thekittenkat

In the decant: Spicy cinnamon blend, kind of wettish and fresh.

Wet: Now smells as though it's a drier scent, as though the spices were fresh and now they have dried out.

The dry-down: Amomum is cardamon. Not sure what acanthus should smell like. Spikenard could be one of several scents, according to the wiki. Except for the freshness aspect, this is not a morpher, and seems to be cinnamon mixed with the other spices. The balsams give it a touch of sweetness. Nice, but a bottle is not needed. I do see this as a good perfume for autumn and winter and is also unisex.

In the decant: I get the myrtle lrsf, frank, myrrh, and the bay

Wet: The bay really comes forward.

The dry-down: The myrrh and frank swoop back in, but the bay continues its domination. I suspect that the myrtle leaf is making the scent somewhat powdery.

In the decant: Honeyed fig and fig leaf.

Wet: Lots of honey, the fig leaf, the cognac, and the honeysuckle.

The dry-down: Alas, the pesky amber is doing its powder thing, but the other notes are still hanging in there, but trying to fading away. If I keep the decant, or spring for a bottle, this will be a scent locket scent. It's lovely in the wet phase and I wish that it would have stayed that way.

In the decant: It's as though the other notes were being dissolved into some fresh olive oil.

Wet: The olive oil has mellowed, but the pine, bay laurel and olibanum are slowly drowning in the olive oil, alas, but they aren't done yet.

The dry-down: A gentle, slightly pine-scented olive oil for ritual use or just as a room scent, but certainly not a cooking oil! I like this, but because the olive oil subsumes the notes, the decant will be enough.

In the decant: Sweet (from the honey) water with a squeezed lemon being dripped into it.

Wet: More lemon in the cool water now.

The dry-down:Still very much a cool aquatic, but with less lemon and now a touch of the lily of the valley and the pale rose. I don't have a fave aquatic, but this could be a nice and light and refreshing spring/summer scent, as long as the lemon note stays deep in the mix.

In the decant: A sweet scent, but with something like camphour piercing through. Odd. Not sure what to think.

Wet: Still mostly what I've ID'ed as the cabreuva, the sort of balsam of Peru note.

The dry-down: Well, learn something everyday. I seem to amp cabreuva. As I have no desire to smell like a sweetish mothball, this gets washed off asap. I had such high hopes for this, as I like all the other notes. Not a morpher.

And big thanks to you, thekittenkat, for your info regarding the different snow notes. I just realised I've never tried a real snow BPAL, and that I would like to do so but wanted to know what the heck they're about first, and ducked into this thread looking for pretty much exactly that. Am feeling extremly edified now!

You're welcome! And CaudaPavonis' list (that I quoted) is super, but I just saw that Snow White is not on there. There's also snowy notes at the Post.

Here is my all inclusive list -- if you think I left one out, let me know and Ill get it added

 

2004

Cold Moon (Lunacy 2004) - The Full Moon that shines over the frost-rimed heart of winter. Traditional lunar oils combined with glittering snow flowers, soft breezes and frozen ferns.

Frost Moon (Lunacy 2004) - A blend of traditional lunar oils frozen with winter mints, shivering eucalyptus, clear lotus, a gust of wind, and a midnight aquatic note.

Havisham (2004) - This is the scent of a frost-limed wedding bouquet, frozen forever in time.

Ice Queen (Yule 2004) - blend of precious pale musks, brittle winter blossoms, spruce, and frozen winter fruits

Queen of Diamonds (Forum 2004) - 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.

Skadi (Yule 2004) - Frost-rimed winter berries, crisp pine needle, and a slush of bright snowy notes.

Wolf Moon (Lunacy 2004) - This is the dead of winter, the year's dark hibernation, the crystalline silence of the depths of the world's darkness

 

2005

Numb (2005) - a singularly chilly, delectably ice-rimmed perfume; gelid polar frostiness

Snow Moon (Lunacy 2005) - A scent of purity and silence, soft with falling snow, as dark as Midwinter: an icy flurry over the winter blooms of narcissus, pansy crocus, dahlia, tulip, chrysanthemum and white rose, with a hint of fir and birch.

Talvikuu (Yule 2005) - Skeletal limbs of birch and fir coated in a thick, impenetrable blanket of snow

 

2006

Black Ice (Yule 2006) - chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind

Carpanthian Mountains (Order of the Dragon 2006) - Mountain air and the scent of crisp snow blanketing the mountain's flora: Scottish fir, beech, cembra and mugho pine, rhododendron, currant, honeysuckle, raspberry leaf, dwarf juniper, sedge, meadow grass, snowdrop, rose bay, lily of the valley, starwort, lichen and mosses

Darkling Thrush (Yule 2006) - Snow, darkness, and icy air illuminated by the thrush's song: warm amber, soft orris, and melancholy violet.

Knecht Ruprecht (Yule 2006) - The snow-covered foliage of the Black Forest and the fruit and woods of apple and almond trees.

 

2007

Archangel Winter (Yule 2007) - Crystalline, glassy ice whipped by a snowstorm. Piercing ozone, winter darkness.

Christmas Rose (Yule 2007) - Bruise-tinted hellebore blossoms pushing through snowdrifts.

*Hunger Moon (Lunacy 2007) - It is a clear night sky that and bracing chill wind that bears the promise of snow, sharpened by the pain of hunger, and the sharp, rasping stab of thirst. Ozone, white sandalwood, crystallized white amber, verbena, oakmoss, clary sage, and a hint of white citrus rind.

Jólasveinar (Yule 2006, 2007) - a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries.

*Long Night Moon (Lunacy 2007) - A bouquet of night-blooming flowers, petals dusted with frost. Cereus, moonflower accord, night phlox, honeysuckle, silver thyme, white mint, and blue musk

*Midwinter's Eve (Yule 2007) - The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers.

*Mistletoe (Yule 2004, 2005, 2007) – no notes listed

November (Yule 2007) - Autumn leaves damp beneath the first snowfall.

Old Moon (Lunacy 2007) - The cold, white moon shines on frozen ground dusted with silent snow: evergreen, juniper, winterberry holly, bayberry, Viking black chokeberry, hemlock, and yew, ice-rimed, gilded by traditional lunar herbs and flowers

Snow Storm (Yule 2007) - Winter aconite, balsam fir, cedar leaf, and white mint.

 

2008

Frau Holle (Yule 2008) - Snow-covered pines, witches herbs, bestial musk, flax, and ethereal flowers that represent both birth and death

L'Inverno (Inquisition 2008) – White musk, winter plum, pine wood, benzoin, orchid, and stargazer lily.

Lines Written (Yule 2008) - Skin musk, white sandalwood, balsam fir, frozen black berries, cedar, winter rose, and white amber

Moon of Ice (Lunacy 2008) - Frost-crusted winter flowers, white pine, eucalyptus, and traditional lunar oils.

*Moon of Small Spirits (Lunacy 2008) - Snow-blanketed wild grasses, sage, swamp tea, cedar, giniminagawunj, copal, rosehip, juniper, clover, elderberry, sweet flag, butterfly weed, wood sorrel, and pine.

*Moon of the Terrible (Lunacy 2008) - winter snow with lavender, benzoin, lychee, white resins, and a cluster of melancholy, lachrymose lunar herbs and florals (not much snow)

Nuclear Winter (Yule 2005, 2008) - The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints.

*Perchta (Yule 2008) - wild musk, snow, and alpine flora: Nigritella lithopolitanica, aconite, crocus, touch-me-not, edelweiss, Iris variegate, and violet.

*Snow Angel (Inqusition 2005, 2008) - Cherubic spun sugar with a hint of lemon, sparkling peach, and floral tea

Snow Bunny (Yule 2005, 2008) - Soft white powder snow with a touch of youthful girlie perfume

*Snowblind (Inquisition 2005, 2008) – vanilla mint

Theres a Certain Slant of Light (Yule 2008) - Thin, tinny ozone with frankincense, white sandalwood, white amber, hyssop, bitter violet leaf, and shadowy wisps of smoke

 

2009

Cloister Graveyard in the Snow (Salon) - Three white musks, ozone, frankincense, mint.

Countess Dolingen of Gratz (Halloweenie 2009) - Hailstone-pounded cypress boughs, olibanum, and an ozone blast of lightning

Death of the Grave Digger (Salon) - Snow, soil, opoponax and myrrh

Ded Moroz (Yule 2009) - golden amber, white amber, redwood, teak, bois du rose, sage, tree moss, and snow.

Evening Cicadas (Yule 2009) - Frost-limned, ice-bejeweled branches, scattered blood-red maple leaves, a few camellia petals, red peppers, and nacreous, multi-colored musks that shimmer like gently-beating cicada wings

First Soft Snow (Yule 2009) - Heavy drifts of snow blanketing winter's narcissus.

*Kumari Kandam (GC) - Thick incense, clay, stone, and hothouse blooms with a spike of frost, a hint of decay, and heavy, dolorous aquatic notes

the Macabray (Gaiman) - White winter flowers plucked from a snow-covered graveyard

Hypothermia (Yule 2009) - Bone-chilling, heart-stopping cold.

*Niflheim (GC) - The House of Mists, a land of icy fog, shadowy darkness and soul-chilling cold. Dark, damp blossoms winding through an impenetrable, murky gloom

*Night-Gaunt (GC) - yuzu, white grapefruit, and kumquat mixed with snow-dusted flowers

Pink Snowballs (Yule 2009) - A lighthearted winter scent: chilly vanilla rose snowballs

Season of the Inundation (Iteru 2009) - Sweet, black silt mingled with holy myrrh, melilot, hyssop, spikenard, balsam, cedar, and a hint of melting snow

Shivering Boy (Yule 2007, 2009) - frozen, dormant vineyards, bitter sleet, and piercing ozone, hurled through labdanum, benzoin, and olibanum.

Snow Flakes (Yule 2006, 2009) - The radiance and desolation of winter.

Snow, Glass, Apples (2009) – no notes listed

Snow Maiden (Yule 2006, 2009) - Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost.

Snow White (Yule 2003-2009) - A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers

Snowball Fracas (Yule 2009) - A scent tight with delirious adrenaline. Muddy dirt and frost-covered moss from the trenches rubbed into winter clothes and snow impact overspray

When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go (Yule 2009) - A gentle flurry of snow dusting the season's last chrysanthemums, illuminated by pale rays of winter's amber-tinted sunlight

 

(probably missing some in here)

 

2013

Almond Blossom: almond blossom, hoar-frost, and snow-wind

Go to Sleep, Darlings: Kiss-soft clouds of spun-sugar snow

Purple Snowballs: Sugar plum snowballs with a touch of currant and cardamom

The First Soft Snow 2013: Heavy drifts of snow blanketing winter’s narcissus

The Garden in Winter: Swaths of red poppies, white roses, graceful winter lilies, and sun-bright primroses beaming from beneath a flutter of snowflakes

Winter Stars: starry blue musk with mugwort, white mandarin, rockrose, and snow

 

 

*Not very snowy

An amazing list! Thank you very much!

More meta on snowy scents!

Winter Heavens has the ozone note. Dust of Snow is mostly icy ozone. The Shivering Boy has a hint of ozone ice. Woods in Winter is icy. Pale Student of Unhallowed Arts is sweet ozone. The Country of Eternal Light has ozone, but it's overshadowed by the lichen.

Snowball Fracas has the minty snow note that doesn't combine well w/ dirt. Talvikuu is minty snow, but I did like that version of the snow note in this. Hpothermia is cool mint all the way. Snow-Flakes is a sweet mint.

A Torrent of Light has both ozone and mint.

Evening Cicadas and Red Peppers has the sweet snow note.

And that's the end of the snowy Yules that I can find my reviews for. More meta later!

There's three snow notes that the Lab seems to use. There's the minty note, the sweetish note, and the icy/ozone note. These ideas are based on not only my own experience w/ the snowy notes, but much that I have read here on the forum.

This is a WiP.

The sweetish snow note for sure shows up in Snow White--to me, it's almost like a sweet coconut scent. Others say that it's like vanilla, as in The Waltz of the Flowers (which also has lot of mint). Go To Sleep, Darlings is in this category and Pink Snowballs.

Skadi, Ice Queen, and Onoduris all have some of the minty note in them to various degrees, but not hugely so. Nuclear Winter has always been a blast of the minty snow note, for me, but w/ some ozone as well. Cloister Graveyard in the Snow is also very minty and so is Braving the Ice. Like Brooms of Steel is very minty to start with. The Garden in Winter and Colder and Colder are minty as well.

The Lick It series is always peppermint and vanilla, so it's like two of the snow notes in one bottle. I love this series, and so does the bf.

I get the icy ozone note in Countess Dolingen of Gratz, one of my fav snow scents ever, even if it's a Halloweenie. Also in Purple Snowballs, Autumn and Winter (very sharp), Black Ice, A Cold, Clear Day, and the 2010 version of Midwinter's Eve.

There's scents where the ozone and mint notes seem to combine: Moon of Ice, Death-Fires Dancing Over the Tombs, Cloth of Gold, Numb, and Yellow Snowballs.

The 2010 version of Winter-Time was a morpher and had all 3 snow notes!

Almond Blossom has a little of the ozone note and a tiny bit of the sweet snow note.

How about a necro bump? Recs for a snow or Yule scent minus the wintergreen/vapor rub/menthol note/s of doom??:-P

Even though it will be a while before my yule decants arrive, I'm still anixous to test them. I've been "burned" by the minty snow note appearing in blends where I didn't expect it, so I have learned not to blind-buy bottles until I can read reviews and/or test decants. I'll look back through the lists and pick out my faves amongst the non-mints.

When I spray this on my hair, I get tobacco, then clove, then dirt. Bit strange, but then the three notes start to blend together. There might also be a touch of ozone in here. Perfect to wear w/ Graveyard Dirt.

In the decant bottle: What it says on the tin--very nice.

Wet: Much as on cold sniff--this isn't as fruity sweet as this yr's Sugar Skull perfume oil is, though.

The dry-down:This turns to dusty cacao, which saddens me. But not half an hour later, or so, I noticed the most wonderful scent wafting up from the back of my hand--a Sugar Skull scent from a past year mixed with cacao. Chocolate scents usually work on me, and all I had to do was give this a little more time. I can see this as a year-round bath oil.

Note: my skin is dry and I use bath oils like a lotion.

In the decant bottle: Pumpkin and chocolate that's not too sweet.

Wet: Now more chocolate than pumpkin, and sweeter, too.

The dry-down: The pumpkin and the chocolate have melded into a lovely delicious scent that makes me want to lick my arm! Good stuff--may be on my order list. No other notes present to interfere in this yummy goodness.

NOTE: I use the bath oils as after the bath moisturizer on damp skin, or on dry skin like a lotion. In any case, a few drops can cover a leg, a couple of drops will cover an arm.

To start w/, here are my notes from DSWC:

Magnificent Autumn

CS: green leaves starting to turn

W: leaves getting seared and crisp

D: sweet leaves; I like this!

Now for a more in-depth review.

In the bottle: Sweet green leaves that are just starting to redress themselves in their autumn array. I suspect that maple leaves and sweetgum leaves are part of the mix.

Wet: The leaves are really fresh, crisp, green and sharp! That's unexpected.

The dry-down: As this dries down, the sharp green scent softens into a sweeter scent, but with a touch of pepper, yes, pepper abt it. I've sniffed that peppery note on the air in autumn, but have yet to ID the tree's leaves from whence it came. Again, the maple leaves and the sweetgum leaves are part of the mix. This scent is a morpher, and rightly so, as Beth has captured some of the wonderful scent of the autumn air and the leaves scenting it, from early autumn to late. There just may be a hint of ozone in this as well. An amazing scent!

In the bottle: Fresh pumpkins and their vines, sage, vanilla, and sweetgrass.

Wet: The sage and sweetgrass move to the foreground. The vines seem to be drying out.

The dry-down: Dried pumpkin vines, sage, sweetgrass, a hint of the vanilla, and also a touch of the wild mushroom as well. Not like inside a crafts store, but outside, in the warm sunshine, as the pumpkin dries amongst drying sage plants, drying sweetgrass, drying mushrooms, all sprinkled w/ a bit of vanilla. No cade that I could detect, which is good, as juniper and its relatives usually amp on me. The rosewood might account for the drying feeling. I do like this very much.

In the bottle: Vanilla, patch, and honey. Yummy, but not in a foodie way, exactly.

Wet: Beautifully melding together! A tiny hint of spice that must be from the cinnamon. I could huff my wrist forever. Not a grtty patch, btw.

The dry-down: A glorious mix of non-foodie honey and vanilla, tempered by the gentle patch, and given a slight spiciness by the cinnamon, which is not obvious as such.

1st off, my notes from DSWC:

CS: as it says

W: nasty

D: not only did I not like this, I had to go and spill some on my chinos

Giving it one more try!

In the decant: As the label says.

Wet: Maybe a littler sweeter and not so stale.

The dry-down: More like sweet butter mixed with candy, yet someway dusty, so not as bad as I thought, but nothing special. Luckily it fades fast.

In the bottle: Cedar and fig medling together, sweetened by the other notes, floating over the fresh pumpkin.

Wet: Much as on cold sniff, but much spicier!

The dry-down: This is a wonderful scent. Every note just blends together perfectly. It's a not-overly-sweet pumpkin that is cedar-woody and dark fig fruity. And the spice aspect did calm down.

Please note that cedar usually doesn't go to pencil shavings or small animals cage litter/bedding on me.

In the bottle: I'm getting all the notes, delightfully blending together and well balanced.

Wet: Much as on cold sniff: blackened pumpkin that's been covered with clove, tobacco, patch, and oakmoss. I smell yummy, but not foodie.

The dry-down: The pumpkin comes more forward, and the other notes are now fainter. Still a rather exquisite scent. Unisex.

1st, my brief meta from DSWC:

CS: smells like wood fire

W: very much a wood fire

D: smokey wood fire--not for me

Now for a more in-depth review:

In the decant: This smells very much like a forest fire that is dying down. There's green plant/tree notes and dried woods/leaves notes faintly mixed in and amongst the dominant smoke note.

Wet: Much as on cold sniff, but there's less smoke as the fire burns down, and more of the dead wood smell.

The dry-down: The scent is now reminiscent of dried firewood, but with a smokey note still floating over all. There's a hint of the ashes left behind from a bonfire, also. As I suspected from the will call testing, this is too associated with my own scent memories of having been in a house fire. It doesn't remind me of St. John's Eve, as that's a different smoke note.

1st, my mini-review from DSWC:

Cold Sniff: ivy, ivy, ivy

Wet: fig is coming out and maple leaf, too

Dry: mostly ivy and dry leaves; would like to re-test, as I think I like it, but am not sure

Now for a more in-depth review:

In the bottle: There's the crisp ivy note, rather akin to the ivy that I cut & tear down from Mr. Kat's house's brick walls (it's trying to sneak in through the windows), but slightly gentled by what must be the honeyed fig.

Wet: The ivy calms down as the maple leaf moves into the foreground.

The dry-down: Quite the morpher, as I'm now getting a hint of the dirt and the cypress, and a slight whiff of something (can't imagine what note is causing this) slightly soapy and aquatic. But the longer I wear it the more the crisp green bitterness of the fresh ivy returns. Not sure that I like it on me. It's a very masculine scent.

ETA: I should note that my skin usually loves all these notes, all but the ivy and the cypress. Of course, the 2 notes that I am sure of, end up dominating the scent, sadly.

Cold sniff of the tealight: All the spices found in pumpkin spice, well blended.

Lit: The spices now feel warm in the air, as though they have been toating gently by a small fire in the hearth. Very pleasant, and nothing at all like a crafts store.

Cold sniff: All the notes.

On the hair: Can still detect all the notes, but on my long, dry, colored hair, this gloss sinks right into the hair stands. It's subtle, but the honey and apple are the most obvious notes as it dries.

Cold sniff of unlit tealight: Mostly the dark incense, but w/ a hint of the leaf note.

Lit: Much the same as when not lit. These fallen leaves have been rained upon, as there's a curious hint of an aquatic note amongst the dark incense notes, which themselves are not overpowering in the least. I like the leaf note, and the incense notes of myrrh, opoponax, and labdanum. It's a nice but gentle scent.