The Red Queen

[lilirose]

Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant.

This was a frimp from the Lab. Thank you, Lab!

In the imp: cherries and more cherries. Cherry enough to make me crave pie. Mmmm, pie.

On skin, wet: cherries fading slowly into...cedar? Not only cedar, but specifically cedar sawdust. This is bringing back memories of my grandpa, who was a carpenter and always carried cherry candies in the pocket of his overalls.

Drydown: Goes to pure, dry cedar for a while, with no hint of anything else for a while. Then after a couple of hours, the cherries and currants came out to play again, with possibly a touch of vanilla or something creamy.

A lovely scent, but unfortunately it's not really "me", despite the memories it evokes. I'd adore it on someone else, I think. 3/5.

Edited to add lab description... Edited October 24, 2007 by lilirose

[mhickle]

When I opened the imp, my nose was met with a very strong waft of sweetness. Like Kool-Aid sweetness.

 

As I put it on my skin, it didn't smell so much like Kool-Aid anymore - definitely like cherries - dark, dark sugared cherries. I really hoped it wouldn't stay so strongly sweet.

 

And it didn't! On me, this oil dries to a soft woody scent, like I've just opened an empty drawer in a very well-made old cabinet. The wood is at the forefront, and lurking behind is the sweet fruitiness, which I normally would not like. However, here the sweetness makes it so that I don't smell exactly like that old cabinet!

 

 

I rather like it, and really wasn't expecting to with that burst of sweetness at the start!!

 

[greymatter]

If there were every cherries anywhere near my imp, they only glanced at it and moved on. Mine was straight up mahogany. But then again, I amp woods like they're going out of style, so it may have been just me. On my best friend, this smells spectacular. On me, I smell like I've been refinishing furniture.

[MaidenGenevive]

The Red Queen

 

Maraschino cherries! Teamed with something else fruity, it has to be the currant. It smells rich and smooth and compliments the cherry perfectly. That could be part mahogany doing that. There's a slight bit of greenness, too. The cherries are no longer maraschino, they've more thoroughly mixed with the other notes taking on a deeper quality.

 

Suddenly this seems to be morphing into something mildly astringent, which is disappointing. I no longer can detect cherry or currant. This is mildly sweet and woodsy, slightly herbal. After some wear, it's reduced to being quietly astringent and a bit waxy.

 

[ 3 - Like ] I loved the first stage, but I'm not too happy with it's transformation.

[maribouquet]

A nice, dark cherry - blessedly free of cherry blossom, tea, patchouli and/or lily! - and on my skin the dry woods immediately start to emerge. And they get VERY strong and pencily. Is there cedar in this? HMM. I can barely make out the cherry and now it's a bit medicinal.

[Schnax]

In the imp I get cherries. Kind of like cherry Kool-Aid. On me the cherries quickly vanish, and I just get the woods. It's suddenly a very dry scent. I was really hoping for a richer, darker scent out of this; I already have Ahathoor for dry and woodsy. Off to swaps!

[strangemodegirl]

Oh wow.

At first, all I could smell was cherries, but, I love cherries so that was ok. Then, after a little while, the currant really came out. I only got a faint bit of woodiness in the background, the currant was the stand out note for me.

This is one that I am definitely getting a big bottle of!

Edited December 11, 2007 by strangemodegirl

[dixiehellcat]

I got a frimp of this in a swap...it was seriously fruity wet, but then after a few minutes I started to smell, not cedar, but sandalwood! It was so notable I went to check the notes listed online. lol. Quite a surprise, and kind of nice.

[akiko]

This scent is power, nobility, and strength. It's the dark, beautiful sorceress queen. It's the wealthy noblewoman who wields power behind the scenes.

 

Imp: Cherry cordial.

 

Wet: Morphs: cherries, then WOOD. It smelled like a freshly-polished antique table. Which is a nice smell, but I'm not sure it's one I want to smell like.

 

Dry: The wood has toned down, with a bit of the cherry sweetness coming out. I'm liking more than I thought I would at the wet stage, though I'm disappointed that the cherry cordial scent is only in the bottle.

 

This is Alys Vorpatril.

[Rovylern]

In the imp: Cherries! Is this finally the so-juicy-it-makes-me-thirsty scent I've been dying to find?

 

Wet: Yummy, juicy, ripe to bursting cherries. Oh yes!

 

Drydown: Wait, what is this? I smell like...sawdust? Freshly cut wood and sawdust. It's very interesting, and quite well blended, but sawdust isn't really on my top ten lists of things to smell like.

[hkhm]

imp: cherry and some woodsy scents here and there.

 

wet: nice! the woods warm up and mix with the cherry scent to make it less syrupy. i'm really liking this!

 

dry: this has gone straight to a pure wood-scent. it smells mostly like cedar but it's difficult to tell for certain.

[Gwydion]

In bottle; Black cherry soda. Wet: Cherry soda and mahogany. They don’t blend well, the wood scent being sharp and as insistent as the cherries. Dry: Sawdust with a hint of over ripe fruit. It’s reminding me a little of Ventriloquist dummy. It’s not bad dry, really, if you like wood scents.

[twilighteyes]

This was a tarted frimp received recently from the lab. I am assuming it is well aged.

 

I am getting heavy mahogany and wood as the top note with a bottom note of sweet fruit.

[coldandsleepy]

Imp: dark chocolate covered cherries. Oh, this is delicious.

 

On me, wet: much the same, though something spicy is emerging.

 

On me, dry: pencil shavings. Spicy, vaguely cherry scented pencil shavings. Oh, the disappointment.

 

Throw and duration: to my dismay, both are above average.

 

Overall: I've been having such good luck with the MTP scents that I got really psyched after initially smelling The Red Queen. Alas, pencil shavings just aren't my thing so this doesn't work out for me in the long run. To the swaps!

[ryokokoro]

The minute I dabbed this on, the wood notes came out and intermingled with thick, syrupy cherry. Very bold. It stayed this way dry as well. After an hour, the fragrance softened. You can't smell me coming anymore but if you're close enough (like boyfriend close ) it's a tasty surprise. The end smell makes me think of a dark, mahogany throne that was polished with cherry scented conditioning oil the day before. Almost edible... I'm on the fence about whether or not I'm going to buy a bottle, but I do like this scent and plan to test-run the heck out of it to make that decision.

[Roswenth]

This has become my signature scent. It doesn't lose the cherry scent on me like it seems to do on everyone else, and the woods seem to tone down a bit compared to everyone else. People who've smelled it on me have gone and bought it, and then it didn't work so well for them.

[savage_rose]

Wet, it's cherries. This does not bode well, as cherries powder out on me.

 

Dry, it smells medicinal and like pink erasers...Pink Pearl and hospitals. How disappointing.

[gchris]

In Vial: Mmm. Almond oil and cherries

 

Wet:Strong almond oil at first and then the cherries get sweeter. This is really good.

 

Later: This gets kind of weird smelling. Now it is a type of berry scent that is more like plum but not in the usual Bpal way. I don't like the end result on this one.

[evanescence]

nope. Too strong, and the cherry is just overpowering with the wood. Drydown is really strongly cherry on me and it's goes straight to cough syrup. One of my few MTP misses.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, I get cherry - a very candy-ish, sweet cherry.

 

On my skin, I'm still getting a lot of cherry (which is great!), but woods have definitely come out - very true wood smell, like an unfinished piece of furniture.

 

When it dries, it's amazing - deep mahogany and velvety woods is right - it's very true to life. But they totally overwhelm the cherry and currant, so I'll be passing it on.

[brennamor]

I was very excited about this scent - cherries, currants and woods! I thought "what's not to like". Then I put it on and found out.

 

In the bottle I could smell the woods but the cherries and currants balanced it. On me it smelled like pencil shavings. That's the only thing I can describe it as - the smell in a pencil sharpener just after you've sharpened a pencil. I have no idea what the heck my chemistry did to this one. But I want to give it another try before throwing in the towel.

[donnatron]

Imp: Sweet, lush cherries with a hint of wood.

 

Wet: The cherries teasingly warm up and dominate the scent for a few seconds and then flee, leaving a dull woody scent in their wake.

 

Dry: Wood. Slightly spicy wood, but wood nonetheless. Despite the name and the cherries, I think this would be pretty marvelous on a gentleman.

 

Throw: Lots of wood. Wood everywhere.

 

Overall: I was expecting this to go out-of-control woody on me, so I'm not too choked. I'll try swabbing it on the boyfriend and telling him the name makes it subversive.

[Lamia]

I put this on and instantly thought "This is like Queen Of Sheba ... WITH CHOCOLATE ZOMG!!!"

 

And within only a few minutes, it started to smell like coconut and chocolate.

 

I have no idea why. And since I am not fond of coconut, I have no desire to smell like a Mounds Bar. Within a half-hour, it faded almost entirely, leaving a faint floral.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Extremely pale yellow oil. Artificial, maraschino, candyish sweet cherries over very woody mahogany. Deep, strong, slick.

 

Wet: Woodier; there is some wood that is very dry here - ahh, cedar - and I think there is some sandalwood too. The mahogany is the lightest of the three. Much less sweet; cherry almost completely gone. Very light currant.

 

Dry: CEDAR and sandalwood over very faint currant. It morphs extremely rapidly, within seconds from application.

 

Summary: Pretty much cedar single note. At very close range, extremely faint sandalwood and currant can be detected. But overall this is dry, hot powerful cedar. Strong throw.

 

Blech! I am not a fan of cedar, and I especially hate when it takes over.

[LyndaM]

I can't believe I never reviewed this! Perhaps it's for the best, though.

 

This was in my very first imp pack, in summer 2005. It...confused me. I wasn't at all accustomed to BPAL; many of the blends seemed just too odd or outside the mainstream for me to wear. This was not what I thought of, at that time, as perfume. The notes (of which I am now ashamed) from my first attempt mention gaggy fake cherry and with chemical furniture polish.

 

I recently got a frimp of Red Queen, and gave it another go. Like so many other BPALs I rejected back then, I have grown into this with a vengeance. Now, I perceive The Red Queen as smelling of deep, sticky-rich cherry syrup drizzled over dark exotic woods - distinctive and different in the best possible way. I'm ordering a bottle for this coming autumn.