Queen of Clubs

[QueenFae]

A modern incarnation of the Queen of Pentacles, or Disks, the Queen of the Thrones of Earth. Nurturing, warm and kind, she is practical, quiet and domesticated, and yet still ambitious, and possessed of the sensual lushness of Mother Earth. Soft, deep earth notes with myrrh, amber, pomegranate, dark incense, red currant, rose and vanilla.

I think the top notes on me are the amber and the pomegranate, but this oil is so perfectly blended it's hard to say. The Queen is fruity and perfumey at the same time, like an innocent child with a corrupted core. Since my skin magnifies rose, that note has reared it's head to remind its there. Love it, what a perfect companion to the King of Clubs, who I fell in love with last night. My man and I will be quite a seductive pair wearing these two scents.....

[Penance]

Preconceived notions:

 

I'm a bit nervous about QoC. I love earth notes, myrrh and incense and I like red currant and vanilla (and amber if it doesn't turn into sour milk on me), but the pomegranate and rose worry me. I'm not particularly fond of either one with the exception of the rose note in Rose Red.

 

First sniff:

 

Mmm, dirt! Specifically, loamy dirt with a bit of incense, currant and vanilla in the far background. It's like Graveyard Dirt with the moss replaced by incense smoke and crushed red berries. This is gorgeous! Now if only I could be sure that it won't morph on me.

 

Wet on skin:

 

No real change yet, which is a good sign. The only difference I note is that the earth note is less intense and the vanilla is showing some strong throw now. This really is beautiful and if it stays like this, then I've got nothing to worry about. I never would have thought dirt and vanilla would go together, but that just goes to show that I shouldn't doubt Beth (as if I ever really would).

 

Dry down:

 

Now QoC smells like Zombi with a bit of vanilla and berry. It's got Zombi's faint, faint rose note rather than the full-blown, in-your-face rose that I was worried about and the pomegranate seems to be non-existant on me since I don't smell like gummy bears. This is beautiful. I'm regretting only getting one bottle of it now.

 

The bottom line:

 

Love at first sniff. This is so perfect for me. Now if only I had another bottle so I could wear it with abandon.

 

ETA: After several hours of wear (4 or 5, probably), QoC suddenly turns into nothing but powdery rose on me, which is not a good thing. I think I jinxed myself by saying how much I liked it. Oh well, I guess one bottle will do me now.

Edited July 8, 2005 by Penance

[donsixgun]

I bought this for my sweetie but had to try it. On me, it was berry/fruity with vanilla and incense. There was nothing earthy about it, nor did I get any rose. Its nice, and not even all that 'womanly' on me. If fact, if I didnt buy it for her, id be tempted to keep it.

[Nox Eterna]

In the bottle: Crushed red pomegranate seeds oozing over freshly turned damp

earth.

 

 

Wet on: Freshly dug grave with the lingering perfumes of mourners.

 

 

Dry on: A midnight ritual of incense and sweet offerings at the same grave.

 

 

Overall: A fabulous swirl of sweet, damp, floral, resinous, loveliness.

[cuervosueno]

Like Penance, I was a bit nervous about this one. Because I love all myrrh, amber, incense and vanilla, I decided to try her in spite of the evil rose and pomegranate notes (evil for me, I mean

 

I read the reviews before receiving her, and became worried about the comparisons to Zombi, one of my least favorite BPAL scents. I guess that was a valid worry (and now I wonder why I decided to swap for a bottle of graveyard dirt, which I likely won't enjoy either. Oh well, wanted to try it, and who knows, maybe it will surprise me).

 

On to my encounter with her royal highness...

 

First, in my impatience, tried her on after she'd been in the car with me on various errands. Temperature outside: 100, and I must abashedly admit that I'd left the royal pair in the car for an hour or so.

 

This first encounter was odd. Astringent. Grassy. I couldn't figure it out. Like grass, but not cut grass. Hmmmm....I don't like that scent. What is it? I couldn't sort it out. On my overheated skin it was quite strong. No, she is not working for me, though I'm already set to offer myself as loving concubine to her King.

 

Second encounter: at night, in more normal circumstances. Still that sharply familiar grassy/earthy note. What is it? then I got it: it smells like beets! Like Zombi which also smelled like beets! Aack! this is not promising for earthy scents and me. The beet scent faded after an hour or so, and I got more of the florals, which were ok, but I wasn't loving them.

 

Several hours later, the scent had faded to something very like the King, which I enjoyed, but overall....not my thing.

 

Now, as I make what will likely be a final audience with the queen, I open up the bottle and the beet scent is a faint underpinning to a fruity floral, which I admit is appealing. Unfortunately, she doesn't like me enough to smell this way on my skin--no doubt she knows I have designs on the King.

 

Ah well. I'll try her once more today, maybe mix the two together a bit, but I suspect I'm sending the Queen off to the realm of swappage.

 

eta: or maybe I will keep her afterall. She's lovely layered with the King, and the two have more staying powering when layered. Also let a friend try her, and my friend, the Queen was more rose and fruit richness....very very different than on me. Interesting!

[wolfie13]

In the bottle:

 

Okay, this is weird. It smells like dirt and fruit. Fruit of a cherry-ish nature.

 

Wearing:

 

Immediately i get a much stronger earth note - smells like Graveyard Dirt (as I mentioned with the KOC as well) - but even more so than the king.

And yes - though i was skeptical when others said this - there is a fleeting almost "chocolate" note that appears, likely due to the vanilla and patchouli/vetiver combo (two notes I think are strong elements in Graveyard Dirt).

The fruit note becomes more recognizable to me as pomegranate (though at times it can seem almost apricot-like?!! No more cherry-ness.)

 

I don't get much, if any, Rose at this point or at any other.

 

After an hour or two:

 

Like the KOC, I like this even more the longer I wear it.

 

And also like the KOC, this is the point that the amber becomes more noticeable on me. I also begin to get a touch of spicy incense, a teeny bit of a dry vanilla, and the dirt note mellows and blends.

The fruit note is still pretty obvious - I wish it was a little less so, for my personal taste - but it's not overbearing.

(ETA: Though some days the fruit note blends down more than others - today is one of them - mmmm earthy, amber, vanilla!)

 

Verdict:

 

Complex, unique. Good throw and lasting power on me.

Warmer, wetter and sweeter than the King yet somehow it's still clear that they belong together.

I am so totally keeping both of these!

Edited July 12, 2005 by wolfie13

[tesao]

i put the QoC on before i went out this morning. i didn't reread the scent notes at all, just dabbed and went. so all of my reactions were sort of on the fly, as it were.

 

in the bottle: sweet, earthy and smoky.

 

wet, on my wrist: VERY forward fruit. concentrated and sweet berries. i also speculated as to whether or not there was lotus in the blend, it was that sweet. at first, i was worried that this one was going to turn play dough or soapy on me. (that didn't happen)

 

dry, on my wrist: there was DEFINITELY fruit and berries in this on me. i also got some notes of amber, vanilla, and incense. hmmmm. lots of throw!

 

dry: i'm left with none of the sweetness, there is only a creamy vanilla amber with hints of spice. i wish it smelled like this from the start!!

 

i'm going to have to try this several more times before i decide. i got absolutely NO hint of rose at any stage. odd, that. when i first put her on, i would have said, nope, no way. not for me. but i've come to learn that sometimes, with the lab, i have to try things more than once....

 

ETA: well, i did indeed try her again. alas. still too sweet. i fear that berries will amp up and become headachey sweet on me.

 

to the swaps!!

Edited July 12, 2005 by tesao

[Atalanta Pendragonne]

In the bottle, the dark-fruit smell is very prominent. On, the earthy note shows up, and the incense-y notes are stronger. I wish I could get more of this, it's delicious.

[Rheliwen]

In the bottle: Sweetened dirt.

 

Initially on: Definitely a lot like Zombi, but much smoother (probably the vanilla). The dirt is prominent with a red, tart background.

 

Drying: As it does, the dirt gets sifted into the rest of the notes. I definitely smell the pomegranate.

 

Dry: Pomegranate, amber and vanilla picnicing on soil moist from last night's rain. It's so well blended and smooth. A great almost fall scent.

 

You know, I think the dirt oils smells awesome, but aren't something I would wear. This one though, is so sensual, so familiar. It's one of the few blends that I feel is the long lost best friend of my skin. They feel so comfortable together.

 

When I shoved the bottle under the boy's nose I told him it smelled like dirt...and now he can't get past that association. I don't care, I like it.

 

Hours later: The pomegranate is starting to turn sour on me . It's doing the same thing The Living Flame did, which makes me suspsect that there is pomegranate in that as well. But I love the first couple of hours so I don't care.

[Eros]

First time I tried this it was all wet dirt. Gave me a headache and made me sneeze. Very disappointed. Second time, same thing w/a hint of pomegranate and not much else. Was ready to give up on it but decided to give it another chance...

For the first minute or so, rich, saturated earth with pomegranate and rose shining through. A very light berry note is also present with an *impression* of vanilla being there rather than actually smelling it. Just a hint of the myrrh and amber, and finally, a touch of incense. It's quite lovely but fades fast Hoping it's like so many other blends that seem to fade then grow a little stronger as the hours tick away. Throw is decent, amazingly enough...close to skin, barely detectable, at arm's length, so far, lovely. Just hope the vanilla comes through a bit more.

Will come back later to add the final verdict

[ivyandpeony]

I'm so thrilled with the Queen of Clubs. I thought that she sounded like one of the most beautiful and inspired LE blends offered yet - but I was frightened of the "earth" notes. I had no success with Zombi, Burial or their cousins, although I've envied the way others described those scents - on me, nothing pleasant at all.

 

Finally, I have a blend that I love with that magical earthy, wet-dirt note. It amazes me the way that this note works to anchor the tart pomegranate, the sweet vanilla and currant and the soft florals. The resiny notes seem to weave the whole blend together for me.

 

I am really looking forward to seeing how this one develops in the bottle over the next month or so, too. Although I won't hesitate to write a glowing review shortly after receiving a new scent, I will very rarely write a "didn't like it, off to the swap pile" review until I have owned something for at least a couple of months. Lots of my treasures have seemed harsh or incongruous when fresh from the lab, and it's almost a given that a gorgeous and complex blend like the Queen of Clubs is going to be even more gorgeous as the individual elements marry and mix in the bottle.

 

Overall, this blend is a mind-blower and a wonderful gift from the Lab to the forum.

[Northernminx]

Earthy but not herbal in the bottle, warm and soft with tons of myrrh and a touch of rose and the faintest trace of warm, red currant.

 

Going on this is incredibly warm and juicy without being too fruity. The myrrh and vanilla really soften the fruits, adding a dark, swarm sweetness to this. Complex much? The layers in this are almost impossible to pick through and the notes seem to cycle, pomegranite and currant fading into hints of vanilla touched rose. This is incredibly grounding, a perfect scent to encompass a protective, strong hug. Feminine but not floral, earth mother indeed!

 

LOVE it

[Sheila]

FIRST: Make sure you always gently swirl this oil before wearing! Otherwise you'll get more of a single note: fruit or single note: earth rather than the complex blend.

 

I was worried when I saw this compared to Zombi and Graveyard Dirt. Not scents I enjoy! However, I was pleasantly surprised by this--it's dark and earthy, without smelling like dirt. It's fruity and sweet, but also spicy and incensey. Everything is so well blended that the parts become a glorious, indescribable whole. (My favorite kind of scent!)

 

I'm surprised that this didn't last very long on my skin--4 hours tops. But it's so lovely that I don't mind reapplying.

 

This will be my sexy, earth-mother scent. I don't have many "dark" scents in my collection, so I'm very glad this works on me.

 

Now I wish I had ordered the king, too....

[gingersnapp]

Upon first application, this has the bitter tinge that Graveyard Dirt does. As it dries, the dark wet earth note slides gently into the background and lets the rose, red currant and vanilla take a little more of the forefront. It's still somewhat bitter, but the earthiness really grounds me and is soothing.

 

Very regal, very beautiful.

 

I love it!

[miss apple]

Queen of Clubs - first impression is of ripe fruits. This isn't as dark as Queen of Spades more red than purple as someone else mentioned in an earlier review. Once on this is so unbelievably warm and delicious. The vanilla and amber notes keep this from being too sweet and give it a rich beautiful depth. The incense is there too but again not overpowering just adding layers. The rose is the faintest of all but it gives the right touch adding a calm and quiet yet glorious boquet . I haven't felt so moved by an oil for a while but this is as wonderful as Lughnasadah and one of my new favorites.

 

[pekeana]

I didn't order Queen of Clubs because the "earth notes" scared me. Um, yeah, my stupid. I tried it on at pkwench's, and whoa.

 

Queen of Clubs is all bright and almost alcoholic wine in the bottle, with just a hint of something beneath it that might be moldy dirt. Mmm, dirty wine.

 

Once on my skin, it's strong, fresh, loamy soil -- it's not the dirt of Zombi, it's more... it's like going outside right after it rains, when the mud smells the strongest. There's an aquatic note to the dirt that makes it sing on me. After a while, the earthy stuff backs off and I smell hints of fruit and VANILLA! It brings on kind of a dirty, kinky bakery kind of a smell. After a while, the dirt fades completely and I'm left with a soft, gentle fruity vanilla, and then it goes away completely.

 

Mmm, love it.

[misfitroxy]

In the bottle, this is an interesting blend of dirt and berry fruits. The two notes are very distinct when wet and don’t seem particularly keen to mesh with one another.

 

On the skin, the berry jumps out immediately, packing a punch in throw quality. It tones down fairly quickly, though, and settles with the dirt note rather surprisingly (given my first impressions). Then QoC starts to become slightly spicy (in a warm way, like fresh cinnamon bark being burned or mulled). It really does remind me of holiday spices simmering on the stove with just a bit of the berry lingering and rounding it out. I can detect the vanilla if I search for it, but it’s not prominent on me. The spice (I guess that’s the incense) is still the strongest element, which is making me deliriously happy as it’s unlike anything I’ve ever owned (though there’s something that presents itself as the oil mellows that reminds me a bit of the spice kick behind Hexennacht. That’s the only familiarity that I’m picking up on, though).

 

Overall, the blend strikes me as a perfect winter fragrance. It’s comforting and warm, yet spicy and potent (in the authoritative sense, though the throw remains fairly strong too). I love it, and can’t think of much more to say. As others have done, I want to compliment the Lab and send my thanks to Beth for gifting us with this wonderful fragrance.

 

On a sappier note, since I'm moving out West next month and will thus be leaving my much-cherished snowy winters behind for a few years, I'm extra glad that I'll have QoC to carry with me to remind me of one of my favorite seasons. She might even inspired me to fake a snow day by cranking my A/C and snuggling under a blanket come December.

[Loligo]

It's a bit scary to me to see how my BPAL obsession has grown. There are a ton of LE's that I remember seeing in the first few months after finding BPAL, and thinking, "Nah, why would I ever want that?". And now when I see them on eBay I'm all "OMG can't live without it!!!!"

 

Queen of Clubs is one of those. (To be fair, I didn't read the description and then blow it off -- I never even saw the description because I hadn't caught on to the whole forum-only thing.)

 

On me, there are two very strong first notes: incense and sweet fruit. It almost verges on head-shoppy, but, like, the world's classiest head shop. ;-) I never get *any* dirt smell at all -- which makes me curious to try one of the lab's full-on dirt scents to see what I'd get.

 

Once the incense calms down a bit, this blend is amazingly complex and changeable. With one sniff I get pipe tobacco, then the next sniff is port or some other sweet red wine, and then I sniff again and get roses & currants. This goes right up on the tippy top of my favorites list, along with Chaste Moon and Milk Moon.

[PennyPretty]

In the bottle this smells like dirt and fruit. Rich earthy goodness.

 

Once on my skin the dirt begins to fade and the fruit, spice and vanilla come out.

 

It drys down to the most wonderful soft scent, like sweet musky skin.

 

I am so in love with the Queen! Thank goodness I got two bottles, she has already become my go to fragrance.

[violetblue]

I'm glad I waited to review this after giving it a second try. When I first applied it, all I smelled was Graveyard Dirt - so much in fact, I wondered if somehow I had gotten the wrong oil. I shook the bottle up the next time I tried it, and the fruitiness shone right through. It still reminds me a lot of Graveyard Dirt, and I wonder if I mixed that and Mi-Go and would end up with a similar scent. Not quite what I expected, but pretty nonetheless. On a scale of 1-5, I'd give this one a 3.

Edited July 15, 2005 by violetblue

[lysithea]

Deep and comforting - like the earth.

 

QofC = rich, fertile soil laden with the juices of ripe red fruits.

 

This is not a very wet blend to me. It has a dry quality that I can't quite describe. At first, it's the earthy dirt smell with just a bit of berriness from the pomegrante. I couldn't wear pomegrante in Persephone or Swank, but I'm happily able to pull it off in this one. It must be the balanced and grounding that the rich earth helps me pull it off. The frutiness reminds me of Bewitched minus the sage and tea.

 

The damp earth scent lasts through the wet phase and morphs into a light berry with just a hint of vanilla. It doesn't warm up too much and sits very close to my skin. My skin also eats it up, which I didn't expect. So, frequent touch-ups are a must.

[empi girl]

I was very excited for the Q of C, since it has some of my favorite notes in it. And it hasn't dissapointed. It is a beautiful scent, at first a strong hit of rich earth, which changes after maybe 10 minutes into a fruity, sweet, slightly spicy yumminess. It reminds me of Blood Countess, but with red fruit instead of purple, or of Bewitched, but clearer, without the musk, and more lush. It's sweet but not cloying; very warm and inviting.

 

It's very nice, I like it a lot!

[ismene]

This is the scent of an earth goddess. At first it's all wet dirt, but then that's joined by the sweetness of fruit and a hint of green things. This is perfect and I hope I don't spill any of it. My only wish is that the scent didn't fade so fast, but I know my skin just love to suck up whatever oil I put on it.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Deep, rich, moist earth, earth that feeds the roots of a plum tree bursting with low-hanging fruit that smells ever so faintly of vanilla. Her Majesty is going to be an interesting experience.

 

Wearing: Deep rich red-purple, velvety-smooth but with the faintest alcoholic sharpness. It’s primarily a fruit scent, but there’s a lot going on here.

[gangstaknitta]

I love this. The pomegranate is sweet without being too fruity and blends well with the vanilla. Dry, it smells a little incense-y, which I normally don't like, but it's very subtle. I smell soft vanilla, pomegranate and currant with a little bit of the amber...so yummy! The strength of the scent fades fast initially, but then lingers very softly for most of the day.