn't wear because it made my gag reflex go on overdrive. I got another sample of this from fragrancenet and revisiting it i rather like it now. The opening bothers me a bit but the longer you let this dry down it starts to smell like a good dupe for Missing Person. Very musky. A waterlily aquatic musk. The opening is rough and that is what makes this a no for me but the dry down is quite lovely. I would wear this on skin only to get to the dry down faster. I still get that True Love start. A shame. So a dislike for open, a meh for the heart and a like for the dry down.

This unobtrusive aroma softly envelopes with a musk that is clean, not overwhelming or animalic. I mostly get wafts of breezy water lily and lily of the valley. I don't detect any of the other notes. The florals are more settled after an hour, and a little less aquatic, but they are still there. I have a small bottle of Petit Guerlain from 1996 that I've given to my 4 year old daughter to share in my fragrance love. I was thinking of repurchasing that, but I'll have to add this to consideration, because it's less expensive and smells very similar. I would imagine this fragrance would move across all spectrums of age, from the almost babes to the most experienced.

Ok so I also received a sample of this from fragrancenet.com. It’s not terrible and not extraordinary. To me, it’s a simple every day scent that’s definitely safe for any occasion. Where you will be close to people. Non offensive yet still a pretty scent. Unfortunately, it seems to be watered down with alcohol and not too long lasting. Doesn’t stay longer than 15 mins on my skin. I would purchase this for my younger sister since it reminds me of fresh, youthful, and wide eyed 20 year olds, but the quality just isn’t there. Therefore, this wouldn’t be a good purchase.

The first time I received the sample Simply Belle I loved it. Then I came across the reviews here and thought there must be something wrong with my nose. Since then I received a few more samples and I still love it. It last a longtime on me. I appreciate that. The smell is a pretty floral aquatic. I have tried the other sample from Fragrance.net I think It's just called Exceptional and I don't like that at all but Simply Belle is lovely. I live in a dry climate and I'm wondering if that plays a part in how a fragrance smells...

I don’t understand all the hate with this fragrance. It’s nothing unique, but it’s not a bad scent. People will probably assume you just took a shower. I own over 70 perfumes and I wear this when I just want something fresh and clean. Good for going to the gym, doing chores, or just wanting a squeaky clean soapy scent. Yeah it might be boring, but I like the simplicity of it. People saying it smells vintage, but as a 23 year old gourmand lover, I don’t think it’s too mature. Any age could pull this off.