The Red Queen

[ravenscanary]

Deep mahogany and rich, velvety woods lacquered with sweet, black-red cherries and currant.

Source: Imp from swap

In the imp: Wood polish.

Wet: Wood polish, with a hint of melty plastic. I'm trying with all my might, but I can't smell ANY cherry or fruit or anything but wood polish with a chemical undertone.

Dry: After about two hours, I can smell a bit of sweetness under drying wood polish, but it's about to fade.

Notes: Moderate strength, short wear.

This one is going back in the swap pile. I like wood scents -Nanny Ashtoreth is a favorite that seems to have a slightly similar "wood polish" note - but it's blended with a lot of other things there, unlike here where it doesn't just predominate, it's all there is.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: I was expecting cough syrup and wood (and I wanted to try this scent anyway because that seemed interesting!). Not quite what I expected. Smells like sugared cherry hard candies. Sweet, sweet, sweet artificial generic red candy smell. I like it!

 

Wet: This is a deep, dark brown and deep velvety red scent. The mahogany comes out, making it the primary note. The candy is still in the background making this not smell so dry.

 

Dry: Musky red fruit and dusty, old wet fabric and dark wood. Um...

 

Overall: I'm not a fan of wood smells, and this is no exception. I think the only exception has been Ouija. I love the candy smell, not really to wear it, but it reminds me of childhood. But that fades very quickly and turns into an old dusty velvet and mahogany couch. Not my taste. Reminds me of Leaf-Strewn Couch or Velvet. (obviously... )

[Dymphna]

IN THE IMP: Cherries! Juicy, sweet, red cherries. I can smell the mahogany in the background, but just a bit. I love dark wood notes, so I'm hoping it will bloom on my skin. Mahogany and cherry sounds like such a good combination. I've been wanting to try this scent forever.

 

WET: Cherries, sweet cherries, and then...

 

DRY: GONE! I have to press my nose to the back of my hand to even find where I applied this. When I do find it, it's this very, very faint generic red fruit scent. It's like I splashed a drop of fruit punch on my hand and wiped it off and can kind of smell it a little bit. I know that sounds weird, but that's the only way I can think of to describe it. This was supposed to be such a deep, rich, dark red scent. WTF, skin?

[reena1]

imp: yum cherries!!

 

wet on skin: The wood and the cherries are fighting in a battle royal!! Come on cherries!

 

dried:...*sniffle* the wood gave the cherries the "People's Elbow" then ran out of the ring for a chair, to bash the cherry in the head. leaving my skin smelling of pencil shavings.

 

[girasol]

In the imp: Maraschino cherries.

Wet on skin: Strong woody smells, like fresh sawdust.

Drydown: This is really nice dry - the mahogany softens and becomes rich and subtle, with just a hint of sweetness from the cherries and currants.

Verdict: Only downside is it seems to have pretty limited throw. Bottle possibility.

[SophieCedar]

Got 2 frimps and glad I did instead of ordering it . Bit of a let down as the wood got washed down by the cherry and currant. This smells like cherry lollipops..bursts then it's gone!

[personaldna]

I saw the warning that the Red Queen smelled like cherry lollipops. But I just watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and I loved Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of the Red Queen in it, so I decided to take my chances. I win!

 

The Red Queen wet was a very cherry, slick red mess--sweet like candy, but in 15-20 minutes' time it dried down to a lovely mahogany wood. The sweetness has behaved itself, and I've lost my head sniffing myself again and again.

[hmelt004]

Mmm. I am a sucker for fruit+dirt/wood/patch combinations. This is a lot liked Depraved, one of my all time favorites, but with cherry instead of apricot. The wood here does smell a lot like patchouli to me. It keeps the cherry from being too sickly sweet and girly.

[Dharklady]

In Bottle: Sugary red cherries, almost sickly sweet.

 

Wet: Deeper tones of wood come out and quickly balance the sugared sweetness.

 

Dry: A complex melody. The fruit creates a subtle sweet layer over the rich wood foundation. Simply scrumptious without being foodie.

 

Notes: I love Wonderland and plan on trying all the scents at some point but I have to say that the Red Queen’s description was the one that appealed most to me and was one of the first ones BPal imps I tried. The scent definitely fits the description. This is easily one of my favorite concept scents and would be great for anyone who likes cherry!

 

[V294]

so this was very much CHERRIES for me and I don't like because it reminds me of medicine. My skin chemistry tends to spice things up though so out come woods and lacquer and now it smells like a different kind of herbal medicine. Not my thing so off to a new home.

[CitizenBree]

On wet: strong cherry cough medicine

 

On dry down: Very light wood, like a pencil

 

Very, VERY light and i'm talking about 45 seconds later. I'm questioning the spot where I put it on that I can barely smell it.

 

If this doesn't disappear on you, you might get a nice woody cherry smell.

[iletaitunefois]

...how odd! In the imp and on my skin, this was straight-up cherry Twizzlers. It lasted like that for a little while before fading a little bit into something a little darker. Twizzlers with a dash of cough syrup, I think. It's right on the edge of being unpleasant, but doesn't quite tip over into that category. It's mostly just twizzlers with a darkish undertone for me after about 10 minutes of wear.

 

I think I'll keep this...but only wear it on movie nights. In my head, it's inextricably connected to twizzlers and sticky soda underfoot.

[Lorelai1945]

In the imp and when first applied I get a rush of cherry cough syrup- very medicinal cherry. It quickly mellows out, and the mahogany pushes through. It ends up a soft cherry wood scent, and the longer it is dry the more I can get sweetness from the currant. I usually can't wear wood scents, but this one is much softer than any I've tried. The wood is more like pencil shavings...yet not in a bad way. I got this as a frimp and had no expectations, but I actually really like it and I think I'll wear it. it doesn't seem to have much throw or lasting power, but it's nice.

[fabgab]

I had the exact same experience that Dymphna did. So much that I hesitated even writing about it, but I guess it will be a helpful review even to say that this can happen to more than one person, right?

 

In the imp, maraschino cherries! Was so excited I gave my boyfriend a whiff and he said it smelled like fake cherries. I got indignant and huffed, "The LAB does NOT use anything synthetic!"

 

I put it on and I too wanted a cherry Italian ice. But that's not so different from any other minute of my life. Anyway, it was still juicy and fruity with beautiful, full, lush cherry goodness. I waited a few moments as it dried, and I sniffed again, and detected the wood somewhere hiding beneath the juicy cherry. I then exclaimed "There's WOOD under there!" and was met with another funny look.

 

I was very excited about the wood smell. I have not yet met a woody BPAL scent I didn't like. (I haven't smelled a ton of them I guess, but I'm thinking of Heavenly Love and Earthly Love, which is such lovely wood on me that I call it Heavenly Wood and Earthly Wood, even though I feel thematically like the wood is the "earthly" part and the other notes form the "heavenly" part. But I digress.) I had already noticed the throw wasn't very strong, but then just as the Red Queen was warming up to the wood, it disappeared.

 

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that about her in the story too. Loud and in your face, and then disappearing quickly. Sadness!

 

I only have a half-imp of this anyway, so I will definitely hang onto it and try again. With all the scents that smell outright BAD on me, one that smells good but just disappears is worth waiting for.

[Rianna]

Wow, I was surprised at how divided reviews are on this blend. I got a frimp of Red Queen with my order yesterday and I am in love. I just wish it had more staying power.

 

Sniff: Chocolate cherry cordials with a whiff of mahogany at the end. I'm surprised at how light this oil is in color because the sniffy immediately makes me think of dark, rich reds and browns. It's incredibly dark and sexy. I can see people with cough syrup trauma getting some of that from the sniff, but I was a bad kid who wouldn't take cough syrup (now I'm a bad grown-up who won't take it), so those associations just aren't there for me.

 

Wet on skin: The mahogany is a lot stronger. The cherries are still there, but not as sweet.

 

Dry on skin: The woods and fruits are pretty much evenly balanced now. The cherry, especially, is more like a real fruit and less like candy. It's also a lot more earthy, but not as "dark" in character. Three hours later, the scent is almost gone unless I stick my nose to my wrist. So I slather it on again and start the process over because I adore Red Queen. There will totally be 5ml of this in my next order.

[quigza]

in the bottle: cherry cough syrup, specifically the "tussin" type. Not cherry dayquil (yes, I sniffed the ones in my medicine cabinet)

 

wet: cough drop cherry, sweetness and...something a little warm. before it fully dries, the warmth turns into woods. maybe a little cedar-y.

 

dry: cherries (real ones! the dark ones), that wood smell, and faint sweet something (like remembered cookies)

 

aftermath: faintly cheery and almond. No more sweetness

[London]

Imp smells of black cherry.

 

On me: I think I found a wood that works on me! yay! I can smell the dark woods but they're just that, woody. Dark wood and cherries.

[vanillabean]

In the imp: Red, sticky and sweet. Almost cough syrup, but also similar to black cherry pop.

 

On: Uh... its gone? I put it on and all I can smell is the tiniest faintest breath of wood (smells like cedar to my nose, but its probably mahogany). And I only get that with my nose like, touching my wrist.

 

Well, boo.

[toomuch]

This has a few minutes of being too much wood, but dries down to a rich, fruity red.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

One of my very first purchases and I can't believe I haven't reviewed it!

 

In bottle: Cherries! Like Luden's Cherry Throat Lozenges that came in the little metal tin.

 

Wet on skin: Cherry wood!

 

Dry on skin: This settles into such a pretty scent. Very woody without the pine and the cherry and current really compliment each other. This is one of my top five favorite scents.

[MiaoYinn]

This was one of the first scents I bought when I first started my addiction to BPALs, and it sounded so yummy in the description! I imagined a rich, deep scent with the lush sweetness of cherries following a rich woodsy scent. What I got was bathroom cleaner, oh, Lord.

 

In the bottle the scent was absolutely overpowering. Perhaps my Imp had more cherry then most but when I uncapped it I was hit with an overwhelming sour twang of cherries which I really, really hoped would die down upon wearing the oil for a little while. It smelled like straight sour cherry candies in the bottle.

 

I put it on and when it dried, well... no such luck. The pervasive sour cherry smell did NOT go away, and took several hours to fade out after the dry-down period. After several hours of wearing it, there was no pleasant smell and it didn't get powdery on me, it was that obnoxious overwhelming smell of cherry scented air freshener or bathroom cleaner you get in most public restrooms! A big disappointment ;_;

 

Needless to say I will not be wearing this BPAL again. The overwhelming scent straight out of the bottle combined with my body chemistry (which apparently butchers anything that doesn't smell remotely resinous or spicy) made this one smelly disaster on me. Too bad ;_;

[mxtine]

Mahogany wood, black cherry and currant. The cherry is a grown-up cherry like the one in Gothabilly. At first, I feel like this imp is very aged and I feel like this would be so much better fresh, but then the notes start to get stronger on my skin. I really love the tart dark fruits with dry woods in this blend.

[Pyewacket]

origin: imp from the lab

 

in imp: strong cherry

 

on wet: less cherry, more woodiness

 

drying: like smelling a shiny, over-varnished wooden drinks cabinet that someone has spilt a little cherry liqueur onto.

 

verdict: it just didn't work on me but I guess this just means I need to avoid woody and cherry scents. I've only tried about 50 bpals so far but I seem to favour spicy, resiny, musky, incensy. I will say that it smells very appropriate for the red queen though.

[Lanolin]

Testing an imp of unknown vintage, but judging by the condition of the label I think it's at least a year old.

 

This changes dramatically once it's on skin, but both in the bottle and on skin are enjoyable.

 

In the bottle, it's cherry syrup - to me, it doesn't smell fake, just oversweet, like they've been pureed and slowly simmered.

 

On skin, it's just-harvested cherries, picked at the peak of freshness, sitting in an exquisitely polished mahogany bowl. Neither note seems more prominent - they seem happy to share the space, and I'm happy with the result.

 

Overall, I love it. It's not too sweet or too feminine for me, and it has a generous wearlength and throw on me.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Lanolin

[cherrycherry]

I wish the cherry note lasted longer because if it did, it would definitely be bottle-worthy. It fades almost instantly on me and is replaced by dry, almost dusty woods. Well, pencil sharpenings, to be blunt. I'd have to keep re-applying for that gorgeous, juicy cherry. Shame :/