Catherine

[porcelina]

Named for the ambitious, vengeful poisoner Catherine deMedici, who used perfumes to perform her dark deeds. A sinful blend of orange blossom, rosemary and rose... allegedly the exact perfume she utilzed in her work.

the orange blossom in catherine is really, really lovely. it reminds me of the orange blossom perfume i would buy at touristy gift shops in florida when i was little, only fresher and more realistic. unfortunately, the rose does not disappear and is too overbearing for this to be wearable.

[skepticism]

I was struck with a strong, sharp citrus scent out of the vial, possibly from the orange blossom and rose blend. The second I dabbed it on the rose appeared. The rose note I'm getting from this smells green and unripened. It's not the incredibly sweet, powdery rose that I've experienced in Rose Cross and Two five & Seven. As it dries the rosemary takes a small step from the background and connects the rose and orange blossom in a very very subtle warm, spice.

 

Throw is in the midrange, and I'll have to get back to this regarding the staying power. But so far I have nothing but 5ml love for this blend.

[stillalive]

Interesting... really hard to explain. too floral for my poor lungs right now (even silk road is causing distress at the moment, alas!). I like the orange blossom, but there's something about the other notes that repels me. Probably that pesky rose mixing badly with my skin chemistry... wah.

[goblinshark]

Catherine smells like somewhat soapy rosemary on me, but in a distinguished sort of way. I actually reach for it pretty frequently; I keep it in my glasses case, so whenever I go to get my glasses out I get a nice whiff of 'fancy lady' smell.

[hellomoonglow]

I've smelled this before as a frimp and stoppered it up quickly. Today, however, I was feeling like I just wanted to try something new. I put my hand in my "c" baggie, and out came Catherine.

 

Something abuot this blend reminds me of my teenage years. I keep thinking I must've worn something similar to this back then. It's actually quite different and good! Very strong rose. I don't know what fresh rosemary smells like, but that may be the herbal note coming through. No real presence of orange blossom, which I do like. Overall, I'd not purchase a bottle because when would I wear it enough to have a bottle?!? But a nice dance into nostalgia.

[auburnette]

Catherine

 

In bottle: Roses.

On skin, wet: sweet, fragrant roses. There's definitely something tempering the roses and making them less pungent, but I can't tell what it is.

On skin, dry: Still roses. Rose always seems to amp on my skin. Pretty? Certainly. I don't really get rosemary from it, although the orange blossom's there (and stays sharp, unlike in Zarita). Oddly I don't get any rosemary from this at all.

 

Ultimately this is quite nice, but it doesn't beat out the best rose scent I've found so far (Hope) - and not being a tremendous rose-lover, I think this will go in swaps.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

the orange blossom and rosemary in this always frightens me and so i've avoided trying it. but tonight i had a small impcident and wound up with some on my hands anyway.

 

the orange blossom and rosemary are much stronger than the rose, sadly, and although it is interestingly wearable ... it does not work on me at all.... after a few minutes it smells like mildew.

[Celestyna]

The lemongrass/pineyness of rosemary mixes surprisingly well with the rose/peony.

Still smells a biiiit mediciney in the end (rosemary & pine scents do that to me) with a touch of... berry.

i know, odd. but it kinda works.

[Suu4LC]

I mostly get rosemary and rose from this in the imp-not much of the orange blossom. Rose tends to go weird on me and I tend to not like rosemary in my perfume, but I gotta try em all!

 

Strong strong rose on my skin. Rose haters, beware, this is definitely rosey!!! I barely even notice the rosemary and the orange blossom is definitely crushed by the rose.

 

On my skin, as it dries, the rosemary definitely comes out much more. I never got the orange blossom-just rose and rosemary. It smells ok, as long as I don't shove my nose onto my wrist. Not my thing, but my mom came in and thought it smelled very good on me so the imp is hers now

[savage_rose]

At first this smells very cologne-y to me, like Tinkerbell perfume all grown up. But then individual notes start blooming...a hint of orange blossom, a touch of astringent rosemary. And just the barest hint of rose. Usually rose is pretty strong on me, but not here...this is a very interesting blend of herbal and floral. I think I like it, but it's not a "love at first sniff" blend for me.

[Seismogenic]

Poison, huh? Terrifying, heart rate-increasing, sweat-inducing, and deadly? That also sounds like math midterms, and I had one today, so I figured I might as well compliment it with killer BPAL. Ahah, math midterm, I shall smell innocent, and you will never suspect me as I come up behind you and solve all the problems, rendering you harmless after all! TAKE THAT!

 

In the imp: Herbal rose with a citrusy undertone.

 

Wet on skin: Mostly rose, though the herbal aspect of rosemary is keeping the rose from getting out of control so far. The citrusy aspect is, true to form with me, already gone.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is a good balance between rosemary and rose. The floral aspect is undeniably there, but there's enough herbal to keep it from getting too sweet, or too like having petals shoved up one's nose. By one hour in, though, it's gone a little soapy, and I can't figure out quite why. Is that the orange blossom? The orange blossoms on campus don't smell like soap!

 

Five hours later: Soap is gone. It's back to an herbal rose, though much much fainter now.

 

End of the day: Gone.

 

Overall: This is certainly a clean, simple, and innocuous-smelling blend. There's no harshness or bite to it, which is likely why it was such an effective vessel for Catherine's poisons. Who would ever guess it could be vicious! This particular combination of notes is not, however, particularly suited to my tastes. I don't dislike the scent, but I'm not exactly a florals guy, and despite the rosemary, this still counts primarily as a floral in my book. Swapping, I think!

(As for that midterm, I know I screwed up one problem royally, but I think I nailed the other five pretty well.)

[Monster]

In the imp: Rose. Just rose.

 

On my skin: REALLY pretty orange blossom paired with rose....unfortunatly it's the same type of rose that ends up smelling like Play-Doh on me :'( I'm not detecting any rosemary. Wow, I really love the orange blossom note in this. I wish this were a single note perfume.

Dry: The rose in this ends up going rotten and sour on me :'( Yup. Play-Doh. I do, however like how this sort of sparks my imagination and it a little peek into history. I've read about Catherines poison perfumes and always wondered what they would've smelled like.

 

Overall: A very pretty perfume....really beautiful, unfortunatly the rose in this doesn't work with me. This is very feminine and mature smelling (not old lady...just refined).

Edited February 8, 2009 by Monster

[asciident]

Wet: Sharp and bitter, which makes sense if it's a poisonous blend.

 

First on: Unchanged. I think the rosemary is playing off the orange to make this so bitter.

 

Dry: Unchanged. Not really a perfume I'd want to wear, I think.

[stellans]

I am a big rose scent nut. And I like both orange blossom and rosemary. Therefore, I was predisposed to like this blend, and when I tried an imp, it really made my nose happy before I ever put it on my skin.

 

Once it hit my skin, even bigger love set in! Rose is usually a sweet scent (though it can have a sharp edge; Peacock Queen, I’m looking at you!), and orange blossom too can normally be counted upon to deliver a certain sweetness to one’s nostrils. Rosemary, in contrast, is a much sharper scent, very astringent, and cuts through the incipient floral sweetness of the rose and orange blossom. On me, there is sharpness to be sure, but no bitterness. The florals are enough to keep this a very lovely scent, and the rosemary keeps it from being cloying. I like it!

 

This scent definitely evokes the memory of one of history’s most ruthless women: Catherine de Medici, Queen-Consort of France, Regent of France, and Governor of France.

Edited April 14, 2011 by stellans

[WidgetAlley]

Rosemary? Check. Orange blossom? Check. Roses? Not a check, but rather soap.

 

Imp: Mmm, that dark sweet rosemary I remember from my garden at home, with that sweet florally orange blossom and just a hint of rose. Herbal and lovely.

 

Wet: All strong rosemary and sophisticated orange blossom at first, but then the rose rises and there's an ever-so-slight soap underneath the sticky herbs. I like the throw, though, deep clean rosemary and bright orange blossom. It almost smells like an infused honey.

 

Dry: A very nice, very expensive herbal honey soap. Lovely, but I like Santa Eularia Des Riu a lot more-- it's brighter, tarter, and of course doesn't make me smell like I just got out of the shower.

[Lyrical]

In vial: sharp and herbal. I can make out orange, rosemary and rose, but they blend tightly together into something else.

 

Wet on skin: sharp and pungent, like something you'd apply to clear your sinuses! Orange blossom and rose do not blend well, in my opinion, and rosemary makes it medicinal.

 

Dry on skin: it settles down a bit, only for the rose to come out in an old-lady-bubble-bath kind of way! Yuck!

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Astringent. It doesn't even smell like Rosemary, it smells like Vicks Vapo rub and Sea Breeze. No rose, no Orange blossom, the two notes that I ordered the imp for.

 

Wet: The astringent scent fades oh so quickly. Powdery white rose is all I smell. Light and sweet (probably the orange blossom). A bit like 2/5/7, but stronger. A little herby, but it's definitely white rose.

 

Dry: Smells a bit like paper. Dry, light, white. No more rosemary at all. It's still powdery and sweet. There is something of a citrus scent in the background that makes the rose scent clean.

 

Overall: I like it. It turns to white powdery rose. It's similar to a lot of other rose scents. Rose just amps on my skin and a lot of rose blend just smell like plain rose on my skin. I love rose, but it's not all I want to smell like all the time. I was hoping for something else in this scent. I love Rosemary (love love love it, the only herb I eat!) And I love Orange Blossom in Jezebel, but the other two notes fade on my skin. I like it, will use my imp, but probably won't go for a bottle.

[donnatron]

Imp: Astringent. Sharp rosemary rises out of the imp and clears my sinuses something good.

 

Wet: Fresh on my skin orange blossom always smells dusty. It becomes the dominant scent but the rosemary is doing its best to reassert it's dominance. The rose is there and just a little like, "Fools. Just wait."

 

Dry: The rose has come out in full force. To my nose it's sort of a warm tea rose sort of rose but I could be mistaken. The more volatile parts of the rosemary have burned off and the scent is no longer astringent. It settles into a lovely floral-herbal scent with warm rose and orange blossom clinging to the skin with the rosemary wafting about. It's very simple but also very interesting. This is definitely a power and strength sort of scent.

 

Throw: Good.

 

Overall: Me likey. I think it would be brilliant for the office and it already does wonders when I have a headache. If you're a fan of unusual florals or interesting historical blends, Catherine is probably the scent for you.

[tragedy]

The notes of this one didn't really fascinate me, so I left it in my "imps to try" pile and passed it up time and time again, till today when i picked one at random....

Dumb me!

This is a beautiful orange blossom/rose, I don't get the rosemary.

This will be GREAT for summer when my heavier ones will just make me feel... heavy.

Its very airy and light, pretty!

[mgrazulis]

Must be more than just these notes...on application, there is a slight tingling with the orange blossom and rosemary. Can't quite but my nose on it, though--very much like witch hazel and a bit soapy.

 

The rose just underneath the soapiness--a nondescript ordinary rose and the rosemary disappears. Still tingles a bit...*Shrugs* Not much else to say except that it was gone quickly. That might be a good thing.

[Eucatastrophe]

I was a little worried about trying this because my body tends to amp Rose notes up to eleven, but the orange blossom made me want to try it.

 

Wet: ACK! Attack of the Roses of Doom!

 

Dry: Hmm... Hey, the roses are backing down a little. This smells really nice. Wait a minute... Catherine? Catherine? Where did you go?

 

My skin seemed to just gobble this up. Maybe I'll give it a go in a scent locket and see what happens.

 

 

[topaz]

Hmmm, this one is interesting. We used to go to a little shop in Florid that sold fresh honey and this reminds me of that store...instant association. I get the orange blossom honeycomb mixed with clover. I miss those childhood days in Florida so I will probably be getting a bottle of this one just because I can open it up and time warp back 30 years.

 

I can't believe I'm actually getting teary-eyed now.

[arlith]

I tend to amp up any hint of rose in a scent, but I like orange blossom and love rosemary, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Unfortunately its all rose. Sweet sickening rose. It eventually (after about 4 hours), and turns into a rather unpleasant pile of musty old flowers. It reminds me of the elderly women who used to sit in front of me when I went to to church as a child; floral, heavy and cloying. It was hard to breathe it in, and I had to go wash it off.

 

I was hopeful, but this is going to go into my stack to get rid of.

Edited July 23, 2009 by arlith

[sarajane]

All soapy rose and eye-wateringly bitter rosemary.

 

WHERE IS MY ORANGE BLOSSOM?

 

I was really interested in this one, particularly the historical aspects of it, but it's a no-go.

[topazphoenix]

The roses lend a clean, light, crisp quality, and the orange blossom contributes a light, citrusy sweetness. The rosemary is faint but hovers around the edges of the other two to give a slightly grounding sort of effect. Overall it's a very unique, intriguing scent that combines the freshness of youth and the spicy tingle of magic.