Woods in Winter

[Ghost of a Rose]

Wild hemlock and juniper berries scattered in the snow beneath leafless trees bedecked with glittering icicles.

 

My 2011 imp is a decant from Mellifluous.

In the imp: Oil is an orangey-brown, and contains threads of brown sediment - mix well before using. It smells like juniper berries with pine.

On me, wet: When exposed to air (on the wand and on my skin), the scent becomes much sharper - a pungent, balsamic pine. It does smell like an evergreen forest in the cold of winter.

After 10 minutes: Pine and juniper. There's something else, but it is so overpowered by the evergreens that I can't smell it enough to identify it. Maybe something a little foody? Perhaps it's the vanilla that some reviewers have mentioned.

After 20 minutes: The sharpness is settling down, which allows the mystery note to come out just a little more. It's almost cake-like, with some vanilla and sweetness. And maybe a bit of fruit. It reminds me of pineapple upside-down cake. Yeah: Christmas tree and juniper berries, with a hint of pineapple upside-down cake. Strange, but pleasant enough.

After 30 minutes: The same. This is a unisex blend, leaning towards the masculine.

At about 45 minutes: The pine and juniper notes vanished very suddenly and almost completely! The scent is now all vanilla and pineapple upside-down-cake, and thus unisex rather than masculine. How interesting is that? It's a bit plastic-y - like artificially-scented plastic toys, but my skin always does that to vanilla and fruity notes.

After 1 1/2 hours: All vanilla with a hint of pineapple. Not even a trace of the evergreens remains.

After 2 1/2 hours: A gentle and plastic-y vanilla note lingers.

Verdict: This is two perfumes in one. For the first 45 minutes, it's a masculine Woods in Winter. Then it totally transforms, into a foody vanilla and pineapple-upside-down cake scent. Neither one is really my kind of thing (I prefer feminine florals), but this is pleasant enough, especially the evergreen top notes. I'm not sure how the cake scent relates to the concept of Woods in Winter, but never mind. The initial fragrance is so evocative of winter, and the transformation so intriguing, that this deserves four stars at least. I don't need a bottle, but I will keep and use the imp.

My rating: 4 stars

[ami226]

On the skin: A very green woodsy scent. Not evergreen though. Well, maybe a hint of evergreens... Very planty and green! Slight sweetness coming from somewhere? Doesn't smell too cold to me, but mostly a nice outdoorsy smell.

 

Not for me, but it is quite lovely!

[thekittenkat]

This is for the 2011 verison.

 

In the bottle: Juniper berries in the snow under some hemlocks.

 

Wet: Hemlock is a bit strong now.

 

The dry-down: It takes about an hour for the hemlock to calm down, and allow the berries to come back, with their slight sweetness. However, reading over my review for last year's version, I think that I prefer it to this one. Took a chance on a partial (the label art is rather neat) and will let it age.

[mistressfizz]

This review is for the 2011 blend.

 

Sniff: A spike of tart juniper

 

Wet: Herbal and sharp, with a pine scent emerging. This definitely exhibits the classic BPAL "snow" note: minty, slightly sweet brush of vanilla, chilly & light. The hemlock adds a green, fresh feel.

 

Dry: Over time this becomes mostly mint and muted berries. While it's pretty, I prefer Virginia or The Phoenix in Winter, which have similar notes of juniper and snow, but more depth.

[Eschezhivet]

I have no idea what juniper berries smell like, but I'm not getting pine at all. Actually, the whole thing reminds me rather of water in general and less so its specifically frozen manifestation. At first sniff it was practically honeydew (though not particularly sweet); later on there's a sort of very very faint, warm-ish sweetness that I think is vanilla?

 

//edit: Second testing. There's a detectable mintiness right off the bat this time round, hmm. Oddly enough, from a distance it smells like generic scented lotion of some kind, though I can't for the life of me figure out which brand. Huh.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Eschezhivet

[theredkilt]

This is such a disappointment for me! When applied, it smells like floor polish. Me not like it!

[milo]

This is mostly a cold, menthol snow note with a teeny touch of blonde wood, though I probably wouldn't have known it was there, but I just assumed because of the name of the oil. A bit of sweet vanilla here. This isn't bad, though I probably don't need any more.

[mymymai]

ITI: It smells like lotus, which smells like bubblegum to me. However, this gum is lightly scented in that pink bubblegum flavor. When I inhale deeply, I finally get lovely hemlock and piercing juniper.

 

Wet: Juicy berries, juniper, cold but softly fallen snow, and dashes of hemlock. Lovely!

 

Dry: The snow aspect has dried to something powdery, but I still get juniper and hemlock notes, which makes me weight the scent as more positive than negative.

[skyelyric]

The 2010 blend is one of my favorite Yules, but when I got to test 2011, it just wasn't as good, I can't pin down why, it just wasn't as crisp and sweet to me or something. (I liked Cloth of Gold much better than WiW '11)

 

To specifically review the '10 blend...the hemlock and juniper are very present, but not in a particularly whack-you-over-the-head-with-pine way, and the snow adds a very cool and sweet tone to this. There's something almost hinting at floral without actually getting there. The overall impression is gently pine-y and sweet, a touch powdery (it has something of a just-showered soap vibe, but I actually like that in this case.)

 

And it complements Paintbox's Yuletide Mariner soap wonderfully.

[Cali]

Aaaahhh.... this is beau-ti-ful. Literally woods in winter; a pine forest covered in thick chilly snow. However thank goodness the pine is not as in your face as in other bpal blends and it works perfectly! I'd say there's something slightly sweet in there too (probably the berries). I love this very much indeed.

[Soupy Twist]

2010 version. An almost painful, hyper-realistic juniper tree single note. I wish I was getting some of the Lab's snow! I can't quite decide if I like this.