Queen Gertrude

[maribouquet]

Imperial violet softened by wisteria and chrysanthemum, but edged with the regal iciness of delphinium.

A pretty floral, but too heavy on the violet for my taste, and it ended up going soapy.

[bryghtrose]

In the bottle it's a nice, velvety floral, but there's something in it that smells...off. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something in it that smells so dusty that I want to sneeze. Except there's no dust.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – A sharp floral – I would have said gardenia, but from the notes I would assume it’s the wisteria

 

Wet on me – Washing powder with just a hint of greenness and a touch of violets

 

Dry on me – After a few hours it dries to a warm spicy chrysanthemum, but keeps a slightly green sharpness

 

Overall – Chrysanthemums are one of the few florals that I can and will wear, but the blend as a whole does not work for me.

[alhbooks]

Hmmm. Yardley's English Violets comes to mind. Pleasant, but not as distinctive as other floral blends. No sign of the chrysanthemum so far, but i guess the secondary flowers serve mostly to expand the violet range.

 

After a few minutes, the overall effect becomes more like my grandmother's face powder...

[donnatron]

Imp: Predominantly chrysamthemum with a tinge of violets.

 

Wet: As they are want to do, the violets go absolutley nuts on my skin. I sit back and wait for everything to calm down.

 

Dry: Before I started my BPAL addiction, one of my favourite perfumes was Crabtree and Evelyn's Wisteria, which was wisteria blossom laced with violet, green notes and a few white florals. This reminds me a lot of that perfume but with a more true floral scent and a heavier hand on the violets. "Regal" is a very good word for it, it's very calm and reserved and hints at a writhing core underneath an absolutely icy facade.

 

Throw: One of the strongest violet scents I've tried so far.

 

Overall: One of my favourites of the Illyria collection. It captures the character of Gertrude perfectly and is just a beautiful, composed, womanly scent.

[taramarie]

On me, Queen Gertrude is mostly violet with some wisteria. It's a deep violet, closer to Saturnalia than Faith. There isn't much throw -- I had to apply more than usual to get the level of throw I'm used to. Still, it's very pretty.

[cranberry]

wet, the first thing I smell is violet. Soft violets.

 

As it dries, it takes on a sharpness and the violet get softer. This smells like jasmine to me. It's quite strong and overpowering all the other notes. It's piercing and shrill.

 

After it's been on 20 -30 minutes or so it calms down considerably. What may be wisteria comes out and just smells purple. The oil smells slightly spicy at this point, along with the sweet, still sharp florals.

[matokie]

I'm finding that predominantly floral scents are not working too well on me. Which is interesting because I used to wear them all the time as a teenager. Gertrude is absolutely an adult scent, and yes the violet is pretty darn strong and just way too sickly-sweet on me. I confess I never really liked her character much either, but I was willing to give her scent a shot!

[Lyrical]

In the vial: *cough* pale floral dominated by violet.

 

Wet on skin: garden flowers - mostly violet.

 

Dry on skin: the violet gives a little depth and warmth but it's still way too floral for me.

[evanescence]

Another violet win!!! for me - very sweet floral violet, though. Not much of anything but floral violet and so it's sometimes just too much. Still very pretty in stages and a must-try for violet lovers.

[savage_rose]

I normally like florals, but this one is way to strong even for me. And it powders out... .

[akiko]

I got this as a frimp. It's mainly a bunch of sweet florals that smell like Shadow Witch Orchid when dry. It's nice enough, and I think I'll keep it a while, but I don't need yet another perfume that smells like SWO.

[willowtreeling]

i smell no violets, but smell something very very pretty and familiar. I don't know what it is but it smells lavender/ heliotrope colored and also, seems creamy. maybe it is the wisteria? At any rate, it smells much prettier in my locket than on my skin--it turns to ant spray on me so thank god for my salome locket! I really like this and will definitely use my imp on those pretty cool color days...I would not turn up my nose at a bottle but there are too many other scents that I am hankering for to add this to my list now.

 

I am curious about which flower I am smelling, though!

[tasty]

This smells like soft, wistful lilacs (?) on my skin. It's a pretty purpley blend and I am thankful to the lab for receiving it as a frimp.

 

I love violet and I love this scent.

[nightchild80]

In the Imp (wet): This Queen is not to be trifled with. She holds court and may smile, but beware the clever smirk behind those pretty bright eyes. This one is no ditz.

 

On facial cotton (dry): Floral and sharp, this is what I would imagine a powder room during Marie Antoinette's day would smell like. The violet is overwhelming and heady.

 

On me: *splutters* The violet and wisteria is overwhelming and makes my head swim. Definitely not for me at all.

[voodoocatwoman]

Super-sweet floral, drying down to a more manageable bouquet. Nice, but not outstanding.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

A cool floral bouquet – dignified, distanced, beautiful. Yes, it does smell regal!

 

First on:

I'm not good with picking out floral notes, so I can't comment much on what's what, but... the whole scent warms up on my skin, and becomes gentler and friendlier.

 

Dry:

After about 20 mins, it's a cooler scent again, and there is very much a dominant and fussy royal feel to it!

 

It morphs into an almost... creamy floral after another half an hour. Lovely! And very regal.

 

Finally:

Beautiful scent. I'm not huge on florals, though. Passing it on, but giving it high marks.

[Anthemyst]

Absolutely lovely. I'm reminded of jasmine, and the scent doesn't change much from the imp to on my skin, softens up a little bit as it dries is all. My favorite so far! ("So far" is eight imps, but still)

[innocent]

I like violets and I like Queen Gertrude. I've tried a lot of violet BPALs and this one strikes me as having a "greener" tinge than most - as if the violets were freshly cut and you can smell the stems mingling with the flowers. It dries down a touch powdery (NOT baby powdery!) which is nice since the violets are initially a bit in your face. I won't be getting a big bottle of this anytime soon (the Great Violet Search has left me with a LOT of different violet imps) but it's one of my favorites of the BPAL violets and might warrent a bottle if I ever get through my stack of imps!

[vikitty]

The violets in this are too strong for me; I prefer Hope.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Icy, cool violet.

 

Immediately on skin: Whoa, violet. It’s sweet but has a nice cool feel to it from the wisteria and delphinium. The sweetness in this is amped up by the other floral notes, but not in a candy way.

 

After a little while: This is now violet with a bit of chrysanthemum in the background. The cooler floral notes have disappeared, but the violet is still very sweet and vibrant.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a violet scent mainly, though at first the wisteria and delphinium add a nice cool tone and later on the chrysanthemum takes over in the background. It is a sweeter violet scent, and a little powdery. Nice though, if you love violet.

[mhickle]

This is a very, very soft scent. It's a little creamy in the imp, but goes all soft floral and just a very slight hint of clean soapiness, with a little green and a certain coolness. I definitely get the violet, but it's pretty different from my beloved Faith. This is very feminine, and not at all like the bolder scents I normally like to wear. It's nice for a change, though.

[milo]

I never would have guessed that there was violets in this when wet and in the bottle. To me, it has more of a honeysuckle/jasmine vibe to it, which is a little too much floral for my tastes. It is fresh though, like other reviewers have stated, and would be a very nice spring/summer scent for those who like honeysuckle/jasmine. I really don't get any violet, which is one floral that I actually like.

[ankhfangirl72]

A very sweet, light violet scent. It's very pretty and it does have an icy feel to it.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: More wisteria than anything else, followed by violet, but with something sharper too.

 

Wet: Violet first, a little sweet (wisteria?), but with some bitterness too. Smells very formal, very standoffish.

 

Twenty minutes: This reminds me of somebody, an older woman with light blue-grey eyes. It is not a good association. I'm tempted to wash this right off me.

 

One hour: Eeuw, I really don't like this one. It's chilly, remote, imperious.

 

Two and a half hours: Mostly gone. Good. I can say "fail" without guilt now.