Talvikuu

[gravedigger]

Skeletal limbs of birch and fir coated in a thick, impenetrable blanket of snow. This is the death of the year personified.

Oh, this is wonderful. Wet, Talvikuu smells very woodsy and icy. Initially, it's really strong and tends to make me a bit sneezy, but once it dries down, it turns into this gorgeous, cold, sweet pine. I want to try it as a room scent, but I'm not sure that I want to sacrifice any of it!
As for the comparison to Nuclear Winter, I definitely get some of that, but Nuclear Winter is like minty flowers, whereas this is slightly minty trees.

[lady_pandora]

I was craving a wintry scent, and a friend graciously decanted me an imp of Talvikuu!

 

Wet, this is PINE PINE PINEY PINE. Actually. kind of too much pine and kind of smells like a men's aftershave. I decided to wait it out and see what happened next.

 

Over the next hour or so, a minty note slowly crept in next to the pine. Then, the oddest thing happened--my skin somehow found a warm, second skin note, almost a musk, somewhere in the oil. It never quite surfaces above the pine and mint, just sort of lurks there, but it's a very comforting scent.

 

The second skin note is only evident right next to my wrist. The throw is mostly green, chilly pine and mint. My caveat is that the throw is "corrupted" a little by the fact that I still have the last vestiges of Cerberus on from this morning. And they mingle better than I might have expected. It's weird. Cerberus is my warm-blanket-and-cocoa scent and Talvikuu is the cold itself, but they're not really fighting each other and I kind of like the effect.

 

The Patented Pandora Ozone Headache never shows up, despite the fact that reviews indicate that ozone is an ingredient in this oil. Maybe I've finally found an ozone I can wear. Then again, maybe it's because I'm only wearing a little bit and I'm not wearing it behind my ears or on my neck, but (literally) at arm's length Either way, though, I'm not complaining about the lack of headache.

 

This scent kind of reminds me of road-tripping through the Rockies in winter, with al the evergreens draped with snow. It does fall on the masculine side of the spectrum, more so than my most-loved oils, and so I doubt I'll wear it frequently. But part of what I like about Talvikuu, paradoxically, is that it's so different from my usual BPALs and so it has a niche to fill, as it were. I think I'll wear this from time to time when I really want to embrace the cold rather than insulate myself from it with my usual warm ambers and stuff.

 

As I write this, we're getting our first big snow of the year. It's supposed to be 6-12 inches by tomorrow morning. Seems quite fitting that I have this on.

 

Edited November 30, 2006 by lady_pandora

[Em-]

Pine. Pine with a hint of spice and maybe something bright or sweet - like a fresh pine wreath with berries or ringing a candle. This is a terrific wintery scent.

[sionnac]

Alone in the forest. Why do I keep thinking of Little Red Riding Hood (the Angela Carter film The Company of Wolves comes to mind)? All the better to eat you with ...

[phedre]

In the vial this is pure pine, lovely and clean.

 

On skin the pine stays, and a touch of mint and spice emerges. This is a lovely, cold winter scent with a very realistic winter forest feel to it.

[xoe]

light sweet lemony wood. that's all i get from talvikuu. pleasant.

[crain]

In the bottle: Aquatic, forest, pine, clean

 

On my skin: More aquatic, more pine.

 

This is a very dense pine with some overtones of an aquatic. It is much thicker a scent than Skadi to my nose. Nonetheless, as with all of Beth's pine blends, I am blown away.

[Myotis]

This one reminds me a lot of Snow Bunny, which is one of my absolute favourite scents.

Except Talvikuu isn't quite as sweet. More pine in this one I believe.

Reminds me of a cool day in a pine forest, just between winter and spring.

It's a stronger scent that lasts hours on my skin and I'm glad I was able to get a bottle of this from the forum here!

[Esatres]

I honestly have no idea what anyone else is talking about here.

 

On me, all I get from Talvikuu is sweet berry with a slight woody touch. Maybe I got a bum imp or something (?).

 

Fortunately, I love the berry scent and am glad that pine isn't flipping out and amping like it usually does on me. It's very refreshing and clean...not like the "death of the year" at all.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Esatres

[Babylon]

Talvikuu does smell a little like berries, like juniper sometimes smells. At first that berry scent amps on my skin, but as it dries, it tones down and the slushy-snow covered tree limbs come out. This smells like the bitterest coldest part of winter.

[cranberry]

To me, Talvikuu, Snow Bunny and Snow Moon are all quite similar with only subtle differences.

 

This smells mainly of evergreen and BPAL’s slush/snow note. It smells chilly and slightly damp. There’s a touch of mint, which could be the birch bark. As it wears, the evergreen backs off a bit and it becomes a bit more aquatic and slushy. I like it!

[zankoku_zen]

Again, I can see the comparisons to Snow Bunny and Snow Moon on this. On me the pine and evergreen are a little overwhelming. It's mintier than Snow Bunny at the beginning, but overall, it's also pinier, woodsier and ozoney. Out of all the snow blends so far, Snow Bunny has been my favorite.

 

Snow Bunny is the girl out in the snow. Talvikuu is being out there in the cold slushy snow in the middle of a ski trip.

[beachbabealways]

this! This is the best winter scent I have found so far. It's pine, tad minty and a bit berry on me and has this cold feeling. It's a much softer version of Snow Bunny. Actually it's like a cross between Snow Bunny and Cloister Graveyard in the Snow (I think it's the same mint). I'm soooo glad I found this bottle and it was a heck of a deal. Edited April 21, 2009 by beachbabealways

[rayvn1]

Lovely, lovely pine Covered in an arctic chill. Very nice, but doesn't last terribly long.

[magikalbrownies]

it smells like im sitting in the middle of a pine forest.

 

geez, lemony and pineeeee!

 

love this scent, too bad im jumping on it in 09. i have a soft spot for these.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Nearly colourless extremely pale yellow oil. The lab's slushy snow note, and LOTS of fir. A creamy underlying sweetness hints at birch, but I don't get it directly. Zingy ozone. Cold and wintry but not the cloying pine of most wintry BPAL.

 

Wet: More birch, and I detect some sort of mint in the distance, but this is still heavy on the cold, delicious fir. Actually, reminds me a lot of Egle, but this is crisper. The lab's snow note is always a little hairsprayish on me, but that's not overwhelming here.

 

Dry: More gentle and almost aquatic (cucumbery?) as it dried. Birch can be too sweet and root-beery for me, but it's luminous here, and adds almost a sparkling note. It's a bit too woodsy to be refreshing, but I do find it soothing.

 

Later: This has super strong throw, and i keep getting wafts of it from my wrist...delicious wafts. While it's still a bit harsh up close in a that piney-snow way, it's incredible from afar. The birch turns into this creamy, almost vanillic note.

 

Summary: FIR and piney-cold slushy-snow with creamy, delicious birch. Fabulous throw and lasting power. Cool, sweet, and wintry. The first snow scent that has worked on me other than SGA.

[Monster]

I've been dying to try this! A wonderful forumite frimped this to me with a recent purchase. Oh happy day!

 

In the imp: Sweet pine and juniper.

 

Wet: A sweet, slushy aquatic mixed with pine trees and a dash of juniper. I'm usually not a fan of aquatics but I love love love the labs "snow" notes.

 

Dry: This dries down to a very mild pine scent. This is like...Snow Moon, light!

 

Overall: I always love me a pine scent, this one is really gorgeous...a keeper!

[iamblackbird]

I have this and Snow Moon, and I see that comparison. I get a lot of slush, juniper, and very little pine. Aquatics are my friends, and I LOVE this one!

[NaiadOreiad]

Wet: This has a healthy does of pine but it's balanced well with the minty cold snow. This is what I have been looking for in a snow scent ^__^ Normally aquatics are a total fail but Talvikku is bahving and frolicking nicely in the snowy forest

 

Dry: Stayed pretty much the same as wet, just not as cold. Yay for a snow I can wear!!!!

[Zaani]

I'm still new to BPAL, and I was kind of expecting more of a pine-y tree kind of harsh, wintery scent. It's probably there, but I can't pick it out very well. For me, this was mostly light aquatic florals and a bit of mint, though I'm pretty sure the woods are grounding it. I ended up really liking it anyways, even though I was hoping for a scent that would smell a bit more cold and desolate. I'll just have to keep looking for that one, I guess!

[Caper]

This one reminds me of the snow note in Yellow Snowballs and Ondurdis from last years yules. It really is a delightful winter, snow scent, but I already have a few things (Cloth of Gold and Country of Eternal Light) that fill that niche in my collection.

 

If I didn't already have those two bottles I'd likely get it. It really is refreshing and beautiful.

[Gwydion]

In Bottle: The woods are dominant. Unfortunately, this is a peppermint based snow note, which is heartbreaking for me. I love the birch and fir combination, but peppermint and I can’t ever be friends and I don’t dare skin test. This is brilliant in concept though and a perfect winter trees scent for a peppermint lover.

[Aldercy]

2012 Version

 

I was hoping for a more pure fir-and-slush scent, but Talvikuu is a little more complex than I expected. The birch and evergreen are more woody than green, and there's a distinct hint of bubbly lemon. The snow is not quite the icy slush that it can be in some blends. It's the slightly heartier, spicier type found in Snow Moon.

 

This is a nice winter blend, and I'm enjoying testing it, but it just isn't quite what I wanted. I'll keep the decant, but no bottle here, I think.

[patina]

I get a lot of fir, which to my nose is sweeter, more rounded, and more lemony than pine. The birch is very present and it's making this sweeter.

 

This smells like the offspring Ondurdis and Pale Student of the Unhallowed Arts, except this is mellower to my nose than both of those.

 

Ultimately, I like it but I don't want more than an imp.

[KindKit]

2012 version.

 

I liked this a lot at first: there's cool northern pine and spicy woodiness from the birch. Unfortunately as it dries the pine disappears and the birch note becomes increasingly sweet. I wanted more coldness and airiness from this scent and it's just not there, at least not on me.