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The Red Queen

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


From the lab description, this is not something that I would have ever chosen for myself. So a big thank you to the lab for letting me try this one out.

Wet: an almost bitter smell that quickly mellows out into the wood scents

Wearing: It’s not at all what I would have expected. The wood scents are very mellow and the black/red cherries give it a touch of fruity sweetness. This strikes me as a very masculine scent. Every time I smell this I have a very strong mental image of an old fashioned gentleman’s den. Walls lined in luxurious mahogany panels, deep leather chairs around a majestic fireplace and the smell of cherry flavored cigar smoke hanging gently in the air.

Final impression: Definitely a more masculine scent, but I like the way it smells on me too. It didn't throw very far, but it did last a good ten hours. My sister has this one too, but it doesn’t smell masculine on her at all. I’d love to find out what this smells like on my boyfriend, but I’m not sure I can get him to wear something called “The Red Queen”. Hehehe

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I think this would be marvelous on the right wrists.  It's very strong, but when the scent mellowed a bit and the wood and cherry mingled, I could absolutely see the potential.  I'm just sorry my chemistry didn't cooperate!

 

And those right wrists would be mine. I ended up with darestodream's imp of Red Queen and I adore it.

 

It does have a very strong cherry cough syrup kind of smell in the vial, but within minutes on my skin the cherry completely mellows. I think BPAL cherries like my skin, or rather my skin likes them so much they practically disappear. It keeps a hint of sweetness but the wood notes round it out into this warm, rich, almost cuddly scent. It's not too heavy but it is very deep and almost dark. A deep velvety red. Love it.

 

It is, surprisingly since I am a bit of a Wonderland fanatic, my first Mad Tea Party scent & I think I shall be putting it on the big bottle list.

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First sniff from the bottle- Wood polish and fingernail polish remover.

 

After 10 minutes- Huh. I smell mahogany but I just can't get over it smelling like acetone. This smell like a beauty salon to me.

 

After 30 minutes- This is much better dry. Now it smells like cherry pipe tobacco. It still has a weird wood polish tinge to it, but the cherry tobacco scent is dominant.

 

Summery- Not for me. Off to swaps!

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A new order means...more reviews! Yay!

 

This scent is very sophisticated. I did not get "cherry medicine" like some did. What this is on me is a mellow, deep, dark cherry with a dusting of powdered sugar. I think this is amazing. The is the cherry I wanted out of Black Phoenix that I couldn't have because the amber went to baby powder on me. This is not like anything I've ever smelled before, and it really is something I imagine a very sophisticated woman would wear. Fantastic! :P

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Wet in the imp I get a very dark, almost woodsy chocolate. An ultra-rich kind of devil’s food cake mix flavor coupled with just a hint of spice. This morphs to cherries on my skin but definitely those of an almost alcoholic nature - maraschino with cocoa powder lingering. It’s indulgent but not grossly so.

 

Any woodsy scent that pops out of this on me is a deep, damp kind of wood. The slight bit of fizz that it carries does cause me to think of cherry cola, as others have noted. But on a whole, it’s much more intense than that.

 

There is a kind of iridescence to this blend that brings all sorts of colors to mind. Though a deep red velvet seems most appropriate.

 

It fades fairly quickly on my skin, so I’m tempted to try it out as a room scent. But I enjoy catching whiffs of it when my wrist passes my face and will definitely pull this out from time to time as I find it enjoyable and oh-so-wearable.

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The Red Queen

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): Deep, rich, woodsy and sweet. This is almost exactly what it says it is; deeps woodsy notes surrounded by a distinct sweetness. I can’t tell the difference between the cherries and the currant – they’re just this bright sweetness in the middle of the woods. A very nice, calming scent.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): The sweetness and the woodsy notes begin to blend in such a way that all I detect now is a rich, sweet woods. Very nummy – almost edible. Not so much calming now, as it is happy.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): This continues to remain its rich, sweet woodsy self. Very nummy and happy. It calms a bit more so now I just catch faint whiffs of it every so often.

 

Even though it continues to dissipate, it is still quite lovely – and long-lasting, as it is still present as I leave for home. Definitely keeping the imp!

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The Red Queen smelled like cherry cough medicine while wet, drying down and completely dry. Obviously, I need to stay away from cherries because it doesn't seem like that note will ever work for me.

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In bottle: I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this. The cherry and currents make it very, very sweet. I am not getting a wood note so much as a...cabbage? Quite odd.

 

On me: Cherry cough drops. As it dries I am reminded of Hearth, especially as the wood comes out when the perfume has dried. The candy-like cough drop fragrance has been muted into a lighter fruit that sings of fun and games to me. It's quite pretty, to my surprise. I initially expected to dislike it. Instead, I find that I'm quite fond of her!

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this was nyquil on me, as it was drying i got a few intriguing blends w/ the nyquil, but nyquil is the predominate scent *shrugs* can't win em all or i would be broke buying big bottles

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in the bottle this smells like mahogany wood and cherry cough syrup. when i put it on the mahogany goes away and the cherry gets stronger. it's kind of medicinal but not in a harsh way. it's sweet and sort of comforting. this is a keeper for me.

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In the vial: cherry scented nail polish remover

 

Wet, on my skin: Still very cherry, but almost medicinal. I can smell the Cherry Nyquil comparisons, I'm sorry to say! :P

 

On drydown: Ah, that's better! Still predominantly cherry, but now the woods have come out of the shadows. This is kind of what I imagined Hearth would smell like. It keeps evoking images of plump, red leather chairs and mahogany paneling.

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The Red Queen:

Wet: the site description is spot on. Deep mahogany and cherrywood, almost reminds me of cherry pipe tobacco.

Drydown: the tobacco smell fades, leaving me with a dark spiced cherry smell.

Longterm wear: after roughly 1/2 hour, The Red Queen morphed into.. mouthwash smell. Oh, Red Queen, how I wanted to love you.

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I recommend Red Queen if you missed out on the Hearth LE--I put it on and had the same sense of comfort, of warm woods and rich red notes. The Queen is more feminine, of course, with a soft undercurrent of vanilla, but there is nothing medicinal about her for me; she's warm and rich, with little change from wet to drydown--much more pleasant and less mercurial than her namesake.

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The Red Queen -

This was a frimp from Bpal. I wouldn’t have guess that I would like this. This was not on my ‘to buy’ list. I don’t like to smell like food or flowers so the cherries and lilies had scared me away.

 

I swiped it on top and bottoms of my wrists and in the cleavage. I then worked out on the treadmill.

 

This is actually to me very earthy-red smell. To me or on me it is rich and deep but not overpowering.

 

I can understand the people saying it smells like cherry Ludens or cough syrup. Those are in there but is only a small part or piece of it when first wet. I was afraid it was going to be too sweet but it seems to be just the right amount of sweet without being totally sweet. (I just said sweet too many times.) :P

 

Verdit- I would wear this again and decide at a later date if I need to have a big bottle.

 

This is my first review and it was fun. :D

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Maybe because I wore this a few days after wearing Kabuki, or maybe due to my body chemistry (slightly offtopic--do scents work differently for you when you are on your period? I know they do for me), but I didn't get cherry from this.

 

Well, I got a little mediciny cherry, but it seems to have faded to Fanta Grape. Sweet, fizzy. I haven't gotten any of the woodsy-ness.

 

I am going to give it another try, and I don't dislike the grape, but it will probably go into a swap pile.

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I really like this one.

 

I imagine sitting in a deep leather armchair in a dark,

wood-panelled library Late afternoon sun slants through gaps

in red velvet drapes, illuminating a crystal decanter of cherry

brandy next to an antique ivory chessboard...

 

It's a very rich, evocative scent. Initially sweet in the wet

stage, it dries down to a woody, mellowed cherry on my skin.

A lovely room scent as well... and I rubbed a little into

my folding travel chessboard from India, because I'm dorky like that. :P

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Red Queen

 

I’m not sure how much this reminds me of the character. I played the White Queen many years ago, and we all thought it was funny I was cast in that part, because my actual personality was much more that of the Red Queen – astringent, somewhat abrupt, apt to pose difficult questions. Take a bone from a dog. What remains? I wouldn’t have said there was anything terribly cherry-ish about that particular chess piece, although I applaud the choice of mahogany for her wood.

 

In the bottle: Chericol cough syrup without the bite of codeine. OK…

 

Wet on skin: Chericol cough syrup, still without the opiates. This isn’t terribly promising, although my mother might get a giggle out of smelling me, considering how much of the stuff she ladled down my throat when I was a bronchitis-prone tyke. :P (And no, I was never addicted. Seems I have a natural resistance to codeine.)

 

Drydown: Ah! Here is the mahogany to smooth and mellow everything out without becoming dominant, and a touch of ripe currents in syrup to add a bit of astringency and more dimension. This becomes, in a very short time (half an hour, maybe) a beautifully balanced, serene, warm, rich scent, not too sweet, not too dry, no note predominant. As many above have said, mature and womanly, with a sense of humor, but not bumptious.

 

I didn’t put a lot on, so I don’t know what sort of throw it will have in normal wear, when I apply to the crooks of my arms and décolletage. I’ll have to try that before I wear it on public transportation, but I have a tough time imagining this would ambush anyone in an unpleasant way, once it dries. A wee drop on one wrist is more like a second skin scent, and not terribly lasting, but I suspect I won’t need to slather it to make it more assertive and lasting, just put it where it will be warm.

 

Beth’s scents are leading me to rethink my traditional stance on fruity and sweet scents. Obviously it wasn’t the scents themselves I had problems with, but the way they were blended. I will definitely use this Imp, and may decide I need a larger supply.

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Swapped with Laurel the Woodfaery for this, because the description sounded so luscious.

 

In the bottle: Ooh, maybe this is going to have the same kind of relationship to Bordello that Golden Priapus does to O! (i.e. similar elements, but darker and less overtly feminine)

 

Fresh on: Mmm, nice... hey, where'd it go? :P

 

Reapply, more heavily. Still disappears very fast. A while later, I could swear there's a hint of a chocolate note in there; it reminds me of the way Vice smells after I've had it on for a while, only much, much fainter.

 

I am PEEVED. I like this scent quite a bit, but apparently my skin eats it. I'll definitely keep the imp and continue trying it from time to time to see if time of month or activity level makes any difference. This could easily become a favorite if it had more staying power.

 

EDIT, after several more attempts: This never does develop any strength or real staying power on me, but I love it far too much to give it up! It's dark-chocolate cherries with a hint of wood and wine underneath -- not really similar to Vice, but in the same family; they layer well. This may end up being my first 10ml, just because I have to slather it to get it to last!

Edited by stardreamer

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In the vial and for the first few seconds on my skin, The Red Queen has a sweetly tart black cherry smell that makes me think of Kool-Aid powder. It's refreshing and fun, although not what I normally go for in scents.

 

Red Queen doesn't take long to show the wooden side of her nature, though. While the cherry Kool-Aid note blends very nicely with a warm red-brown note, I don't get rosewood out of it; in fact, the woody rose scent never makes its way out on my skin.

 

Within ten minutes or so, this seems to have completed the usual oil transformation into what it's going to be during the majority of wear time, and it's a pleasant tart fruit and polished rich wood scent. It's nice, and I wouldn't call it unremarkable, but it doesn't have that resonance that so many of Beth's scents have.

 

Very mellow, very warm, but there's a reason I swapped away my bottle of this. Just not something I'd wear all that often.

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Yet another "wah, it turned medicinal on me" reaction; in my case it was cherry cepacol lozenges, complete with that odd anaesthetic tang at the back of the throat. I had to wash it off. I'm going to try it again another day and see if I can bear it long enough to get well past that stage to the more interesting sounding woods, but I generally can't stomach cherry in any form other than fresh off of the tree, so I'm not holding out too much hope.

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In the vial, strong cough syrup cherry lollipop gooey red scent, but I bravely put it on anyway, and on dry-down there was a bit of wood warmth. Alas, that changed quickly to almondish, which I can't stand, and then here come the cherries again. It's a cherry/almond party and it doesn't seem to want to wash off either. *sigh* This is my first imp that I know for sure will go for a swap to someone it works on.

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I love this, wet it's lovely juicy ripe cherry's with an undertone of what smells to me of wood varnish, but is what I'm assuming is the lacquered wood. As it dries the wood mellows so it's just sitting there behind the cherries making them warmer and more fulsome.

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The Red Queen

 

The wood note in this smells like cedar on me, but a very light cedar. I love how well-blended this is - the cherry smooths and sweetens it out without jumping up and down and screaming "fruit!" and the wood note spices it up without making it the least bit masculine. Eventually this turned into a dark chocolatey sweet fragrance with a wood base - I love this!

I enjoyed wearing The Red Queen on one arm and the Queen of Hearts on the other - they go well together & wearing them just made me happy all of a sudden, & I stayed happy all evening.

Of all the lines, the Mad Tea Party collection has proportionally the most winners for me so far - 9 favorites out of 13 (and I haven't even tried them all yet). I also think this line ages especially well - I've fallen in love with a lot of the oils in it that I barely noticed a few months ago.

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In the imp: Black cherry. Not sweet red cherry, and not sour acidic cherry either. Black cherry, like the kind in black cherry ice cream. And something else... a little bit sharp. It almost smells like a hint of iodine, somehow, but not in a bad way.

On the skin, a dark cherry married to fresh-cut hardwood. A very evocative and familiar scent, very sweet.

As it fades, I think it smells like burnt caramel.

I go for the fruity scents, and this one is pretty nice, but maybe not up in my top five.

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