Mad Kate

[Vega]

Honeycomb, red currant, freesia, vanilla, rose geranium, thyme, and gardenia.

Sniffed: Sweet, floral, slightly fruity -- but adulterated with the hideous, sickly sweetness of honey!

On skin: It's cold comfort that beeswax isn't as vile as straight-up honey can be. In other words, Mad Kate is mere unpleasant sticky sweetness instead of nauseating decay. Floating over the honey are lighter flowers that smell "yellow" to my nose (ie. neither pale white nor red). Vanilla and currant are mixing with the beeswax to create a sweet note that is not pleasant, but still tolerable. Over time the gardenia emerges as a pungent floral threatening to scream, barely kept in check by the other notes. Mad Kate ends up a chaotic mix of cloying, sticky sweetness and shrill yellow florals. Colour impression is a clash of dark red and honey-gold.

Verdict: I had a chance to sniff this scent at a retail location a while back, and then it seemed quite promising. So I'm rather disappointed to find that my impression was wrong after all. I guess beeswax is still honey-based, and all honey turns bad on my skin, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Ah, well, Mad Kate goes mad on my skin indeed.

[OctoberGwen]

Why haven't I reviewed this yet?

 

I adore Mad Kate. The only note I was concerned about was honeycomb, because honey is often cloying and nauseating on me, but I needn't have worried. This is a beautiful, sweet-but-not-too-sweet feminine blend made interesting and unique by the thyme and geranium. I get lots of heady gardenia and delicious red currant, a waxy creaminess from the honey, and a nice bite from the herbs.

 

Magnificent.

[starfish327]

Screaming, high whiteness like psych horror was. Layered with a patchuli heavy blend the whiteness is cut down to a dull roar and I can start to get some of the darker notes nibbling at the edges.

 

Definately not a good blend on me.

[Velvet Lilly]

Mad Kate is dear to me. I went hunting for BPAL in Silver Lake before I ever visited the Lab and I can remember that day with crystal clarity.
Smelling all those beautiful bottles..... I *Am Kate..... an untamed Kate.... and I came away with her.

She's a mystery and a morpher. She's beguiling. She starts off angry and clangy.....sharp and undefinable, and then she softens and blends.....and florals start coming out....and it gets a but fruity and lovely.
And then as she dries down she changes again. Even more beautiful and my nose keeps chasing it.....like loving something more even after it's gone.

Ahh, Kate. Mad Kate. Come and kiss me.

[Atrous]

I was hesitant to try Mad Kate because rose geranium can go sharp floral. Luckily this is the softer, rosy version.

 

On first application Kate is all currant and gardenia. As the scent dries down the other notes just kinda pop up around them.

From the honeycomb I get a light sweetness and a dab of beeswax. I get whiffs of vanilla, then its gone, then its back again. The ever present currents stand out with their tart fruitiness. As I said the geranium stays on the softer side and just adds a bit of rose to the florals. The flower notes create a floral bouquet. They smell like an assortment of fresh cut flowers, including the stems. The arrangement is heady but bright with a hint of pulpy greenery underneath.

 

I have mad love for Mad Kate!

[TorchedEarth]

I am in love with this blend. It proved that the labs honeycomb is different than honey. I can't wear honey, but this is a subtle sweet sourness that blends really nicely with the tart fruit & rose.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Bright floral, with an almost citrus edge. Really pretty. Soft. Like flowers in the sun. I'm digging it. Sweet, heady (in a good way) and really well blended.

 

 

Dry: So beautiful and feminine. I really love it. A very sweet, pretty white floral. I know I will wear this a lot come spring.

[PeculiarHeroine]

What an interesting combination of notes, and I must say, I am pleased with them.

My afternoon was spent as Mad Kate dithered back and forth between being a lovely, mild floral and a lovely mild fruit blend, with honeycomb adding a waxy sweetnes to both.

I feel, despite the white floral quality, that this would really bloom in the autumn, when the honeycomb and currant could make a truly impressive showing.

Mad Kate is a bit crazy, but very charming.

[ShleepySnorlax]

I’m not very familiar with the majority of these notes, so I’m not sure how helpful my review will be.

 

I don’t smell thyme, red currant, or vanilla (which are the notes I bought this scent for).

 

On my wrists I get a sweeter honeyed floral. On my inner elbows, it’s more of a waxy floral. The vanilla may be hiding under the sweetness of the honey.

 

Florals in general are an uncertainty, that I tend to prefer as a minor component if at all, so this is a nice surprise. Overall, lovely.