Snow-Flakes

[voodoocatwoman]

The radiance and desolation of winter.

 

This is lovely! Cool, crisp and clean. Spearmint in the fore and what my nose says is honeydew melon in the background. Quite nice.

[Blithgunde]

A light mixture of mints, vanilla, and musk; cool and bright and refreshing. This reminds me of a floral without having any floral notes I can detect. How cool is that?

 

This winter Snow-Flakes was as satisfying to wear sitting indoors watching snow fall as to wear outside while shoveling said snow. A special treat is wearing it with a hood. The scent rises and pools to mingle with the cold air. Then it smells even brighter and cooler!

 

Snow-Flakes speaks more to me of the radiance of winter than the desolation of winter.

[skylarkza]

In the bottle: Cold and almost soapy. Very slightly soapy.

 

Wet: Orris? Some small delicate white flower? Something cold.

 

Dry: Oh wow! This is slightly floral but has that cold zing to it that the air gets the morning after it has snowed!

 

A While Later: Cool and crisp. Slightly sweet. It makes me think of snow drops.

[tajana]

Not sure what year this is from- probably 2006, looking at the decant!

 

Wet: Smells familiar. Like Snow White minus the plastic vanilla, plus sharpness. Sugary sweet, cool wintergreen mint, maybe a puff of eucalyptus and ozone, a hint of pale floral. Smells quite "white" but also tinted green. I'm getting a bit of the herbal edge of the mint, and something wet, like cucumber.

 

Dry: The mint retains an herbal edge, and there's a bit of pine, too. Mostly, though, it's a vaguely aquatic, sweet white mint with a hint of green stemmed-florals. After about thirty minutes it smells like a less-sweet Snow White, which is horrible news, as this means it starts to smell like everlasting cheap vanilla plastic.

 

Overall: Drat! When I first applied this I was like "omg need more" but then that horrible plasticky accord took over and that was the end of that.

[Amaranthus]

This smells like cold vanilla-mint-lilies! Very clean and refreshing.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

In bottle: Greenish, chilly floral.

 

Wet on skin: Minty and green with some sort of white floral?

 

Dry on skin: This has settled into a yummy vanilla minty gum with some green floral. I love it.

[aquazoo]

Wow, a bright, sweet spearmint! The mint fades until I just get a sense of cold. The way it smells outside with a blanket of snow.

[cherrycherry]

A beautiful, chilly floral. One of my favourite Yule scents yet. A keeper for sure.

[lilacea]

I've never experienced real snow in my life before, so I have no basis for comparison for Beth's interpretation, though I have tried quite a few of her perfumes with snow notes and I do enjoy them and their delicate feel. This is that same lovely smell in its simplest form. Just as you would expect a snow flake to be, it's light and airy, soft and delicate. It gets its coolness from mint, a really soft subtle mint, like corn mint. The mint is evident as one of the first distinguishable notes, but it's not strong or overwhelming at all, or even defining. It's subtle enough to allow the other notes to be smelled around it pretty much straight away. It doesn't hang around long as a top note, yet the blend still manages to remain cool throughout. Vanilla plays the foundation here, a light, pale vanilla, perfectly suited to the lightness of everything else used here. I'm also picking up a touch of sweet chamomile, very delicate. Maybe even a drop of cucumber. It's as if every note used was just gently traced through clean cool air, just enough to leave behind the impression of that scent. It's very sheer.

 

It's hard to pin down exactly what it is that makes this so lovely. It has coolness, and soft ethereal sweetness. It's delicate and delightful, wears close to the skin. It's clean and unobtrusive. I think its beauty lies in its simplicity and softness.

[angburfield]

I think oil I absolutely GORGEOUS!! The combo of fresh snow kissed with mint and delicate florals (lotus reference) is amazing! This blend is beautiful, unique, artistic, feminine, ethereal and pure magic. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

[Shollin]

First sniff: Pure frozen violet.

 

Wearing: Frozen violets, icy mint, and a hint of cream. Ooh. This is nicer than I expected; the violet never goes old-lady-powdery, and combined with the little splash of cream, it’s very pretty.

[Lyssa]

This is for the 2006 version.

 

Snow-Flakes is a very fresh, cold, delicate scent. There is a hint of florals, but nothing here is too strong or sharp. It's an incredibly light, refreshing mint with a backdrop of light flowers and a hint of vanilla to soften it even more. It never gets powdery on me. I'm not really a floral lover (it really depends), and this scent is just beautiful.

 

I think there must be a hint of a fruit in here, something sweet like peach, pear, or apple. It's SO faint, though, and it only shows up on my skin later into wearing. At the end of its wear, it gets lightly musky the way other pretty fruit scents have on me. I don't love musk most of the time, but I don't mind this stage.

 

It wasn't incredibly long-lasting, and I don't remember the throw being amazing. It's a sweet, close, well-blended scent, and I love it. It definitely evokes feelings of snow and winter. It's going to be a Yule scent for me for sure, and it's convinced me to try Snow White since I've seen them compared. Even if Snow White doesn't work for me, Snow-Flakes is gorgeous and will be loved.

[boomtownrat]

I received a 1/3-full imp of the 2009 version of Snow-Flakes as one of the extra goodies in a package from an eBay seller.

 

In the imp I smelled mint and cucumber. Wet on my skin, I smelled cucumber and a trace of dill... not a pickle, but separate notes. I remember what dill smells like because my mom used to make her own pickles, so for while the dill lasted it definitely wasn't violet on me. After about five minutes I smelled dill, mint, and pine. After fifteen minutes it had morphed into mint and a powdery sweet scent, maybe sugar. After almost three hours it had morphed again into a violet musk. After about five hours it was almost gone, but there were still traces of a vanilla mint that would've been nice had it appeared sooner.

 

Snow-Flakes is a pretty and cool scent that sticks close to my skin. Five hours of wear is more than I thought I'd get out of it. It was a nice surprise and I wouldn't mind having more of it, but I don't know if I'll seek it out.

 

Edit: I wore this again and it overpowered me even though I'd only put on the same amount as before. It threatened to give me a migraine before I washed it off. White fragrances and I often don't agree; I'm not sure what note it is that bothers me. It'll get one more chance before I decide what to do with what little is left in the imp.

Edited November 19, 2011 by boomtownrat

[sprout]

source: an imp from a lovely forumite

 

in the vial: sweet fruit, my nose cannot tell what type, my best guess is honeydew melon (my nose interprets many of the lab snow notes as a blend of melon, or perhaps pineapple, with mint)

wet: slight hint of cedar, that was very brief, then powdery, vanilla-esque mint

drydown: lovely, minty powder which has a hint of vanilla with an occasional waft of the ?cedar or wood note (my best guess is cedar or sandalwood, but my nose is not very sophisticated at distinguishing) this was not overpowering at all and just a hint. If I had to guess, I would wonder if there isn't some benzoin in here as it was powdery, sweet, and vanilla like, without being foody or floral (no ozone notes either)

 

I thought the throw was light, but I received compliments on the scent, over 8 hours after I had applied, so it lasts and lasts and has good throw

 

verdict: captures the olfactory experience of the loveliness, and fragility of snowflakes. this inspired me to get a bottle

[Aviatrix]

2006 version.

 

This has a whole lot in common with other Yules like Snow White and Go to Sleep, Darlings. It is slightly more fresh and minty than the others, but there is the same distinct sweet snow note underneath. It is really pretty and wintry!

It is rather faint on the skin, though.

[freyasfae]

2006 from BPAL's Etsy.

 

I am really bummed with this one, especially since I bought a bottle, it doesn't seem wintery at all to me. There's no chilliness and it is so, so, so faint on me. It was mostly gone within a few hours of application. With most of the BPAL scents that I have tried, I usually need an afternoon reapply, but I needed a mid-morning reapply of this. Good thing other people like it, because I will probably swap this one out.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

as my bottle of this, bought in 2006, is moving on to a better home i thought i'd add the notes from my spreadsheet:

 

 

Snow White's identical twin cousin.

White grew up in a fancier house, with wealthier parents who were more standoffish. that house is probably all white, with white carpet and rugs and glass everywhere. the kind of house you don't really *live* in, you just kinda stay in.... y'know?

Flakes' folks don't come from money (White's mom married well, i guess?) so they're not as fancy, but they love their kid and will go outside and play so sometimes they come back into the house, all covered in leaf-bits and yard debris, a little muddy, but happy.

 

nature versus nurture. nearly the same scent, but one is off-putting and the other is almost comforting. how's that work?

[Casablanca]

2006 version

 

Watery mint and hints of sweet coconut and white chocolate. Borderline foodie. Medium throw, short wear length.

[Cali]

That really tipical BPAL mint-note, the one that's in snow white and woods in winter. There's gotta be some vanilla in there (it's slightly foody on me, wet it's a liiiiittle bit like tokyo stomp without the cake/HYPER=foody aspect), and it's somewhat lemon-y. Not a fizzy, or zesty one, but a soft one like restaurant hand wipes.  Somewhat fruity - possibly a berry note? 
It's nice, but really faint on me, my skin doesn't pick up on this when dry. :c

[Dancing Raven]

2006 version. This is a frottle from the lab. Thank you! 

Wet: Minty pineapple - heavier on the mint (spearmint?).

Drydown: Same as above, but a non foody vanilla is sweetening it up. This is so not me, but I'm really enjoying it. There's something slightly jasmine like in the background, but very faint.

40 minutes in: Spearmint tea. This isn't a complex scent, but it's really nice!

2 hours in: Vanilla floral. I think there's some heliotrope and ylang ylang, although magnolia is also a possibility. Definitely a white floral, and not overwhelming at all. I don't think there's anything aquatic in this because those almost always become soap on my skin. It's a skin scent on me, but wear time is about 9 to 10 hours. This would make a beautiful layering oil to lighten up heavier scents, or to make things more wintery. I'm glad that the lab was generous enough to send this my way.

4.7 out of 5 stars.