Scents o' the Day ~ No. 31 ~ Villainess

I’m trying to get back into my perfume reviews again and thought it best to start off with my Scents o’ the Day with smaller reviews and notes. Villainess Soaps released a bunch of their most popular soap, cream and scrub scents in perfume oil form late last year, so I had to jump in with a few decants.

Bathory
The cloying sweetness of a covetous lust for misspent youth, offset by a geriatric touch of rose and carnation, and underscored by a malevolent insinuation of sandalwood.
Mostly fruity berry musk on me. Not getting the sweetness of rose or the dryness of carnation at all. Nice, but not exciting and not me.

Blush
A blend of sweet berry and tart lime notes, grounded by a slightly tipsy touch of cheap dry wine.
I loved this in cream form. The perfume is a good blend of all the notes, the berry, lime and wine all seem to be playing equally. Seems to have good sillage. The wine goes a bit fizzy and up my nose a bit. Ooh hang on, going a bit sharp powdery, not so good. After a while it softens and it’s more how I loved it in the cream. Like this one but not enough to get.

Canaan
Warm milk, sticky bronzed honey, succulent grapes and berries, and exotic perfume - Tunisian jasmine, tuberose, the indolent lily of the valley, and Madagascar cloves.
Mmmmm, like milk warming in a pot with soft almond and honey. Very warm, sweet and lightly spiced with the cloves. I’m getting a hint of grapes but not much berry. Definitely getting the warm milky notes which start coming out more on the dry down along with gentle white florals. Quite like.

Datura
An intoxicating blend of crisp, regal gardenia, sweet frangipani, verdant tuberose, and soft, beguiling pikaki lani.
Mmmm, lovely in the vial. And lovely on, soft at first. Ooop, this quickly ramps up to be a touch sharp heavy floral, which is reminiscent of room spray. I think it could soften nicely though. … Yep, it has. Hmmmmm, quite beautiful. A really lovely very true tropical floral.

Decadence
An indulgent vanilla - alcoholic, buttery and bittersweet with delightful undertones of tonka and coconut. Our favourite vice.
This is indeed decadent and alcoholic! A very tasty, rich foody vanilla with good sillage. It reminds me of the rich vanilla tonka feel of Arcana Frilly Underpinnings but I prefer Frilly with its more complex notes.

Pearl Diver
A delicate play of bergamot and jasmine, orchid and violet, over a sensible wash of sandalwood, and salty kelp.
I really like Pearl Diver. Really fits the name. An excellent aquatic with definite salty kelp notes, so fresh and mermaid-like. Gorgeous. I may not want a bottle but always want this one around, I love the imagery of it!

Pyromania
A highly unique fragrance based on black pepper essential oil. Peculiarly spicy, warm black pepper, sweetened with brown sugar, and touched with a veil of smoke.
Reminds me of Arcana Frilly Underpinnings with pepper and vanilla notes but this is way more tickle your nose peppery and smoky. Frilly works better on me. Does soften nicely but is still mostly pepper.

Scintillating
A complex blend of revitalising mints - spearmint, cornmint, peppermint - grounded with a rich base note of black tea, and barely sweetened with soft vanilla.
Really delicious creamy mint tea. I love minty scents (BPAL Nuclear Winter, Spooky, Tokyo Stomp, Arcana Anodyne, Winter Nights, Puppy Kisses, Nocturne Alchemy Bergamot and Egyptian Mint Tea, Ra’s Chocolate Mint…erm, that’s just to name a few!) and this is one of the good ones. Has a sort of smoky musky drydown which is a bit different from others I’ve smelt.


All in all, there’s some standouts, my favourite being Pearl Diver, plus I like Datura, Scintillating and Canaan. Nothing is screaming at me to buy full size fortunately, but I think I’m going to try cutting down in that area this year in any case!