Beautiful things for spring! Reappearing is, Pipevine Swallowtail - Aromatic basil and bitter tomato leaf in an ephemeral haze of neroli and tangerine. It is a beautiful creme coloured soap, shot through with burnt lavender, and polished with the smokey blue and grey of the namesake butterfly. This year, we've done this up in our signature light Whipped! creme, and a beautiful, orange-saturated, Smooch! body scrub. And in our new glass votive container, a cheerful spring-green Burn!.

Returning favourite Sidewalk evokes my favourite childhood memories with Hot concrete drenched in sunshowers. Summer melons, limeades and fresh-cut grass. It is a smooth soap, done up in cool pools of blue. The equally-blue Smooch! features silken clays and jojoba beads, and is ideal to layer with our Whipped! creme. Always much-loved, the Sidewalk Burn! appears this year in our new glass containers.

Returning soon, our well-received Cucumber & Chamomile toner! We hoped to include it with this release, but encountered some component delays and hope to release it later this season.

Our Staff Pick Smack! for April is Summersweet - A chic selection of Bluegrass, Raspberry Plum, Georgia Peach and light Vanilla Bean! Bookended by our Thai Twist Smack! which exploits that coconut-lemongrass schtick that was so popular a couple of seasons ago. And for good reason - it’s delishus. Ours puts our Coconut Milk, Lemon Meringue, and new Bluegrass single notes to good use, for a creamy/crisp spa moment.

A note about some technical difficulties... PayPal has been sending me notices for ages now that they will be down for maintenance on April 19th. This is, of course, planned for the middle of our April release. While PayPal works on their upgrades, I anticipate timed-out payment attempts, duplicate orders, and no end of fail. So, we will be taking the PayPal method offline entirely during April 19th (midnight to midnight, central time). Feel free to use PayPal for your order for the rest of today, and again on Friday (the 20th). Credit card payment methods will be available as usual!

Enjoy, you guys!

Today only, the above code will expire at midnight. Enjoy!

When I first learned that dear friend Delilah S. Dawson was looking forward to her literary debut, I was thrilled, excited, and eager to read any adventure she'd dreamed up. When she asked if I'd be interested in devising scents to embody her characters? Flattered, nervous, stoked! Fortunately, she's provided such a richly detailed cast that there was no danger of running short on inspiration!

  Wicked As They Come is an imaginative adventure through a blood-tinged, clock-work powered alter-verse and we found it riveting, intriguing and completely inspiring...
Have you ever heard of a Bludman? They're rather like you and me - only more fabulous, immortal, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.)
Delilah S. Dawson's darkly tempting debut drops her unsuspecting heroine into a strange faraway land for a romantic adventure that's part paranormal, part steampunk . . . and completely irresistible.
"When Tish Everett forces open the ruby locket she finds at an estate sale, she has no idea that a deliciously rakish Bludman has cast a spell just for her. She wakes up in a surreal world, where Criminy Stain, the dashing proprietor of a magical traveling circus, curiously awaits. At Criminy’s electric touch, Tish glimpses a tantalizing future, but she also foresees her ultimate doom. Before she can decide whether to risk her fate with the charming daredevil, the locket disappears, and with it, her only chance to return home. Tish and Criminy battle roaring sea monsters and thundering bludmares, vengeful ghosts and crooked Coppers in a treacherous race to recover the necklace from the evil Blud-hating Magistrate. But if they succeed, will Tish forsake her fanged suitor and return to her normal life, or will she take a chance on an unpredictable but dangerous destiny with the Bludman she's coming to love?"

We offer three fragrances conjured by these characters - a Magician, a Fortune Teller, a Mermaid...

Criminy is Wicked as they come. Wild vines and open spaces, green things, deep red wine and the sweet bite of brambleberries. . And we've done the Magician up in a trickily marbled red-on-black Soap and an evocative Extrait - 6 mls, stoppered in a glass phial.

Letitia is all done up in Blood, blood, blood. Warm red rose and dragon's blood, neroli and blood orange, a brief glance of magnolia and a clawed shred of cinnamon.. A poignant, warm, 7ml Extrait and a petal-silken Soap in shades of red.

Tabitha is a slightly malicious blend of Fins, frills, and fangs. Saltwater and sweetwater, mermaid bubbles and a bergamot bite. Done up in our classic Soap, and a terribly wearable Extrait.

Product tableaus devised by the creative genius at The Ultramind. Thank you, we have never been more stunned by your eye for detail!

Criminy, Letitia and Tabitha are available for a limited run in our new Wicked As They Come category, but you'll have to wait until the 27th to get lost in Delilah's BLUDverse! (Just go ahead and pre-order a copy - trust me.

And returning, belated, for some setbacks and confusion... Retrograde Extrait. Seamless layers of incense and earth - amber, oppopanax, sandalwood, egyptian musk, old oakmoss - sweetened with tonka and black vanilla. Clarifying Bulgarian lavender, a black haze of orchid, osmanthus and narcissus and a jolt of raw black pepper and clary sage. This one will be available through April 4th.

Enjoy!

First, my favourite cake! Birth Rite is Layer cake. Lightly spiced with cinnamon and ginger, frosted with berries, and grounded with a resinous skin-scent - precious amber, sweet myrrh, tonka bean and peppercorn. The juxtaposition of spices with resins and juicy berries... quintessential. Why mess with a good thing?

Birth Rite is featured in our classic polka-dot Soap, and our perfectly-formuated Whipped. The best ever layered Smooch!. We don't do these often, but it's a lovely concoction of what amounts to 3 different scrubs in one jar. A scrubby layer loaded with resins, another with spice, and a (terribly pink) crushed-berry topping.

This perennial favourite also comes in a very-wearable Extrait. To complement the scent, we offer the Birth Rite Lite Smack! (Layers of Incense, Buttercream Cupcake and Spicetrade, topped with a scoop of Berry Patch.). And a room scent? Try our Birth Rite Burn! votive.

Returning this year, my signature scent, Supervillainess, is "Dry woods, worn-in leather, bittersweet cacao and arabica, succulent blackberry and lime, and a salty thread of cilantro." The standout in this collection is our Extrait. The scent originated in this format, as an almost completely "natural" blend. That is, it features only two synthetic components, and has far more dimension as a result. Because of the high-concentration of absolutes in this blend, Supervillainess Extrait uses perfumer's alcohol as a medium (versus our usual blend of vegetable oils). It's available in a 2ml stoppered phial.

The body products employ a few more synthetic components, but complement the perfume perfectly. A gorgeous purple-on-cocoa marbled Soap, our classic dewy Whipped!, and a beautiful aubergine Smooch! True to our luxury philosophy, the Smooch! is loaded with real pulverised blackberry, and a generous helping of aromatic coffee grounds.

We suggest a complementary Smack! featuring "Equal parts worn Suede, sweet Chocolate Mousse, the bright heat of Spice Trade, and an eye-opening jolt of Espresso." It is subtle, by comparison to the other products, but provides a lovely base to layer fragrance upon.

Birth Rite and Supervillainess are currently available in our Limited Edition category.

And two terribly yummy, limited run items... Prompted by the fabulous feedback for our Nilotica Whipped!, we've decided to expand on the sweet, cream cheese-frosting fragrance! A deluxe-sized Whipped! in our standard, feather-light formula, and a gluttonous Smooch!. This Smooch! is composed of our usual blend of butters and pure confectioner's sugar. It is literally like bathing in frosting (please, do not test-taste). This Smooch! is what we could qualify as a "body conditioner" - that is, it has minimal exfoliating power.

Thanks for helping me celebrate - this one should be sweet all 'round!

Just a few new things for February! We were inspired by Discount Chocolate Day, and came up with a pair of offbeat sweets...

Chocolate Crinkle is Chocolate on chocolate cookie, sweetened with tobacco and dragon's blood, and spiked with tomato leaf. Appearing in a creamy, cocoa-soaked Soap, we love this one for its depth and bizarre sweetness!

And Ginger Jumble Crunchy sugar cookie, drenched in earth and myrrh, with a sharp bite of lemony ginger. Our signature silky Soap, lightly brushed with cinnamon, this one has a fun bright ginger topnote. We found it absolutely cheerful during this dreary winter!

Another recent release went criminally underpublicised, only putting in an appearance in our blog... We mentioned last month that we were thrilled to begin incorporating Nilotica, the incredible East African Shea Butter we've started sourcing through Bead For Life. We asked what product you'd like to see this incredible Shea spotlight-ed in, and the answer was overwhelmingly "body creme." Nilotica Whipped! is our best-selling Whipped! formula with just a couple of minor alterations... First, all those lovely light oils and butters are completely replaced by this decadent shea butter, creating a slightly more dense, even more conditioning creme for these cold, drying months. Second, we've used a touch of healing Oat protein (rather than our usual wheat) making this absolutely gluten free. For now, Nilotica Whipped! is featured in a sweet, cream cheese drizzle scent, and a generous 7 oz jar. Feel good about an indulgence, feel better in your skin. And thank you, so much, for supporting our ongoing efforts to make our dollars matter.

This month's Staff Pick Smack is a two-parter, featuring two of our brand new Smack! single notes... First, let's try Lavender Berry Smack! Please forgive the unimaginative name, this one was only inspired by light and sweet and a beautiful true Lavender essential oil. "Two blue scoops of Lavender Sachet, accented with a single scoop of Vanilla Bean, and a single Raspberry Plum."

And sure, we're having a mild winter, but warm summer dusks are entirely too far away. Sneak a preview with Porchswing Smack!, "Two cool scoops of Black Tea, one juicy Georgia Peach, and a single dollop of Coconut Milk.". It's a tall, cool glass of iced tea with plenty of sweetness.

Stay warm, you guys!

We are excited to release our first Black Label collection of 2012 and to share some stunning new changes. We're up to some fun things this year, and so far we're off to a great start!

First things first! Returning this year, is The Truffle Trade A neglected box o' chocolates - cherry cordials, coconut creams, almond clusters, raspberry parfaits - covered in dust, tossed aside for bigger game. Why mess with a good thing? Smooch! (loaded with almond, coconut and cacao), Soap (with a coconut nougat center!), Whipped! and Extrait formats.

Torchsong also returns for an encore. A memory of raw coconut infused with heavy white blossoms - tuberose, orchid, and awapuhi - and tonka bean, ginger crushed underfoot, damp moss and your vanilla perfume. Store it in a mahogony box, lit with spices. And available once more in Smooch! (spiked with Orchid extract), Soap, Whipped! and Extrait. It's a light evocative play of spice and white florals - really gorgeous!

Raspberry Swirl is a perennial favourite with its Sweet red raspberry creamed with soft vanilla. We started this one in... 2005? Wow. It too returns in Smooch! (I don't think we could fit any more raspberry in this if we tried), Soap, Whipped! and Extrait.

The cult favourite Miss Edith with Lemony black tea with milk, English Lavender and Roses beneath a thick layer of dust returns in a stark-white, creamy Soap, a lovely Smooch! (lightly dusted with rose petals, naturally), Whipped! , and Extrait.

And, we've tweaked the lineup for our Custom Smack! The fabulous foaming body scrub is now available in three new flavours:

Apple Orchard - Crisp red delicious and a faint breath of apple blossom.

Black Tea - Strong black loose-leaf.

Lavender Sachet - Warm, mild Bulgarian lavender with a touch of sweetness.

Unfortunately, we had to discontinue three slow sellers to bring these much-requested single notes on board. Say goodbye to Lemon Meringue, Tropical Fruit, and Pomegranate Fig. They are temporarily available while we work through our (limited) remaining stock, but will not appear on your label. Stock up now, if these are favourites!

However, if you end up pressed for time, you might be fortunate enough to have a Villainess retailer in your neighborhood! We've grown like mad this year, so scope out our expanded family:

First, we're stoked to introduce a new Official Mug for the 2011 winter season!

We've been using this mug around the office for a while now, and we love it. Unequivocally. At 18 oz, it is enormous ass, and holds all the caffeine you could need for one morning in the cubicle. Its heavy crockery-base means it's hard to accidentally spill, and you know you want our logo (silver ink!). Accent that gift with a nice Cuppa Scintillating! and you're all set!

Dads, brothers-in-law, random dudes - sometimes a challenge to shop for. Don't forget The Dad Pack - designed for Father's Day, but a helpful year-round solution. Our very own Antihero and Byzantium Soaps, an unscented Ennui Whipped! and a dollop of Grundy Smooch! (for the exfoliant-resistant guy).

In anticipation of your New Year celebrations, the Cheap Shot!

For uncomfortable gifting situations with strangers, the generic candle is a time-honored tradition. So go with our new Burn! votive, and score "unique" points (Decadence is a safe bet...) !

And of course these are all just items from our (criminally overlooked) SWAG category. We've given the special-weapons-and-gifts a makeover with the "Gift Ideas" label, so feel free to explore the revamped category. As always we offer seasonal gift wrap:

...so you could easily put together a giftset from our seasonal collection and deck it out in sparkling ribbon and snowflakes.

As always, if you're stumped, just ask! We'll hook you up with a perfect-fit for all your gifting needs!

The following dates for non-domestic orders are the result of the Official USPS Deadlines for delivery by December 24th. You must have your orders placed by the dates below so we can fill and ship them by USPS deadlines:

USPS Priority International Packages
APOs - December 8th, Midnight CST

Asia, Australia, Mexico - December 8th, Midnight CST

Europe & Canada - December 11th, Midnight CST

We will be on our most vigilant for even last-minute orders placed on the 9th and 12th to ensure they receive same-day shipping.

For domestic users, our UPS Ground deadlines will also vary by location:

UPS Ground Packages
Pacific Northwest / Atlantic Northeast - December 15th, Midnight CST

West Coast/Mtns - December 18th, Midnight CST

Midwest, New England, Southeast - December 20st, Midnight CST

Please note that these are the dates to place your order. If you are uncertain about your region, pick the bigger shipping margin. Again, we will be processing orders until the very last-moments of our cut-off dates. If you need expedited UPS service, please mention it in the comments field of your order (Saturday Delivery on the 24th is available for an additional charge).

First, Ingrate is for the ingrates. This year? Trade yer turkey-coma for a spike in Bloodsugar. It is available with $25 orders through Monday, 11/28/11. Details Here.

And then, to really get things started on Black Friday (11/25), we have once-more lowered the bar. Our standard "Free Shipping at $100" order has been reduced to a $50 subtotal/threshold for North American destinations. A good way to reach $50? Soap Multiplicity - Buy 4 bars of our General Catalog Soap, and get the 5th free! Not interested in soap? Try our brand new Burn! votives - in 5 best-selling scents.

On Saturday (11/26), Get Smooched! Purchase 4 General Catalog Smooch! items and get the 5th one free.

On Sunday (11/27), Get Whipped! Purchase 4 General Catalog Whipped! items and get the 5th one free.

Finally, take Monday as an opportunity to snag an experimental Custom Smack!. Purchase any 2 Smack! items (either premade or custom) and get a Custom Smack! for free.

These sales will run through midnight, Central Standard Time. For the fine print (limits on freebies), and other details, keep an eye on our Sale Summary Page.

And watch this space! You never know what other surprises we might have. Happy shopping!

Greetings! We are so excited to get this winter business underway. Stunned that it's late-November already, but thrilled to see some returning favourites and to launch a few new giftable goodies!

Diving right in with Gloop! - Fluffed marshmallow fudge. It wouldn't be winter without our delectable marshmallowy concoction. Available once more in Soap, Smooch!, Whipped! , and Extrait format.

Freezerburn - Siberian fir and stately pines dusted with powder-soft layers of sweet snow.. Usually pops up around the New Year, but is much in-demand - thought we'd give it an earlier run this year! Classic pine-n-white marbled Soap.

Just Desserts - Blood oranges dripping over a warm, resinous vanilla, wrapped in a dry peel of orange zest. Just what you deserve. Available once more in Soap, Smooch!, and skin-pampering Whipped!.

Our Winter Edition Scintillating Smooch! features our year-round vanilla-mint accented with crushed candy-canes. It's festive and predictably scintillating! In an act of unprecedented fun, we're releasing a red-n-white Scintillating Burn! to complement it!

And returning with much acclaim... Mall Santa - The pervasive scent of cinnamon buns and cream cheese frosting, underscored with cheap whiskey, tobacco stains, toffee candies and delicious filthy lucre. Deliciously spicy sweet for the holidays, with enough unexpected notes to give it that signature Villainess touch. Our Santa returns in a gorgeous pinwheeled Soap along with our Smooch! (uniquely topped with a creamy confectioner's sugar Smooch! layer), and Whipped! formats.

Find these treats at Villainess.net and with the usual suspects.

Additions to the General Catalog! Earlier this year, our "Bad Apple Burn!" items were stunningly well received! We've wanted to stock your favourite GC scents in Burn! format for ages now, so we're super pleased that the format worked out! So without further delay,... Dulces en Fuego , Decadence , Krakatoa , Jai Mahal and Scintillating Burn! items are now available! These are the generous 3.5 oz candles in a classy, heavy-glass bomb-shaped jar. We are thrilled to include these in our offerings!

November's Staff Pick Smack! is the Candy Cane Cupcake - Exquisite equal portions of our chilling Mint Medley, tooth-aching Candy Floss, Buttercream Cupcake, and sublime Vanilla Bean.

Delicious pictures, once more, courtesy of the mind-blowingly brilliant Julie Sims. Thanks so much for your vision!

Enjoy, yo!

I got to test "Silk Sheets" first. A perfect balance of creamy and crisp notes. Sniffed cold, this one reads as an indecipherable gourmand-floral. Warm, it opens up into a "silky" soft background-scent.

Hedonistic Self-Indulgence, probably shouldn't be my favourite. The olfactory equivalent of polishing off the entire pint of Ben & Jerry's. Barely nutty, and not cloying in the least. This one has a very realistic savory quality, as if you'd actually baked a panful of buttery treats.

Peacock Plumes just conjures notions of emeralds and vivid textiles. For room scents, fruits are easily my favourite - especially crisp citrus-y concoctions that pull more green than sweet. This one is expertly blended, a sophisticated counterpoint.

Sex Kitten is sweet, soft, and prettier than I'd have suspected. I love a nice earthy patchouli, and this one is barely sweetened with honey and vanilla. Perfectly balanced.

Insomniac is currently hogging my warmer with gooey caramel and coffee - I'm told there's a touch of almond in this, but espresso is easily the star here. And no complaints - I don't need to brew an entire pot of the stuff to make my space smell life coffee. This way, I actually get some sleep.

Two-Timing Tarts are scented "just right." Strong enough to get an accurate impression of the scent cold, but not so strong as to bloom and morph and become headachey when hot. I melted my tartlettes (1/6 of the clamshell) around the 3 hour mark, and was thrilled with that lifespan, because that's right about when I want to switch scents.

So? What are you waiting for?

And the darkest installment of our fall releases...

Returning this year is the terribly creepy Cobwebs collection. "An ambiguous spill of Cabernet and salt. Woodrot and sooty, guttered candles caked with age-old dust." A stark-black soap streaked and veined with white, and a small phial of Extrait (a limited edition 2ml bottle, rather than our typical 5). Cobwebs is our favourite scent experiment to-date, and we are stunned and flattered by the encore requests this one has received!

A disturbing new bookend to Cobwebs, The Turnip Torch is "Root vegetables and earth, smoking embers, flickering flames, and leaf rot." Delightfully atmospheric for the spookiest time of year.

Back from summer with a sweet, perky-goth makeover, Bloodsugar is a black-and-pink cavity of "Bleeding Orange spliced with gauzy Cotton Candy." A perfectly precious striped soap!

The usual Smashing soap, loaded with pumpkin pulp, is "Creamy sweet pumpkin pie with a full complement of spices - cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves." The matching Smooch! ? Much like pure pie filling. Pick up the Whipped! body creme for layers of all-day sugar and spice.

And due to an abundance of customer requests, the elusive Strychnine, "Ripe peaches and green apples spiked with a menacing hint of cinnamon and ginger, sweetened with tobacco and underscored with burning oak and earth." Find it in our signature soap, and a pale peach (100% soy-wax) Burn! votive.

Find these treats at Villainess.net and with the usual suspects.

And the seasonal Smack! Selection... Harvest Peach celebrates the transition from summer's warmth to autumn's chill with a scoop of Georgia Peach, one Fresh Squeezed Citrus, one Spice Trade and deep Unearthed. We've had this one around for a bit, but designed it with Strychnine's release in mind; it's a perfect complement. And a couple of creepsters... Exhumation is: "Layers of visceral Raspberry Plum goo, Chocolate Mousse treats, tooth-rotting Candy Floss and the grave's own Unearthed filth." and Exsanguination is: "Crimson pools of Cherries Jubilee, Raspberry Plum and Berry Patch and drips of dragon's blood-rich Incense.". Both are fabulous introductions to the line if you're stumped for ideas!

Gorgeous pictures, once more, courtesy of the brilliant Julie Sims. Thanks for making us look good!

Enjoy, you guys!