The Red Queen

[Azrhiaz]

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

My first review (whee!), and my first BPAL scent (but not for long-- *stares at mailbox*).

First opened: wow, CHERRY PIPE TOBACCO. Very aggressive-- just opening the Imp made my bedroom smell like a pipe shop. Hum. Apprehensive.

Initial on skin: More cherry coming out, but it doesn't strike me as cough syrupy as some other reviewers found it. It's a good cherry, if that makes sense; a juicy black cherry, not artificial or maraschino. Still not sure I'm liking it, though, as I generally don't like smelling like food.

An hour later: Has mellowed out nicely. Still smells like cherry pipe tobacco to me, but in a good way, not overpowering. I can't smell currants, but that might just be my nose.

Final thought: a very interesting scent, and most assuredly conjures up The Red Queen for me. I'm using up the Imp, but I don't think I'll get a big bottle. Too many others that sound more "me".

Interesting/curious thing-- the first wearing it lasted for *hours*-- literally about thirteen. After that, though, it seems to fade much more quickly. Don't know if my skin just got used to it and decided to suck it up, or what.

Edited to add: I've continued wearing this while waiting on my orders, and it's really grown on me. I still don't think I'll order a big bottle, but only because there are so many on my wish list. This is really a lovely, warm scent, and it definitely exudes this strong, "don't mess with me, bub" aura. It does not, however, have much "throw". Still, I love sticking my wrists up my nose with this one.

[hypothermya]

The Red Queen

 

Initial Impression

 

Smells woody and fruity. Kinda like a less agressive, and more rich/ripe version of Dragon's Heart. Basically the same, but without the heavy musks and the blacker feeling.

 

Wearing It

 

Smells like cherry Twizzlers and Robutussin cough syrup. I can catch the slightest bit of a wood scent underneath it, but... Oh, and there's a slight plasticy scent. Damn. The dreaded red currant strikes again. Black currants never do this on my skin, but red currants always smell like the plastic from My Little Ponies. ...And my skin has never been too friendly with straight fruit smells either. Like cherries. So I'm guessing that this scent would smell delicious on someone else, but not me. Oh well...

[linaerys]

Ack! This smells like cherry Nyquil on me and makes me gag. This is only the second scent ever that I've had to wash off, but ughhhh!

[Jasminepearls]

This is my very first review, so bear with me folks,

 

The Red Queen:

 

A grown-up and somehow naughty version of saccharine sweet cherry cough syrup is what hits me initially. Not entirely unpleasant.

As the notes start to separate, I smell a warm and inviting wood, almost biting and conjuring up images of rich laquered tables with the occasional splinter.

Fading quicly, The Queen made her exit with warm notes of vanilla and a perfect mingling of the cherry and wood. Very subtle, but very alluring.

What a beautiful and regal scent, perfectly fitting for The red Queen image.

My final impression: I wish this one had lasted longer, but the warm yet aloof swirling scents of succulent berry, rich and mature woods, and the dribble of vanilla emerging and tickling my nose is nothing short of lovely.

A very good scent for self empowerment I think.

[Reinaluna]

The Red Queen is on of the most stangest BP blends that I have tried so far but in a good way. When first applied it is streight cherry then the cherry fades just a little and I smell some vanilla coming through, Then the wooded notes appear. This is a sweet, heavy, deep, antiquish aroma . No bottle of this one for me but Im keeping the imp.

[zapevaj]

This isn't a scent for everyone, definitely- the girl who gave it to me (a sweetheart on the BPAL LJ community who felt bad for me because my car got broken into, and wanted to do something nice for a stanger- bless her heart!) hated the scent. It is definitely quite strong- when my boyfriend smelled it, he stuck his nose right up to the wand-cap, and then sneezed! Funny. He tried it again at a reasonable distance, and liked it.

 

The scent on me stays fairly true throughout drying- my skin must have a fairly neutral chemistry, I guess. It's definitely a womanly scent- not womanly like matronly, but very grown-up, not girly at all. Oh, and it's very red! Not in physical color, but it really makes you think of red things when you smell it.

 

There's a faint hint of cherries, but to me it's mostly spicy (cinnamon- almost like Red Hots candies), and...what's that fragrant wood, the one that people make chests out of for the smell? Redwood? Cedar? Whatever that is, it's a strong note here.

 

So, in conclusion: not for the meek, and not in large quantities! But definitely an unusual, idiosyncratic perfume. Makes me want to run around yelling "Off with their head!"

 

-Rae

[darestodream]

When I opened up my last order, I immediately smelled something almost sickly sweet and completely overpowering. It only took me a second to figure out that it was Red Queen. I had to isolate it from the rest of the imps in order to be able to smell anything else!

 

Unfortunately, Red Queen just did not work for me. All I could smell was cherry cough syrup. I eventually tried it, hoping it would perform some magic on my skin. The cough syrup smell lingered for about an hour, and then it finally started to ease into a nicer, woody sort of cherry that was much better. However, the sweetness never fully vanished on my skin, and I just don't think it was the right combination of notes for my skin. It is the only bpal I've ever had to wash off.

 

I think this would be marvelous on the right wrists. It's very strong, but when the scent mellowed a bit and the wood and cherry mingled, I could absolutely see the potential. I'm just sorry my chemistry didn't cooperate!

[ashtonrose]

All I can think of is Christmas and eating Chocolate cordials. The smell of the cherries and currant are most prominent to me and they last the longest on me. I have also noticed a hint of rich velvety woods lacquered - smells like chocolate liquors to me.

 

So give me a box of chocolate cherry cordials, a glass of sweet red wine and into the holidays I go!!!

 

 

ADDED Dec. 27:

 

Update. After trying again. All it smelled like was Cherries, cherries and more cherries.

 

But again, my daughter loved it. I made perfume solids and she gave them as gifts to her friends, keeping some for herself too.

[Diana]

Out of the bottle, there is an intense scent of cherries, tamed by the currant. Oddly, there is a mysterious NUT smell. I have no idea what my nose is playing at.

 

I put it on, and the nut smell kind of disappates and the cherry/currant becomes a bit stronger. After a while, the mahogany scent appears. This one is tricky. At times, it is a rich, woody, almost cedar type aroma, and then it shifts to smell like a cherry-scented urinal cake. Um, yuck. Then it goes back to cherry-woodsy.

 

If it would stay woody instead of alternating between wood & pee-ish, I think I'd really like this. It blends beautifully with Bordello, and really becomes a rich, earthy berry scent. Alone, it scares me.

Edited August 26, 2005 by Shollin

[bookfaery]

In the bottle this was an overwhelming cherry scent to me. Which once I put it on was still there, very strong black cherries.

 

The cherry scent remained for a good half hour, then morphed into an almost wicker furniture like scent. Reminded me of the patio furniture they use to sell at a store near me every summer.

 

Then after a half hour of the wicker scent it changed into a cedar like fragrance. It wasn't an especially strong cedar either, a very lite one actually. So if you like cedar, but perhaps can't take it very strong, then this might be really good for you. I liked Old Kathmandu for the cedar but it was overwhelming on me, so Red Queen is actually really good for me in that regard.

 

I'm still considering whether I want a bigger bottle of this, perhaps one day though.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Chocolate covered cherries. Weird. I guess it must be the wood scents blending in with the cherry. I'm not the biggest fan of cherries, though.

 

Wet: Cherry, currant and the chocolate smell again. It's nice in a very, "Eat me" kind of way, but it's also a really, really dark scent to me. It's kinda lush and full and deep if that makes sense.

 

Dry down: The wood smell is beginning to show up around the edges but that sweet cherry is still the predominant note in the mix. I think this does fit the Red Queen, very dark and rich and decandant. Only now the cherry is fading away and I find myself smelling like the curio cabinets at a furniture store.

 

Dry: Wood. Wood, wood wood. With just an afterthought of that sweet fruit scent. It's not that I don't like the way wood smells. I do as long as I'm not allergic to it. I just don't really like the idea of smelling like wood myself. I like my cedar chest to smell like cedar, I like my bookcase to smell like whatever kind of wood it's made out of. I'm just not a fan of smelling like it myself. Oh well. The initial dark fruity scent was nice, but I don't think I'd want to smell like that all day either. A little too heavy for me. I'll see if the boy wants Red Queen. If not, I'll probably swap it.

[Ishtar]

Apparently my skin decided to do it all in reverse order, since in the vial and wet, I did not smell any cherry in The Red Queen. Not a drop. What I got, and tonnes of it, was dark waxed wood. Now I usually like wood notes but here they were almost overpowering.

 

After drydown, The Red Queen mellowed somewhat, thankfully. The cherry started coming through, which was not necessarily a good thing, though. It made the whole blend feel significantly darker, almost angry, before turning to an almost medicinal smell.

 

Off with the imp!... to the swap thread

[DiamondHeart]

First impression: Cherry Robitussin. Ew.

 

On me: Ehh... I might warm up to it...

 

I will update later as it does what it will with my skin chemistry.

 

~Diamond~

[sarada]

The Red Queen is a very challenging scent, and aptly named. This is the only Mad Tea Party scent I have tried thus far that didn't quite agree with me -- all the others seem to work incredibly well on me. In fact, I didn't make it past the sniffing stage as I knew that it wasn't going to be my kind of scent. The phrase "lacquered" in the description is one way to describe my impression as I have the same sort of dizzy feeling I get from this, as I do when I get a waft of nail polish, turpentine or something like that. Must be the same thing that has been likened to Robitussin in other reviews. I do sense the cherry and underneath, the currant just peeking through (hello currant! I love you!)...but the overwhelming sense of a freshly lacquered table, or fingernail, prevents my sensitive nose from getting closer. I have a feeling that this would fade immediately upon application, as the smell in the bottle always changes when it reaches skin, but I know that I'm a bit peculiar with this particular type of scent.

 

ETA: Well! I never tried this on because of my initial impressions but today I actually DID put it on my skin and the turpentine scent went away very quickly. Though there's a hint of the fruity scent, it mostly turns to sandalwood. And I love sandalwood more than almost anything, so that is just fine. I'm going to have to seriously try this again some time, because if it stays sandalwood or just woody in general this would be upgraded from a "No way!" to "Want a bottle!"

Edited May 26, 2006 by sarada

[klowey]

This is becoming one of my most favourite scents.

 

When I first open the imp it's bright, bright cherries. On application the cherries mix with pipe tobacco and as it wears on the darker woods come through.

 

I should mention that while I can't stand the scent of cigarettes, my father smoked pipe tobacco up until I was 13 or so. I still find the scent rather comforting, even though I was ridiculously susceptible to bronchitis through my childhood.

 

I also have a degree in Zoology, so the name conjures up the Red Queen hypothesis rather than the character. (Running as fast as you can to stay in one place.)

 

Over all, very warm and calming. And even though I should think of tobacco as a masculine scent (at least pipe tobacco) it's a very feminine. I think someone mentioned that it was a mature, feminine scent, which it is to me as well.

[Barb25]

In the bottle - yup, I agree, it smells like cherry cough syrup. Really strong cherry cough syrup

 

Wet - Cherries and wood, smells more like cedar than mahogany to me

 

Dry - It mellows into a nice, cherry scent will a cedar/woodsy undertone. Doesn't last that long, I needed to reapply after about 3 hours.

 

Overall, I like the Red Queen, but not enough to buy a bottle.

[Finny]

I love the Red Queen, in the bottle it smells of cherries, but it morphs into such a beautiful scent on me. I smell currants- the black variety, cherry- sweet and tart, and the wood smell is so deep and rich, like a wood dining table- unfinished but polished with oils and beeswax until it shines.

 

On my "big" bottle list!

[scourgeotheseas]

Well, reading the review proves that this is one of the those scents that totally depends on body chemistry.

 

In the bottle/wet: Cherry Luden's coughdrops. I like smelling sweet and candy-ish, and love Luden's. This was a good thing. Then it all changed...

 

Drydown: The cherry scent faded quite quickly on me, and was replaced by cedar. Cedar chips, to be specific. I smelled like mulch, or the stuff lining the hamster's cage, or a cedar chest. Guess my body amplifies cedar. Unfortunately, I don't like it much at all. Not a fan of the wood, or the smell. And it lasted for about 6 hours.

 

I wanted to love the Red Queen, and if she smelled of cherries I probably would have. But I hate to smell like trees, so this one has to go.

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle: Very cherry. To my nose it's somewhere between candy-ish and fresh cherries, not totally Ludens or anything. And I get no NyQuil, thankfully. There's just a bit of a woody smell.

 

Wearing: Hmm. Cherry is fading a bit, but it's still sweet. I don't smell the currant right off, but there is a hint of juiciness that might be coming from that note.

 

Later: The more I wear this, the woodier it gets, and that's a good thing! I love woody smells. This is a dry wood, however, not a freshly polished furniture wood. After a while it starts smelling a lot like a sweeter Kathmandu, which is also a good thing for me. There has to be a similar note between the two (maybe cedar?).

 

Overall: Love it! It's almost edible, and a lovely, relaxing scent. I will definitely keep the imp.

[phaedrine]

Adding my "cherry cough syrup" review....

 

I remember sniffing this from Caitfish, but not trying it on, so it went on my wishlist.

 

In the vial, it smells like wet, sweet dark cherries.

 

As soon as I put it on, it morphs into cherry candy, like cherry life savers.

 

A few minutes later...every icky, nasty, medicinal cherry thing you could imagine. Cherry cough syrup, cherry nyquil, cherry cough drops....it's all there.

 

The scent kept getting stuck in the back of my throat, so I ended up scrubbing it off pretty quickly. Definitely not for me!

[Shimmershadow]

Very nutty-sweet in the bottle, like freshly roasted peanuts. On the skin, it dries down to the described woody-cherry smell. Very cedar-smelling, like a well-aged linen press. Odd as it may sound, might make a good gentlemen's fragrance..?

[luxuria]

I had very high hopes for this one. I love the smell of wood and I love the smell of cherry, so what could go wrong? Oh, right- god damn body chemistry.

It does smell a lot like cherry cough syrup of some sort in the imp but warps to something weird and more medicinal and dry on my skin. It smells like a hospital, but one built entirely out of dry brittle wood. No cherry. I can only smell a faint hint of cherry if I smash my nose into my wrist and inhale deeply.

 

It fades to plain furniture polish. Sure glad I just got an imp instead of a bottle..not a winner.

[tsarina]

In the bottle, it was all overripe red fruit and very sweet. Reminds me of juice.

 

In my skin it was initially still sweet, like a garden party with big bowls of berries. But as it dried the wood note became stronger and stronger, overwhelming everything else. I seem to have a problem with these hard wood notes and my skin chemistry.

 

However the scent was perfect for my oil warmer and the house. It was quite subtle when diffused, just a whiff of berries and wood that made the house feel so much more lush than it really is.

[sheepzeit]

This is my first review because I generally don't have anything to say that a hundred other people haven't said, but I loved this scent so much I think it deserves it. Plus I saw before I received this that it didn't work for most peope, and I was nervous. But I wanted to confirm that for at least a few folks like me, it works.

 

I loved this as soon as I saw it on the website. I knew I had to order it, and I was so glad I did. It smells just like someone described it earlier: Warm, woody, but like a mahogany table in a cozy room with firelight dancing off it, with a chess set and perhaps a glass of red wine. Not so much like sticking your head into a cabinet!

 

I don't really smell the cough syrup cherry that people are smelling, mainly notes of wood, berry, and vanilla.

 

On my skin it turns to a sultry wood scent laced with vanilla around the edges. I wish the cherry and currant would stay, but they don't. I discovered today that when I streak the imp wand in my hair ALL of the notes remain! Yay! I might be doing that from now on until I incorporate this into a bottle of hand lotion.

 

I am in love with this scent. It is so mature, so womanly, and so unique. I ordered a 10 ml of this, even though I have two imps to go. I know I'll find some more uses for this, even if it drives my husband crazy.

[UltraViolet]

When I first read the description for The Red Queen I blew off the mahogany and velvety woods part because I didn't think they were actually talking about making a scent with that smell.

I got this because it had the word "cherry" in it. And the currants weren't hurting things either.

I expected a more bright cherry smell. What I got was a darker cherry, a riper, mellower cherry mixed with the slight tang of currant. Beth has mixed this mellow dark cherry with a wood smell, it's a rounded, feminine wood if that makes sense. The kind of wood that is reddish brown like Lush's Caca Brun and just as glossy.

The Red Queen dried down to a rich and somewhat creamy sweet cherry and wood scent.

And all this blends superbly together, oddly enough.

The woman's a genius.

I'm definitely going to finish my imp and this scent is on the teeter totter for a possible future bottle purchase.