Boadicea

[angelicruin]

Rebel Queen of the Iceni, she led an uprising of the tribes against the Roman Empire. After Claudius’ conquest of the area, the Iceni voluntarily allied themselves to Rome, though Rome was not a gentle parent state. The Romans conquered much of Brittania, desecrated the sacred groves at Mona, and slaughtered the druids. When Boadicea’s husband, Prasutagus, died, his will was ignored and his massive financial debt to Rome was called in forcefully. Iceni was annexed as though it was a conquered territory, property and estates were seized, both tribal nobility and the common folk were enslaved. When Boadicea objected to the treatment of her lands and her people, she was flogged, and her children were grievously injured.

Boadicea took her vengeance.

Under the leadership of Boadicea, the Iceni and Trinovantes united with their neighbors and the surviving druids of Mona to instigate a rebellion. They cut a swath of furious destruction. Her warriors slaughtered Legionary forces, and destroyed Camulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium -- so scorching the earth beneath Londinium that the scar is still visible beneath modern London.

Amber, fig, vanilla flower, oak, patchouli, vetiver, dragon’s blood resin, leather, and neroli.

Inside bottle, very resinous vanilla fig patchouli.

Wet on my skin, light woodsy, amber, vanilla fig. The patchouli note in this blend is amazing, very smooth. I'm not really getting any dragon's blood with this, other than there is a bit of sweetness that could also be attributed to the vanilla & fig notes. The amber is very tempered. I had worried that with the notes in this blend it might be too strong for me, but that is totally not the case here. It's a soft fragrance on my skin. And I do not detect any vetiver note on my skin. Vetiver and I usually do not get along, which was another reason I worried about this, but like Velvet Panther, the Vetiver note in this fragrance is friendly to my skin.

ETA: I've finally figured out what this scent reminds me of. If you like The Haunted Palace or The House scents, I highly recommend giving this one a try. 6 hours later, Boadicea dries down to the most beautiful resinous creamy incense on my arm. I think this is my favorite warrior queen I've tested so far. Edited June 12, 2009 by angelicruin

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: It's a warm and creamy and spicy scent.

 

Wet: The vetiver and the patchouli are there, but they are being kept well grounded by the fig and the vanilla flower. I think that the hint of sweetness is from the fig and the neroli. The oak might be that green and woody note. The leather is the base note. I'm not the world's biggest fan of dragon's blood resin, and if it's here, it's rather faint.

 

The dry-down: This is really a skin scent on me; the vanilla and the fig are the top notes. I wish I smelt like this after mucking about and after horses all day long. I like it a lot, but even after slathering, the Iceni Queen is off to burn down those Roman cities.

 

Layered with her bath oil, Boadicea's a bit sweeter, and I hope she will stay longer.

 

I might have to order another set of this, because I like both so much! So lovely, but so fleeting.

[stellans]

Well, hell's bells. I loved the description of this Queen so much, and just knew she would be a great scent for me...right up until I actually put a bit on my arm. I've been amber'd! Where's the patchouli, the vetiver? Why is amber the only thing I smell, and why did it have to turn into rancid powder on the drydown? These are questions to which there are no answers. Edited June 5, 2010 by stellans

[Lycanthrope]

Boadicea, in the bottle, is quiet, swirling malevolence. There are wisps of the snap of vetiver, just barely, a little smokiness, something sweet, feminine, but definitely smoldering.

 

On my skin, this is very sweet indeed, in fact, there's maybe a snap of smoke and sharpness which gives way to a smooth powdery amber accented and sweetened by the vanilla. Neither the patch nor dragon's blood announce their presence in their usual way on my skin (no deep, dusty dirt aroma nor sharp, slighty tangy citrus-oid resin), they just get swirled up into this very smooth amber.

 

Which... as this amber tends to do, a possibly similar amber as in The Ifrit, goes to powder. A very nice, fancy powder, but puffy and light, and pleasant, but not menacing at this point. Still quite nice. I like it, but it evokes a more peaceful scene to me than the destruction of Romans.

[iiinterstate]

I almost didn't order Boadicea because I was afraid of the vetiver and dragon's blood resin, but the other notes were so tempting that I had to.

 

As it turns out, this blend is one of the precious few in which the Vetiver Miracle occurs. That is, in which the vetiver note is tempered by all the others and makes a smoky appearance instead of an overpowering one.

 

Boadicea is smoky sweet fig and vanilla in the throw, but close to the skin I can smell oak, patchouli, and leather. So good. I can't wait to see how this ages.

 

 

[jewelbug]

Bottle: sweet amber/leather, with a bit of a citrus quality. Kinda powdery/perfumey.

 

Wet: Sorta smoky, syrup-y amber. With a hint of vanilla. Its not really figgy to my nose, which was what I was hoping for. It is nice, though. Bit of a greenness--sharp like pine or vetiver? Still a bit of a citrus feel, too--green citrus?

 

Drying: You know, this reminds me a bit of Hand of Glory--I'd like ot compare the two side by side.

 

Dry: A rich golden amber, a bit sweet, with hints of leather. But mostly an amber blend. Very pretty, but not extremely unique (or figgy, like I was hoping!!).

 

Overall: Not sure if I'll keep her or not--want to get some age on her, test again, and compare side by side to hand of glory. Her bath oil, though, is HEAVEN and will be treasured.

[Lamia]

Whoa... so far, this has been the best one, which surprises me because amber often doesn't work on me.

 

But this is sexy and confident, dark and female; fig, vanilla, neroli, leather - you can't even detect the patchouli.

 

I may have to hunt down a bottle of this.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. Surprisingly clean and cologney. I get a lot of woody notes - the vetiver forermost, then a little oak, a bit of sharp neroli and a touch of leather. Hints of vanilla flower and patchouli. Definitely masculine.

 

Wet: Vetiver! And more neroli, almost juicy-citrusy - a very nice neroli note. I get a touch of the dragon's blood, but it's bearable. Some fig, fruity kind, but these are all way behind neroli & vetiver. The leather is making me sneeze - it's that chemical-powder De Sade type.The vanilla flower is being so shy.

 

Dry: The leather is amping, and so is the dragon's blood and vanilla. The latter's turning a little sickly sweet on me, especially in combination with the oak which is dark and sort of vanillic itself. Still lots of clean cologney vetiver & neroli. This sort of reminds me of Death on a Pale Horse.

 

Later: It went all sweet and soapy and chemically, with the dragon's blood and leather aping unpleasantly, the neroli turning to soap as it often does, an the amber has evengone powdery. Plus, fig and vanilla have gone sickly sweet. This is an utter mess on my skin.

 

Summary: Sickly, cloyingly sweet vanilla-fig candy over dragon's blood air freshener, neroli soap, and chemically leather. Foul. The worst WQ on me by far. The lovely deep oak, now distinct, and clean vetiver cannot redeem this on my skin. Great throw.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2009 by fairnymph

[rayvn1]

This was the queen I most wanted to try and was the most nervous about with the notes. Boadicea is one of my historical heros ever since I was a kid (a British warrior queen? How cool!) so I was really excited to see her name up there. So many notes listed can go wrong on me, though - fig, vanilla, oak, and especially the uber-dreaded dragon's blood! Once on though, these went so very, very right! Yay! The amber didn't turn to powder, but was rich and glowing. The fig was a light and fresh fruity presence offset by the sweet vanilla and the rugged touch of leather brushing up against the lowest layer of the mix deepened everything. Perfect! Just perfect

[Monster]

After reading the reviews I decided to make this my second WQ purchase

 

In the bottle: "Fresh" smelling resin.

 

Wet: This almost smells like there's a bit of pine in here, but that could be the leather and vetiver playing tricks on me nose. It's hard to single out all of the notes in this, everything is really well-blended and balanced. Boadicea is definitely a resinous perfume with a clean sort of feeling to it. The vanilla flower and neroli add just a hint of sweetness. This sort of reminds me of a softer, femenine version of Schwarzer Mond (which I love).

 

Dry: Wowowowow this dries down beautifully! Yowza. I'm getting a gentley powdery amber with a hint of sweetness from the floral notes and woody oak. I haven't detected patchouli or dragons blood in this at all. The leather is mild as well but is really only prominent in the wet phase. Dry, I can't smell any leather. This is just a really pretty, femenine resin. Boadicea hugs my skin and stays close.

 

Overall: So far out of the two WQs I've tried (only other one is Zenobia) this is my favorite! This is one of those scents I can wear all year 'round, anywhere (it's soft enough on my skin to be office friendly as well). Such a beautiful scent. This one is not to be missed!

[Dark Alice]

Right now..wet...this is all amber, patchouli, with hints of vanilla and fig on my skin.

 

Drydown: amber with hints of vanilla and patchouli and that dam pine needle. I can't wait to what happens when this ages just a wee bit more.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this smells perfumey, warm, and sweet. I smell the amber and a sweet vanilla.

 

On my skin at first, this is mostly amber, vanilla flower and oak. The amber is warm, golden, and powdery, the vanilla is sweet, and the oak adds a grounding bit of darkness. Something about this smells very musky & warm on me as well. It's like a perfumey, golden musk.

 

With the patchouli, vetiver & leather, I was sure that this would smell very earthy and dark. Oddly, I don't smell any of those notes here, and I usually amp those notes. I also don't smell any dragon's blood.

 

Amber, vanilla flower, and oak are the main players for me, and this scent has great throw and staying power. It has an overall warm, sweet, golden, perfumey feel.

 

After letting this settle for about an hour, I keep thinking that it smells like there's some gunpowder/firecracker smoke in here. It smells like that delicious smell that's in the air after a fireworks show. That is mixed with the golden, intoxicating vanilla scent and perfumey warmth. Really beautiful.

 

Boadicea definitely isn't what I expected from the listed notes, but I think she's a new favorite for me.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Little Bird

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Vetiver and a touch of soapiness

 

Wet on me - The vetiver and a perculiarly minty scent

 

Dry on me - The vetiver softens, sweetens and becomes musky

 

Overall - The dry down is wonderfully sensuous, but there's just too much vetiver in the opening stages for me.

[cranberry]

It’s so interesting the different ways people experience the same perfume. For me, the strongest thing I smelled when Boadicea is first applied is neroli. Lots and lots and lots of neroli. Which is good, as I do love it. The neroli is tempered and sweetened by the amber and vanilla.

 

It’s hard to describe this by notes, it is an extremely well blended oil and the notes really come together well. The amber, vetiver and patchouli are not dominant and overpowering in this blend. They just provide a bit of darkness and base to the sweet vanilla and bitter sweet neroli. The fig is hard to distinguish, but I think that it must be there with the vanilla adding a sweetness and rounding out the neroli.

 

I get no leather or dragon’s blood from this blend at all. I suspect that the leather is there adding a smoothness to the base and the dragon’s blood adds a bit of sweet fruitiness that’s working with fig.

 

As it wears, the neroli backs off a bit and the amber and vanilla get stronger.

 

Viscerally, I love this blend. It’s gorgeous. Sweet, powerful and so sexy. LOVE this!

 

ETA: after an hour or so, or maybe not even that long, the fig really pushed forward and it was heavy fig and vanilla.

Edited July 25, 2009 by cranberry

[zankoku_zen]

This is a sweet resinous blend with hints of powder and fruit (fig mostly). It's got a woody base and part of it veers into soapy territory.

 

If you like resin/wood blends, give this a whirl.

[milo]

Whoa this is some soapy and woody blend. I'm rather disappointed, as I LOVE the bath oil. After a bit, the soapiness fades somewhat, but it is still there. I received this about a week ago, and I remember liking it a LOT better when I tried it out then. I put some Aeronwen (which I love), on my other wrist at the time, as I noticed there was some common notes, and it was very similar. Then. Now, she is a bit overbearing, which may be a good thing as a warrior queen, but not for me. Maybe the blend that I loved when it first got here will come back in time. I've been kind of injured and ill, so maybe my chemistry is off.

Layering the bath oil and the oil, the sweetness of the bath oil tempers the soapiness of the other, and it is quite nice.

I'll hang on to her for awhile, as I remember she really was a lovely fig/amber blend before. Come back I say!!!

 

eta: OK, I guess I should have given her a chance. The fig and vanilla are coming out now, mind you it took about an hour to do so. I don't remember it being that long before. There is a hint of woody patchouli now, and she again, is reminding me of the lovely Aeronwen. Total win!!

 

eta 2: I'm kind of wondering if the oils weren't quite mixed earlier, as I tried it again, and it was the wonderful figgy/vanilla/amber, with a dash of patchouli right away, rather than an hour later.

Edited July 30, 2009 by milo

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle wow, masculine! and really complex. i'm getting the sweetness of DB without the lilac-y cloying-ness, the deepness of fig, the smokiness of vetiver, and the astringency of oak with the other notes sort of dancing around the top.

wet on skin it flattens out significantly on my skin and i lose a lot of the subtle pushes of scent. it's sweet and still masculine, but flat

dry on skin man powder. a little leather, a little wood, a little soapiness, that's all she wrote.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Patchouli, vetiver, amber, and something floral.

 

Wet: Amber, vanilla, leather, and patchouli in that order.

 

Twenty minutes: Lovely warm vanilla patchouli amber. The vetiver is barely noticeable, likewise the leather. I'm not getting neroli either. But this is warm, sweet, and lovely.

 

One hour: Warm and sweet, very vanilla-amber. Looks like I'm going to be dodging that bullet after all. It's very beautiful, but too girly on me.

 

Two hours: Still warm, sweet, gentle vanilla with amber.

 

Three and a half hours: Even more sweet, gentle, and vanilla. But there's finally something oaky coming out in this. It's still too girly for me, but it's a shade more complex now.

 

[Asafoetida]

In the imp, hints of vetiver, fig, and leather.

 

On my skin, wet, strongly vetiver (DELICIOUS vetiver) with some dragon's blood. Vanilla flower and neroli peeking out.

 

Drying down, the vetiver fades to a back note but is still fantastic. Dragon's blood and (I think) vanilla flower at the forefront, but everything blends together so well that it's hard to distinguish. This is a beautiful scent. I can't stop sniffing myself. It seems to be staying close to my skin, subtle but strangely powerful.

[TilHelvete]

In the bottle: Wow, this smells EXACTLY like Judith and Holofernes. It's sweet, smoky, resinous, and incensey... completely captivating and gorgeous.

 

On: It appears my skin amps leather, which I couldn't even detect in its wet stage. It's a very nice leather, soft and sexy. This is a very unisex scent, and I think this would also smell fantastic on a man. Alone, it reminds me very strongly of Loviatar with a golden amber and a touch of vanilla.

 

Overall: Not what I had expected, but gorgeous none the less. Probably my favorite of all the leather scents I have sniffed so far.

 

 

[Gin]

Boadicea - Leather, oak, and vanilla. Oh, and fig. Nice and earthy without being dirt-based. I'm surprised by the utter lack of dragon's blood--usually I'm able to pick that one out right away.

[yeahbutnobut]

Boadicea

 

In the imp: I smell vetiver here, but I also smell vanilla and orange blossom.

Wet on skin: vetiver fades into the background as feisty leather and sexy sweetness takes over.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is gorgeous. This is smouldering and sweet and feminine and powerful all at once. Normally leather is a problem note on me but in here it is fantastic, it is a really kick-ass scent. The vanilla and neroli and amber blend together so beautifully to add a lighter, sweeter gentler scent contrasting the smoky leather that actually reminds me of Khrysee. I do not smell dragon’s blood, but I think I smell a tiny bit of fig and oak. And the vetiver works here too-the vetiver adds a nice smoky, slightly charred undertone to the scent, almost like a reminder of the cities she burned down. If the leather and vetiver stay as they are, this could be my new ‘power scent’.

After a while: oh no, the leather is overtaking. For some time, the leather note seems to dominate the scent, and threatens to dominate all the other notes…it has already dominated the vetiver, whatever next? Thankfully the sweet vanilla still adds its gorgeous soft scent to it all, and I can smell hints of fig now, as well as the gorgeous Khrysee-ish neroli and amber combination.

Eventually this settles on smelling like the most gorgeous amber-vanilla incense, with hints of patchouli, vetiver and fig at the background. This scent is really growing on me!

Verdict: yup, I think I’ve found my power scent. At times I was unsure of the leather and vetiver but then the amber, orange blossom and vanilla come through, and it smells stunning. It’s like a more confident and powerful Khrysee-like Khrysee riding a chariot with spikes on its wheels, covered in woad, ready for battle. This scent rouses the Aries side in me. Fiery, impetuous, strong willed, this scent does not suffer fools gladly, does not take bullshit. And it makes me feel empowered. This is a scent I would wear whenever I feel like kicking ass, or burning down London (because believe me, much as I love my city, there are days when I feel like doing that!) or any time I really need a self-esteem booster. So I have my Queen scents for different purposes-Zenobia for whenever I want to feel mysterious and sultry, Semiramis for whenever I want to feel sexy, Ysabel for feeling sophisticated and mature, and Boadicea to stand my ground and show people who’s boss!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? I have a bottle.

If you like this, try: Khrysee, Aeronwen, Tintagel

[gingiemay]

Usually my skin amps leather to high heaven in a good way, but I got no leather from this. Patchouli is also usually a delight on me, but this time nothing. Instead I get smoky baby powder, like vetiver baby powder, which turns into... baby powder. It's definitely not a win for me. Swap pile away.

[sirensea]

I was trying to think of a comparison scent for this, and someone mentioned Judith and Holofernes. I agree! There's a sweet, but slightly deadly feel to this one. The amber and patchouli are the strongest notes at first; once it dries, the vetiver peeks out, but not enough to kill the sweetness of the blend. It seems I've finally beat my note of doom.

 

Surprisingly yummy, definitely a keeper.

[Venneh]

In the bottle, I'm getting a combination of my death notes: oak, patchouli and vetiver. On my skin, I think I'm getting the dragon's blood, the amber, and the leather, with a sweeter edge from the vanilla, fig, and neroli, but the death notes soon try to fight for dominance in this. About a half hour later, it's faded to this vague nothingness. I'm going to try and layer this with her bath oil to see if it does anything in terms of scent and staying power, I think. Yeah, the bath oil makes it a bit more sharp; I'll be keeping the bath oil, I think, but the perfume oil's going to swaps/sales.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Venneh