Queen of Sheba

[korshka]

... Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices.

Whenever I get a new imp, I always sniff the bottle before I open it - kinda a sneak preview. I sniffed and liked what I got, but there was a bite at the end. When I opened the bottle - it was no longer a bit, but a big giant chomp of bitter green. I forced myself to go ahead and put it on.

On immediate dry down, the bite was gone. I was left with almondy, spicy, incense. It is a very warm smell and does (as so many others have said) reminds me of walking through a sunlit bazaar with all kinds of good scents around.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Honey, almond and Spice

 

On Skin: I am a HUGE fan of honey scents, but the spices in this one make the scent smell a little metallic to me. It is pretty, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never been a fan of Middle Eastern spices. The honey softens the spices a bit, and the almods have their tell-tale cherry note. To me it smell like a stronger version of Dana OShee with foreign spices. It is very exotic and I think I’d wear this when I wanted to add “spice” to my life and step outside the box. It’s very commanding and works perfect on a strong independent woman.

Edited January 28, 2006 by slave1

[komakino]

Initial Impression: A lot of almond, with a very bitter and organic undertone. It’s extremely bitter, and has an almost poisonous smell.

 

After Wearing It: It turns a bit sweeter with time, and the extremely bitter tone mellows down. But it continues to be sharp presence, like almonds and poison. I can pick up a faint tone of eastern spices, but it’s very light and unnoticeable. I slept with it on, and when I woke up it mostly smelled like wood polish.

 

Final Impression: It’s rather scary, and I don’t plan on wearing it out. On my skin, it’s just not pleasant. It’s way too sharp and bitter and nauseating and never turns sweet and well-composed.

[Eros]

Similar to Skuld and Scherezade but lighter. Has the same medicinal scent to it, when first applied, that Scherezade does on me. Saffron, perhaps?? Gorgeous, soft honey among all those wonderful spices!! Don't get much, if any, almond.

Is there amber in this, too?? I get a bit of something familiar after an hour or so...O. But only fleetingly here and there.

A lovely blend this!! Still, I think I'll stick with Skuld

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: honeyed spice.

 

On skin initially: Spice is very dominant, with a bit of a burnt scent underlying it.

 

After an hour: Still spicy, but nearly gone after only an hour. Not a bad scent, but without any staying power on my skin. I never really got any true "honey" out of this one, which was a bit of a disappointment. A trader.

[dcmo]

Gorgeous! Lighter version of Morocco. Honeyed almonds with exotic spices. Sweet and spicey at the same time. good staying power. Really like this one a lot

[rainbow]

In the vial- very sweet almond.

 

On me- the sweet almond was totally overwhelmed by sharp spices (I guess that must be the saffron, etc.). It ended up just smelling sharp and bitter on me, so unfortunately, this one didn't really agree with me. Loved the almond, just not the spices.

[Caltha]

Queen of Sheba

 

On me, Queen of Sheba is bitter like crushed herbs, a poisonous green/yellow smell. The bitterness could be bitter almonds, and combined with a more sweet/milky note it turns almost to marzipan. Smelling like marzipan would be quite alright, but the harsh, poisonous bitterness never really fades.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Caltha

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Soft honey and almonds

 

On me:

This is so sensual and soft. The honey and almonds are not too sweet or cloying, and the spices are beautiful. I did notice that when I wore it during my monthly cycle, it turned a bit powdery and tangy, but any other time I wear it, it's absolutely gorgeous. This is the perfect scent for the woman it honors - it's sexy, sensual, powerful, and yet strong and willful. It is one of those scents that melts perfectly into my skin and makes me feel sexy all day long.

 

Final note:

Next order I make, will definitely have a bottle of this in it.

[Scarlettfish]

Beautiful honeyed almonds on me. It's not too sweet at all, which was surprising, because my skin tends to turn sweet scents cloyingly sweet. But this was just perfect - a second skin scent, almost. Sexy and exotic without being overwhelming. Definitely a bottle purchase!

[Muppetk]

Wet: sweet almonds with a hint of spice. As advertised. Sigh. Tried this on before realizing there was almond in it. I reallly don't like almond.

 

Just Dry: the almond has actually faded to something tolerable, yay! And the spices come slightly more to the foreground. But somehow, it winds up smelling vaguely like bubblegum. Lighter than lotus though.

 

Dry 20min: The almond is back a bit, & in general it's faded fairly quickly. Not for me.

[zombie_striptease]

Oh, I so wanted to like this one.

 

In the imp, I could smell mostly spices with a touch of almond threaded through it. I rather hoped the almond would come out on me, but alas, no. As soon as I put it on my skin, one of the spices must have gone badly with my chemistry because I was suddenly overcome by a sharp sort of old lady's perfume smell. It was pungent enough that I could barely even make out the other spices anymore, let alone the almond or honey. I tried to wait it out and see if it would tone down or go away, but after about an hour it was still just as bad and I had to wash it off. Phooey.

[lookingglass]

Wet this is very honeyed almonds with a slight green kick and a waft of exotic spice that tickled my nose. Similar to Hecate, though this has more throw...

Edited December 4, 2006 by lookingglass

[mandalinn]

In the bottle, this smells like almonds roasted in exotic spices with an earthy undertone to me.

 

On me: This smells so nice and soft, but yet has a slight spice to it that peeks through.

 

Final review: Love it! I will add this as my first must have!

 

Not bad for my first imp to wear and review, one that I LOVE!

Edited September 3, 2005 by mandalinn

[arabella]

First Impression: Spices - probably, cinnamon among others.

 

Dries down to: A spicy, slightly sweet, woody scent. At one point I thought I got a whiff of dried mushroom but that passed quickly. It's quite light on me. Oh, wait a minute, the dried mushrooms came back - I don't know what's morphing into mushroom on me but it seems to drift in and out. After about 1/2 an hour, the sweetness disappears entirely.

 

Additional Comments: The honey in this one is not too bad on me; it mixes well with the spices, initially, but this "good" phase doesn't last long. Overall, I'm not enamored of this one particularly, the "mushroom" part.

 

Lasted: Several Hours.

 

Rating: 1.5/5

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Almonds and cherry. Nothing overly spicy. I'm not sure why I wanted this, because honey and almond both don't like my skin, but here goes nothing...

 

Wet: Almonds and cherry! It isn't changing at all. Maybe getting a little sweeter.

 

Dry: Oh, there are the spices, although they're very woodsy and musky, and not sweet spice as in Snake Oil or Verdandi. Otherwise, the almond is still there in full force, but that cherry scent has disappeared completely.

An hour later: Still very almond, though now there's an extra twist to it... it reminds me of sweet nutty bread. I can smell more of the honey now, and it's doing that unpleasant thing honey tends to do on me: it's a sickly sweet, rotten powder smell.

 

Overall: I knew I wouldn't like this. Swap pile, here it comes!

[Freyja Lux]

Good goddess, this has taken a seat as my next favorite smell next to Scherezade. Warm, soft, sexy! When I first took a sniff, the scent of some mysterious spices coupled with the warmth of almond really seduced me. I put it on immediately and found that, thankfully, it was compatible with my personal chemistry. I really wish I knew what Beth (assuming it was Beth) put in this; "African and Middle Eastern spices" is a bit vague.

 

Sultry, decadent, bold and utterly feminine!

[shayelea]

In the bottle: Almonds, overwhelmingly. On second sniff I get lots of spices, too; foody spices and incensey spices. They're almost too much. Maybe a bit of honey or something mellower in the background.

 

Wet: The spices are much mellower, and the almonds aren't so overwhelming. It's more cakey and less like, say, pure almond-flavored syrup you might put in coffee. This is suprisingly light for how rich it smells.

 

Drydown: Huh. This dries down, for me, to a sort of pleasantly spicy "expensive soap" smell, mixed with the smell of tiny baby. Which is nice, since babies smell good and all, but I'm not sure I'd want to wear it as perfume on a regular basis.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sweet cherry and almond. When first applied it is a spicey almost dusty/powdery sweet almond, a bit heavy. After a few minutes a floral note develops- possibly rose or jasmine, very sexy and exotic. After about 30 minutes the floral note softens and it becomes a bit soapy. This fades after only a couple of hours on me but does dry down into a nice soft honey note. Pretty but I don't need to keep this one and will end up swapping it.

[erikasilverstein]

Almonds and spices, indeed.

Starts out very strong (and caused a burning sensation in the crook of my elbow)

Starts quite bitter and sharp. Almost like patchouli. Or really cheaply perfumed soap.

Then the bitterness mellows out and the sweet almond scent dominates. Almost foody. Delicious. Reminds me of Snake Oil, a bit. But Sheba is a very specific *almondy* smell. Not sure I like the initial aroma...but the drydown is lovely.

 

I will have to try this one again to decide if I really like it enough to purchase more (I think I prefer Snake Oil).

Edited October 5, 2005 by erikasilverstein

[cranberry]

Initially I get sweet almonds and spice. It seems as if there’s a bit of honey mixed in with the spice and almonds. The sweet almond is initially a bit like cherries but then it mellows. Initially, it reminded me a bit of Snake Oil, maybe the spices, but then as it dried that similarity vanished. The spices are dark and a bit smoky. As it dries, it becomes less sweet and deepens into the spices and smoke. It’s exotic and sultry.

 

Honey has traditionally done bad things to me, but it behaves in this oil.

 

When I first smelled it, I was convinced that I needed a bottle. It also reminded me a lot of Luctor et Emergo’s People of the Labyrinths (now I'm not sure about that as it's been a long time since I smelled POTL). I don't know how much I’ll wear it, so a bottle may be overreaching, but I’ll keep my imp for those times when I feel like a gypsy.

[silver_springs]

Ok what's the deal? I didn't get any of the good almond and honey smells when applied. All I got was a bitter vanilla mixed with pepper and medicine type of smell. And the drydown is all baby powder.

 

I think it's safe to say that this one just doesn't agree with me. Because this doesn't smell a thing like others have described. It's not sweet at all. Well just darn!

 

Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I guess this one is going to be swapped again.

 

Queen of Sheba and me obviously don't mix.

Edited October 15, 2005 by silver_springs

[Em-]

The first time I wor this I was a little disturbed - all I got was a little bit something sharp and herbal which disappeared petty quickly without any hint ofhoney, almonds, anything I was looking forward too...

 

I tried it again, after rolling the imp in my palms and applying slathering a bit more, I waited out this sharp woody phase and was rewarded with the wonderous honey almond spicy goodness I was hoping for... Yea!

[carolinachiquita]

I don't usually like the honey scents but this one is amazing, Its very spicy and incensy on me at first but then it mellows out to this amazing sweet (but not a foody sweet) smell that is just yum. I've been catching whiffs of myself all day and thinking "mmm that smells good, wonder what it is?" then remembering that it is this perfume. I think this might be a possible 5ml (Grr I thought I had all the 5mls I wanted!!)

[jewelbug]

Imp: All sweet almond.

Wet: As soon as it hits my skin, the spice comes out. It's still got almond, which is rather buttery smelling, actually. But overtop is a tongue numbing spice--cardamom? Clove? It's sweet and rich and luxurious smelling. This is warm and round. And lovely. The nuts in it remind me of Eden and hellcat, since they strike me as sweet an buttery, but on applying Eden to compare, I realize how much less buttery and spicier Queen of Sheba is.

Drying: I really start to lose the almond now, and the spice is taking over. It's a wonderful spice, but I really liked those sweet almonds. It's also got just a hint of baby powder to it.

30 min: Spices and powder. This is the type of powder I get from amber blends, so I wonder if there is amber in here? The whole spice/amber with the sweetness of honey to it makes me think of a spicier O, without the vanilla bit--which is absolutely wonderful in my book. This is sweet and warm and hot and sexy.

2.5 hrs: this really does smell like an amber blend on me. Its melds to my skin, getting powdery like amber, but retaining a honeyed sweetness and a spicy intricacy. There is something green in with the spices too, and I can't put my finger on what it is. It’s a lovely blend, though.

4 hrs: Still there, still melded well. I think one of the spices is anise? Whatever they are, I like them….

 

Overall: This has great throw, and lasts for 6-7 hrs. It melds to my skin, and I think its powdery spice is wonderful. The problem is that hubby keeps saying it smells like grass. He's nuts. Despite what he says, I like it. I think I need to put this in my pot of "to compare" between O, Dragon's milk, and petit mort. I know I want one, but I can't decide which, and on my skin they're all similar and related.

Edited January 1, 2006 by jewelbug