Villanelle was the third perfume created by me, it embodies not only late spring days but all the dark scent notes related to soil, moss, dusty air before a storm, heavy humid air in the Flemish woods and some mysterious, obscure treasures of the earth. Well, that was my story behind the perfume, until I found out that there is another perfume, a fictional perfume, called La Villanelle in the books by Luke Jennings in his Codename Villanelle [Villanelle #1-4] book, a thriller "that inspired TV sensation Killing Eve" (goodreads). Although the word Villanelle itself means "a pastoral or lyrical poem of nineteen lines, with only two rhymes throughout, and some lines repeated", it is the mood it brings, something I wanted to transfer to the perfume.

My first inspiration behind the name was a poem by Keith Douglas. But the idea behind the perfume was to create a scented version of a poetic form villanelle. And there are a few other villanelles I do enjoy.

To experience the best of Villanelle, you need to visit one of the Flemish forests, some of which are located on hills or by the rivers. The damp, heavy summer air is filled with pungent green scent, conifers, moss, wood, soil (in some places sand), a glimpse of the sun, an orchestra of birds echoing in the oak trees, fields buzzing with insects... Summer showers happen after a humid spell which lasts for 2-3 days, the air stands still, the sky turns dark silver, winds turn into a storm... if at that short moment before the storm you happen to be outside, in a dark forest, you are in the center of Villanelle...

Well, there is in fact not much in common between Villanelle and La Villanelle, except that there is something dark hidden between perfume notes, since the perfume is based on heavier accords of the base notes of labdanum, frankincense, oakmoss, marjoram, galbanum, etc. When I describe the perfume to people, I say, it is the darkest of all perfumes I have created. Think of May storms, when day light changes into darkness, the overcast sky creates a dark mood, something is going to happen, a thunder, a storm, a blast of wind, when the path you took in a forest smells of wet moss, with the first heavy drops of late spring shower, you feel the dust rising up into the air, when the wind wandering among the old oak trees brings the smell of fresh leafage, wet bark, shadowy animals and footsteps left by someone. The scent of Villanelle perfume is not gloomy but rather murky. You have to follow the path you took because the forest will get only darker with stormy weather.

Well, darkness in nature and darkness of soul can somehow be intertwined. Is that what is happening to Villanelle since people thought to try it? I do not know it. When I wanted to blend two forms of art: poetry and perfumery, I was amazed at how much common there is between the two.

Some might be disappointed, some might be surprised, some - delighted but Villanelle perfume was never inspired either by the book or series, it is a real perfume with its own story, while La Villanelle, a fictional perfume, might have its own alluring character, somehow a new story of Villanelle has begun when we start asking ourselves: What is Villanelle?