Katharina

[hersphinxness]

A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom.

Apricots all the way, from the imp right down to the end. Maybe some of the orange blossom? Besides the apricot there was a vague, not-apricot sweetness. But it was so much fruity sweetness, just so much that it was too much. I felt like I might as well have poured apricot soda on myself. It even smelled sticky, like nectar or soda.

This is a winner with just about everyone who smelled it on me, and it is a really pretty blend. If you like smelling strongly of apricots, that is, in which case Katharina should probably form the core of your apricot scent collection.

Very long wear time and strong throw.

Edit: Just gave it a farewell sniff before bed, and it's all white musk and orange blossom which is so much my thing that it's crazy. Can I handle feeling like I'm going to attract swarms of ravenous yellowjackets to get to this point? Oh BPAL, you and your morphing scents!

[lookingglass]

Oh my...smells like peach soda or peach jello. Oh, wait...driiiiiiiiiied down (10 min or so later) this is warming up nicely....! 20 min later: This is the best damn white musk on the planet! It's fuzzy, slightly sweet apricot colored skin, so fleshy and delicious. It lasted all evening, all night, into the next morning, but close to the skin. It's a snuggler.

Edited October 2, 2010 by lookingglass

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Peach champagne. It's not boozy, and I don't smell apricot. I think the combination of apricot + orange blossom is fooling my nose. It's very innocent, fresh and pretty but too light. I don't like having to reapply throughout the day.

[Mamma Badger]

I need to learn to avoid Apricot. I know it doesn't work on me and tried this any way. Unfortunately my right wrist now smells like a cheap toilet deodorizer cake. I had hoped the musk would be the stronger note on me but no. One for the swaps bin.

[MandyCassandra]

Wow. Yes.

 

I got this as a frimp gift in my very first swap (thank youuu!) and it happened to be one of the first I smelled.

 

I felt a click. Then I tried it on.

 

Click.

 

Sometimes certain fragrances just click with you....you know exactly what I mean. Katharina and I understand each other very well...we had an understanding from the first moment. It's true...you get apricots all the way down till you get to the base notes. Then you get to the white musk...

 

Bottle: Light, sweet, lovely. It's quiet, even in the bottle.

 

Wet on my skin: Sweet and nice. I can smell it blending with my skin from the moment I put it on. The apricots are really obvious, but that's alright, because they're not heavy.

 

After a couple of hours: It wasn't very loud or strong to begin with (I tried Snake Oil on my other wrist and it's REALLY loud) and it's already almost gone. But I can smell the white musk now, just a touch...it's like a tiny, sweet little sigh.

 

Verdict: Someone called this one "innocent", and I think that's a word that describes this one really well. The perfumes that get called "innocent" are usually ones that fit me like a glove. I love this, and it's definitely going into my rotation. It's perfect on me!

[riverdresses]

I'm actually wearing this now, so why shouldn't this be my first review?

 

I received this as a frimp in my second imp pack order, then was given a second imp of it from a friend of mine who hated how fruitlike it was to her.

 

In imp: I could have sworn this was really more of a flowery scent when I first opened it out of the postbox. Trying it several months later, it's definitely turned rather peachy-flowery. Very nice!

 

Wet: Still pretty peachy-flowery, though I'm pretty sure I can detect some of the white musk now . . . it still smells nice, though there's a faint hint of soapiness now, which is getting just a bit stronger.

 

Dry: Apricot is definitely there for me. Very fruity, not much in the way of flowers now.

 

Throw: I put it on at about six AM-ish, & it's now almost ten-thirty PST & it's mostly faded, save for a light apricot/fruitlike trace. Four & a half hours just isn't long enough for me, I think. Nor are the apricot/fruit attributes winning me over much.

 

Final verdict: A nice exercise in playing with imps, but no, not really for me. To the swaps with thee!

[girlcalledmoment]

BPAL's description of Katharina is charmingly understated - 'a strong wilful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul'. Well, this is an understatement. Katharina is an accomplishment! Wow. I am very smitten with this super creation, which is warmly peachy, gently shampooey, softly musky, subtly floral and supremely self-assured. A clean scent, but not at all harsh in the way that some BPAL blends can be; rather this is a golden halo of freshly washed hair and the sweet glow of contentment. I like the likes of the Dormouse, and Black Hellebore, which have soapy aspects that I find myself yielding to because of their strength; here we have a whole new level of technique which is almost moving in its artistry. I think Katharina is a splendid, peachy skin-scent, which is warm and confident, utterly beguiling, and quite frankly, a work of brilliance. I have no idea how it manages to smell so orb-like.

5/5

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: oversweet apricot, like someone added too much sugar to a bag of dried ones. orange blossom doesn't usually bode well with my skin chemistry, so I don't have high hopes. it's very very sweet, more fruit than florals. I don't catch the musk, but knowing my skin, it'll dominate.

 

On my skin: surprisingly, apricot stays in first place for the initial application. the orange blossom and the dry sharpness of the musk take over only a few minutes later though. still very very sweet, though it becomes more about florals and less about fruit as it goes on.

 

Last thoughts: I can almost enjoy it, but for the sharpness of the musk and the oversweet over-girly aspects. just something about it that doesn't work for me. possibly (probably) the two ingredients my skin has a history of hating. just a guess.

[asciident]

Wet: Musky apricot. Very slightly orange. I'm a bit wary at this stage; fruit and musk don't usually work well together on me.

 

First on: Now the apricot is quite bright--not exactly juicy, though. Musk is still there, and surprisingly they're combining well so far.

 

Dry: Well-balanced, light, and pretty. A very feminine summertime scent.

 

 

[prettybird]

I really don't get much apricot from this at all. Mostly I get musk and orange, with just a little apricot to round it out. Overall, it's a pretty round scent. The apricot comes out a little on the dry down, but it's not the in-your-face apricot of Depraved or some such.

 

Unfortunately, it seems to disappear pretty quickly on me. It still smells nice, nice enough to be worth wearing and reapplying. It might be good in a scent locket.

[countessmouse]

There is such a thing as too much musk. It just overwhelms the apricot and the floral, which is a shame because the apricot was very, very present just sniffing the imp.

 

Off to the swap/sell pile she goes...

[whataboutprom]

Wet: Bright, light apricot.

 

Dry down: A little bit of the white musk comes out, which softens the apricot and keeps it from being overpowering. There is a note threatening to go baby powder on me, but I'm hoping it won't stick around for long. So far this reminds me of a more innocent, day time version of Algaea.

 

The powder is stubbornly staying put, making this seem like a young girl's scent to me. It's nice, but I think I will stick with Algaea, the sexier older sister.

[brittanywut]

In the imp: Very sweet apricots.

 

Wet: Musky, apricot still very strong.

 

Dry: Apricot, musk, and the tiniest bit of orange. I love the smell of apricots, peaches, etc so I love this. A really great scent for warmer months.

[Honey]

Summer!

 

 

Imp: Fruity, sweet apricot. Much stronger (and more yummy) than the apricot in March Hare

 

Wet: Lovely! Fruity sweet apricot. Doesn't smell like peach hand soap (yay!).

 

Dry: Still mainly apricot. Beautiful summer scent, I can only echo that statement.

[angelamaria]

In bottle: mmm. Apricots and a faint orange blossom note. Bright, light, and shimmery. beautiful!

 

Wet on skin: definitely apricots. Beautiful and almost ethereal, the white musk is very pretty here. Soft. The neroli peeks out every so often. Color impression is a definite soft orange, and sweeter than the bottle smell by a hair.

 

Dry: I think this is in danger of becoming grandmothery to me. It must be this type of white musk The apricot is beautiful, but...yeah. The neroli has almost all done, too. I would definitely like a bit more of that orange blossom! And much later, it's definitely turned grandmothery. And this thing STICKS. I washed and it's still there, and the throw is still pretty strong (like, can smell it while typing on my keyboard sort of throw).

 

Verdict: it started out so well, but ultimately a no. I wonder how to tell which white musks work and which doesn't?

[KittyHawk]

My notes for my test of Katharina are very concise: "Yay!"

 

This scent makes me so happy, and there's something about BPAL's white musk note that seems to last for-frakking-ever on my skin. I applied this at 5 AM before I went to bed, and I could still smell it around 11 PM. My skin usually eats scent like there's no tomorrow, but Katharina sticks with me, and I'm oh-so-very happy to have her!

 

I get nearly equal amounts of apricot and orange blossom, but as it mellows, the apricot becomes the dominant note, with white musk closely behind. This reminds me of Fae without the oakmoss and would complement her perfectly. This will be upgraded to bottle status in my next Lab order because I can't live without it.

[KatharinaNordh]

This was my first bottle - bought unsniffed simply because we share name, down to the very last letter. A perfume named for me would have to be perfect, after all.

 

And then I opened it and - Ouch!

Sweet, so sweet my brain felt like someone tipped a bucket of the sugar-syrup apricots are CANNED in over my head - and screechy; Apricot by the boatload, all stomped and mashed and dripping all over the place.

Overpowering and just...horrible.

 

That was my first impression; too strong, too sweet, too vibratingly There.

 

Tonight though, for some odd reason, I decided to try again - maybe because I never was a quitter.

 

And now...it's all different.

 

The apricots are fresh instead of canned in syrup, they are sliced, in a clean bowl in the sunlight and topped with cold, whipped cream and a shiny silver spoon to lick with the tip of your tongue. There's something round and soft and...curious about it all, like...well, sorry to go completely hippie, but - like when you are in that age (whenever it was for you) where you start noticing that your body is...different - you become more aware of it, it brings you joy to be alive and feel the muscles working and the balance in your neck and hips and how you can dance - and notice how people look at you because you are alive and young and bursting with...power, of the most subtle yet bubbling way.

 

That's it.

 

I hated this to begin with, but now it makes me feel 10 years younger - and not in a sad, old-woman-wishing-way - but like "hey, 30 is no age - you're still strong and smooth and quite magical in your own right" - amazing

[ShannonElisabethJones]

So this one smelled kind of greeny/floral in the imp, and the green got kind of sharp just after I applied it. Not super sharp like Belladonna, but just a few thorns. My BF asked if I spilled pickle juice on myself*, so I told him, "It's Katharina...it's supposed to be a little sharp."

 

After a few minutes, it's reminding me of some of the other Illyria scents I like - Desdemona and Hermia - but with that sharp thorny green. I'm enjoying this one. Katharina's a keeper.

 

 

 

*My BF likes to be creative with his critiques of the scents I try.

[milo]

Wow, this one is sweet and girly. I thought for sure there was lotus in here, as it is much like bubblegum to me. OK, maybe a juicy fruit bubblegum. I'm guessing the apricot blossom is to blame, as orange blossom is really good on me, and white musk, well it's just not sweet. It's funny that the white musk isn't toning this down a bit, this is just a sweet, rather juvenile blend. Not for me.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Apricot.

 

On skin, wet: Apricot. There's maybe, maybe a little hint of musk, but it's faint and elusive.

 

On skin, dry: No more maybe-musk, it's all apricot again.

 

After an hour: Still pretty much all apricot. Not quite as aggressive about it as Grand Guignol, but similar enough that I shall have to deathmatch them.

[symbiosis]

Katharina:

 

In the imp: oohhh, apricots. But sweet, sugared apricots, not the kind you would buy at the grocery store and munch on. This is not something I would eat, as it's more like apricot candy.

 

On my skin: The sweetness has calmed down quite a bit, thankfully, and the musk warms the scent up a bit for me. The orange blossom still adds that tiny burst of sweetness, but the apricots are the dominating smell. While I don't normally like very fruity scents, this one is quite calm, though I doubt I'll be adding it to my collection.

[lavenderfrost]

In The Imp: Sweet apricot. I'm not sure I'm buying the Taming Of The Shrew associations - this Katharina is less hard-headed, more giggly and playful.

 

Immediate Application: Sweeter apricot.

 

30-45 Minutes Later: More rounded out - the orange blossom comes out to play and the musk turns it into those hotel-sized bottles of hand lotion that smell nice in a light, unobtrusive way. My grandmother used to keep those bottles, so I'm kind of torn between associating this with playful young girls and little old ladies.

 

Verdict: Not something that grabs me, but not something I'd swap either. Good imp to keep around because it would be a safe scent for times when you want to smell nice, but aren't sure what's appropriate.

[Gin]

Katharina smells like peach, musk, and flowers. It's cute and youthful. If the apricot (which I read as peach) were stronger, I think this would be a favorite, but as it is, it's just "nice".

[ChesterCopperpot]

I got this as a frimp and I'm in love with it! My name is Kate, so maybe that's why the lab threw it in.

 

In the imp: strong apricot/peach.

Wet: the apricot is still the dominant note, but the musk comes out strongly too

Dry: stayed strong for hours. Didn't change much. A lovely and sweet apricot and musk scent!

[bellumed]

To me, Katharina smells like fruit juice or cocktail mix, apricot (or peach) and orange. It smells good enough, but not really what I want in a perfume. I'll keep the imp I have, though.

Edited August 25, 2012 by bellumed