Kitty

[Heavenlyrabbit]

KITTY
Kitty Fisher was born into a life with very few prospects for advancement. She was the daughter of a modest Lutheran silver chaser, and in her youth, she worked as a milliner's assistant. Longing for something more, she capitalized on her natural beauty, her wits, and her boldness, and launched a career as one of Britain's preeminent courtesans. Her beauty was legendary, and she was the muse of many famed artists of her time, including Joshua Reynolds, Philip Mercier, and James Northcote. Her barbed wit, free lifestyle, and love of excess constantly landed her on the front page of Britain's gossip rags. She fell in love with the grandson of Admiral Sir John Norris, and gave up her career to marry him. She settled in as lady of the house, and turned her talents to building her husband's fortune and generously providing assistance to the poor.

French vanilla, tot house orchids, strawberries, white sandalwood, bergamot, and honey.

Kitty is a beautiful and timeless scent that tugs at my heart.

She replaces Regan and Shadow Witch Orchid for gorgeous Vanilla and Orchid/Florals. Though this is way less 'floral'.

Although she is sweet, there is nothing cloying about her.

The Strawberries are fresh in from the warm sun and not candy.

[angelicruin]

This is probably my favorite of the Courtesan series.

 

A soft, creamy vanilla with delicate floral notes and, as Heavenlyrabbit said above, fresh strawberry.

[countessmouse]

This one has been a little odd from the start and is going to take some warming to. In the bottle: buttery caramel (not one of my favorite scents). After about an hour, the caramel scent loosens its hold and a few of the other scents are starting to come forward. Vanilla is very much in the forefront with the bergamot, and I'm getting just a hint of the orchid and sandalwood.

 

Kitty is starting to redeem herself. I may keep this bottle after all.

[Lorelai1945]

Mmm. In the bottle, this smells like a strawberry cupcake. It's very sweet and creamy, heavy on the strawberry and vanilla components...so, yum! Wet on the skin, it immediately changes to where I'm getting a mix of sweet strawberry, something that smells a bit like citrus (bergamot?), and the honey. Everything blends together to form a bright, sweet, creamy scent that I really like. I can't pick out orchid specifically, although there is a hint of floral in there I do detect. I wouldn't sniff this blindly and think orchid, though. The sandalwood is also undetectable to my nose, which is a wonderful thing since it tends to amp on me and dry out a scent too much. To me, the closest Bpal in resemblance to this would be Beaver Moon '07- there is definitely a bit of the foodieness about Kitty. I was expecting to prefer Celeste to Kitty, but it turns out that it's quite the other way around. I think Kitty is a keeper! Best part is...it doesn't go plastic-y or do anything nasty on my skin, which is amazing!

[jizatt]

exactly exactly what I wanted this one to smell like. Softly strawberry, sophisticated touch of floral, slightly powdery french vanilla. It isn't candy strawberry, or fake smelling to my skin. I wouldnt say its a floral first, but the floral makes this so pretty. Theres a lift to this that must be the bergamot. As it dries, Im getting more of the honey, so that I have a honeyed vanilla with a wisp of strawberry. Lovely.

[Venneh]

An absolutely amazing honeyed french vanilla orchid scent, with just a touch of juicy strawberries. On my skin, that amazing french vanilla and strawberry orchids. Oh, wow.

[xscpx]

I don't know. I'm not getting Kitty. Wet, she was very candy like. Now on drydown, the sweetness is nearly gone. I get orchid, vanilla, and sandalwood, and that's it. The strawberry was very present while wet and now is gone. It's a pretty scent, but no where near the showstopper I was expecting. I think I will probably swap it for Veronica.

[Dharklady]

Initial blast is strawberries, a nutty/woody bergamot (presumably due to the sandalwood) and a touch of sweet vanilla. As it warms up it becomes mostly strawberry and bergamot with a base of sandalwood and vanilla. The orchid and honey blend seamlessly into the mix in support roles that aren’t super noticeable. It feels just a touch candy-ish but in a fun flirty way, rather then foody.

[filigree_shadow]

Honeyed vanilla with an orchid background and a sweet strawberry overtone. For some reason it smells slightly off to me -- this might be one of the honeys my skin doesn't get along with (my skin chemistry likes to do that play-doh thing with honey). It's not too bad, and really I can only detect it when my nose is right next to my skin.

 

Mostly it smells smooth and pretty. This is one of those ones that I'm sure smells lovely on other people but not really a true love for me. I'll try it again later to be sure, though.

 

ETA: Tried it later. Wore it for a day to see how it went. Loved it!!! Now I want more.

Edited May 5, 2011 by filigree_shadow

[zankoku_zen]

Oh Kitty. BPAL's strawberry note just won't work with my skin chemistry. It is sweet and plasticky and oh so fake. So this ends up smelling like vanilla and plastic strawberries... which is just like a Barbie doll smell. It also has a heavy 'cakey' undertone to it.

 

Sad little Kitty.

[astarinel]

I love this.

 

The strawberry note is fresh and juicy without being candied, and the vanilla is soft and creamy and slightly floral. It's sweet and delicate, and almost a touch foody from the creamy vanilla, but not quite. As it dries, the strawberry fades a little, and the sandalwood and honey come out more.

 

Very pretty and wearable, medium/low throw.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: this phase made me fearful that Kitty was too candy-like for me. Upon application, the strawberries and french vanilla are cloyingly sweet and I can barely smell anything else. However this settles quickly.. the bergamont and sandalwood develop, deepening the mixture and cutting through the sugar. The orchid comes out nicely as well, fragrant, pink & white color impressions, and not overpowering or conflicting.

 

Drydown: Ahhhh.... that's the basic 1 word expression for this phase. Sweet woody sandalwood, vanilla, and strawberries with orchid and a still fresh touch of bergamont. Perfect mix.

[Antoinette]

The only thing holding me back from absolutely adoring Kitty is the sandalwood. Seems like I tend to amp it and once the oil gets to the dry down stage it pretty much takes over. Otherwise, in the imp and wet on my skin, this blend is beautiful.

 

The first impression I get is sweet strawberries and vanilla with a touch of honey. Dry down is sweet sandalwood, but the sandalwood is too overt on my skin. Kitty may be a scent locket option pour moi.

[PurringPulsar]

Kitty

 

In the imp: mmm, strawberry cake. Very reminiscent of Lilith’s Tea Party.

Wet on skin: the strawberry becomes a little less candied, I smell the orchid/bergamot too.

Dry on skin: not bad! It smells mainly of strawberries and sandalwood now with a dash of creamy vanilla, but it’s not as sweet and cakey as it was before. This now has a surprisingly attractive deep green scent from the orchid, which does have a hothouse feel to it, that green and humid exotic plant smell. This makes the sweet strawberry jam and vanilla custard scent even more interesting. The sandalwood is dry and crisp. The bergamot also adds a hint of sharpness, which in here reminds me of champagne. This is a very sophisticated strawberry.

After a while: the green sharpness then fades and what I’m left with is a glorious vanilla sandalwood with fluffy strawberry cream! It’s beautiful! It’s very pink and almost gourmand like a cake covered in creamy strawberry icing and sticky honey, but the dry sandalwood stops it from becoming overwhelming, there’s a hint of orchid to the vanilla as well, so this doesn’t smell like one of those overly rich dessert scents.

Verdict: it’s rare to find a strawberry scent that works, but this is my second favourite strawberry scent after Loli Goth! It’s got strawberry just right: sweet and jammy but not cloying, with a dollop of vanilla cream to make it even more delightful, and a spoonful of honey adding more sweetness. But thankfully there’s sandalwood and orchid to keep the rich sweet notes under control and to make this more unusual and intriguing than your average strawberries and cream scent. This scent is incredibly feminine and endearing, quite cheeky and flirtatious and very pink! I love it and I need more!

Is it a keeper? Yes! I want a bottle now.

If you like this, try: Lilith’s Tea Party, Bon Vivant, Strawberry Moon (any), Sugar Moon (any), Velvet Pink Kitty

[Lorna Brigid]

This scared the bejeesus out of me at first, because when I first opened the imp, it smelled like thick rich butter!!

 

But, I braved testing it, and it turns out it is lovely!! Sweet honeyed vanilla. I don't get any of the strawberry. Maybe an ever so mild tinge of something sweet, but not necessarily strawberry.

 

My favorite of the Courtesans.

[karihan]

Oh. My. WORD. This is gorgeous.

 

In bottle and on wet: Sweet, freshly-picked strawberries take the forefront, with light touches of musky floral from the orchids, a citrus hint from the bergamot and the vanilla adding a creamy undercurrent.

 

Drydown: The strawberries retreat just a little, allowing the sandalwood to ground the scent and the honey to sweeten it just a bit. Still not what I'd call an overly foody scent, even with the vanilla. The florals still announce their presence delicately.

 

Conclusions: LOVE LOVE LOVE. This is one of Beth's incredibly well-balanced creations, with all the notes playing nicely with each other. The strawberry takes center stage, but it lets the other notes shine as well. Delicious without being outrageously foody, a little sexy and very, very feminine.

[DangerInRed]

This smells like sweet strawberry cake on me! The throw is fairly faint, but quite delicious. Hasn't even gone plastic on me yet, which many vanilla-based scents do.

[Gin]

Kitty was strawberries and buttery cake at first. Is it French vanilla that does that? I don't care for that much at all, but it doesn't last long. When that goes away... Fabulous. Strawberry, vanilla, orchid, and sandalwood. I wish the Lab would do more strawberry--though an abundance of strawberries might make them seem less amazing when they do come around. And that would be a shame, because Kitty is amazing.

[Little Bird]

I was hoping that this would be the juicy strawberry of White Chocolate & Strawberry with orchid and some creamy vanilla, but the strawberry smells a bit plasticy and sort of like the bubblegum flavored medicine that I had when I was little. I can't pick out most of the notes, just a plasticy strawberry that's a bit too sweet with the addition of the honey. I hope that this gets better with age, but it's not really wearable for me at the moment. The throw and staying power aren't very good either.

 

ETA:

I've only had this for a couple weeks, but it has already mellowed and is a lot more wearable for me. The strawberry is still a little like creamy bubblegum flavored medicine, but also a bit like strawberry flavored taffy as it dries down. But the other notes keep it from smelling too sweet. The bergamot gives the scent a bright, summery lift and the vanilla and orchid make it smell more like a fancy perfume. Very creamy and makes me think of dancing through a wild strawberry patch littered with wildflowers and sunshine. It is much improved and I think I'll be wearing this a lot this summer

Edited April 30, 2011 by Little Bird

[edenssixthday]

Kitty - I'm not a foody, and from the get-go, this is really foody, which means, I love it when it's wet, but I can see exactly where it's going to go wrong in about 5-10 minutes after application. It starts off with an uber-sweet French vanilla and strawberries scent, reminding me of some of the various cupcake perfume oils...or a Strawberry Twinkie type scent. As it warms up on my skin, the French vanilla starts to go to plastic and the strawberry is also super-sweet and plasticky, not remotely like most of the strawberry BPALs I really love -- this strawberry is very artificial. I don't smell the orchids or sandalwood at all. The bergamot is light, and gives a bit of brightness to the scent. And then there's the honey -- it's not one of the few honey notes I can wear. It reminds me of the honey in O, which turns to plastic on my skin. This one's just not going to work for me. It's super-sweet, artifical-smelling, and plastickey. (I hope the bath salt experience is better since hopefully my skin chemistry won't be able to ruin it!)

[JLH]

This smelled very foody sweet in the bottle, but on my skin the sandalwood and bergamot are stronger than the sweet french vanilla. The florals from the orchids are also quite strong. Overall, there is a distinctly sweet strawberry note that carries over into the drydown, which becomes more floral and vanilla-y with some sandalwood, although not as foody as it smelled in the bottle. I personally was beyond pleased because I was hoping this would not be too sickly foody sweet, and I think this perfume strikes a perfect balance between the sweet and less sweet elements in this blend. In short, it's everything I was hoping it would be!

[bluerose]

This is the same strawberry used in Lilith's Tea Party. In both cases, it smells more like strawberry tea than strawberry. Overall, this smells like strawberry tea infused with some vanilla, but in a non-foody way. The strawberry isn't sweet and the vanilla isn't dominant. It's a nice summery scent.

[alterosen]

I'm undecided about this one. It's glorious once dry - creamy sandalwood with just a breath of strawberry but has a very odd & unpleasant phase where it briefly smells like fish oil & herbs that I'm not sure I can handle. No idea where that's coming from note-wise but I've had the same thing happen both times I've tried it.

[lunaticana]

vanilla AND orchids AND strawberries??!! I could not believe my eyes when I first saw that

 

sandelwood is soft in this scent, even people that never like it will with this one!

it is true, this "Hooker" is truly amazing! I love her SO freakin' MUCH

what I also can not believe is the fact that I am going outside now, smelling like a Kitty

the sun is shining and people are HOT so I am wondering what this day will be like

I will so n e v e r e v e r trade my bottle

[milo]

This ends up being strawberry cream vanilla, with the emphasis on strawberry. Kind of a fake strawberry on the wet stages, but dries to a beautiful vanilla strawberry. This kind of reminds me of the flavour of Campino strawberry candies, only in scent form. I like this, but I think my decant will suffice, as I don't wear fruity/foody scents very often. Surprising, as strawberry blends rarely work on me, in fact, I think this is the first!