To a Wreath of Snow 2023

[Jenjin]

Morning rising in mourning grey: tobacco flower, white oud, lavender bud, and ambergris accord.

 

O transient voyager of heaven!

O silent sign of winter skies!

What adverse wind thy sail has driven

To dungeons where a prisoner lies?

 

Methinks the hands that shut the sun

So sternly from this mourning brow

Might still their rebel task have done

And checked a thing so frail as thou

 

They would have done it had they known

The talisman that dwelt in thee,

For all the suns that ever shone

Have never been so kind to me!

 

For many a week, and many a day

My heart was weighed with sinking gloom

When morning rose in mourning grey

And faintly lit my prison room

 

But angel like, when I awoke,

Thy silvery form so soft and fair

Shining through darkness, sweetly spoke

Of cloudy skies and mountains bare

 

The dearest to a mountaineer

Who, all life long has loved the snow

That crowned her native summits drear,

Better, than greenest plains below –

 

And voiceless, soulless messenger

Thy presence waked a thrilling tone

That comforts me while thou art here

And will sustain when thou art gone

– Emily Brontë

Edited December 24, 2023 by Jenjin

[frizzlechicken]

I probably would have bought this based solely on the notes, but the fervor from many around its rerelease made me blind-bottle it right away. I am glad I did - it's wonderful. Previous years' reviews likened it to The Air & the Ether, and I can definitely see the comparison; but To a Wreath of Snow has a beautiful tobacco note that remains even after the lavender and ambergris have faded from the initial application. The blending of all the notes here is fantastic - hours later I can smell a bit of each of them, but none are competing - and I also detect a slight bit of vanilla/sandalwood? That may just be the way my nose registers all the notes. It's just an absolutely lovely scent. 

[ND¢]

It's a beautiful and haunting four-note chord, slightly dissonant... a classic left long, and long missed. Spectral, slightly twisted, aching vibe. Sooooo atmospheric. If you don't have it you really must. I would say it is for fans of Vision of the Courtesan, Zorya P., the lavender note from A Place Of Seeing maybe? So, very good. 

[amoray]

I don't even like lavender. I don't have a single lavender scent I like. However, I LOVE ambergris so much, and went for it. This is the only lavender scent I've liked in forever, and I can't stop sniffing my arm. It's almost powdery but then goes creamy with the ambergris. I shouldn't even like this, and I almost don't. But then I smell it again and it's so good I forgive it. The tobacco and ambergris combo strikes again to make me love things I don't love. This is gorgeous. 

[ghoulnextdoor]

Shadows of grief, the ghosts of winter, a sky bled grey by sorrow. A phantom flower blanketed in frost while spiced embers and woods spark and sizzle in a hearth nearby, an anchor of warmth and hope glowing through a glass pane inches away from the frozen bloom. A transparent divide, the bittersweet ache of proximity, a thing so frail can’t help but yearn–

[becca_s]

I can see why To a wreath of snow, is so popular. This is like a comforting lavender scent cloud. I noticed that vanilla isn't in the notes but perhaps the ambergris is reading like a salty vanilla to my nose. There is also the subtle note of the tobacco flower which adds to the soft, ethereal quality of the scent. This is really lovely and could work as a sleep scent as well. 

[WhatAHoot]

I decided to compare my 2021 bottle to the new 2023 bottle today. My 2021 bottles are easily in my top 5 scents, so I was really excited about the opportunity to add another backup 😅 Please note that I have no idea how much of this is related to age or if there is a potential difference in formula. 

 

2021 is ambergris, tobacco flower, lavender, and white oud to my nose. It's glowy, ethereal, cool, and somewhat creamy, but not sweet. 

 

2023 is white oud, lavender, tobacco flower, and ambergris. It's got a bit more sweetness to it and it's warmer. I get a bit less ambergris and tobacco flower than 2021, but also, those took time to fully "bloom" in the 2021 bottle, IMO. I do detect a bit less lavender, but it could be because the ambergris is quieter and isn't playing up the lavender. 

 

All that said, they're VERY close, IMO. I expect that in a couple years, the 2023 bottle will be very similar to my current 2021 bottle.

[dancingchair]

The description of this as a four note chord is perfect. The lavender is loud at first, but it's a cloud of sweet lavender and not the rough and herbaceous variety. The tobacco flower is delicate and also sweet. It's the same as the note in Hagstone, I think, which is another favorite of mine. The ambergris adds a salty grit to the perfume. It's not really aquatic or clean to me, it mostly works to ground the other notes and hold back the sweetness of the perfume. I think the oudh also reads as sandalwood to me. It's a higher-pitched wood for sure. I can't really pick it out when I'm smelling my wrist up close, but I get a lot of it from the throw of the perfume.

 

I can see why this is so popular, it's gorgeous. It's situated somewhere in the middle of Hagstone, Every Day is Halloween, and Lavender Lace to me.

[Amoraexcena]

To a Wreath of Snow was my favourite of the 2020 Yules, and I'm overjoyed to see it return. I hope it's going to come back often!

 

2023 version is identical to what I remember the 2020 version was when fresh. It's got a bit of cool, almost-minty freshness in the bottle, but blossoms into a sweet and salty floral grounded with oudh. Someone in BPAL Parlour mentioned that this perfume is a "beautiful chord" - and I think that imagery is perfect. This is a harmonious minor chord played on the piano, a little melancholy, and heart-achingly beautiful.

 

The ambergris is slightly stronger in the 2020 version now, with a little added depth from aging. I think the blends are pretty much identical, and any slight difference is either age or batch variation. 

 

Speaking of batch variation - I got 5 bottles of this perfume (and have already finished off a bottle), and one of them is noticeably more lavender than the rest. It's also less sweet - it feels like the lavender has swallowed the tobacco flower for this bottle. It's almost closer to The Air and the Ether. This is the bottle I'm using as a sleep scent, that's for sure! 

 

For the other bottles, lavender is a supporting note to the tobacco flower, which is one of my favourite notes. It works as a sleeptime scent for me, but my favourite use is wearing it when on walks in frosty winter air. 

Edited October 10 by Amoraexcena

[Llanval]

Beautiful. Stunning. Perfect. If you're a lavender ho like I am, just buy this.  It's great, it lasts all day, the throw is a lovely purple cloud of lavender/ambergris that never quits, and never gets boring.  Good for sleep. Good for work. Brilliant. Lovely. A wonderful slightly chilly, purple and white scent that sparkles with little flakes of salty ambergris. If it's this good now, can't wait to see what it will be like in the future. 💕

 

I get the love this blend receives and I will absolutely be upgrading my decant to an FS!

[OxfordComma]

This really is just so, so pretty. Ethereal lavender-toned tobacco flower over a woody ambergris base. It smells fancy and expensive but in a 'yea I'm rich but I'm not a dick' kind of way. Effortless, chic, other words that mean things. Oud is a note I'm wary of but I will be on the look out for more white oud blends after this. That luxe woodiness is killing me it's so good. It's like the beautiful love child or Zorya P. and Air & Ether. In short, I love it. Very probably my favorite Yule this year. And if you think you might love it, it's most definitely worth a try. ♡

[Ennikar]

Of the lavender scents I've tried, this is one of my favorites. I like the smell of fresh lavender, but usually find it too "clean" as a perfume component; it often evokes laundry or fabric softener. I was particularly worried about this possibility with Wreath, given it also contains ambergris, which I sometimes like but can have a similar effect. Here, though, it's almost juicy, or creamy... "lush" and "rich" also come to mind. Very different from other lavender notes I've tried, in a way I enjoy but that also might make it less recognizable to others. I'm not familiar enough with tobacco flower to pick it out, but as it dries down, I can get the ambergris and oud.

Decent throw for the fist couple hours, then dries down more intimate. All the notes are still around, though, which is nice - and again, unusual for a lavender scent.

Other opinions: "fruity" in the bottle, then "Vanilla? still a little fruity." ("Lavender?") "Yeah, I buy that."

[Weirdgirlpilled]

Ephemeral ghostly lavender grounded in a slightly salty musk, sprinkled with beautiful white tobacco flower petals, with the smallest touch of warm, non-indolic oud to keep things complex and inviting. I agree that i sometimes get a little vanilla, perhaps also maybe a teensy bit of the bpal snow or slush notes? i’m getting like… “cold water/air” sometimes, which i also get when i smell true slush or ice notes from the lab. This perfume is definitely ethereal, glimmering, a bit sheer, definitely cold or icy.

A new favourite -definite backup bottles in my future.

 

rating: 10/10. unique, compelling, but also comforting.

Sillage: Medium. My friends could smell me from a few feet away but definitely noticed it more when they got closer (according to them) 

Lasted: 10 hours. it’s still on my sheets too!