Phantom Queen

[Medici]

An epithet of the Morrigan, crow-winged Celtic goddess of war, strife and fertility. Adoration of this Goddess is expressed both through the ecstasy of battle lust and the ecstasy of sexual regeneration. Black orchid, apple blossom, meadowsweet, and rue over Irish moss, hawthorn and red clover.

Oh the love of sweet, red apples - where did you come from my pretties? I had no idea you were in this blend - nor that you'd be so ephemeral and sweet. It's a very light pink and red floral, laid over crisp apples. It evokes a very airy mood almost, so much so that I had to dig up the description. Black orchid, apple blossom, meadowsweet, and rue over Irish moss, hawthorn and red clover. Funny, because I love Queen Mab which is another paen to the Morrigan. I get you, ye gods, I get you. I'm getting a 5ml of this next order (and a 5ml of Queen Mab, for the record).

[Ishtar]

During the early stages, Phantom Queen is mostly orchid and apple blossom. It is sophisticated yet fresh, so fresh that I wondered for a while if white musk might be present in this blend.

 

At some point into drydown, the apple blossom morphs into a full-grown apple and Phantom Queen becomes comparable to The Hesperides without the caramelly sweet note. Absolutely delectable!

 

The Hesperides is one of my favourite cooler weather scents and Phantom Queen is just perfect for these Indian Summer days when you do not want anything too heavy but you are already looking forward to Autumn. A definite keeper and bottle-size candidate!

[gangstaknitta]

I got this one because I was looking for something like queen mab. It is similar--it the bottle, it smells like the "daytime" version of QM. Sadly, it turned soapy and ultra-sweet on my skin and remained that way. However, I think I've discovered that yummy earthy-smoky-floral note--black orchid?

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: Fruity. Apple, with some bitter herbs.

 

Dry: Light berry and cherry blossom, with a dry herb background, but it's very light with little throw if any. Too elusive for me, I guess.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Sweet floral.

 

On, wet: Sweet floral, but starting to pick out notes. Orchid, apple blossom, definitely. Don't really know meadowsweet or hawthorn, but I suppose they could be in there too.

 

Later: Now I smell the clover under the flowers. It smells like a whole field of flowers, green stems and all. A little sweet, a little floral, a little green. *happy sigh*

[sophia_helix]

I find I end up sorting aquatics into one of three categories -- super-sweet ones with water flowers (Lady of Shalott, Water of Notre Dame), lemony ones (Storm Moon, Lightning) and "other" (Sea of Glass).

 

This falls into the "other" category, staying pretty fresh and watery and not having much else besides a slight sweetness. I don't like lotus or waterlily, and I have lots of lemony-fresh scents, so this is just fine by me.

 

I can mostly describe Phantom Queen by what it doesn't have -- no clover, no apples, no orchid. There's a dewy wetness, a bit of the mossy rue, a hint of something soft and sweet, and that's it. I like it better than Sea of Glass, because that one just smelled like straight-up water on me, but I do wish there was a touch of something more. I might try layering it with something that has a more floral or fruity kick, like Hesperides or Bewitched.

[zenvodunista]

in the vial, this one was sweet and lovely. oh, i could smell it all! it was ethereal and beautiful and one me...

 

it was baby powder.

 

 

another day, another imp.

 

n.

[Orodemniades]

Oo, lovely, cool, and sweet! Lily?

 

Why, this smells just like a conditioner I used to use - fabulous!

 

Oro

[Ankhet]

Phantom Queen:

In the bottle: Hm. Light. Fruity-floral, but in a very light and wafty way.

Wet: I think that's the apple blossom I'm smelling. It's almost more green than floral.

Drydown: Um.. I'm not smelling anything. I don't know if it got rubbed off on my wrist supporter, or if the oil's not strong, or if my nose is out of whack.

Conclusion: keep imp, try again later.

[Blueelm]

This starts out so beautifully... Grassy fresh strong orchid... Violet flowers in a green field catching the light of the moon. Then it warms up and becomes spicy and sweet. Apple cider comes to mind. Drydown is cool and crisp with orchid and a very gentle hint of clover. Lovely floral. I wish it lasted a little longer, but this was lots of fun to wear.

[olympia301]

 

This is a truly beautiful orchid blend, captivating and fits the name to a tee. I find that it is very similar to Queen Mab because orchid really rules a blend. To give Phantom Queen a fair trial, put Queen Mab on one hand, and Phantom Queen on the other.

 

I found that as similar as the two are, Phantom Queen is less sweet and more green and down to earth than Queen Mab. It's more "adult" and grounded by the greenery and more expected notes hopping around in the background. If I had never encountered Queen Mab, I would have gone for Phantom Queen in a big way

 

If you are looking for orchid but find Regan too cloying, try Phantom Queen. I bet you will be pleased by it.

[wingedcorset]

Very clean. Floral and aquatic and green without bing overpoweringly any of those.

-------

Greengreengreengreen. Would you like some aquatic with your green?

-------

Honeysuckle. I'm getting a lot of honey-like smell off of this one. I think my skin really likes honey.

[LiberAmoris]

Phantom Queen is the first blend I've found that really smells like the hem of a dress after running through woods and meadows. There's even a hint of dew for me, something glistening and fresh along with the grasses and mosses and pollens. The clover and orchid dominate the blend for me, but the overall effect is of grasses and mist.

 

The drydown of this Queen goes pretty 'soapy' on me, which rarely happens on my skin. I might keep the imp just to sniff, though.

[sarada]

That's funny -- Just like Olympia301 I tested Phantom Queen on one wrist, and Queen Mab on the other!

 

I didn't want to confuse the two and made a point to keep track of how each one developed and refer to the notes several times to keep them straight in my head.

 

Phantom Queen is a pure, ethereal, misty, delicate pollen-dusted bouquet. It reminds me most of Flower Moon, which encapsulated the idea of spring flowers in a field for me without becoming too "perfumey" of a floral.

 

I will be saving this blend for the spring - it's a perfect pale rainbow of tiny sweet meadow flowers. I don't know what the individual notes smell like on their own because I'm not geared towards florals but these are, well...all of the good ones! Sweet and delicately fragrant, silvery and mesmerizing, with that powdery dusting of apple blossom (a note that usually can ruin a blend for me, here just adds to the fae sparkle).

 

Though it loses some of that sparkle as it dries, I will be hanging onto the imp for the spring and I hope I find some more. There are so few, few florals that I can stand...and this is just lovely.

[SeaMonkey]

I'm getting mostly apple blossom and moss. It smells like a commercial lotion at first, but when it dries, the apple blossom comes out, but in a muted way. Usually, anything with the word apple in it explodes on me, but this was muted and nice.

[Fefferbella]

This is a green, wet floral on me. A hint of apple blossoms comes to the surface as the oil dries on my skin and slowly morphs into ripe, sweet red apples.

 

The floral scent is similar to a wildflower note, not a typical graden flower. This is crisp and slightly mysterious. A perfect springtime scent.

[ABrokenAngel]

In the Bottle: Oh my holy god. Orchid and apple blossom with the heartiness of the Irish moss and a faint after glow of the red clover. This is hellacious! But in a good way! It’s strong and confident in it’s bouquet. I’m so jealous of this imp. I want to bathe in this … forever. I’ll cry if this doesn’t work on me. I’ll cry till I can’t cry anymore and then I’ll get Clear Eyes and cry more!!

 

Wet: The red clover has come out to play as have the moss and a bit of the orchid and apple blossom are still left. It’s still entrancing. Almost too good. Please last! Please last!!

 

Drydown: It dries to a creamy almost lotiony scent. It’s not bad. I’ve come to notice that I dislike a lot of drydown phases but adore the stage between wet and dry so much that I like keeping them. This one? I’m not sure just yet if I want to keep it or not. It has a very strong scent though. Strong as in strength not as in throw. It’ll go in my undecided pile.

 

Cut: When cut the lotiony scent is completely negated. This has become my "RAWR!" scent.

Edited November 17, 2005 by ABrokenAngel

[BlueStar]

This scent has some notes I am not used to like rue, hawthorn and clover. I think I like them.

 

Wet: Dark orchids, irish moss, some mysterious notes and the sweetness of apple. It smells rather nice.

 

Drydown: Thsi is the scent of a scorned lover who creeps into your room while you are sleeping, peels the covers back and molests you leaving you to wake up feeling violated and cheap in the morning.

[feline.by.design]

The components of Phantom Queen seem innocent enough, but the fragrance on my arm right now doesn't smell nearly as nice as I had imagined. It's very cloyingly floral. I've had orchid before in other fragrances, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it doesn't, and in this case... nope.

 

It's too strong for me, actually to the point of disrupting my stomach. Although after wear it does calm a little, it's still too much for me.

 

I'm actually a fan of Queen Mab, but I think, at least on my skin, that Phantom Queen is much stronger. I only applied a quick imp wand swipe on my wrist, and it's just overpowering. Perhaps the apple might be the deal-breaker in this fragrance for me. The sweetness is like a poisoned apple: sweet and sinister.

 

I can see the "lotiony scent" that ABrokenAngel mentions, but this is the kind of lotion my mother would have and love, whereas I wouldn't care for.

 

-doreen

 

Edited to add: gangstaknitta and I had the same reaction with this, it seems.

Edited December 20, 2005 by feline.by.design

[midnightmuse]

Black orchid, apple blossom, meadowsweet, rue, Irish moss, hawthorn and red clover -- my stars, what a poetic combination of elements.

 

This is a meadow of warm, delicious femininity... blooming, smiling, rosy-fleshed, full-breasted, wild and womanly.

 

It had become a glimmering girl/With apple blossom in her hair... (W.B. Yeats)

 

Phantom Queen fades quickly on my skin (possibly I need to slather), but in accord with the quoted poem, seems more successful in my hair. Two gentlemen I asked about it on the night I tried it took deep sniffs and seemed quite favorably impressed.

 

It's a late spring and summer scent to me: the curve of the year from Beltane to Lughnasadh.

Edited January 4, 2006 by midnightmuse

[Victory]

This is one of the florals I can wear. They're very fresh, clean, and light. Not exactly what I think of when I think of the Morrigan, but very lovely all the same. I like this very much,

[Jocelyn]

First, let me say that i love this scent. But also that i have very very funky skin chemistry, everything goes very sweet on me.

In the imp: Masculine, smells kind of like aftershave.

 

On: smells like apples, very sharp.

 

Dry: Smells like caramel apples and some light florals. Very pretty

but i have no idea what would make it smell like caramel.

Didnt last all that long on me ( but my skin seems to eat scents) It lasted about, 6 hours or so.

[arabella]

First Impression: Rose dipped in fruit sauce - maybe, strawberry.

 

Dries down to: It seems there's amber here, too.

 

Additional Comments: This is absolutely gorgeous and I was completely wrong on the notes - not unusual for me lately. The absence of rose explains why it wasn't "screaming in my face". The red clover would have added sweetness to the blend. The fruity note would be the hawthorn. I'm not familiar with meadowsweet, rue and Irish moss but they're probably what's keeping the florals from being too flowery. I love orchid and, in combination with the other notes, this is one of the prettiest oils yet. It's going on my "big bottle" list.

 

Lasted: Several hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[lookingglass]

At first I thought this was too floral, kind of medicinal... Dried out, though, it is fresh while still being sophisticated, fruity without being too young. It has elements of Bewitched, Vedandi, Hamadryad, Bordello, and Zombi. This is a damp, dew covered romp in the forest...a secret meeting of passion.

[theseagrows]

for some reason this reminds me of a cross between london and/or marie and glasgow. there's no rose in the description, but i swear i smell something similar. it's closest to glasgow but a little more complex and less berryish. also with a little more oomph. i thought maybe it was too sweet at first but now it's really grown on me.

Edited May 12, 2008 by theseagrows