Review of Kate Spade Beauty
Apr. 9th, 2014 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee341. First, my BPAL order finally shipped this evening! I am so excited. I can't wait to start smelling all the things!
2. I need a perfume icon or two methinks. I will gift fic to anyone who feels compelled to make me one. *bats eyelashes* I found a couple cool pictures of perfume bottles but I don't know if they are suitable for iconnage, so I'm open to anything. :)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/347340189980682133/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/193936327674211904/
3. Today before I knew my order had shipped I was feeling all impatient to start smelling and reviewing things when I remembered that we do have a couple perfumes in the house right now that I could start with.
Somewhere between 8 to 10 years ago, Josh bought me a bottle of Kate Spade Beauty as a gift. He is such a thoughtful gift giver; he'd watched me pick up a bottle in the store, smell it, remark that I liked it, and then bought a bottle for me as a surprise. It was such a sweet gesture, but after a while of wearing the perfume, I discovered I didn't really like it all that well, so I still have a mostly full bottle.
Apparently, the scent has been discontinued and so it was hard for me to find a description of the perfume's notes. I tracked down this small set of reviews and the consensus seems to be gardenia, honeysuckle, and jasmine with maybe some tuberose and/or other flowers mixed in.
I sprayed one wrist and could immediately identify the honeysuckle and gardenia but not any of the other notes (to be fair, I'm not really sure what jasmine and tuberose smell like LOL). It's very sweet, almost cloying, and stays that way as it dries. It's a warm smell, if that makes any sense, and it doesn't have a lot of throw. I had to bring my wrist up to my nose if I wanted to smell it. It's very pretty but not for me. It feels overpowering and like it might give me a headache over time. I washed it off with Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day hand soap in the radish scent and really liked what my wrist smelled like after that with all the sweetness tamped down (this is clearly a lingerer of a scent; I think Ajax dish soap would probably have washed it off entirely, though).
However, this perfume deserves a better home than with someone who will rarely wear it and possibly force it to commingle with radishes against its will. Free to anyone in the US (or outside US for my friend's list only) who thinks this might work for them.
4. And now for the fic. I decided that I wanted to accompany each of my reviews with at least a drabble's worth of fic inspired by the scent. So have a double drabble of HP. :)
Beauty
The day Narcissa Black marries Lucius Malfoy, the house elves float hundreds of gardenia blossoms in her bath. The scent is cloying, heavy, and between the flowers and the steam, Narcissa can barely breathe. Creamy petals cling to her skin; she picks them out of her hair for what seems like hours afterward. When the flowers have been banished, though, and only their fragrance remains, Narcissa feels as if she is cloaked in something powerful, sensuous. Bellatrix joins her at the foot of the stairs just as the orchestra begins to play in the gardens. Her sister’s arms are full of honeysuckle and jasmine, a wild tangle of white flowers and greenery that nearly glows against the silk of her dress, the darkness of her curls. “Are you ready?” Bellatrix asks. Narcissa thinks about the sister who is missing, and she can almost smell the tuberose and lilacs of the bouquet she’d bear. Bellatrix looks at Narcissa, at the empty space next to her, and Narcissa smiles before Bellatrix can scold her for being maudlin. “Yes,” Narcissa says and follows her sister through the Great Hall and into the gardens where the rest of her life is waiting for her.
2. I need a perfume icon or two methinks. I will gift fic to anyone who feels compelled to make me one. *bats eyelashes* I found a couple cool pictures of perfume bottles but I don't know if they are suitable for iconnage, so I'm open to anything. :)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/347340189980682133/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/193936327674211904/
3. Today before I knew my order had shipped I was feeling all impatient to start smelling and reviewing things when I remembered that we do have a couple perfumes in the house right now that I could start with.
Somewhere between 8 to 10 years ago, Josh bought me a bottle of Kate Spade Beauty as a gift. He is such a thoughtful gift giver; he'd watched me pick up a bottle in the store, smell it, remark that I liked it, and then bought a bottle for me as a surprise. It was such a sweet gesture, but after a while of wearing the perfume, I discovered I didn't really like it all that well, so I still have a mostly full bottle.
Apparently, the scent has been discontinued and so it was hard for me to find a description of the perfume's notes. I tracked down this small set of reviews and the consensus seems to be gardenia, honeysuckle, and jasmine with maybe some tuberose and/or other flowers mixed in.
I sprayed one wrist and could immediately identify the honeysuckle and gardenia but not any of the other notes (to be fair, I'm not really sure what jasmine and tuberose smell like LOL). It's very sweet, almost cloying, and stays that way as it dries. It's a warm smell, if that makes any sense, and it doesn't have a lot of throw. I had to bring my wrist up to my nose if I wanted to smell it. It's very pretty but not for me. It feels overpowering and like it might give me a headache over time. I washed it off with Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day hand soap in the radish scent and really liked what my wrist smelled like after that with all the sweetness tamped down (this is clearly a lingerer of a scent; I think Ajax dish soap would probably have washed it off entirely, though).
However, this perfume deserves a better home than with someone who will rarely wear it and possibly force it to commingle with radishes against its will. Free to anyone in the US (or outside US for my friend's list only) who thinks this might work for them.
4. And now for the fic. I decided that I wanted to accompany each of my reviews with at least a drabble's worth of fic inspired by the scent. So have a double drabble of HP. :)
Beauty
The day Narcissa Black marries Lucius Malfoy, the house elves float hundreds of gardenia blossoms in her bath. The scent is cloying, heavy, and between the flowers and the steam, Narcissa can barely breathe. Creamy petals cling to her skin; she picks them out of her hair for what seems like hours afterward. When the flowers have been banished, though, and only their fragrance remains, Narcissa feels as if she is cloaked in something powerful, sensuous. Bellatrix joins her at the foot of the stairs just as the orchestra begins to play in the gardens. Her sister’s arms are full of honeysuckle and jasmine, a wild tangle of white flowers and greenery that nearly glows against the silk of her dress, the darkness of her curls. “Are you ready?” Bellatrix asks. Narcissa thinks about the sister who is missing, and she can almost smell the tuberose and lilacs of the bouquet she’d bear. Bellatrix looks at Narcissa, at the empty space next to her, and Narcissa smiles before Bellatrix can scold her for being maudlin. “Yes,” Narcissa says and follows her sister through the Great Hall and into the gardens where the rest of her life is waiting for her.
no subject
Date: 2014-04-10 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-10 01:13 pm (UTC)I love the Malfoys too, especially fic where Lucius and Narcissa really love each other. I can certainly buy versions of them who are cold or cruel or who were married for political reasons and never fell in love, etc., but I really love versions of them who do love each other.
no subject
Date: 2014-04-10 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-04-11 03:46 pm (UTC)And while I can enjoy a fic where Lucius is just the epitome of evil that Draco must escape from (and into the arms of Harry or Hermione or Blaise or whoever LOL), canon's pretty clear that both Malfoys adore Draco. He's a loved kiddo.