Queen Gertrude

[Meg]

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

In the bottle: violet, another sweeter flower and something sharply green.

Wet: This goes green to the point of being bitter, like a walk in the forest. Then the green bite dims and the flowers come out again.

Drydown: Ow, aquatic note giving me a sinus headache - must be the icy delphinium. I can clearly smell violet, but also something else that's much sweeter and a tad bolder. I don't know much about wisteria, chrysanthemum and delphinium, but I know for sure that this isn't pure violet I'm smelling. Actually I find the mix rather warm once I get passed the aquatics.

Overall: I'm not a big fan of violet scents, and this isn't really an exception. I have to say that I like it better than others, because it's a bit bolder and haughtier thant most violets, that I tend to find shy and quiet. It's still a scent that I would see on a more mature woman than me. And then there's the tiny aquatic twist that doesn't really help. Dang. Edited February 7, 2007 by Meg

[little_galaxie]

I was expecting something much more floral and purple-y from this scent, but it really is very green, or maybe I'm misinterpreting the "iciness?" This isn't the scent I would expect a queen to wear, it seems much more suited to a Shakespearean maiden.

 

Either way, it's really very lovely, and I'm considering buying a bottle for the summer days to go a'slathering.

Edited February 18, 2007 by little_galaxie

[mspixieears]

A very subtle floral fragrance – it’s a very fresh ‘blue’ type of floral. I get a lot of violet from this and not much else. It’s a very Western European-type bouquet. I like that it is subtle in a similar way to Pele, but is more uplifting. It does have a slight medicinal feel to the scent, becoming evident upon drydown. Now that it’s dried down and settled, it’s turned into a beautiful powdery violet fragrance.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I would have thought violets more suited to Ophelia's perfume than Gertie's ("from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring", and all that). But I can see why other reviewers have said this is a mature woman's perfume; it does indeed suit the Queen. I love the wisteria; it's lovely and a bit sad, a musing sort of scent. This is very beautiful, although possibly not very me. A quiet, understated floral, very graceful.

[bronwyn]

I'm finding that I just may be one of those people who will never find a purely floral scent that works.

 

In the bottle, it was powder. Not even something soft like baby powder, but an unpleasant, chalky whiteness, like I just tried to do a line of chalkdust off the blackboard at school. Of course, that doesn't mean it won't smell good ON me, right?

 

Wet: More powder, even stronger than before. If there were ever floral notes in here, I can't find them, and the budding headache this is giving me isn't helping.

 

Drying, dry: Powder. And it's powder with throw - I have to wash this off now. (I even tried layering it with Snake Oil to cut the powder, and that just made it a sweeter, stronger chalkboard scent!)

 

 

Those of you who can smell florals like this, I envy you - I would love to find something regal and feminine as the description of this implies, but it seems I'm out of luck!

[hypatia]

This is floral like whoa. My skin seems to amplify the florals. I definitely get violets from it, but I could have sworn there was rose in there as well, or maybe orchid.

 

I'm not that much of a floral person, but Queen Gertrude is very pretty. It reminded me a little bit of Lush's Bathos bubble bath (violet and rose), so much so that I tried pouring part of my imp in the tub. It made for a splendidly girly violet-scented bath!

[Mimicake]

Queen Gertrude is a gentle floral, with violet being the note that comes forward with a soft kick. This blend also has the illusion of roses to me, which reminds me of a more mature type of fragrance. It is lovely though, a formal scent fit for a queen.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: cool violet with a slight hint of something greenish on the edge

 

Wet: Violet

 

Drydown and wear: Violet--certainly one of my favorite "straight violet" scents (I prefer this to Morgause and others), but it just doesn't do enough on my skin.

[zankoku_zen]

I don't know what it is but this was an entirely icy scent on me --- violets and something extremely limey.

 

From wet to drydown.

 

I think it was the delphinium.

[MaidenGenevive]

Queen Gertrude

 

I haven't been wearing this for very long, and already it's faded beyond the point where I can pick out any particular notes. It's a very faint floral at this stage, that has a mild clean feeling to it. I remember, when wet, the florals all spun together and I did notice the iciness. But the fragrant stage only lasted 15-30 minutes on me.

 

[1 - Hate] .. [2 - Dislike] .. [3 - Like] .. [4 - Really Like] .. [5 - Love]

 

2 / 3 : It's not bad, but it doesn't stand out against other florals I've tried and it fades too quickly.

[porcelina]

some reviewers have described this as a mature scent or one for an older woman and i concur. it's really too old for me. the violet and wisteria are strongest. it's not really a cloying floral, just kind of powdery.

[Iceblink]

The wisteria in this turned it straight to powder on me--a shame, because in the imp the violet was more noticeable. Apparently violet only works on me when there are no other flowers involved in the blend (hello, Faith!).

[Elizabethm]

In the bottle: Oooo violets!

 

Wet: It smells like greenery and violets to me.

 

Dry: Pretty violets and I can slightly smell other florals floating in and out. Definitely the wisteria.

 

 

Throw: It didn’t last long at all on me. But while it did it was strong. It went from.. OMG THIS IS SO STR… where’d it go? Maybe my nose broke.

 

 

Verdict: pretty and violety. I can see wearing this in the spring. It smells purple to me and like those violet candies. I wouldn’t trade away a bottle that came my way.

[styro]

Queen Gertrude is the scent that introduced me to the dreaded "going soapy" reaction: she was pleasant enough on my skin for about half an hour--then, soap. (Useful for washing off the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, perhaps, but not otherwise enjoyable.)

 

1 out of 6 from me...and from five of my enablees, QG got three 2s and two 1s. Sorry, beauteous majesty of Denmark.

[pinkpepper]

Wet on skin: Ooh, yummy. Flowers and, er, bananas?

 

Dry on skin: There's something very familiar about this, but I can't figure out what. It smells like when I accidentally put too much sugar in my tea . . . but only the oversweet part, not the tea, if that makes any sense. At the same time, it smells like My Little Ponies, and banana Runt candies, and the rose jelly bit of Turkish Delight, and baby powder too. . . God, I just made it sound really gross, didn't I? No, it's really beautiful! Oh, I know, I know! It smells like being a five year old girl!

 

Conclusion: This is really yummy, but not foody at all (despite the above description!). It's gorgeous, actually. Definitely a keeper. Weird thing is, it's meant to smell like this mature, regal woman and it smells like a child on me! I might get another imp someday, but I don't see any bottles in Queen Gertrude's future.

Edited October 17, 2007 by pinkpepper

[hkhm]

imp: very floral with lots of violets.

 

wet: strong, sweet florals. the violet is still quite strong.

 

dry: these are some serious florals. even when my arm was at my side, covered by a sleeve i could smell this blend very strongly. the violets have, for once, worked well on me and smell wonderful!

[Ravenclaw79]

Hey, it's my first soapy scent. Um, yay?

 

Seriously... in the imp = dishsoap. Wet = dishsoap. Dry = 100% essence of Palmolive.

 

Meh.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is a light floral - I can't pick out any individual flowers.

 

Wet, on the skine, this smells like cut flowers, like a bouquet that my mom would have on her dining room table.

 

When it dries, this is a really nice, well-blended, undistracted floral - but florals aren't really my bag, so I'll be passing this on.

[CrazyPretzel]

My imp has an old label so it must be fairly aged, at least a year.

 

In the imp: crystalline and icy, and slightly sour.

 

On me, this changes rapidly and becomes a much warmer scent. The sour note vanishes. I think that wisteria is the strongest note - this is a honey-sweet floral, almost candy-like. Warm and beautiful but a touch reserved and mature. Really quite perfect for a temptingly beautiful but untouchable mother figure - I'm sure Freud would be intrigued.

[grashopper8]

In the imp, I smell cool, sweet violets.

 

On my skin, it turns green right away.

 

Then, as it develops a bit more, it's back to violets but with some other notes in the backround. I can smell the dark chrysanthemum and the gardenia-esque creaminess of wisteria.

 

It does get a little powdery, but I have to really concentrate on Powder to notice it.

 

I don't get any banana, but I have to agree with pinkpepper in that Queen Gertrude makes me think of being about 5 years old. It smells like sweet, sparkly youth. I don't know why. Maybe because there were violets in my backyard every spring?

 

It's totally awesome, just my style. I'll slather today and think about it more, but I'm giving it:

 

4.5 out of 5

[etienne]

I don't usually like pure florals but Queen Gertrude is love at the first sniff!

I'm wearing this for the first time on a dark December evening and it gives me a sense of something really soft and comforting. It must be the violets, this has a very purple feel to it. A bit dark but soft, soft, soft. Mmm, I need more of this!

[Czarina]

This was a Lab frimp to me.

 

In the imp: Wisteria.

Wet: wisteria and violets.

Drydown: very sweet, almost not a floral, can't pick out the individual flower notes any more.

 

This did not go powdery on me and is generally overall highly satisfactory, although I still long for a SN violet scent. This isn't it (neither is Faith).

 

Adequate throw, short wearlength.

Edited January 19, 2008 by Czarina

[suki]

i must preface this review by saying that, as if you couldn't tell by my SN, i'm totally smitten with all things violet. how this will compare, i don't know yet, but i'm pretty biased at the outset. so let's go...

 

in the imp: very sharp, very sweet. the violet only comes through at the very last second.

 

wet on skin: a light floral, but i don't really smell any violet

 

dry down: sweet and grapey, sort of like icy grape punch on a hot day. about 10 minutes later, the violet *finally* makes an appearance

 

in all: a gentle enough floral, and a very light violet mix. i'll likely wear it on the hottest days of the year when anything strong seems to only smother the skin. otherwise, i'll keep it in the box.

[dirtytrip]

Oh, barf. How can something so straight-up green in the vial turn to tennis shoe rubber? Dunno if it's because of a note I've never experienced (like the delphinium) or this particular combo of elements.

 

Hmm, tried it on a different part of my arm now and it smells a little fresher, but not fabulous, and in any case it's fading fast. Oh well! That's the fun of sampling for you.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: mums and violets

 

On Wet: mums and violets

 

On Dry: gone

 

Final Impression: Rather enjoyed it until it disappeared.

 

Rating (on a scale from 1-5): 2