The Red Queen

[VictorianVulgar]

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

This one has cherry cough syrup all over it. I thought maybe it was just in the vial that the scent was too much for me and on my skin it would mellow out but...nope. The warmth of my skin actually seemed to intensify the medicinal cherry smell. Yick. I love all of my other imps from this collection, but this one is definitely going in the swap pile.

[Deliciousness]

In the vial: I think I am getting cherries with a background of dark wood

Wet on skin: The wood scent is becoming more pronounced, while the cherries are quickly fading in to the background.

Dry: OMG. Pencil shavings.

 

I was so hoping this scent would work on me! But alas, I am destined to have this blend turn into pencil shavings on contact with my skin ... slightly metallic, dry wood. UGH.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Deliciousness

[Erinofhere]

Frimp from the lab

 

Wet: smells of cherry (real ripe and almost black cherries) and cedar (does Mahogany smell like cedar??)

 

On my wrist: Whoa! major cedar. nothing but cedar. I must amp wood smells or something.

 

Dry: Cedar with a hint of "redness" I am picking up strawberries (odd) and cherries and something...hot. Something like cinnamon or Allspice berries? Maybe I'm picking up the currant and it's just not registering as such. After awhile all I am left with is a fading fast cedar scent. On me red Queen has no staying power. But my skin tends to end fragrance..so it's probably just me.

 

I did like it sort of. I won't be buying a big bottle but if you are a fan of cherries (I am) and cedar (I'm not) then this would work well for you I think.

[welcometothefamily]

Thou shalt not buy a GC bottle unsniffed.

 

 

In The Bottle: Damnit, I broke my own rule, and unfortunately I dislike this scent intensely -sigh-. I was really hoping for the delicious, juicy-tart cherries that I got from Monsterbait: Bloody Mary, but unfortunately, this is raging almond essence, which I hate :/.

 

Wet On Skin: Yup, almond essence. Ick.

 

Dry: Ooh, ooh.....nope, even the woods smell awful on me. Can anyone say peanuts?

 

Couple Hours Later: Well, this has dried into a semi-pleasant powdery incensey type of scent, which is okay. Unfortunately the almond essence and peanuts are nauseating, ensuring that I will never be able to wear this scent.

 

Verdict: Excuse me while I go cry in a corner.

 

ETA: I decided to try this again, and idk if it was my chemistry that day or what, but I like this. I avoid smelling this for the first 2 minutes wet, because it smells like almond essence still, but after that, it is pleasant enough that I may keep my bottle. Unfortunately, it's quite faint on me and doesn't last for very long, 2 hours tops. Nice, but not sure.

Edited September 29, 2013 by welcometothefamily

[alyelle]

Imp: Cherry cough syrup.

 

Wet: Woody, much more so than the imp smell would lead you to believe! And much more dominant than the cherry note on me. It's a deep, rich mahogany with a sweet undertone that's proper cherry blossom, not the cough syrup smell of earlier.

 

Dry: Quite weirdly, the smell of solder being heated. I don't even know. But I actually quite like the scent of solder being heated so although it's not something I'd go looking for in a perfume, I'm finding it very comforting all the same. If I sniff really hard, the cherry tone is still there, but it's mostly melting solder.

 

Overall: After an hour or so it morphs back to the wood smell, with a hint of lacquer or solder. One review said pencil shavings, which is almost the scent I'm getting, but there's still a teeny bit of fruit. I definitely amp mahogany like no-one's business, that's for sure. I think I'd have liked more/stronger fruit notes. Layering with one of the blackberry-based scents or even Chokecherry Honey might help get the effect I'm after. I'll keep it for now to see how it ages.

 

★: 3/5

[MiasmaResonance]

Much more cherry whilst still wet, but as it dries the woody note comes out as well as a hint of currant. It's a very deep scent, not high pitched.

 

I agree with another reviewer; I end up smelling like a table. An old, well learned, majestic, dark wood table. Interesting, but wouldn't wear it much.

[Teaker]

A blast of wet black cherries... then strong wood. I definitely get the "velvety" part of the description. I was sure it was black musk I was smelling, but it's not in the description, so I'm not sure what gives it that quality. Once the cherry burns off, all that's left is the oddly fuzzy wood. Not a winner for me.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Teaker

[agirlnamedfury]

In the imp, this is all cherries, but wet on my skin it's strong, almost bitter mahogany. The cherry comes back a bit after an hour or so, but it's not nearly as fruity as I'd hoped for.

 

I think this one goes into the "to try again....eventually" pile.

[Veronica]

Straight mahogany wood, like a furniture store.

[HighlyBell7]

In Imp: Clear with a hint of yellow. Dirty Chocolate covered cherries but using real liquor for the centers and maybe a bit of grass.

 

Wet: Luden’s cherry “cough drops” with a sweet flower.

 

Dry: Flower that is light and pleasantly oily like a beautiful expensive musky cherry hand lotion that you bought from some expensive store where you went to buy your mother-in-law that expensive perfume she loves for Christmas and you got yourself this present because it smelled wonderful and damn it you deserve it.

 

Later: Subtle sweet wax like those wax candies with the sweet stuff in the center you had when you were little and lived in a world where that was ok and there was no such thing as Whole Foods.

 

Much Later: A hint of overly sweet wine on a woman’s breath that gets stronger with time [Currants?]? Like a rich old lush that only drinks from Waterford Crystal goblets and wears satin nightgowns all day long.

 

Even Later: OMG! It turns into cherry Swisher Sweets. I think my nose just fell in love…. I smoked these once upon a time when I was young and like to pretend I didn’t know any better…. Then it turns into the sexiest musk. I need a bottle of this!!!

[LexieBlom]

The Red Queen imp

 

Wet/Bottle - Cherry flavored cough syrup. That's about it, none of the promised woods or even currant. Just artificial, sickly sweet cherry.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Still that same cherry cough syrup.

 

This actually brought back some really unpleasant memories about being sick as a kid, and I had to wash it off before the 30 minute drydown. It was making me physically ill. This is definitely a no-go.

[freyasfae]

Considering how much I like eating cherries, I really can't stand the smell, even with a place like BPAL, the scent always seems chemically to me. Admittedly, the strong cherry of this scent doesn't last long and the wood notes come in in a really lovely way and the cherries take a back note, and it is more like woods with a touch of dark fruits, but I can't get paste the initial cherry.

[LizziesLuck]

As if I've never reviewed this! I have a cobalt bottle of it...lol.

 

 

The Red Queen is an anomaly on me. I remember getting it because I had played The Red Queen in a production of Alice Through The Looking Glass, and so I just had to have it.

 

Cherry rarely works on me. I dislike woods most of the time. And yet I love this, and it loves me back. Beautiful rich woods, slathered in sweet cherry/currant. I love it.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Cherry and mahogany, with the mahogany almost giving a tootsie roll vibe in the background.

 

Wet: The cherry dominates, and the wood notes are velvety, just like in the description. I'm getting more of the woods on my skin than I did in the imp, and the tootsie roll vibe I mentioned before is not present on my skin. The cherry smells realistic (and not medicinal) to me, but it isn't long before the wood notes start declaring dominion over the fruit notes.

 

Dry: The mahogany and velvety woods reign, but the cherry and currant are still present, albeit in the background.

 

Verdict: I actually enjoyed the wet phase of the scent more, when the wood notes weren't as prominent. I'll be keeping my imp (as I do that with all Mad Tea Party imps), but I won't be upgrading this one to a bottle.

[Cali]

I must be crazy, before I read the notes I thought there was coconut in there. But, revisiting, that must be the smart blend of the cherry and something sharp... Maybe cedar?

I swear there's gotta be almond in there *shudders*... Which amps up on my skin. Clever blend, but this is not for me.

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Maraschino cherry juice!

 

Wet on my skin: CHERRY and a bit of woods and currant. But mostly CHERRY. Like eating maraschino cherries whilst wearing cherry chapstick.

 

Dry: This is definitely cherry-dominant for most of the way. However, after an hour or so, the mahogany and what smells like cedar shows up, making the cherry a bit less medicinal-sweet and adding a layer of almost dusty-spicy woods. Then, more of the currant comes out around the 3-hour mark and overshadows the cherry. At this point, this scent is actually rather reminiscent of Bordello on my skin. Definitely a morpher, and an interesting journey, but it takes about 2-3 hours to settle down to where I really like it. I think I'll keep the imp, though, cause it'd be a great costume or theme scent!

[joopjoop]

I really enjoy this one! In the imp it smells very medicinal. Wet the mahogany and woods are very strong and a bit funky and bitter smelling, but it soon settles down and the cherry and currant come up and meet the woods. I usually amp cedar like crazy, but I'm not getting any here.

 

It does indeed have a velvety, somewhat luxurious quality to it with the red fruits and rich woods. It reminds me of a room with thick red draperies and polished carved furniture and people murmuring in low voices. I'm learning that woods + fruit (particularly red and/or tart fruit) often hits the sweet spot for me.

 

I got this imp in a swap (yay swaps!) and not sure how old it is. I might order a lab imp to see if I like it fresh.

Edited December 16, 2016 by joopjoop

[Mermaid-on-Land]

Ooooh this is nice right on application. It's a deep, dark, cherry-tinged wood scent. There's a depth that's almost chocolatey without being actually chocolate or foody. Maybe it's the tobacco note everyone's mentioning. It's rich and heavy, with a chewy solid quality. The cherry is not cough syrupy or artificial at all. It's really integrated with the dark woods and mahogany. It's sweet but not overly so. Overall the color reminds me of a reddish gleam coming from a polished, lacquered dark wood. The woods disappear behind the cherry note a couple minutes in which disappointed me a bit but oh well. I still like it. Gets a vague medicinal tinge as the woods fade. Eventually dries to a dark cherry frangrance with mahogany undertones. Doesn't last as long as I'd like but was very nice while it stuck around. Gonna test further to see how much I reach for it.

[SecondDreemurr]

In the imp it smells like rich cherries, almost like cherry coca cola.

Wet on me it smells about the same, the cherries are very strong.

As it dries I start to smell a woody note, but it doesnt blend with the cherries for me. It morphs into cherry/cherry cola lip smackers. Which isnt bad, just not for me, I know people who'd probably love this.

[lizabelle]

Starts out with sickly sweet artificial cherry, which almost immediately fades down to a skin scent of rich dark wood and true almost overripe cherries. I've never smelled mahogany before but it's like a darker, smoother cedar note. The currant is similar to the other Mad Tea Party blends' currant--a bit dry and dark. It keeps the cherry from going too sweet. Actually quite nice, but I wish this had some throw on me. Maybe if I got a bottle and aged it? But there are so many other fish in the sea BPALs in the catalogue.

Edited January 31, 2017 by lizabelle

[gloame]

At first this was woooah, cherry! The cherry faded super fast, and I was left with a very Tombstone-esque pencil shavings/cedar. Man I wanted to love this so much, but the balance just wasn't there, at least in my imp. More cherry please!

Where I'd wear this: Camping, hot summer

[Lucchesa]

The Red Queen is quiet woods and fruit on my skin. Wet, it's cherry with just a bit of currant, and as it dries the woods become more and more prominent, edging the fruit into the background. It smells like polished mahogany; if there's cedar it's well behaved on me and doesn't turn into pencil shavings. This is a much drier, more restrained scent than The Phantom Calliope, my favorite cherry blend. Phantom Calliope is juicy and social; Red Queen is aloof, even sardonic. No throw and my skin eats it up fairly quickly.

[Darkersolstice]

Ah, Red Queen, my one disappointment so far. The scent in the imp was tempting, more cherry than wood, and delightfully complex, but when it dried down on my, the result was...wet woodchips. Not that I mind a good woodsy scent, but I was disappointed that despite most scents ending up remarkably sweet on me, this one kind of...fizzled. Even the woody smell didn't make it until lunch.

 

Still, there are times when I might pull the imp out again. I wonder if during the summer, it might do different things on my body.