The Torture Queen

[tativa]

A cluster of wooden wagons stands off to the side of the Midway, removed from the bustle of the dirt-caked makeshift street. A bonfire burns in the center of the lot, shining its light on a tattoo-covered woman. The images embedded in her skin writhe like living things, and the sigils that mark her glow faintly. She is filing her nails and smoking a cheroot while chatting idly with an impassive naked blonde who has been hoisted into the air by thick, gleaming meathooks. The blonde is pinioned; the blackened metal cables that bind her hang tightly from the branches of a massive grey oak. Her skin seems strangely translucent, and her veins and arteries are boldly visible. Two painted signs are propped, sideways, against the side of the tree:

THE ILLUSTRATED WOMAN
THE TORTURE QUEEN

The tattoo'd woman winks at you as you pass by. "Break time, honey," she growls, as she blows a smoke ring in your direction.

THE TORTURE QUEEN
White amber, vanilla musk, white tea, ambergris, gardenia, and chrome.

In the bottle, it has a very mild astringent green teaish smell.
On, at first it has a very light white tea smell to it
5 minutes in, gardenia mixed with white tea, maybe a hint of resin.
7-8 min... wow... the chrome is starting to make and appearance, its like a light shell over the 5 minute scent, taking down the floral's intensity a bit. Now its just playing around, making appearances and disappearances. It makes the tea feel shiny and lends it a perfume vibe.

Doesn't seem to have a lot of throw. Very fresh and light. I'm going to have to wear this one for a walk later and edit my post, it seems like a very lovely summer scent.

Edit: much more throw than I previously gave her credit for. With time the chrome dominates, making it a bit more perfumy than fresh... but I still love her and need at least another bottle.

I tried it again today... this time I got the amber and light floral mixed with chrome perfume... She is really growing on me. I guess I am acquiring a 'torture fetish'. I really don't smell the torture though.
Medium throw, So-So wearing length on the skin... great where it got on my shirt.

[GreenSpine]

This is a very reminiscent of a softer, more delicate Mechanical Phoenix to me. Oddly, I get a faint hint of salt and a slight suggestion of lemon along with the chrome, which is balanced against a smooth, warm mix of musk, amber and tea. The gardenia is present but sits quietly in the background.

 

It's a little lighter and fades a little more quickly than I'd like, but I have a feeling this will age well.

 

I am in love with this scent and will need at least one more bottle before the Carnival leaves.

Edited June 9, 2008 by GreenSpine

[littlegoat]

On me Torture Queen is all chrome, all the time.

 

In the bottle, I could smell the other notes very lightly, but once it hit my skin the metal really came out. So much so that it almost smells like men's cologne, or like I have been rubbing coins on my skin.

 

Overall, this is a clean chrome scent on me. Unfortunately I didn't get any of the other notes, which are the only ones I was hoping to get!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Tea and metallic chrome with a lingering herbal note in the background.

 

Immediately on skin: The strongest note in this is the chrome followed by fresh, white tea. The chrome scent is metallic and a little cologne-like… it’s very smooth and bright with a masculine edge. This has a slight saltiness to it and a very fresh feel.

 

After a little while: This is a great unisex fragrance. The chrome is the strongest note in this now, followed by a crisp breath of white tea and a touch of musk. There’s no real creaminess in this though so I’m hesitant about the vanilla musk, but maybe that’s just what’s adding a hint of sweetness to this. Anyway… chrome, tea, musk. Yeah… and a hint of citrus and that saltiness in the background which I’m pretty sure is the ambergris (it’s a bit powdery and dry). So in one sentence this is a fresh metallic tea scent with a hint of musk and a background of light lemon and ambergris.

 

Overall Impressions: I thought this would be a bit warmer and sweeter than it actually is… I was quite surprised by how much the chrome and white tea took over the scent. This is very nice though, and very unisex. It’s metallic, but not heavy or oily. It’s just very fresh and bright with a hint of light musk and the ambergris hanging around in the background. I think people who like scents like Mechanical Phoenix or Phoenix Steamworks may enjoy this.

 

I had my husband try this later on, and also compare it to Mechanical Phoenix and Door 13, which I thought it may be like. Torture Queen is much crisper smelling than Mechanical Phoenix, and more metallic and less citrus-y than Door 13. It smells fantastic on him though.

[alicia_stardust]

The vanilla musk and chrome are what I notice the most in this. It has a light, sweet, cool vibe to the blend and the chrome is just metallic enough without being too sharp. I think the white tea pairs well with the chrome and they each seem to enhance the other; it's almost as if they are on the same sort of scent frequency. I do get a touch of the white amber and gardenia, especially at the beginning, but they are subtle nuances behind the vanilla musk.

 

I can't quite figure out what this reminds me of but it is cooler and lighter and cleaner than I had imagined. Anyone who loves the notes in this is going to love this. It's a very refined and nuanced clean metallic tea with vanilla floral and resins. Lovely.

[coldandsleepy]

Unfortunately, this is epic fail on me. I kid you not... it ends up smelling basically exactly the same as my body sweat. (My husband thinks it smells really nice. He would. ) This gave me a case of the extreme ooglies.

 

Too bad, because I love the way it smells in the bottle... pleasantly floral, without being overwhelming, and I really get a hint of the chrome. I'd love to smell this on someone else.

[trollgirl]

In vial: Clean-smelling. Very perfume-y. I get the muskiness and the tea, and the chrome has a sharpness that pierces through the entire scent and lifts it up.

 

On me: Musk and chrome. I wonder if the chrome is made out of a blend of citrusy things. It smells very much like a classy men's cologne. I don't get any florals, sadly, and I do love gardenia. And hmm, this smells really familiar... It's CK One! Yup, Torture Queen smells exactly like CK One on me.

 

I thought this to be sweeter and warmer than it is. But it is a very clean, cold and sharp scent, and very unisex.

[Suu4LC]

Goooorgeous!!! This is kind of like the anti-Kataniya (which is another CD I love). Kataniya is that light floral with the hot yellow metal note, Torture Queen is the light floral with the cool silver metal note.

 

At first sniff, this smells silver-clean and fresh. White tea and florals with an edge-almost unisex, but with enough floral to keep it feminine.

 

Oh man, and it's even better on my skin. It's such a smooth scent. Everything blends together perfectly. So glad I got a bottle of this!

Edited June 19, 2008 by Suu4LC

[Teggy]

I tried this on at will call and it reminded me of my beloved Bed of Nails. It was mega chrome and not much else, so I decided to buy it. In a way, that was very silly of me because I don't need more of the same. However, my purchased bottle was far different.

 

Wet: White tea and a little chrome.

 

Drydown: A little more chrome comes out, but it's not the POW! metal that I purchased it for.

 

Dry: I'm surprised...I do like this even though it's a lot different from what I tried. It's a very soft, delicate metallic. Very wearable if you like metal scents (like me!) but don't want something too masculine. I don't smell any gardenia or ambergris, but I'm not trained to decet either of those notes. Mostly, it's chrome and a slightly floral/white tea sweetness.

 

Me likey. It's a nice change, and I don't have very many "light and feminine" scents.

[savage_rose]

In the bottle, it smells like a floral Bed of Nails. I like it! On, it smells like tea, and keeps morphing between flowers and chrome. And there's a hint of something a little sharp...ambegris maybe? This is a clean scent, but very edgy. I love it!

[neuilly]

I'm the odd woman out here...I don't get that much chrome. It's mostly in the back. I do get sharp white tea and some gardenia though. It's light and refreshing in a "wake you up" sort of way. Over time the musk starts to come out which is nice, takes some of the edge off.

[Brianne]

This goes on like soft gardenia and white tea. Very feminine. I get a little "chrome" which I'm reading as ozone - clean and bright, making the gardenia and tea more unisex and less feminine.

 

If you've ever smelled Elariia's White Tea with Bergamot scent, this smells very similar. It's clean, fresh, unisex - definitely not sweet or "warm" smelling as I was expecting with the vanilla musk and ambergris. I think this is a really pretty scent, though perhaps too "clean" for my own personal tastes, I do see the appeal in this blend!

[sofaking6]

I am another that gets more gardenia and tea than chrome. Although maybe it is the chrome note that is helping me love the tea? I am loving this blend immensely...it is a gorgeous clean, *almost* creamy floral/tea with this salty/sweet undercurrent that keeps me huffing my wrist. It morphed very little in the 3 hours I had it on last night, though I couldn't smell it anymore in the morning. Thorough love!!

[sadtomato]

mmmm.

this is a very light, fresh, clean scent.

when i first put it on it was bright, bright white tea and florals.

then that faded quickly and the chrome came out.

oddly, the chrome is sweet, which i don't mind because it's not overly sweet and it's a clean sweetness.

i can still smell the white tea and florals behind the chrome.

this is lovely!

[suileach]

Smooth, electric, bright white. The tea and ambergris are the big players on my skin, with the gardenia, musk and ozone-like chrome lending support. It's oceany, in a way, and reminds me a bit of Kiyohime Changes From A Serpent and R'lyeh. Just...brighter, and less murky than those scents.

 

I'm waiting to see if the tea will continue to behave - I often get a harsh, metallic drydown from it. Crossing my fingers, because this is fantastic, and a big change from the types of scents I normally wear.

 

Wow, this really softens; I'd almost say it gets fuzzy as it dries. It's all rounded corners now; the chrome has lost its blinding gleam. It's a creamy, almost downy musk and ambergris, with the tea and gardenia still lending an uplifting quality.

 

The drydown several hours later isn't as impressive; it's blandly musky and too muted. I'll give this a few more tries before making a decision. I do love the first few hours of wear.

[writergal969]

Initial reaction, metal over flowers with an inkling of tea. Sharp. Floral. Brilliant.

 

On my skin, floral and tea and the metal takes a back seat for a bit...almost sticky on my skin which I have never had happen. As it dries, I get more tea and metal and the flowers shift into the background this time. Nice and light but still that little oomph of chrome/ozone.

 

A perfectly lovely scent, though I'll be content with an imp (though possibly a bottle before she disappears). Perfect for summer. Not digging the sticky wrists...but still lovely...4/5

 

Edit: Wore it on a hot summer day and LOVE it. Must. Have. Bottle.

 

Edit: 4-14-09 mmm this scent has gotten better with time. Must hoard bottles. Many many bottles.

Edited April 14, 2009 by writergal969

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is cool, green tea with a twist of metal in the best way possible...

 

once applied this is a true beauty and has some of the similar notes as my

beloved hungry ghost moon

...the vanilla musk and touch of gardenia mingle perfectly...

absolutely incredible sillage this is such a beauty i will wear it lovingly and often...

[hipslike___cinderella]

Ever think sometimes you amp your least favorite notes? Poor Torture Queen, this is too much vanilla for me. It's very light in the imp, and very much in the same family as other BPAL "metals" (Mechanical Phoenix, Steamworks). I recognize the vanilla musk from the Salon (I forget, I think it's from Lucretia), and I get a hint of ambergris, and chrome. In fact, this smells sophisticated, like a Salon blend.

Once tested, this is smooth and cozy, warm. Foremost amber and vanilla musk; any sharpness the chrome had in the imp has melded seamlessly with the musk/amber. It's pretty.

This has light throw, and light wear. It stayed true and the last remnants are a sweet, amber gardenia. Unfortunately, vanilla is not really my thing and this was much more sweet floral musks than that chrome shock I wanted. Swaps!

[LadyLuckDoubt]

In the Imp

Soft, barely-noticable florals with green tea. VERY faint.

 

On Me

Oooh! Hello chrome! It's fresh, slick chrome with a dusting of florals-- lemongrass, maybe, and lily of some description. But the chrome is the dominant note for me, the throw is great, and this is so damned pretty that I want to go swimming in it. It's strange, but it's also really elegant-- the chrome note gives it that "Just what the heck is IN here?" quality, and it's in a good way-- it smells expensive and decadent, though otherworldly, like it just turned up here from outer space. I've never smelt anything like it before, and it's so beautiful and well-blended that it's surreal.

 

I love it. Am SO ordering a bottle (as I suspected I would when I first saw it.)

[Dark Alice]

Normally I don't like gardenia, since my skin seems to amp it so well, but this scent is the exception to the rule!!!!

 

I smell gardenia, barely in the background, with the chrome shining through so well on my skin. This is the clean scent that I have been looking for! Like shining up a the chrome on a brand new Harley !

 

Will have to have more bottles of this before the CD leaves town!

[iiinterstate]

a very "white" scent... kind of clean smelling. Mostly chrome and gardenia on me.

 

in fact, that's really all I get. I keep waiting for the vanilla musk or the amber, I usually amp amber like crazy, but its nowhere to be found.

[inurbanus]

I've never tried anything metallic by BPAL before, so I'm afraid that I can't identify the chrome in this -- that's not to say it's not there, just that I wouldn't know if it is or not.

 

The two most predominant notes in this are the white tea and gardenia -- the two meld beautifully together, resulting in something subtle but gorgeous. I'm surprised by how much I like this, but I do tend to like things that are more "commercial" smelling, and this definitely smells like it could be purchased at a department store. It strikes me as very bridal, not a harsh bridezilla scent, but very laid-back and elegant. If you like clean scents, you must check this out -- it's certainly refreshing, but the gardenia really raises its sophistication. This would be perfect for an evening party in the summer. I think I'm going to have to grab a bottle of this.

 

4.5/5

[maribouquet]

I love this - it reminds me a bit of Phoenix Steamworks, minus the beeswax. The drydown is superb on me - sort of a sparkling, ginger ale vibe (though obv. there is no ginger here.) Want a bottle!

[filigree_shadow]

Clean-smelling gardenia. For me, gardenia is definitely the dominant note, but it's softer than gardenia usually is. It's a bright, very white-smelling scent. I honestly can't get past the "clean" associations, though. Smells like freshly washed linens to me.

[Esmeria]

Oh God, this is wonderful! I don't get chrome in any way, shape or form; what I do get is woah vanilla! With hints of tea, musk and gardenia.

 

I'm so, so hoarding this one!