Queen of Sheba

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

... Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices.

Queen of Sheba was one I overlooked in the catalog for the longest time, but honey and almonds are both usually delicious on me--and the concept of "the perfect marriage of equals" is too dreamy to miss out on.

At first this reminds me of a spicier, creamier Dana O'Shee, which ought to be a great thing, but somehow it's just slightly "off". This is the Dana almond, definitely, but I don't really get the honey and something mildly funky is in there for a moment--then it all fades right into my skin and is gone within a few minutes of application. I think I just need a big ol' bottle of Dana, since it's the smooth almond blend that loves my skin most. Lovely concept though!

[yellowrose]

This imp is circulating as part of the General Catalogue swap.

 

I can't help but preface this review with an anecdote. Where I grew up, it was common that, when someone was acting too good for everyone else, others would make the observation "Who does she think she is? The Queen of Sheba?"

 

And with that, I'll admit I was intrigued to see if this scent matched the life-long impression of the Queen as a haughty bitch with airs.

 

She doesn't.

 

In the bottle and wet: Jergens lotion (cherry-almond) and Almond Roca.

 

As it dries, the only connection I keep making is Almond Roca. None of the spices mentioned seem to come through, but the description does say "whisper."

 

It's a nicely balanced scent, but as a not big fan of almond-honey, it's a pass.

 

Safe travels wandering imp!

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: I smell almond, but to my nose, it smells bitter and severly burned.

 

wet: VERY burned and sour!!!

 

EEEEEEK!!!! IT HATESSSSS us, my precious! It left a giant, red, itching, burning WELT on us...yes it did. Must wash it off STAT!

 

Summary: This oil must have cinnamon in it. If not, there is something else I am allergic to. And it smells hideous on me. SWAPS!!!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the bottle*:

almond/cherry/tylenol/Jergen's lotion (they all smell the same to me = bad) and freshly cut grass.

 

i haaaate almonds, but i figure i'll try it...

 

on skin, wet: cherry/almond and freshly cut grass with a little bit of hay mixed in.

 

on skin, dry: Jergen's lotion with a little something else. i like whatever the something is, it reminds me of Sudha or the Unicorn -- but not enough to try this again.

 

this bottle may have to go live with someone else.

 

* i will say i bought this bottle from someone else, and as it has a reducer cap, i'm guessing that means it is already aged some -- so it may be a little different than fresher versions. or maybe not. i'm just adding extra info.

[mountainwitch]

I was nervous about this one, as I had tried Seraglio first, which just about beat me over the head with the super-sweetness of almonds. First whiff confirms . . . Yep, sweet almonds.

 

The super-nutty stage, however, passes after about ten minutes. What is left is something exotic, honeyed, very warm and pleasant. This has a kind of golden seductiveness that reminds me a little of Khajuraho, but lighter and less sharp.

[neuilly]

Very sharp/strong almond in the beginning but it dies and the scent is simply the spices. They are beautiful spices but don't have much throw on me.

[deleahrium]

Very very strong almond in the bottle. I really like it. Unfortunately it dries to really strong-smelling soap on me. YUCK.

[copyshopclerk]

In the imp: Woah.. buttered popcorn, burnt. Maybe curry as well? Strong bitter almonds!

 

Wet: Okay, this is the weirdest thing ever and I imagine no one else will have this association. There's something about this scent I associate with travelling. Almost like the scent of a hotel room - a bit like the hallway and when you walk into the room and the air conditioning is on... the scent of your suitcase at the end of a journey. So strange. It's not unpleasant, but wow, it gave me such a clear image in my head! Scents are strange like that! I wonder what about it gave me that imagery.

 

Dry: Now I've got a variety of spices - not hot spices, but more like a blend of seasonings. I originally tried this as an imp because I adore Morocco and heard there were similarities, but at this point I don't really make an association between the two.

 

Then later - I actually kind of like where this ends up – it's sweet, but a dry sweetness. Not the same as Morocco but I can see why people would associate the two. However, I love Morocco more through all of its stages!

[akabob]

I just got this in a handful of frimps from a fellow BPALer, and man am I glad she sent it. This will be my next bottle.

 

The first impression was not as strong as the dry down. I do not like almond. It reminds me of Jergens lotion. But after the almond burns off my skin, I get this amazing, warm and sexy spice that permeates the air around me. It literally smells like I rubbed resins all over my body. Warm, spicy and sweet with just enough of a floral/herby incense smell to keep it balanced. It is NOT floral, but there is something in the spices that has a little greener of a scent than the rest of the spice. And man do I like the overall scent. I smell sooo sexy. This makes me feel amazing. I had the WORST day ever today and now I feel like a goddess. This may be a multiple bottle buy for me. <3 it.

 

Give it a shot, foodies. I love foody scents, and this is NOT foody, but this definitely will appeal to any foody scent lovers who are suckers for a nice sweet spice.

[gypsybaby1]

oh this SO broke my heart! What could go wrong with honeyed almonds and a brush of spices??

 

I hoped for exotic, sweet honey and fresh crushed almonds... and got spiced play-doh.

 

[geolinguist]

Yet again, I blindly pulled out a scent from the collection of my friend Ghost Light, and I must admit that I was apprehensive. Queen of Sheba doesn't necessarily say to a guy "put me on".

 

In the bottle: Almond extract. Not so bad.

 

Immediately after application: Hello almond extract.

 

Fifteen minutes after application: The almond scent had disappeared replaces by a light scent of sandalwood.

 

Thirty minutes after application: The sandalwood scent was intensified, combined with a curry scent. It honestly made me a little sick to my stomach

 

An hour and a half after application: The sandalwood scent faded to something that reminded me more of wood shavings--not something unpleasant. The scent lingered without much change for another four hours or so.

 

Would a guy wear it?: Honestly, I think on the right type of guy, it would smell very nice--none of the scents are particularly feminine, and if the guy smells good with woody scents, I would highly recommend it.

[Ghost_Light]

I always worry about trying on a new scent before going to work on a show where the people paying me don't know me well, but since Geolinguist had tried it on before, I knew it didn't have any really odd notes that could amp and turn scary on me (I still fear the iris from The Mock Turtle's Lesson).

 

In the imp, all I could smell were almonds.

 

As soon as I put it on, I was overwhelmed with the almond note, but that always seems to happen with me and almond. Lurking under the almond was something darker, sweeter, but I couldn't really get my nose around it. Almond always seems to rush forward, take over for a few minutes, then find something else to hide behind. In this case, it was sandalwood. And sandalwood it stayed.

 

It had a very nice throw, but it didn't last very long on me.

 

 

Keeping the imp: Eh.

 

Bottle: No, thank you.

Edited March 17, 2007 by Ghost Light

[Trish]

This was a frimp in a swap.

 

In the imp: Almond

 

Wet: Almonds with a little honey.

 

Drydown: Woah this is changing every minute! Now it's spices with almond, and it's a lot dryer than it was 5 minutes ago. This is a dry hot dessert wind. And now it's getting musky. Musky spices with a little almond and a touch of sweetness.

 

Dry: This has turned qute perfumey on me now. Dry but quite sweet, with just a hint of spices and almond.

 

5 minutes later: This is now very similiar to The Lion right before it went powdery. I suspect there's amber in this.

 

10 minutes later: Bah. Spiced powder.

 

 

I really liked this in the drydown, far more than I thought I would from the imp. But the powder *sigh*.

[sofiaviolet]

This smells awful on me. Burned almonds. I swear, anything with a food component smells burnt on my skin (sometimes even in the imp). Ew ew ew.

[vacpl]

This is OMG gorgeous on my skin. And it lingers too, which makes me soo happy!

 

At first it's bitter almond, dry and a bit astringent almost.

 

But quickly it becomes a dry sweet almond with a gorgeous musky scent. I couldn't even begin to separate the notes in it, so I'll just say that it's a 'keep sniffing my arm all day scent'. Very warm and sexy. Yum!

[Naamah_Darling]

Whoa! Cherries!

 

That's what almonds smell like in the bottle. This is milky, fruity, nutty, and just a touch spicy. I think I smell saffron.

 

On, oh my God. This is the Lion's big sister by way of Morocco. It has that same birdseedy spice note that I have loved so much in other blends, only here it's powerful and strong. The cherries die back, leaving only a redolent, nutty odor. This is a private, close scent that clings near in to the skin and has little throw, a scent to be discovered, not announced. Lovely.

 

I want to rave about it more, but I'm too busy sniffing!

[The_Merf]

Thanks to pkwench for the imp!

 

In the imp: This should be interesting--it doesn't smell like any almond I've encountered before. I don't detect the spices, but we'll see what happens on my skin.

 

Wet: I was afraid that there was a small chance this might go awry. Usually I'm OK with "honeyed" notes--it's just honey itself that causes problems. But in this blend, the "stale, burnt" smell that comes along with honey leaps to the fore.

 

Drydown and wear: The spices never emerge, and the burnt honey bread smell does not go away. Such a shame--it's a great concept, but not for my skin.

[supremegoddessofall]

When I put this on, "vile" is not a strong enough description. My girlfriend's reaction of "Eww, corn chips and ass" was actually pretty darned accurate.

 

 

Now that it's had a chance to dry, honey is doing its thing and amping all to hell. I think the evil note when it first went on is the almonds, which don't tend to play well with my skin. But now they've settled in underneath. I also get an orchid-like feel to this, which is strange since there are no florals listed in the note. It's got a touch of spice, but it's a warm spice scent that's closer to a sandalwood than an incense or dragon's blood. I actually like it pretty well now that it's dry, although there are honey-based ones I like more.

[PlumTea]

In the imp: Smells like dry spices. Where are the sweet almonds?

 

On Wet: ahhh, I can detect the bitter almond note rising sharply over the spices. A slight sweet creaminess came up, but went into hiding in a flash. I can detect an updarft of saffron...uh-oh, I dont want to smell like someone's curry!

 

Drydown: spicey with....soap., Did someone say there was amber in this?

 

*sigh* Although smelly like spicey soap isn't that bad, I really don't want to smell like soap. I had such high hopes for this one Another one for the swap pile.

[hologhost]

Honey and almonds. Kind of like that Italian nouget candy. Spicy and sweet, without really being foodie.

[Jishin]

There's something in this that just doesn't agree with me, and I don't know what it is. /: I like everything that's listed as being in it, but it doesn't really smell like spices and almonds on me. It's exotic and spicy, but it has this weird acrid dryness to it, and no real almond smell at all.

 

I'm probably going to try it one more time to be sure that it isn't hormones messing with it, but I think it's not for me. Unfortunate. I really liked what it "should" smell like.

[miss_mimic]

In the bottle: gorgeous sweet almonds, and hidden underneath a faint spiciness. Yum!!

 

On skin, wet: As it warms up that spiciness is emerging more. I think I’m going to like this one. It smells like a yummy spice cake wrapped in delicious marzipan. It’s soft and creamy and honeyed almonds over spice biscuits. It’s gorgeous.

 

 

On skin, dry: I can’t stop sniffing my wrist. This is so gorgeous. I want to go and wake my Mum up to show her! It is the scent of a very confident, strong woman who stands looking over the desert in flowing robes pulled back by a strong wind. She doesn’t see desolation though, she sees beauty, depth, and strength in the landscape. I love this.

 

Drydown: It is soft and beautiful, yet has strength to it. Complete contradiction there, I know. The almond is beautiful with it’s honey highlights making it creamy-sweet, and the bit of spice underneath makes it into an adult scent. It’s very hard to describe! But I like it!

 

Conclusion: Definite keeper, and I’m thinking about that bottle!! Don’t you just love it when the freebies work so well!

[sofaking6]

Interesting - at first sniff, the almond/cherry of Black Phoenix.

 

On: Almond and pepper

 

Shortly thereafter: PEPPER! (sneeze, sneeze)

 

Shortly therafter: sweet honey almond, little bit o'pepper

 

Shortly thereafter: amber/powder

 

 

I was surprised how quickly the mophing and fading happen with this scent. I like pepper, and the honey/almond/pepper minute is great, but doesn't last.

 

I'm trying a layer with Bastet. So far so good.

[citharadraconis]

This is my first experience of the difference aging makes, and...wow. Just wow.

 

I first received a fairly fresh imp from a swap--bitter almonds in the imp and on my skin. I wasn't too big a fan, and swapped it away first chance I got. I've just gotten the chance to try an imp that was aged a year, and I couldn't believe it was the same scent. The honey has amped to the max; it's almost boozy in the imp and a little off-putting, but on my skin it mellows to honey honey honey with a touch of sweet almonds (a bit like those in Black Phoenix) and a hint of spice. This is how I originally imagined it smelling. I like this.

Edited November 8, 2006 by citharadraconis

[jasmine]

Honeyed almonds on the wand, with a bit more complexity underneath. The immediate impression is one of an almond croissant, actually. Either it has a really strong throw, or I bounced my wrist off my nose, and I can’t tell which for a moment. Experimentation indicates that it is a really strong throw. Goodness. This is extremely “food” on me.

 

After taking a bit to settle in, it starts going soapy. Almond soap is a seriously peculiar combination, and I don’t like it. It’s still very sweet and foody along with being soapy.

 

The soapiness has started to fade, rather to my relief, but I think it’s still a bit too sweet, and the presence of soapiness made me unhappy. The throw is very strong, and the scent doesn’t seem like "me" even when it stops being soapy.

 

Seven hours later, it has faded into a subtle, soft, completely non-soapy almondiness that I do like, but that’s far too long to wait on a scent.