Fulvous Snow

[LiberAmoris]

Snowballs of hay absolute, tonka bean, honeyed oak, patchouli, chestnut blossom, and oudh.

Fulvous Snow is absolutely beautiful. The snow note here is very faint on me, and comes across more as a slightly creamy, fluffy undernote to the amazing golden-brown, tawny play of notes above it. Wet, everything is seamlessly stitched together—there's no one note that jumps out and asserts itself on my skin. Instead, there are moments where I can smell something individual, but then it's immediately subsumed by what smells like ambered sunlight. After it's fully dried down, the patchouli, honey, and tonka pull forward a bit but stay close to the skin. This is one sexy snowball, my friends.

Although there is a touch of something wintry here, I think this is one that I would happily wear year round. A backup bottle will be necessary.

[Deliciousness]

I just got my 1/2 bottle yesterday. Ley me tell you, I should have sprung for a full, plus a back up ( ... and I don't have backups).

 

For those familiar with Arana (from the BPAL Lilith Exhibition), this is similar - but sweeter and lower pitched.

 

Fulvous Snow is like a marshmallow cloud of airy oudh, hay and oak, topped with a light drizzle of sweet, golden honey, sprinkled with patchouli dust. It sounds very sweet, but this isn't. This is a very androgynous scent (at least for me), stemming from the woody aspects of the perfume: patchouli and oak. The sweetness tempers the woody aspect of this scent quite nicely and makes it totally wearable for those who oftentimes turn patchouli and other "wood" notes into pencil shavings (raises hand). The perfume goes on strong, but dissipates to a wonderful resinous cloud that stays close to the body. This is seductive gorgeousness in a bottle, a must try.

[zankoku_zen]

So, super creamy oak, oudh, chestnut blossom and dabs of honey and patchouli. This is a warm, golden woody blend without having to resort to amber. I get a thin whiff of snow over the woods, and its like vanilla snow adding a bit of freshness to it all.

 

If you're into creamy woods with a good bit of sweetness into it, give this a whirl. In a lot of ways, it reminds me to Glowing Vulva (which went all powdery on me because of the sandalwood), and I can see how the snow bit can be a problematic note for some skin chemistries. But yeah, the feel of it reminds me to Glowing Vulva.

 

In short, Glowing Vulva in the Snow. There you have it.

 

Creamy woods, sweetness, golden.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: It's like all the notes are there, wondrously blending into one amazingly good, warm, spicy, and semi-sweet scent.

 

Wet: Much as on cold sniff, although the patch may be coming a little forward.

 

The dry-down: In the end, the honeyed oak seems to be the dominant note, but it is lovingly supported by all the other notes. I liked this so much at WC that I bought the tester (obviously many others like it as well). My skin chemistry isn't behaving as well as I would like, but the scent is still lovely. I might try the scent locket. It's a year-round scent, but might be best for late summer/early autumn; it has that glorious Indian summer feel about it. And, btw, I can detect no snow note of any sort. Unisex.

Edited January 27, 2015 by thekittenkat

[Gwydion]

In bottle: So much patchouli, with the wood in support. Tonka bean is soft, but gentles it a little, with hints of the other bits. I can already tell this is way too much patchouli for me. Wet: Still patchouli dominant with wood in support, but the tonka, honey, and oudh come out as it warms, which gives it a better balance. The hay and chestnut blossoms are very understated. I like this better on the skin, and the honeyed oak and tonka are lovely together, but it’s still above my patchouli threshold enough to get a minor skin reaction. Dry: The patchouli stays strongest all the way down, gentled by tonka and oak.

[Balame]

The Lab and Post's snow note has not been working on me lately.

It's weird because Go to Sleep, Darlings is one of my favorites, but I'm thinking it must be the exception rather than the rule. This is the 3rd blend with snow that's gone wonky on me lately.

 

FS does start out great - I get rich, lickable honey, a bit of warm hay and a delicate chestnut note that makes everything very cuddly. But unfortunately the longer this sits, the more I get "snow turned plastic" and it overwhelms everything else.

 

I'm going to have to avoid it in the future.

[Atrous]

While testing this scent I keep thinking..."if snowballs were warm this is what they'd smell like".

Okay, I had to voice that thought even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else.

 

On to the review:

 

The Snow note is quite faint for a snowball blend (at least compared to others I've tried). Rather it serves to quiet the other notes a bit and gives the blend an overall vibe of fluffiness. There is a bit of that snow smell but it's more of a mushy snow due to, I think, the warmth of the other notes.

On first contact with my skin the Hay note blooms. Its really lovely...fresh, warm hay, ummm.

As FS dries down a nice, light honey and creamy oak take on a more prominent role along side that lovely hay.

Skirting along the edges is a nutty, warm Oudh giving this blend a wonderful complexity.

 

I haven't tried a snow blend quite like this. It is glorious!

[theseagrows]

I am sooo glad I read the reviews for this and added it onto my lupercalia order at the last minute! I normally look the other direction when snow is mentioned in a scent, but this is beautiful. it's creamy and white but not the typical chilly, ozoney snow note. it starts off with mostly tonka and hay I think, then the honeyed oak comes in giving it depth and making it even more gorgeous. at first I don't smell much patchouli, it's pretty subtle, as is the oudh. after awhile the patchouli gets stronger, but not TOO strong. I have a complicated relationship with patchouli but I am loving it in this- honeyed patchouli woods, yum.

[milo]

This is a masculine snow blend. I'm getting patch, and something kind of woody and sweet. It kind of reminds me of Antikythera Mechanism, only with a bit of snow thrown in. I like this, but its too masculine for me to wear

[Katlastrophe]

This one is fantastic.
I've tried a little over one hundred BPAL blends right now and Fulvous Snow is my biggest favorite so far.

I don't get any snow at all, it's more of an autumn-scent for me.
Warm, golden creaminess in a gender neutral/manly way.
It's calm and comforting, yet elegant and a bit sexy.

[LizziesLuck]

These notes should sing on me, so super excited to try this!

 

 

Wet: Mmm. It's creamy, sweet. Lots of hay, which I love. This is lovely. I don't really get the snow. Warm, woody, creamy, glowing are the words that come to mind when I sniff this. It's cozy, yet refined. I agree it's gender neutral. The faint undertones of tobacco are lovely. It's quite light though, and I keep wanting to slather on more and more. It's beautiful. Very unique.

 

 

Dry: Sadly, this somehow dries down much more masculine on me, and stops working for me. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic scent, it's just really not me. I think I will have to rehome it. Glad I got to try it though, it truly is gorgeous and unique.

[supreme_c0rt]

I'm so impressed with how rich, warm, woody, and creamy this is. It's just gorgeous and glowing. It's in the neighborhood of Antikythera Mech but I find it to be more cozy and a bit more wearable. I don't get any snow, but I don't miss it. I've never had anything with oudh in it behave this brilliantly on me before. A+

[katharina]

I'm super surprised that there aren't more reviews on this.

 

I had to look up the meaning of Fulvous: reddish yellow; tawny.

 

This scent is certainly that. It smells to like a warm glowing ember should smell. I don't get much snow from this, except for a light freshness at the end of the scent experience. Otherwise, it's all an incredibly blended warmth. 

 

For patchouli haters: the patch here is NOT overwhelming, at all. It, with the honeyed oak lays a base for the other notes to dance on. Nor is the oudh especially indolic. It's presence is more of a memory.

 

This to me, is about the hay, tonka, and chestnut blossom. The latter adds a soft, buttery/nutty floral to the vanilla of the tonka. The hay, perhaps playing with the snow note, feels as if it's on a late summer breeze.

 

This scent is warm, snuggly, and fresh--which seems like a contradiction. But isn't that what a tawny snow scent would be, anyway?