Queen Alice

[lovelylily]

Carnation, posies, and white amber with a hint of inky treacle, sandy cider, and wooly wine.

Source: Straight from the mailbox.

Initial Application: Wet, red fruits. Possibly from the wine?

Drydown: I get none of the florals on my skin. I'm smelling the boozy cider/wine note I always get from alcohol blends but there is a definite sweetness from the treacle and also a powdery edge that I assume is the amber. The bright fruity smell I got on initial application is gone, sadly.

Dry: Still the boozy note, similar to the one I get from Wanda, with a sweet and powdery side. Queen Alice is pretty strong on me, and stays that way for some time.

Verdict: 3/5
Not for me, but it seems like it'd be easy to wear as a daily scent if one was looking for these notes. Queen Alice is a comforting scent.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Sweeeeeeet wine.

 

On skin, wet: Sweet wine, carnation, a touch of cider.

 

On skin, dry: It's more well-blended, harder to pick out individual notes, but it's still mostly sweet wine and a touch of carnation-like floral.

 

After an hour: There's a very faint soapy note that seems to come and go (I have to assume the posies) but this is definitely still worth a re-test for me.

[yakiguri]

Queen Alice was a pleasant surprise. Reading the notes, I figured this would be either a sticky-sweet mess or a boozy nightmare, since alcohol notes tend to turn to ash on my skin. Instead I get a spicy sweetness, Morocco-lite with an extra dash of foodiness. None of the notes overpower the others, remaining soft and well-behaved throughout the dry down. If Queen Alice lasted a bit longer I'd grab a bottle, so I'll just stick with an imp.

[Circaea]

Okay,Queen Alice is all death notes for me, and I was certain I would HATE it. But it's sweet, bright, spicy, confident, clever, sophisticated... I dunno. I don't smell carnation, wine, amber and treacle (eww!) I get sparkly warm candy and a wink. This reminds me of Jailbait's 18th birthday. It's sexy and fun. I want to wear this and break hearts.

[zagadka]

Smells like horn of plenty, which to me smells like sharp, spicy resin mingling with apple cider. Definitely a no-go for me.

[rhubarb3point14]

It's interesting that someone upthread compared this to Harvest Moon. I tried HM 2012 earlier this week and loved it... and then tried Queen Alice and loved it! But even though they are the same "feeling," the specifics are all different, at least with this year's HM. HM 2012 is very bright and autumnal and spicy on me, whereas this is cidery and winey, and the only spice comes from the carnation.

 

I usually have all kinds of trouble with apple and wine notes, but Queen Alice is wonderful anyway. Go figure.

[surlygurl]

I've had this imp for a couple years and never really tested it, so now's the time.

 

In the vial: Treacle and darkness. Maybe wool.

 

On skin: Carnations like WHOA!!! Lovin' it! Next comes a blur of red fruits and apple cider. Still carnation-spicy. I agree with a poster above in that is has an almost Morocco-esque feel, but without the creaminess. No wine (thankfully!).

 

As it dries, the carnation comes under control. Specifically, under control of the apple cider. I do like apple cider, but this has become apple cider tempered by white amber. This would make a good autumn body scrub, but as a perfume? A little too girly and generic. It is lovely in small amounts so I will definitely keep the imp.

[beakerwill]

Posting from my old (summer '06) BPAL review journal; I will update as I retest

 

(circa July '06 - imp was bought on eBay, so imp age/freshness is unknown)

 

Sniffies: in the imp, it is sweet. I smell carnation, fruit, and possibly musk?

 

On wet, it is warm, sweet and foodie, but not overwhelming.

 

Dry, 10 mins: the cider/treacle/amber/wine combination reads to my nose as a very rich cinnamon; not the oil, but the spice. It reminds me of a pastry with a cinnamon based filling. Nose to wrist, it loses the cinnamon baked good quality and is perfume-like and rich.

 

Dry, 1 hr: already fading, but pleasant. Not an OMG must have more now! sort of scent, but very nice, especially for fall, I think. It has limited throw for me - my skin eats scent, so YMMV.

[Foxdreams]

I really wasn't sure how this one was going to go, but Alice is my all-time favorite love everyday scent, so I wanted to try the 'older' inspired version.

 

In the imp: WINE! WOAH! Like smelling a cherry-wine mix. Really strong.

 

Immediately on application: Exact same as the imp. WOW THERE IS WINE MIXED WITH FRESH RED FRUIT ON MY SKIN. Really strong cider/wine combo, super huge throw, too.

 

On the drydown the boozy smell eventually gets tempered by what I assume is the carnation and the amber notes, so after a while it actually does the same thing Alice does on me, which was interesting. (Both scents go to a powdery sweetness I really love.)

 

Not really a fan of smelling like cherry-wine, but it's nice enough.

[mymymai]

ITI: Wine, sweet but not super offensive, delicious cider, and a light floral scent. For something that contains wine, this is actually enjoyable.

 

Wet: The wine is much stronger on my skin, which I'm not fond of, but the notes from the cider, amber, and carnation are pleasing.

 

Dry: It was gone before I knew it. After two additional testings, at which point the scent would dissipate completely after an hour, a final testing revealed wine, cider, and amber, but no florals. It's okay, but a pass for me.

[Eemia]

It's a plummy, juicy sweet floral at first. Heavy on the wine, which is equal parts boozy and fruity. Really strong and dark. I'm not crazy about carnation because it always smells like powdery cinnamon to me, though it doesn't show up that much in here at first. I notice it once the fruity aspect wears off, and it's more of a spicy, peppery floral later on. Not distinctly carnation, though I'm guessing that's a large part of what smells so spicy to me. Or maybe it's the cider? Anyway, it's a touch musky and dry, and feels like a Christmas scent. It's all stale potpourri on the drydown and really off-putting. So this one is a definite no for me.

[mymel0dy]

In the imp: Sweet, softly floral, juicy jammy red wine, with the barest hint of hard cider.

 

Wet on my skin: boozy booziness

 

Dry on my skin: It as if someone took a mix bouquet of flowers, so well mixed it is hard to distinguish the individual flowers and sprinkled it with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, but not so much spice the floral quality hides completely. It is spicy and floral and not at all what I expected.

 

I am glad I got the imp. I will wear it again, but I do not like it enough to buy a full sized bottle.

[brilliantcat]

In the imp, it's wine, treacle, and ink. Sweet and thick and just this side of cloying. Wet, it's still red wine and booze but the treacle isn't so overpowering and I don't get much of the ink. Oh wow, this sucker is a morpher! Apropos for Wonderland scents though. It's gone sweet, spicy fruity-floral that's just a hint of soapy in a very good way. It smells clean and sweet and wonderful. No more sticky sweet treacle (as a foodie, this even turned MY stomach a bit), and definitely evokes a more mature, confident, awesome Alice. As so many of the Wonderland collection, I need a bottle of this!

[JazzieCazzie]

Received as a frimp with a purchase from the Lab.

 

By the way, I test drove this without any of the notes in front of me so my scribbles and impressions were weird, but made some sense once I looked at the description.

 

IN THE IMP: Sweet and honeyish but acerbic at the same time.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: Whoa. Boozy butterscotch? I think I'd have remembered if there was butterscotch or caramel in the description, since both tend to be dealbreakers for me with BPAL. I am definitely getting major wine note (NOT a favorite) crossed with the sweetness as well as a spicy scent of outdoorsiness (I would have guessed clover but guess it's the carnations and posies.) Surprisingly, it's not horrible on me. At least I don't wash it off before going out to run errands.

 

DRYDOWN: Definitely not working for me because the wine and cider are the big ampers here and they really do NOT play nicely with my body chemistry. Plus, it just stays WAY too sweet (I guess that's where the adjective "treacly" comes from).

 

OVERALL: The sweetness and the booze equal a dash off to the swap box for this baby.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a 2.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Honestly, this is a sweet hot mess in the imp. Other than sweetness, I can't pick anything out.

 

Wet on skin: Strawberry wine. That's what I'm getting out of this. It's nice and subtle and sweet, but not too sweet. It actually reminds me of strawberry chapstick, a little bit.

 

Dried down: It's a little sweeter and a littler fainter now, and reminds me even more of strawberry chapstick. Like it's got a little of that waxy feel to it.

 

Throw: Almost none, but I have too many scents on, and I really doubt I'd be able to pick it out from the others if I could smell anything from a distance right now.

 

Verdict: *** I was actually thinking this might be another winner for me tonight, despite that it doesn't smell like anything in the notes to me. But it faded a little too much, too quickly for me to really be able to appreciate this one.

[RockstarGirl]

Found this when I went spelunking in my BPAL box, and since I've recently discovered my skin chemistry is having a torrid love affair with amber notes, I decided to give it a try.

Wet: Floral, fruity, sweet, and spicy.

 

Drydown: Warm, still a little spicy (carnation is lovely on me), still fruity (the wine?). Not as floral as it was wet, which is okay with me - too much floral tends to go powdery on me. Not sure I can pick out anything that would be the treacle, and at this point the amber isn't as strong as it is in other blends with amber (Machu Picchu is ridiculously amber on me, and I amp the amber in Elf as well). Although, I suspect that in a few hours, the only note left on my skin will be amber.

Verdict: I like it... I like it a lot. I will almost definitely be investing in a bottle of this. (It gets bonus points because I am slightly obsessed with any and all things Alice in Wonderland.)

[corvidus]

in imp: i don't know if it's because of the associations i already had with the perfume, or the apple-y, spicy floral notes, but this smells really red. that's the best way i can describe it really. delicious, but not really in a food-y way? sweet and very boozy, i can't pick out much else.

wet: cider and posies is immediately what i'm getting, with a touch of slightly bitter wine. i know what this reminds me of now, it smells like the mulled wine they serve out of big vats in the christmas market where i live. there's something else there, too - i think it's the florals - that keeps it from being totally christmas.

drydown: the smell... deepens, i guess? i can pick out more of the notes - the posies come to the fore, and there's what i think is the amber eking out over the rich alcohol base. delightfully sweet with a spicy bite to it - a hint of cloves or maybe cinnamon that i'm probably getting from the carnations. i can't smell the treacle at all, but presumably it's adding its part to the sweetness.

overall verdict: i like it, a lot. i'll have to see how quickly i run through the imp before considering getting a bigger bottle, though, because i'm not sure this is something i'd want to smell like every day. it's quite a bold scent, and i feel like it'd be great for certain occasions, but it's a little much for everyday use.

[batsy]

In the vial: Red wine and amber. Promising!

 

On the skin: Okay, the cider and the wine totally overpower the carnation (yay!) and this is quite "boozy", even on the dry down. Totally dried the spicy carnation pops but amazingly I can tolerate it. The amber and wine balance out and I'm sure the spice is also from the cider. Yum! Wouldn't slather it on, but certainly going to keep the imp.

[KatieKeene]

This was the first scent I got from BPAL. A lot of my friends swear by their perfumes, and I've been cyber-eyeing this one for a looooooong time. It was a gamble since I blind-bought, but happily I can say it was totally worth it.

 

I'm not hugely into overpowering florals, and when I initially smelled it in the bottle it was VERY floral, my heart sort of sunk into my stomach. The flowery smells were very prominent at first whiff, but I put it on my wrist all the same. Soon after, the spicy carnation and the treacle made themselves known, much to my delight. After having been on my skin for 45 minutes or so, it's a mildly floral, sweet-creamy-spicy thing of beauty. I can't even say how much I love this.

[missnix]

I can't believe I've never tried this before, it is awesome!! I have an aversion to rose, and I think I may have made the (incorrect) assumption that all scents with Alice in the name include a rose of some variety.

 

First applied, I get a wave of wonderful, spicy carnations. I -love- carnations, easily one of my favorite floral notes. There's also a juicy, fruity aspect that I guessed was either cherries or pomegranates before checking the notes. I'm guessing it's the wine I'm smelling and my nose was translating it into "red fruits". Anyway, it's a luscious and sweet wine note. Sometimes wine can be over-powering on me, not so in this case. The sweet boozy-ness does remind me a bit of Sugar Skull.

 

I can't really pick out the treacle or amber, but I'm sure they're playing their part. I was worried when other reviews mentioned "cake" because I despise buttery / baked notes almost without exception. Luckily, there's no cake to be found here for me, phew!!

 

As time goes on, it loses some of its juicy and boozy qualities and becomes a dry, spicy scent on me. Very lovely and I think I'll have to pick up a bottle.

[Veronica]

This smells like honey on me. Not like the Lab's honey note, which goes powdery and off, but straight-up sweet, sticky wildflower honey, slightly spiced from the carnation.

[megank4]

Mmm, this is a thick, spicy wine scent on me. Maybe a bit of carnation, but no posies or amber.

I think this falls though on my list of "Wouldn't buy a bottle but if someone gave me a bottle I wouldn't swap it away." (same for imps)

[LizziesLuck]

This is beautiful! Not what I expected. Lots of spicy carnation with a lovely hint of sweet cider. I like this way more than expected. I thinks I may need a bottle....

[Ishtar]

This is fairly different from what I had imagined based on the scent description - which can only be a good thing, as I really dislike carnations!

 

I was pleasantly surprised at first when I got the red fruit/apple cider combination several other people have described. The wine note seemed promising. Unfortunately, Queen Alice became fairly nondescript as soon as it started to dry down. The carnation did make its presence known for a moment or two, but melded back into the spicy background after a while. All in all this is not an unpleasant scent, but it tends towards musty and slightly soapy on my skin. While the spicy sweetness is an interesting twist on the usual floral blends, it is ultimately too old-fashioned and too similar to several other GC for me to keep.

[dementia_divine]

Well, it appears I've neglected to post yet another Mad Tea Party review, even though I tested this a long time ago!

 

Original review:

 

I really like the cider note in this. It is the main note I get from the imp.

 

I applied this to my arm, and it started burning a bit. I hope it doesn't end up leaving any welts.

 

Phew! The burning didn't last long. The spicy cider is the prominent note, followed by the wine. I know there must be cinnamon in the cider to make it this spicy, but I think the carnation is helping to give the spicy impression as well. I'm surprised the carnation hasn't dominated the entire blend – it usually does that on my skin!

 

I will give this a full day test to make sure it doesn't burn or leave welts when applied in a bigger quantity. If it passes that test, I am going to need a full bottle because I love cider scents!

Verdict: This is a lovely spiced cider and wine scent. I bought a bottle. It's one of my favorite GCs to wear in the autumn (and a scent featuring a spiced carnation note that doesn't smell like carnation single note on me)!

Edited March 23, 2016 by dementia_divine