Queen of Diamonds

[Penance]

A glittering icicle of a woman, regal, proud and cold: shimmering white grapefruit, pale flowers and lemon bark with orchid, rose and a dash of mandarin.

I got an imp of this from allamanda!

First sniff:

Something about this blend reminds me of Queen Mab...it must be the orchid. In the foreground, I smell grapefruit and mandarin orange the strongest although I wouldn't call this blend citrusy for some reason. I associate citrus with being cool and sharp and this is warm and soft, at least to my nose. I was worried about Queen of Diamonds being too citrusy, but it's not at all. I actually don't get the impression of cold from this; to me it's actually very warm and inviting smelling, like an orchard in summer.

Wet on skin:

I can't shake the feeling that this reminds me of another BPAL scent, but I can't put my finger on it apart from saying the orchid reminds me of Queen Mab, but there's something else there that's nagging at me. Every time I get close to figuring it out it slips away again. The grapefruit and the mandarin are still the most prominent with the orchid following on their heels. To me, this smells like a sophisticated garden party guest, carefully coiffed but dressed for springtime.

Dry down:

The grapefruit, mandarin and orchid have melded into one warm, slightly citrusy floral note now that the Queen is dry. The garden party guest has kicked off her high-heeled shoes and is letting her hair down, getting into the spirit of springtime. I don't get anything even remotely cold from this blend; to me the Queen is a warm spring sunrise, not a glittering icicle.

The bottom line:

Surprisingly warm and inviting smelling. The Queen isn't a haughty ice queen, she's a warm sunrise coloring a garden in the first throes of spring's bloom. I really love this one; I'm going to make my imp last as long as possible.

[UltraViolet]

Wet

This is more floral than I thought. It's peaks my noses interest though, there seems to be a resemblance to Sea of Glass (which I love) and some floral blend with perhaps some white flowers.

10 Minutes

It's fresh smelling and floral. This is very close to a posh commercial perfumes I smelled a couple of times and unfortunately don't remember. It is turning quite bitter on me now all of a sudden. I hate when my skin chemistry does that to blends.

You floral lovers will LOVE this though. I'm glad I have it though just to add to the series.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF - aquatic floral

 

WEARING IT - hmm... very white and light, but i find it very watery, something i wasn't really expecting. pale flowers are definitely in the mix along with orchid and white grapefruit. the scent is more like a melting icicle...

 

VERDCIT - i'm unsure of this one, i'll try it one more time and possible swap (i'm on the hunt for another bottle of skadi)

[grrrlennyl]

at first: light and fresh. it smells clear and clean. definitely grapefruit, but i can't tell what else is in there.

on: wow. lots of grapefuit, with a lot of other stuff going on. it's really strong, but i like it.

1 hour later: softer, but still sharp on me. i like it, but i can't pick any of the notes out. very clean-smelling.

4 hours later: a little lighter, but still strong. it's a bit more powdery and almost a tad sweet. i like this.

6 hours later: i can just barely smell this, but it lasted very well for having so much citrus in it.

overall: i am so glad i ordered this. it's really nice and very different from anything else i have. grapefruit is always fabulous and the scent, as a whole, is gorgeous.

[magpiedee]

If the Queen of Hearts gently took the grey-velvet clad arm of Whitechapel and went strolling through Old Glasgow during a deep blue evening, it would smell exactly like Queen of Diamonds.

 

I just want to *be* Queen of Diamonds. So lovely. This will be one of my signature scents until I run out and cry for weeks.

[pekeana]

In the vial, I'm not sure about this one -- it's very ozone and aquatic with a lot of floral and a splash of citrus. It's the floral that I'm worried about. However, I shouldn't have been worried -- the instant I put this on, sure it was all floral, but it was a tolerable kind of dry, citrus floral. And then it hit me that on my skin, Queen of Diamonds is an exact dupe for Elizabeth Arden's Sunflowers, which was my favorite perfume till I was about 16.

[isyche]

At first, the Queen of Diamonds is light, fresh and citrusy, but not overly fruity. It has that same “cold air/clear water” overtone as Szepasszony. I don't get much floral from it.

 

Hmm – as it develops, I think this Queen is too aquatic for me. I love the descriptions of the watery scents, but most of them just don't work on my skin. Curses.

[oceandessa]

I don't get any aquatic notes from the Queen. Only citrusy light florals. This is a very cold scent, that I will love wearing all year long. Very lovely.

[violetblue]

This smells like expensive, exquisite department store perfume - which is a shame for me because I like scents with a more resiny, dare I say "head shop" scent. I would wear this to a fancy dinner or party, but since I rarely go to any of those, I swapped it. Shame though because it IS very pretty.

[Dianella]

I so love this scent! It didn't seems particularly aquatic to me either. I initially got a fresh citrussy floral scent, which pretty much stayed true throughout the evening I wore it. I too felt regal and a tad haughty. I really slathered it on too and it's just such a perfect match for me. I'm so glad I bought 2 bottles of this

[silverangel]

I got not aquatics on this one. Glittering grapefruit, fresh, clean, almost lineny sometimes. It's gorgeous and shimmering in the light with her head held high because she KNOWS that she's DAMN FINE! I'm a big fan. And man does this oil LAST! It was just as strong as initially for hours upon hours. Adoration!

[yellowrose]

The Queen of Hearts may be some people's best bet, but I'm laying money on The Queen of Diamonds.

 

This is one scent I was very excited about because I LOVE white grapefruit. Here, it's a beautiful white grapefruit with a hint of flowers. Not harsh, herbal grapefruit, but very distinct from pink or pomelo scents. This is a very sophisticated and lovely creation from start to finish. Very citrusy when wet. Dries to a lovely bouquet in about two hours. This queen is haughty perhaps, but not cold.

 

I LOVE THIS!

 

! THANK YOU BETH !

 

ADDED Jan. 6:

 

News flash!

 

I have been advised by the SO that Queen of Diamonds is THE ONE scent I need to wear. Most of what was said, frankly, cannot be repeated in polite company

 

Beth, um, can we talk about a vat? With or without spigot?

[inkstone]

In the bottle: It smells like expensive, sophisticated department store perfume. Or rather, what those perfumes aspire to be. I smell citrusy florals.

 

Wet: White grapefruit. The orange peeks out a little bit, but it doesn't come out a whole lot. And I think the floral I'm smelling is orchid. It has a similar tone to the floral I smelled in Kitsune-Tsuki.

 

Drydown: This mellows a little bit, but it stays pretty true to its original smell when it hit my skin. I can smell the lemon bark a bit more in this stage too.

 

Final thoughts: The Queen is pretty and sophisticated, glittering and clad in white. However, I don't think she's very me. I may keep a decant for myself, but I don't need a bottle. I'll find people who'll take good, loving care of her.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Very cold, fresh scent. So grapefruit straight in the bottle with the slightest hint of a floral dashed in there. The citrus notes are all blended together so I can really pick any of them out except the grapefruit. This is a very crisp, luscious kind of sense that has a distinct sharpness to it as well.

 

Wet: More mandarin and grapefruit on my wrist than anything else right now. This strikes me as a cold version of Titania. Titania is a joy to be around, her smile puts her at ease. QoD is regal and proud and somewhat aloof; her smile is a little colder. But she likes you even though she doesn't say t much. Slight hint of the florals in the citrus, esp. the rose but that's no surprise to me as it's on my wrist.

 

Dry down: this is truely lovely. It speaks of snow on the trees and walking together talking in hushed voices and smiling rather than laughing. The rose is very nice in this and is playing with my skin perfectly. In fact, right now it's dominating the citrus scents, which is a little sad but I still like this in general. A very nice, very cool, refreshing blend. The grapefruit wants to be the king of the hill again. Fine by me. I never realized how much I like the smell of grapefruit until getting this. Yummy.

 

Dry: Cirtrus with florals gathered around it. The orchid is playing very nicely now, too. This is going to have to go into a roller bottle once I finish the review because damn! so nice. Titania has some competeition to stay at the top. A very clean, crisp scent. Very ice covered boughs swaying in the wind and the patter of sleet on the roof but with the glimmer of hope that spring is coming to warm the world up again. I like that this citrus is so cool rather than overpowering. So glad I broke down and bought my own bottle. I don't know what I would have done without this.

[evanesce]

I actually washed up just to put this one on...

 

Queen of Diamonds smelled very sharp to me in the bottle. I was a little unsure of it all..

 

Wet, it stays sharp, citrusy and what I am assuming is this ozone/aquatic smell people mention. It's almost a pain to breathe in

 

Early dry, it's still sharp and fruity. But it's more like an orange with spikes, vs a nice squishy orange on a summer morning

 

Later, the florals came out. It smells like a department store perfume. My boy and I talked through and we landed on the idea that it smells like CK's Obsession.. I'll have to check that out next time in Dillards.

 

Final judgement, I can't rush on this, but at the moment, Her Royal Highness might not be extending her stay in my humble home.

[darkling]

In the bottle : This queen was a light breeze of florals with a hint of grapefruit.

 

On my skin: The fruits have vanished and a wisp of deliacte flowers remains.

 

This scent vanished quickly as it hardly stuck around for an hour. I enjoy the delicate floral base of this scent because I find the smell of most flowers overwhelming.

 

While this was a gentle scent, it doesn't stand out on me. I may try it once more but I think it will be open to swap.

[jj_j]

On me, Queen of Diamonds is heavy on the pale flowers. Very pale, perhaps like a diamond with the faintest of purple tint to it.

 

The mandarin warms up with a few minutes of wear and takes this down a notch, making it pale flowers in an orchard. Sweet, and reminiscent of bees buzzing in my grandmother's orchard in the late springtimes of my childhood.

 

The rose and orchid come through not long after the mandarin appears, and the rose is a much softer, subtler rose than I expected; misty scented, like the Sterling rose is in color. Orchid gives a creamy sweetness that I hadn't been expecting, and makes Queen of Diamonds a bit more lush and exotic than the initial application suggested.

 

As much as I love this scent, Queen of Diamonds loses out to my skin chemistry and becomes a cross between a commercial floral perfume (a damn good one, I might add) and bathroom air freshener. I'm going to keep using the imp to see if it changes over time, but at the moment, I'm not putting it on my list of scents to get more of.

 

I love the pale silvery-lilac color this leaves in my nose!

[LunaSea]

Time to catch up on my reviews.

 

In the bottle, I only get a soft floral out of Queen of Diamonds. Not at all what I expected. Is my newbie nose unable to detect the grapefruit and mandarine?

 

On the skin, still soft floral, with maybe a hint of fruit after a few minutes. But sweet, juicy fruits that don't say "citrus" to me. The overall scent reminds me of something I can't place - it must be the floral notes.

 

As this one develops, I really start to love the fruity undertones, but the floral is getting in my way. I like some florals, but I want to sweep this one aside so I can breathe in the yummy fruit! Not that it's an unpleasant floral, but I prefer the fruit in this one.

 

Even later that fruit is gone, and now it's the soft floral. Still lovely, but not stealing my heart. I'd rather the Queen live with someone who worships her as she deserves.

 

Final verdict - this one is heading off to its new home today.

[pkwench]

Queen of Diamonds

 

I reviewed this on the LJ community a while back and I thought I'd pull up the review and include it here.

 

The Queen is a sly girl for me. In the bottle, I smell nice, sharp grapefruit and citrus with a few other things swimming around, flashing me here and there with teasing glances. Almost instantly on application, the floral notes come out front. She does indeed get cold. Maybe even a little haughty with her regal beauty. She's very soft and floral, with the citrus notes tingling in the background like old-fashioned glass and crystal ornaments shaking and shimmering on a Christmas tree. Now, my skin does and will amp the floral notes in about anything. So, on another human, the Queen may end up being a little more twangy with citrus that floral and sweet. I think, even on me, the scent is gender neutral-sophisticated, haughty, and just damned fine.

[TheDarkMother]

I love grapefruit, and I love King of Diamonds, so I'm hoping that I like this one too!

 

In the Bottle: Thick orchids and a hint of citrus that must be the grapefruit. This one is really strong!

 

On Me: Very grapefruit with just a hint of the orchid scent in the background. This is a very fresh, spring scent that's very feminine. Its pretty strong, but it just works so well with this scent. This is extremely regal without being too stuck up. I love this one too!

[lorajc]

This went on rather strong, but quickly faded to a soft citrusy floral. I can't pick out any single notes in here, but on me I smell a slightly sweet peppery note...not sure what that is. Whatever it is makes the Queen interesting. I think I smell something slightly green in here as well. This is very feminine. Good for days you want to feel girlie. I'll have to see how the King compares now.

[Northernminx]

I was really uncertain about Queen of Diamonds at first as citrus notes tend to overwhelm scents with my chemistry. The grapefruit was apparant in the first few minutes but quickly faded down into a light floral, icy and chilly and reminding me of a slightly less intense version of Szessapony. There's a touch of orchid, not really getting much rose and a faint underlay of the lemonbark and mandarin. This is proud, crystaline, regal. I have to agree it was the epitomy of a department store expensive perfume - or rather what those perfumes want to be so I'm still not quite certain on this one. It's gorgeous just not really...me.

[sarada]

Got this in a swap with LunaSea!

 

I am a big fan of grapefruit, though not so much of the light florals (can't smell 'em), but I really like the icy imagery so I have wanted to visit with the Queen.

 

The grapefruit is mainly evident in the bottle -- on skin it becomes indistinguishable from the other pale yellow and white blooms. It smells something like sunlight on snow might smell...sparkling, refined (sounds like I'm describing a wine now!), ahh but the first buds of spring are peeking through. I would probably be more likely to wear this in the spring or summer, when the sun would help to bring out the brilliance of the scent, for in the winter these scents tend to close their petals on me and vanish like frosty breath dissipating in the air.

 

As it develops on my skin I catch a glimpse of the fruity elements of the scent again...something in here reminds me of the Queen of Spades, I'm not sure what. I get no rose whatsoever. The white floral smell must be orchid...that's the main fragrance that I get. This does develop a bit when I put a lot on...the grapefruit is clinging on for dear life, which is great, because I like it! But I think I will be content with an imp, as I probably won't wear it much except on early spring days.

[Astarte]

Like others, all I got initially was a strong grapefruit scent, which settled down quite quickly. Its a very cool and collected perfume oil, but definitely feminine. I can personally smell the rose, and white flowers but I cant detect the mandarin or orchid as of yet.

 

It smells glittering in regal haughteur, this would be a perfect work scent, light and professional. I'm very impressed with both this and her counterpart, the King of Diamonds.

[ipb]

what they said... though i'll add that i seriously didn't really think it'd work, because citrus usually takes over and pale flowers tend to get the funky soapiness to them... but this works so beautifully.