Nuclear Winter

[fairnymph]

Annihilation. The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints.

 

Nuclear Winter 2008

 

In the bottle: Nearly colourless extremely pale yellow oil. PINE and mints and other mentholic, strong-smelling stuff. It reminds me of a cleaning product.

Wet: Very similar, perhaps a bit mintier. Gentler and sweeter. Still cold and Vicks-ish, which is of course appropriate for the theme.

Dry: It has continued to evolve in the same direction; gentler, sweeter, more minty, less evergreen-y. Less harsh and more herbal, natural.

Later: Wow, MUCH softer and nicer, a complete evolution. And ooh, ozone!

Summary: A dramatic morpher, from chemically mentholics to softly sweet, gentle mints and herbs, that feel cool and fresh. Unisex, fades quite rapidly.

Must retest - I may want more of this, despite my initial dislike of the blend!

[MisterShrapnel]

Nghh.

It's sharp when wet, with a strong pine note.

It softens up a little as it dries (thankfully), but it's still astringent and fresh; pine trees and icy ozone, with a bit of slush and mint. Very chemical. Which is fitting, though not really what I prefer. I wonder if there's something else to this? I feel like I'm not picking up on all the complexities and doing the mix justice...

 

Not so fond of this, unfortunately. I love the name and the label art, though! It's a cool concept.

 

 

ETA: I take it back. Nuclear Winter (still 2008 version) is pine-y, slushy, a little sweet (?!), and mint-o-licious. After the initial sharpness I get wafts of a gorgeous transparent and icy coolness that you can only get from a BPAL ice blend. Not a particularly long-lasting scent, but then again, this is an ice blend.

Annihilation never smelled so good.

Edited May 6, 2009 by MisterShrapnel

[Lirion]

I tried this for the mint - I love mint! But as I am discovering, not in all it's forms

 

The mint in this might be Spearmint maybe? My least favourite mint.

 

Anyway, wet it's all metlallic ozone with some sort of sweet mint that doesn't quite blend with the ozone - rather than the menthol i was hoping for. Then the mint fades back entirely and I have pine pine and more pine with some ozone. Pine smells like clenaing product on me alas so this was a fail all round.

 

Win some lose some I guess...

[nellieburger]

In the decant: I’m not sure what I smell, but it’s strong, and familiar.

 

Wet on skin: Same as in the bottle.

 

Dry on skin: Definitely minty, but in combination with some other scent(s). Hmm… Too strong for me. This scent could possibly work on a guy or a gal.

 

[FallDaze]

Initial thoughts - hmm...I wonder what nuclear devastation smells like?

 

imp -> I get an oddly herbal mint. The mint is very sharp as opposed to a sweet, sugary mint. That makes since though, since I don't expect anything having to do with devastation to be sweet

 

Wet -> It smells barren. Still herbal and not as minty as I was expecting. Rather like a cleaning agent of some sort. Reminds me of walking into a clean kitchen or a room that has just been dusted.

 

After a while-> Eventually this turns to soap on me.

[nekogrrl]

In imp: wintry mints.

 

Wet on skin: MINT MINT MINT MINT MINT.

 

Dry on skin: strong, sharp mint.

 

10 minutes later: same as dry.

 

Final verdict: Too minty for me.

[Dracoo9]

When I first bought a bottle of Nuclear Winter I was kinda bumed. It smelt really weird and like most aquatic-like scents from the lab I expected it to become instant fail. Oh, how wrong I was....

 

I love mint and I love pine. The problem is finding a pine scent that loves me back and I finally found it with Nuclear Winter. This is a perfectly balanced blend of pine and mint. The pine isnt overpowering like with Pinesol and the mint evens it out so that its not like your walking around smelling like you just became a pine tree. this is one of my top blends for sure

[obsidienne]

Nuclear Winter was a last minute order, and I'm happy I added it. In the bottle and wet it's a wallop of minty lusciousness, and my favourite of all is the spearmint note. Which burns off pretty fast, but it's fantastic while it lasts.

 

As the mints calm down, pine and white (?) musk amp out, with a hint of sweetness. Also, there must be a floral in there, because this is very similar to Snow Bunny... like a minty Snow Bunny without the perfumey sneeze factor. I also think there may be some eucalyptus. The overall effect is very cool, slushy, and, well, energetic. It's something I'd wear to keep me awake. It makes me think of pale winter sun.

 

Further along drydown, the pine/white musk/floral gets sweeter. The mint has moved to the background. I think this is a fairly unisex blend.

 

Throw is about medium-good. Morphs a lot, and quickly, and is very different from wet to far drydown. I love it. If I run out, I'll be ordering another; this is what I think I wanted Snow Bunny to be.... really, they are very similar. Yet, uh, different.

 

edit: I'm reviewing Nuclear Winter 2008.

Edited February 2, 2009 by obsidienne

[FandF]

i'm a mint lover and unlike other posters, i did NOT get a lot of mint from this scent! it was definitely more of a green or herbal scent with a slight mint undertone. i was hoping for an in your face mint mint mint scent and this was not it. it actually smells a lot like one of the yules from 2007...like the snow storm or something like that. It is definitely green and definitely a COLD scent. Overall not bad but not what i expected.

[anomie]

Well, in the bottle the 2008 version smells like shower gel. I get hints of mint but it doesn't knock me in the back of the nose like I'd hoped. Wet, it's mintier; I wish I could figure out what nuclear devastation is meant to smell like. But I get the barrenness. I also get the herbal notes other posters have mentioned.

 

As it dries the mints start to rise up. Definitely a very cool and astringent scent, something I plan to tuck away for the dog days of August.

[catatonic1242]

This is for Nuclear Winter '08.

 

In the bottle: Almost an astringent kind of minty quality. It almost reminds me of the Sea Breeze astringents that were popular in the early '90s. The mint here is a nice wintermint, not too spearmint and not peppermint at all.

 

On, wet: Mint and pine. A very cold smell, an ice blue scent if I were to assign it a color. The astringent aroma has calmed down a lot, and it's a pleasant experience.

 

On, dry: Still kind of minty, but the dominant smell that I'm getting now is white florals. It's a nice smell, but not exactly what I was expecting. It's almost like the very end of Nuclear Winter, when life starts to begin again.

 

Overall, I like it. The drydown is a little more floral than I'd hoped, but the mint is nice and non-foody.

[savage_rose]

Minty and sweet, with some ozoney, vaguely citrus in the background. And is that a light floral? It's really lovely, and has a lot more throw than I was expecting! It's a very cheerful blend for something called Nuclear Winter, and I love it.

[RaeiNarcissus]

It smelled minty in the bottle, so I gave it a try.

 

Wet I get snow, just snow.

 

Dry I get a little of the mint, but the snow overpowers it. I wanted there to be more mint. Oh well, it's going in teh swap pile.

[sprocket21]

Wow! This is MINT MINT MINT with just a hint of pine or something like it in the background. It's not a sweet mint like Tokyo Stomp, it's just pure straight mint, not toothpaste-like at all. It's making my skin tingle where I applied it.

 

While I don't see much use for a pure mint blend, it may be useful for those unbearably hot summer days. I could even see mixing it into a lotion to get that chilly tingle all over!

[GingerGunlock]

This is a review of the 2008 vintage

 

In the bottle: didn't smell like much of anything

 

Wet (and this is after a few months of aging. When the bottle was new, it didn't smell like much of anything on, wet, dry, in the bottle, etc.): smelled very much like a snowman Avon chapstick that I had in the 80's; it was just that kind of mint, which was very nice and I liked, because that's a scent memory that's stuck with me all these years.

 

Drydown: Very strongly of hospital. Just a sharp, pervasive, disinfectant sort of smell.

[March]

This is a heavy blast of mint, underscored by something slightly acidic. *off to look at the notes*

 

Oh, yes, no notes.

 

Well, my newbie nose doesn't want to help me place it! Mint plus something floral, except not bothersomely so?

 

The result is very nice, though, and unlike The Coil, which it reminds me of a little, this doesn't turn to soap on me!

 

 

 

[donnatron]

Bottle: Strong, peppy mint. MINT! MIIIIIIIINT! And a hint of... uh... lemongrass, maybe? A mix of something a bit grassy and a bit citrus-y.

 

Wet: Before I tell you what the 2008 vintage smells like wet, I'd like to tell you what it smelled like fresh out of the mailbox: Cod liver oil. I mean, it was cod liver oil with mint and everything but it was pretty... amazing. In a non-complimentary way. Anyway. I've aged that out of it now and now wet on the skin I get a strong mint with a mild lemongrass/lemon/general citrus thing and then something smells like... a field. Brown, crispy grass in the middle of fall. IT IS SO WEIRD!!!

 

Dry: So I amp the sweetness in everything and Nuclear Winter is no exception. This dries down to a sweet, borderline sugary pine with a soaring citrus/mint which really cuts back on some of the sweetness. It's a lot more feminine on my skin than I thought it would be but I'm okay with that.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: I like the drydown on this because it's like an exercise in skin chemistry. I've smelled this on a few different people and it is totally weird and different on each one of them. If nothing else, try it just to experience the drydown.

[Gin]

Nuclear Winter 2005

 

Love this. This is the same mint-iciness that Frost Moon has. It's cold and minty and aquatic with a twist of pine.

[Jammies]

On me, Nuclear Winter '08 smells like drinking unsweetened spearmint tea in front of an open window with a pine tree in the back yard. I don't know if that's particularly desolate, but I love it!

 

Bath & body products I use as a base for this: Skindecent's Moroccan Mint scrub and conditioner.

[sarajane]

This is minty-icey goodness! I love it and definately want a bottle.

[Reaver]

Sugar-coated christmas trees with Vicks inhalers as baubles.

I really don't like this at ALL. I've aged it, I've re-tested it in all seasons and all parts of the month. Still gross.

 

0/10 - this is supposed to be perfume?!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

yup. Reaver nailed it.

 

i'm so glad this is going to a better home!

[CiaoBonefish]

I must say this does not age well! I bought this from the sales thread and wow all i can smell is this crazy perfume-y grandma smell. It's sharp! I smell pine and may be some spearmint with an herbal undertone and a spritz of lemon juice which would be lovely... if it wasn't for the crazy grandma smell I'm getting! I put it on my wrists and waited. Wet it is still strong. An hour later its muted but the grandma tone is still slightly there. After a few hours the grandma scent has left and I am left with a cold herbal green floral scent with a slight minty feel. BUT. i almost have to press my nose to my wrist to smell it. So sad. This also didn't last as long as I expected.

 

...I think overly green scents just go grandma on me in general.

 

Pity.

[jtb2008]

2008 version.

In the bottle and on the skin, I get a lot of mint. As it dries, it remains minty. I love it.

[Invidiana]

No, no, there's nothing "nuclear" about this scent, it's a gorgeous frosty wintermint with evergreen in the background The ozone gives it that particularly wintery quality, and the mint reminds me of those pink wintergreen mints , so if you put those in the fridge and threw in a Christmas tree you have Nuclear Winter. Love!