When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go

[musichappens]

Lest the next few updates be dedicated solely to radishes, we've created this scent to keep the winter chrysanthemums alive. A gentle flurry of snow dusting the season's last chrysanthemums, illuminated by pale rays of winter's amber-tinted sunlight.

First thing I get is WHOA MINT! As it starts to calm down and dry a bit, I felt a little chill and the florals started to emerge. I've never gotten a chill from a perfume before, so neat! This just seems to be the perfect winter scent to me; it actually reminds me of the going outside after the first snowfall. It's quite lovely! I don't think I'll go for a full bottle, but after my sniffie is gone I'll hunt down a full decant.

[edenssixthday]

When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go - Wow, this is an incredibly strong chrysanthemum scent -- it smells like a bitter floral, just like they do when you're planting them fresh in the ground in the spring. There's also a heavy mint note in this blend, as well as the feeling of cold, icy frost or snow. Overall, it's actually a quite pretty scent, but not something I find myself reach for.

[Schmoozy]

 

Simply gorgeous. Snow covered spicy chrysanthemums with hints of greenery and sweet amber. You can smell the leaves and combined with the spice of the mums and the golden thickness of the amber makes a beautiful winter scent.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Cold flowers

On Skin: This scent has a beautiful pale icey feel... I can see icicles melting and dripping onto the mums... I can smell the greens and the sweet buds and a very light note of soil. It is such a dainty and fragile scent. While it is icey and cold, I also can feel the warmth of the rays of sun that are bravely fighting through the cold winter. I am not a person who wears florals, but I think this is absolutely lovely and would love to smell it on someone else. Very light throw and short to medium wearlength.

[papermaker]

This is what I did when I smelled this as it was an unsniffed bottle. It starts as mint and mums. It's fairly straight forward. I wasn't paying attention, and smelled it later and it was mums and amber. And anything that has amber equals amazing win on my skin.

[CiaoBonefish]

Oh My Goodness... I recieved a partial decant of this from Moryssa (THANKS YOU ARE TOO GENEROUS!), and I am in love. This is actally my first bpal love to date. I'm pretty new to bpal and was almost getting a little discouraged because I had yet to love love a scent. I've found many pretty, but none I instantly fell in love with. That has changed now

 

When I first opened the decant I smelled something crisp and may be ever so slightly minty with a light floral I am guessing is the chrysanthemum. I thought it was absolutely beautiful and eagerly appied some to my arm. I was intrigued because the scent in the decant reminded me slightly of Evening Cicadas and Red Peppers. I don't know if anyone else got his, but I definitely did. What realy excited me about the scent is its crisp nature. It reminds me of the time between winter and fall when its quite cold, but the world is still colorful with reds browns and greens. You're walking outside and suddenly a soft wind rushes past. The air is dry, no humidity. That crisp weather would smell like the crisp-ness of this scent. I love it!

 

On my skin the crisp-ness becomes more prominent and the mint fades ever so slightly without truly going away. The chrysanthemums become sweeter and warmer, the amber is finally showing up and it is DIVINE. Very much like summer warming the crisp day (still no humidity!)

 

I find this to be a very crisp sweet and light minty-ish floral. The overall effect is definitely soft snow with an undertone of minty ending with lovely warm amber chrysanthemums. Needless to say I need a bottle... or may be two?

 

EDIT: I've been wearing this constantly and it just gets better and better I will say that the throw isn't as strong as some of the other bpal scents (delphi and berry moon would last forever! i couldnt use a different oil until I had taken a shower hahaha). Nonetheless I still love it. If the throw was any strong I think the scent would pobably get too strong and may be bitter. I've taken to carrying the decant in my purse in case I need to (or just want to) reapply

Edited December 18, 2009 by ciaobonefish

[TheIceMaiden]

Oh, this is lovely!! Its a heavy New England snowfall (the snow smelling of mint and eucalyptus) with the last of the autumnal mums somewhere underneath. The drydown is mint and a soft amber, really unique and pretty. This has decent throw and good staying power too.

[Invidiana]

I actually got this by accident instead of Adoration of the Mi-Go, probably because of the "Go" at the end haha. I would have ordered it anyway in my next order, so things will just switch around. I'm so glad it comes out mostly as sweet mint on me, warmed up a bit by what I'm guessing to be white amber with just a hint of flowers in teh background. It's snowy, sweet and charming

Edited December 19, 2009 by Invidiana

[filigree_shadow]

Er... what? I was expecting mums. Like, Mum Moon mums. I smell mint and cold. That's it. No flowers. It's soft for a minty/cold scent, not as bold as they usually are, but seriously. I wouldn't have guessed this had a floral note in it. Guess I'll be sticking to Mum Moon.

[juniperus]

Bottle: Translucent- a hint of chrysanthemum, and cold.

Wet: Lovely, fresh chrysanthemum, right out of the florist's cooler

Dry: Deeper, warmer, rounder, and more golden... but still chrysanthemum at the core. This is really lovely!

Later: The aquatic/snow note has come forward and so has the headache. I am SO bummed!

[DeltaCat]

Mint. No flowers. Just mint. Spearmint to be exact.

 

Drydown: I let this one dry down a bit. I get a bit more of a dirt smell upon drydown, but yet no flowers. Boo.

[sqwook]

In the bottle: Menthol or maybe vetiver over… something I have smelled before, but what?

 

On me: After the menthol bite burns off (which it does farily quickly), warm spicy deep chrysanthemums.

 

I think Ciabonefish's description is quite apt: "It reminds me of the time between winter and fall when its quite cold, but the world is still colorful with reds browns and greens."

 

EDIT: You know, as I retry this & re-read the reviews, I'm surprised so many people like this, and/or I wonder if I'm smelling the same scent. I get no mint, nothing remotely like Snow Flakes, very little sweetness. I do like it, but it's definitely in the category of "Things I like that not many other people do." It's VERY similar to the lovely fall/autumn vibe of Gomorrah on me, now that I've had the chance to test them side-by-side. And Gomorrah is, if anything, actually sweeter, though a little less spicy. So, if you love this, you should definitely check out Gomorrah.

Edited December 26, 2009 by sqwook

[zankoku_zen]

Minty mums. The mums are dried, dusty, slightly woody bitter mums.

 

Meh.

[voodoocatwoman]

Minty floral. I've always known mums to be slightly bitter but this blend is sweet. I may be nuts but I can almost swear that I smell honeydew melon in here.

[theseagrows]

ooh yes, this is a snowy chrysanthemum with just a touch of gold, like the description says-though it's not too ambery on my skin. normally snowy scents aren't really my thing, but i think the mum really makes me dig this. i think i've loved all the other bpal-mum scents i've smelled quite a bit, as it is an uncommonly used floral, but one of my favorites along with carnation. the snowiness makes this not "super me" but i think i may keep it around for awhile.

[porcelina]

i didn't expect to like this. i don't really know what a chrysanthemum is supposed to smell like, but from this blend i get a light, pleasant floral with a soft, sweet-cold snow note. it's not my usual thing, but i'm so pleased to have a snow scent work on me that i just might keep it.

[fairnymph]

Cold minty snow (the dual gentle mints snow note from Ded Moroz, yay!), very light, fresh, almost citrusy chrysanthemums, and a clear glassy sort of note - this reminds me of House of Mirrors, quite a bit. I don't get amber. But this scent really does evoke the description beautifully!

 

Mintier! This is a lot mintier than Ded Moroz, and in fact now it reminds me a lot of Tulzcha, but without the white pepper - much gentler and with a colder vibe. This really does feel like soft snow to me, clean and fresh and quiet - finally a snow note I can wear! The 'mums are stronger, still citrusy but a little sharper, vaguely astringent in a refreshing way, with an herbal, grassy sort of undertone - it reminds me a lot of tea, actually. Still no amber, and still that glassy, bright feeling.

 

The minty snow holds beautifully while the mums amp, becoming more and more citrusy and tea-like, very bright and fresh but in a smooth, calming sort of way - I find this a very gentle and relaxing scent, again, so fitting with the description. I think the amber is white amber, bc I do get a bit of bright cologney-ness that reminds me of Torture Queen and other blends with a strong white amber presence - I also don't group white amber with other ambers as it's cool and smooth on me, not warm or powdery like other ambers.

 

This seems to sweeten slightly over time and become more musky, which I attribute to the emergence of vanilla musk - the late emergence is typical behaviour for this note on my skin -. and the notes merge together into a superbly well-blended whole. This reminds me of several other blends (The Girl, Ded Moroz, Torture Queen, Julia Stone...) and is distinctively BPAL, but still terribly unique in its own right.

 

Gently cold, sweet & snowy peppermint and spearmint over smooth, tea-like, citrusy chrysanthemums, rounded out by clean, bright and slightly cologne-y white amber and skin-soft vanilla musk. It's very faintly powdery in a wonderful way (I never thought I'd pair 'wonderfully' and 'powdery'). Fresh and light yet not fragile; this has a rounded depth to it. Tranquil and stunning; quietly feminine. Low throw but decent longevity.

 

This is the only snow scent to ever work on my skin. Many, many bottles of this one are required.

Edited February 2, 2010 by fairnymph

[milo]

Wet, I get lots of mint and snow. It dries to pretty much a fresh green minty snow. I don't get any mums, sadly, but still, this is quite beautiful. I find it quite similar to Ded Moroz, but I like this better. This and Ded Moroz are the only snowy blends that really work on me (besides Snow White, of course). I'm not sure I'll spring for a bottle, but may try to swap my DM for this.

[PurringPulsar]

When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go

 

In the imp: the BPAL snow note. This reminds me of the Darkling Thrush.

Wet on skin: snow, snow, snow, a bit of amber and floral?

Dry on skin: this is actually very pretty. I get snowy amber, very similar to Ded Moroz, actually. It’s also a little bit like the Darkling Thrush. The chrysanthemums are very subtle here. Nowhere near as strong as the ‘mums in Flowering Chrysanthemums. So encased in snow, it seems that their smell is subdued. The snow note is a cool, crisp and sugared icy sweetness, and it seems to be full of white amber, maybe with a dash of golden amber for the sunlight note. It’s quite different from the snow notes in most other BPALs, it’s a lot more like Ded Moroz, ambery and shimmering, a little minty.

After a while: sadly, this fades very fast on me. My skin eats it, or it seems to melt away, like frost touched by morning sun. There are hints of white amber and a little of the snow note, but this doesn’t stick around for long, even the floral notes here disappear. Within a couple of hours it is hard to smell anything at all.

Verdict: beautiful yet ephemeral, this is a very delicate, gentle scent which is one of the nicest chrysanthemum scents I’ve tried. This floral note can be tricky and either too sour or with a green scent I can find grating, but here it is really nice. This has a sweet minty snow like the one in Snow Flakes; with a warm yet pale amber that is less like golden amber and more like the white amber in Ded Moroz. This is one of the prettiest winter scents. I just wish it stuck around for longer on me-the fact that it faded so fast means I didn’t keep it; I have other snow scents that stay longer on my skin.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? so lovely but so short lived!

If you like this, try: Ded Moroz, Darkling Thrush, Snow Flakes, Flowering Chrysanthemums, Cloister Graveyard in the Snow

[LadyMedb]

This is a lot like Snow-Flakes with chrysanthemums - minty, understated, refreshing, and sweet. It seems like a wonderful cool-down scent for the summer, and I really love how my nose can pick up all the notes in it from the mums to the amber to the snow. It's not 100% my thing, and unfortunately it dries down a little too powdery-sweet on my skin, but I can see that this is a stunningly well-blended scent, and I'm going to pass my imp on to someone who will hopefully love it the way it's meant to be loved.

[kikithepirate]

Damn, I knew I should have bought a bottle of this while it was live. This is what I wanted Flowering Chrysanthemums to be -- while the latter was overly powdery, this is light and bright. It's definitely minty as it goes on, but the mint fades away leaving a light floral scent. It's a bit aquatic, though normally I don't care for aquatic smells and I love this. It is truly gorgeous.

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial - Cold winter note, very minty. I love the lab’s winter note. :3

On the skin - Winter note, and under that, as it dries, a light floral that smells more like snow than floral - clean, white, almost wet.

[tkannon]

In the bottle: Minty with a little floral background

 

Wet: MINT

 

Dry: the mums kind of come out after awhile but mostly I am getting what a more experienced BPALer calls the 'snow note' I am not a fan and it kind of makes my stomach hurts.

 

Going back to the friend and I will try one more snow note to see if it works at all for me!

[countessmouse]

Very lightly minty at first, then it quickly ramped up to an icy floral that was just heavenly. My only complaint is that it is rather light on me, but I was huffing my wrist all day. I wore it on our first cool rainy day and it was so perfect!

 

Must track down a bottle of this one...

[neuilly]

I got this as a sniffie freebie inside a package from a forumite - and it's pure love. I'm so sad that it was only a sniffie!

 

There's something very smooth in this scent. Mint is definitely predominant, but I'm definitely getting whiffs of the other notes. Just really pretty. I would call it a winter scent, but it doesn't exactly smell 'cold' so me like others have said. I think the amber warms it up a touch.