Catherine

[k00kaburra]

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.

In bottle: It's so sharp it makes me think of vetiver. Ugh. I know that some of that bitterness is the neroli, but eeew. I sense that Catherine and I aren't going to be friends. The rose is definitely there to sweeten things up, so this should smell quite different on my skin.

On me: Somewhat astringent is how I would describe this. The horrible sharpness of the bottle is gone, thank goodness. I am reminded somewhat of Akuma, but with rosy florals instead of the berries. The rose is much more prominant than in the bottle; but the combination on my skin is rather like cat piss. Apparently I'm not the only one to have this reaction, either. This was a gift from the Lab and an interesting experiment, but I'm glad it's not something I ordered.

[autumnviolet]

Catherine. My Grandmother's name, a very...strong name.

Wet: sharp, bitter orange blossoms. I love that. An undercurrent of something bitter, too piercing.

Dry down on skin: still orange blossom with comtinuing sharp, soapy, harsh tone.

Hours later: fades in about 4 hours to a soft summer blossom smell with that crisp tang. Not to be trifled with.

[helarctos]

Very strong -- I can see how a de' Medici could have used this to conceal poison!

 

The orange blossom dominates the blend for me, a loud sweet heavy note overlaying the secretive waft of rosemary.

[Ariella]

The first thing to hit my nose is the rosemary - sharp, strong, almost harsh in its rawness. After a while, the rose and orange blossom come out to play, ultimately drying down to a nice if nondescript powdery, flowery scent. I definitely prefer that to the initial blast of rosemary. While Catherine is tolerable, it's not something I'd say that I *like*. I'll use up my imp for sure, but I don't see my self using this one very often.

[shelldoo]

first on it was rose and rosemary

 

but after it dried it was all rose on me, a beautiful full blooming rose.

[joseybird]

Poisonus smelling and herbal...like Belladona...but with touches of orange blossom, making it a bit more feminine. A well-named scent, but not one I could imagine anyone wearing as a perfume...

[antimony]

Grr, I'm of two minds about this one.

 

I hate neroli, so I'm not excited about that. I love the smell of rosemary, so that's a plus. The rose holds it all togethe quite well, so that's neutral.

 

It so green, and sophisticated and sexy. Woody, slightly bitter rose. If you like green rose scents, this is it.

[anmorata]

Catherine:

 

Wet: Super-uber perfume smell. Like whoa.

Drydown: Hello, citrussy rose! Whew! This one is strong.

Long-term wear: Catherine morphed into a very strong rose scent, leaving the rosemary and orange blossom behind. It reminded me a bit of the rose in Rose Red, but only faintly.

[quikslvr]

Dark orange. Almost smoky, evoking a hazy room. A bit evil, the smell of trepidation. This is perfect for the figure it's named after. The orange mellows, bringing out the rosemary. May have induced a headache for me. I'm hoping not, because this is neat, although probably not something I'd wear on a regular basis.

[wickedgoddess]

Preconceived Notions - This is one of the the two bottles I bought unsniffed in my first order. Orangel blossom, rosemary and rose are three of my favorite scents, so I was hoping I would love this.

 

In the bottle - herbal and sweet.

 

Wet - Beautiful! I don't smell rosemary per se, but I get roses and a green, herbal scent and a very light bit of floral. I also smell dirt, as if I had been working in the garden with my roses and herbs.

 

Dry - As this dries, the rose takes center stage. I can still smell all of the notes, but rose dominates. It takes about 2 hours for me to find my beloved orange blossom. The rosemary is completely gone now, it's all rose and orange blossom, an uber-femine scent.

 

Summary - the rosemary balances out the rose in a lovely manner, saving it from being to floral. I really like this scent a lot, and can see myself wearing it regularly. It won't make it in my top 5, but it probably will end up in my top ten. And yes, I am glad I got a big bottle of this.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 4

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Rosemary and rose. Pungent and strange.

 

Wearing: ROSE!

 

Final Impressions: Alas, alack, alack, alas, oh me oh my it's rose.

[Ajila]

On me this was just very, very gentle, slightly creamy orange blossom. If I really sniff at my skin where it was applied there is a herbal quality to it which I assume is the rosemary. This was a firly linear scent, staying the same all the way through, just getting fainter. Considering how faint this was when I applied it, it stayed for absolutely ages.

[cricketshay]

In The Vial~Smells like soap in the vial. Maybe it's just my nose or the rosemary. Rose doesn't work well on me so I'm leary of trying this one.

 

Wet~Soap on my skin as well. Ick!!! I can't detect any notes, it just smells like strong Dove soap. Maybe it'll improve when it dries down.

 

Dry~Orange cleaner. I'm sure the cleaner part comes from the rose. I hate that I can't wear blends with rose listed as a note. I love roses, but they sure don't love me. *mourns Rose Red* This one is going on the swap heap.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is herbal and bitter. When first applied I get an almost menthol note which turns into sweet orange. This softens nicely but still keeps the herbal note in the background. I never really got rose out of this one. This is okay but not really a "me" scent. It also doesn't have much staying power on me.

[vyvyan]

Soap. Soap soap soap! Went on soap, stayed soap - for the couple hours that it did stay. That was the only good part, that it faded pretty fast on me.

 

I wanted to love this; the combination of scents sounded fabulous. But not for me! I'm starting to think that my skin has problems with rosemary & piney scents. Too bad.

Edited June 8, 2005 by vyvyan

[Eros]

Gift imp from lovely forumite(thanks again!!)

 

This isn't one that I'd noticed before & had no idea of the notes used, so...

 

In the imp and 1st applied, LEMON! Freshly cut, crisp, clean lemon. Love the smell of fresh lemon, but don't want to smell like it.

 

However, as it dried it did the most interesting thing...It morphed into what I can only call, Disneyland. Seriously, from the edible yummies to the fumes from the rides. Disneyland. With a hint of creamy vanilla underneath. I LOVE Disneyland so needless to say, I love Catherine I don't think I'll be getting a bottle but I'll definitely use the imp and probably keep at least one imp around just because of the feeling it evokes.

Wears well, too! I've washed my hands numerous times(general, daily handwashing), and its still with me.

Um, so yeah, Disneyland

[renaissancerouge]

On me, Catherine is nice and simple- a sharply herbal rose that softens to orange blossom and rosemary. I like the old recipe and the story behind it, and it smells very classic; I once made my own eau de cologne with vodka and fresh herbs and flowers that smelled very similar to this. Catherine puts me in mind of summers past.

 

Comforting and simple, but not for those who don't like roses or rosemary since they dominate this blend. This is fresh and antiseptic for the first few minutes and is perfect for hot days.

[QueenFae]

At first sniff, a sharp bite of rosemary with an undertone of roses. On the drydown, my skin really pulls out the rose, (as usual!) and the other elements fade into the background. It's a lovely, yellow, bright floral scent. It's feminine, but definitely has an edge to it. I like it, I'll enjoy using up my imp!

[gangstaknitta]

In Bottle: The rosemary is very strong--woodsy, even. The rose is faint and not powdery. I can't really smell the orange blossom at first.

 

Wet: The rosemary is dominant on my skin and the woodsy scent comes out more. I can smell the rose hiding underneath. I wish it was stronger.

 

Dry: On the dry-down, the orange blossom comes out from under the rosemary and it is a very sharp smell. Orange blossom doesn't work on me and the rosemary is just too strong. Something about my body chem amps up the smell. It lasted a long time.

[Scarlettfish]

This is very rosemary and rose on me - can't really smell the orange blossom. It is very sharp and strong, but also quite lovely. It is a bit overwhelming on me at the moment, but that's because I had an imp disaster and dropped half an imp all over my hands and my scarf! I would definitely put it on in smaller doses in the future

[tourmalinqueen]

The scent that played the heaviest on me was rosemary which unfortunately mixed with the orange to make something eucalyptus smelling. The rose just peeped out, barely there. Long lasting only in my cleavage and only then if I pulled out my shirt and poked my nose down there. It also didn't sit well with my skin and made it bumpy in spots. Oh well, off to the swap pile.

[Orodemniades]

Wet: Oo, there's something really sharp in this that I don't like. Hope it goes away!

 

Drydown (plus a few washings of the hands): Okay. The sharpy-bittery-goes straight through my sinuses thing is overshadowing everything else. When I can distract myself long enough from that, there does seems to be an aquatically sweet tone that's quite mellow, like a vanilla or something reminiscent, a waxy wetness, if that makes any kind of scent whatsoever.

 

Overall: the bitter/sharp is simply to overwhelming on me. Off to the sales it goes!

 

ETA: ah...I think it's the orange blossom. I came across it in something else recently but didn't think it was the culprit. Oh well...

 

Oro

Edited July 16, 2005 by Orodemniades

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I really don't expect this to work for me. I really don't care for rose and orange blossom rarely works although I love rosemary.

 

First sniff:

 

Very heavy on the orange blossom (the scent literally makes me cringe half the time and I have no clue why) with undertones of rosemary. This is definitely not going to work for me, I can tell that right now.

 

Wet on skin:

 

No change, still in-your-face orange blossom (which I can't stand) and a heavy dose of rosemary (which I love, but don't care for in this blend). I don't smell any rose, but that's a good thing for me. Catherine's definitely a strong feminine scent. Forceful and womanly and unfortunately not me. At all.

 

Dry down:

 

All I can smell is orange blossom now and it's giving me a headache. I'd thought that only neroli (I recall someone saying there was a difference between the two) gave me migraines, but it looks like I'm either wrong or that this is neroli under the name of orange blossom.

 

The bottom line:

 

I knew this wouldn't work, so it's not a huge surprise that Catherine's not for me, but I'm still disappointed any time a BPAL scent hates me.

[Little Bird]

Orange blossom pretty much always goes rancid on my skin... either smelling like burnt citrus or something like dirty baby powder. Catherine's orange blossom was no exception. Only in this the rose also goes soapy. When first applied, this smelled like soapy rose and citrus, very sharp and bitter. It dried down to soapy rose, a smell of burnt orange peel, and baby powder. I had to wash it off when it started to give me a headache

[slave1]

In Bottle: Herby orange.

 

On Skin: The rosemary and orange blossom are the top notes. This scent does smell “dark and sinful”. The rosemary gives a sharp twang in contrast to the powdery sweetness of the orange blossom. The rose is light, but I do smell it… it is the after note that lingers seductively. I do get a bit of a soapy scent after a few minutes, I think it’s the rose.