A number of us view aging as a four-letter word. A thing to be not so much feared as lamented. The passage of time weighs heavy on us. And then there is wine. A fine wine ages with grace. It becomes better, mature, more complex. We actually put some bottles in a dark, humid cellar and wait for time to do its work. We take glee in that. Why does wine get the golden treatment while we wallow in our downfall? It’s a question as old as time itself. One of the many questions we get asked — especially for those Les Vides Anges superfans who buy 50 ml bottles — is, “how long will the fragrance last and will...

Our customers aren’t shy to tell us what they want. The one thing most ask for is variety. They love the limited-run perfumes and home care products. They enjoy our selection of unique ingredients and our tongue-in-cheek marketing. So, when they asked for an alternative payment plan, we went hunting. There are a number of “buy now, pay later” solutions out there but only one stood out to us —Sezzle. We had seen Sezzle being used by independent stores like ours (Chinatown Market, The Hundreds, Kappa to name a few). They understand the innovative indie mind set. For more details on how Sezzle allows you to buy now, pay later visit our partner page or look through the FAQ below....

It’s fascinating to be a perfumer these days. Customers are so well informed that when they ask a question, it’s quite detailed. The natural questions are about materials. Customers know their Javanol from their Ambroxan. The more difficult question is always why we choose to do what we do. Not only the philosophy behind our creations but also our choice to do limited-run. Now I can easily say that I just get bored and end it here, but there’s more to it than that. It all started in 2015. Although Les Vides Anges existed as a name we used for our art collective since the late 1990s, we only started to create fragrances five years ago. I was working as...

When we started Les Vides Anges Fragrances in 2015, we knew a shift was coming. Single-use plastics and excess packaging were the norm for cosmetic and beauty brands. We started creating fragrances for commercial products and bespoke perfumes for individuals — there was a disconnect between the two. Our commercial clients were drowning in packaging while the more discerning custom clients wanted less. We knew that when we started creating our line of limited-run perfumes, we’d have to strip it down. We were already searching for sustainable and renewable ingredients for our perfume and body care products, so we looked for a similar solution for our bottles. We researched and found only a handful of reusable bottles available. We quickly...

It's going to happen eventually. You'll be so bored one day. You'll have read every book, browsed countless web sites and trolled through your recycling for the Vogue magazine circa 2003. At that point, you'll be desperate. That's when you are going to start reading your candle. You heard me. Candles have instructions on them. For the most part, it's the obvious "BEWARE" statements: Burn within sight, away from flammable objects and pets, etc., etc. You've probably stopped yourself there. How crazy are you to be reading a candle? That's when you keep going on and discover the pretty innocuous: Trim the wick to 1/4 inch each time the candle is lit. Do not exceed 4 hours. It seems innocent enough....

There are hundreds of fragrance wheels and illustrations which detail the olfactory components of perfumes, but it leaves out one important piece of the puzzle. How perfume makes you feel.   Perfume Personality Perfume names lead you in one direction. Of course, you want to be F*cking Fabulous or be a Good Girl Gone Bad. But if you delve past the names and go right for the fragrance notes you get a better idea of what you have in store. And it tells you a story.   Déchaîné It starts with sweet Brazilian rosewood which slowly knocks. As you open the door just a crack, a cedar forest clamoring to get out of the rain comes rushing in. You’d like...

All Les Vides Anges perfumes are made to be worn on the skin. We know a lot of you love to spray fragrances on your clothes, but for a perfume to really come alive, it needs to live and evolve on your skin. Whether you are a man or a woman, the best way to apply perfume is right after a shower or just before getting dressed in the morning. Don’t get dressed too quickly so that the perfume has a chance to sit on your skin. While most perfumers will talk about the importance of spraying on your pulse points — wrists, neck, behind ears and yes, behind your knees (look it up) — the people at Les Vides Anges...

Their studio is covered in paint and tiny glass bottles whose scents invite you in. The organized nature of the desk is a far cry from the chaos of Lucien and August's street art. August says he is meticulous when testing out a formula.  Les Vides Anges has always been in the shadows. Before they decided to make fragrances, Lucien was running through the dark corridors of Montreal, with photographer — and LVA perfumer — August in tow, leaving his tag; a simple “PAS.” Translated from French, it means “Can’t.” It’s not something they are used to hearing.   Why start a niche perfumery?  August: I hate the word niche. It’s meaningless. We’re indie perfumers. We don’t have captive materials to rely on. Yet we can make something distinctive....