Queen Mab

[serafina pekkala]

Warrior, Trickster and Goddess of Magic and Poets, she is one of the Tuatha De Danaan and the Queen of the Faeries. A very complex scent, both shadowy and fierce: black orchid, sandalwood, night-blooming jasmine, osmanthus, Somalian rose, and Chinese musk.

Queen Mab is a bit like Phantom Queen when wet. I've gotten weary of orchid. I also detect a fruity peach note. On application the scent is the same as wet: rosy flowers with a sweet edge. It is quite strong, although the orchid doesn't become as loud as in Phantom Queen.

Then comes my favourite stage: sandalwood! Spicy and woody, like the old body shop sandalwood oil. Then the sandalwood fades, becoming more floral. It's a shame this stage doesn't last longer, it might be nice combinated with Fever from Lush. On the whole I thought Queen Mab too 'perfumey' for me, for lack of a better word.

[madame royale]

Queen Mab takes me straight back to a very specific moment in college. It was twilight, the first temperate evening in early spring. I had just come out of the library after many hours hunched over my books and stopped to stare up at the faint light of stars winking down on me. There was a magnolia tree nearby, its branches casting a long shadow. I stood for a long time breathing everything in. I could smell the promise of summer and, at the same time, saw my latent future unfurl before me. Such a sweet, but fleeting moment of clarity. I wish, now, that life would always hold that sense of limitless potential. At least I can revisit that feeling with QM.

 

QM—young but wise, sweet but dry—is my favorite floral. I’ll always keep some on hand.

[Eris]

This more than any other BPAL scent changes continually on me; it never smells exactly the same way, though it always hovers in the purple and spicy family. I think it's the orchid that my chemistry has issues with, as I get the same phenomenon with other orchid blends. Phantom Queen is the only orchid I can handle.

 

When first applied today, Queen Mab had a lovely, herbal spiciness that quickly faded down to a dark, perfumey floral that I didn't care for. Other times, it's gone on initially smelling soapy and perfumey, only to fade later to a darker spice that I liked. I can't quite envision this scent for the Maeve (aka Queen Mab) of Celtic legend, though certainly it's tricky enough in its dealings with me!

[phoefromelsewhere]

She just doesn't like me...

 

In the bottle: Rose. Lilac? Something really sweet and floral.

 

Wet: Rose, mint? Something warm and sweet…ah, this will be the musk. That’s all I can smell on my skin.

 

Drydown: Really sweet, almost sickeningly so. This is doing something very very icky on me. I was hoping that the black orchid would kick out a lot more but nope, it’s all about the musk and sandalwood. I smell like a really cheap stick of incense.

 

Later: Musk, musk, musk. Ick. And sandalwood. Nope, not working. I washed it off and put on some lovely lotion to get rid of it. This just doesn’t like me at all.

[feline.by.design]

Queen Mab is composed of the rose that works well with my skin, nose and chemistry. I think that because it is "tempered" with the Chinese musk and the jasmine this really does well with me. It reminded me a bit of Endymion, which also has the "good rose" in it, but it's less crisp, more deep than Endy. It's not the rose that gets all powdery, on me anyway.

 

I really like Queen Mab, but I don't know if I am going to hold onto the imp or pass it on to someone else who might like it much more than me. The fragrance is actually *too* strong. Queen Mab really is best when she settles down for about thirty minutes or an hour. It's a very long-lasting fragrance, though, and it's feminine but not "girly" by any means. Womanly, perhaps.

 

I won't be getting a bottle any time soon, but it's definitely one to consider in the future. This one is a good fragrance, but not one I really fell in love with, so we'll have to see.

 

-doreen

 

ADDED Oct. 20:

 

Queen Mab has been an imp I've had for quite a while, but for some reason I never gave it the love it deserved. I decided to test it again and... whoa. I was just overwhelmed by how wonderful it is. My imp is a bit aged, but Queen Mab is, on me, gorgeously pale, wonderfully rosey. The Somalian rose in Queen Mab is fantastic, it really is fresh and light, not overbearing and powdery. The rest of the florals are lovely as well, but the rose seems to dominate this scent for me.

 

My imp is less than half-full now, so I think I like Queen Mab enough to quantify a bottle. Funny how that sort of sneaks up on you.

 

-doreen

[Unseelie]

wet - orchid sweet, different from plummy deep. roses coming through as kotex type scent, definitely not baby powder, fortunately this aspect dried away. ^^;;

 

dry - still orchid. lighter than i'd expected. warmly sweet. the musk seems so delicate, but there. mature scent, womanly and purple.

 

one hour - smelling jasmine and musk, rose peeking through. it gets better as it dries! complex and wonderful, there's the orchid, and no soap! i'm not getting the sandalwood, i think, not sure, but i'd expect more.. spice from that, and so far it's warm dark floral to my nose. lurrrrve it..

 

two hours - more roses, light but still there. it seems as though this one won't get stronger with time, but lingers very lightly, will probably be a "reapply through the day" scent, especially at work or day-long events.

 

reapply at four hours - delightful, and i want more. more plummy this time, or maybe my nose is broken purple. . orchid is winning over the rose. complex! can't stop sniffing and grinning.

 

delighted, and noting this for beeeg bottle. going to try it on my mom next week and if she likes it one for her, too.

[malati]

I knew from the reviews that I would struggle to identify the notes in this but I was surprised I could not identify the sandalwood or jasmine. I would describe it as a heady floral.

 

Although the scent did not change dramatically as it dried it did develop a fruitiness which reminded me of apricot. It was a natural sweetness behind the floral and it made the scent for me.

 

I've ordered a 5ml of this, my first non limited one. I only wish it lasted longer on my skin.

[etherealchild]

In the Bottle I can smell sandalwood, osmanthus, orchid, and musk. It smells beautiful!

 

Wet Omigawd, I smell freakin' fabulous. Osmanthus, orchid, and musk are dancing on my skin. The sandalwood is the belly of the fragrance, pulling the scent down a bit, which balances the peak of the orchid. Very faintly I can smell the jasmine and rose, but more as a lingering afterthought.

 

Dry Down The scent hasn't changed much. It is not quite as strong, and has warmed up a bit. I smell like a goddess. It has a regal, yet warm feel to it. it's the perfect scent to play hostess in. I swear that I can almost smell honey in this. There is something golden about the blend. I think gold; warm, radiant, gold while wearing this.

 

Two hours Later It has faded more, but I still smell amazing.

 

Verdict This is my favorite scent by far. Wow. It is beautiful.

[ChupaChup]

Queen Mab had been on my wishlist for ages and I was finally able to get it in a swap. I was interested in trying it because of the orchid, as well as all the rave reviews. It seemed lovely at first on me, but after a while, it became an overwhelming floral and the other notes drowned out the orchid. I think I'm not much of a floral person any more.

[tempete]

I'm not a floral person, normally, except when musk is a large component of the blend. Spellbound (red musk and rose) first taught me this valuable lesson, and Queen Mab has just reinforced it. From what I've read in the reviews, most people seem to prefer Phantom Queen over Queen Mab, so when Phantom Queen turned into a sickeningly sweet melange on my skin, I didn't have high hopes for Queen Mab.

 

Ah, but the musk makes all the difference for me. It reins in the florals so that they contribute but don't overpower everything else. I can also detect a fruity sweetness, but again, it doesn't clobber me over the head. The balance of musk, floral and fruit is stunning. I'll reach for this one when I want everyone around me to be aware of my femininity.

[Penance]

Got this as a freebie from the Lab in my last order.

 

First sniff:

 

I know this is a floral blend, but I smell something almost fruity smelling which must be the osmanthus. I don't know how to decribe this scent other than to say that it smells...purple. I don't normally describe scents by color, but this one stands out as purple in my mind's eye.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Floral, sweet and fruity all at the same time. It almost smells like plums for some reason. So far, I actually really like this one, which comes as a surprise since I don't generally care for floral scents or fruit.

 

Dry down:

 

Queen Mab has settled down into a vaguely fruity floral/green scent that reminds me somewhat of King of Spades for some reason, I think because this smells vaguely like purple berries to me. It's almost more of a similar feel than a similar smell.

 

The bottom line:

 

Another surprise winner from the Lab. I'm always amazed by the oils the Lab gifts me with that end up being wonderful in spite of the fact that I never would have picked them out myself.

[Scylla]

In the vial: Very sweet floral. I can smell the rose and jasmine most prominently, with something fruity behind it.

 

Wet, on my skin: The sandalwood and musk have come to the forefront, with the rose and jasmine in the background.

 

On drydown: Not much staying power. It was pretty much gone within an hour. The drydown kind of reminded me of Zephyr. Probably the sandalwood and musk.

[inkstone]

In the vial: A complex, dark floral. Interesting.

 

Wet: Sandalwood and musk. It's very dark at this stage that it disconcerts me.

 

Drydown: I can smell the orchid and night-blooming jasmine, which doesn't bother me unlike the other night-blooming flowers. It's not a strong floral, and there's something very fruity about this stage. I can't pinpoint what's causing that fruitiness though. It's very mysterious.

 

Final thoughts: The drydown is gorgeous. However it fades really quickly once it hits that beautiful fruity, veiled stage in the drydown. It's light scent though, so I wonder if this is a blend that I should be slathering.

[kimmer]

It's really interesting to me how Beth's scents react so differently on each of us. This is one of the rare scents that lasts all day on me--and doesn't seem to change much from bottle to dry down.

 

Queen Mab is so well blended that I can't even detect a single note. *sigh.. Dark, creamy, floral goodness. On me it's heavy, but not too floral or too sweet. I only apply a drop of this one, and normally I'm a slatherer.

 

One of the few where my guy even says "I like that".

[Lit Chick]

This was not my list - I saw rose and thought no way! But I got it in a surprise packet, and I must say WOW! It is such a pure, perfect floral. It smells like heady, fully blown fresh roses in the dry down. My skin takes rose and runs with it, but YAY - these roses are perfection! There is no hint of the powerdey old lady smell I associated with rose perfume.

 

On me, this is pure, sweet, summer garden bliss.

[leapylees]

I was reluctant to actually try this as in the bottle it smelled exactly like the kinds of perfume that make me feel sick and headachey, but knowing how BPAL scents have a tendency to develop on the skin and can end up smelling entirely different to what they are like in the bottle I decided to take the plunge anyway. I will update later, but after an hour I feel sick and have a headache. It's simply far too sweet and floral for me (I get jasmine and a hint of sandalwood, but the scent is predominantly very sweet flowers that I can't identify, but no rose). Serves me right for ordering a 5ml unsniffed from the Apothecary's Cat last week because I was desperate for a BPAL fix and fancied trying something different from my usual patchouli and earthy scents (luckily the other two 5mls I bought smell more promising).

 

ETA: Four hours on and things haven't changed. To be perfectly honest, Queen Mab is reminiscent of a bus/train ride sitting behind someone who has doused him/herself in far too much cheap perfume. I'm having a bath soon to try and scrape off the rest of this. I'll probably try it again but it's almost certainl destined for the swaps pile. I'm disappointed as I liked most of the individual elements (sandalwood, jasmine, rose, musk) but this combination just doesn't work for me at all.

Edited January 5, 2005 by leapylees

[Diana]

Somehow, in the vial, this smells almost fruity. Almost a grape-like quality. It's the jasmine. Yum. Sweet, but a bit on the delicate side.

 

I'm somewhat apprehensive about this one, becaues I'm not a huge fan of orchid. It's one of those floral scents I find to be perfumey and cloying.

 

As I wear it, there is a definite orchid note that rears its head, becoming more and more apparent. Somehow I'm not that annoyed as I would be. I guess the scent is tempered by the musk & sandalwood, though I must admit, I wish they were stronger.

 

Overall, it's nice and pretty, but a little too floral for me. I also think it's a bit too soft compared to the deeper & stronger spice & resin scents I generally prefer.

[Julilla Regina]

Queen Mab....I love you!

 

If Persephone is dark pink, Queen Mab is the colour of Tanzanite. This really came out on me in spades. Make no mistake, it is a floral, though the sandalwood really does something beautiful with it. Phantom Queen faded in and out on me, and though it is beautiful, I think I prefer Mab. Perhaps my skin just eats much less of this, I don't know. It seems sophisticated but pretty at the same time. Very feminine in the girly way. I want to cuddle with myself, I smell so good...heh.

 

I just keep pulling the neck of my shirt when no one is looking and sniffing my cleavage where I usually put my perfume. Mmmm.

[shelldoo]

wow this one is very complex. i can't really distinguish single notes. it was pretty floral wet but dry down is not so much floral, it is definitely a dark smell, it gives me the same feeling as dia de los meurtos. I have no clue why but it is really reminding me of dia, which is good cause i love dia.

[UltraViolet]

I smell the Jasmine/Orchid primarily with the rose and musk flickering together underneath. It's pretty and sexy in a deeper sensual way. It's full bodied but not in your face or too strong at all. It has better than average staying power too. This is one I would think of getting a 5ml of.

[sarahjay]

I like this a lot - the sandalwood grounds the florals beautifully. If I didn't already have a 5ml of (old) venice I'd be running off to buy some more of queen mab - but I'm not sure I need two such florally florals right now. maybe in the summer.

[Mofo]

Heady - Floral - Sweet and something verging on mint??

 

These are the things that spring to mind when I sniff the bottle and I'm not sure I like it 100% but the proof with any perfume is how it transforms on and with your skin and chemistry. It takes me back to my college days, 'student' shops smelling of joss sticks and what were described as perfume oil but had horrible a 'air freshner' artificial whiff to them.

 

This is blended really well, you think you smell rose, jasmine and just as you think you've figured it out another scent peeks through. Lovely stuff. Whatever that minty smell was in the bottle has gone completely after a few minutes on the skin and the aroma develops within 30-60 minutes and lasts a good 6hours. Great blend and I'm very happy with my first BPAL oil

[Gin]

This is not at all what I expected, and definitely not something I would have chosen for myself (The Lab seem to know what I like better than I do ). I accidentally applied quite a bit and it's very strong, floral and sweet--a deep red sweetness. When it starts to dry and become softer, I think I can smell the sandalwood and maybe the rose, but otherwise, I can't pick out any particular notes (not that I know what osmanthus is anyway*). This is really beautiful!

 

 

*I've looked up osmanthus, and it appears to be a fruity-floral apricot-peach scent.

[OdetteOdile]

I was reading Tithe by Holly Black & wanted to wear something that would evoke faerie. This was a perfect choice.

This scent is more the world of Seelie than unseelie. It's meadow flowers and honey, the tiniest hint of grass, something rich and chocolatey, and something like a heavier, darker syrupiness - but just the barest hint. There's also a bit of powdery sweetness with that, but not overwhelmingly so. It easily evokes the longing mortals have after they've been in faerie - this would be the scent that you would catch a distant whiff of in Spring and go half mad trying to track down the source.

I like it.

[Nutterfly]

Picked this scent mainly for the name. It was almost a risk, as I dislike rose scents!

 

In the bottle: Hmm. Not sure of any of the notes in this one. It seems familiar somehow, but with a hint more powder. It’s sort of fruity, with a bit of floral to it.

 

Wet: Staying the same as yet... I'll keep sniffing. I think it’s the rose that is familiar. And the jasmine here isn't as overpowering as in other scents. I think I can smell the Sandalwood blended in with the other two.

I think this will be the first rose scent I can wear often!

 

An hour later: Not sure about this one. It seems to have faded a lot. Its mainly rosey, but a nice kind scent. Not sure about it at all. Don’t think I'll get a bigger bottle.