Katrina van Tassel

[Kippy]

White rose and honeyed cream.

Rose and honey, a great combination. Virginal would be the word I would pick for this. Perfect for those days where you feel like being the ingenue.

I pick up no cream. Lower throw than you would expect from rose or honey, or maybe I wisely applied just a teensy bit. Honey keeps it long lived too, the rose faded out after about four hours, but it's still a teensy bit there after six.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Katrina is a lovely pure rose and honey on me at first; both notes are distinct. Then she goes through a baby powder phase that I'm not happy about at all. The final drydown is good again--slightly powdery rose, but not as "elderly" as that middle phase. The honey didn't last terribly well on me though. A decant is enough, as I have darn near every rose scent Beth has created. I like the idea of rose + something mellow and sweet for an autumnal rose, but Love in the Asylum works better on me for that purpose.

[SeaLady]

This scent is very cute and pretty and sweet. It's light, and a little sassy in its innocence.

 

I explained that is was "the pretty girl from the story" to one of my friends, and she said "oh, she would be."

 

It's similar to Hope on me, but less sweet and more creamy. And yet, alas, still rose. And still not the best match for my skin, and my scent preferences. I would love it on someone else, though.

[pacifick]

All the positive reviews for this tempted me into this, and it's my surprise favorite of the Halloweenies. Rose is usually horrible on me, turning sour/soapy/fake. This has a sour phase in the bottle, but after it dries it's sweet warm cream and just enough rose to keep it fresh.

 

ETA: It aged beautifully, the sour scent I detected in bottle has completely vanished and in the bottle it's cool fresh rose with an undertone of cream.

Edited July 24, 2009 by pacifick

[charshark]

In the bottle: Honey and faint rose, more like rosewater.

Wet: Delicate roses with a touch of honey to round it out.

Dry: The rose note gets stronger on me and there's a creaminess to it.

Overall: I like this oil a lot. It's very feminine and it makes me feel like a proper lady, haha. This is the type of rose note that I really like and while I usually don't like honey all that much, this does go very well together. It's sweet and powdery (in a good way!).

Edited October 8, 2008 by Charzie

[VioletChaos]

in the vial: all sweet rose.

 

wet on skin: more of the same, with a hint of powdered sugar

 

dry down: sugared rose, very much like Hope.

 

in all: it's a nice enough floral, but i guess i was hoping for something a bit more complex, a more challenging counterpart for ole Ichabod i feel personally that i'm satisfied enough with Hope that i don't need a botle of Katrina. but then again, i'm not hugely into florals, so if you are, getting a bottle of Katrina may very well be the perfect thing.

 

 

 

[sariasister]

In the bottle: Equal parts white rose and honey.

On me: almost exclusively honey. It had a pretty long wearlength, and the rose started to come out more at the end, but it was almost pure honey; I couldn't smell the creaminess at all. And while it smelled exactly like honey... it just wasn't for me. Guess I'll send this one to the swap pile.

[jrk1857]

This is a classic case of getting what you expect--white rose and cream it is. Very, very sweet while wet, but thankfully it settled down as it dried. I love the cream note, which is gradually taking over.

 

A lot of the other reviews have called this innocent/virginal/sweet, but (maybe because I put on a little drop too much) I'm getting something a little sexier, in a very old-fashioned way. This is like the perfume your grandmother would have worn when she was still young and hot and stealing her sister's boyfriend.

 

This is much girlier than anything I usually wear, but it's definitely a keeper.

[indiumhalo]

Both in the bottle and on my skin (for the first couple of hours), this smells quite simply of sweet rosewater, delicate and pure. Not particularly complex, but it's hard to argue with the tried and true. The creamy note doesn't come out on me until I've worn it for several hours, and even then, it's very subtle. With a little more honey and cream to it, this could have been a big favorite of mine. As it is... it's nice, but relatively straightforward rose. (Not that I won't enjoy wearing it this fall on the days that I tired of warmer scents!)

[lunaticana]

oh my how I L O V E this scent

it is my ultimate favorite I guess.

lovely little roses, sugarsweet honeyed cream, gorgeous label-art, very pretty delightful scent

it makes me think of light orange roses, but I don t even know if those really exists! hehehe

[Christine Daae]

This is a perfect perfume. If you love Alice, you must try this. If you liked Alice, you must try this. If you liked Alice, but thought there was too much carnation and not enough rose, this is precisely the perfume for you. (There will be a lot of comparisons to Alice in this review simply because Alice is one of my favorites, and Katrina is quite similar.)

 

The notes are simple, and there is nothing lurking underneath them in this scent. The white rose is sweet and pure, the cream does not sour, the honey does not go 'off' (as it sometimes does on my skin). Where Alice is pink roses and red carnations, Katrina is white roses with cream-coloured centers. It is sweet, pure, and a little bit flirty from the honey.

 

The throw begins moderately, which is nice, and it clings to my skin forever and ever. (I put some on last night and I can still smell a hint of honeyed rose this morning.) Thankfully, the fiance likes this one (the self-professed floral-hater).

 

I may need to get another bottle before she goes away.

[theseagrows]

this is a beautiful creamy rose. at the outset, the white rose is sour on me, and smells like dying flowers, as bpal's white rose often does. once i get past that stage though, this is a warm creamy rose. it reminds me of rose cake or rose frosting and is beautiful and ethereal.

[Schmoozy]

Yup it's rose all right.

A freshly cut, lush rose sweetened with milk and honey. It's creamy, it's girly and very pretty. I was a little worried the honey would make this a bit too sweet, but it is the perfect balance between rose and honey.

[MaidMirawyn]

Katrina von Tassel is a wonderfully innocent fragrance. The rose isn't a lush red rose; it's a soft, innocent, blush rose. It's feminine and almost demure, except for the layer of sweetness and the hint of depth from the cream.

 

Very lovely, and quite different from the bold and decidedly more sensual Peacock Queen, my only other rose fragrance.

[MeiLin]

As advertised on tin. This is a really lovely rose, round and full, almost voluptuous, but innocent at the same time. Not at all soapy or incense-y. Don't know if I want a bottle, but I like it.

[Dark Alice]

This starts out as smelling like the fresh green stem of a rose. Then it morphs into white rose. Drydown it smells just like a creamy white rose. I am so not a fan of this, and this one is off to the swaps!

[brettashley]

Oh wow! I didn't know I would like a rose scent all that much, but this is lovely. Must wear when I want to feel pretty! I won't go for multiple bottles on this scent - I think one will last and I wouldn't necessarily want too much of it, as there is so much BPAL to try! but now I don't really feel the need to order Rose Red anymore.

 

Wet: Green rose - very green.

 

Drying: The white rose is coming out more... and then I smell the honey. It's sweet and lovely!

 

I feel very lady-ish when I wear this.

[zankoku_zen]

Not crazy about any of the notes here. I would say this is a pretty rose that isn't overwhelming and the cream doesn't go to plastic and the honey isn't too aggressive. It makes me think of yellow roses, actually. Very creamy, very girly, very innocent.

 

Wonderfully executed.

[mgrazulis]

A scent doesn't get much simpler than this one. At least for me...this is the rose for the ingenue, a pristine white rose with a layer of fresh cream. Girly, delicate and innocent, teeming with possibilities.

 

Beautiful in simplicity, Katrina has moderate throw. I appreciate it for its straightforwardness. I don't see this as a fragrance that suits my personality and taste for a white rose. I prefer the resins with my white. A decant of this will suffice.

Edited October 21, 2008 by mineralfairy

[innocent]

Oooh, Katrina is everything I had hoped Hope would be! Sweet, creamy rose (and very different from the Rose Red I put on my other arm to compare). I like this very much and might order a bottle in November before the Weenies come down. If I'd gotten my decant in time for this month's lunacy, I probably would have ordered this instead of Rose Red (Rose Red in lovely, don't get me wrong, but its such an icy scent - it seldom gets cold enough here that it seems appropriate).

 

Hopefully my finances will be repaired enough by November that I can order a bottle of this guilt-free! (Someone was a very BAD innocent with her holloween shopping.)

[obsidienne]

My most favourite perfume notes are rose and honey. So when I saw this blend, I had to try it.

 

I'm so glad I did.

 

In the bottle, Katrina smells like a beautiful white rose mixed with honey and cream. I'm used to most of the BPAL roses being a bit thick and sometimes almost soapy to my nose, but this is quite light!

 

On the skin, the rose amps up and gets a lot juicier/fruitier, but it's still delicate. The honey adds that sweet-spicy touch that I love so much, and the cream holds it all down and tries to keep it soft.

 

As it dries, the blend becomes yet still juicier rose and more honey (my skin always amps honey). The juiciness makes me think of chilled pears or pink champagne. Just a little bit.

 

In far drydown, the cream loses out to the honey and rose and I don't think there's much of it left. The overall throw and intensity fades quite a bit, but I can get a good whiff as long as I put my wrist close to my nose. I wouldn't mind if it lasted longer, just because reapplying this 5 times a day would mean I'd run out of oil pretty fast!

Edited November 10, 2008 by obsidienne

[kjirstiben]

Ahhh... I really do love Katrina.

 

This is a pure, clear, sweet rose and honey scent, with its rough edges rounded out by cream. It goes on strongly and sweetly rose, and from that point on honey works a slow, steady progress to gain the upper hand, but never quite succeeds.

 

This floral is one of a few that doesn't go sharp or sour on my skin... it's clear and lovely and dewy... the cream and honey notes add to it.

 

This is a simple, lovely, and wearable fragrance that lasts a very long time, and (to my surprise) hovers near the top of my favorites list.

[tinyvulture]

the softest, creamiest white rose. i’m like swooning over this. simple, yet perfect. the cream and honey smooth away any trace of the bitterness that occasionally happens with rose. i love BPAL’s honey note, but i’m actually glad it isn’t very strong here. it accentuates the rose rather than covering it up. this is classic enough to wear at work, yet cute enough for a date. it seems like it would work in any situation.

[Dianora]

Oh BPAL, always proving that I have no real idea what I like

 

I bought Katrina Van Tassel because I have liked BPAL rose in other blends (despite not liking florals), and I've read somewhere that it compared to Dorian (which I love despite not liking sweet fragrances), so I thought I'd give it a shot. Oh, I adore it! In the bottle, it is sweet and light, almost like a soft rose candy. On the skin wet, it's just radiant! Soft, lush rose with honey and cream to give it just the slightest candied fragrance. As it dries, the scent remains much the same, blooming rose and yummy, and yet close to the skin and subtle. It's pure loveliness.

 

Those that have compared it to Dorian are right, these two do seem to be in the same scent family. I can see myself sometimes using this instead of Dorian when I'm in the mood for understated elegance. However, the two aren't so similar that they smell just alike. Katrina doesn't have any of that slightly baby-powder-ish smell Dorian has on me. I'd venture to say that if you love Dorian, you should try Katrina Van Tassel before she disappears.

Edited November 7, 2008 by Dianora

[angelicruin]

In the bottle, I smelled roses and cream.

 

Once applied to my skin, I just amped rose and got no creaminess...even as it dried, it was still all rose.

 

Oh well...