Snow Moon

[harmonyfb]

In December, the skeletal, ice-rimmed fingers of winter take hold, and the nights are long, chill and dark. The first flurries of snow touch the land, and the earth itself becomes quiet. 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.

In the bottle, this was a perfect dupe for Skadi. I eagerly dabbed it on, enjoyed the rush of sweet pine, and waited. And waited. And waited.

Didn't matter how long I waited, this never became anything other than pine. No florals, no 'slush' notes, no nothing but pine. Not unpleasant, but not what I wanted. ::sigh:: Edited November 28, 2007 by Shollin

[Oio]

In the bottle: Holy Pine, Batman! Pine, with a strong hit of menthol, and a hint of aquatic.

 

Wet on skin: Pine. Piney pine pinety pine. and menthol. with a hint of berries.

 

Dry, 30 minutes: The pine dies down and a more complex scent evolves, with fir, florals, and a berry background. I think this is very pretty, so I offer my arm to the Husb-elf to sniff:

Oio: "smell!"

Husbelf: ::sniffs, recoils::::

Oio: "well?"

Husbelf: "Eww! Pine, Vicks, and Robitussin!"

So. I think it smells pretty good, maybe as a room scent. Husbelf thinks it should be put in the medicine cabinet and applied to sick little elves.

 

It's no Talvikuu, though. Off to a more appreciative home.

[cuervosueno]

Odd.

 

Not Snow Moon, but how differently, once again, it plays out on different people's skin.

 

I was with Sarada on this--I didn't order Snow Moon because of the florals, esp. the dreaded Narcissus, which in real life (ie. the flowers) smell like dirty socks to me. Its one of my least favorite floral notes.

 

But then I was offered it in a swap (thanks, Sookster) and I read the reviews and all the comparisons to my beloved Skadi, so even though I have Talvikuu and Snow Bunny and Nuclear Winter and hardly needed another winter scent, I'm such a BPAL junkie I decided to try it.

 

I'm glad I did. Like everyone else, it opens pure Skadi/Snow Bunny for me--slush and pine with that grapefruit note, that incidently, I associate not with the fruit but with Ponderosa Pine which smells like then when you crush the needles. So I thought well, not so much different.

 

Then I got a fulll blast of birch, and apparently my skin LOVES birch, because that is the strongest note in here for me. I went to compare it to my birch essential oil, and sure enough, there's that strong spicey, sort of root-beer like note. Birch. (odd to me that the birch as a single note smells like that--like birch beer or sarsparilla--because if you peel a birch tree the bark smell is cool and green and reminds me of cucumbers....)

 

And the scent is pretty consistent after that--a mixture of snow, ponderosa pine, birch. Winter woods with the warms spiciness of the birch--imagine a nice spiced drink while standing in a snowy evergreen forest. No florals--they just never showed up--and the lunacy blend herbs/florals/whatever just blend into that slightly acquatic note that is Beth's snow notes.

 

Its lovely, and on me, quite different from the other winter blends, so I'm delighted to have it.

[bristlecone]

This is an odd one. It smells almost exactly like Talvikuu in the bottle. On the skin, it immediately heads in a different direction. I got a strong menthol vibe from this right away, but as that settled down I decided it had to be the fir (or possibly the birch?) doing it... but Talvikuu has these notes as well, and I get no menthol from Talvikuu.

 

Several minutes have passed since I put it on, and now I'm getting something salty/citrusy/floral.

 

I can't really decide if I like this. On the one hand, it's very evocative. I feel like I'm in the mountains on a winter afternoon, running around outside after a big storm has left the trees and the ground burdened with snow. However, that salty thing it's doing is kind of drowning out the florals, and it's maybe a bit TOO brisk for me. I think I might be more of a Talvikuu person, but I'll probably test this one more time to be sure.

[melange]

Bottle: spicy; reminds me of incense, which I suspect is the fir, possibly less church incense per se than the kind a Catholic relative usually burns around Christmastime.

 

Wet: that first hit of trees.

 

Drydown: spicy again... but with a waft of trees.

 

Worn: spice and trees soften into darkness and, yes, I can imagine snow, with a hint of sweetness that evokes flowers without itself being floral... I'm getting soft almost-floral close to my skin and still the waft of trees.

 

Conclusion: I really like this, and sought out a second bottle from another forumite. It's a good scent for being alone but not lonely.

[Capriquarius]

First on, I can really smell the fir, and something sweet in the background. So brisk, wintry and perfect! It smells like frozen sugared berries after a while, with the fir note still balancing things, keeping it from being too sweet. I do smell something a bit spicy, which maybe is the birch? I find it odd that on my skin I smell a definite fruity note in this, which isn't in the description at all, but on me it's very berry or maybe even citrus underneath the crisp, snowy fir. Snow Moon is a definite keeper for me, and does indeed remind me of Skadi, if only because they have evoke a similar "mood". I'm so glad to have this one!

[binkyboots]

I ought to just learn, cold, snowy notes and I are bad, very bad.

 

it starts out piney, but then turns sour piney... I dont mind the initial few minutes, it's just this sour smell I get that causes me to run screaming for some soap.

 

on my sister it goes entirely the opposite way, pine turning to musky sweet florals with a forest lurking in the backgroud.

[Emu Nymph]

This one doesn't remind me a bit of Ice Queen. But that's not a bad thing. It smells cold in the bottle. On me it takes on a spicy pine scent and stays that way till I was it off. But not like Pine-Sol thankfully! This is a very lovely scent.

[AliBabble]

yes this is like snow bunny, but also different. much stronger and sharper in the bottle - lots of birch and fir trees...colder, icier than snow bunny - a dark, majestic freezing forest at night. where snow bunny has the fun fruit, snow moon has...a creaminess (in the background), a mintiness, maybe? the more it dries down, the more the florals come out, but it takes a while. also, the more i smell it, the more notes i detect, but it takes concentration. to me, it's a really interesting combo of the invigorating evergreen trees, and then the pretty, snowy flowers. i like it a lot. it's rather feminine and elegant.

[AlaskaSnows]

Wet: Crispness and pine. Lovely.

 

Wet: Pine, and body odor. I am thinking maybe there is lavender in this, because somehow BPAL pine turns body odor on me much of the time. Unfortunate, but truly I am not a big pine fan anyway.

[undergroundwoman]

Nearly indistinguishable from Snow Bunny wet, but as it dries it bears more of a resemblance to Dublin, which I'm guessing is due to the white rose. As I mentioned in my Snow Bunny review, I definitely think it's that Snow Bunny has an anthropogenic aspect to it, while this is just pure outdoors. Both will be staples for me this winter!

[LittleGreyKitten]

Initially I got mildly piney flowers for about the first half hour or so, with the pine strongest while it was actually wet. As the scent developed, the pine disappeared, and the cool floral came to the forefront. Now, about two hours after I applied, it's soft, cold flowers. I never nailed the birch scent- either I don't know what it smells like or it just doesn't come out on my skin. I do quite like this; I like that the pine is never overwhelming, and the cold smell of the floral bouquet is awesome. I'd give it a 4.5, simply because while I really really like it, I'm not snuggling my wrist quite as much as I do with my very most favorite scents (like O, for example).

 

EDITED A YEAR LATER TO ADD: The pine has really gotten out of control as this blend ages. It used to be a hint, that disappeared. Now it's all pine, all the time. I did wear it a lot while it was fresh and yummy, at least. I tend to grab Snow Bunny instead for my fix of snow/pine/sweetness because it stayed a bit more balanced with age... the pine didn't eat the other notes. Originally I found Snow Bunny and Snow Moon to be virtually identical, though the Moon was a hair sweeter.

Edited December 3, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sour fruits or berries, evergreen and mint. When first on strong evergreen and sweet berries, almost cherry like. This is icy and cool. The evergreen note starts to mellow after a few minutes and a blend of floral notes comes out. After about four hours a creaminess develops. This is really lovely- like a floral version of Snow Bunny!!

[Northernminx]

I wasn't sure I liked this at first but then about nineteen people stopped me to ask what I was wearing and I finally gave in.

That sort of piney/sour fruit slushy snow scent that is reminsicent of Ice Queen/Snow bunny but the dry down is soft sweet florals. This has really grown on me and has become a definite keeper.

[Diana]

Bottle: Fir/pine

Wet: Fir/pine

Drydown: Fir/pine.

 

Well then.

 

To be a bit more loquacious, it smells a lot like Skadi or Snow Bunny, but without any of the berry/fruity/citrus notes. I don't ever get any of the floral notes, nor can I pick out any birch. It's just a chilly wintery fir tree smell.

 

It's nice enough, but I rather like this with the added notes in other bottles I already have.

[purplegirl]

justjustjust got my hands on my Snow Moon, (yayyyy!!!!) and having read all the reviews, I was prepared either for the worst, or the extreme opposite, in that i might very well skip the heavy pine/birch notes and land smack dab in the middle of some lovely florals... what happened was a nice place in the middle of my expectations. i do get a heavy pine/wintery tree smell, but it's a lot crisper than Snow Bunny, and (luckily) without the citrus note. (i do like Snow Bunny a lot, just figures the one scent i don't like - citrus, particularily orange - has a habit of just AMPING up and cloaking me. stop mocking me, vile oranges!!) it took a while to mellow - but i did finally get some very pretty flowers that smelled a little bit like my wedding bouquet!! i only wish that the flowery stage had a *teeny* bit more throw, so everyone around me could smell how pretty it is!!! Snow Moon is cold, shivery, pristine and crisp - like walking my dogs in the still of the night following the first real snowfall of winter!! not bad at all, a keeper:-)

[sophia_helix]

Like everyone else, I'm getting Skadi and Snow Bunny out of this. I wish the pretty flowers had come out to play, but knowing me, they would have made this unbearably sweet on my skin, so it's probably good that it's just that lovely pine note. Besides, I have Dublin for my rose/pine fix. I'll definitely hang onto this, though, because I am a pine-lover and it's just different enough to not be duplicative.

[Polly]

In the bottle: Cold, icy pine.

 

On wet: Still cold, icy pine but with an underlying sweetness, almost fruity, to my nose.

 

On drydown: I feel like I'm walking through a dense woods full of birch and pine trees with snow softly falling. I'm getting nothing floral here, on my skin. Hmmm...

 

Overall: Lovely! A beautiful wintertime blend. This and Talvikuu are my "winter in the woods" favorites.

Edited January 19, 2006 by Polly

[mandragora]

In the vial: Cold, green and sharp like wet pine (or maybe fir) trees in winter and a little like Vicks.

 

Wet on me: Same from the vial, still green and piney.

 

On the drydown: Softens as the florals evolve, but is beaten back by the pine/fir. Disappears completely after less than 30 minutes.

 

Verdict: Probably lovely on others, but I'm not sure it's me.

Edited January 28, 2006 by mandragora

[grlfrndinacma]

My first review! And, of course, I'm reviewing this because it's my favorite so far (I have a collection of 33 imps and 7 bottles so far--probably very small compared to most other BPALers).

 

In the bottle: Pine--but not too much of a sharp sappy pine. It smells arid, cold, slushy and a little sweet.

 

Wet: Pretty similar, but I smell a bit more of a woody smell (maybe that's the birch--I don't know many single notes yet). Not too much, just a bit

 

Drydown: I lost the woody smell, but no big deal. The sweet background is tempering the pine a bit. What sharpness there was has now mellowed into this lovely, natural smelling, cold, sweet outdoorsy scent.

 

I abso-friggin-lutely love this scent. When the Yule scents came out, I was looking for a scent that embodied a smell from my childhood. On Christmas Eve, when my family would go to church, it would be night, the air would be cold and crisp, the woods near our house gave their woodsy scent and you could smell wood burning from peoples' fireplaces/wood furnaces (I lived in the country). I tried Talvikuu because it sounded exactly what I was looking for. I liked it alright until my Snow Moon arrived. Snow Moon hit the nail on the head even moreso. This is missing the woodsmoke smell I would like as part of my childhood memory, but it's got everything else just right. I will probably have to buy a couple more bottles of this--it's so lovely.

 

ETA: 10 min later the sweetness has turned into a fruity-ness that has really enveloped the pine (which seems there, but not discernable as a separate note anymore. Ugh...such a great scent.

 

ETA (almost a year later): I recently got a frimp of Brimstone and, with just a touch of it in addition to the Snow Moon, I was able to recreate the scent I was looking for. [sigh] Now I just wait for winter so I can wear it again...

Edited October 5, 2006 by GirlfriendInAComa

[ajcj213499]

This may be my favorite BPAL oil.

 

Wet it is strong pine (real pine, not like an air freshener, but like standing in a cool pine forest)

 

As it dries it takes on such a depth of beauty. Flowers come out against the scent of cold woods. It's just wonderful.

 

It also has good throw for a few hours, I don't have to keep smelling my wrist to get the scent, it wafts around me. I just love this! Now to find some more bottles....

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of fir.

on: lots of pinelike trees and sweet flowers.

4 hours later: warm and piney.

overall: this just isn't something i would wear a lot.

[sh1mm3r]

I am having an entirely different reaction than most people to this one, and I suspect it might be the tulips. After an initial blissful moment of piney snowy freshness, the saturated sweetness of the flowers step in, almost as if someone took a bouquet, mashed it up, and poured brown sugar on it, and let it mold a little bit.

 

I think it's my skin with the lunacy oils! All but honey moon have done very strange things with my chemistry! I think it is because my body refuses to correspond to lunar schedules!

[crescentwench]

i got this for friend as a suprise, but decided to try it on a whim. i was orginally terrified of the pine, eucalyptus and florals as all make me sneezy.

 

I sniffed it in the imp and it didn't make my nose twitch, it's was sort of fruity and light, nothing to blantantly floral or piney.

 

so i went for it. on it smells the same, sort of light and fruity, with a touch of powder, it does make my eyes a bit runny, but overall, i like it.

[Thaleia]

It's high time I tried and reviewed this scent. Go me for being away for a month and not getting this order until now. I spent the month away reading everyone else's reviews and wishing I were back here because Snow Moon sounded so good. And the label art? It's one of the best I've seen, in my limited experience, but one of the best all the same.

 

Now, I don't know what Skadi smelled like, and I wish I did, but either way, I really like what I smell from the bottle: a resinous piney scent that evokes Christmas. It smells similar to this room freshener my mom used to have that we used around Christmastime.

 

Initially on, it changes completely. I don't know what this is, but instead of pine, which has retreated to the background, I'm getting this herbal/medicinal astringent smell that smells like floor cleaner. Eucalyptus? I don't see it listed among the notes, but it kind of smells like that.

 

Finally, the fir/pine comes back out and the florals (I guess that's what they are? - winter flowers?) retreat a little on the drydown and it turns into the smell of chilly winter that makes you glad you're indoors. I think I need some hot chocolate.

 

I wasn't too fond of the drydown, but once it's dry, it's really quite nice. It could stand to age a bit, or maybe it's me. I'll give this a second try in a couple of weeks. For now, 3.75, and I'm going to try Snow Bunny for what I hope is instant gratification on something similar.