Queen of Sheba

[jj_j]

From the Love Potions collection:

 

A woman of exquisite, unearthly beauty, profound intelligence, wit, and exceeding wealth, the Queen of Sheba - called Bilquis by the Muslims and Makeda by the ancient Abyssinians - traveled by caravan to Solomon's realm seeking proof of the king's reputed wisdom. Bearing gifts of exotic spices, a veritable mountain of gold, hearty camels and precious stones, she presented herself to the king and, bearing her heart to him, asked him a series of challenging questions, and was ultimately convinced of the truth of his wisdom, knowledge and judiciousness. In the end, the great king and queen conquered each other's hearts and fell breathlessly in love: the perfect marriage of equals. Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices.

 

The Queen of Sheba is absolute luxury without the taint of utter decadence, and the golden honeyed almonds lead off the scent as a sign of this. Sweet, heady, and with a green-red jumble of peppercorn and golden saffron whispering through like flowing silks, she warms to amber and maybe the tiniest drop of sweet wormwood without ever really moving completely over to them.

 

In the end, I'm resplendent in a soft envelope of faintly sweet spice that's a bit of Haunted and a bit of Old Morocco. Although I don't smell any in this scent, my mental image is one of honey enhanced with these wonderful things, as this doesn't have the dryness of Old Morocco; it's almost fluid in its insistent whisper.

 

Moderate strength and staying power, fantastic wafting power off the skin; this one is a definite purchase for me.</span>

Edited September 16, 2007 by Shollin

[Shollin]

First sniff: Green wood and incense – very quiet with a touch of spice. I’m hoping the almonds will show up on my skin. There’s a roundness to Queen of Sheba that makes me think it’s fruity when it’s not.

 

Wearing: Wandering through a crowded bazaar, pausing by the spice merchant’s stand and slipping into the shade of the tent to breathe in barrels full of ground spices from all over the world. The almonds are hiding somewhere in the midst of all that – not the sweet almonds of Seraglio and Voodoo, but a more straightforwardly dry nutty note. It’s pleasant enough, but I’m not blown away by it and wouldn’t mind swapping.

[lorajc]

I have not officially worn this yet, I just tested it. I will revise this post after I wear it. Let me just say if you love Dana Oshee, you'll be in ecstasy with this one. It has staying power and is lovey golden almond/spiciness. Beth -- I'll be needed a VAT of this one!!! I already have 2, 5 mls on order. This is one I never want to be without. It's addicting in that Lush Skinny Dip sort of way. Makes you feel so yummy you just want to bathe in it and then roll around in it!!

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Something sharp bites at me straight out of the bottle. A green pointy smell. I'm a little scared.

 

Second Impression: It's gone the instant it's dry, thank goodness. Now all I smell are honeyed, spiced almonds. Glorious and golden. Warm breezes blowing all around.

 

Final Analysis: This scent is my first true "second skin" scent. It melds so beautifully that I don't know where Queen of Sheba starts and my own Andra scent begins. I can't stop smelling myself. This scent is sweet, sexy, glorious all at once. This is my first 5 ml bottle purchase, a leap of faith. Money well spent.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: exactly honeyed almonds...

 

WEARING IT: very foody i want to eat it. reminds me of white cake with very thick icing...i got it as a freebie and i'm glad i did, it's very rich and dramatic. there is definitely the middle eastern spice hiding in the background which makes it extremely unique. there's something very alluring about it...

 

VERDICT: not sure yet, will use up my imp and go from there

[TygherRayn]

In the bottle: This teeters between the 'king's nuts' sold at Rennaisance Fares, and the heady spice of Old Morocco, though it's sweeter than that one. Almonds, definitely .. and the sweetness of honey. I think I won't be wearing this to the Faire, much as the bees would love it.

 

Wet: The spice begins to heat pretty quickly, and I'm glad for that. I didn't want this to be so much almond that it's overpowering. It really is a sweeter, lighter Old Morocco on me.

 

Wearing: Much as I like this, it's perhaps a little too sweet for me to wear regularly. It's softening a bit as I wear it longer, but I think that if I want this spicy, Middle Eastern kind of scent, I'll stick with Old Morocco.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab threw this in as an extra. at first, it just smells sweet, but then the smell of almonds come out. however, i don't like the smell of these particular almonds, possibly because of the other spices i smell mixed in with them.

on: this is fabulous. it's definitely sweet, but much more complex than that. the almonds make the scent fuller, and the spices give it a nice edge.

1 hour later: this has turned into a very sophisticated and rather commanding scent. i could definitely imagine a queen wearing this.

2 hours later: this is still wonderfully sophisticated and even a bit haughty. i'm definitely glad the lab threw this one in with my order.

3 hours later: this has softened a bit, but i can still smell the bite of the spices, as well as the almonds and general sweetness.

overall: if i had to sum it up, i'd say that this is how a woman who has her shit together would smell. it makes me feel confident and strong. i'm not entirely sure i'll be buying a bottle, but i'll probably work on always having an imp on hand. actually, i can't wait to wear this to a job interview.

[Tesseljoan]

At first sniff this was a bit intimidating.... The almond note is different from any other BPAl oil containing almond, it doesn't have that 'cherry' feel to it. I can smell sharp spices.

 

On: O dear, this is exactly that smokey, getting-to-my-throat phase that I dislike in Snake oil as well. The spices are strong for a while, especially the Saffron stands out to me.

 

after a while it mellows out, thankfully, and becomes more sweet and less commanding. No vanilla, but honey and spice. Will have to wear this more often to see if I actually like it, but it has me very intrigued for sure.

 

ETA: she's a keeper. It smells like dry, hot, spicy wind with sweetness under it. Beautiful.

Edited July 10, 2004 by Tesseljoan

[twistygirl]

Yet another fabulously gorgeous creation of Beth's. The almond predominates upon first applying it, but then it blends gloriously with the honey and the spices. This is, as has already been mentioned, somewhat reminiscent of Old Morocco (but without the carnation note that I think makes Old Morocco quite unique in the spicy-vanilla range of scents) and can also be seen as Dana O'Shee's older, more seductive sister. I find Queen of Sheba to be very sexy and will be purchasing a larger bottle of this as well. This does waft quite well, and doesn't stick to the skin... it envelops you without ever seeming overpowering. This is a near-perfect scent.

[Eris]

Hmm, I was very excited about this one, but it doesn't seem to be working too well for me. When first applied, I got a strong flash of spices that didn't mesh with my skin at all. I can't really identify them--they're not like cinnamon or clove type of spices--but the scent just overpoweringly clashed with me, and I was really close to scrubbing it off. I held in there, though, and the initial spice finally faded, though I never hit the sweet level that I've heard others talk about. Now it's dried down to more of a light incense-y type smell on me that isn't bad but also isn't something that I'd really wear all the time either. Ah well, c'est la vie.

[darkling]

In the bottle, this scent smelled almost exactly like Eclipse with the same overpowering almond.

 

On my wrist, the almonds continued to be the overpowering note. In contrast with Eclipse, these were dark almonds rather than sunlit almonds.

 

After a few minutes an unfortunate Play Doh scent began to appear beneath the almond. So far, this clay-like smell has accompanied every imp that I have tried that containes honey (with the exception of Old Athens).

 

While the Queen of Sheba is a pleasant scent, it can't compare to the exquisite Eclipse.

[Reinaluna]

Queen Of Sheba also starts off streight almond on me then the spice sort of creeps in. Then I could smell a pepper like aroma, I guess that is the other spices mixed together. Nothing like Old Morrocco that I could smell but I like this one very much.

[Astarte]

Initially the spiciness is all I can smell, and I think uh oh, but then after a few minutes the golden almonds and honey comes through and it's like "Ace! Amped up Dana O'Shee" (whom I love and adore) combined with the spiciness of Snake Oil. Its a gorgeous mix and its definitely like the older sister to Dana O'Shee who's been around the world and found a home in one of the eastern continents. Worldly, tanned, sexy and spiced, this is full of promise.

 

Definitely glad I took a risk on buying a 10ml unsniffed from the description alone

[Astra]

Queen of Sheba is indeed a beautiful, rich blend, but dry rather than luxurious.

 

At first the almonds are bitter and almost astringent in their sharpness, but this quickly fades to richer honey and almonds. Wafting around this is an exotic spiciness exquisite for its mellowness. For me, this scent is all hot, dry desert winds--incredibly silky and lively rather than violent.

 

This scent is quite interesting, and remains distinct from the other exotic desert scents at BPAL. It fades rather quickly, but the effect is well worth it.

[Lorencita]

This was a beauty from sniff to dry-down! I loved it the moment I opened the bottle, at first it is bitter-sweet almonds, then turns a little spicy. Honey is the main ingredient in my dry-down. I thought I would never like honey scents, but I was mistaken. It is also a very dry scent, like Arizona weather... just beautiful! I have a big bottle on the way!

[Ishtar]

Being the almond lover that I am, I was sure I was going to love this.

 

Yet, I have to say that the first few minutes after application were downright unpleasant: Queen of Sheba went sharp and almost sour on my skin. I was afraid it was not going to work on me, but after ten minutes or so it suddenly morphed into the most delicious, golden, dry almond scent ever

 

I agree that this is a different almond note than that of, say, Eclipse or Black Phoenix. Less fruity, less foody, definitely drier. Queen of Sheba is actually everything I was hoping Old Morocco to be. Old Morocco was nice but not outstanding on me, whereas this one is just glorious.

 

And yet another bottle for my next order!

[vitawash24]

WOW.

 

Oh, wow, oh, wow. This stuff is gorgeous from the moment it hits my wrists. It's amazing. So spicy and exotic and different, it isn't like any perfume I've ever tried. This could definitely end up being a 5 ml for me. Wowsa!

[Effluvia]

in the vial: Curry...this is making me very hungry... I'm not sure I want to smell like this, though...

 

wet, on my skin: The honeyed almonds are coming through and blending beautifully with the curry. This smells like it would be incredibly tasty to eat, but I'm still not sure I want to go out smelling like this.

 

This is turning weirdly powdery on top of everything. I'm not so sure about wearing this...I'm definitely going out for Indian food tonight, though.

 

drying, on my skin: Luckily, the honey comes out more and more and wafts around me whenever I move my arms. The curry smell had faded into the background, which is very good, and this has become spicy honey. I reeeeaaaallly like this stage of Queen Of Sheba. I hope it stays this way...

 

Bottom line, I'm not too crazy about phase one of Queen of Sheba, but I'm in love with phase two. Mmmmm.

[Northernminx]

A definite richness to this scent. It was very anise-smelling on me for a few minutes but that seems to have mellowed into the honey and spice combination that many have mentioned. There is a definite underlying current of strong, heady spices here, but the predominant scent on me is almost sickeningly sweet almonds. I love almond smells but this is almost too much.

 

The longer I wear this the more it tends toward an incensey smell.

 

Lovely but not for me, I'll stick with my old morocco and my dana o'shee

[Lady_Ell]

I'm going to give this one a second try during a different time of the month, but for now there's something in here that's not working with me. I can't figure it out, because I looooove everything that's listed here. But there's a weird kaopectate-like undercurrent and a very sharp, high noseblast of something like galangal or ginger on top of the honey/almond base. Something about it is reminding me a lot of High Priestess, but not in a good way. In a sharp, astringent way.

 

This really might just be due to hormones, though, and I'll be giving this another shot next week.

[nevermore]

I really did want to like this one, but unfortunately, it really didn’t like my skin. In the bottle, Queen of Sheba is almond-y and spicy and smells like something I would really like. However, it turned into a really dry and bitter almond on my skin, and stays that way for quite a while. Eventually, the spices come out slightly and the almond recedes, but it takes too long for the scent to get there for me to wear it. I’m going to have to swap this one. Stupid skin chemistry.

[Chantarelle]

This was a free sample, and I almost passed it by because of the blazing spice that wafted out when I opened the imp, but luckily I remembered the description, and decided to give it a try.

 

On the skin, the spices mellow out and the almond peeks through, resulting in something that is reminiscent of incense, without being overpowering. It's probably not something I would wear on a regular basis, but it's the perfect bellydance scent, and when I wear it I get inspired.

 

ADDED Oct. 21:

 

I reviewed this a few months ago, but I just want to encourage people to look (smell?) past the overpowering scent in the bottle -- on me, it takes about 10 minutes of wearing before it settles down, but once it does, it's consistently warm and spicy, with just a touch of honey underneath, and very long-lasting. It's become one of my favourite scents, even though it's really not the kind of thing I traditionally go for.

Edited December 6, 2004 by Shollin

[ChupaChup]

I don't think I can add much to the wonderful descriptions other forum members have already posted but I wanted to put in my big ME TOO! This starts out as very bitter almonds on me, but after about 10 minutes, they begin to sweeten. It must be the honey doing that but it's not the same, clear note of honey that I get in Old Athens, just a background sweetness. Then the wonderful spices emerge. This seems to bloom on my skin during the day and ends up very sweet. I like the sweetness but worry that it may be too much for those around me, although I haven't gotten any complaints. My imp of Queen of Sheba somehow developed a slow leak and I panicked, my clue to get a big bottle. It's on it's way to me now!

 

Good stuff

[malanna]

Bitter almonds, with some spices. The almonds remain bitter (adds a bit of a cleaner fluid aspect to it), but do lighten up a bit in a few hours. This really is the older sister of Dana O'Shee. Much harsher, while Dana O'Shee is pleasant, soft and comforting to me. This lasts longer than Dana O'Shee, though. It makes me think of an open air market in an Arab country, fingering dusty clothes, while the yellow sand is blowing in the background, with the harsh sun bearing down on you.

[Nepthys]

I fell in love with this upon opening the bottle - it was a beautiful scent of honeyed spices and almonds, very exotic and rich. Unfortunately it dries down with a tang of bitterness on me. It's still a warm, pretty scent and I will definitely use up my imp but Old Morocco does what I wanted this to do just a little bit better.