Pretty, shiny, last-minute gifts

If you're like me, you've left your holiday shopping to the last minute.

If you're stuck with no inspiration and less time, may I suggest taking a look at our beautiful selection of jewelry? We have some exquisite pieces from two very talented artists, Sihaya Designs, and Elements and Artifacts. The items from the latter artist are actually completely exclusive to us - truly one of a kind.

These are a few examples of what we have available:

Beautiful, no?

And to make your shopping even better, our jewelry lines are currently on sale until this Friday. We do ship next day for all in-stock items, so bearing in mind the shipping times listed here, these could be an ideal last-minute gift.

Holiday Shipping Dates

We will be shipping every day until December 23rd, and will resume as of the 29th. Processing times will remain the same - parcels will ship out by the next day, barring circumstances beyond our control. If you get your order in before noon EST, we'll usually be able to ship the same day.

For US orders, getting an order in time for the holidays is iffy as of right now. Normal transit times for packages crossing the border range from a few days to about 2 weeks, so bear in mind that there is an element of risk if you are hoping to receive something by the 24th.

For Canadian orders, we are shipping via Expedited service, which translates to:

Local – 1 day

Regional – 1 up to 3 days

National – 2 up to 7 days

That usually means about 2-5 business days, and 6-7 if you're in the territories, or in a more rural area of BC or the Prairies.

We are happy to combine orders as well, just e-mail us before placing a second order, as it simpler to invoice than to issue refunds for shipping.

Time to say thank you....

As our friends below the border celebrate American Thanksgiving, we'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our lovely customers as well. You've made the past few months an absolute delight!

Please enjoy 10% off any order of 40$ and more, with code thanks10. Good from now until that retailpalooza known as Cyber Monday. ;-)

Canadian Shipping

We will be upgrading our shipping for Canadian orders to Expedited Parcel, where possible. For example, a package to the Prairies takes about 7 business days. With EP, Canada Post apparently guarantees that it will only be 5 business days.

And we all know that those two days can be endless when you're waiting on a box o' deliciousness. ;-)

Holiday Collections

I'm so excited about the new things coming in this week! Check out our Winter shop for the selection.

We received the China Glaze 'Tis the Season nail polishes earlier this week, and they're already a hit. If you haven't seen swatches for these yet, I highly recommend checking out those featured on All You Desire or Scrangie's blog. A great mix of classic and whimsical shades.

We're also now featuring OPI for sale to our online retail clients, as an extension of our in-house service. We still have a bit of both Burlesque and the Swiss Collection left.

The Villainess winter items are juuuust around the corner. Literally. They're sitting in the Montreal postal sorting center, and I was expecting them to be delivered today, until I realized that all services are closed due to it being Memorial Day. They should, however, be in by tomorrow. If you want to have an advanced peek, they are listed on both the Winter page and the Villainess LE page.

EDIT (Nov. 12): And they're in!

I am personally really looking forward to Just Desserts - it smells like a vaguely malicious Dreamsicle, if soap could have ill intent. ;-)

No teasers yet about the Arcana holiday update, but we'll let you know as soon as we know. =)

Confusion

Eeep.

I just wanted to clear something up. This blog originally started out as a general review blog, under a different name. I then retooled it to be both about things I love, as well as eventually becoming a place to chat about things happening at Pretty Indulgent.

So for example, I posted the other day about the BPAL Inquisition and Halloween sets. That's because I ordered those for myself and thought that they were awesome and wanted to share that, not because I was selling the items.

I'm tagging the non-shop posts with "what I love", to make it clear I'm just talking about products that I personally am a fan of.

Apologies for the confusion!

BPAL Halloween

And switching gears entirely - look what just arrived this week, right in time for Halloween! Aren't the labels just darling? They were created by Kira/Elixireleven. The soaps themselves were made by Brooke/Villainess, scented with oils created by Beth/BPAL. So much talent from these ladies!

The full Black Phoenix Trading Post - Trick or Treat Inquisition!

And also, keeping the Inquisition company on the cold trip North, a selection from the limited Halloweenie series.

As you can see, I haven't had a chance to unwrap most of these*, let alone test them, so this is less of a review and more of a "Oh! So adorable!" post. And also a reminder that if any of these look appealing, make haste to order, because they won't be up for much longer.

*With such an array to choose from, I dove in a little blind and decided to try out Jack. The soap is spicier than the perfume oil of the same name, full of warm, golden pumpkin, barely sweet peach, and delicious nutmeg and clove. It is Halloween in bar form. LOVE.

Arcana Early Autumn Collection

With snow looming here in Canada, I feel like a brief reminder of days gone by is called for.

Which brings me to the this collection - two lovely soaps and three perfumes, evoking the bittersweet nature of the last days of the Summer season, and the dawn of Fall.

1816 - Shivery peppermint, Madagascar vanilla, white sugar, creamed butterscotch, snowy fondant, fog, sleet, hail, and a tiny bite of silvery fir.

Scathach - Highland grass, green apples, almonds, fir needles, and honey-speared citrus.

1816 is beautifully brisk and refreshing, not quite chilly. Scathach is a distant cousin to my beloved Avalon, which doubles as an autumn fragrance for me.

Danced to Pieces - Blushing candy sweetness and an angelic tangle of strawberry, raspberry, red currant, pink grapefruit, and white sugar weave a spell above a flagrantly destructive, self-indulgent base of dark peppery musk, resinous amber, heady cognac, opiate-laced cassis cordial, and the faint remains of a silver leaf.

The Sunflower's Lament - Tears on the warmest, brightest day: apricot, chamomile, opoponax resin, petitgrain, peach, lavender, green cognac, heather, heliotrope, sweet clove, sticky benzoin, and iron-distilled patchouli.

The Moonflower’s Bliss - Happiness under a starless sky: moon vine, heartleaf milkweed, Calla lily, white tuberose, gardenia, and Madagascar bridal veil with creamy butter CO2 extract, pearl musk, white pepper, and a trace of incense.

Three very different perfumes.

Danced to Pieces has an astringent opening, nose-tickling even, as the tart berries and sharp cassis mix with the sugared booze. This phase did not do well on me, but after a bit it begins to mellow, warm and deepen until it becomes a gorgeous, deeply spiced amber. A surprise win.

The Sunflower’s Lament is the perfect resin for folks who tend to prefer foody notes and shy away from heavier blends. Tons of earth notes and resins, yet what comes across is a bright, golden fragrance, juicy and sweet, that softens gently into a musky, lightly powdered finish.

The Moonflower’s Bliss. Oh. OH. A wonderfully luxurious yet utterly wearable tropical floral. Voluptous white blooms with sheer, light counterpoints, and a gentle, creamy drydown. I really hope this one is brought into the general catalogue.

Actually, I hope all of them are folded into the permanent line. In the meantime, indulge in these last bits of early Fall before we’re blanketed by snow.

Shipping Changes and New Things For Fall

Canada Post is many things, but inexpensive isn't one of them. We're always looking to bring you guys wonderful, unique products at affordable prices, and working out the shipping has been challenging, to say the least. (Never mind the irony that it's less expensive to ship very light packages to the States, than it is to our neighboring province.)

Please check out the new rates here.

For international orders, please e-mail us for a quote.

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In other news, we finally have the fall collections from both Villainess and Arcana! Returning favorites and some new yumminess to indulge in. =)

My personal favorites?

Arcana's Holy Terror (soap and perfume) for its beautiful, heavy resins and beeswax sweetness. EDIT: Wow, we're officially out of Holy Terror soap!

Cobwebs from Villainess - possibly the most gorgeous-looking and seasonally apropos soap ever. It's also available in some experimental sizes and formats - a 2ml corked dram bottle of perfume, and a ceramic candle. This is not a sweet, foody fragrance (which abound in both collections), but rather something that encapsulates the darker aspects of the season.

Free Shipping

Free shipping for purchases of 60$ and more! Good until 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, Oct. 5th.

The promo good for both Canadian and US orders! US orders will ship on Friday via priority mail, from the States, as we will be traveling.

Livraison gratuite pour les achats de 60 $ et plus! Bon jusqu'à 23h59, le mardi 5 octobre.

La promotion s'applique aux commandes canadiennes et américaines! Les commandes américaines seront envoyé le vendredi par courrier prioritaire, en provenance des États.

Halloween!

We have a whole lot of wonderful goodies on the way from Arcana and Villainess! They should be here within a couple of weeks, in time for Halloween.

And if you're still clinging to the last bits of summer, have a look on our Limited Editions page for some lovely reminders.

We're open!

The shop is open!

http://www.prettyindulgent.com/

Please drop by, have a look around, and if you see anything you like, take advantage of our welcome promo: 10% off your purchase with code sept10. (Good through the end of September.)

S'il vous plaît n'hésitez pas à nous visiter, et profitez de notre offre spéciale de lancement - 10% de réduction avec le code sept10, valable jusqu'au dernier jour de Septembre.

Site update - Infos pour le site web

The website is steadily coming along. I have a few days of work left on product cataloguing and photography. But I'm very excited by the prospect of going live towards the end of next week, quite probably.

I also just got a preview of what Arcana has planned for the Early Autumn release and it sounds delicious! Definitely original, but still very much in the spirit of classic Arcana.

Le site Web achève! J'ai encore quelques jours de travail pour cataloguer et photographier certains produits. Mais je pense être prête pour la fin de la semaine prochaine.

J'ai également vu ce que Arcana a prévu pour la collection de "Early Autumn" et cela semble délicieux ! Original, mais toujours dans l'esprit des Arcana classiques.

Nubar - Indigo Illusion

Nubar has the most splendid duochrome nail polishes, many of which are still part of the general catalogue. One of the absolute best is Indigo Illusion. It is also, unfortunately, discontinued - though I still hold out hope for its eventual re-release. As it is, I cherish my lone little bottle.

Indigo Illusion is the most hypnotically beautiful violet-grey-green-teal shade I've ever seen. It's the perfect color for a Pisces like me, all mutable seascapes. It's also a PITA to photograph. These pictures are the best I could come up with, and they STILL don't capture the complexity.

In the full daylight, you can see the beautifully shimmery violet flash.

Still in daylight, but at an angle where you can see the teal base, without the flash.

Miraculously, you can actually see all the duochrome transition in this picture - from golden-green to violet.

In indirect light, it looks almost like a greyish purple, but you can see the green at the edges.

So complex and gorgeous. Please Nubar, bring this back.

A little bit of history - also, website!

Some exciting (I hope!) stuff coming soon.

I've been involved in the online beauty world for several years now - both as an avid consumer and occasional hobbyist (a brief and dubious run of soap-making). I discovered artists and brands that I knew nothing about 5 years ago, and had the pleasure of becoming friends with some of these artisans and entrepreneurs, while also having the equal delight of seeing friends become business-owners and creators in their own right.

Some time ago I thought about putting together a little online boutique for the things I was most passionate about. As a concept, it struck me as a little bit presumptuous - I mean, can I really base a store around just the things I like? But then again, that's the beauty of an online store - it really can be whatever you want it to be, indentity-wise. Why not a carefully audited selection of things that really resonate with me, and will hopefully appeal to other people? At the very least whoever buys from me will know that I'm not just pandering - if I sell it, it's because I love it.

I put together this blog (on a different site originally) a few months back, pulling out from my old review blog just the things that made me truly excited. That gave me a solid base to start with - these are the brands, I realized, I would be happy to enable people to. So this blog will continue in that vein. It will feature what I'm personally 100% into, whether it winds up as something in the shop or not.

Speaking of shop - it's almost ready! The final design is done, and now I'm just adding the product listings. Soon, very soon. =)

Elements and Artifacts - Custom Order

I just received my first custom order from Elements and Artifacts - a variation on a necklace the artist had made just recently. I lusted after the original necklace deeply. Not only was the focal piece absolutely breath-taking, but the metal-work was exactly what I prefer in jewelry - elegant, feminine, yet steeped in naturalistic themes. I asked her if she could recreate something similar, and Alicia was more than accommodating, giving me a choice between three different focus stones and displaying far more patience than required when I waffled endlessly. The end result is even more beautiful than expected. The necklace arrived quickly once it was completed (which itself did not take long at all, and, like I said, depended far more on my hemming and hawing than anything else), and came in a lovely package.

I can't even explain the magic of labradorite. It's a stone that has these amazing layers, almost translucent, and flashes different colors depending on how the light hits it, and what is behind the stone itself.

Observe the riot of mutable, Piscean greens and blues, and foamy white and radiant gold, shot through with smoky veins. It is gorgeous - a wild, oceanic beauty framed by the earthier tones and graceful styling of the metal.

It is pure awesomeness.

BPAL - Trading Post Soaps

Sometimes the convergence of two things is just seamless. Such is the case with the soaps from Black Phoenix Trading Post.

Once upon a time, many years ago, Beth from BPAL made her own soaps. Being the prolific, highly inventive lady that she was, and soaps being the time-consuming creature that they are, eventually the BPAL soaps passed on into the mist to make way for other enticements - though they were much missed. A few years ago, BPAL teamed with a local soapmaker to produce a small line of soaps. As lovely as these were, they were not meant to be, and once again we suffered a dearth of BPAL-infused suds.

Enter Villainess. With years of soapmaking under her belt, Brooke is a master of her craft (as I have drooled over in a previous post). Her soaps are not just aromatic and cleansing - they works of art in and of themselves, complex riffs on olfactory concepts, and lushly lathersome to boot.

For these two ladies to team up was only natural, though the result has been nothing short of sublime.

Bear witness to The Most Perfect Soap Ever Made:

Ok. That might be touch of hyperbole. But only a touch - it really is an awesome soap.

First, a quick shout out for the label-design. It's not an easy thing to combine two very established aesthetics, as both BPAL and Villainess have, and come up with something that stands so beautifully on its own. Kudos extended to the lady behind Elixireleven for the gorgeousness.

Scented with BPAL's Shub-Niggurath perfume (a blend that was once a limited edition, with original bottles that fetched high sums on ebay), it is a soap unlike most people have likely experienced. It is smooth, spicy incense that once lathered up lingers deliciously in the bathroom and on your skin - it is so persistent, that you almost don't need perfume for several hours later. And of course the soap itself is a Villainess standard - that fabulous, slice-of-fudge texture, and a soft, silky lather that leaves the skin satiny-clean.

This is not the kind of soap that you toss in the shower for a quick, refreshing boost in the morning. This is the kind of soap that invites you to luxuriate, to marvel at the sheer voluptuous potential in an act as basic as bathing.

It is, simply put, smexy soap. And I officially need several hundred bars to stockpile.*

*And it is conserves very well over time. Soap does not, of course, have an infinite shelf-life, but Villainess soaps store very well - up to year, easily.

China Glaze - Let's Groove from Retro Diva

I adore China Glaze polishes. For the most part, they apply very easily, have a fantastic range of shades and the limited collections are usually some of the pretties and most creative out there. Plus, they're more affordable than OPI.

And did I mention gorgeous?

By far one of my absolute favorite purples. It's the most beautiful true purple, packed with violet and reddish shimmer that flashes like whoa in the sun. I thought this one was metallic, but no, it's just THAT shimmery.

Cargo - Blu-Ray Blush

Cargo is one of those brands that makes me happy to be Canadian. Started and run by a woman, committed to creating artist-level products that are nevertheless easy-to-use and affordable for the average consumer. (They are also cruelty-free and committed to offering the same level of quality with an ecological consciousness via their Plantlove line.)

Since this is brand that also caters to the professional, they also have a few products geared specifically to the HD market - their Blue-Ray line. Despite their pro applications, the items in this line are supremely user-friendly and would be key in anyone's on-the-go makeup bag.

I especially adore the blush.

It comes in two versions at the moment - Pink and Peach. The one featured here is the Pink. It is a light, neutral-to-warm pink with just a touch of golden shimmer. It has photographed a little cooler than it actually reads in real life.

This is not an attention-getting blush. It's not bright or vivid - when applied correctly, you shouldn't even be able to tell you're wearing any. And that's the charm. This is easily one of the most finely-milled blushes I have ever tried - it applies seamlessly and flawlessly, blending naturally with your skin. The effect is subtle and luminous, making look lit from within, not spackled with color. This is not the blush to select if you want drama, but for no-fuss application and a softly beautiful effect, this is perfect.

I do hope Cargo comes out with more shades, because the only downside to this blush is that it suits fair to medium complexions only. It is also 28$ CAD (27$ USD), which can seem like quite the investment, but it also weighs in at 8 grams. By comparison, a Nars blush is 4.5 grams, and costs 30$ CAD (26$ USD).

Sihaya Designs - Starflower Earrings

I bought these Starflower Earrings  from Sihaya Designs a while back. They represent my favorite aspect of her work - the mix of naturalistic elements and warm, burnished metals.
They also get compliments like crazy. On any given day I wear these, I get at least one for every two people I speak with. They are unfussy, but just so lovely.

Arcana - An Introduction

I want to introduce you to another of my favorite independent soap companies - Arcana Soaps and Perfumes. Julia makes some outstanding cold-processed soap, using scent blends that owe more to perfumery than traditional soap-making.


These are fabulous soaps with a smooth, creamy lather, though the individual properties of each vary with the specific oils used in the individual recipe (i.e.: macadamia, black cocoa butter, etc.). They feel heavy in your hand and look beautiful stacked on your vanity or arranged in a pretty bowl. (I keep them in a pretty hatbox to conserve the scent, but then again I'm a soap freak and need to hoard a stash to last me through the Apocalypse.) The labels are all unique and reflect the concept of the scent blend, and are so pretty that I often hesitate in breaking one open.

Then there are the scrubs, which are generally only made during the cooler months of the year, in order to preserve the luscious texture during shipping.

These are definitely not lightweight. They are thick and scoop-able like cake batter, loaded with oils and butters and scrubby bits to smooth away dry, crackly skin. I confess that I rarely use them in the summer, but I break them out when the weather starts cooling. I like to stock up for the winter months, and I've found that a little goes a long way, as these are potently moisturizing and quite scrubby.


The scent is strong and beautiful in the shower, but doesn't stay too long on the skin afterward, which I prefer as it doesn't interfere with my scent selection for the day.


And then we come to, of course, the perfumes. Hand-blended from both natural and synthtic essences , they range from the straightforward to the subtle and textured. They also, more than any other perfume oil I've tried, improve markedly with aging. Frequently it's only after a year that they become utterly seamless and more complex, as notes mature and meld together in beautiful ways.


The labels are also darling, both for more limited creations and ones in the regular line-up. This is a small example:

Arcana also offers a small selection of facial care, which I have yet to try.

BPAL - Four Seasons Inquisition (vintage)

As promised in BPTP intro post, I will be reviewing some of the products from the Trading Post, as well as vintage collections that are no longer currently available, but that give you an idea of what BPAL is about. This is a review of a past Inquisition.

The Inquisition is a BPAL/BPTP tradition where sets of products (usually a perfume and a corresponding shirt) are available for sale, but the trick is that you have to submit a plea for which version you want and the Trading Post 'imps' decide which one you will receive. (Though of course they will honor outright requests. They're not mean, those imps.) In the case of the Four Seasons Inquisition, the sets included a perfume, an atmosphere spray and a bath oil - by far my favorite out of all the combinations.

The labels were all absolutely gorgeous and of course the scents themselves were divine. They were not identical across the pray, bath oil and perfume versions, but rather each set contained scent blends that were truly evocative of the season and suited to their medium. 

LA PRIMAVERA
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Tuberose, linden blossom, jasmine, rosehip, oakmoss, pink heather, white rose, and sugar cane, with plum, lemon tree, and orange blossoms.
BATH OIL - Lemon peel, tuberose, sugar cane, plum blossom, white gardenia, dandelion, violet leaf, jonquil, iris, sandalwood, Damascus rose, white grapefruit, mint, and sweet orange.
PERFUME - Plum blossom, tuberose, oakmoss, violet leaf, jasmine, ylang ylang, lemon peel, orange blossom, and lemon peel.

L’ESTATE
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Nepalese amber, vanilla infused amber, golden musk,
sandalwood, orange rind, ginger, frankincense, and cardamom.
BATH OIL - Carnation, golden amber, honey myrtle, beeswax absolute, summer peach,
cardamom, and vanilla orchid.
PERFUME - Nepalese amber, vanilla infused amber, golden musk, sandalwood, golden lily, sunflower, and honey myrtle.

L’AUTUNNO
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Fig leaf, patchouli, black tea, and bonfire smoke.
BATH OIL - Sage, myrrh, patchouli, molasses, sweetgrass, cedar, and cinnamon sugar.
PERFUME - Hawthorn, fig, myrrh, carnation, toasted almond, red and green apple, patchouli, wood smoke, and Indian musk.

L’INVERNO
ATMOSPHERIC SPRAY - Snow-laden pine boughs, sleet, white sandalwood, cedar, winter orchid, and honeysuckle.
BATH OIL - Stargazer lily, white musk, winter orchid, white grapefruit, fir needle, star jasmine, citron, and mint.
PERFUME - White musk, winter plum, pine wood, benzoin, orchid, and stargazer lily.

The Primavera scents are a riotous explosion of florals - but a field full of flowers, not a hothouse, in that the air is rich with the scent of dozens of blooms, but there is a breeze throughout. Floral, sweet, with a faint underlay of greenery and fresh citrus top notes, but not cloying or overwhelming. These are still not blends suited to anyone who does not appreciate florals, but for someone who does - pure gorgeousness.

L'Estate are all sensual, languid scents. They are evocative of sultry summer evening, the air hot and humid, the light deeply golden. Ambers and resins dominate these blends, with the perfume having the most mellow character, the spray and oil spicier in nature. I think some people would be fearful of wearing such heavy, oriental-style scents in the summer, but I think they deserve to be appreciated in their full glory, as they expand in the deep, permeating heat. These are very sexual scents, and I greatly favor wearing the bath oil to bed as a post-shower moisturizer.

L'Autunno sound like more masculine-friendly blends, and indeed they can be appreciated most readily by menfolk for their smoky, earthy character. But unless you aggressively dislike wood notes or patchouli, I think they are universal fragrances. They are all balanced very well between the sweeter notes we associate with fall (be it the harvest fruit notes of the perfume, or the molasses and cinnamon sugar of the bath oil) and those deeper, darker notes that are so central to a season that sees the light dwindle and the earth fall into repose. They smell like the best pies, the best walks in the woods, the best gleeful leaps into leaf piles you can remember from childhood.

L'Inverno features some of the most delicately pretty and ephemeral scents yet, with pale musks, dainty florals and cool notes of pine and snow. I don't know how a blend with pine can smell so feminine and lovely, but there you go. The atmosphere spray is perhaps the heaviest on those wintry wood notes, green and crackly and perfect for my home at the Holidays, since I can't have a real tree.

I absolutely adore these blends, and only regret not getting doubles.

TheBalm - Shady Lady palette

I love makeup (obviously). I adore vintage. I respect and admire women who create their business from the ground up. Is it any wonder I'm a huge fan of The Balm?

The style is frothy retro, with just enough animal-print to balance out the pink, and a sleeker look than the kitsch evinced by a brand like Benefit.

The product that sucked me into the brand was the Shady Lady palette. Priced at just about 40$ at the time, it's a collection of nine absolutely gorgeous eyeshadows that represent a very practical range of shades. Nothing too flashy or bright, but a great selection of mid to deep colors that can create both a daytime-appropriate and more intense looks.

There is not a failed color among them. These are swatched on bare, primer-free skin - the pigmentation is just THAT good. In fact, with the dark green and dark blue, it was almost too much pigmentation - they are fantastic for a smoky eye or as eyeliner, and otherwise require a judicious hand.

The texture of all of them is both dense and silky, though not too creamy, and they wear beautifully.

If I were to voice any criticism, it would be that I wish there were more light colors for highlight purposes, and that this palette is unfortunately no longer available.

However! The Balm did recently come out with Shady Lady 2.0, which does indeed feature more light colors, as well as a few more vivid shades. Each of the eyeshadows in the original palette are also still available in individual form, so all is not lost. (In fact, that's a great way of offering customers a chance to try the range - smaller pans, very reasonable price - and then still have them available for purchase in single form.)

Villainess Soaps- An Introduction

One of my favorite indie bath companies - run by one of my favorite people.Villainess  is an artisanal soap e-tailer like few others. Unlike many soapmakers who rely on standard, reliable fragrance formulations, Brooke blends up original scent blends to evoke unique concepts, and then translates them into soaps, scrubs, lotions and perfumes. Her style has always been edgier than cute, but always with an undertone of humour - gunmetal-Victorian chic that's just this side of steampunk.



Her soaps are absolutely to die for. Take Krakatoa:

Krakatoa - Flashes of exotic foliage - coconut, banana, papaya, dewfruit, mango - amidst slightly more domestic fruits - nectarine, red apple, peach, plums, pears, and raspberries - and an explosive burst of citrus - mandarin orange, pineapple, lemon, and tangerine. Light musk, salted driftwood, sugar cane, and dry sandalwood work to ground our island paradise.



Or in other words: NOMNOMNOM.


It is succulent and refreshing and sweet and brisk. It's neither saccharine nor cloying, just perfectly juicy, the faint wood and musk notes keep this from being a tropical fruit punch nightmare. It's great in the summer, and then again in the winter, to remind you of summer. 


Like all  Villainess soaps, the lather is silky-soft and as emollient as you're likely to get in bar soap, without sacrificing that 'clean' feeling. (Very emollient soaps often feel like they're leaving an ooky layer behind on my skin. With these, my skin just feels soft, not slick or overly squeaky.)



Or try Chloroform:

Chloroform is listed as having notes of "crisp cucumber, sickly sweet green vegetation, a dizzy whiff of violets, mind-numbing plum, and a stiff shot of anesthetising vermouth." To me the big standouts are the wet greens and the plum, juicy and sharp and crispy. Not my usual thing, but it's very refreshing, like napping in freshly cut crass.


Of course, the perfumes are equally amazing. As evocative as the scent-blends are in soap form, they are doubly so as actual 'fumes. And also, the CUTEST BOTTLES EVER.

Of course, I didn't even get to the wonderful scrubs! I'll save that for Part Two.