Black Ice

[absinthetics]

BLACK ICE

Lovely, dangerous, slick, and bitterly cold: chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind.

In the bottle: Vetiver for sure. This scent is unique in the Yule category, in my opinion. It is cold, but by being a cold 'perfumey' scent. It's interesting how I can pick up the 'winter wind' aspect. This scent is hard to pin down, it is light and airy in some way.

Wet: There are things in here I could not tell from smelling the bottle. There is something dirty and almost acidic. I suppose this is where the asphalt comes in. It's a little plasticy and man-made at first. But I can already tell it's disappearing upon dry down.

Drydown: The Vetiver is calming, and I once again can percieve that chilly, air feeling to it. The airy feeling though has finally become 'cold' somehow. The perfumey is becoming a bit more ethereal and less 'in your face'. I have to be honest, I didn't think I would buy another bottle of this until it was completely dry. I really enjoy it at this point, it's calm, and cool and delicate, yet a vibrant 'perfumey' blend. This would be great on a boy, too. It starts to remind me of being outside on a brutally cold night. This scent is definitely a wrist-sniffing scent.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is an icy cold floral...a touch of sweetness

 

once applied there are some heavy, rich flowery notes and something

aquatic...that's the iciness most certainly...while i cannot detect the vetiver

in this there is something resinous & smoky...this is a bold blend and just a few

dabs on your wrists and behind your ears will have you enveloped in a

sensational yuletide olfactory frenzy for hours

[UltraViolet]

 

In the bottle

It smells like black ice. It reminds me of Ice Queen a bit.

 

On

It just gets better. It's a bit mens cologne-like but only on whiffs, not in general.

 

30 minutes

Stays the same

 

Throw:

A bit.

 

Scent category:

Aquatic/Green

 

Summary

It's twangy, and it does smell like black ice would smell. It's a bit sweet but barely and it's twangy like Ice Queen.

 

Purchase again?

No.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3

[filigree_shadow]

From the description, I didn't expect to smell any flowers in this, but that's what I smell when it's wet. Some kind of purple flower. I'm not very good at picking out floral notes, but it reminds me of lilacs. Chilly lilacs.

 

As it's drying I think I can maybe sniff a tiny bit of vetiver in there, but I'm still not getting any smoke.

 

When it's dry I don't smell the flowers nearly as much, but I can tell there's something in it making the whole scent vaguely sweet. Still no smoke.

 

Hmm. I had been hoping for something chilly, dark, and kind of gritty. That's not what this smells like to me. I guess I'll try it again on another day.

[euterpe414]

Wow this smells nothing at all like I thought it would! Being a vetiver lover ( ) I was expecting a bit more of a cold and earthy scent. however, this is truly icy, slick and yes, a bit on the aquatic side. That is not to say that I don't like it, it is just a shocking surprise. To me this actually reminds me A LOT of Orpheus. If you like that blend; which I do, you will surely love this. This blend is quite true to itself from wet to the drydown and lasts a very long time. I think I am definitely going to upgrade to a bottle of this in the future.

[sarada]

Half of my favorite scents start with the word "Black" so obviously I have to try this. The idea of Black Ice is just so gorgeous, dark and evocative. I can't wait to try this when it's actually cold outside, since cold, icy air really catches these winter scents, whips them around and brings them to life.

 

In the bottle, I smell the familiar frosty winter BPAL scent, touched with black flowers, a very faint stirring of mint and deep water. A deep, black pond reflecting a blue-green night sky. Scents like this don't last very long on my skin but while it does it casts a misty, faintly perfumey aura around me that settles down into minty ice crystals.

 

I actually don't smell vetiver. I guess it must be the force of darkness that is pulling everything into the center here, gathering the pale light, refracting it and turning it into murky night. Asphalt? I'm not sure, though the black flower scent that I get reminds me a bit of that chemical smell that bothers me in blends like Darkness...it never quite goes there, though, so I still love it. It smells very clean, actually. Clean, and empty. Not since Yog-Sothoth has something evoked that feeling of "deep emptiness" and "astral void" in my mind (they do not smell anything alike, please note).

 

I dig Black Ice for all of the imagery that this scent evokes, and I can't wait to wear it while walking at night this winter.

[Little Bird]

I’ve noticed the whole tar and burnt rubber trend showing up in a lot of perfumes this year. I don’t really like that tar sort of smell, and I was expecting it in Black Ice… but this is more of a clean, sweetly floral scent than the earthy or ‘asphalt’ one that I was expecting.

 

If I were to guess at the notes in this, I would have guessed for black musk, a chilly aquatic, and some sort of sweet floral (I'd never be able to pinpoint any one flower; I suck at picking out floral notes). Black Ice sort of reminds me of a smoky men's cologne or slightly soapy aftershave. It becomes less floral and a bit more minty or menthol in the drydown. I'm not smelling any vetiver on my skin (which I was kinda looking forward to).

 

Overall, this strikes me as a masculine sort of aquatic. Not for me, and not really what I was expecting.

[marietta]

Oh. My. God.

 

I don't know what I was expecting . . . but dead sexy was not it. There is a definite edge of danger here -- this is Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, it is sky-high-heeled boots -- it is irresistible, but it is not too good for you.

 

It's certainly similar to Darkness, but whereas I found Darkness too cloying and floral, the aquatic/cologney notes clarify this for me.

 

I don't smell Vetiver, but I absolutely feel it's calming effects.

 

A bottle purchase, I think.

[Lucretia]

This is to die for I say. It reminds me a lot of traditional perfumes in that it is predominantly floral on me. A very, very well blended, light, cold, and sweet floral. I really, have not got a clue what the flowers are, but it’s beautiful. I can’t really notice the vetiver beyond the fact that there is something in there tying it all together and keeping it from getting too sweet and light. This a little masculine in the drydown phase, but when it’s settled I really wouldn’t call it a manly scent. It smells like a winter breeze when you’re walking home from work. Normally the winter scents are either mint or cucumber on me, but this is neither, and I love it! It’s also light enough to be a good work day scent. Although I may very well slather for those cold winter nights.

[Nekomata]

Wow, this is sooo good. Icy floral with undertones of vertiver. It also has a very powerful throw on me! Mmmm, looks like I'll have to order more!

[zenvodunista]

Black Ice was a total washout on me. Pure aquatics, no smoke, no earth, nothing but florals and water.

 

Ah well. Ya can't win 'em all, can you?

 

N.

[Alchemy21599]

Can I just say "ditto" to zenvodunista's review? I did not get any smoky goodness either, just an aquatic note, subtle floral, and a wisp of mint. Off to swaps.

[shelldoo]

in the bottle....sweet? light? floral....not what i was expecting

 

wet: woah babay, sweet, floral, slightly cool

 

as it dries it becomes more minty, more icy, more aquatic, yet it retains that shining sweet floral, i didn't expect this to be so sexy, so feminine, so....fragile smelling, i actually didn't expect to like it tons, yet it is one of the better yule scents....after a while longer the mint burns off, and it is indeed a fragile floral with slight wafts of mint here and there, still no vetiver, no smoke, no "grittiness" just a very fragile, floral, sweet, soft innocent yet sexy

[GypsyRoseRed]

All aquatic and freezing ozone. To me, this blend is the olfactory equivalent of falling through a frozen pond.. in the dead of night. It's cold, and there's something almost ruthless about it. No sweetness or floral, or anything redeeming for me. The White Witch would LOVE this one.

[forspecial_plate]

I'm getting chilly aquatic, too....Black Ice reminds me of a lighter, colder relative of Kingsport. And just like Kingsport, the cologne-y aquatic note disappears really fast! That's where the 2 scents diverge. What's left is barely any throw, and up close there's a little bit of dusty herbal bitterness...not a bad smell, just not very strong on me. It's my skin's usual disappearing act with aquatics....they go *poof* and they're mostly gone!

 

This was totally different from what I was expecting. More smooth and 'accessible' if anyone knows what I mean by that. It's a great scent, just doesn't work out for me.

[portalkat]

Cold and dark, that's how it smells and feels to me. There is something sweet, but I'm not really thinking of flowers when I smell this. This is like a sinister void and I can imagine putting my arm into the void and experiencing the chill. I am glad that I was able to experience this creation.

[slave1]

BLACK ICE

 

In Bottle: Ozone perfumey

 

On Skin: This is a very masculine scent and quite perfumey, it reminds me of a masculine version of Ice Queen or Snow Maiden. I do like it, it seems silver and balck in tone, dark and sharp. It is very cold and I do get a dangerous feel from it. I would love to smell this on my husband. I get clean ozone and a light earthy edge. The image I get from this scent is kind of like a romance novel: feeling cold and wet coming in from the rain and into the arms of some sexy stranger. I love it! It is a light scent with a short to average wearlength.

[fiddlehead]

Aquatics, flowers of some sort, and sort of clean/soap like. Really nice soap of some kind.

 

Not at all what I was expecting. But with a name like "Black Ice" how could I resist

[valentina]

I tested this scent assuming that with a name like Black Ice, it would smell like vetiver and ice and tire rubber! So it was a bit of a surprise when I sniffed it and discovered an aquatic, icy-cool scent. Then I put it on my skin, and at first the aquatic note rose to the top, but it was rapidly followed by floral notes and then a bit of resin/smokiness. As time passed, it began to smell very similar to the way that Christian Dior Poison perfume smells on me. What on earth?? I used to wear Poison, but a similarity to that perfume is the last thing I expected from Black Ice. I have no idea what notes are similar in both scents, but I'm guessing some amber and possibly something berry-like. Vetiver is normally a no-no component for me, and my nose can't really catch a whiff of it in Black Ice.

 

I don't find the scent masculine at all, but I do find it rather noir and a bit sinister, yet pretty. Of all the Yules, this one totally shocked the hell out of me, because it's so beautiful.

Edited November 26, 2006 by valentina

[jewelbug]

Imp: Citrus based aquatic with a bit of mint, not at all rubbery or burny like I expected.

 

Wet: This is a very clean and fresh scent. One of the notes in here (mint?) makes my wrist feel chill and tingly on application, which is fun. I get a bit of vetiver, but its not at all overpowering, and the result is a clean, cold, ozoney citrus aquatic. (hehe, can I fit any more adjectives in that sentence?!)

 

Dry: Cold but smooth minty aquatic. This is really fresh and quite pretty. This is a gender-neutral scent, but because I don't wear this genre of scent, I'm inclined to think of it as more masculine. I applied this on the top and the bottom of my wrist. On the top, it remains the cool aquatic, on the bottom it gets a darker aspect after about 30 minutes on--something deeper like hints of smoke and vetiver. Regardless of this deeper scent, the over impression is that of a clean cool aquatic.

 

Overall: I think cold/fresh/aquatic lovers have a special treat in black ice. The mint with the aquatic is a very cool combo. I'm glad I got to sniff it, its quite pretty and sophistocated, but this just isn't the type of scent I keep in my personal repertoire. I think a clean cut man would be delish in this! This lasts about 6 hrs on me.

 

ETA: This would be a great scent for when you need to beat the heat in the summer!

Edited November 26, 2006 by jewelbug

[supremegoddessofall]

Minty with a dark tone. I like it more than I thought I would - the "asphalt" note had me worried. This is definitely a cold scent, with a bit of aquatics. The vetiver is very subdued.

[Carolyn]

Nodding my head here. Yes, I get chilly florals. Yes, there is some aquatic note. Yes, there is a teeny bit of mint.

 

But my overall impression is...aloe vera. The lotion. Very green, very aloe vera to me. There is also something biting and sharp in the background.

 

I agree that this could be a very nice summery scent.

[Jishin]

Black Ice -- not asphalt and frozen water. Black velvet dress and diamonds!

 

This comes off extremely sophisticated and chic to me. Definitely not an everyday scent, but wow. Gorgeous. Masculine? Not to my nose ....

 

Someone else in here said something about it being a little bit like Poison -- it does conjure up a vague Poison-like something in it. I wish I knew what it was. Manhattan does the same thing for me but it's not the same part of Poison.

 

Weirdly, it doesn't smell as good up-close on me as it does in sort of the "throw zone". The wrist-sniffies are not nearly as good as just the general air around me.

 

It's still drying on me, but I had to come post that. Wow, I love that little word play in the name. Hoping I'll love all of Black Ice.

 

Edited to add: with full dry, it is still lovely, still quite icy and airy and somewhat Poison-like, and the wrist-sniffing improves. I love this, and I'm glad I listened to my gut instinct about getting it. It's way too elegant for every day, but it's just shot to the top of my list for very special occasions.

 

It's also quite long-lasting on me ... I put it on this morning around 9am, and it's now after 11:30pm, and I can still get little whiffs of it. Mmm.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Jishin

[edenssixthday]

Black Ice - This is a very cool scent! I thought that the "breath of smoky asphalt" note in this blend would make this stink. All I could think of was the smell you encounter when you're stuck driving behind a paving truck. Ick! So I was pleasantly surprised when I first applied this scent and realized how soft and pretty it is. The scent is definitely wintery, dark and gritty, yet subtle -- exactly how black ice is on the roads. And just as you can't see black ice until you're right on top of it, the same goes for the sillage of this scent: I definitely can't smell it unless I'm sniffing my skin up close because it's just that subtle. It's also very masculine, and something I could see most men wearing very well. I've also found it works well as a "base" for some other scents I love, but which don't have much substance on their own (like Snow White and Snow-Flakes). Overall, I think it's a wonderful scent, and although I don't think I need a bottle, I will most certainly hang on to at least one imp of this.

[moon_lemming]

Oh, boo. I LOVE the way this smells wet, like a tiny frozen wind-tossed flower. But on me, there's something that turns to soap instantly. Good, quality soap, but it's still soap.