Heartless Helen

A fantastic underrated white floral, allegedly by the man who is the white floral master (Dominique Ropion). I say allegedly because presumably it was on a press release once, but traces of confirmation are scant. I really think Penhaligons should make more of their parfumers (as well as pack their parcels better - they really don't make much effort and they arrive dishevelled and grubby; the packaging for the perfumes themselves is splendid of course). There is nothing to dislike here - it's such an amiable tuberose, ironically at odds with its name. On me, this isn't Carnal Flower, which is much more visceral and stemmy; instead it's a barley sugar citrus and bubblegummy tuberose, which evolves into a soft jasmine fragrance. It's utterly lovely and as good as the best white floral scents out there. I put it somewhere between Beach Walk and Fracas, but I enjoy it more than both. Stunning!

This was a surprise present... I was naturally worried in case I didn't like it but I did!. The opening is a delicious splash of mandarine... beautiful and natural. The drydown reveals a milky tuberose, which is moderately sweet here, thank goodness! had it been a bit sweeter I would have given it to someone else. After a while I can smell the woodsy notes... it all blends really well because I can still get a whiff of mandarine after several hours. Longevity is great and sillage is good. I can still smell it in my clothes the following day and after I wash my clothes, I can smell this fragrance when I'm ironing...so yes...it stays with you. Many say it's for Summer days... I enjoy it whenever I'm in the mood for this creamy-mandarine-tuberose, like yesterday for instance, in the middle of autumn, it made me feel great!.

A green tuberose... when freshly sprayed you can easily smell the mandarins... crisp and a little sweet... then the mandarins hides behind tuberose. I’m pretty sure the mandarins is holding tuberose’s at a gunpoint from her back. That’s why the tuberose stays green throughout its performance. It dies down a very pleasant warm buy green woodsy tuberose. The bottle is Gorgeous, can be a cold weapon...I see how Helen can heartlessly poke someone with it...oops .... I don’t think it’s overpriced... it has a niche quality, maybe it’s not very unique ....but it is very well crafted. Takes a lot to tame tuberose....

Love this! I’m a big tuberose fan and this is basically tuberose in a bottle! It opens with a burst of mandarin, then it becomes a bit soapy. Once it dries down it slowly becomes sweeter as the scent progresses, the tuberose lives throughout the whole wear of the fragrance and has a slight green effect, the woody notes help balance out the tuberose and mandarin making it become a bit creamier. A very complex fragrance although it has 3 notes! One of my favourite from the portraits collection by Penhaligons, I recommend this for spring and summer. If you ever get the opportunity to try this, please do!!! 💙

tuberose is the one and only white flowers that could attract my attention and wanting to put it on my skin. I like it’s boldness within white florals and somewhat divisive. It’s full of character for me and that’s very much my vibe. the opening mandarin makes it juicy and the drydown is having a milky creamy scent, which I would say making a great combo along with the tuberose. I actually wore this to my public exam back in high school and the grade I’ve got on those 2 subjects which I wear this scent to take the exam is the highest among all subjects 🤣

This is such a fun scent! She is scrumptious and adorable. I imagine a beautiful young bubbly girl dancing and giggling along the beaches of Bali. The tropical notes have got me just dancing and grinning like no tomorrow. The scent has this tangerine tropical gourmand top and middle note, with a vanilla like base note. The sillage is very much there as well as longevity. This scent I absolutely love, but wouldn't say it suit me or be a signature scent type of perfume. I would wear it if I'd be on a sunny vacation. Zodiac Trio ⬆️Libra ☀️Pisces 🌜Aries

this is in my top 3 perfumes, it’s sooo clean and fresh and lightly sweet. opens up green and citrusy, then it dries down to a creamy tuberose with hints of woody notes. my boyfriend says it’s his favourite scent on me, it’s just so dreamy. it’s girly but sophisticated, clean but not soapy and sweet but not cloying. the creamy tuberose dry down lasts around 4/5 hours and it’s my favourite part🥰🪷🍊 sadly it’s been discontinued but my local Penhaligons shop had 3 left so i got them all. i think this is going to be my wedding day fragrance!

Fresh vintage scent, really love it. It's not intrusive and definitely moreish, however way way overpriced and the name is odd - I don't find it cold and heartless at all, if anything I would see the character as a young woman, still a bit naive but full of grace and beauty and curiosity for the world. I'll never waste money on a full bottle but happy to keep the travel edition around, at least I won't get bored of it as it so often happens with fragrances. Sillage is poor but it does last a moderate time, for me anyway.

At first sniff, this reminded me of Sand and Sable. But it has more complexity. I never really liked Sand and Sable, but there's a green tangerine component to it that makes the tuberose in this one interesting. I get cocoa butter vibes from it, too. I don't detect any wood at all. This perfume has a non-offensive type of soft scent that makes it easy to wear in public and during warm months. I've gone back to it again and again because the green citrus and tuberose mix is cravable.

Heartless Helen opens with a peppery tuberose, slightly bubblegum-like. I don’t pick any mandarin , for me it goes straight in the mid notes and actually never quite leaves that stage. It is a lovely tuberose by the tuberose master Dominique Ropion. But it will never be Carnal Flower, which is a lot deeper and greener and evolves sonmuch during the wear time. The bottle and the packaging of Heartless Helen (especially the artwork) are exquisite.

Lovely fatty tuberose on top of quite of a decent, rich woody base. First you only smell the thick, rich tuberose and not so much the base, but it does dry down to quite of a heavy woody perfume with the tuberose a little more blended it. The tuberose will never go (which is good), but it starts as main character and becomes more of a supporting role later. I'm not complaining. Great perfume. Rich, interesting and complex. I might get it even.

Wow, my favorite tuberose scent ever and the perfect summer night scent-10/10. I tried to like Memo's Martha but that has a cigarette smoke quality to it, but Heartless Helen is clean, creamy, a little salty and sexy. I went through my sample of Carnal Flower before I got this, but if memory serves, this is more approachable with a more intimate sillage. Maybe old Penny's will have a 50% off sale and I'll think about buying it.

This fragrance is super green, bright and uplifting. There's a strong, but fleeting, green bite then the crisp citrus and indolic white florals come trailing behind. It all smells very fresh and photorealistic which is what really draws me into this scent. The tuberose grows into a full, bubblegummy note. Its a scent that is blended incredibly well. A very beautiful and mood-boosting scent.

I love this tuberose concoction! Superbly blended, as always. An intriguing mixture of fruitiness, heady, intoxicating and deep sweet tuberose and sophisticated woods. Tubie and woods tend dominate towards the end in the dry down which is perfectly fine with me!!! What could you ask more? Absolutely love this simple three ingredient gem!

I received this Fragrance as a Christmas present from my husband. I am in love with the bottle, it is simply amazing. The Fragrance itself is very feminine, soft and elegant. I am not normally a fan of tuberose but here combined with the mandarine and creamy woods it is just perfect. Heartless Helen will definitely break some hearts.

I have the sample size only, and will say that straight out of the gate, I loved this. If it were gifted to me, I wouldn't complain, but at a staggering £270, it's a pass. As a brand, I love the theming and storytelling that goes into the Penhaligan's experience, but at the end of the day I just want a great perfume.

I don't wear much tuberose, but I love it on a woman. It opens up so airy, fresh, lush and sweet with the dewy chewy tuberose. The opening tricks my nose into thinking it has aldehedes because it has so much spark to it. Dries down clean and slightly soapy. This is my favorite fem fragrance from the portraits series.

This is the first fragrance that made me like and appreciate the unique smell of tuberose Mandarin and oranage blossom (not listed) opening with bubblegummy tuberose Tuberose is nicely grounded with fruity notes and woody bade notes so it is not overpowering Overall it's a nice white floral, very feminine

I wore this to work and a coworker pointed out that I smelled like a rich person. Is really expensive for what it is but I would LOVE to own a bottle. Will probably save up or ask family for Christmas. I think this one would be good in winter time or while going out at night.

I think this is in the unisex range. It’s not overly sweet. As it mellows more of the woods come through. I get pear and tuberose mostly. I like it because it is different then other perfumes I have. Pear is not listed but that’s the predominant scent I pick up.

I am living in Vietnam, Hot Tropical country, Full of armpit smell around the city, This is one of the best Perfume I like , It gives a feeling of fresh! Clean! I love it. I dont know why people dont like it. It is created by Carnal Flower Father. Yes!

I love it. It is a more creamier, lighter version of Vert Malachite. On my skin they smell similar!!!! It’s not boring at all my opinion. Thank you Penhaligon for adding this beauty in my basket for free 😉😉😉😉. Amazing 🤩 The bottle is beautiful ☺️

More youthful and lighthearted than the name. Could even imitate as a natural body scent rather than wearing a fragrance. Simple and refreshing tuberous with slight hint of citrus. Great opening to finish. One of the best tuberose fragrance.

It's a very unique tuberose scent unlike any other, with a soft creamy rich dry down to it that almost reminds me of creme brûlée. I find it very extremely alluring each time I take a whiff of it.

She’s peppery and sweet and juicy in the opening, then a clean, creamy and lush finish. She’s light. She’s intimate. I bought a full size and wear it often. Worth the price because I just love it.

94 euros at skins cosmetics sale now. really worth double that price. stunning creamy tuberose

I was sent a sample from Penhaligon's. The portrait collection is always interesting to sample, even if my feeling with this line is that there's too much hype and not enough substance, They are good scents, but as often with Penhaligon's they lack complexity. At my first try I would have said the same of this scent. I definitely wouldn't compare this to Carnal Flower... of course, it's tuberose, but Carnal Flower is exasperated complexity, while here that complexity is much more hidden. At the beginning it's easy to put Helen down as a simple, linear perfume: tuberose is powerful and tends to overwhelm everything else. However there's so much more going on here. The perfume pyramid is quite simple and not all that helpful. Yes, the opening has a pretty sharp note in it that could be mandarin (but I also detect some pepper and spices). But than something interesting happen: the tuberose becomes a bridge that links the opening directly to the base (oud, yes... but there's some oakmoss and something els, which I'm not skilled enough to describe) creating an incredible balsamic counterpoint to the tuberose itself. Creamy bubblegum perfectly describe it, indeed, but there's something else: this mandarin/oud bridge is what makes Helen special. And different. After a couple of tries I must admit I'm absolutely intrigued and will be considering the full bottle (despite the overwhelming price). It's a pity that the drydown loses that interesting balsamic twist to become a more linear, creamy tuberose. Should also add that both sillage and longevity aren't as strong as you would expect from a tuberose scent. Which might be ok but considering the price it's a bit disappointing.

Following the path of Changing Constance, Heartless Helen is another great feminine fragrance from Penhaligons! Heartless Helen is for tuberose lovers who like a bright photorealistic mandarin scent as the opening of their fragrance and a bit of a smooth wood in the base! If that’s you, I think you’ll instantly love Heartless Helen, like I do! The script itself is a very simple, linear and uncomplicated one. Easy reach for day to day wear, for warm weather seasons only. The fragrance at its core is a bubblegumy tuberose, but with a very bright, natural, zesty mandarin orange in the opening. The way the mandarin orange is done here, it reminded me instantly of the one from Guerlain’s Mandarin Basilic. That last for a couple of minutes, afterwards the scent moves towards the star note of the composition, a radiant, uplifting, sweet tuberose. And it’s a natural smelling tuberose in this! The only negative thing about Heartless Helen is the way it performs. It’s even a softer, more subdued perfume that Changing Constance, and these perfumes go for £245 on the official website. Also worth noting is that the full size bottle is only 75 ml, so that’s super expensive for how underwhelming this scent performs at least on my skin! Haven’t tried it on clothing yet. For half of the FRP I might be tempted to buy a bottle, but otherwise it’s a no for me.. As a longtime tuberose fan, I have already a lot and some with way better performance for a third of the price of Heartless Helen.

Heartless Helen is a simple tuberose scent, decent and pleasant, but nothing groundbreaking. It is a sweet, clean, fruity white floral, muted and polite. Tuberose is multifaceted, and in different scents it can present as being much headier, appearing camphorous/waxy/fleshy at different times, but here it is mild, sweet and clean. HH is a white floral scent throughout, with tuberose dominant from initial spray. Sweet, juicy orange is evident up top, adding a nice fruity quality to the tuberose. It feels a little tropical here, almost like orange blossom. The tuberose becomes more bubblegum-like as it develops and the orange subsides, still sweet but more full-bodied. It becomes sweetly musky as it dries down, with some soft woodiness evident at the later stages. Sillage and longevity are moderate. It is a feminine spring/summer day-to-night scent. A pleasant, polite take on tuberose, this is a sweet white floral scent without being a gourmand. Not a definitive tuberose scent for me - there are many others I prefer, and this is also expensive for what it is. 3/5.

I’m not usually a fan of tuberose, but this is an exception. It’s opening notes are fresh, green and floral and remind me of walking through a garden on a bright summer morning when the dew is still wet on the flowers and leaves and the world feels fresh, clean and optimistic. I spray this scent and it lifts my mood. I have a 2ml sample from the Portraits discovery box. I don’t have a ‘signature fragrance’ and like to change my perfume with the weather and my mood. For this reason alone, I wouldn’t buy a full bottle. I’d never use it all. Longevity is good on me - I sprayed it on before work this morning and I’m still very aware off it tonight at 10pm. Silage is also good. It reminds me a little of Goutal’s Chèvrefeulle from the Goutal discovery box. I feel I still have much to learn about the Penhaligon brand. I’m enjoying this voyage of discovery.

This is actually a nice, very simple tuberose centred fragrance. Not headache inducing and neither a total wimp. I can understand why Carnal Flower and Fracas are mentioned. I already have those so sadly this lovely is redundant. My mind also jumped on the memory of when I last wore Gucci Bloom.I has a little less sweetness than Bloom. It's possibly more clean smelling. You would be hard pushed to make someone wince if they invaded your personal space wearing this. The tuberose fades quickly back and then it's the woods with a touch of zesty mandarine. It finally closes as rather soapy tuberose. It is lovely but longevity and sillage are well below average on me. The rrp is just silly. Maybe it's the bottle you are largely paying for! I've got to say the bottle really does appeal to me.

The SA in Harrod's tells me the nose behind this fragrance is Dominique Ropion, which explains why it is 90% similar to Carnal Flower. If I hadn't already just purchased the latter, I would have been very tempted to buy Helen. She's a loud tuberose through-and-through. Compared to Carnal Flower I got a bit more citrus and slightly less camphor, and of course the longevity is overall weaker (I took away a perfumed handkerchief doused in the stuff, and it lasted only a day compared to my sample of the other gorgeous Harrod's exclusive I tried - Mr Harrod (an intense plum-spicy-woody-oud fragrance, NIDB) - which is still going strong a week later). My friend told me it smelt like kitchen cleaner, so clearly a divisive scent. However I wish my kitchen smelt like this!

How can Heartless Helen be so innocent and straightforward and, dare I say it, happy? Nothing heartless about this version of Helen, full of tuberose, a very heavy and voluptuous note, but the Orange Blossom lifts it up, giving it such a fresh and optimistic air...not cloying or headache inducing. So very pretty. And there are some nice prices on this at the warehouses, don't pay full price. I've had this for years, it still smells divine. Maybe, not worth full price, but at a discount, this tuberose is one of the finest.

A clean floral with bitter orange. I like this fragrance but I think I'd enjoy this more when the summer hits! If you don't like tuberose you may not like this. However, to my nose I pick up more bitter orange (reminiscent of fresh orange peels) and something creamy. Tuberose can lean a little mature to many people but I think the bitter orange and whatever note is coming through as creamy to my nose...helps to give it a younger aura. This reminds me of Holiday by HOS.

A dewy, green, mint-tinged tuberose. Both refined and refreshing. Although it isn’t listed in the notes, this fragrance consistently gives me a distinctly aquatic impression; as if the tuberose blossoms were floating on water, with a cool, minty freshness drifting through the air. I don’t really pick up any woody facets here. It’s a shame that it’s discontinued. Tag(s): minty, dewy tuberose

Very reminiscent of Soleil Blanc, but instead of it being a nutty citric coconut, this is a tuberose heavy orange wood. The tuberose is slightly bubble gummy but not overwhelming, still feels like a white floral. It's a bit sweet as well but still very pleasant for summertime. I wouldn't choose Helen over Soleil Blanc considering the price on this is so high.

it's okay. initial thoughts: reminds me of marfa, but more restrained. marfa is like BAM shoving your face in a tuberose bouquet, but heartless helen is gentler like you're wearing a corsage that you pick whiffs of every now and then. mandarin takes a backseat to the agave in marfa, while it is riding shotgun next to tuberose in heartless helen.

My favorite of the set. Yummy citrus opening followed by a fruity tuberose that turns creamy and woody. Unfortunately the drydown is much less interesting than the fantastic opening. Sampling this one makes me want to try more citrus florals. edit November 2021 I just realized this smells very similar to Tubereuse Hedenie by Roger & Gallet.

Attracted by the color of its juice at the beginning, and my head aches during the first try. The tuberose is so intensed. But the second, I'm fine with it and got one at home now, spray it from time to time. It's a very milky tuberose scent, warm, with some woody scent, not much the sultry of tuberose. -- Not a fan of tuberose.

I believe there are additional notes in this fragrance: pink peppercorn and mandarin, tuberose and jasmine, cashmeran and sandalwood. On my skin, the pink peppercorn is fairly intense, so I am surprised that the description on Fragrantica does not list it. I like this fragrance, but it is very sharp and spicy on me.

This is a perfume that I found to be exactly what it describes itself as. Nice Tuberose with some citrus and a creamy woody dry-down. The tuberose gave the fragrance a more mature scent then id like but overall is pretty underwhelming.

When first sprayed, I was quite surprised because the scent is very light and pleasant. As a guy who prefers subtle fragrances, I find this one quite fitting for me. It would be even better for warmer days or evenings.

Tuberose in a bottle. For tuberose lower. You like tuberose imperial by BDK, or Lili fantasy by Juliette has a Gun, etc, You need to try it. Perfect for spring, feminine to my opinion (but do what you want!). 7/10

I really think this smells like sweetart candies with a bit of pepper in the opening which is really nice! dry down is super faint and didn’t last over 3 hours of wear on skin. (3 sprays, both wrists and neck)

Typical tuberose scent - not very bubblegummy but it doesn't smell like a suntan oil (Marfa) either. A good balance between the two.

Reminded me of Loewe Ella Elixir but with more mandarin and not that strong as Loewe. Still very good. I would consider it unisex

It smells almost exactly like Godet Diva. It has less less sweetness in it, maybe almonds. It’s more flowery. Nice.

Gives very much scented candle vibes. Also despite the listing here, I find it to be unisex. It's an overall pleasing and relaxing scent rooted in tuberose, and I think the opening is a work of art, with its soapy and indulgent citrus, but in the end I'm not sure it's a scent I'd like to wear or smell like. The scent profile has got a bizarre, waxy quality I can't quite put my finger on, hence the scented candle comment. It's sad that Heartless Helen had to be my first fragrance experience from Penhaligon's, because to a certain extent it is underwhelming for the price point. I'm sure Penhaligon's has fragrances of much higher quality and craft out there--I just have yet to try them.

This is a tuberose fragrance, i expected something more complex or at least a bit more deep. But that isnt the case. It is lovely for what it is and for the hour that i can smell it. But it gets quite boring its just a bit bland for me. Its milky and sweet in a good way. Not really worth the price, imo its more of a 80-100ish range perfume (less even). Maybe the quality is great and the ingredients were handpicked from the garden of a castle and a lot of work was put into it or something that makes this a 200+eur perfume. But I just dont see it. Not a bad perfume but not worth its asking price. Would be a 9/10 at 70eur Is a 3/10 at 200+

Unsurprisingly, it's like getting hit in the face with a bouquet of tuberose. It's surprisingly not indolic or bubblegum-like for such a powerful, front and center tuberose note. It's the best of tuberose, on steroids. I don't get the orange, and there's a subtle woody undertone, but it's really just tuberose for days. There's a chalky, candy-like quality to it; not synthetic, but man-conceived, if you get me. Obviously, this is not going to be for everyone, but if you love tuberose you should definitely give it a try. 7.5/10.