CiM: Messy Color™ Evil Queen, An opaque purple.

Messy Color™ Evil Queen

511661 - Sold Out

An opaque purple.

"This bead is Grape Ape on the ends, and Evil Queen in the middle. You can see from this picture that there is a difference - they are a very similar value [shades of light and dark] - but the Grape Ape is a little redder, and the Evil Queen is closer to a balance between red and blue." Read more at DragonJools blog. – Dwyn Tomlinson

Click here for other interesting Evil Queen discoveries.

Julie Fountain

Melanie Graham

Messy Evil Queen, Heffalump, Simply Berry, Thai Orchid, Count von Count, Eggplant, & Grape Ape

Genea Crivello

Patricia Frantz

Messy Evil Quen with silver foil and sis

Carol Oliver

Cynthia Brunell

CiM Tester Feedback

Evil Queen is a bright opaque purple.

We asked our testers to compare Grape Ape, Evil Queen, Poi, & Thai Orchid.

"I had a tough time with all of these purples because they all looked the same to me. Poi is lighter in color, but it is relatively close to Effetre violet, so then you have the price thing to consider. Evil Queen isn't a bad purple, but my complaint about it is just that it is too dark. Grape Ape striated a lot." – Bethany Lemasters

"All these purples look fairly similar when made into spacers. But I like Evil Queen because it is a slightly brighter purple. It’s a toss-up between Poi and Thai Orchid because they both got great reactions when used over Hades, so I think they can do some neat effects." – Lori Bergmann

"Poi is my favorite." – Sue Stewart

"Evil Queen is the best of the bunch even though it is expensive. Poi is my favorite when encased due to lines of deeper purple that develop. Thai Orchid is my favorite for pulling out a deep silver luster." – Starleen Colon

"For me, I find Grape Ape, Poi and Thai Orchid to be very similar in hue, but with different densities. They definitely have their place in the current palette of purples, but they are very similar. Evil Queen is a very nice medium purple and would get my vote for my favorite of the four. I think Evil Queen is a better neutral medium purple than the Italian colors." – Renee Wiggins

"Grape Ape sometimes has a dirty look to it. Evil Queen can work for flowers if put over Peace. Poi is kinda washed out looking. Thai Orchid is my favorite, dark and opaque." – Pat O'Brien

"Evil Queen seems too close to Moretti in a shade that is less interesting to me. I like Thai Orchid the best. It’s a very rich, pure and dark purple that doesn’t seem to have any gray or other colors in it." – Marcy Lamberson

"If I have to choose, I guess Grape Ape is my favorite because it seems to be the darkest." – Maija-Leena Autio

"Evil Queen is hands-down my fav, but it costs quite a bit more, so I generally try to make use of one of the lower priced purples, usually Grape Ape." – Kathy Coon

"I love Grape Ape because it really is a grapey purple opaque. This color fills a hole in the glass palette. I definitely like Evil Queen the best as it is the most opaque. Poi has a lot of gray tone to it. Thai Orchid is my second favorite of the CiM purples. It’s a bit on the grey side, but is nicely opaque and is easy to use. It melts well and makes a great base bead color." – Gail Witt

"I like Evil Queen the best because it is a more true purple. The others have a touch of gray." – Elizabeth Long

"Grape Ape is my favorite. Evil Queen is equivalent to 272 violet to me but more purple than gray, and more lavender than Thai Orchid. Poi is a great purple, I like it. Thai Orchid is a true dark purple to me and I like the reactions with silver glasses." – Elasia

"To me, they are all virtually indistinguishable. I put them all side by side on mandrels, and even under an Ott light it was virtually impossible to see any differences. Two other lampworkers looked at the beads as well, and they saw no difference in them either. The only one a bit different was Evil Queen: it is slightly prettier, a bit purpleier, but considering it’s over 3 times the price of Grape Ape, I don’t see any way to justify the cost difference." – Donna Dorman

"Thai Orchid is my favorite - I just like the colour the best!" – Claire Morris

"Grape Ape is one of my favorites. Love the color and how it works. Evil Queen is a favorite of some of my customers. Can’t seem to make anything that I like with Poi. Love how Thai Orchid works but it does get a bit metallic at times." – Chris Haussler

"I really love Grape Ape. I also think it has nicer working properties [it's firmer and easier for me to work with] at the torch than E Violet. Grape Ape has a richer and deeper color saturation and does not seem to get as dirty as E Violet does. I also really love Thai Orchid because of the richness, depth, and tone of the color." – Bonnie Polinski

Special thanks to Genea Crivello-Knable, Bethany Lemasters, & Carol Oliver (x2) for providing the photos in this section.

Visit DragonJools blog here or here for a review of Evil Queen.

Join Trudi Doherty's FB group Lampwork Colour Resource Sharing Information for a catalogue of color study.
Claudia Eidenbenz’s "Vetrothek" (glass library) is a great resource for color comparisons.
See Kay Powell’s frit testing samples.
Browse Serena Thomas’ color gallery.
Check out Miriam Steger’s CiM color charts.
Consult Jolene Wolfe's glass testing resource page.

"Yellow Purpura Amulet Basket" - Blown and torch worked glass. 29" high, 26"long.

– Laura Donefer

"Evil Queen is the nicest opaque purple glass I have yet used . . . . Evil Queen does not devitrify, and pretty much stays where you put it on a bead. It is a little reactive, but in a gentle way, as opposed to the crazy reactivity I experienced with EDP. It does not turn a livery brown with repeated striking the way Effetre Dark Violet does, and isn't particularly streaky like Effetre New Violet or CiM Poi are." Read more at Melanie's blog – Melanie Graham

"The rods are, from the top, Grape Ape, Evil Queen, Plum, and Cranberry Pink -1. The beads are in the same order, from the top." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"Beads on the left all have a base of Evil Queen. Beads on the right all have a base of Thai Orchid." See more comparisons of Evil Queen and Thai Orchid on Chris's blog.

– Chris Sanderson

"Do you suppose it will separate with itself? This is Evil Queen dots on an Evil Queen base. And, in defiance of logic, you can still see the dots." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"I really have enjoyed using the variety of CiM purples in my jewelry. It allows me enough color variation to keep the bracelet interesting while still having the appearance of continuity."

– Gail Witt

"The nice thing about this color though is that it doesn't have nearly the reactive tendencies that most other 104 violets have. It doesn't bleed, suck other color, have any silver reduction patina, and keeps its pretty color." Read more at Kandice Seeber's blog.

– Kandice Seeber