Queen of Clubs

[paperdoll]

A modern incarnation of the Queen of Pentacles, or Disks, the Queen of the Thrones of Earth. Nurturing, warm and kind, she is practical, quiet and domesticated, and yet still ambitious, and possessed of the sensual lushness of Mother Earth. Soft, deep earth notes with myrrh, amber, pomegranate, dark incense, red currant, rose and vanilla.

Initial Sniff: Fruit, myrrh, and amber.

Wearing: This starts out very myrrh-y, with the currant and pomegranate plying second fiddle. As it dries my archnemesis rose comes out to play, but just when I think she is about to take over and ruin the party, she vanishes. I am left with a slightly fruity, slightly warm resiny sweet incensey drydown that is just lovely.

Final Impressions: I've never had rose behave this way before! I'm so glad I took a chance on this one, as the drydown is truly exquisite.

[LiberAmoris]

In Queen of Clubs I smell elements of lots of other blends I love: Persephone, Graveyard Dirt, and Zombi. Here, they all collide in a blend that is lush, red, and exquisite.

 

The pomegranate here is so achingly beautiful! And the amber, the vanilla, the late roses! It's so balanced and sophisticated, polished like wood after centuries of contact with human touch. I'm so glad I bought two bottles because this will go into heavy rotation in the fall.

[velvet]

soil. fresh moist soil. and for me thats not a good thing

 

and as it develops i get a bit of berry, but still the dirt smell is there

 

luckily after a WHILE the dirt goes away and this become a lovely blend. not too sweet, but it has a regal feel. i dont smell any amber. its mostly vanilla and berry.

[bellis]

Whoa. This smells exactly like a Cremesaver on me. I'll try it again to make sure, but it turned immediately into plastic-y fruit and vanilla.

 

ETA: Okay, the cremesaver thing appears to be a fluke either with my nose or skin. The currant is prominent on me, with a bit of myrrh and vanilla hanging around in the background. This is a perfect fall and winter scent for me, I'm so glad I gave this another try.

Edited July 19, 2005 by bellis

[tempete]

Right after applying Queen of Clubs, I get soft earth notes that quickly give way to a fruity combination of pomegranate and fig (though the pomegranate is dominant). As this scent dries down, the vanilla note emerges and blends with the fruity notes. All of these notes eventually die down to let the base notes of myrrh, amber and incense come out. I love the final drydown the most, though it takes a few hours to get to that stage.

 

As others have mentioned, this scent will be perfect for fall, though I enjoy wearing it on cooler summer days. I couldn't have had a better introduction to the forum-only scents!

[Lorencita]

This is really gorgeous. This is daytime wear for me & the king is for the night. This starts out as fresh soil & pomegranate for me. The fig comes out much later when the vanilla arrives. This is lovely from beggining to end. I will use this up really nicely in the fall when it's not too hot during the day to wear it.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Fruity, creamy, earthy, incensey goodness.

 

Second Impression: Oh my goodness. She's certainly more lovely than I could have imagined. The fertile soil note goes so perfectly with the other notes, it smells amazing on me. The florals, the incense, the fruits are all present and making the most beautiful of music together.

 

Final Analysis: I'm totally smitten with this incense-burning fruitcake who loves to dig in her garden!

[girlmadasbirds]

first i smell fresh soil and fruits...then the soil moves to the background i begin to smell the amber and vanilla. it's a gorgeous, incensy fruity scent. i love it!

[Janie]

Like many others, I find the opening earth notes give way to fruity/berry notes, but the vanilla amber base hasn't yet made itself felt much on me. A lovely, warm, complex scent - wonderful to wear in winter (which it is here right now).

 

Good throw, good staying power. Pleased I got this one.

[grrrlennyl]

queen of clubs

 

at first: sweet and...fruity? however, there's something odd about this. maybe some sort of nut?

on: i love part of this (probably the fruity / rose / vanilla scent), but...the myrrh and "earthy" notes are weirding me out.

1 hour later: very perfumey. soapy and sharp. not good at all.

2 hours later: softer, but still perfumey.

overall: this just didn't work on me.

[pkwench]

This is lovely. Lovely, comforting, and ubersweet. It starts out with that hit of fresh, wet earth. DARK soil, nothing dry about it. Then comes the fruity scent to sweeten it up. The resins give the sweetness such depth and I smell like a bundle of pomegranates strewn all over a freshly turn patch of earth in front of a church spewing out resiny incense. Later, the vanilla creeps out to mellow it all down. Did I mention lovely? L-O-V-E-L-Y.

Edited July 22, 2005 by pkwench

[inkstone]

In the imp: Kind of a boozy dirt. Maybe some fruit notes mingling in the background, but mostly that boozy dirt smell.

 

Wet: Moist dirt with flashes of a ripe, red fruit.

 

Drydown: Very earthy. The incense and dirt are the most prominent notes on my skin. I can smell the pomegranate and currant in the background, but they add color rather than heavy smell to it.

 

Final thoughts: I didn't order a bottle of this because I feared the myrrh note. It turns out that was pointless. It wasn't the myrrh I should have feared, it was the dirt. It's a well-blended scent and very lovely, but it's not me at all. I bet this is gorgeous on the right person though.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Oooh, this smells sweet.

 

Just On: Sweet, and very very rich. A bit of freshness weaving its way in and out of the sweetness.

 

An hour or two later: Somewhat sweet, fresh, and still quite rich.

 

Around 6 hours: Sweet woods and herbs.

 

12 hours: It's obvious this is the complement to King of Clubs.

 

Overall: This is a very nice scent.

 

After reading other reviews: I think I do like the Queen marginally better than the king, because I get more complexity from her. They are both nice though.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: While wet I got the prominent earth and myrrh notes...

After Drydown: I could detect the fruitiness and the slightest vanilla. I never would have thought that these notes would have blended together so lovely, but they do and the longer this is on the lovlier it becomes...

[coulrophobe]

How... odd. All I get from this is coconut.

 

But it's not the usual coconut. This is real coconut, including the husk. Dry dirt and juicy coconut meat.

 

I got this hoping it would be more vaguely "earthy," the way patchouli is, rather than "dirt." I'm just not a dirt person, though this does remind me of getting fresh coconuts and cracking 'em open with a hammer (I'm sure there's an easier way, but I've never figured it out... I digress, though).

 

Eventually, the coconut subsides, and I get a strong dose of vanilla. And the dirt smell starts to fade - hurrah!

 

Now this is more like it - sweet and earthy, rather than smelling like I just rolled around in the dust.

 

Once I get through the initial stages, I think I like this one. Not a scent for every occasion, but quite interesting.

[everstar]

Oh, Queen of Clubs, how I love you. I knew I would love you when I read the ingredients list and I am so right.

 

On me, Queen of Clubs smells like Persephone and O got together and threw an intimate little tete a tete with fragrant incense spiralling through the air. Warm and sweet and sexy with a touch of spice.

 

Oh, why did I only order two bottles? Woe.

[Phaedra]

WOW!! This is and Ace of Hearts were my first experience with forum only limited editions. This one is spectacular on me (Ace of Hearts is just okay on me). Wet this smells like mossy damp earth with some fruit in the background. It is similar to Zombi at this stage. When first applied it is fruity, floral and earthy all at once. Very quickly a spiciness develops. After probably 30 minutes an lovely incense and rose blend comes out. After several hours this blossoms into a rich, full bodied blend of fruits and florals. The drydown is a gorgeous blend of honey, vanilla and figs- sort of like a cross between Zombi and Hetairae. This is stunningly beautiful and complex!! I am so glad I ordered two bottles of this one. I just knew I would it because it has most of my favorite notes in it. This one is quite a masterpiece

 

**I forgot to add that I just tried Arachne this week and have found that it is quite similar to Queen of Clubs but not quite as complex. It may be a good substitute if you like QofC.

Edited July 30, 2005 by Phaedra

[PurringPulsar]

Queen of Clubs

 

In the imp: wet soil! Yup, it smells a bit like wet earth with sweet fruits-pomegranate and currant.

Wet on skin: whoa, this really does smell like cool damp soil, but that's no bad thing-it's quite nice actually! The fruit notes add a lovely sweetness to it all.

Dry on skin: still earthy, but now the fruit notes deepen and ripen, the crispness of pomegranate is strong here, and I can make out the myrrh and incense notes, with vanilla adding a nice sweet touch. This is surprisingly nice!

After a while: I can smell the rose now!! It smells like rose petals strewn on damp soil, like you've planted a new rose bush. I think there's also a bit of a dark or smoky scent, which could be the incense, and there's also a sweet vanilla-amber scent, with juicy currant. It's much sweeter now.

Oh crikey, after an hour or two, the drydown is incredible. Vanilla can either be fantastic or cloying on me-in here, it is divine! And it mingles so nicely with the rose, and is probably enhanced by the myrrh and amber.

Verdict: this is a totally different perfume to the ones I usually wear, but I love it! I was reluctant about the 'earth notes' but the soil scent is actually really nice. There's a lovely fruit note here, sweet and juicy, with incense deepening the scent and a little bit of rose and vanilla rounding it up. The notes develop as time passes, the scent sweetens and becomes fuller, with a wonderful drydown. This works surprisingly well on me, and feels both fresh and earthy, and quite complex and multifaceted. I love it.

Edited July 30, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[yellowrose]

Attempting to describe the Queen of Clubs is an exercise in folly. Others have done an excellent job of describing the scent and their experience with it. It's a flabbergasting scent that defies description because it is so well blended.

 

Yes, I have sniffed Graveyard Dirt and the Queen of Clubs does contain that earth element. She is very plummy -- not in the plum sense, but in the sense of being rich and full -- and refined. However, she has dirt under her fingernails! Moist loam and incense or resin are the strongest sensations. (Not too sure what myrrh smells like as a single note, so I cannot say if that is what I'm smelling.) The crimson fruits are fleeting. And after a couple of wearings, I have yet to have the amber or vanilla leap out. Although I love those notes intensely, I wouldn't want them to be aggressive.

 

A well-blended scent ... and one that will be worn often because it is comforting and grounding without being sweet or cloying. Perfect for Fall and for the Earth sign wearing it.

 

NOTE: it is diametrically opposed in every conceivable fashion from Queen of Diamonds. They share in common their creator and the fact that they are both superb scents.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Fruit and dirt.

 

On Skin: The earth notes are very much dirt notes. It’s similar to Zombie and what I imagine Graveyard Dirt might smell. The pomegranate is also strong, very sweet and juicy which is nice against the dry powder of the dirt. The incense spices it up and the vanilla has a very soft sweet note. The florals are not overwhelming, again they add a bit of a Zombie note to the scent. This is so interesting! Not what I expected at all! Somehow it is comforting and gentle, very pretty.

[maewitch]

This is a strange one on me. I don't get the vanilla at all, nor the florals.

 

When I first put it on I get a strong resiny earth scent, and something that makes me think of vetivert. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it verges on it. After a bit the vetivert note passes, and the deep earth notes lighten marginally, and the myrrh flows back up to dominate the blend. There is a touch of rose tickling at the back of this.

 

This is somewhat growing on me, strangely. I was intruiged by the notes, yet can only detect a few of them, and none of the ones that drew me the most. This is definately an earth scent, with something mortuary about it, perhaps that overlay of myrrh and dry roses.

 

It's interesting, and I might use this this ritually due to its sensory conotations, but I don't think this will be a regular perfume.

 

ETA: note to self - wait a few hours, then review. NOW I get the vanilla and the amber. This is a rich, sweet scent, and so incredibly different from what I got in the first hour.

Edited August 4, 2005 by maewitch

[Medici]

Damp earth with a sharp bite of something almost powdery (Samhain does this to me too - thankfully, it only lasted about ten minutes before softening up again).

 

Evolution-wise - I get some trampled, delicate florals about half an hour in.

 

Two hours and the "soil" smell has faded entirely and now all I've got is pastel dust.

 

It is quite nice though. I'd like to add since this isn't really a proper review because I'm not detailling the scent's evolution, that the onset - magically - carries such a strong sense of grounding that I was really shocked.

 

This won't be something I wear everyday - but because of that instantaneous pull to the midsection, and the emotional settling afterwards, Queen of Clubs will definately be a good ... ah... "esoteric" blend shall we say.

 

After a little charge, I think I might use her quite a bit in ritual.

 

(Even without an extra mental push, she does a damned good job)

[astrid]

Dirt and berries!! It's like Graveyard Dirt married Bordello or something! How crazy! Though after a few minutes on my skin everything blends really nicely. This is one tripped out scent!

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was predominantly a dusty earthy scent, with slightly sweet overtones. As it dries it gets fruitier and fruitier. These are dark fruits and the scent seems to have the texture of black treacle, thick and gooey. Dry on me this is how I would imagine someone who was part human - part currant bush to smell. The fruits are there, but they are backed by a greeness that is dark and satisfying and there is an animalistic age to it. With a tiny whisp of vanilla in the background. Like the King the dry down stage of this blend lasts for ages, settling down to the extent where you forget where the scent ends and you begin.

[theshapeshifter]

Wow, this is amazingly complex, as others have noted.

 

In the bottle: Earth, incense, and currant, with an undertone of something very 'womanly'. This is the Queen, alright.

 

Initial application: It goes on very rich and sweet, and for the first five minutes or so actually reminds me of a more subtle, less chocolately Gluttony.

 

Drydown: After about 15 minutes, the currant and pomegranate really start to come into their own. There's the rich, almost boozy fruity depth that I love in Bordello, but made unbelievably deep and intriguing by the hints of incense and earth. The vanilla's still there, and combined with just the subtlest bit of rose (I'm glad, because strong rose scents are not my friends), it rounds it out, making it very clear that this is the Queen, not the King.

 

I absolutely love this. It's everything I hoped for when I read the list of notes, and then some.