Venetian Belladonna

The opening is very fruity (plum) with a soft boozy quality (cognac). It's not girly fruity, the boozyness and also something darker lurking underneath makes it feel slightly mature, not necessarily age wise, but in an experienced kind of way. This is a scent with a lot of tricks up its sleeve. And it feels like it has an agenda. It knows what it's doing. The scent slowly becomes more floral. It's a deep, sensual, intoxicating floral smell. It lures you in and makes you a bit dizzy. This is an intensely overpowering scent. It might seem sweet and almost innocent in the beginning, but that's just an act. From the heart and all the way down to the base the darkness that has been lurking underneath for so long slowly appears and grows stronger. It is a honeyed ambery darkness softened by hints of exotic slightly toxic flowers. A beeswax note becomes more prominent in the base too. It doesn't smell waxy, but more sligthly sweet and fatty, and together with the suede note in this fragrance it's giving the amber a creamy, intimate skin like feeling. Very sensual and alluring. When the honeyed amber takes over this fragrance reminds me a lot of Olympic Orchids Golden Cattleya. I could easily imagine a woman like Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers wearing this scent. Apparently pure and innocent in a sensual and elegant way, but actually very tactical and deadly. I love it! An absolute stunning creation! Longevity is great, on my skin it lasts about 8-10 hours. Sillage is pretty huge right away, then it calms down to medium strength before it settles into a skin scent after about 5-6 hours.

This is a very quick observation, as I only received my bottle yesterday (the presentation is stunning, by the way - a work of art), which is yet another blind buy, based on the excellent reviews below. I also love champaca; I own TF Champaca Absolute and there are - very superficial - similarities to VB. Venetian Belladonna is incredibly complex. It draws you in and almost repels you at the same time. DO NOT OVERSPRAY - sillage is initially huge; one small spritz on the back of my hand yesterday afternoon filled my bathroom. Longevity is similarly impressive. I've washed my hands repeatedly since then and there is still a slight trace discernible over 18 hours later. I added another spritz to my chest before bed last night and it's pulsing away - and it does change, as ami.alger so accurately described (second review on this page). Tiwalii (below) writes: "I could easily imagine a woman like Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers wearing this scent. Apparently pure and innocent in a sensual and elegant way, but actually very tactical and deadly." I'd add a similar reference: This is the scent of the Marquise de Merteuil (played by Glenn Close in "Dangerous Liaisons") as she plots and schemes; Venetian Belladonna smells deliciously poisonous and narcotic. It's addictive. ETA: wearing again on a slightly muggy night in May - this is NOT a floral fruity perfume, as suggested by Fragrantica. It's cold, metallic and floral - and very VERY weird. I love it.

I honestly have to say that I’m completely blown away. I got three discovery scents from this brand and had to write about this one first. It’s like a fresh, powdery and seductive blend of danger. It’s literally bright and pretty yet so daring and confusing at the same time, and I love it. I mainly get a lot of the florals like the labdanum, and the powder is powerful. But then those dark notes just sit watching from the background laughing at its beauty. I’ve never smelled anything.. quite like this. Bravo.

Green violet and mossy florals. This is a very pretty scent that reads feminine on me but I suspect that it would be great on a man. There is something grassy, meadow-and-forest, creatures darting in between flowers and ferns about this, an early morning mist, yet despite its green-iris, it's a little sexy in a sweet and sophisticated way. A beautiful spring fragrance.

I'm delighted by this as someone who doesn't gravitate to florals. This is floral, but so deep, rich, and smoldering. Florals run the danger of reading as girlish or grandmotherly, and this is neither. There is nothing twee, naive, OR nurturing here. This is full femme fatale, with just a whiff of something masculine that develops over the hours. DELICIOUS.