A Cold, Clear Winter Day

[angelicruin]

A COLD, CLEAR WINTER DAY
“Good Heaven!” said Scrooge, clasping his hands together, as he looked about him. “I was bred in this place. I was a boy here!”

The Spirit gazed upon him mildly. Its gentle touch, though it had been light and instantaneous, appeared still present to the old man’s sense of feeling. He was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten!

“Your lip is trembling,” said the Ghost. “And what is that upon your cheek?”

Scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching in his voice, that it was a pimple; and begged the Ghost to lead him where he would.

“You recollect the way?” inquired the Spirit.

“Remember it!” cried Scrooge with fervour; “I could walk it blindfold.”

“Strange to have forgotten it for so many years!” observed the Ghost. “Let us go on.”

They walked along the road, Scrooge recognising every gate, and post, and tree; until a little market-town appeared in the distance, with its bridge, its church, and winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys upon their backs, who called to other boys in country gigs and carts, driven by farmers. All these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music, that the crisp air laughed to hear it!

Winter tuberoses bending gently in a crisp, cold breeze.

The usual minty snow note mingled with tuberose with a creamy vanilla quality in the background. Just lovely.

[Lucretia]

Mint! Lots of mint at first. As it dries I get sort of a soft floral and snow notes. I don't know how something can smell fluffy, but this smells like fluffy drifts of snow to me. This is really nice! Definitely a keeper!

[Akurarei]

A Cold, Clear Winter Day

 

In the Bottle:

Cold - it smells just like 40F degree weather!

it doesn't so much have a scent as gives an impression.

 

On my Skin, Wet:

Cold, but with some minty undertones. It's reminiscent of Nuclear Winter without the herbs.

very simple blend right now.

 

On my Skin, Dry:

Cold but dissipating the same way it does once you are back inside a warm house.

so there's that cold feeling, but it starts to fall away as you stand inside.

I don't get any florals out of this blend.

the minty undertones also dissipate in the dry phase.

 

Verdict:

an atmospheric blend, gives a great impression of a very cold day!

the minty undertones are not overpowering, and imbue a clean tone to the scent.

I did not ever get florals from this blend, which I was kinda hoping for

but I really like how simple and impressionistic this blend is of a winter day.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Akurarei

[Incendiare]

Very cooling, the way evergreen and menthol can be. Wet, it turns a bit sweeter, like a sweet, menthol-laced snow. I almost start to feel a bit chilly just smelling this! After settling on my skin for five minutes, it is starting to smell a bit sharper. A Clear Cold, Winter Day is a dry kind of cold, not a wet kind. I don't get any florals out of this blend.

[countessmouse]

Very minty in the imp and wet on my skin. It takes a while, but the tuberose finally appears briefly before going slightly powdery and there is a tiny hint of something creamy - like vanilla. Overall, it's a cool, subtle scent.

[Little Bird]

I wasn't expecting much from this one, because I hate tuberose (it goes to sharp, cheap, chemical smelling white floral on me), but it turns out that I don't really get any floral at all from this blend.

A lot of bpal's snow type scents all smell very similar to me, to the point that I couldn't pick them out individually from a lineup, and Winter Day is like that. It's sweet, creamy, slushy snow note with an edge of something like clean, sharp, slightly soapy ozone. Pleasant, but a little too soapy for me, and it only lasts about an hour on my skin.

[Schmoozy]

This is pretty much a single note of Beth's beloved snow note. It's minty, creamy, cooling and stunning. The tuberose is sitting very quietly in the background and hardly making it's presence known.

[pandorasmuse]

In the decant: Very sweet, in a floral fashion, and there’s that wonderful cold note that I love.

 

Wet: The same scents, in reverse order and strength. Wonderful cold note, and sweet sweet floral. A hint of pine.

 

Drydown: The floral part all but disappears. It’s the faintest hint in a lungful of cold, snowy air. This is wonderful for those who are a fan of the snow scent. SO getting a bottle if it stays like this!

 

Later: Hmmm. It mellows as I wear it, and it smells like the house of my childhood best friend! Which would be awesome… except I was terribly allergic to her cat, and would sometimes get really bad allergy attacks. My nose seems to remember this, because it made me snuffly, and my eye started itching. I’ve never had a problem with the Lab’s cold notes or tuberose before, so I’m sure this is psychosomatic, but still. I don’t need the itchies. Too bad—so many fond memories.

[grrrlennyl]

A Cold, Clear Winter Day

 

On: Sigh. So much rose and fir. Beautiful.

Half an hour in: Amazing. A bit sweet, but mostly cold winter trees.

3 hours in: Pine.

4.5 hours in: Definitely just straight-up pine with a powdery feel.

Overall: I really, really wish my skin didn't do this to Beth's "snow" note/blend.

[zankoku_zen]

Crisp snow, mint and tuberose. It dries to a slightly vanilla and tuberose blend. Sweeter than expected. Unfortunately, BPAL's tuberose note is always a high pitched, obnoxious floral on my skin. Out of all of the tuberose blends, this one has to be the least obnoxious but still very loud.

 

Cool, wintery, floral.

[sqwook]

In the bottle: Ooo, yay! Another wonderful "snow" scent!

On me: This is just the kind of wintery scent I adore! I chanced upon the "snow" scents last year, with Snow Maiden and The First Soft Snow, and I just fell in love. This is another in that vein, with perhaps lightly less sweetness and more ozoney-ness as it dries, more gender-neutral.

 

(And for newer readers who feel this review is less than helpful, I know, I know, and I completely understand and apologize, but I cannot explain this scent to anyone. It is not mint, or pine, or ozone, or menthol, or vanilla, or any one thing that I can describe in words. You just need to try it.)

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant circle

 

Initial Thoughts: I like florals and I almost always try "cold" scents looking for something close enough to Skadi.

 

In the imp: High white florals and the chill of unsweetened mint.

 

Wet: The chilly note has almost disappeared, leaving the this, pale floral note to come through,

 

Drydown: Wow, this one fades rather fast on me. I can still smell the floral if I try really hard.

 

Verdict: It's a pretty scent, but I have tons of floral scents already. I might use the decant but probably won't go for a bottle.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Lovely ozone, but tempered with a high, sharp, bright pine note.

 

Wet: The ozone is disappearing fast under that pine note!

 

The dry-down: A faint hint of the tuberoses, and the fleeing ozone, but all have quailed under the pine note of doom.

[edenssixthday]

A Cold, Clear Winter Day - This is very, very, very nice. It's a crisp, cool snow scent full of fir and mint and then in the background is that gorgeous tuberose scent that I love so much. It's actually quite a simple scent, but it's stunningly beautiful. I have so many cold, winter scents that I don't know if I'd reach for this one over L'Inverno, Moon of Ice, or Snow Bunny, but I might. It could be so perfect on a really cold, snowy day. Or wonderfully refreshing on a hot, humid, summer day. The throw is really, really powerful when first applied, but it does settle down.

[FathomBelow]

In the bottle I get a cool, minty snow note. On my skin this minty, mentholic snow note is still strongest, although the tuberose (which I love) grows stronger and blends seamlessly with the snow, giving it a thick, almost vanillla-y sweetness while maintaining the snow's fundamental crispness. The image that comes to mind is a beautiful, fresh-faced girl with an alabaster complexion and roses in her cheeks walking through freshly fallen snow in the woods on a bright winter's morning. So overall, I guess it is pretty spot-on the description.

 

Overall, this is very pretty but not what I was expecting, which was mainly a tuberose scent. Although can see this working as a perfume, I think it would be even better as a room scent.

[melange]

It's a wash of menthol/pine cold at first, followed by sweetness. There's good throw from my skin. It's lovely as it is but also seems as though it would layer well.

[CitizenBree]

too astringent. Floral is too strong. Smells like medicine.

[deprongmori]

This smells like Snow Moon on me. Very menthol-pine-snow, unfortunately sharp. I like it to a point but then stop because it gets obnoxious on my skin. I wish I got more of the floral aspect.

[Gin]

I get an initial blast of mint and then I get the menthol-pine-snow, too. No tuberose 'til later, when it softens considerably. This is pretty, but I never seem reach for the cold/snow oils so I'm afraid this'll head to swaps.

[milo]

Wet, minty menthol aquatic. Dry, not at mentholy, a bit sweet, kind of soapy. I'm only getting a bit of florals, but basically this is a soapy aquatic. It reminds me a bit of Polar Bear Plunge, only not as minty and more soapy and floral. Glad to try, but not for me.

[theseagrows]

minty, snowy and a floral note, but it doesn't smell like tuberose to me, at all. more like a white floral, closer to lilac, but subtler and softer. damn, i was hoping to really like this one, but it smells kind of weird on me. i hate my skin chemistry at times

Edited January 26, 2016 by theseagrows

[inurbanus]

I bought this because I absolutely love tuberose and the thought of a winter-themed tuberose perfume made me so excited! I tend to be neutral on the Lab's snow blends - some really fit me, like Snow White and Snow Bunny, while others are too minty/piney for my taste. The first blat of ACCWD is potent eucalyptus and it makes my throat tingle. It quickly mellows into sludgy pine scent that I don't really care for (although it still makes my throat tingle). A lot of times pine smells like unwashed underarms on me and this is no exception. I'd be afraid to wear this in public for fear of smelling like BO. I'm bummed - I wanted an icy, crystallized tuberose blend and got this instead. Perhaps someone whose skin deals better with pine will find this more appealing.

[puellacaerulea]

I actually picked this up late in its original run last winter, but put off reviewing it because it seems so season-specific I never really wanted to wear it after early January! I had picked this up mainly for the tuberose, as it's one of my favorite floral notes and the idea of a snow/tuberose blend was ridiculously appealing. However, what I get in the bottle is a whole lot of pine/mint sharpness, a scent that seems stereotypically "Christmas-y" to me. Once it's on, the pine softens a bit and the mintier/menthol-ish notes amp up a bit more, and there's some kind of sweetness emerging behind it, but it's a berry-like sweetness rather than tuberose to my nose. I was concerned initially about walking around smelling like a Christmas wreath, but the end result on me is more of a slightly sweet minty scent than anything else. While I'm disappointed that there's not the kind of tuberose I was expecting, this is certainly a pretty scent in its own right. That said, it carries so many Christmas associations for me that I have a hard time seeing myself wearing it outside of the holidays.

[schneagl]

Reviewing a decant that I purchased in December 2013, so presumably aged a few years.

 

In the bottle: Smells like it does when I walk past a large Christmas tree lot. Deeply pine-y, menthol, and weirdly almost a touch of lemon behind it.

 

Wet on my skin: Pine, with a menthol undertone. I agree with puellacaerulea that it smells like a pine wreath.

 

Drydown: After rereading others' reviews, I could see calling it minty with an undercurrent of floral, but I don't think I would have come up with that if it wasn't suggested. I'm not reading it as tuberose, rather I'm still reading it as pine. The undertone separates out more into a winter note than menthol, and there certainly still is a bite, and some sweetness behind it all.

 

This scent was a surprise, since I was expecting florals more than pine. It's not overwhelming to me, but I agree that it feels like a deep winter scent and I don't think I'd wear it at other times. Potential allergy alert: it appears to be setting off my mom's allergies, though oddly enough, not mine even though I'm usually far more sensitive than her, so your mileage may vary. The throw and longevity are average on me.

[freyasfae]

2010 - got as an imp from a Sqwook's sells in my continuing quest for the right snow scent for me

 

I tried Snow White, and it was much too sweet to my chagrin so I like the notes of pine/fir here (which my skin loves) to balance the sweeter snow scent. The tuberoses are still very prominent (my skin tends to amp florals in general), but I am not really getting much in the way of mint/menthol which is a bummer. It may be due to aging which considering the previous review may be the case - the mint fades over time. I do like, but it's not quite the BPAL winter scent I am looking for. The quest continues.

Edited January 12, 2016 by freyasfae