Nuclear Winter

[Aredhel]

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

Rating (on skin): 5/5
Summarised in one word: Peaceful.

In the bottle: Interesting! A definite 'cold' scent; frosty and very minty. While there may be peppermint here, the most prominent mint seems (to me) to be wintermint -- a good thing in my book, because I love wintermint.

On skin, wet: Crisp and clean, and very cold. There's a distinct ice-like quality, like frozen earth. This is what I had wanted Numb to be (by the time I received it, and had changed my mind about mints).

On skin, dry: Beneath the ice, there's something grassy here. Slush, mint and grass. An unexpected turn, but a lovely one! Unfortunately, after about an hour, it starts to give me that "I feel like I'm going to sneeze, but don't" feeling, which hangs around until the scent dies off.

Conclusion: It's hard to explain this one. It's like a devastated, grassy open field in the middle of winter, when the ground is completely frozen. An odd description, I know. As Macha said somewhere, this is a much more 'peaceful' scent than I would have expected. But then, that makes sense -- wouldn't things be peaceful after a 'nuclear devastation'? All told, I'm growing very fond of this scent.

[UltraViolet]

Bottle Pic: http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL202/154131...8/120631125.jpg

 

In the bottle

It smells like Blue Moon (sort of) with Amsterdam and with a lovely minty throw.

On

OMG, this is what I wanted Numb to smell like.

30 minutes

I smell minty ice. How is that possible?

Throw:

Scent category:

Herbal/Aqua

Summary

Beth. God love ya, you did it again.

It's minty but not sweet, it also smells like water and ice and snow.

Purchase again?

Yes.

1-5 rating (5 being best)

5

Edited December 2, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Macha]

Ah, how beautiful.

 

Nuclear winter is wonderfully chill, and icy — a cold, deliciously frosty mint. I was amazed to note how much it reminds me of Ice Queen (but without Ice Queen's florals or harder edge.) It has a lot of the same glacial qualities (put your nose to a huge block of ice or a glacier: breathe) but with a gentler aspect. Calm, serene, a little sweet. I find myself comtemplating the awfulness of white and thinking back to the world of Gethan from The Left Hand of Darkness — all unending ice and cold, but full of life.

 

Now that I've had a chance to wear this, rather than just smell it from a bottle, I'll second the opinion there's something grassy underneath on the drydown. It's a lovely touch, because it does bring to mind wide open fields, now covered with the weight of tons of snow and ice. It's an oddly hopeful and uplifting thought, this idea that the grass is still waiting for the winter to end, and the chance to renew.

 

Ahem. Sorry. Waxed all philosophical there. It's pretty — and I need more bottles of it.

[blackrayne]

In the bottle: barren, desolate, frozen icy chilly mint. Not peppermint, more wintermint as has been mentioned by other reviewers.

 

Wet: Slightly darker and moodier than in the bottle, as if somewhere in the midst of that frozen wasteland there was still a hint of barren earth peeking out.

 

Dry (about an hour after application): Mellowed out version of when wet... stays very true to the original scent.

 

Verdict: I love Beth's minty scents, and this one is no exception.

 

ETA: Getting a horrid sinus headache, I am pretty sure Nuclear Winter is the culprit. I will have to try it again in a few days, but I think it's related to that barren earthiness I am getting from it.

Edited December 3, 2005 by blackrayne

[lorajc]

I agree with Ultraviolet on this one. Mint with slush, ice and snow. The mint calms down on the drydown, but it never really goes away totally (which is a good thing). I'll have to try this more when I can breathe. I like this one and it's got that similar "snow /slush note".

[olympia301]

 

A strange perfumy minty-like scent with quite a few florals and very aquatic. I can't sign up entirely for mint such as: peppermint, spearmint, catmint. It's more of a member of the mint family here to my nose, a pennyroyal or some kind of medicinal smelling lavender rather than suck-on-a-candy-cane mint. Then there is the huge aquatic note with its attendent perfume edge. I think I remember this from Yog-Sothoth. I get that green component (could that be green radioactivity?) mmm, green glowing snow! Don't eat it, and stay away from the yellow snow, too.

 

This paints a good picture of a nuclear winter, frigid and barren with things growing from anothe part of the spectrum or a parrallel universe pushing weeds over to our side. I think it's a good performance peice, I don't think that anyone can paint a portrait in scent as well as Beth can.

 

Sorry that this one isn't for me, but I am very happy I got to try it and it made for a facinating Yule package.

[wickedgoddess]

This is cold and icy in the way I was hoping Numb would be.

 

Wet - I smell ice and a bit of pine. There is mint present, yet I don't really consider this a minty scent. It's more of a hint, to add to the chill.

 

Dry - this doesn't seem to change much. There is a sense of expanse with this oil; I don't feel like I am in the middle of a forest, so much as on a barren plane. I vsualize a wide expanse of snow and ice, with a single snow-covered tree on the side. Lovely and perfect for the winter months.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 4.

[wolfie13]

Once again: Loved this in the bottle. A combination of mints, a lovely coldness, a touch aquatic, a teeny bit of a green sensation.

 

Wearing: The same for about 20 minutes and loving it. But then it became nearly all perfumey floral on me! (I had the same experience with Wolf Moon and Frost Moon)

 

Once again: I seem to be the only one with this experience, and as such, it just doesn't work on me. I'm going to go cry quietly in the corner now.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Aquatics with mint.

 

Wearing: The aquatics really beat the mint into submission on my skin. The mint disappears within a half hour and I'm left with an aqautic with hints of florals.

 

Final Impressions: I brought this over to Fyre_in_Winter's place, and when she opened the imp, she immediately said, "This smells like Ice Queen!" I would add that it also wears a bit like Ice Queen on me. And wolfie, I get florals too, so you can come out of your corner now!

[coulrophobe]

I enjoy the lab's minty scents, and this is no exception.

 

At first, this smells like the lovechild of Ice Queen and Frost Moon to me; as it dries down, it tends to take after it's mother and go totally Ice Queeny, with that cool aquatic note that reminds me of a soap my great aunt always used to have in her bathroom (as that association is a bit ambiguous, I'll clarify - it's a good, nostalgic smell!).

 

Nuclear Winter doesn't smell as cold and desolate as I expected; I find it to be more of a fresh, it's-almost-spring kind of smell. Cool, sweet and refreshing - I'm going to like wearing this next summer.

[LiberAmoris]

On me, Nuclear Winter has the watery mints of Ice Queen and Cold Moon, with the addition of that grassy underlayer that Macha mentions above. I love mint, and enjoy it here, but if I had to choose just one mint blend, it would be Lick It, my new minty love.

 

Nuclear Winter reminds me of an iceberg or a arctic landscape. It's like a cascade of glacial blues, greens and whites. Like a polar bear swim in a bottle!

[pekeana]

Remember Cold Moon? Remember Blue Moon?

 

Nuclear Winter is the green, green, green from Cold Moon crossed with the juniper from Blue Moon.

 

Oh, hot damn, I love this!

[oatmealneko]

Definitely what I expected from Numb & I didn't get.

 

Mint is always & will be very strong on me, so take anything I say about the mint with a grain of salt. Your skin chemistry will obviously vary.

 

Bottle - Minty ozone. Very minty.

Wet - VERY VERY VERY MINTY. Not peppermint, probably wintergreen or wintermint if I had to guess. A stark white floral is tagging along for the trip. It's quite strong, nearly nose-searing at this point (boy, I guess this is another for the aging pile).

Dry - Still minty, not VERY VERY VERY, but minty. The same stark white floral is there, but also keyed down a bit. It's almost sweet mint, with a little bit of ozone I think.

 

Annhilation? Woo!

 

The mushroom cloud label is very cute.

Edited December 12, 2005 by oatmealneko

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Cold as ice - it's rather what I had anticipated Numb to be like. Sweet and crystalline. It reminds me of wintergreen gum.

On me: Just flat out gorgeous. It's what I wanted Numb to be! It's so delightful - a very chilling aquatic, with the lovely mintiness providing the perfect accent.

[sookster]

minty and sweet with green undertones....this is such a beautiful scent

after awhile i get a touch of hemlock....it mixes beautifully with the icy cold mintiness of

this blend....gorgeous and long lasting i am so glad i was able to score a bottle of

this from a lovely forumite .....

 

and the label is such fun too!!!!

[Medici]

Booming desolation. I hope you know what I mean when I say that – this scent is the cold lands in the aftermath of something terrible. (Not to say the scent is terrible, I just find it kind of sad. It makes me think of the months after a war – Hiroshima and Nagasaki in particular, when the land has been razed and the snow starts to fall, covering the destruction.)

 

It’s predominantly mint and ozone on me – there is a subtle electric scent to it, too. There’s almost an aquatic feel to it as well, a similar note found in Undertow, actually. Maybe it’s the same sort of snappish mint? I’m not sure.

 

I quite like it, it’s very melancholy, though.

 

4/5

 

Edit: Homonym issues.

Edited December 14, 2005 by Medici

[Neely]

In the bottle: Mint with something sweet like faded bubblegum

 

Wet: Berry gum or candy and mint

 

Dry down: The sweetness goes way to the background. It smells like mint gum, but in a good way. I am not getting cold desolation, just a sophisticated mint gum. So far, not what I want to smell like. Stupid chemistry!

 

Conclusion: I smelled like bubblegum and Wrigley's mint gum smeared on my skin. I like the scent, and the "idea" of it even more. My body didn't want to cooperate. :sigh:

Ihoped to get frostbite from this scent. On to swaps it goes.

 

Rating 1-5 on my skin, 2.5-3.

Edited January 11, 2006 by atropos

[gingersnapp]

It smells lovely, cold and minty in the bottle. But on me it smells like toothpaste.

[Diana]

In the bottle, it is very minty. Frost Moon minty.

Wet, on the skin, it's very very simliar to Frost Moon. Cool, pale mints and no sweetness about it.

 

As this dries, there is (on me at least) an upsurge of a very cold aquatic notes. I don't like aquatics very much. Luckily, after about an hour, the aquatic tones down and the mint comes more into play. At one point this smelled decidedly dusty, but now it's all cold mints with a slight pale flower note somewhere in there.

 

I am enjoying this. It's a cool scent, and I bet this would be fabulous in the hot of summer. Not my favorite mint blend ever, but it's nice.

[QueenFae]

This one actually reminds me quite a bit of one of my all time favorites, Ice Queen. It's very similar, but with a minty edge. It's got that lovely, indescribable icy frozen note that the lab is so good at creating. Frozen, snowy, and barren, wrapped around a light green mint, just as I imagined it would be. I'm normally not a mint fan, but I like this one a lot because of it's similarity Ice Queen. Very beautiful and perfect for winter.

[sophia_helix]

In the bottle:

 

Hm. Minty, but very similar to Tulzcha, not Lick It -- it's a green, watery mint instead of a bright peppermint. There's also a tang of something that reminds me of...chlorine?

 

Wet:

 

Oh, yes, definitely Tulzcha.

 

Drydown:

 

This gets less minty as it dries down -- I think my skin just eats mint. At one point I get a very odd impression from this: it smells exactly like using a mint bodywash in a hot shower.

 

It gets more and more watery, and within the hour it's almost completely gone. What's left is still strongly reminiscent of Tulzcha, which I already have a bottle of, so I think I'll be moving this one along.

[blueroses]

In the bottle: Minty herbs, like grass crushed under ice. The mint is not as powerful as I'd thought it would be.

 

On skin : The mint disappears on me immediately, to be replaced by pine. Underneath the pine, I detect something green, and ozone. It definitely smells cold and barren.

 

Nuclear Winter smells like a slightly more masculine version of Snow Bunny on me. By masculine, I only mean that there is more pine and less sweetness. I would hoard tons of this if I didn't already have Snow Bunny!

[hangingfire]

In the imp: chilly herbals and florals, glossed over by mint.

 

On, wet: Florals and aquatics, like R'lyeh without the grapefruit. As with other mint blends I've tried, the mint is now nowhere to be found.

 

Drydown: Cool florals and aquatics.

 

Don't know that I need a bottle, but I do like it.

[faifai]

Wet, it's minty and blue-green. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Medium throw, and I can't identify a wintermint, spearmint, peppermint or whatevermint. It's just...minty. But not a tasty minty, more like the plant.

 

Dry, it fades into something remarkably similar to the combined scent of the entire Victoria's Secret beauty department. Faded perfumes, something slightly chemical-y, faint sweetness.

 

This is amazing, though, after a shower. It smells very clean and fresh while avoiding the whole "hey, I smell like laundry" thing. I will make this work for me...even if I have to wait till the sizzling AZ summers to put on such a cold, clean scent.

Edited December 24, 2005 by faifai

[Little Bird]

Hm. I'm not getting anything green or floral out of this one. First on it was very aquatic, reminiscent of melting snow and dripping icicles. There is a definite menthol bite under the aquatic. I don't really like mint, but this doesn't strike me as minty exactly. Definitely not peppermint. I don't know what wintermint smells like, so perhaps that is what is in this blend. It morphs into something like a watered down mint fragrance and it reminds me of brushing my teeth on mornings when the hot water isn't working at all.

 

The menthol/mint bursts in after a few minutes and then lasts on my skin for about 15 minutes before disappearing entirely. After that there is a strangely sweet aquatic scent left behind. It turns into a very light aquatic that clings close to my skin. I like this one, I think I'll save it for days when I don't really feel like wearing a perfume. It has a subtle, clean sort of feeling to it.

Edited December 22, 2005 by Blood onmy hands