The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Dance With The Devil was created by perfumer Paul Voulgaridis and launched in 2025 by Vanitas Parfums. There is no documented literal inspiration, so the notes tell the story more directly. Thyme gives the opening a herbal edge, while rose de Mai, rose, jasmine and iris bring a cultivated floral presence. Beneath them, leather, oud, tobacco, incense and resinous materials pull that polish into darker territory. The result is a composition built on contrast, pairing bright herbs and flowers with notes of smoke, earth and wood.
The unusual part is how naturally rose and darkness coexist here. A floral heart usually carries the composition, but this one seems to share the stage with patchouli, leather, tobacco and oud. Soft sweetness enters through balsams, benzoin, labdanum and musk, keeping the incense and woods from becoming dry or severe. Violet leaf and geranium sharpen the flowers with a cool, leafy edge, while sandalwood and amberwood lend a smoother, more polished passage between the herbal top and the dense base.
The evolution
The opening begins with thyme's dry herbal snap, bright enough to make the deeper notes feel like a destination rather than a threat. Rose de Mai and rose soften the arrival, but jasmine sambac, violet leaf, geranium and iris keep the florals from becoming too polished. As the composition dries down, leather and tobacco take the lead, surrounded by incense, oud and resinous materials. Patchouli adds dry earth, while Peru balsam, Gurjan balsam and benzoin bring a measured sweetness. Sandalwood and amberwood make the trail supple rather than brittle. The result settles into a soft, smoky warmth, with rose, incense and leather lingering close to the skin as the darker notes gradually recede.
Cultural impact
The title gives Dance With The Devil an immediate sense of risk and invitation, a pairing that suits a fragrance built on opposition. Its rose-led florality sits against dark woods, resins and smoke, giving the composition a striking contrast between cultivated brightness and untamed depth. Within that structure, the flowers never feel ornamental; rose and jasmine move toward leather, tobacco and incense rather than remaining decorative, so the fragrance reads as one continuous unfolding of light and shadow.
The House
Vanitas ParfumsVanitas Parfums is an independent fragrance house founded in 2022 by perfumer Paul Voulgaridis. Working from Paris, the house presents fragrance as a precise and expressive discipline, balancing compositions built around distinctive concepts with a clear sense of atmosphere. Its catalogue spans leathery compositions, shadowed floral accords, layered accords, and scents inspired by place, travel, art, and narrative. Names such as Le Messe Noire, Cuir Insoumis, A Thousand Layers, A Dance of Shadows, Dance With the Devil, and Omukama reveal a house drawn to tension between shadow and light, sensuality and structure, individuality and shared cultural reference. For Silloria, Vanitas Parfums stands apart as a young label with an unusually varied portfolio and a name that evokes the transience of life through scent.
The Creator
Paul VoulgaridisVoulgaridis's style combines polished construction with expressive detail. His compositions often favor a clear central idea supported by carefully judged supporting notes, allowing facets to develop without losing their sense of direction.
