Snow White

[jj_j]

A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers.

Limited Edition; December 2003.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has been outdoing themselves with the limited edition scents lately, and this is a sterling example! This is an airy, crisp, barely floral that is warm and soft, all the while making me picture the first snow and the sharp, clean scent that accompanies it. I know warm and snow don't sound like they go together, but let me assure you that they do!

My all-time favorite. I wonder if Elizabeth would consider keeping some of the limited editions based on customer response ... I'd e-mail daily on this one.

[viciousviolet]

An invigorating, festive and bright scent! It truly captures the joy of the holiday season, without resorting to "traditional" Christmas scents. Beautiful!

[Shollin]

Snow White

 

First sniff: Cool. Slightly minty? Very subtle and delicate. Something yummy in here too that I can’t put my finger on.

 

Wearing: Something round and fruity under the mint - white grapes, maybe? Smelled a bit like pineapple or pear at work. Still a cool scent, but more fruit than mint.

[Donnababe]

I was at bit worried at first. The first smell I got after appling it was almondy. Not good for me. But, this only lasts for a few minutes and a beautiful fresh, cold scent follows. It reminds me of the smell of the air after a snowfall. It has more of a fruity edge rather than floral for me though.

 

Despite my initial concerns over it's staying power, this lasts very well.

 

Just Lovely, lovely lovely. Stupid me for not ordering a bottle!

 

Please Elizabeth, bring this back! *inserts begging smilie*

[Nadirah]

This is a light scent that snuck up on me. I can smell the apple or pear in there, something fruity that I like. Glad I bought a bottle, this one is really versitile.

[sedentaryedge]

I'm so sad this was a limited edition. Snow White is crystalline, with a buttery, melting white floral at its core. The scent reminds me very much of being out in the woods on a snowy day, somewhere in a clearing, around three-day old snow, sharp, high-nose, breathtakingly white and cold. The warmth in this comes entirely from the soft, white, petal-y center of the scent, a white floral. I can't explain how well this works on my skin, it's sweet, light and clean. Wonderful!

[minouska]

On me it's soft, sweet, gentle, clean, feminine but not too girly-girl for me. Even a little warm, although that's kind of a contradiction. Kind of round, if scents had a shape. It goes really well with my body chemistry and almost seems like it's just how I smell. It also lasts all day. I love this scent--I too wish it was not a limited edition!

[Tesseljoan]

What I could do is fill this review with orgasmic groans... but that wouldn't be useful, would it. This is the best fresh blend I've ever encountered, because of its complexity, 'different-ness', its staying power and the perfect capturing of a concept in a bottle. It smells like a cold breeze over frozen almonds and fruit. Fresh, interesting, amazing.

[ismene]

This is what snow smells like.

 

Not snow that's been on the ground for an hour or two and certainly not snow that's gone slushy and brown. This is newly fallen snow with flakes in the air, fairy tale perfect snow that's pure glistening white and holds the promise of an ice queen who'll give you marzipan. Just wait a minute and she'll show up, this scent wafting from her furs...

[hypothermya]

Snow White; 2003

I have to say that this is not a scent that I would normally order, but due to a complete and utter obsession with all things that Beth makes, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to check out this limited edition. Plus, I was hoping for something a bit less lemony and a bit more wintery than Yuki-Onna. And was I ever pleasantly surprised.

 

In the Bottle

At the very first sniff, I smell something nutty, as if almond or hazelnut. Probably almond, because it's a very light nut smell. The second note I was able to distinguish was a bright pineapple smell, fruity and sweet, while still cool. More like pineapple slices fresh out of the back of the fridge. My boyfriend smelled it and said that it was like a minty vanilla, (and Mom's boyfriend also described it as a sweet vanilla) so there's probably vanilla and mint notes in there that I can't quite identify. But overall, this does a remarkable job of smelling *just* like freshly fallen snow. Makes me think of skiing into a bank of powder, and being covered in light delicious flakes of snow. If there are florals in here, I can't tell, which is just as well, since the one thing turning me off to the description of this scent was the florals.

 

Wearing It

When I put it on, the first thing I notice is: "Oh, there's the vanilla!" Still fresh, still cool, like the smell of opening your freezer and having the cold hit the air. As it dries down, the fruit begins to pick up again, but still underneath the fresh cool air scent. The only issue with this scent is that it's so subtle, so soft. And that's actually not so much an issue as a characteristic. It makes me want to put more on, just so I can notice it without bringing my wrist to my nose. It's as though the perfume has faded without giving me the benefit of an hour or so to bathe in the smell.

 

This is a great scent, and I'm glad I decided to give it a chance. I'm going to try wearing this again (maybe when I'm not overwhelmed with six or seven new scents that I've gotten via swapping), and then I'll probably decide whether to keep this as a regular scent. But something tells me that there isn't much chance of me not keeping it -- this one is a real delight.

Edited December 28, 2004 by hypothermya

[FireInCairo]

I really really hope that this scent is brought back this XMAS. It's wonderful even in Springtime. I cannot help but smell loads of coconut in this fragrance. It almost smells of coconut and cotton candy. It is not sharp by any means. It's a cool, mellow scent. Truly divine...

[Lady_Ell]

This smells cool and wet in the bottle, just like sweet snow - like when you put boiled-down maple syrup on snow to make snow candy, and there are little traces of syrup left in the meltwater - that's Snow White.

 

Once it dries, I smell like white cake (no frosting)! Cake that's been flavored with almond extract AND vanilla extract, but neither one is overpowering. The awesome smell that pervades your house when you bake a cake is suddenly coming out of ME.

 

This is so beautiful.

 

ETA:

I wore this again a few days ago and it was more wet, cold, and honey-sugar-floral on me this time around. I was hoping to get the just-baked-cake thing, but I guess this week's hormones weren't agreeing that that's what I should smell like. In any case, flowery and wet or cakelike and dry, this is lovely. And it lasts forever and has huge throw.

Edited November 4, 2004 by ladylatemar

[Astarte]

This is very unlike any other BPAL I've tried, its a skin warmed chilled scent, to me it smells a little of white musk/vanilla with the tiniest twinge of pineapple behind it, with an underlying floral peeking out. If you concentrate hard enough, you can pick out the edges of a gentle mint there. This is a very soft and sensous scent and I hope very much that one day Beth will bring it back.

[TygherRayn]

Another one that I've since sent on because it would be better appreciated elsewhere, but I have to at least say something about it before I let it pass into memory.

 

Snow White .. a gift to me from the lovely Clephan and her kitties I might add ... was indeed very white. A sort of warm, mellow white .. definitely coconutty and something else. but it was truly a white scent. I've had snow cream described to me, and this is what I imagine it tastes like.

[pkwench]

What a delightful scent. On me this is buttery coconut with a slight, cool floral undertone. It's truly a beautiful creation. I could bathe in this stuff.

[pekeana]

*inhales wrist*

 

Snow White is fabulous.

 

It's soft, white, clean, creamy and delectable all in one sniff. It's decadent and at the same time mellow and soothing.

 

And, strangely, it started off so very weak and floral, but the longer I have it on, the stronger and sweeter it gets -- and the more clean air smell comes through over the top of the floral. It's crisp and warm in one breath, and cool and mellow in another -- truly a paradox of scent.

 

I wish that Beth would bring this back one more time so I could stock up on it. It's without a doubt one of the best of her perfumes that I've tried.

[ChupaChup]

Count me among the people begging Beth to bring Snow White back this year!

 

That cute little snoogler t3andcrumpets sweetly shared some of this with me so I could see why she loved it so much. I knew as soon as I opened the imp that it was fabulous and it gets even better on my skin. It's what everyone else says, warm and cool at the same time, almond, coconut, mint, and vanilla, all without being foody. There may be some florals in it, but it's not floral. Snow White is quite an enigma. Each of the elements is barely there, they are like a whisper, this scent is so soft. But it has amazing presence for such a soft scent. It may be a Yule-inspired perfume, but if I could get my hands on a decent supply, I would wear it year-round.

 

To compare it to other BPAL oils, to me it has the creamy almond of Dana O'shee (without the grains), the ambrosia of Sudha Segara (without the ginger) and the slightly minty coconut drydown of Tarot: The Star (without the lime). I love all three of those oils so it's no wonder I love Snow White.

[grrrlennyl]

snow white

 

at first: wow. very white. very watery flowers and something sweet. maybe coconut. very soft.

on: this is so beautiful and soft. sweet, powdery, watery, floral.

half an hour later: beautiful. i don't know what else to say.

1 hour later: unreal. there's almost a bit of fruit that i couldn't pick out before. i can't pick out a single note, but it's gorgeous.

4 hours later: still wonderful.

overall: i'm in love. this is what i wish snow smelled like. a definite keeper.

[spark]

There's very little I can add to this that hasn't already been said. Actually there's a lot less, as I truly cannot even begin to describe the scent. I kind of want to say there's some coconut in it, but it's really more how coconut FEELS than how it SMELLS, if that makes any sense at all.

 

I also get a hint of Snowcake (Lush soap, for those not in the know) which suggests some similarilty to Dana O'Shee... almond maybe?

 

AND I also stuck it under someone's nose and heard "hmmm... apple?" Which I don't get, but considering that it's SNOW WHITE it would certainly make sense!

 

Lovely, just lovely.

Edited October 31, 2004 by spark

[diabolique]

the wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL alectonox sent me an imp of this. thank you, darling!

 

in the vial, i smell something that is decidedly "clear." it has the same vibe i get from dana o'shee, but instead of milky goodness, i get very soft, warm flowers and a hint of almond.

 

on my skin, this is extremely light, as i knew it would be. that's what kept me from ordering this. ten minutes into the scent, i get a slightly nutty undertone, which i assume is the "coconut" feel that other people were getting from this. this is very intriguing, as every time i think i've pinned the scent down, it changes on me. it's a subtle, sweet smell, and the coconut i get from this is still very understated.

 

overall, it smells like dana o'shee with coconut and sweet flowers, and it wafts even less than dana o'shee (then again, i did test it very lightly). i'm glad i resisted my temptation to order a bottle of this with the yule update because i can't see myself wearing this often. this is gorgeous. really, it's lovely, but it isn't unique enough for my tastes and it doesn't have very good throw.

 

ETA: i now love this one with an unholy passion.

Edited November 29, 2004 by diabolique

[magpiedee]

Snow White, for me, is encapsulated by that scene in Legend in which the unicorn's horn has been cut, and the world is enrobed in sugary snow. When Lilly creeps into the cottage and finds everything once warm, welcome and familiar foreign and cold, dusted with glittering white powder, faintly tinged with blue. It is sweet and lovely and soft, but cold and sharp and glittering, too.

 

This is not, for me, the limp and fearful Snow White of the Disney Film, but a strong woman tinged with sadness, an ice maiden frozen in time.

 

The metaphor is all I have to give you, really. I can't pull out a single note. It is lovely and strong without smelling of food or flowers or wine or musk or smoke or another main "scent" that we use to describe the oils. It is a light, frosted, robin's egg blue to me, opaque and sparkling as snow in the moonlight. The balance appeals to me: soft but strong; glittery but opaque; somehow both cool and warm at once. It is a masterpiece, and I am thankful to Beth and quantum spice for sharing it with me.

[yellowrose]

Wow.

 

I just got the infamous Skittles Lottery rolltop bottle of Snow White from darkling.

 

I couldn't wait and applied it IN the post office. Honest. There's no real way to smell the scent in a roller bottle. I'll skip to the good stuff.

 

WET: Wow. What is this? I wasn't sure what to expect. This is white, crystalline, very floral and subtle. It's frustrating me to determine what notes these are.

 

DRYING: Floral with mint and a touch of nuts of some sort. Is that fruit?

 

DRY: Snow White is horribly enigmatic. She is minty at times, coconut and floral for other sniffs. In fact, I'm still sniffing at my wrists to figure her out and this after a couple of hours. What's that? Almond? There's one floral note that is threatening to give me a headache if I smell too deeply up close. That's frustrating, too. And it smells different on each wrist!

 

I'm glad there's a 2004 edition bottle headed my way. I'm not sure I want this scent to be anything other than engimatic. Brava Beth!

 

ETA: eye kint spel reel gud.

Edited November 23, 2004 by yellowrose

[Morrighana]

Hmm...I just realized I didn't review this before.

 

I was lucky enough to recieve about a fourth of an imp from another forumite, and gods, it is freaking gorgeous. It is a cool, sweet scent with an entirely unexpected bite...like frostbite nipping at your cheeks while you take in a beautiful winter landscape while someone in a house nearby is doing their Christmas baking...in short, .

 

I can't wait to sniff my new bottle of Snow White...I wonder if it will be different from the aged version I've got now?

[lorajc]

Thanks to Spark, I was finally lucky enough to try this. I couldn't take waiting for my package to arrive any longer and Spark came thru with a half of an imp for me to try. This is everything I expected it to be and more. I love it. Immediately, it goes to my top 5 scents. Being a Libra, I would say that Snow White brings out the Venus in me. It is ethereal and soft, yet striking. It morphs into my skin and leaves a gorgeous veil of fragrance that becomes one with me. I'm very glad I've got multiple bottles on order. I agree with everything that's been said above. It has just a very, very slight hint of almond and if there is coconut in it, it's very subtle. If it had a texture it would be fluffy and light like cotton candy, although it doesn't smell like cotton candy. Simply the most unique and exquisite piece of art I've ever experienced. Beth......You are a freakin' genius. I will buy several bottles of this every time it is offered!!

[UltraViolet]

Oh My. I didn't expect it to smell like this.

Wet

This is gorgeous. It's very almondy and almost coconutty but it's so light and beautiful. This is the best scent I've tried to date from BPAL and i've tried a ridiculous amount so this is really saying something about this blend.

It's a watery blend but this isn't really noticeable. There's a vague blush of a floral smell as well but not enough to make this a definitive floral, which is good (to me anyway). What floral is there is as delicate as fairy wings brushing your face.

10 minutes

It's perfect. The lightly sweet almond is still there. It hasn't changed that much. Mmmm.

If I had to pick one word to describe this it would be "Ethereal". I can totally see this being someone's signature scent (mine for instance). It is the smell of Heaven.

Summary

This smells like Angels would smell I think.

Would buy again?

Yes! 10mls. Bucketfulls to last me until I die.

star rating 1-5 (5 being best)

5

Edited May 8, 2005 by UltraViolet