Mad Kate

[Tramp]

 

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

 

 

*huffs wrist* Ahhhh..... The perfect gardenia blend. This is the gardenia of my dreams, a perfect bloom, dipped in honey with just a drop of smooth vanilla. Amazing throw on this one. Every so often there is a slightly hard green note that comes out but it is very elusive and doesn't linger.

[girlygirl]

Mad Kate is a mystery!

 

In the imp, I can smell various notes. On my skin, all I can smell once it dries is red currant and vanilla. I smell delicious!!

[The_Witching_Hour]

For me, on initial application I sense a high-pitched floral (maybe Gardenia) that's tempered somehow. The first portion of the drydown (after about 20-30 minutes) is finally evident to be tempered by honeycomb.

 

Very soft drydown but not one I'd personally reach for as honeycomb has a weirdness I can't even describe on me. As the longest lasting note in this blend, its just a no-no, unfortunately.

Edited November 9, 2007 by The_Witching_Hour

[Wench457]

I was hesitant over the rose geranium in this, which is a note I don't generally care for. In the bottle, that's about all I get, strong geranium, but theres a sweetness underneath which gives me hope.

 

On, it's all about the honeycomb. I'm thrilled, as I've been longing for a strong honey blend. I definitely get a clear honey note, and the beeswax note of the comb is there as well. On the drydown, the florals and herbs come out a bit, but they still are accompanists to the honeycomb, which is definitely the star. This reminds me quite a bit of Honey Moon, actually.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is sweet currant and gardenia...

 

once applied lots of delightful honeycomb...a touch of that awesome waxiness that you

get too!! ah the vanilla and fruit and floral are perfectly done...this will be something

i will reach for during springtime months without hesitation...lovin' it!

[ivyandpeony]

In the bottle, sweet honey, fruit and florals, all nicely balanced - but this one morphed a lot as it dried. Sometimes I don't like rose geranium if it's overly green, like broken geranium stems, but the one in Mad Kate is more on the rosey side, like an herbal rose, very lovely. The ultimate result on my skin was that the tart edge of currant, the honey-waxiness of the beeswax and that unusual rose geranium note all faded away or were overcome by the gardenia. This gardenia is gorgeous and perfect, like you're not only walking by a gardenia bush, but you've picked a blossom and you're holding it close to your face for a sniff. It has crazy throw - on my drive home I could smell gardenia even though I had applied a tiny bit and it was covered by my sweater!

 

I decided not to buy a bottle now, afraid that I might be overwhelmed if I had Mad Kate applied on all my pulse points, but I think I will keep it on my wish list - over the years, I can't count the bottles that have struck me like this one, as if everything inside is fresh and new and all the notes are at a freshman mixer getting to know each other. Nine times out of ten when I have a bottle with that vibe, I pop it in my BPAL drawer, take it out to try again in a month, and have something fantastic. In particular, I find blends with what seems to be a bossy jasmine, gardenia or patchouli note to really benefit from a little bit of aging. I think Mad Kate is going to be a bottle that''s worth the dollar outlay and a little time investment.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Misc. flowers mixed with rose geranium.

 

Immediately on skin: I hate geranium, so my review may be biased. This blend is sharp and perfume-y right now, with freesia being the main floral and rose geranium coming in a close second. It’s very faint and has an herbal quality to it.

 

After a few minutes: Ah, thank goodness… no more strong geranium note! The honeycomb is in the front now, and it’s sweet and warm and mixed nicely with the vanilla. The red currant lends a subtle dark sweetness, and all the flowers lurk in the background of the blend. I can’t smell the herbal thyme any longer at all.

 

Overall Impressions: I’m glad I tried this one. I hate geranium, but the note went away quickly and left a warm, perfumed, and slightly fruity honey scent. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and even has a musky quality to it. Don’t judge this one by the smell in the imp or bottle though; try it on your skin!

[abejita]

On me, this is primarily a honeycomb, currant, and gardenia blend. It's a very good mix. It reminds me a bit of Sacred Whore of Babylon. It's pretty, very feminine, and playful, maybe a little whimsical. I don't really get the connection between the scent and the painting, but I like it nonetheless.

[slave1]

MAD KATE

 

In Bottle: Gardenia

On Skin: Gardenia comes out right away, although it’s a little more tart than creamy on me today. Maybe it’s the rose and thyme that add some sharpness and counteract the gardenias usually sweet cream note. The honey and vanilla are there, although quite faint. The freesia adds another sweet floral element, and the red currant offers just a stab of brightness in the blend. I wish the honeycomb was stronger, but on me it’s just a light waxy background. It is a pretty scent that I’d wear for sure. Maybe a much more floral version of Honey Moon. Light throw and short wearlength.

[angelfish323]

I had to be patient with Mad Kate.

 

My first instinct was to hurry up and find an alcohol wipe.

 

OH MY GOD GARDENIA! That's what she did on my skin. And it made me feel a bit nauseous.

 

But once she's dry, she's gorgeous. Not usually my kind of scent, but oh so pretty. This is the perfect slightly sweet white floral. Blooming gardenia and freesia, with very light notes of honey and vanilla in the back.

 

No currant on me, however. Wish I did, as I love currant.

 

Don't need a bottle, but I'll keep the decant around for awhile.

 

ETA: Now that she's hung around on my skin for an hour or so, she's grown on me! I could definitely see reaching for this in the warmer months. She's just not a winter type scent for me, but I'll keep her around until the sun returns!

Edited December 2, 2007 by angelfish323

[euterpe414]

This is such a delightful gardenia blend! I smell on my skin mostly honey, vanilla and gardenia with a touch of freesia and currant in the background. It's very vibrant and lively, and makes me feel a bit spritely and energetic. When it has been dry for a long time on my skin, the thyme comes out and it goes a little bit more to the herbal side, but I don't mind the change. This is a great floral for any time of year, although it is very spring-y by nature. I find that it is quite good for lifting my spirits during this dull and dreary winter weather, though.

Edited December 10, 2007 by euterpe414

[theseagrows]

i'll start off by saying i figured some of the notes might not work on me, and i basically tried this because my name is kate. this has a LOT of throw. in the imp all i really smells is the freesia and gardenia and other florals. on my skin it's strong sharp green florals, with a hint of honey, and the currant adds a slightly nauseating sweetness on my skin. unfortunately, this just doesn't work on me- the throw is just way too strong and gives me a headache.

Edited December 10, 2007 by theseagrows

[alicia_stardust]

This fragrance starts out as honey and fruit, but quickly settles into a vanilla-gardenia with a touch of tartness. As time passes I can smell more of the honeycomb and currant but they are still layered over the ever-present vanilla and gardenia. This is a beautiful gardenia blend!

 

Something about this gives off a feminine strength but still retains a touch of sweetness and whimsy. The blend has a strong throw and lasts amazingly long on my skin.

[Rhowan]

When I first smelled Mad Kate in the imp and then first applied it, I was totally reminded of Alice mixed with Cheshire Cat! All I could think about was the Mad Hatter blends. The only reason I was reminded of those that I can think of is the Honey, red currant and although the note is "rose geranium" all I got was a total rose note.

 

It's funny as I didn't get the Gardenia note. My skin usually amps Gardenia unit it is the only note anyone for miles around can smell! So, I was dumbfounded that I couldn't smell it at all.

 

About two to five minutes after application, this scent faded so quickly that I couldn't even smell it at all. I reapplied with more oil and the same thing happened again. So, for me, unfortunately, this one goes in the swaps.

Edited December 13, 2007 by Rhowan

[Northernskygal]

:keeps fingers crossed that gardenia doesn't go absolutely insane on me:

 

In the imp, Mad Kate smells like.. currant. That is the most noticeable note to my nose. Honestly, within seconds, this becomes a heady freesia/gardenia. The rose geranium is peeking it's head out as well. The currant makes a cameo but dissapears again fairly quickly. There is a slight creamy smell, I chalk that up to the vanilla, though it isn't strong, and I can't exactly pick it out, it gives it all a fancy sweetness. This smells nice, it is just not as.. unusual as I like my BPAL to be. Though, I am happy that the gardenia didn't eat everything else so, points for that!

[yeahbutnobut]

Mad Kate

 

In the imp: honey, herbal geranium and thyme, and currant.

Wet on skin: honeyed currants, a hint of soap, and vanilla.

Dry: mmm, not bad! In fact, this is a very pretty scent. the honey is the main note, but underneath that I smell the sharp, juicy currants, a soft freesia note, and a combination of gardenia and vanilla that reminds me of BiggerCritters. I smell a hint of herbs to it, but they don’t overpower the honeyed currants and flowers. This is an unusual scent with many fragments to it-honey and fruit, sweet gardenia, and herbs-but nothing clashes.

After a while: eventually, despite the lovely honey and vanilla notes, there’s something that I smell here which is a little bit soapy. It may be the gardenia note, possibly the freesia (though normally I like that note) but I’m not sure if I like the slight hint of soap I get here. The honey and currant aren’t as strong now. I really like the honey moments when, with the gardenia, I get a slight resemblance to Honey Moon, but that soapy undertone is slightly distracting.

Eventually the soapy scent does go and I’m let with a very pretty gardenia sweetened with vanilla and honey. Not a gorgeous as the vanilla-gardenia in Euphrosyne, but very pleasant and feminine, and certainly not an evil, acrid gardenia note!

The honey note really comes back after a few hours, and it reminds me of the honey in Et Lux Fuit.

Verdict: for a ‘mad’ scent, this is surprisingly sane on my skin. This is a very pretty honeyed floral, almost like a honey-covered BiggerCritters, actually. The gardenia is very agreeable here, and I love the way it combines with the vanilla. the honey is lovely, not strong or sharp but watery and sweet like nectar. The freesia is lovely and the currant is nice and crisp. It’s actually quite an unusual mix of notes, and there’s something a little soapy that I’m not crazy about in here, despite the lovely gardenia-honey-vanilla scent. a pleasant and interesting floral scent-not sure if it’s my thing, but I like it.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Maybe.

If you like this, try: MB BiggerCritters, Euphrosyne, O, Itaso Kansei, Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree, Al Araaf

[Tulliver]

I squeed when I saw this one since I've used the picture as inspiration for something I'm writing. So I just had to get it.

 

In the bottle: I'm not really sure what I'm smelling in the bottle - watery florals, I think. And there's a hint of thyme in the background.

 

Wet on the skin: Oooooh... the thyme spikes VERY sharply - but briefly. It's there then gone, and I'm glad I was sniffing my hand when it was there. There's no sign of the honeycomb, I don't think, but the florals are lovely. Gardenia is particularly strong. I'm hoping for freesia though - it's my favourite flower for scent and was also my grandmother's favourite. In fact I had freesia in my wedding bouquet just for her. The red currants are poking through too, but it's still fairly aquatic.

 

Dry: Ahhhhhh, there's my freesia. I'm so glad it showed itself. This is such a lovely blend. I still don't think I can get the honeycomb, but the rest of it takes turns in coming to the fore. It doesn't last very long unfortunately and the throw isn't madly big. But it's very lovely indeed and I'll enjoy wearing it.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get honey and flowers - just a shot of the sweet-tart currant.

 

On my skin, the currant comes out and lends a biting sweetness; there's a background of honey with the lightness of gardenia and freesia.

 

When it dries, this is very subtle and well-blended - hard to pick out individual notes, even harder to tell if I'm still wearing anything.

[djnevermore]

Wet. Hm. I grew up surrounded by gardenias. I don't get a bit of gardenia from it. I get fruity yet old, or more correctly old-fashioned or ancient. But the fruitiness in it is not very pleasant to me. BPAL's apple, apricot and red currant rarely work on me and usually kinda make my tummy do a flip flop.

 

Thankfully, as this dries down, that yucky fruit goes away and it's fresh and sweet and light and the honey starts coming out a lot more. Very little throw though. With a brimming full bottle of the easier-to-get-hold-of, cheaper, GC and better (IMO) Fairy Wine to my name, I shall not search out Mad Kate, though I'd probably want some if I had a smaller perfume collection that didn't include FW. It IS lovely.

[maribouquet]

imp: sweet floral

wet: hard to pick out the notes, but this is a sweet, wet floral

dry: really pretty, softly fruity floral.

 

I'm mostly getting the currant underneath with a sweet bite of honey and freesia on top. Very lovely.

[gwynhwyfar]

With the listed notes, I fully expected to like this oil. What I didn't expect was that I was not only going to love it ... I was going to immediately turn covetous toward it. This scent takes me instantly into my happy place.

 

It's sweet and herbal and almost intoxicating. I get a lot of honey and vanilla from this, but there's definitely a bite of fresh green herbs and a little touch of fruit to make it even sweeter.

 

This is one of those oils that I hope is here to stay, especially as long as I keep teaching 9th graders. I really need my happy place.

[dorothy humbird]

Mad Kate, on me, is lots of honey and the sharp tartness of fruit (my nose says it's an apricot-peachy color, but I know it's really the red currant). The geranium lends a spicy edge, and there is that almost-gingery smell of freesia adding some sparkle. I can't pick out the thyme individually, but I think it's providing a soothing background element.

 

Overall I get a bright, fizzy sort of feel from Kate. She's a live wire, but she's sweet about it. And she sticks around for quite a while. Mmm... I'm glad there are times when sweet floral-fruity blends actually smell good to me!

 

Edit: To prove I can spell.

Edited January 22, 2008 by dorothy humbird

[tarotgirl99]

Mad Kate is honeyed floral perfection. And she morphs, but what sweet madness. In the beginning, there's more honey, but the various flowers come out, amp for a bit (even the freesia!) and then make way for another note. The heady quality must create the madness.

 

What dulcet insanity this is.

[willowtreeling]

I absolutely adore this blend. It is so amazing. At first, I thought...generic floweriness--pretty but I already have a few florals. But then I smelled a teensy bit of delicious rose--and I don't even like rose. Well, it turned out to be the rose geranium (which I do love) playing hide and seek....finally a strong honey note pops out and lasts and lasts. It reminds me a little tiny bit of Angeronalia but 100 times more gorgeous, girly and warm.

 

This is the first blend where I feel I have truly witnessed the famous Mighty Morphing Bpal Power...this is the first bottle I would consider getting multiples of, as well! I have one coming to me from the sales thread and maybe one being purchased for me from one of the retail stores. I am in love

[edenssixthday]

Mad Kate - It's nice to have a blend where rose geranium plays the dominant note, since it's one of my all-time favorite scents. It's also nice that the freesia plays up so well in this blend since it's so rare among BPAL ingredients. Beyond that, however, this scent becomes fairly generic on me. As it warms up on my skin, the honeycomb and gardenia also become quite evident, and the vanilla takes on more of a role of "afterscent" (i.e., after I think I've smelled the entirety of the scent and move my nose away from my skin, then I can smell the vanilla). This is a classic floral that's pretty, but not really something I can rave about, as it's sort of benign and doesn't really inspire me one way or another. I do think honey and honeycomb lovers may want to give this one a shot.