Every action we take, everything we do, is either a victory or defeat in the struggle to become what we want to be.

Dazzling in their wit, charm, and beauty, courtesans have danced on the edge of society for centuries. They served as companions, lovers, and confidantes of fearsomely powerful men, and as such, courtesans have helped shape the world, sometimes surreptitiously commanding nations with the force of their charisma and the power of bodies Born into eras when women were worth little more than their dowries or the fecundity of their wombs, these were self-made women who defied the constraints of their time. Though they could never be considered paragons of purity or propriety, these women were poets, authors, and power brokers who dared to embrace the unconventional while taking control of their own lives, and are truly worthy of admiration.

I have always been capricious and proud. No one, among women whose tendency it is to say 'yes,' derives more pleasure than I do from saying 'no.' So the men to whom I have given the most are those who asked least of me.

Elizabeth Venard, La Comtesse de Chabrillan, was known to her friends and lovers as Celeste. She first found fame as a dancer in Paris' Bal Mabille where her grace, beauty, and talent earned her the nickname La Mogador: the Moroccan fortress could not have resisted soldiers with as much skill as Celeste juggled suitors. She became a famed equestrienne at Paris' Hippodrome until an accident propelled her to move into the life of a courtesan in earnest. After many years of success as a popular demimonde, she entered into a tempestuous, passionate relationship with Gabriel-Paul-Josselin-Lionel de Chabrillan that culminated in their scandalous marriage. They loved each other without reservation, and she remained by his side long after he became destitute and had nothing to offer her other than his love and his name. They settled in Australia, and she pursued a career as an author until she was forced to return to Paris alone due to poor health. Lionel attempted to gain a post in France in order to be able to be with her, but was rejected because of his past indiscretions, and died in an accident while on his voyage back to Australia. Devastated, Celeste turned to the theatre for catharsis and consolation, and became a successful playwright and manager.
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CELESTE
HER PERFUME
Madagascan vanilla bean, vanilla orchid, orris root, and saffron.
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HER BATH
Vanilla-infused honey and saffron.
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HER CONDOM CASE

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HER SET
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Kitty Fisher was born into a life with very few prospects for advancement. She was the daughter of a modest Lutheran silver chaser, and in her youth, she worked as a milliner's assistant. Longing for something more, she capitalized on her natural beauty, her wits, and her boldness, and launched a career as one of Britain's preeminent courtesans. Her beauty was legendary, and she was the muse of many famed artists of her time, including Joshua Reynolds, Philip Mercier, and James Northcote. Her barbed wit, free lifestyle, and love of excess constantly landed her on the front page of Britain's gossip rags. She fell in love with the grandson of Admiral Sir John Norris, and gave up her career to marry him. She settled in as lady of the house, and turned her talents to building her husband's fortune and generously providing assistance to the poor.
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KITTY
HER PERFUME
French vanilla, tot house orchids, strawberries, white sandalwood, bergamot, and honey.
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HER BATH
Strawberries, white grape, vanilla-soaked cream, and a dusting of a light spice-touched musk.
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HER CONDOM CASE

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HER SET
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Lola Montez was born Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert to a British soldier and an Irish beauty in Grange, County Sligo, Ireland. When she was just a toddler, the family followed her father's regiment to India. He died from cholera shortly after their arrival, and her mother married another British officer. Montez, then called Eliza, was sent back to England for schooling, and there she blossomed into a willful and wild little girl with a reputation for mischief. At 16, Eliza eloped with a British officer and moved to Calcutta. They separated five years later, whereupon she took up the name Lola Montez and embarked on a career as a dancer. Unfortunately, dancing was not her strong suit. However, she gathered friends and lovers in her travels, and gained both popularity and notoriety because of her extraordinary exotic beauty, tempestuous charm, and fearsome temper. During this time, she took on the mantle of courtesan, and cultivated relationships with artists, aristocrats, and politicians, enmeshing herself in Europe's fashionable Bohemian literary circles. Lola was no shrinking violet: she would crack unwelcome suitors across the face with her whip, and once fired her pistol at a disappointing lover, sending him fleeing down the street with his pants around his ankles. When her lover, Franz Liszt, grew exhausted by her passion and fury, she smashed their hotel room to pieces. Lola Montez was very, very Rock Star. In 1846, she became the mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria and was made Countess of Landsfield in 1847. She wielded a tremendous amount of power behind the throne, until Ludwig abdicated in 1848. In 1851, Lola moved to the United States, where she reinvented herself once again and became an actress. Some years later, she moved to Australia and resumed work as a dancer, entertaining Gold Rush miners. After trotting the globe her whole life, she ultimately settled down in New York, where she spent her final days doing charitable rescue work for underprivileged women.
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LOLA
HER PERFUME
Pomegranate, red carnation, pimento berry, red plum, patchouli, heather, tuberose, thyme-moss, foxglove, Easter lily, Scottish moss, Tunisian jasmine, and Indonesian clove.
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HER BATH
Pomegranate, red carnation, pimento berry, blackcurrant, red plum, rose otto, patchouli, and Indonesian clove.
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HER CONDOM CASE

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HER SET
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Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.

Philosopher, poet, author, patron of the arts, and protofeminist, Ninon de l'Enclos is venerated in France as Queen of the Courtesans. At a very young age, Ninon chose to be emancipated from the constraints society had imposed on her gender. She was orphaned at the age of sixteen, and opened her own salon in Paris rather than seeking succor in marriage. Her salon quickly became the talk of the town, attracting aristocrats, socialites, and artists. At thirty, she opened a school to share her knowledge of the ways of seduction, charm, and the courtesies of love. Both men and women flocked to her school, which endured as an institution in Paris for three decades. During her career as a courtesan, Ninon took many powerful men as her lovers, though she was faithful to each one while their liaison lasted. She never took payment for her affections, as she was fiercely independent and wished to rely on no man for support. An advocate of measured Epicureanism, she defended both her lifestyle choices and her philosophical views in her book, La Coquette Vengée. After retiring from life as a courtesan, she continued to write and promote the arts through her salon.
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NINON
HER PERFUME
Smoky honey musk, tobacco leaf, lavender, golden amber, Damask rose, hay, orris root, white sandalwood, and bourbon vanilla.
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HER BATH
Lavender and three ambers with rose otto, orris root, bourbon vanilla, and red sandalwood.
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HER CONDOM CASE

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HER SET
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When we too are armed and trained, we can convince men that we have hands, feet, and a heart like yours; and although we may be delicate and soft, some men who are delicate are also strong; and others, coarse and harsh, are cowards. Women have not yet realized this, for if they should decide to do so, they would be able to fight you until death; and to prove that I speak the truth, amongst so many women, I will be the first to act, setting an example for them to follow.

Veronica Franco was born in Venice, the daughter of a famous cortigiana onesta. She did not wish to follow in her mother's footsteps, and so married a wealthy physician at an early age. The marriage was loveless, and ended badly. In order to support herself, she became a courtesan, and swiftly excelled in that profession. Veronica was distinguished by more than just beauty: she was well-educated, articulate, and possessed of an exceptional intellectual vitality, which earned her the admiration of many powerful men. Veronica used the freedom that she gained through her contacts to explore her twin passions of writing and philanthropy. She showed herself to be a brilliant author and poet, publishing essays that explored and defended the rights of women and poetry that extolled the virtues of love. Suiting action to her words, she also founded a charity that gave assistance to courtesans and their children.
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VERONICA
HER PERFUME
Arum lily and Florentine iris with pomegranate, red amber, ylang ylang, blackcurrant, and oakmoss.
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HER BATH
Frankincense, Damask rose, red sandalwood, ylang ylang, and oakmoss.
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HER CONDOM CASE

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HER SET
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Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoïni was born in Florence to minor Tuscan nobility. At 17, she married Francesco Verasis, conte di Castiglione, and bore him one son. In 1855, she traveled to Paris as a diplomat with instructions to plead the case for Italian unity with Napoleon III. She displayed an impressive gift for foreign affairs, becoming Napoleon III's mistress and gaining entrance to a glittering social circle that included the cream of European royalty. During this time, she wielded a great deal of political clout as both a courtesan and a spy, and her influence was such that she was instrumental in helping to protect Paris from a Prussian occupation. Considered by many to be the first fashion model, she directed Pierre-Louis Pierson at the Mayer & Pierson studio in Paris to assist in accumulating over seven hundred photographs documenting pivotal moments in her life and flashes of Surrealist artistic symbolism. Photos from this period include images of her in a nun's habit, as a virgin drowned, as a corpse, and also as Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, Judith entering the tent of Holofernes, Anne Boleyn, and Goya's Nude Maja.
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VIRGINIA
HER PERFUME
An exotic South Asian musk blended with white sandalwood, tobacco absolute, white sage, caramel, black orchid, tonka bean, frankincense, muguet, and juniper.
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HER BATH
Vanilla-infused Mysore sandalwood with khus and bourbon vanilla.
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HER CONDOM CASE

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HER SET
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Each set comes with a 5ml bottle of the Courtesans’ perfume, 12oz of the Courtesans' bath salts presented in a 5"x7" embossed velvetten pouch, an imp/condom case with the Courtesans' image emblazoned upon it, and an imp of Éclat: a vivacious blend of green tea, osmanthus, pomelo flower, white musk, and verbena. All of the items, with the exception of Éclat, are available individually. Éclat is only available with the set, and is not for purchase on its own.

Our wet bath salts are nutrient-dense, and are blended with an exquisite mixture of healthy oils: Himalayan pink salt, Dead Sea salt, Breton sea salt, refined rice bran oil, fractionated coconut oil, shea oil, rosehip seed oil, dendritic salt, evening primrose, Vitamin E, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume. They are packaged in an elegant velveteen pouch.

The cases are handmade, and have been crafted out of stainless steel. They fit seven imps side-by-side or two condoms within them.

The Courtesans will be available until May 19, 2011.