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I’m posting this morning to announce that The Faery’s Muse is no longer an Official Villainess Reseller. I am well aware of the recent discussion and dismay re: TFM in consumer communities, and I know this decision will be met with further speculation. To that end, allow me to offer an official statement. This is not a decision I’ve reached lightly, and have in fact, been considering it for several months. There are multiple factors contributing to this decision, but only one has any need to be publicly aired.

That factor concerns repackaged samples. Longtime Villainess fans will know that we offer sample-sizes of our general catalog Soap, Smooch, Whipped! and Mud! products. We do not offer samples of our Extrait (yet) and we never offer samples of Black Label products (find more on “why” below). TFM has distributed repackaged samples of our Black Label soaps - when asked not to, they completely failed to respond with any assurances that they would comply. My uneasiness increased to shock and dismay when reading TFM’s Update page confirmed that they were also repackaging Arcana Soaps and Limited Edition perfume oils. I, like most Arcana fans, (Julia’s soap competes for shower space with my own) know that they do not provide those samples. This, and the continued radio silence, combine to make this situation intolerable. I cannot work with someone who can treat my colleagues’ work with such disregard.

We wish TFM the very best, but have to caution that any Black Label products, Extrait, or un-labelled samples are not authorized by Villainess.

Finally, I’d like to elaborate on the reasoning behind what we do and don’t offer in sample format, and why repackaging is so dangerous. We don’t offer samples of Black Label products due to availability. A sample size is a promise of sorts - that once you’ve tried and liked a sample, you can come back and get a Full Size item. If you’re talking about our Black Labe items (where we’re working with limited stock) it’s a risky proposition to make good on that promise. It would make LE runs longer than we really want, overlapping with the next Black Label Event. Some general catalog items (our Extrait for example) are unavailable in sample format because we haven’t had an opportunity to design packaging and stock the samples. Distributing those samples with someone else’s packaging and labels does us no favours (in regards to enriching our distinct branding, or the care we invest in every product’s development), and makes follow-up purchasing difficult. Finally, repackaging many body products poses a quality risk - official Villainess samples are processed with the same care for sanitation, preservation, and contamination as our full-size products. We can make no guarantees for samples re-packaged outside of our facility.

I’ll be disabling comments on this entry because this is not a topic that should be open for debate. But I hope that our official statement will put to rest much of the concern and speculation these events have piqued.

Vil·lain·ess \ 'vi-lən-nəs \ n : a woman who is a villain

Vil·lain·ess \ 'vi-lən-nəs \ n
1 : an uncanny, articulate woman
2 : a deliberate antagonist or tease
3 : an intelligent woman in a tabloid or gossip
4 : the fall-girl in a particularly difficult situation

Villainess. Redefining "bad."