The Red Queen

[outofrhyme]

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

In the bottle:
*cough* Cherry throat lozenges, my least favorite thing ever. But without the medicinal twang, and with something different coming out in the background...

Wet:
Oh. Weird. The cherry is still there, but it immediately took a backseat to the mahogany. Like, immediately. I feel like I smell a hint of chocolate too, but I think it's a trick of the currant and mahogany.

Dry down:
Ooh, this is pretty nice. It reminds me a little bit of my favorite rooibos tea (rooibos provence). I can definitely smell the currant and the mahogany/woods. Cherries are barely noticeable and complement the currant.

Final thoughts:
It really, truly, smells "red." The currants/cherries are obvious, but even the woods smell "red." It also definitely smells "regal." Powerful, somehow. I'm a little surprised at how much I like this. I wanted to try it because it's very different from anything else I have so far, and I'm really glad I did. It's really well balanced, and a very interesting scent. I'm really glad the cherries are so understated, because I hate cherry-flavored candy/medicine. I'll definitely hold on to the imp, but I don't think it makes it into my absolute favorites, at least not yet.

[jasmine]

It’s a rich, fruity scent on the wand... definitely a red scent, but an edible red fruit scent, not a fiery one. It’s not being haughty or formally announcing its sophistication -- definitely not a “perfumey” scent in the slightest. I am appropriately impressed.

 

After a bit of time passes, the intense fruitiness starts fading, and the scent parts into distinct layers -- a lower layer that is half fruit, half wood, and a higher layer that seems more perfumey (ah, well.) The upper layer is thin and has a slight unpleasant edge, which saddens me.

 

The lower scent is dissolving, and the sharp upper layer is gaining strength. I really liked the way this smelled initially (more than any of the BPAL cherry scents I’ve tried yet, I think) but it’s plainly reacting badly on my skin. I’ll hope for it to settle back down.

 

Instead, as time passes, the pitch of this scent gets higher and higher, and I very much wanted to keep the low, beautiful red fruit smell. It’s not really even red any more -- more like pale pink.

 

A bit later, the Red Queen manifested a very faint, diffuse throw resembling the original scent -- like seeing a watercolor version of a painting when I’d already seen (and loved) the acrylic. All in all... very odd.

 

I do not doubt that this scent is lovely on other people, but I cannot commend its behavior on me. Perhaps something like a scent locket would do.

[supremegoddessofall]

Currant and light woods. This is softer on me than I expected and fading fairly fast, but I like it. Guess I'll need to slather.

[being_brianne]

In the vial I smelled a wonderful mix of woods and sweet cherries. They very much complemented eachother and I was excited to see how this would wear on me.

 

Wet on the skin I smelled like I had just walked through a very wet, very moldy forest. All of the sweet notes had completely disappeared.

 

2 minutes later, I still smell like a wet, moldy forest but now there's a big pile of sawdust in that forest. Where the skin contacted the oil I'm all red and splotchy. Unfortunately, this one was immediately washed off.

 

A lot of scents change on my from wet to drydown and so I never give my final verdict on a scent for a few hours after putting it on. In this case, though, that's not going to happen.

[for_the_nonce]

Wet: straight-up maraschino cherries!

 

Dry: the maraschino cherry scent is fading quickly, giving way to what smells like a wood table. On old, unfinished wood table that has soaked up some cherry juice and possibly some cinammon over the years. This isn't bad, but it's not as good dry as wet.

 

Even dry-er: almost entirely woody, with nary a hint of cherry and cinammon. Oh, maraschino cherry, why have you forsaken me?

 

Overall: meh, not terrible, but not me at all. Maybe in a scent locket...

[n1k1ta]

The description is exactly what The Red Queen smells like. It's smooth with a bite. It's a little haughty. It's perfect for alpha bitches. I smelled myself right after the oil dried on my skin and I proclaimed, "Off with her head!"

 

The cherry and currant sweetness/tartness mellowed after about an hour. The mahogany deepened as time passed. And seven hours later, the Queen is still here.

 

I'm very impressed with the oil. I'm not sure if I want a bottle of it, but I definitely want to wear this again.

[darklorelei]

When you first put in on, there's this huge rush of cherry to the degree of cough-syrupyness. But after the initial rush of cherry, it definitely melts into the background, though on intense sniffing, it can still be percieved.

 

While it's still wet, the scent of the woods is really interesting; I've never smellt anything so *wood*. It smelled like a naked furniture store!

 

Weirdly, the combo together strongly reminds me of chocolate...woody chocolate.

[phedre]

In vial: black cherries, like the cherry cola you get in diners. Currants, and something smooth. No wood.

 

Wet: black cherry cola and something like evaporating alcohol. Not good.

 

drydown: whoa. woods. The alcohol is gone. This reminds me of an old 50s diner with tons of wood paneling and handblended cherry cola. There's still an off note, something acetoneish, but it's barely there. I'm hoping it disappears quickly.

 

later: what once had promise has turned into a mess of wet mildewy wood with acetone coming off of it. Ew.

Edited January 20, 2007 by phedre

[black_and_bloom]

At first sniff, this is a heady rush of straight-up sweet cherries. Once applied, the cherry immediately starts to mellow and is beautifully balanced by a rich woody note. I love the Red Queen at this stage, but sadly, this stage passes all too quickly and within an hour I'm pressing my nose to my wrist searching for one last impression of that beautiful scent.

[eleventhousand]

A burst of cherry mellowing into soft cedar.

Edited February 1, 2007 by eleventhousand

[oh_the_horror]

Sadly I think there's vetiver in this and it's a little too much for me. It just smells kind of gross on me because of the vetiver. The cherry part was fun, but it only lasted for about 5 minutes. I'll have to try more cherry blends.

Edited February 1, 2007 by oh_the_horror

[moon_lemming]

Yum. Juicy black cherries in the imp. Very juicy, very sweet. It's the same wet--at first--but then the currant sweetens it up too much on me, making this oil smell a little like cough syrup.

 

About three minutes in, the woods arrive. Luckily, they don't come on too strong, as is their wont. On my skin, dry, Her Majesty smells like cedar with a faintly fruity backdrop.

 

Interesting. Not really my thing, but interesting (in a good way) nonetheless.

[roxyhead]

In the imp, it's red smelly markers! Red smelly markers!!! Yum! It starts like this on my skin, but dries very quickly to what I can only describe as buttered wood. Yes, it's an odd combination, but that's what it smells like. Mostly cedar but not the full-on hamster cage of Lear/Anne Bonny/Aureus, so there must be some other woods in there, guessing that's the mahogany. Kinda like my guitar. Only I'd rather nobody butter that. The butter remains stronger than the wood until the whole thing disappears entirely. Very strange, and disappointing given the really yummy red smelly markers stuff at the beginning.

[Browneyes]

Thank you for the frimpage!

 

Imp: I *finally* understand why lots of people go "almond or cherry" when describing notes. I've always thought, huh? those two things smell nothing alike. But when I opened the imp, I could have *sworn* there was almond in this, and then I read the notes description and saw that it was cherry! So my very first impression when sniffing the imp was: fruity AMARETTO!

Wet: The scent immediately goes softer once hitting my skin, and is not the sharp, almost boozy scent that I get from the imp.

Dry: The woody note from Intrigue is now recognizable - in fact this reminds me alot of Intrigue, but minus the cocoa, and a little less like "pencil" than Intrigue was on my skin.

 

Probably won't use it much... It's not awful, but I don't think it works well enough on me.

[Medici]

In the imp: Blat! Cherry sucker!

 

Wet: Cherry sucker of the sweetest, stickiest, drippiest variety. Smells very much like hard candy.

 

Drydown: This is way too cloying for my tastes. The cherry completely dominates everything else in the blend, then after a while it turns to plastic. So that's a definite no-go. (Methinks its the currant.)

 

1/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurve

[lightgatherer]

This is like Blood Kiss on me but less sweet and much, much woodier. I don't dislike The Red Queen, but I don't ever see choosing to wear her over Blood Kiss. Off to swaps.

[Ghost_Light]

The Red Queen

a review in dialogue

 

Non-Forum Friend: Okay, I ordered 18 imps,but this one is going to be my favorite. This is going to be my new signature scent and it's going to be Perfect. I can't wait (slathers on for the first time.)

 

Ghost Light and Geolinguist: Well?

 

Non-Forum Friend: I...I...I don't like it! It's not Perfect!! (gives all of her imps to Ghost Light and runs away to join a BPAL-free convent.)

 

Ghost Light: Wow. Okay. Well, let me just try this one on and see what I think.

 

Geolinguist: Well?

 

Ghost Light: It's very cherry, and I like cherry, but that's fading fast and now...(sniff) eh, I smell like wood. It's teaky or something. I kind of feel like a Pier 1.

 

Geolingust: (sniffing) It's not that bad. It's kind of nice.

 

Ghost Light: It is kind of nice, but it's not Perfect. Here, you try it.

 

Geolinguist: I like you, Ghost Light, but I am a gay man. I'm not wearing anything with "Queen" in the title.

 

Ghost Light: Chicken. Hey Hubby? Let me put this on you...

 

Hubby: Fuck off, dear.

 

Acey: What is this BPAL you guys are always talking about?

 

Ghost Light: (exchanging evil glances with Geolinguist) It's....well, here, let me put this on you.

 

Acey: (all innocence) Okay.

 

Geolinguist and Ghost Light: Well?

 

Acey: It's Perfect! (immediately gets on the phone while still in the booth, during a performance) Honey? I want this. Go to this website and order....

 

Ghost Light and Geolinguist: (high-fiving each other) Heh, heh, heh.

[steelgossamer]

I was very disappointed in this one. I love love love cherry and I was very excited about Red Queen when I opened the imp. Within seconds of applying all I got was woods. Not rich woodsy woods, sawdusty woods.

 

I may try it again when I'm not sick to see if that helps, or mix it with something to take the edge off. But very sad about the cherry.

[fiddledragon]

Wet: Maraschino cherries, so strong and accurate that I can practically taste that artificial-red-color tingle at the back of my throat.

 

Dry: After quite a while, the cherries finally back off, and some dry-but-rich woods emerge. They meld very nicely with the hints of cherry that remain.

 

Not a favorite, but quite nice.

[eatingthesea]

my first review! i'm going for the underdog here, as it seems the cherry in the red queen is often lambasted for its aggressiveness. i, for one, adore cherry scents, as long as they're balanced out with unexpected elements, i.e. the star anise in kabuki (one of my all-time favorites) and here, by woods. and that is what i get on drydown: absolute woodsy woods. the sweet cherry stayed with me for all of 15 minutes, and then i was choppin' down trees. and i liked it! i was hoping for more currant, but my skin is special ed at picking out any fruits ever, so...i don't think the red queen is calling for upping the ml's, but i sure will reach for this imp whenever i have done something immature and want to feel like a real woman again

[wikkidraven]

cherry cordials!

 

and robitussin. but somehow, i like it.

 

ETA: later, the red queen disappeared entirely, leaving me with a lingering scent of freshly sharpened pencil. now that is some serious morphing.

Edited April 14, 2007 by wikkidraven

[storme]

In the imp: cherries like whoa. Overwhelming sweet cherry.

 

On me, wet: the woods immediately bloom on my skin, warming and deepening the scent.

 

On me, dry: faint cherry and lots and lots of dry woods. Warm but sort of dusty-feeling.

 

Verdict: This is almost masculine on me, and not in a way I like, so I'll pass.

[jiggahava]

Mostly Mahogany. At first I get cherry cordials, then it quickly dries down to mahogany. I smell like a dusty wooden chest, so The Red Queen will have to go. Maybe I'll try it as a room scent instead. Too bad, I was looking forward to wearing this.

 

Zero throw and short to medium wearlength.

[mystery213]

Well, my first impression of this when opening the bottle was 'Wow, awesome!'! I loved the deep, rich cherry smell (I love cherries) and it is so hard to find a good 'cherry' perfume oil. However when I put it on, It almost immediately lost most of the cherry scent and morphed into what reminded me of cedarwood shavings... it smelled good, but too much like hamster bedding.

Still looking for a good cherry blend...

[DifferentDances]

*sigh* This one disappointed me. I wound up smelling like a furniture shop where most of the furniture isn't even finished yet. Raw wood, sawdust, and lingering wood polish. Alas, not for me.