Katrina van Tassel

[jencallisto]

White rose and honeyed cream.

In the bottle: A slightly boozy sweet rose with a hint of orange.
Fresh on the skin: Sweet, soft, like powdery rose candy
30 minutes later: Sugary creamy honeyed rose. Really insanely sweet. It reminds me of a rose-flavored milk tea with lychee jellies.
1 hour later: I think this would smell amazing in my hair. I don't know what it is about rose scents, but that's what I always want to do with them. This one would make the most delicious sweet, light cloud of rose.
2 hours later: Still strong, still gorgeous.
3 hours later: Huh. This is going a little sour, a little powdery. I think this may just be a monthly skin chemistry issue, though.
4 hours later: Chocolate? Really? Your powdered-down stage includes chocolate? Wacky. Though I guess it goes with the warming of the honey, in a way. Still with a definite rose flavor.
7 hours later: Huh. All gone.

Verdict: Pure love. I'm not sure if I love it more or less than I love some other rose scents, but I do love it. The real question: to buy a backup bottle or not.

One phrase: Honeyed rose.

[savage_rose]

In the bottle it's exactly what it says it is: a creamy, light rose. On, the cream just kind of sits there and the rose is way too light...eh. Not a good skin scent for me.

[rayvn1]

Drat drat drat! There are two kinds of BPAL rose reactions my skin turns to - cloying and headache inducing and gently romantic. Guess which one this turned out to be... To my nose, what I would call the strong red rose varieties just don't work for me and I always cross my fingers that I'll be getting the softer white rose type (who knows if they're actually those colors, but that's what comes to mind. Old English rose versus Valentines day grocery store rose). The cream just amped the sickly sweetness of this one on me To the swaps!

[Firewaver]

I really enjoy this scent..

It's soft and gentle, very feminine.

I want to throw on a nubbly sweater and make a cup of tea...maybe put on some pink lip gloss

 

I find the honey tempers the very white white rose nicely on the drydown.

I'm typically a fan of the stronger, throatier scents but this is a nice change to have in my arsenal.

[ChloeKEvil]

This is exactly what I wanted from this scent.

 

It's a light, sweet, honeyed rose. Very girly, I think, and very clean. I'm going to enjoy wearing this after baths- when I just want to chill out and smell like roses.

[fiddledragon]

Cute label!

 

In the bottle: Roses and...apple cider? Did someone mix in some Fearful Pleasure by mistake?

 

On me: Wet, it's a very true rose, but a very perfumy one. I think this may be the rose that doesn't work on me. This is the same rose in Persephone, but it's behaving itself here without the corrupting influence of the pomagranate. The honey and cream is very soft around the edges.

 

I'm not sure I'm in love with this, as it isn't the rose that loves me, but it might grow on me with time. If not, there seem to be many people who will be happy to take it off my hands :-)

[GalaxyLei]

Rose, with almost overpowering sweetness on top of it, which I can only surmise is a result of the other components. Bah.

[Saya]

Rose, rose and some more rose for good measure. There's something about the Lab's rose note that turns into funky old lady on me. I was hoping for a bit of cream but it just wasn't meant to be.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Sweet rose, with a bit more honey obvious than the usual sweet rose notes.

 

Wet: Warms up nicely, retaining something smooth and buttery that must be that cream note. Still noticeably honey, too. I like this one, but it may be too incredibly sweet for me.

 

Twenty minutes: Delicious sweet rose fragrance. Yet another in the long line of BPAL rose scents that I adore.

 

Hour and a half: It's much less strong now, having faded into a wonderful daytime scent. The honey and rose have melded, subsiding into the creamy background so none of the notes is foremost.

 

Three hours: Very light, warm, and creamy now. Don't think I need that bottle after all.

 

Four hours: Still pleasant, just not very noticeable.

 

I'm glad I got frimped a second imp of this, but I looked at all the bottles of BPAL rose scents already in my collection and decided I didn't need a bottle of this one too.

[sydaisy]

In the bottle and wet on my skin this is honey and cream which unfortunately smells sour to me (single honey notes do this to me too), and then after a few seconds it changes and becomes glorious. Roses and honey mmmm. And it stays that way the rest of the time just gradually softening till it's gone. I got this as a decant and now I'm going to have to track down a bottle which seems to be my fate with the rose scents I love the most. This went in the crook of my elbow since I had something on my wrist already that I didn't like very much and now I can't get my nose away. It is very sweet and if you don't like honey or roses it's probably not going to be something you like, on the other hand if you do like honey and roses this is the most awesome scent ever

[claresauntie]

I was afraid this would happen: when I applied Katrina van Tassel, it was as if someone hit me over the head with a rose bush. I agree with the earlier poster who identified this as BPAL's "red rose scent" and also concur that it just doesn't work for me. I must amp rose like a mo-fo.

 

I gave this to my best friend, who is just getting into BPAL, and on her smelled the wonder that everyone else does. I'm glad I could find it a good home!

Edited December 9, 2008 by claresauntie

[Caerphilly]

In the bottle: Definitely smell the white rose! And something else, foody. It's the cream, and I get no honey (the reason I ordered this blend). Sad, but time to try it on! Very feminine.

 

Wet: White rose. Really sweet white rose, from the cream. Again, no honey. The cream smells delicious, but I'm not sure I want to smell like it all the time.

 

Dry: All cream, no rose. It's the one note in this that I was hoping would be the one to fade, and not amp. And this is very strange, because rose and honey always amp on my skin. And turn powdery. But, not this time. The cream does smell good, though. But, not for me, I think.

 

Next morning: I put some in my hair, as I always do, and the next morning...Honey!! Finally, the honey comes out after hours and hours. Definitely keeping this, no matter what. I woke up happy!

 

Overall: I love rose and honey, but this blend amps the cream. It's still pretty, and feminine, lasts long, has ok throw, but I wanted more honey. I go it after a few hours, but I'd prefer if there was less cream.

[RedRoseMaze]

In the bottle: It’s sweet, like Dana O’Shee, only with roses instead of sweet grains.

 

Wet: Mostly roses. Somehow, it reminds me of my grand-mother’s perfume; I want to snuggle up in my grandma’s blanket and sing lullabies.

 

Dry: It’s still rosy, but creamier. It’s very feminine and, without a doubt, a good girl’s perfume. The sweet cream scent lasts much longer than the rose scent though.

 

Verdict: I like it, but it’s missing a little something to be more than “my grand-mother’s perfume”. I’m happy with the bottle I have, but I wouldn’t buy another one.

[lilacea]

I am very tempted to just use this one emoticon for my review:

 

 

Because that's kinda the mood Katrina sums up for me.

 

It's girly-as rose, soft and decidedly innocent. The cream isn't that overwhelming type that can sometimes turn curdled on my skin. It is soft, sweet, smooth and simply feminine. It's almost reminicent of turkish delight.

[thelaurenator]

This is the most masterfully blended scent. This is just as smooth and creamy as L'Estate, one of my all-time favorites from Beth.

 

At first it smells a little too-- sweet. Fake. Something. But almost instantly it transforms into the most glorious honey and rose smell. The softness of the white rose and the softness of the honey-cream meld perfectly into an ultra-feminine perfume, smooth, fresh scent. Someone told me when I wore this: "What is that perfume? It's the most delicious smell!"

 

Upon drydown this turns into pure honey with just a tiny bit of white rose, but that is fine with me. I LOVE honey, and I just tend to amp it! This is a favorite!

[Shadowdawn]

Absolutely delicious!!!!!!!!!!! At first sniff in the bottle i got soft petal-ey sweetness with candied rose petals just dripping in honey laquered cream (more honey than cream, which balanced out the rose [roses usually come out overly powerful and gaudy on my skin] in perfectly equal proportions).

Wet on my skin: just like it smelt in the bottle!

After a few hours wear: simmered down and clung to the skin with a divine lace elegance, definitely a favorite with its classy, sophisticaed CLEAN sweetness. Unlike most candy type or powerful floral sweet smells, this one retained a very youthful almost dryer-sheet clealiness to it. Extremely warm and soothing, would recommend for a bitter day.

Update:

My hubby-to-be ABSOLUTELY LOOVES it more than any other fragrance i'ce ever worn, he think's it's the sexiest thing and can't get enough of it lol. Goes absolutely beserker.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Phox

[PurringPulsar]

Katrina Van Tassel

 

In the imp: a delicate creamy rose. Like Hope, but even gentler.

Wet on skin: gentle milk and a fresh cut rose.

Dry on skin: rose, rose and more rose! This is very similar to Rose Red’s rose, but not as red, this does have a resemblance to the white rose notes as well, but has that fresh, dewy quality that RR has. I’m inclined to call this the warmer version of RR, actually. There’s a very innocent, pure quality to this rose. The cream note is really lovely, not sour at all, it softens the scent of the rose beautifully. This actually reminds me of Arcana’s Rapunzel.

After a while: this gets even prettier! The cream note seems almost like custard, sweet and almost vanilla-like…and at this point, the milky honeyed notes with rose resembles Alice. Not identical, it lacks the carnation, but very much a sibling to Alice, and also Hope. This reminds me of Hope or Victoria’s sugared rose, but not as musky, this has a definite smooth creamy backdrop.

Verdict: this is such a pretty scent! I love rose scents, and honey, and some cream notes provided they don’t go sour. This is all of that. The most delightful white rose note, soft and innocent yet full bodied, is sweetened by a soft honey and very pleasant sweet cream base. It’s reminiscent of the sweetened rose scents (Hope, Victoria etc) but instead of a musk or sugar or strong vanilla, this is definitely honey and gentle cream which sets it apart. Almost like Alice, but a little more straightforward and with more rounded honey and rose notes. Utterly beautiful and youthfully feminine, this and Fearful Pleasure are my favourites of the Sleepy Hollow collection.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? oh yes.

If you like this, try: Alice, Rose Red, Hope, Victoria, Moon Rose, Magdalene

[nellieburger]

In the imp: Just as described – white roses and honeyed cream! It’s sultry!

 

On me: Same as in the imp. It’s sweet, decadent blend! I may purchase a bottle! It’s lovely!

[NixieCakes]

I am not really a fan of rose. I find it to be a touch overpowering, and honey always turns everything into straight up baby powder. Katrina should not work for me, but does she ever. The rose in this blend is really soft and the honeyed cream adds just the right amount of sweetness. I get tons of compliments on Katrina. She is a winner for sure.

[waternight]

In the bottle: Yeah, rose, but it's buried under sweet cream that's gone sliiiiiiightly sour.

Wet: The honey and rose are fighting for supremacy, but they're not able to mask the CREAM, and it's still slightly off. A rose dipped in honey, floating in cream that's gone sour. This seems jumbled and loud and confused. All the notes are jostling for position. This isn't innocent like it should be, it's an experiended, slightly jaded woman who's trying to appear innocent.

Dry: The soured cream finally dissipates and the scent settles down into a sweetened rose, but the wet stage is pretty bad on me, and the Lab has SO MANY other rose scents that I love way more. This will be swapped.

[smokey188]

the cream in this blend stops it from turning into old lady rose smell. This is a nice enough perfume but not really my kind of thing.

[MissMercurial]

Swap with artofsuicide!

 

GENERAL

This comes out strongly rosey and creamy, then in a couple of seconds all I can smell is honey with a tint of the aforementioned, although the rose eventually claws its way back to the forefront. Throughout is a creamy undertone, smoothing it all out.

Oddly enough I find myself thinking of Turkish delights...

 

COMPARISON

Don't try this if you like light or mild scents - Ms. Tassel is anything but subtle. It was the one imp I could smell from the package without opening it OR removing the plumber's tape.

Although some reviewers have compared this to Alice, I personally hated Alice - it had none of the same qualities that this has going for it (I got no rose-and-cream love from Alice).

Apparently, I amp anything bee-related: Ms. Tassel resembles To Helen very strongly for me. I'm going to guess that I amped the beeswax in that one, and for this one the honey, thus the similarity (sans the "rocky/cold" thing that I attribute to "opaline" notes).

 

SUMMARY

Very simple and (nearly) cloyingly sweet. Probably a keeper imp-wise

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Lush, sweet, slightly peppery roses. I feel I should add that I fall into the camp that ordered this despite the rose rather than because of it and yet I quite like this full on rose in the bottle

 

Wet on me – Lush, heavy roses

 

Dry on me – The roses continue to dominate shot through with rich, deep honey

 

Overall – It’s weird, I’m not really keen on roses (as a scent on me) but I could see myself wearing this, it’s got an old fashioned sophistication, but without being too grown up for me, which is quite a juggling act to pull off

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This is White Rose but more buttery. I actually prefer this blend to White Rose because of the buttery note, but I can't rationalize owning both of them, and I don't think I can bear to part with the White Rose that my boyfriend bought me as part of the Unity set for Valentine's and that layers so gorgeously with my Red Rose. I'll probably track down another decant to have on hand, but won't be needing a bottle since I already have a bottle of WR. Gorgeous, though, really innocent and demure but with a secret wink of flirtation.

 

ETA - Nope, my enabling boyfriend thinks that I definitely need a bottle of this. Who am I to argue?

Edited March 21, 2009 by OneTheyCallLuna

[dorothy humbird]

Hoooooooly crap. As soon as I applied this, I was reeling. Honeyed-musky vanilla roses mrrrrrrrhrrrmrmrrn. This is a very seductive scent. The roses are sweet and golden on me, not heavy and ripe red -- all of the muskiness is coming from the other notes. The roses float over the base notes with a delicate ethereality, sweetened even further with honey.

 

Basically, this is what I wished Abhisarika would do on my skin. So, so good.

 

As this has been wafting up while I've had it on, I keep thinking I smell something chocolatey. Must be my brain confusing the cream for chocolate? It's good, though. Mrmrm. Also, this goes way beyond Alice for me: Alice is little-girl sweet in a way that Katrina van Tassel sways right past, into "enthralling" territory.

 

This is sticking close to my skin as it's settled down. It'd be a good candidate for my scent locket, since I love how it amps when first warmed up and I would be sad to lose the wafting quality to my skin's voracious appetite. Oh, Miss van Tassel, I'm quite delighted to have made your acquaintance.

Edited March 25, 2009 by dorothy humbird