The Torture Queen

[grashopper8]

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

Oh wow I love this scent!!

It really reminds me of China Musk - a clean, white musk scent.

The white tea and ambergris are so pretty together, I love the contrasting soft smoothness of the amber and musk with the fresh tea.

I think this is another winner for me! Yumsies!

4.7 out of 5

[taramarie]

Wet on my skin, The Torture Queen is vanilla musk, white tea, gardenia, and a hint of ozone. That must be the chrome, since metallic notes tend to be ozone on me. Dry, the gardenia starts to take over. This is a very feminine blend that's perfect for warm-weather months.

[SeaMonkey]

This smells like CK1 on me. I've had this problem with other blends with chrome or metallic notes. I think I'm going to have to avoid them in the future. I like smelling like CK1, but it reminds me of high school

[Schmoozy]

First Sniff: Chrome, Gardenia and Ambergris.

 

On Skin: Mmmm, beautiful. Vanilla white tea, amber, chrome and gardenia. This is crisp, fresh, and slightly masculine. I can't believe how much I love the smell and feel of chrome. It almost gives off an airy/ozone scent.

 

Dry Down: While the gardenia simmers down, Vanilla musk, white tea and chrome remain very dominant, and together they morph really well.

 

Final Thoughts: This remains crisp, bright, masculine but pretty. Definitely bottle worthy.

[lacyjae]

I was really looking forward tot his one, so curious about the chrome note and how it'd play with the pretty scents. I don't think I'm disappointed. It's a flowery scent with a sharp bite to it. A very 'white' scent, which I suppose doesn't surprise me given the ingredients. But still, I don't often get such a forceful color association with scents. This one is WHITE: a sterile room, white dominatrix gear, and flowers hidden from view but teasing the senses. On, still beautiful. STILL. LOVELY. Yay.

 

Definitely a bottle for me. *swoon*

[yeahbutnobut]

The Torture Queen

 

In the imp: clean sharp perfume. Must be the metal note.

Wet on skin: whoa, strongly perfumey and ozone-y!

Dry on skin: very perfume-like. Almost mainstream. This is sharp, cold, clean and crisp. The dominant note is the chrome, which smells like the perfumey note in Door 13, or the ozone in Parsifal, a very high pitched sharp perfume. The perfume-sprayed metal scent is enhanced by the tangy scent of white tea and pale floral gardenia, and I smell just a hint of the sweetness of white amber. This is the white amber in things like 51 and Pollution. In fact this smells very similar to Pollution, with added metallic ozone. It also seems like a feminine version of Thunder Moon (though not as electric).

After a while: the chrome does not tone down, like I hoped, if anything, it seems to have become more metallic and more electric-smelling. Also a bit salty, like a stormy sea breeze. I don’t smell as much tea and gardenia, the amber has toned down in sweetness, but now smells a bit powdery. And where’s the vanilla musk? Or the ambergris, for that matter? In here, it’s the damn chrome that gets in the way.

The amber does pop out a bit more every now and then, but then the powdery aspect of the amber merges with the ozone and turns this to washing powder.

Verdict: this is the CD’s House of Mirrors, a sister scent to Kataniya, and one of the cleanest metal scents I’ve smelt. All the silvery metal notes give off a clean (sometimes soapy) scent but sometimes they have a slightly rusty/oily scent too, which this lacks. It’s clean to the point of being sterile, it’s a bit cold and calculating, not approachable. This is shining, sterilised chrome needles with a tingle of electricity, with a whiff of fresh, modern perfume. The scent is all metallic to me but at times I smell the crisp white tea and gardenia. What I don’t smell are the amber, vanilla musk and ambergris (my favourites in the note list), or not very much until the very end. I’m not too crazy about the grey-coloured metal scents (much prefer the ‘brassy’ or golden scents myself) and this is a little too perfumey for my tastes, so not a keeper for me.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? No.

If you like this, try: 51, Pollution, Kataniya, Parsifal, Thunder Moon, Lightning, House of Mirrors, Archangel Winter

[femmefatale]

This smells like CK1 on me. I've had this problem with other blends with chrome or metallic notes. I think I'm going to have to avoid them in the future. I like smelling like CK1, but it reminds me of high school

 

 

This exactly. Makes me want to skip school, go cruising by the beach in my friends convertible, and make out in the sand.

 

I'll probably keep the lovely frimp for nostalgia sake, but won't be buying a bottle.

[Czarina]

In the imp: department store perfume.

Wet: department store perfume.

Drydown: department store perfume and chrome.

 

Actually, this reminds me a LOT of Privilege--which I like. Not really distinctively BPAL though IMO.

[voodoocatwoman]

I normally love gardenia. I like ambergris. I am a fan of vanilla and musk. So, by all accounts, I should like this scent.

 

But I don't. It's OK wet but when it dries down, SOMETHING sharp and brassy keeps getting in the way. Whatever it is, it is the "bugspray" sharpness that I find in a lot of commercial perfumes. Thank God I didn't slather. Torture Queen is torturing me.

[ealasaid86]

In the Bottle: Sharp green smell

 

One My Wrist: Perfumey gardenia, resin and musk. Soft throw but amazing lasting power.

 

Verdict: Beautiful! I'm definitely going to order a big bottle.

[lucy gray]

When I wear Torture Queen, I get all of the listed components -- but none at the same time. It starts out chrome, then tea, then gardenia... the last lingering note is vanilla musk, which I LOVE. Yeah, I'd call it a morpher.

 

It lasts forever, has plenty of throw, and while I understand how it's more "commercial" smelling than a lot of BPALs, I don't smell like CK1. So glad I sprung for a bottle.

[rayvn1]

The scent is all metallic to me but at times I smell the crisp white tea and gardenia. What I don’t smell are the amber, vanilla musk and ambergris (my favourites in the note list), or not very much until the very end.

 

Boy, do I wish we could swap skin chemistry on this one, because ALL I got was the gardenia, vanilla, and ambergis and I really wanted chrome and tea. I should have known, though because I amp vanilla like there's no tomorrow. Off to the swap pile with you my dear!

[Emma2403]

On me, it's very floral... there's a hint of metal in the background, but honestly, I smell it because I look for it.

 

It's not bad, but it's very banal while I was expecting something much more unique.

 

Gets a little soapy when it dries down.

[Sapphiremo0n]

Torture Queen started out very clean smelling; tea, gardenia, and chrome in the bottle. It isn't a bad way to start our day, it says to me, "wake up, we have things to do and people to play with". When I first open the bottle the Tea jumped me first and i was thinking it was a green tea, but it didn't smell quite right...not green enough. The sense of white I was blaming entirely on the gardenia I could smell. The faint metallic smell made me think hospital clean and bright white.

 

Now after two hours, the sterility has left and a beautiful warm scent has taken over; vanilla, amber, musk with a single shard of scrap metal. Makes me think of After Care; very comforting and safe.

 

Overall I like The Torture Queen. I don't need to hoard her, but I do enjoy her....

[steffanina]

Torture Queen-

 

(I got this because Torture King is my favorite of the seriously masculine BPAL scents; I had to try the counterpart)

 

In Bottle: Ooh, metallic. Very much like Bed of Nails. A bit of a hot floral in the background?

 

Wet: Light and hot. Both the metal and the hot floral play in an ozone mixture. Not aquatic, but ozone.

 

Dry: I'm so impressed by how Beth can put this metal scent into a bottle. If there's anyone out there lamenting the unavailability of Bed of Nails, give this a try.

 

Overall: Novel. Remarkable.

[goblinshark]

In the imp this smelled like green tea and gardenia. on me, it smells exactly like Pert shampoo! I don't get any metal from this at all. I really like it but I'm not sure I need a bottle.

[LizzyLies]

First, I'll start by saying that yes, this is a scent I'm hoarding. Secondly, I'll say that on me it smells like chrome, gardenias, and very faintly of tea. In all, I love Torture Queen very, very much and plan to get another bottle or three before the Carnival leaves.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Soap –I’m guessing that it’s the gardenia, but I could be wrong

 

Wet on me – I can only presume that it’s the white tea I smell, but I would have said that it was a pale citrus

 

Dry on me – A soft, slightly powdery floral

 

Overall – It didn’t last on me at all and what there was of it was not me anyway

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Been meaning to try this one for a while...The Illustrated Woman is my main carnie, but I heard great reviews about the Torture Queen so I thought I'd see what the fuss is about. I really like this, though for some reason I feel like it's so similar to a lot of the other blends I've been smelling today...I got an O Chaos Theory that's almost a dead wringer for this, and I also think Itaso Kansei might be a distant relative, as well.

 

I really appreciate the artistry of the metallic note in this...it almost even smells cold, without any weird menthol or minty element. Amazing! The vanilla musk and amber lend a glowing, flushed skin aspect of this blend that makes it really pretty and extremely wearable in any type of situation. I 100% agree with the previous reviewer who wrote that this blend is both cold and hot. Yes! A very lovely blend that would be especially great for summer, but feels totally appropriate for year round wear.

[sirensea]

In the imp: Very clean, cool chrome. I can smell the gardenia, easily, and the vanilla is perfection.

 

On my skin: Metallic in a sultry way. The white tea is stronger now, replacing the vanilla note almost entirely. This is a very pretty scent, without any hints of sweetness; feminine, but with an edge that I love. I'd invest in a bottle of this in a heartbeat.

 

The best part is, Illustrated Woman is on the other side of my hand, so I have both attractions together!

Edited April 9, 2009 by sirensea

[cinderfallen]

I figured out what this smells like: driving through dirty, dusty LA when I was little, windows down, fresh from the beach, slightly chlorinated, a bit of smog and ozone from outside, cold and refreshing wind wafting in something slightly sweet from outside, maybe a bit of greenery from fresh-cut trees or a bit of someone's perfume.

[GardenCat]

OMG! A light, floral scent with a clean finish - there is a bit of the chrome/metal in the dry-down, but the tea balances it out. A perfect spring/summer scent - glad I have a back-up of this!

 

7-9-09 - again with the ambergris scents that seem to work so well for me!

Edited July 9, 2009 by GardenCat

[Andrea912]

I'm OK with White amber; I like vanilla musk, white tea; can't really tell what ambergris ever really smells like, so I'll flow with it; I hate gardenia, and I'm not sure about chrome.

 

Wow; bright; clean; ck51!

 

Hmmm...I might get a bottle of this; it's not a scent I'd normally wear (I'm a foodie), but I really love the memories and association I get with this and CK51...perfect for summer, I think

 

[MisterShrapnel]

Goodness, I wasn't expecting to actually fall in love with this! Not nearly as sharp as I was predicting, and thankfully my skin spoils none of the notes.

This doesn't really smell cold to me like a snow blend does--more immaculately clean, gleaming white, but still with a gentle, almost steamy warmth (like post-morning-shower dampness, the best feeling ever amirite). I love the chrome for just adding this... indescribable... reflective shine without giving any real color and without of being bitter/steely.

The Torture Queen is a little bit sweet (like a very subtle upturn of the corners of the mouth--a thin smile) and has a gorgeous clean musk, just sensual enough to give the scent an intriguing dimension. The gardenia isn't GARDENIAAA; blends very well with the general tone of the scent but I can still tell it's in there... and I love it. Lends a certain femininity without frill.

I'm guessing the vanilla is also what adds the sweetness, but by no means is this a very vanillic or foody blend (thank goodness).

I'm falling fast in love with the Lab's white amber note, too! More transparent/clean than the other ambers, but it still has body and a certain sweetness.

I feel so clean and happy when I wear this. It's fantastic in the recent spring-y weather (even on a gray day), and I can't really think of a situation where it wouldn't fit. Classy, subtle, and modern, yet still kind of sexy?

I think this is perfect. I'll be coveting a bottle, I think.

Or two.

[WidgetAlley]

Bottle: Sharp, strong whiteness. Soapy, clean tea, blindingly white amber, lovely gardenia and a very, very strong chrome note. I don't get any sweetness at all of the vanilla musk or the ambergris, except as a faint salty note.

 

Wet: Oh, there's the sweetness. I get a strong white musk, a touch of faint vanilla, tea and strongly metallic chrome, but it's swirled together to make a cool, unified scent. It's not snowy or icy, just incredibly white and polished and bright and slightly soapy. Love the gardenia and the vanilla and the musk, not digging the others so much. The chrome not is so strong it's almost kind of hard to take. It reminds me very much of a commercial perfume... huge throw, too. I agree that sterile is a very good word for this...

 

Dry: This warms and softens as it dries, as the vanilla musk, tea and ambergris come forward and the amber, chrome and gardenia take a backseat. It's pretty, but this is just too virginal for my tastes-- too cool and commercial, lacking something of depth and complexity on my skin. This would be great on a blue-eyed blonde but this famer's-tan brunette just can't pull it off. Swaps.