Kataskopia

[Lycanthrope]

She Who Spies
Tuberose, mandarin, jonquil, black sandalwood, green musk, styrax, hyacinth, and violet musk.

Strong tuberose on application, with a airy background, sappy florals. It's quite 'wet' and the violet part of the musk adds a bit of depth. On drydown this is mostly a sweet, sharper floral, tending towards tuberose waxy but kept less cloying by some of the other notes. Drydown is stemmy, with the top note of tuberose.

I am a fan of this, may be getting one bottle.

Very strong throw, but a thin scent, if that makes sense.

[Invidiana]

This is one of those florals that will make a believer out of anyone dubious about them. It is the perfect balance of shadowy darker floral elements with lighter, more springlike blooms, a marriage between springtime in the northern hemisphere (hyacinth, violet, black narcissus) with the headier exotic blooms reminiscent of springtime on an island below the Equator (tuberose takes that one but holds its own in the blend). I am actually elated to see another blend, besides the much-derided Narkissos which I actually adore, featuring black narcissus. It’s a difficult scent to describe but suffice to say it’s like twilight shadows at springtime. The florals are grounded by a veil of green musk—not a “smutty” musk but more fresh and wild—and the seductive caress of black sandalwood and styrax (labdanum). It is highly evocative of the character of Kataskopia as I imagine her to be, a woman peering through a wall of flowers at the man she wishes to make her lover while plotting how to use her feminine wiles to ensnare him.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: this scent makes me rethink my hatred for tuberose..ok maybe hatred is too strong. Could just be a dislike. Wet, there's strong sweet tuberose, jonquil (daffodil), mandarin, green musk (wow never smelled before) hyacinth, and violet musk. Very sweet, green, pervading, and elusive. Reason I say elusive is because it's strong but you can't really hone in on it well by getting closer to your wrist. It's not direct like some foodies, resins, or say a jasmine or red rose base.

 

Drydown: tuberose, jonquil, sandalwood (strong here, yay!), hyacinth, and a touch of styrax (plant origin of benzoin). Sweeter as the mandarin gets juicier and looses it's sharpness. The florals mellow too. It's a floral blend that leaves a tang in my mouth. This isn't a bad thing. Just a very distinctive watery green purple floral with a lovely resinous woody base. I really like this and need to try it out a few times. Great variation for people that like lily of the valley, tuberose, or daffodil blends.

Edited February 21, 2011 by SophieCedar

[HerbGirl]

Loving this! Lots of Tuberose, mandarin and Hyacinth. Sandalwood and Styrax come out a bit later with the musks rounding out the scent.

 

This is so beautiful! may need another bottle before the Lupers come down.

[cfrancesca]

I get strong tuberose, with softer, springtime florals with a soft "greenness" and a bit of sandalwood and mandarin in the background. After a little while, I also start to get soft, green musk and the tuberose gets slightly softer. It dries to a heady springtime floral.

[Little Bird]

Tuberose is a very sharp, perfumey white floral smell on me that always strikes me as being very unnatural (definitely musky-perfume rather than an actual flowers smell). The tuberose here is very strong and sharp on my skin.

As it dries down, something here goes slightly soapy on me and the green musk comes in. I actually like the green musk; it smooths the blend a bit and seems to sweeten things up, and it does smell green and cool.

In any case, Kataskopia is still way too perfumey-sharp-floral on my skin. It reminds me of a lot of heavy department store white florals.

[JasminDreams2010]

Fracas, anyone?

I love a good tuberose. To me this is a lot like Fracas, only with sort of a darker undertone and Kataskopia doesn't turn to bubble gum on me like fracas does.

Very green, and the name fits; there is something lurk-ish about this.

I'm keeping it, should be nice for summer.

4 out of 5 or maybe 4.5 out of 5

[DifferentDances]

Decant!

 

Imp: Jonquil with a hint of the green musk.

 

Wet: Woohee heavy jonquil waft. Slight green smell of cut plants.

 

Drydown: Slightly powdery jonquil. Apparently I totally amp this scent. :/ Shame I don't particularly like it much.

 

Dry: Faint, powdery jonquil.

 

My rating: 1/5 SO not for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Stemmy tuberose, hint of jonquil.

 

Dries to something floral green and powdery. And headache inducing.

 

PASS

[Medievalmaniac]

Wow, I hope this isn't completely inappropriate, but I really REALLY wish I had her breasts....!

 

OK, on to the actual review - this is the only one of the Lupercal sniffies I received from the swap board that DH liked. He seems to be very picky so far - he likes Spellbound, O, and Eve besides this, and said Lyonesse is "nice" (Sacrilege! I might have to walk out on the man! lol) But, this seems to be a scent that the fellows like.

 

I love that it is a rather musky, earthy tone under all the florals, which rescues it from going too sweet on me. I LOVE the dry down, although the throw is weaker than it is with Areia, in particular (my close second favorite of this series).

 

This is therefore officially going to be my Very First, lab-bought limited edition bottle (DH says I can buy ONE limited edition each time there's a new set...! lol) We may really have to renegotiate the terms of this union! Love me, love my BPAL! (What have you people done to me?!?! lolol).

[milo]

Wet, fresh, pretty airy floral. Not harsh, screaming or anything 'dept store' about it at all. Dry, a bit more green, but lovely still the same. This is pretty, but not my type of scent.

[tziporra]

Waaaaaaaay back when this was in the Lupercalia, it was a snap bottle purchase for me after sniffing it at will call. Now that my bottle is almost gone, it is definitely going on my ISO list.

 

I am a huge fan of the Michael Kors scent that is _all_ about the tuberose, and this bpal is sooooo evocative of it that I was able to sell my bottle to someone better able to stand alcohol based perfumes and wear this one.

 

From application to drydown, this is all TUBEROSE, very tropical and lush. The tuberose is beautifully supported by styrax, a note that loves me, and the fresh "green" musk, which really does evoke a veil of greenery from whence Kalaskopia watches. I can't pick out the other florals in the bouquet due to the domination of tuberose, but I definitely feel the are there, rounding out the big white flower explosion.

 

This doesn't feel like an innocent floral to me, or an elegant one. This floral is grounded and extremely sensual. This is a floral that knows what she wants.

 

Best,

 

Tzi