The Torture Queen

[angelicruin]

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

Inside the bottle, vanilla musk and tea with sharp metal.

Wet on the skin, lovely white musk, vanilla, tea, and the chrome note. Shortly after application, the floral note comes out too.

Dry, it's ambergris, white tea, and chrome. I love this scent and will need to buy another bottle before the carnaval comes down. Edited June 20, 2009 by angelicruin

[Gin]

The Torture Queen

 

I'm pleasantly surprised by this. I had been put off by both the ambergris and the chrome, but it's quite lovely. The dominant note on my skin is gardenia. And this scent is overwhelmingly WHITE. The chrome, I think, smells ozoney to me, but that could also be the white musk--or the combination of the two. This is a fascinating blend and I'm glad I got a decant.

[Monster]

In the imp: Crisp white musk

 

Wet: A very clean "perfumy" sort of scent. Someone already mentioned that this reminded them of CKOne cologne and I agree, it is very similar (which isn't a bad thing, I used to wear that scent a lot in the early 90s)

 

Dry: The "chrome" note comes out a bit more which is showing up on me as almost an aquatic. Actually, now that I think of it...my husband used to wear a cologne called "Chrome" (YEARS ago in 1999) and the note actually reminds me of that. This is paired with sweet vanilla musk. I'm not detecting any gardenia at all.

 

Overall: A very interesting scent. This is a bit more "perfumey" than regular BPAL oils yet this smells like a more natural version of CKOne. It's really clean, fresh and pretty and like CKOne, I think this one could be worn by either a man or a woman

I can appreciate this scent but unfortunatly it's not for me.

 

[sizigia]

I don´t understand why this does not receive more love, I´m wearing this all the summer and it´s fantastic, fresh and sexy at same time.

 

On my skin it´s like sweet tea and gardenia with a bit of metal like scent. I had a CKone vial at home and compared both side by side CKone is more sharp and smells more of tea, torture queen is sweeter and more femenine.

 

I´m going to order 4 bottles of it on my next order, anyway I hope Beth will make the Carnival stay as GC.

[Molls]

Torture Queen is such a great summer scent for me. It's cool, bright and clean. On these days where it's 100+ degrees, I always reach for Torture Queen. It stays beautiful all day!

ETA - it's also the 1st scent that my b/f told me to get a bottle of - lucky for him, I already had one!

Edited October 13, 2009 by Molls

[hlemonds]

Love Torture Queen!

 

The chrome, tea, and vanilla musk are strongest on me upon application. Such a very fresh, clean scent. I agree with those who said it is a very "white" smell. As it dries down the chrome softens a bit, and i get more of the vanilla musk and maybe a hint of light florals. Overall this is definitely a favorite for me this time of year. It doesn't become overwhelming or cloying in the heat, a big WIN!

[caseys]

The Torture Queen

 

Snap Judgements: I’ve been very leary of this scent. I want it to work so badly, because I love the imagery, but I worry about all of the white and metallic notes. I grabbed this in a decant circle so that I could try it without committing to a bottle.

 

In the Bottle: This smells very clean and bright. White tea and ambergris are the predominant notes that I get on sniffing. Once again, the ambergris gives this a traditional “perfumey” feel.

 

Wet: Wow, this is just like sniffing a mug of white tea. Actually, like sniffing white tea out of a stainless steel mug, since the chrome is coming around a little. Ambergris is still doing its thing.

 

Dry: I’ve still got the tea, chrome, and ambergris, plus the vanilla musk is adding just the tiniest hint of sweetness. The gardenia seems to be a minor player here. I can tell that it’s making a contribution, but it’s not in-your-face white floral.

 

Final Thoughts: The Torture Queen is a light, airy, gleaming scent. Of all the Carnaval blends I’ve tried, I think it does the absolute best job of matching its artwork. While wearing this, I can completely picture the woman with translucent skin and white-blond hair, and the metal hooks that suspend her. This blend is a fantastic example of Beth’s artistry in capturing a concept with scent. It’s totally not a traditional “me” scent, but it’s so impressive that I’ll probably get a bottle anyway.

 

[Cheri]

When I first put Torture Queen on it smells a little like shaving cream. I mean the men's kind. But after about a half hour its so good. The musk comes out and just smells wonderful. It really does smell white, and I love it! I just got the bottle from a swap, and depending how much I use it, I could see getting another bottle before the Carnival leaves. It's feminine and pretty.

 

Edit: I wore this to work today and by the end of the day it smelled a lot like a non-minty version of Snow Flakes. I like it a lot.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Cheri

[myoubi]

I actually... don't hate this scent!

 

When I saw the notes I was sure it would be heinous on me -- all this white, hard, light stuff at the top of the smelling range, and gods-bless-me-and-save-me gardenia settling over it all. But it's actually not totally heinous. Not something I'd want to own, but for those fans of light, white scents this is a good one. It reminds me of Brides of Dracula, which is the only similar scent I've ever really enjoyed. (that one, alas, has also gone the way of the dodo.)

 

IN IMP: strangely fruity! It's like a light, sweet-y sort of fruitiness -- one of the notes reminds me of something in Fee. (Don't get all excited, it's not a Fee dupe; there's just a small similarity there)

 

ON SKIN: beh, gardenia. But the gardenia is nicely smothered by a white, sweet kind of scent -- must be the vanilla musk and the white amber. after a while the musk allies with the gardenia and starts to eat everything. not good.

 

10 MINUTES: this is getting rounder and prettier, as something deeper down the smell scale but still sweet emerges from beneath the GARDENIAMUSK shield.

 

LONGER: scent is sweet; to me, vaguely sickitating, but YMMV. light, pale, florally scents aren' tmy thing, but if they turn your crank this is one to look at. If you liked Brides of Dracula, this may be another place to look.

 

So, not really for me, but pretty for them as like it.

[fireflower]

A very clean scent, comparable to CKone and VS'S Body By Victoria, so it's very perfumey, much like something you'd buy in a department store. I'll keep the decant for those days where I'm around people that don't appreciate BPAL fruits and spices and resins, I think.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Defintely white musky and floral. Sharp with a green edge

 

On Application

Softer than expected, initially. Smooth but thin. I definitely pick out the gardenia.

 

Dry Down

Strongly floral still with greenness which settles into a musky floral. I can pick out the tea and gardenia clearly and the metallic edge comes into play later in the game. This smells like a more traditional perfume. Nice

 

Rating (0-5)

4

 

[ouch!]

I love this!!! It's so pretty.

 

The chrome note is very interesting and gives a very light tang to the entore blend. I'm another person that's going to have to agree with the CK1 comparison. Yes..there is a likeness but this is a more...natural..interesting take on it. I am not getting any gardenia at all. This is a fresh blend that I can't stop huffing off of my wrist.

The vanilla is light, and this blend smells like a citrussy slightly metallic yet soft gorgeousness!!!

The only downside to this blend is the throw, or lack of it. It's such a shame because I truly beleive this is the best of the Act 4 blends.

 

I will still get a bottle though and slather muchly.

[theasylph]

That's funny everyone else is getting a ck1 scent memory from this too, this also reminds me a little of Carolina Herrera 212 for men. This is so much better though. MMMM. It smells like very clean fresh musk at first. Then sweetens with some vanilla sweetness. I get such a clean crisp feeling from this blend. As other posters before have said it does scream the color of white which I really love about it. This has more of an actual mens cologne scent than any Bpal blend I've smelled yet but it's very beautiful. I'm wondering if the chrome note makes it so. I think I love the labs metal notes.

 

I can't stop smelling my wrist now. I think I have to push this on my bf for real.

 

[heathercaley]

I'm happy to finally be able to test this out!!

 

I'm very surprised at how much I like this!! Usually fresh and clean perfumes smell to headachey on me, but this is BEAUTIFUL! It's feminine and pretty with a perfect amount of juicy sweet tea and a touch of metal that seems to remind me more of a sweet grapfruity note

 

I can totally see myself wearing this when I have to present myself in a more professional manner. It's beautiful!!!

[Evilynn]

In the bottle: White tea and chrome

 

Wet on the skin: This is a bit more aquatic than I'd like it to be, and the chrome a lot fainter. I bought my bottle off a forumite, so I'm not sure how old it is though.

 

Drydown: Still more aquatic and even less chrome. :/ I can smell the ambergris and the white tea, but I was hoping for something a bit more like Szepazssony (sp), so I swapped my bottle away.

[CitizenBree]

I don't really know what "chrome" smells like but I don't feel like i get a lot of metal out of this scent. I do agree that it is unisex though. With one sniff I feel like it is pretty and girly and floral and then with another I feel like it is masculine, sexy and like after shave. I saw a comparision to CKOne and I can see that though I haven't smelled it in years.

 

It's very clean feeling, so when I say sexy, it's like that just got out of the shower sexy.

 

I really like this but I don't love it enough to get a bottle. I'm going to have my husband try it and if it's great on him we'll get one. If I had a ton of money to spare, I'd pick up a bottle of this and use it every so often, but it's not jaw-droppingly good enough for me to get one. I think it's because it's a little too unisex musky for me. I like things a little more girly.

[crebbsgirl]

This one surprised me a little bit. It was much more "perfumey" than I thought it was going to be. I think it's the white amber that's doing that. The vanilla musk and flowers combined with the chrome and tea give this a rather "fresh" sort of feel. But the amber adds a little bit of powder and it translates as "perfumey" on my skin. Not something I usually wear.

[SophieCedar]

First impression: gleaming white tea

In imp and first wet: the notes of this are very distinct, sharp, white, iridescent, and translucent. So, great job on matching the image BPAL!

The gardenia and tea are the strongest here with a waft of vanilla and metal around the back. Strange! It's giving me a brain squeeze because my senses reject anything white or green tea.. but I'm enjoying the jolt.

Drydown: pretty much the same but slightly softer. I actually like it.. reminds me of all the white tea and green tea lotions I tried during that market craze in the late 90's/early 2000's.

 

[sarielswish]

In the vial, it's very sweet, almost innocent. I have a feeling there's something more to this one. Question is - what? Color, chrome.

 

Wet on my skin, amber, white tea, and gardenia with a little bit of a tang - the 'chrome' note. Smells almost like citrus to me. I'm just hoping the gardenia doesn't amp to painful levels.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Very nice. Not too floral at all. This is a very light, feminine musk with a bit of a bite. I wouldn't mind a bottle of this, either.

[edenssixthday]

The Torture Queen - White amber, vanilla musk, ambergris -- what's not to love? I thought this would be a stunning scent. Sadly, when I tried it both when it first came out and again recently, it didn't work at all on me. The chrome note overpowered everything else in the scent and the white amber smells a little too "dusty", so it basically smells like a dust-and-metal scent on me, way too industrial for my taste, especially when I had expectations that it would be more vanilla-musk and warm-ambergris pretty.

[tarotgirl99]

This starts out as soapy and stops being so after it dries. It's a little cool and yes, industrial for my tastes. It smells like a martini. Very sophisticated and perfect for a cool, thin blonde. I am none of those three things.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: I mainly get the vanilla musk, the white tea and the ambergris - this is very bright and fresh, with an almost aquatic vibe.

 

On: Ahh, there IS gardenia in there! The floral provides a needed counterpoint to all the freshness of the other notes. This is polished, gleaming, ice-cold metal with just a few flower petals to insinuate femininity. Probably a great summer scent!

 

Later: Fresh, slightly floral and still going strong. Really quite nice! I'm contemplating putting this on the bottle list.

[KittyHawk]

I am SO OBSESSED with Torture Queen right now. Between the tea, vanilla musk, and the chrome, it hits all the right spots for me and doesn't feel like anything else out there. It's feminine, masculine, hard, soft, sexy, and aloof. This is one lady you'd never want to cross, but you'd do anything to get closer to her.

 

TQ is very androgynous in feel and seems like it could appeal to a wide range of people. It has great throw and higher than average longevity on my skin. I've never been able to wear a BPAL metallic before, but the other notes cut the HI I'M A TEENAGE BOY COVERED IN AXE BODY SPRAY thing that metallic blends have a tendency to do. It's SO interesting, and keeps changing just a little bit every time I wear it so that I never really know what to expect. Sometimes I get a little gardenia, sometimes I don't. Sometimes the amber shows up, but not always. Even if you try this once and it's not your thing, put it away for awhile and give it another try; it may become a totally different animal.

 

I can't wait for CD to return so I can stock up; this very well could become a Holy Grail scent for me. This gal can tie me up anytime.

[heygraycatbird]

I purchased this from the Etsy Carnaval Diabolique release, so presumably this bottle has aged a bit?

 

In the bottle:

The Torture Queen is pretty and a bit aloof, which is quite reminiscent of the Queen's expression in the label art. There is a cool, bright, sort of airy scent dominating; this might be how I interpret chrome. I think I can detect the gardenia underneath. This is a bit less sweet and citrusy than Metal Phoenix, which is the other chrome scent I own.

 

Wet on skin:

The creamy gardenia is wafting well. Leaning in for a closer sniff, I'm getting something else that's clean and gentle... the white tea maybe? This is right up my alley.

 

Dry:

This hasn't morphed much. The gardenia has faded a bit, but it's definitely still present. I'm not familiar with white amber or vanilla musk, so it's possible I'm overlooking them, but I'm not getting anything that's obviously perfumey or vanilla at least.

 

Much later:

It's not wafting much on its own anymore, but it's still there when I lean in.

 

Overall, this is quite gardenia-heavy on me, which is just fine because I enjoy white florals.

Glad I picked up a bottle; it's different enough from Metal Phoenix that I'm happy to have both.

 

 

Conclusion:

This is a very pretty, "day-time professional" sort of scent that I can see myself wearing frequently.

Edited April 14, 2013 by heygraycatbird

[MCS4096]

I've wanted the Torture Queen for years, and when the Carnival went dark I was worried I might have to wait a long time. I jumped right on a bottle when it went up on Etsy, and I'm glad I did!

 

Upon application I get the white tea and chrome most prominently. Boy I love the chrome! The gardenia is hovering in the background, but the blend doesnt feel like a floral blend to me-- it just gives a bit of moisture and warmth to counter the coolness of the chrome and the crispness of the tea. The amber and musk arent obvious to me here, they are just rounding and grounding the whole scent I guess. I never smell any saltiness from ambergris, so it must be far back there.

 

This does have a sort of "traditional" perfume smell.. which usually is code for "well blended" in my opinion. The overall impression is not one of notes, but rather of an entire feeling.. and this one is a study in compliments, as others have pointed out: the cool with the warm, the feminine with the masculine. It's clean and crisp while still sexy without being suggestive of sex or bodies.