Villain

[AngellicMystique]

A classic Victorian men’s cologne: a lavender fougere, with hints of lilac, lime, and citrus musk.

Floral and citrus. The smells are juxtaposed on me, both not discorded. Disconcerting. Edited December 28, 2005 by Shollin

[Celogrl]

Shoot...my husband may never get to try this. It has some of my favorite elements; lime, lavender, citrus and lilac! It smells divine and clean on and dries to a fresh citrus. I bet my honey would be just scrumptious with this on though, so I had better relent! It really is gorgeous

[Ciircee]

This was a scent I got because a friend told me it smells like 'a hot guy in a bottle'.

 

It smells like Mr. Circe! Seriously, when we were first dating (back in highschool) he had something that smelled very similar to this, which they stopped making. I'm going to be getting Mr. Circe a big bottle of this and using it as a room scent (or wearing it myself) when he goes for his business trips.

 

The scent itself: It's masculine without being 'musky'. It's floral without being 'girly'. It's a combination of sweet and citrus and just a hint of musk. I love Beth for this one. Mr. Circe in a bottle.

 

So, the results of a night of slapping it on Mr. Circe and sniffing:

 

Wet: Citrus with a hint of something herbal. There's something sweet to soften the tang, and something that darkens it all just a bit.

 

Dry 10 minutes: Almost the same as the wet, a bit more musk. NOT 'musk' musk, but a light musk (which is probably the citrus). Still tangy-sweet with a herbal note.

 

Dry 1 hour: Spicy-tangy-sweet with a bit of darkenss.

 

Dry 2+ hours: Still the same and somehow warm beneath the cool citrus and lavender smell. I am so going to jump him.

 

Lasts about five, six hours on Mr. Circe and it simply fades away without really changing much...the lilac fades off first and then the citrus.

 

On me (because I got it on my hands opening it): Smells like wearing Mr. Circe's t-shirt. Never really changes and it hangs around a good five hours.

Edited January 28, 2006 by Ciircee

[fiddledragon]

Scent in bottle: I can definitely smell the citrus, especially the lime. Quite nice, though I don't know what it'll do on me.

 

Wet-- Bitter sharp lime with something at the back that's almost....nut? I have no idea what that is. I really really like it.

Dry-- Some of the lavender's coming out now, and the lime is still there. This scent is weird on me. I think I still like it, but yeah, weird.

 

The more I wear it the more I like it. I do definitely want to try this on a guy, though. It's quite masculine.

[Heretic]

In the vial: I know this smell-- definitely a man's scent, like an aftershave I remember someone using when I was a child.

On my wrist, wet: Wow- a really strong and masculine floral. The lavender is sharp and blends nicely with the subdued sweetness of the lime. It definitely has the crisp element of "gentleman" all over it, but I need to get over the weird association with aftershave.

After 20 minutes: Nice little bit of musk going on, softening the whole blend. This is so classy. Aw, surely the man who wears this is not a villain? I wouldn't be able to stop sniffing him, even if he were.

After an hour: The man who wears Villain is in control. You call him "Sir." He has suits tailor-made. He carries a linen hankie. I really love this scent, I don't know if I could actually get away with wearing it, though. I can usually pull off a masculine scent better than a feminine one, but I think Villain is just too masculine even for me. However, as I don't have a man to put it on, I may have to try this one out a couple times and see how it feels. A real winner.

[kettu]

I tried this earlier today and got... almost nothing. It's too light to make much of an impact on my nose. It reminded me of St. Germain in its unremarkability. Very, very light.

[Miss Lynx]

Light and citrussy, with just a faint touch of florals.

 

I know this is theoretically a men's scent, but it strikes me as more androgynous than specifically masculine. It could work on either gender -- it's not really sexual in any sense, just sort of light and clean and fresh.

 

It's a touch reminiscent of Mantis and Saint-Germain... Unfortunately, part of the similarity is that it seems to be disappearing really fast. Oh well. It was reasonably nice while it lasted.

 

Grade: B-

[sookster]

very floral and very lavendar

smells actually quite soapy but i really do love it.......

funny that i get no lime at all...hmmmm

strong at first but fades nicely......

[PurringPulsar]

Villain

 

In the imp: soft, sweet lavender with citrus.

Wet on skin: mmm, lovely soft lavender with citrus and white musk. This is good!

Dry: the lime peeps out a bit more, but the scent is lavender with a delightful white musk. The scent is surprisingly gentle for its name, a very refined and subtle yet fresh scent, traditional without being stuffy, and quite nice on women like me-though I bet this would be delicious on a guy!

After a while: now the scent is a lovely soft white musk…with a hint of something ‘purple’ which I think is the lilac, though it’s not an obvious lilac note. The lavender lingers very slightly as well-probably thanks to the musk. But this scent is predominantly an instantly recognisable note of white musk.

Then after a few hours, I get a note which I think is the ‘fougere’, a sort of mossy, ferny scent, with the white musk on top. Very nice!

Verdict: I really enjoyed this scent, a gentle lavender musk with a hint of sharp lime to it. The lilac isn’t very prominent but I think I detect it at times. When the lavender and lime fade, a lovely white musk is left behind, resting on a base which I think is the fougere note (it’s something I’ve smelt in other more masculine BPALs). The scent isn’t as fierce or harsh as its name may imply-one could say it was deceptively genteel. This scent is very soft, almost comforting, with one of the most pleasant and strongest white musk notes I’ve encountered in BPAL. I don’t need a bottle but I’ll keep the imp, as I like this a lot and though it is labelled as a ‘gentleman’s cologne’, I find it to be a very unisex scent and a lot less masculine than other gentlemanly scents.

[ovxi]

Yeah. Men's cologne. VERY men's cologne. Not really the sort I'd want to smell on a man I was extremely close to, either. (I think matching Snake Oil in on-him and on-her would be approximately the ultimate answer there.)

 

I'd been intrigued, and considered ordering an imp based on the name, but the fact that there was nothing in it that I liked stopped me. However, a freebie came to me, so now I know. I dutifully tested it, but it wasn't turning into anything I was overly enamored of, so I mostly ignored it and paid attention to my other new treasures instead. I go for smoky and incensey and spicy and vanilla-y, so not my thing. HOWEVER, I have a friend for whom I instantly realized it would be perfect. She's been flirting with the idea of BPAL for some time after getting a few imps from me and others, and there's no way in the world she's not going to absolutely love Villain, so even though it's not for me, the Lab has still very probably made an indirect sale (and new convert) with this one. Hopefully she'll report as soon as we both get over our respective flus and I give it to her.

[Diva Urd]

*sigh* The citrus monster strikes again for me. Villain smelled rather astringent on me, and while lavender alone usually does not tend to do it, it seems to be amped up by the citrus component. The scent is also flighty - after an hour, nothing seems to be left.

 

Hm, seems my skin chemistry doesn't like villains. Off to the swap pile you go!

[MistressTera]

I've made the mistake of trying on two lavenders at once: This, and Paris. This'll be interesting.

 

Fresh From The Imp: Very lavender, with a hint of something tangy.

 

Wet On My Flesh: And we've lost the lavender; I've heard that sniffing a bunch of the same thing will make the main scent go away, and cause secondary scents to come up. Mmm, lime. That must have been what the tang was.

 

Drying Down: I can see where this is masculine; I'm getting images of my father's bodywash, Old Spice Sport or something strange like that.

 

Hour To Integrate: Still very man-smelling. All of the notes are blended so well that I can't distinguish one from another.

 

End Of Day/Final Report: As I'm not male, I'd prefer not to go around smelling like one. I'll pass this on.

[juniperus]

Bottle: Very lavender.

Wet: I can catch a bit of the citrus with the lavender, and something slight darker, but that's still well-behind the other notes.

Dry: Musk stepping forward..definitely more masculine now, but not dark nor stereotypically so.The lime adds freshness, not fruitiness. Pleasant, sort of mid-range complex.

Later: Ok, I get the masculine now - it's got a very nice-smelling aftershave sort of quality as the musk and citrus really even the florals out and make them..a vague hint of flora without being flowery. Might have to make Bri try it, it is pleasant and almost oddly reminiscent of my grandfather's Old Spice, but fresher and lighter. (That isn't what it smells like, but they must share a note or two that I'm reacting to, it's more of a memory of the smell of my grandfather minus pipe smoke.)

[theseagrows]

this smelled pretty much exactly how i thought it would- mostly lavender that's softened a bit by the other notes. masculine without being 'manly' and very fresh. it smells just like a lavender cologne that caswell massey had when i worked there.

[Nekomata]

Very much lavender and lime. I get some soft musky notes in the dry down but lavender and lime dominate all the way. Bit too masuline for me, can't wait to slosh it on one of my boys.

[PilotKitten]

Actually smells pretty good on me. A bit like those old timey-shaving soaps that my grandpa used to have lying around. With a hint of something like Old Spice in the background. Ohh… yes, most definitely have to get DH to try this one. It’s practically swoonworthy on my own skin, I can’t wait to see what it smells like on him!

[Tallulah]

Frimp from the lab.

 

I actually got this for my gbf last year and i thought it was very classic gentlemans scent. Now that i have it to myself (thankyou labbies ) i adore it.

 

I am getting the fougere, very woody lavender, definetly androgynous, bottle order perhaps

[smallvoice]

Tested thanks to the GC swap quikslvr arranged!

 

In the imp, Villain is soapy and fresh. On my skin... uh, so... it's distinctly a bathroom cleaner. As it has a chance to drydown, the florals sort of detangle themselves and smooth out, but it's still really complex and has this almost metallic note to it. It's a lot softer than I would've expected, and I really like it. Is there lemon in this? I'm getting some citrus. This is really pretty!

 

EDIT: 1/26/08: Dunno if my nose has changed or my chemistry, but it doesn't smell like this to me anymore. Let's do a new review!

 

It's got lilac, lime and a fougure(sp?) in it, all of which are elements of my beloved Whitechapel, but this is not Whitechapel 2.0- they're in the same family, appropriately enough. I seem to be allergic to BPAL's lavender note in most scents, but this one doesn't bother me. It really is smooth, and I can kind of see where I got the metallic note from, but it's not in any way distinctly metallic. I love citrus, especially when it's not sharp, and this is all win. It smells, to me, like what my ideal villian would wear. By ideal, I mean my favourite to read about/watch in movies. The most chilling of all- sociopaths. There is something sexy about someone who knows how to manipulate all situations and will go to any lengths to get what he/she wants. Sexy in a scary, please-don't-ever-come-near-me-again sort of way, but still sexy. Does that make any sense? It doesn't smell raunchy or rough, like the villian archtype. It is subtle and intoxicating and deceptive.

Edited January 27, 2008 by cordia

[batsy]

in the vial: clean and manly lilac.

 

On the skin: This is certainly a man's scent, but I like it. The combo of the lilac and lavender are nice, fresh and a hint of sweet. This is a keeper!

[AliBabble]

this was a frimp from the lab. a rather gentlemanly scent, a bit cologne-y, but very light. i get the lavendar, but it is toned down, with a hint of woodsiness in the background, and the fresh citrus - again, light and not too sharp. i like this for the lavendar, but the cologne-y bit feels more "guy" to me, than i usually wear..overall this is a gentle, clean scent, not as scary as most men's colognes, with more of a transparent quality than a loud, in-your-face smell.

[provocateur]

In bottle: Lavender and ... lime? Something a little citrus.

 

On skin, wet: Lavender, plain and simple.

 

On skin dry: A light lilac, which then fades off into floral powder.

Conclusion: While this is light and airy, I was hoping for more of the lime to show up.

 

Rating: 2/5

[blackfelicula]

I purchased this imp second hand, so it's likely aged.

 

In the bottle: I'm getting mostly lavender and lime, which is coming off rather like smelling the bottle of my dad's Old Spice. (Or was it the Brut? I'm having trouble remember which, but I used to use them in my childhood "potions".) There is an almost powdery scent to it as well.

 

Wet: There's definitely more dimension to the citrus now. It definitely registers as masculine to my nose. I don't mind that. I'm likely high-testosterone for a girl, so my chemistry will likely work well with it.

 

Drying down: I'm definitely fond of lime scents. I'm starting to catch a bit of the citrus musk. This is softening a bit on me. It's definitely more lively than my dad's aftershave, more complex.

 

Dry: Close up, I get the citrus musk and the lavender mixed. Further away, The florals take an upper hand, kept in check by the lime and keeping some resemblance to whichever aftershave it was. Now, it's softening up more. The aftershave quality is almost gone except in the odd whiff here or there.

 

Later: Up close it's an almost powdery citrus musk. Much fainter from further off. I can see how folks would say it's cleaner and lighter than the typical cologne-like aftershave. It's nice. Once it dries completely, it's androgynous enough not to smell butch to my nose. It's a scent to keep in mind.

 

One of the things I love about BPAL scents: I need to try them a billion different ways to get to know them. Up close, far away, on my neck, on my wrists, in the crook of my elbows, different times of the month, fresh, aged... I could go on but I realize that I'm preaching to the choir here. Now I can only wish my husband would let me try this on him... (He has allergies and is very adverse to sneezing, so I am hard pressed to get him to smell any of these. He usually duck-and-covers if I ask him to try one on.)

[edenssixthday]

Villain – There’s nothing villainous in the least about this blend! It’s soft and beautiful! Based on the description, I thought it was going to smell like a variant of Whitechapel, but it really doesn’t at all. When first applied, the lavender is the strongest note, but that subsides quickly upon drydown. The lime is soft and lends just the slightest hint of crispness to the blend, but it doesn’t dominate as it usually does on me during its initial stages. The citrus musk and lilac are the notes that dominate this blend, but they don’t dominate with an iron fist. They are soft and subtle, and drop-dead gorgeous. This is a traditional masculine blend, and I can certainly imagine it smelling absolutely divine on my husband for daily use, but I also thinks it smells incredibly beautiful on me and I’m going to keep this one for myself! It has low throw and below-average staying power.

[BrightRedScream]

This review is written by my fiance...

Since this imp is for men - I let him have a Bpal experience

 

So, here he is, sharing his thoughts with all of you

 

With the sheer number of scents that pass through this house, it's only right that I get in on the action So without further ado, Villain:

 

In the bottle: I catch mostly the lavender, with a little bite from the lime. Victorian indeed. Not my favourite floral, though.

 

Wet: The lavender disappears almost instantly, while the lilac (a nicer floral scent, IMO) and the lime take over. And while the citrus musk is a bit of a late comer to the show, it's starting to lend a bit of muscle to the scent.

 

Dry Down: The antithesis of the bottle scent. It started with lavender and lime, and finishes up with lilac and citrus musk. It's now a lighter, almost airy scent. Different from most anything I've worn before.

 

Verdict: Inconclusive. Not a bad scent, but I think I'd need to take it for a test drive, so to speak, before figuring out if it's a scent for me. Definitely good enough to give it that chance, though.

[mornatasare]

Had I read the description of this before just slapping some of the imp on, I doubt I would have tried it. As much as I love Victorian bits and bobs, I'm an earthy-smell girl.

 

Thank goodness I didn't have the description on hand. I'm in love with this smell! Classy, and most definitely worthy of a gentleman (or gentlebutch, depending~). It's very clean and crisp, which I think is the play of lilac and citrus together. It has an edge of musk and pale florals that keeps it from being sharp. Whenever my 5 mL of this finally arrives, it will definitely have to become an everyday smell.