Dark Queen
Eau de Parfum
For the third Ҫafleurebon birthday fragrance, founder and editor-in-chief Michelyn Camen suggested that we move away from our Alice in Wonderland theme into modern urban fantasy: vampire killers, shapeshifters and time delaying beasts in human form. “No,” we said, but she still talked us into it.
15ml
£35
30ml
£65
50ml
£95
100ml
£130
Our Dark Queen is a sleek wildcat which has been grazing at a berry farm. The aroma of a furry animal, but a very well groomed one, which only shows it claws if it absolutely has to. Untamed beasts are not for us. Its base is a traditional amber – the colour of our imaginary wild cat’s eyes – with the lyrical sensuality of styrax and labdanum. There are dark and fruity hints of oudh, with a stirring of red fruits, tonka, plum and apricot. Our animal may look as if it’s been out hunting, but the red stains on its furry nose are just raspberry juice.
Perfume Dialect: Fruity Oudh
Top Notes: Bergamot, Tonka, Raspberry
Heart Notes: Oudh, Blackcurrant, Plum
Base Notes: Styrax, Labdanum, Musk
Ingredients: Alcohol, Parfum, Limonene, Coumarin, Linalool.
This is wonderful, woody, animalic, sexy, sultry, warm and dark. There is this dry woody vibe, slightly incense-esque, yet not church-like. More of a carnally raw, intrinsically animalic, spiritual incense. Woods from the jungle or the deep forest. Sarah does evoke the scent of wild animals, I don't want you to think dirty, dunglike oud animalic, but a leathery animalic. Wafts of musk and tonka tone it down, nay, compliment it. There is a slight fruity aspect to this, again, not powerful, not sugary. This is not fruit juice or drippy, luscious fruit. Picture notes of fresh fruit, still on the branch, just ever-so-slightly beaconing you with their scents. Absolutely marvelous.