Vendetta Donna

Hot, wet, early summer's evening... spitting rain, and the din of homeward bound rush hour traffic, both pedestrian & vehicular, fills the magic hour with an eager, unfettered joyfulness - anticipation & urgency - desire & yearning. And as I was jostled along a crowded pavement in an unfamiliar neighbourhood I happened upon that diamond in the rough so beloved of a perfume hunter: the mom & pop chemists shoppe. Dusty, cluttered, and ignored. A dream of forgotten memories still sat in random formation across glass countertops under equally ageing fluorescent lamplight - sentinel to the rich, romantic last days of parfum glory. There's a certain beauty in the decay of disappeared elegance. Once premium, now bargain, but quietly concealing class & quality little appreciated in 2019. VENDETTA beckoned to me from the farthest corner, half hidden behind a heap of faded cosmetics boxes in this untidied & unassuming homely dispensary. I can't say I recall VENDETTA from any particular research but something told me a blind buy was in order. (I nearly felt guilty. I don't think the price tag had been updated since the 90's either). Nor can I say I recall VENDETTA from 28 years ago, but when I'd gotten home and unwrapped its perfectly preserved packaging... well, it was 1992 all over again - in a very good way. Wow. Perfume really used to smell good, egh? That's a statement I need not make to you all but, gosh, smelling this has filled me with an optimism & joy I confess I don't get much from current market releases. What a pleasant trip down memory lane. Oh, has the world changed or have I changed? Then again, three decades will do that. There's so much going on in this one and yet it's QUITE smoothly orchestrated... all 35 revealed notes! There is fruit, yes. But it's the flowers of fruit - not fruit-tutti at all. I'd call this a Floriental Fruitgarden - because there is an earthiness - a certain sunkissed Mediterranean early evening when the dust of the day settles - sensation for me. And after a more distinct transition from head to heart in 10 minutes, heart to base has been a very mellifluous serenade which continues to play vibrantly a few hours in. For a 20+ year old bottle, I'm very pleased. That said, the passing years in solitude have diminished my VENDETTA's silage it would seem. No matter. A truly lush skin scent it always welcome and there's a richness here which points to proper longevity, though I can imagine what a presence there must have been back in the day! But how do I describe this golden-tawny beauty accurately? I'm getting the most lovely light yet dark, ethereal yet earthy, sweetish & savoury, floral & resinous, clear yet powdered, familiar yet exotic, polite & sexy, clean & sophisticated vibe, and yet... a smouldering sensuality... an Indian joss stick burning at a bohemian house party. What is this?? Perhaps it was named VENDETTA in the sense that it makes you think twice - it's not one to forget... it comes back for you. It's certainly making me inhale deeply over & over & over again. What a delight to stumble upon another neglected gem from the last days of unfettered opulence, glamour, & confident joie de vivre! To long time fans - I am with you now! And to the uninitiated - don't pass it up if it comes your way. Such a shame they don't mix 'em like this stunning honeyed elixir anymore. Pure ebullient, sybaritic, curvaceous, unapologetic early 90's delight. And WHAT a bottle! CHE BELLA! Life is good. ★★★★☆ Edit: It's a humid 27°C where I am at present, and nearly 22 hours after only a few spritz on my forearm (I'm about to bathe) VENDETTA is a lingering, semi-sweet oriental skin scent. Brava! and after two decades sat on a shelf -- i just marvel. They sure don't make them like they used to. +++ Top notes: orange blossom, wild daffodil, water lily, ylang-ylang, water hyacinth, bergamot, aldehydes, green notes, peach, and plum Middle notes: calendula, jonquil, lily, rose, jasmine, narcissus, lilac, carnation, heliotrope, honey, orchid, orris, tuberose, and marigold Base notes: myrrh, opoponax, musk, sandalwood, patchouli, amber, benzoin, cedar, Tonka bean, vanilla, and vetiver

Vendetta was an unexpected purchase - my mother bought it cheap off Ebay wasn't much of a fan, despite smelling a magazine strip for it years earlier and loving the advert as a child. I obviously wasn't mature enough to appreciate it, tried it and wasn't much of a fan and it sat on the shelf for a couple of years. Then one day I got it down and sprayed it again and I was in love. The most wonderful musky, sweet plum yellowy floral (marigold) with a beeswaxy burning candle/patchouli hippie incense note drizzled in dry sweet powdery honey. In a strange way it is a super sexy, powdery skin scent - dare I say 'exotic/erotic' version of Red Door to some extent and on me it was heavenly and in no way over-powering, men and women everywhere would comment on how good it smelled on me. It became my most loved fragrance of all time - but too bad as it was long gone when I tried to find a replacement. I held onto the bottle just to get a whiff but eventually gave in and threw it away as I realised I had to let go and find something new to love. I have been on a 16 year mission now to replace that damn perfume and I have probably bought 20-30 different perfumes which match the notes but nothing has come close except for Van Cleef which is very similar but not identical and I still will pine for this fragrance even though I have found another bottle but I will be hoarding this forever in fear of never getting another. I could wear this scent forever.

This is so lovely. I bought a full sized based on the notes and reviews here and I am glad I did. I usually get very interested in older fragrances that are on the chopping block because they are almost always very good or great. So many newer fragrances or reformulations are just a shadow of what a fragrance should be. I agree w/ the review below Vendetta is hyacinth dripped w/ sticky honey on a relaxing sunny day, a warm and comforting sweet floral. I also get carnation, narcissus and lots of benzoin. This smells so natural, and I would swear there were natural ingredients in this. It doesn't smell plastic or fake like so many newer designer perfumes on the market now. Rich, w/out being overpowering, sweet w/out being cloying, green w/out being sharp, powdery w/out being dusty, fruity w/out having the fruits rule the roost. It is a year round fragrance that is just gorgeous. The more I keep smelling this the more it smells like if Elizabeth Arden's Red Door and Elizabeth Taylor's Black Pearl got together and had a child. There are elements of both of those perfumes in this one, no wonder I love it so much. Edit: 5/13/22 I had to rotate this out of my collection. While a nice fragrance the bottle sprayer broke and could not be fixed. It was the strangest bottle. Such a shame I really liked this.

Vendetta is hands down lovely. Honey sweetened florals make this perfume a feminine delight to wear. Sillage is modest, longevity is good in the edt. I'm very fond of vintage Italian perfumes - less so of the recent products. V. reminds a bit of the older Krizia scents, of which many feature honey. Honey notes are my very favorites, so smooth and easy to wear. Unlike some sugary gourmands V. doesn't envelop the wearer in a candy cloud. V. is sweet but it's not a choking sugar sweetness. The floral and balsamic notes keep the fragrance from being too sweet. A look at the pyramid reveals the large number of notes, the scent is very skillfully blended so no single note overwhelms. Vendetta is an odd name for this cheerfully feminine fragrance, maybe an inside joke? In any case, I'm glad to have this in my collection, and I've ordered a back up. I love V., and V. loves me.

I bought a 7.5mL mini of this scent. First dab on skin: this is powerful! Vendetta is definitely a party girl. Fruity florals come right at you, anchored by vanilla, amber and earthy woody notes. It's not simply fruit and flowers, Vendetta has a lot of layers. There are some notes that remind me of Vintage Dior Poison; maybe it's the plum! The drydown is honey-vanilla sweet on me with a musky woody base. 4 hours in, the party girl winds down and becomes like a comforting white cashmere sweater. I REALLY like this perfume, but wouldn't say I -love- it exactly; it's a lovely scent but it doesn't stand out in my collection. I have a feeling I might grow to love it over time, though!