Black Ice

[QueenFae]

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

This smells exactly like pavement, vetiver, and mint. This is a very unusual one! When I sniff it the first thing that comes to mind is slushy, dirty winter streets at night time. This is probably the most perfect representation of Black Ice anyone ever could have conjoured. It's almost creepy, most definitely wintery and somewhat earthy. Interesting, but not my thing

[mspixieears]

Reminds me of a heady, coriander-like scent that I first encountered on the bouquet/garland of flowers I received in Fiji when visiting a school – this must be the vetiver. Beautiful and dark – very masculine though it could be a good unisex scent.

[hackess]

Oh, beloved ozone/aquatics!

 

This is truly awesome. Wet, it's all ozone and waters. On the drydown, the vetiver comes out, but there's definitely something like asphalt underneath the tang. It's a very cold scent, but very calming - must be the aquatics for this Water sign (Cancer)!

[batsy]

In the vial: Solid vetiver.

 

On the skin: Eep, aquatic. I'm assuming that's supposed to be the winter wind. Either way, hurts my nose and is causing a reaction similar to what happens when I get around jasmine. Swap.

[cuervosueno]

Finally got to try a bit of this. I didn't buy a bottle because I was wary of it....sounded too aquatic to me, even though I love the idea of black ice.

 

Well, it doesn't smell anything like black ice to me, though I suppose we all have our own ideas of what that would smell like. My idea of black ice is what you get at intersections in Fairbanks Alaska in the winter time: black ice where the ice on the road has thawed and frozen and thawed and frozen. Everything else is frozen--it could be -20 or -40. So the scent, to me, would not be aquatic or melty/slushy, but that bitter cold ozone scent that pierces your lungs at these temperatures. With a bright snow note too, perhaps.

 

Which is not what Black Ice is. When I smelled the imp, I thought damn that's familiar, but what is it? Then I decided what I was smelling was the "generic" BPAL light floral (ie. any I don't particularly like!) But when I put it on, it wasn't like that at all. It was......spearmint! Pure spearmint, though maybe I'm wrong about the pure. It was like spearmint gum.

 

I found this appealing, if unexpected.

 

But where is the vetiver? where is the asphalt? Where, for that matter, are the BPAL slushy notes I love so much?

 

Not a hint of them. And I was so surprised to read back through this thread and see so many people thought of it as pure vetiver--I got none! But I'm a vetiver groupie....and today in particular I had a serious vetiver fix by wearing the Great He-Goat. So perhaps subtler forms would be lost on me.

 

this is mostly spearmint on me, but it does have a very familiar aquatic note too that I puzzled over for awhile until someone mentioned cucumber. Yes, I'd guess it could have cucumber. I don't particularly like cucumber (I seem to be the only person on the planet who didn't like the old version of Blue Moon), but I don't seem to mind it in this (if that is what it is).

 

Overall, this is spearmint and cucumber. Not a bad scent, but not like its name on me, and I'm ok with little partial imp.

[Honor]

In Bottle: Strong, Minty, slightly smoky and a hint of...licorice? I'm strange, I know

 

On skin wet: Still minty, but less so. The smoky smell gets stronger, and there's something else that I can't identify but stings the nose a bit.

 

Drydown: It's softened a bit on drydown, and there's a powdery sweet mint quality to it, but still a strong, smoky, and -to me-some what unpleasant quality hanging about it, that my nose isn't digging.

 

Overall: true to life, I think! And interesting scent, and I'm glad I got to smell it, but def. not for me I think

[Myotis]

I completely expected to be hit in the face with the scent of asphalt with this one.

Nothing of the sort.....thankfully!

It's cold, almost icy, maybe a tad bit minty, but slightly floral as well. I think I get a bit of an aquatic note to it as well.....ice!!

It reminds me of a perfume I have smelled before..... something I have owned in the past and I can't quite put my finger on it.

This one pretty much stays the same on me as it is in the bottle.

I'm glad I took the chance and purchased a partial bottle from a fellow forumite!!

[Neely]

In the bottle: very faint, sophisticated floral.

 

Wet: clean, slushy snow note Beth does so well, slightly floral, with a gritty undertone, just like asphalt! How does she do that? I can't stop sniffing my wrist, amazing.

 

Dry down: sophisticated, elegant, slushy floral with that dark black gritty undertone. This does say "danger" but not until your car is sliding all over the road uncontrollably.

 

30 minutes: sophisticated, elegant, slushy floral with that gritty undertone. I love this!

 

Conclusion: this is one of those rare florals that I can wear. I wear this to fancy restaurants, or the opera. This is what I wear when I want people to think I am an elegant dangerous lady.

 

Rating 1-5: on my skin this is a 5.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Hm. Never reviewed this one somehow. It isn't a huge favorite of mine, though I love most of Beth's snowy blends, especially in the summertime. I may try to spend some more quality time with Black Ice, though, this summer. It is evocative, for sure. It has that "dark, empty" quality that Yog Sothoth had. It also does have the icy note, but it is more ozony than in some of the other winter ones. Black Ice also lacks the sweet undertone that many of the other winter snow blends have- it is much colder as a result. The vetiver is behaving, surprisingly; it was the major reason I almost didn't order this. But it is noticeable nevertheless, just a balanced background note rather than overwhelming like it can be on my skin.

 

4 out of 5, it is quite evocative of black ice indeed.

[alicia_stardust]

This is so interesting. It is the pure white innocence of snow, defiled by dirt and grime. I get a sharp coldness for a while, and then the vetiver makes an appearance. Whether by suggestion or an actual note, the asphalt makes a very brief appearance as well. Very evocative and artistically rendered. Beautiful!

[arabella]

First Impression: Minty floral.

Dries down to: Tones down a bit but stays pretty much the same.

Additional Comments: I'm totally off on the notes in this one. I get the "cold" but there's nothing in there like 'smoky asphalt'. The vetiver is there but barely so. It is refreshing but only fleetingly so. For me, there are many better blends.

Lasted: 1/2 hour.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

[voodoocatwoman]

In the imp: Stinging and sharply cold. Floral with a few razor blades hidden in.

 

Wet: Very floral, still a little on the sharp side. Warming up some, too.

 

Dry: Stays floral, but the sharp aspect is gone. There is something beneath the surface but I don't know what it is. This scent did not last long on me. I can barely detect it now (8 hours later).

 

I like it.

[Shollin]

First, I must direct your attention to Ask A Ninja’s interview of the Blades of Glory stars, in which they speculate that Black Ice would be an excellent name for a rock band, or possibly a cologne. It’s roundabout the 3:15 mark.

 

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, my sweetheart hit a patch of black ice a couple of winters ago and flipped his car over a snowbank… so I came into this scent with a serious bias.

 

First sniff: Very very cold, and menacing, and generally not my friend. It’s freezing darkness, stranded on a winter’s night, unhappiness all 'round.

 

Wearing: Slushy cold… you know the noise your boots make when you have to slog through that nasty grey snowy-icy-slushy stuff in the parking lot when it snowed hard a couple days ago and no one’s cleaned it up properly? I’ve been hearing that noise a lot over the past few weeks, thanks to the winter storms that keep shooting through Washington state, and it’s exactly what this reminds me of.

[The_Merf]

Wow, that is some harsh, harsh vetiver, my goodness. The vetiver on its own is enough to remind me of asphalt. I don't know what the asphalt notes themselves might contain, but they do a fine job of evoking what they're supposed to! The vetiver is so strong on me (and this often happens) that it drowns out everything else. I don't get any of the mint/sleet notes; in fact, this becomes a warmish vetiver on my skin. My chemistry is just not going to let me appreciate this one, alas.

[lilacea]

If I had not seen vetiver listed in the notes, I would not have picked it in this blend. It's a soft, cold, icy floral with not a hint of vetiver to my nose, although it does have an ever so slight touch of smokeyness, which must be the vetiver playing nicely with me for a change.

 

Wet, this has traces of clear mint and some sort of pine/spruce/fir note at the front. As it dries, out come the florals. There's a touch of soapy violet, and something that smells like camellia. I get hints of citrus and light musk before this really blooms on my skin. I'm generally not a big floral fan, but this is soft and subdued and just a touch aquatic. Pleasant.

[pinkstardust420]

WHOA. Smoky, icy floral. Minty too. Weird!!!!! Meh. I dont think this is for me...

[Verilita]

In the bottle: bitter, herbal and icky! I am hesitant about this one

 

wet: still very herbal but the bitterness is dissapating which makes me happy

 

drydown: oh this is getting good, it's very sweet with this nice airy scent that comes in and out as I move

 

Dry: From the bottle to dry on my wrist it's a total 180! a smokey scent with a soft floral very nice!

[gchris]

In Vial: Sweet

 

Wet: A little perfumey. Has a refreshing lift from something that reminds me of sea foam. This background of this is interesting. I described as sea foam but it does not smell aquatic but does smell of a light blue-green scent.

 

Later:This a become strong and perfumey. The lovely blue-green scent has almost disappeared completely.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Sharp.

 

Preconceived notions/pre-review thoughts: I'm terrified of vetiver by default, and can't imagine asphalt ever working well on me, so I have my reservations.

 

In the imp: Floral and distinctly minty, with a musky undertone. Very surprising.

 

On skin, wet: Distinctly aquatic, vaguely minty. Beneath that lurks something dark, which I assume to be the vetiver. It's definitely floral, but as deeply as I sniff this, I can't isolate any specific notes.

 

On skin, dry: Very cold, very sharp, and indeed, smoky. Unfortunately, as it dries, it turns completely to soap. This is probably the darkest, murkiest aquatic BPAL scent I've tried in recent memory. Thankfully, I don't get much "asphalt" from this.

 

Conclusion: Vetiver and aquatic notes are wont to turn to soap on my skin, and Black Ice is the perfect example of that. However, even during the wet stage, it was too sharp and too murky for my tastes.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Aredhel

[MaeKitty]

My initial thought was "Oh god, it's dove soap!" but it seems to release with the warmth of the skin. What a strange scent! While I don't "love" cold scents, I'm fascinated with this one. It's so strange. It's chilly, it feels exactly like the description. The asphalt, the snow, the wind. It's vaguly minty too, which is where the chill comes from I think. Really interesting, but just not something I'd wear

[Rovylern]

In the imp: Something earthy I don't recognize, a breath of a spicy mint that reminds me of Nuclear Winter, and that distinctive 'cold' note.

 

Wet: I'm getting a cool, herbal scent with a swirl of mint.

 

Drydown: Spicy yet cold, herbal, minty. Low throw, but long lasting. This isn't what I expected, but I like it. I was expecting something a little more aloof, but it's very sexy.

[sadtomato]

i'm not a civet fan and i can smell the civet in this a tiny bit, but it doesn't bother me because it's faint and in the background and the rest of this blend is really pretty.

musky, dark, unique.

overall, a dark and lovely scent.

[jizatt]

I was convinced this was sweet birch when I first put it on, and then that went away. I was not getting that icyness that I love from BPAL's cold blends. Then, I was convinced I could smell melon-floral-ice with a smidge of black pepper. Which was interesting, but not love. Somehow it stayed with me though, and usually I burn oils off my skin within a couple hours. I could still smell this, and couldnt stop sniffing it. And its on my sleeve the next day, and keeps catching my attention. So, I guess I do like it! It's very unusual wet, but the dry stage is gorgeous.

Edited December 11, 2009 by CaudaPavonis

[Invidiana]

This seems like it's going to develop nicely in the beginning, especially with the smoky vetiver, but something--I have no idea what--goes wonky on my skin. I'm guessing one or more of the other notes combining with the vetiver just doesn't work on my body chemistry, though all the listed notes work fine on my skin in other blends. A shame, because I really wanted this one to work.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Invidiana

[mimosa]

In the bottle-floral-not what I expected, no smokiness or vetiver.

On the skin- Oh what a change, there' some mint and snow there, maybe some cucumber, the florals have disappeared, leaving a perfect minty fresh blend. I like this a lot.