The Red Queen

[smallvoice]

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

 

Tested thanks to the GC swap quikslvr arranged! (Retested thanks to a frimp of this in a recent swap!)

 

Imp: Very cherry and a little chocolatey. That's a good start. On: Bright, sugary cherry cordials! Or so my notes say, anyhow. It's listed as a must have scent, but that is not so this time around. I don't know if this is due to my hormones or what, but when I tried it today, it turned to ash. Well, not quite ash. It's the same sawdusty scent I always get from sandalwood. There was a faint breath of cherry, but it was overpoweringly musty. I'm glad I have an imp of this to play around with a little bit.

Edited July 31, 2006 by cordia

[Melantha]

Uck, it smelled medicinal when wet.... but has dried down to something nice. I'll give it a couple more tries before giving up on it!

 

ETA: Same as before. I don't think I like the drydown enough to put up with the medicine smell.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Melantha

[cranberry]

Motivated to try my imp by the GC Swap.

 

In the imp: cherries

 

On the skin, wet: cherries. Red cherries.

 

On the skin, dry: the woods come out. There’s cherries and wood. A little later, the currants are more prominent and the cherries not as much so. The mahogany reminds me of cedar. Dry, I like this scent quite a lot.

 

Overall, it was great to try this again and I always enjoy it when I do. I don’t need a bottle but I’ll keep my imp.

[indicolite]

Can I really not tell the difference between cherries and almond? I thought that it was almond at first, but I guess it is cherry, very strongly. The Red Queen dries down to mahogany; I have now figured out what she reminds me of: Ouija!

 

She is okay; not fantastic, but I will find a use for my imp once I mend the broken cap.

[fairy]

Well, I just had the imp decapitate so I have Red Queen all over my desk. I smell cherries. It smells wonderful Once it hits my skin it gets a little smoky and that's where it goes wrong for me...if only the cherries stayed. I like it but not enough to upgrade. I'll definitely keep my poor imp though

Edited August 26, 2006 by maddi

[buzz23666]

in the imp and wet this one is all about cherries. Huge, ready to burst, ripe cherries.

 

As it dries the wood comes forward - the mahogany mixed with a slight burning wood of some sort- with a hint of what my mind recalls of burning leaves. Now if the cherry would just come back for a while...

 

Dry the cherries are replaced by the current which sits just under the wood.

 

I can't see wearing this one but I will certainly use it as a room scent when I want to remember what Fall feel like.

[steffanina]

The Red Queen-

 

In Bottle: A fruity scent mixed with yummy woody scent. I like this one in the bottle!

 

Wet: Oh, more of that. Cherries and wood! I like that mahogany--there's an almost chocolate/pipe tobacco undertone.

 

Dry: Though there's a medicinal smell to the cherries--like cherry Robitussin--that doesn't put me off completely. That woody smell is so nice! --Oh, the medicinal smell is leaving now, and that chocolate/pipe tobacco smell is left, without the mustiness of actual tobacco. How delicious this one dries down!

 

Overall: I really like!

[metaldog32]

Received this as a frimp from the Lab..many thanks!!!

 

Now..I happen to love cherry...and the idea of that swirled with wood and currants has my pulse quickening..so I am eager to see how this translates on my skin..keeping my fingers crossed.

 

BTW..this was not on my original list to purchase..so I am really intrigued.

 

Initial sniff from imp:Yup..it's cherries all right..like the big fat juicy ones in Blood Kiss..and then they showed up again in Blood Lotus....very sweet but very good. Almost TOO sweet..but then again..I do love cherries. There also seems to be a bit of an almond type note way in the back..but it's good..I like almonds too..hahahahahahahahaaha.

 

Applied wet on skin:It's all about the cherries..and the touch of almond..no woods to speak of yet..so right now..this seems to give me a touch of a flashback of Bastet...but without the saffron. Not a bad thing..but I am hoping for the woods to peek out..as I think that would be an amazing combo.

 

Couple of minutes on skin:Still the same players..but if I whiff deeply enough I get the trace of the rich woods...darn..I was hoping for a bit more equal play with the fruit and woods..hmm...I will keep hoping..

 

Don't get me wrong..I love the cherry/almond vibe..I just kind of have that already with some other BPAL fragrances..so I will keep my fingers crossed here...(whistling...watching the clock...sniffing obsessively wrist, tapping foot...)

 

Drying on skin:Okay...nowI am getting a bit more of the woods intermingled with the fruit..and it's good...but it's also a bit more faint than what I had hoped for...darn. Maybe I will slather on next time..

 

Drydown:It's all muted cherry/currant with the woods softly moving in and out...I do like it very much..I was just hoping to be OMF*CKING goodness...still could happen though...I could just slather on a bit more next time and just wallow in it

 

I can't really comment on the staying power...so I will have to edit this post when I have a bit more time to see how this evolves.

 

Bottom Line: The Red Queen...I like but it's not bottle worthy..just yet. It sort of reminds me a bit of Queen of Spades...and I think I was hoping that once my bottle runs out, I could find something comparable. The Red Queen could work..but I need a couple more test runs before I know for sure. Still..I enjoyed the first round.

 

Edited for spelling...mea culpa!!

 

Okay...it's the next morning and I have two more observations:

 

Staying power of The Red Queen was weak...2.5 hours at most. I put some more on when I went to bed last night and this morning while furtively sniffing my wrist for signs that she was still there all I got was skin.

 

I did do a sniff test with The Red Queen and Queen of Spades...just to see if there could be similarities..alas...not enough to warrant a comprarable substitute. While both have fruit and wood, Spades translates more richly on me then Red Queen...so although the imp was nice..it's not sticking around.

Edited September 3, 2006 by metaldog32

[Luhtarian]

In the bottle, this was absolutely bursting with rich, dark, cherries. I could also smell resiny notes, but the cherries were most apparant. On me, the woods come out into the foreground, the cherry and currants are more muted. I wish there was more cherry on me, but it's still a really nice scent if you like wood notes - which I do!

[buzz23666]

oh man this one just bums me out.

 

Wet - this is soooo cherry and I absolutely loved it wet.

 

Dry - the cherry just curls up and dies leaving the wood. Someone mentioned earlier that it smelled like sawdust. Holy crap - that's exactly what I am left with - a sweetish sawdust.

 

WWWAAAHHHHHHHHH

 

All that said - the wood scent left behind is quite nice - but to wear this one I would need a bit more than just wood.

[Precis]

While the imp's closed, The Red Queen smells awesome, but once the cap comes off I can already smell the sickly sweet medicinal licorice-y smell I get that I get with almonds and certain cherries. Oh no! On wet, it's the same smell. As it dries, the licorice mess settles down and the woods come out... as pencil shavings, a note I thought I only got from Ginger! It was worth a gamble, but I'll have to pass this along to someone who can wear these notes. Oh well.

 

EDIT: WAIT it's sweetened up now to a nice, wearable, entirely cherrycurrant scent. How odd! I'll keep this around and reevaluate in colder months, maybe.

Edited September 12, 2006 by Precis

[portalkat]

Cherries are not my favorite note in perfume, so I am a bit skeptical about this, however I love wood so I am anxious to give it a try. One sniff and I have fallen hard. The cherries and the currant add a wonderful sweetness to the deep dark woods. It is almost like that sweet cherry pipe tobacco and so very smooth. It does not really morph and is not that complex, but it is beautiful in its simplicity. I am so in love with the Red Queen

[tempestteapot]

My first review!

 

In the bottle: sweet and fruity, a deep smell. It smells RED.

 

Wet: the nasty cough medicine my mother used to give me as a kid

 

Beginning to dry: The fake cherry smell backs off a bit and I get more of the 'deep' scents.

 

Dry: If I get to close and really breathe it in, I still get the cough medicine. But if I just go about my business I get a lovely cherrys and wood smell.

 

This isn't something that I'm going to wear close to my face. A smear on my right wrist is more than enough.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

gah! liquid Tylenol and mothballs.

 

medicinal cherry and....and....and just no.

 

i'm swapping with someone who has this on her wishlist, so its off to her!

[space girl lost]

hrm.

 

i wanted to like this one. i really, really did. i am having AWFUL luck trying to find a cherry scent. i'm thinking that my skin likes it too much and doesn't want to share.

 

in the imp i can ALMOST smell cherries, but once on my skin all i smell is woodshop and freshly waxed furniture. NOT something i want to smell like AT ALL. oh pooh.

 

another one for the swap pile.

[Tudor Rose]

Wet: The Red Queen is lovely- all amaretto and a whiff of cherry in the background. I start thinking I may need a bottle...

 

But wait- 10 minutes later it has morphed into a bitter, woody smell- not a hint of the beautiful amaretto and no sweetness to it.

 

Ends up bringing back memories of my grandmother. She played violin and it reminds me so much of the rosin she used on her bow- nice memory but I don't want to smell like it.

 

Interesting scent, but it's off to the swap pile.

[Iceblink]

Cherry cough drops quickly turning into cherry-stained wood. It's better than it sounds, but it only lasted about an hour on me. Rats!

[kwsix]

From sniffing the imp all the way through the drydown on my skin, this scent is completely true to the description on me. It's all sweet cherries and warm wood. Thank goodness I don't get cough syrup or mothballs or any of the other yucky things some people are getting. This won't be an everyday scent, but I lwill at least occasionally wear it because it's one of the best BPAL cherry scents I've tried. My only complaint is that it fades very quickly on me, and was gone from my skin completely within 45 minutes.

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: cherry candy lolipops and mahogany wood.

wet: the wood comes out much stronger now

dry: gets too cedar-closety later. Ble.

[PilotKitten]

On first whiff this is a VERY woodsy dark cherry scent. Not the wood dark cherry... the fruit. The wonderful cherry that was perverted by anise in Kyoto and Neo-Tokyo, etc. But in this case it's perverted instead by the woods. Woods are just not my thing. Alas, poor cherry, I knew ye not.

[Jishin]

Now, see, to me this is a totally different cherry than the one in Kyoto. This is luscious, deep, and dark -- Kyoto's cherries are much more candy-like. Red Queen is Cherries Jubilee, followed up by some lovely dark woody scents.

 

I love Red Queen. The cherries are very dominant on me, followed up by an undercurrent of the woods. I don't get currants at all, but I don't really think currants have a strong scent, so ...

 

It does finally dry down a little plasticky. Reminds me vaguely of the Strawberry Shortcake dolls I had when I was young. But at that point, it's so faint that I have to basically stick my wrists up my nose to smell it, so that's not really a serious issue for me.

 

It doesn't last very long on me, which is too bad. I like it. I think I'll probably finish my imp, but it's unlikely that I'll go for a bottle.

[Lari]

Oh, my heavens.

 

Like a lot of other people have said... HUGE cough syrup smell out of the bottle. Ick.

 

Gave it a go to see if it would act differently on my skin... what I wound up with was cough syrup with a massive throw for a while, like I had just showered in Robitussin. After a while it turned into a nice, woody scent, but for the amount of time it take for the cherries to go away it's just not worth it to me.

 

Verdict: my husband might like it, but I'm planning to stay far, far away.

[lilbellule]

In the imp: Sweet cherries.

 

Wet: The cherry begins to smell more medicinal and the woods start to come out.

 

Dry: The cherry fades pretty quickly and the overall smell turns more or less into slightly sweet pencil shavings. It also is very faint for the short time that it sticks around.

[glass_cat]

Red Queen was one of those scents that I took a chance on, going straight for the bottle and bypassing the imp altogether. That's how sure I was that I was going to like this. Cherry is one of my all-time favorite notes, second only to rose or lily, and I've really developed a love affair with wood notes lately. I wasn't disappointed. I really do like this, although I can see why a lot of people wouldn't. It's not for everyone.

 

I didn't get the "cough syrup" reaction like some people did. This didn't seem medicinal at all to me, although it did smell slightly "alcoholic", like cherry cordials perhaps. Really all I smelled was cherry cherry CHERRY, and then lots of dark wood notes. Someone else mentioned being reminded of the smell of their grandmother's violin. (I also play violin, so I thought of the same thing actually, except it's a very pleasant association for me.) I also got a chocolate undercurrent from this, which surprised me, but was also very pleasant. Actually this smells exactly how I would imagine the Red Queen would actually smell, being a life-size chess piece... dark, red, strong, and very woody.

 

For me, this is a winner, and makes a nice alternative to Queen of Hearts, which I also love. Queen of Hearts is cherry-based, but smells bright, white, and sunny to me. Red Queen has that same very cherry smell, but it's darker and deeper.

[em_h]

Except in very rare circumstances, fruit + me = failure. This isn't one of those rare circumstances. It's not terribly unpleasant, but it starts off as a very strong artificial cherry scent that makes me sneeze, and then fades gradually away to nothing; the wood notes never really manage to emerge at all. Ah well.