Villa Diodati was created by Joelle Nealy. According to their website: A stately house on the edge of Lake Geneva, ringed by Swiss Alps so picturesque they look painted on the sky, in 1816 Villa Diodati hosted a group of travellers whose time there would forever be marked in history. As storms raged outside, in its candlelit rooms Mary Shelley conceived of her mad scientist and his iconic monster. Down the hall, poor Doctor Polidori (who was hopelessly in love with Mary and possibly Byron), was penning a little story that would inspire another little story. Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You may have heard of it. With notes of pungent wild rosemary and fresh balsam pine, crystal clear lakewater and dry, dark vanilla. Villa Diodati is a water-based fragrance mist.
Fragrantica: Reminds me of a campground near a lake. Really pungent and thick, like holding a handful of fresh rosemary and sticky fir needles in your hand. The aquatic note doesn’t jump out but rather hangs around in the background to add atmosphere. A little bit moody overall. I love this composition.
Fragrantica: Opens up as a lovely herbal, with fantastic execution on the lakewater concept. I tend to turn away from water notes in scents, they can feel a little too upbeat for me. They can be cloying in their reminiscence of beach products, but not this. This water is goth. It really reminds me of a dreary, moody lake. A lot of Poesie’s offerings tend to end on a soft and sweet note, this one not being an exception, but that vanilla is deliciously dry; the pine giving it a lingering and almost peppery nudge that keeps the sweetness more interesting. Powdery in the drydown, but with that water and those herby touches swirling together softly.
Fragrantica: I love this scent! The rosemary was very strong at first but it dries down to the sweetness of pine and something aquatic and minty fresh. It's a very transportive scent, once you smell it you are immediately captivated by its atmosphere.
Fragrantica: I love woody pine scents, but it's hard to find ones that don't just smell like a generic evergreen candle. this is a return favorite because it really accurately pins down the smell of a pine forest after rain, but i also have very mixed feelings about actually wearing it because it's quite pungent. initially, i get a strong blast of rosemary and pine resin. it's powerful (and might not be for everyone because of that). i personally love rosemary, and i think it's underutilized in woody scents because it enhances the sometimes fleeting smell of pine needles and sap. the strong pine/rosemary lingers for a few hours, and as it fades, the vanilla starts to come forward more. usually i don't like vanilla scents because they tend to skew sickeningly sugary to my nose, but this one reminds me of the warm sweetness of burying your nose in the split bark of an old pine tree, where the sap has been flowing and dried in rivulets down the trunk. on sunny days, or after precipitation, the trees are sweet enough to almost remind me of pancakes with maple syrup, with a dusty papery smell from the wood itself. this perfume is a gorgeous sensory experience that's deeply nostalgic for me of time spent hiking in the dense pine forests of the rocky mountains. when applied early morning, i can still smell a lingering woody warmth on my skin around bedtime. however, it projects very strongly, and is a much more potent perfume than i usually go for. wearing it in public makes me feel a little self-conscious, because i don't wear perfume with the intention of inflicting my scent preferences on everyone in the room, i wear it just for me. if i could dial down the sillage on villa diodati like 15% or so, it would be perfect. as is, i have to use it sparingly. It also feels like it's missing a note. like it needs Something to bridge the gap between the beginning sharpness and the ending sweetness, help them harmonize better and mellow each other out... i almost wish there was a hay/grass note in here, but maybe that's just the high desert nostalgia talking.
Fragrantica: This smells like a foggy morning at a lake cabin in the woods. It's seriously therapeutic. A full bottle is on the way!
Fragrantica: Quite accurate to the notes. The pine is super natural and fresh. Really strong rosemary scent, which I don't always love on my skin, but just compliments the pine really well. There is a definite aquatic quality to it, which really drives home that feeling that you're inhaling fresh forest air with a nice creek, dewy in the morning. The vanilla doesn't come through as much but it is there if you search for it and provides a nice warm base, it comes through a bit more in the dry down. Very pungent and woodsy, would be perfect on the right person but might be a little much for someone looking for a more subtle vibe. I do see the vapo rub comparison, but quite like it regardless.
Indie Scent Library: Oh wow! This is definitely pungent rosemary and it smells lovely mixed with the pine. The pine smells similar to the one used in Faraway Nearby which I adore. As it sits, I’m getting a refreshing watery note, a little mineral and a little salt (even though it’s supposed to be lake water). I can vaguely register the vanilla, but it’s such a dry vanilla that it serves to sort of round out the scent rather than add any sweet elements. I really enjoy this one! It makes me imagine a villa with rows of cypress, pine, and rosemary bushes on a cliff on the ocean’s edge. As it sits, the vanilla comes out more and the rosemary is less intense, it feels like sitting on a porch as an ocean breeze comes occasionally by, sweeping up the scents of the surrounding greenery.
