Queen Alice

[ravenscanary]

Carnation, posies, and white amber with a hint of inky treacle, sandy cider, and wooly wine.

Source: Lab Imp, via swap

In the imp: Spicy, faintly alcoholic. Light-colored oil. I almost get a potpourri feel on the first whiff.

Wet: Hard cider, brightly acid red wine, and a caramel-like sweet undertone. I don't get the floral or amber really at all until...

Dry: Much better balanced after 20 minutes or so. The alcohol has tamed a bit, but is still quite strong. The flowers have become very spicy. This is great blend: boozy, sweet, spicy over a carnation-heavy floral.

Notes: Moderate wear and throw. Two light applications got me through a full day. Edited March 24, 2010 by Shollin

[loladae]

This scent is awesome! The mixture works surprisingly well. I can pick on the carnations first, then the white amber-and yes, it is distinctly white, like in Anactoria. Sort of clean linen, I think- and the 'cider' rounds it out. My only complaint is that there is little throw, so I don't think this will be a bottle purchase for me, but I will use up my imp for sure!

[Molls]

I'm getting the spiced apple cider smell, and a bit of the wine. It's very pretty, but this scent seems to fade on my skin really quickly. It hasn't even been an hour yet, and I can only smell it if I press my nose to wrist...

[inkaddict]

This is all booze and tracle to my nose, with just a hint of spicy carnations.

 

I was hoping for cider and carnation with traces of treacle. unfortunately on my skin the treacle clubbers everything else to death after doing the usual amazing morphing trick of turning into burnt sugar with a side of burnt rubber. It would be a no-no all on its own, but coupled with the booze that reappears after a while it made me really queasy.

 

Off to the swap pile it goes

[hmelt004]

This Alice is a complex and mature Alice, not simple and girlish. She's equally sweet, spicy, and floral and she lasts for a long time.

 

I don't get amber from this, but the carnations are there in force, and there's a sweet foody note that stays in the background but keeps this from being just a floral. And there is ink, and sand, and wool, although how you get though into a perfume AND make them smell good is a mystery only the lab knows. They kind of ground the whole thing. I get the same feel from Ichabod Crane. Alice is wearing a wool coat over her frock, I suppose.

[bonny]

oh, my god. i love this. i LOVE THIS. spicy carnation is what i pick out most of all, and there's something just slighty foody-but-not, and 'wooly wine' is the perfect description of the base. this stays creamy and spicy on me, it's not too overly sexy to wear during the day but perfectly acceptable to wear out at night. this is my favorite bpal and the bottle i reach for most often. if this was being discontinued i would cry, hoard, and cry some more. eta: forgot to mention in my love fest that this last extremely well on me as stays fairly strong. i'd day if i want to wear it all day long i might reapply once.

Edited March 10, 2010 by bonny

[Evilynn]

in the vial: wine and cider

wet on the skin: wine and amber, with a bit of spicy carnation

drydown: slightly sour wine and a bit of floral. Not sure what posies smell like, exactly.

 

This is verging on giving me a headache, like most wine scents. It's a pass for me, I think

[raisin]

I think I might wait until late October through December to pick up a bottle (because I can't see myself wearing it before then), but that's definitely on the horizon for this one. I didn't like it much in the bottle, but it becomes Christmas Carnation when applied.

I get almost entirely carnation and cider, but there was something a little wine-like about it, too. It was a lot less floral or foody than I worried it might be, and more spicy carnation than I had hoped. I'm really pleased to have finally found something the Mad Tea Party that I love!

[Sultaana]

I can't quite call this a spiced cider smell since I was blessed with a bottle of Lamb's Wool, but Queen Alice dries down to a fantastic wine and spices on my skin, with a dash of nose nipping carnation. It's actually really great and I'm so glad I grabbed an imp of this! Not really confident that this is going to be a bottle purchase, but I will keep the imp around for sure.

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial - A weird spicy floral.

On the skin - Still weird and spicy - obvious carnation note, and a hint of oddly plastic cider. Has quite a throw, though.

Dry - Soapy. :|

[Dark Alice]

Fruity Rose? This is what this smells like on my hand. No rose listed but still... And there is no wine...most wine goes rancid on me this is just simply beautiful fruity rose. A decant will do me though as any more might be headache inducing..

[Invidiana]

Here comes the carnation to haunt me again. Wet it actually smelled sweet, even a hint candyish from what I believe is the treacle, and seemed somewhat promising but it dried down to essentially all carnation on me--what do I expect, I amp the stuff like the devil. So on me this basically turned into candied carnation.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Invidiana

[milo]

Whoah, this one is heavy on the carnation, though there is something really perfumey/musky as well. At first, it kind of reminded me of Hod, but than the aweful dept store musk came out . This blend is loud and obnoxious on me.

[venusinfurs]

This was a frimp from the lab, and also my first mad tea party scent!

 

In the imp: Sweet, hard cider. I didn't read the description first, so I had no idea this had flowers in it from the first sniff.

 

Wet on skin: Carnations and cider are having a fight. It's boozy and spicy and floral all at the same time. I'm usually not a big fan of florals, but this kind of works.

 

Dry on skin: I keep getting hints of the wine now. It smells really good! The floral scents have faded, and the spiced wine scent takes over. It's nice. I will probably use up my imp.

 

This is a sophisticated scent, as other reviewers have said. If you're a fan of cider, wine, or carnations, you should definitely give this a try. The wine note is one of the best I've smelled!

[MaritzaCardona]

Queen Alice just smells scrumptious in the imp. One applied all I can get is sweet treacle and it just stays like that. It reminds me a lot of Sugar Skulls. I'll keep the imp but don't see myself buying a bottle. Pity.

Edited March 11, 2011 by obsidian_vamp

[Shollin]

First sniff: For a “hint,” the wine in this is pretty strong, on a backdrop of flowers.

 

Wearing: Wine and flowers all day long. Not my thing.

[grrrlennyl]

Queen Alice

 

On: Wow. Amazingly spicy carnations, which I absolutely adore. There's some sweetness to this, too, and I can get the cider. Very, very nice.

1 hour in: This is so beautiful.It's mostly powdery, warm, spicy carnations on me. So, so lovely.

5 hours in: I'm in love with this. It's all powdery carnations.

6.5 hours in: Lovely, powdery, slightly sweet carnations.

Overall: Definitely a really great blend on me. Yay!

[JLH]

I received this as a frimp with my first order.

 

In the imp, I mostly smell the spicy carnations and the wine, with just a hint of fruity sweetness. On my skin, however, the floral notes and the cider bloom. I can still detect the wine and the sweetness that I'm guessing is the treacle. There's also a hint of a powdery dustiness, that must be sand? I don't know! It all blends together very harmoniously.

 

As it dries down I'm getting mostly carnation and wine, and perhaps a bit of the white amber in the very background. It's actually becoming more of a sweet-based floral as it dries. This scent has a light throw on me, and it remains present but not overwhelming.

 

This is a lovely scent, and is definitely something I could see myself wearing every day.

[Ella LaRose]

sweet creamy cider, spicy carnation, very gentle and kind scent, makes me feel ready for bed in a casual silk nighty

[KittyHawk]

Alice was a complete disaster on me, but Queen Alice is complex, gorgeous, and totally works with my skin! I had originally blamed the carnation in Alice for the headaches it gave me, but I think it's the rose. I'm really surprised at how well blended Queen Alice is, yet I'm still able to pick out most of the notes.

 

In the imp, the florals are dominant, but there is a bit of sweetness in the background, probably the treacle. It almost smells like bubblegum, but much better!

 

Wet, the carnation gets deliciously spicy and stays that way. The carnation is lovely, deep and sophisticated! As it dries down, the musk slowly comes out to play, but the carnation sticks around for hours. My skin eats a lot of scents, but Queen Alice has great staying power. As others have said, this is definitely a scent best suited for the cooler months (certainly not August in Florida!), but I'm going to wear it anyway. It's too lovely not to.

[Maleficium]

IMP: spiced biscuits and tea! this is a warm, inviting scent in the imp. creamy and spicy at first sniff.

 

WET ON SKIN: A fruit note. Cherry, or something. Apple cider too. It's making me hungry! Some floral too, carnation from what I gather. It's not overpowering unlike most floral scents on me. So far I'm liking this one a lot. I've got my nose almost glued to my wrist at this point....

 

DRY DOWN: in addition to all of the above, there's a fresh linen smell in here. like a...freshly ironed tablecloth at a drunken autumn tea party held outdoors.

 

LATER: This scent sure does live up to its name. Would totally buy a bottle.

[vige]

forethought and blah blahs:

none really

 

in the bottle/imp:

this smells really fruity? maybe the cider or wine?

 

wet:

really spicy. and warm i really was expecting flowers so im quite surprised!

 

dry:

it smells like spiced wine or mulled cider.

starting to smell a bit of floral now.

now the amber, what a morpher!

 

overall opinion:

warm and spicy with a dash of amber, flowers. and slight touch of apples.

 

verdict:

neutral leaning to feminine.

i like it! i am going to keep the imp for more testing and see if it makes the bottle list! save!

[Cthulhuesque]

My first review here on the forums! Woohoo.

 

I received Queen Alice as a free imp from the lab a few days ago. When I initially sniffed it in the imp, I was really turned off by the strong, cloyingly sweet wine-and-resin notes. It reminded me of very strongly-scented potpourri, steeping in a big punch bowl full of sweet red sangria. But I dabbed some on my wrists just to make sure, and I've worn it two days in a row now. It's really growing on me.

 

Wet, it smells much the way it did in the imp, except the florals come out more (carnation, especially) and the woody, cider-type smell is not as overwhelming.

 

As it dries, it becomes a very pretty floral with playful hints of wine and amber peeking out from the background. I'm glad I gave Queen Alice the benefit of the doubt, I think I'll be keeping my imp. Seems like it could be an intriguing room scent, as well. 3.25/5 stars.

[stardreamer]

In the imp and fresh on: Fruity -- must be the cider!

 

Drydown: The florals come up a bit, so now it's a nice fruity/floral mix.

 

Long-term: After a while the amber comes up and adds a different level of sweetness to the mix. This is a very nice scent, pleasant but unobtrusive, something that you could wear to a job interview without worrying about offending the interviewer. Staying power seems about average -- 11 hours and it's nearly gone.

 

Bottom line: Definite keeper.

[Innocuousmold]

Queen Alice was a very spicy-sweet, almost almond like smell on me. It's a very complex perfume with loads of carnation, but for some reason the spice and flowers just don't jive well together on me. I think that it is a very grown-up scent and I could definitely see how it has a certain regality to it; still, this one is a swap for me.