The Cross of Snow

[absinthetics]

In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A gentle face — the face of one long dead —
Looks at me from the wall, where round its head
The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.
Here in this room she died; and soul more white
Never through martyrdom of fire was led
To its repose; nor can in books be read
The legend of a life more benedight.
There is a mountain in the distant West
That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines
Displays a cross of snow upon its side.
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast
These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes
And seasons, changeless since the day she died.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Cypress, Spanish moss, and clove bud with labdanum, Italian bergamot, and white tobacco flower.

This is a woodsey, slightly citrusy snow note. It's rather jarring and there is definitely something earthy in the background

[radiantfracture]

In the bottle, snow and cypress leaves rubbed between the fingers to smell the sap.

 

On the skin, lemony bergamot, almost soapy, then wafts of sweet snow among stands of cypress. If there's clove it's just an aromatic depth, an added woody-earthy shadow.

 

This finishes with delicate florals blossoming over the snow -- a mixture of warm and cool. The florals aren't my favorite part here, but they don't overpower this, and they give the scent a softness and roundness, almost a fuzziness that compliments the snow.

 

In sum, a mixture of warm citrussy woods and sweet, almost edible snow with a delicate lemony-vanilla aura, under a mist of tobacco flower.

 

{ETA} After some weeks of use, this has become my go-to scent for gusts of sweet snow with undertones of sap. Probably my favorite Yule of the year.

Edited February 12, 2016 by radiantfracture

[Nyx_DevineNight]

In the bottle: I'm getting a green, woodsy, citrusy, smoky​ scent.

 

Wet: Very similar to in the bottle. Green, woodsy, citrusy, and smoky. Specifically I can pick out the cypress, moss, bergamot and the tobacco flower. But the longer its on the harder it is to pick out the notes. ​

 

Dry: ​​Like just stated, as this dries it becomes harder to pick out the notes. Its blended well and smells really nice... After some time has past the clove comes out and becomes the primary note.

​

Overall I really like this. I love how the clove just decides to pop out after a while. ​The other notes are still there, but just in the background. I winner for me!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The cypress, moss, and labdanum combine to a very strong and sharp effect. Tobacco flower supports the cypress and moss. Bergamot supports labdanum. This is compelling, but too intense for me, so no skin test.

[skyelyric]

In the bottle I get the moss and cypress very clearly, and there's a snowy, minty clean undertone, the overall effect is sharp and cold, very slightly sweet to my nose.

 

Unfortunately, this is a total skin chemistry fail on me, something takes it straight to stale cologne territory.

[zankoku_zen]

Moss, bergamot and a touch tobacco flower. This smells like a traditional Christmas smell but turned into a mossy fougere. There is a very present aquatic quality to it, and it veers mostly masculine on me. Seasonal, traditional cologne. Decent throw, mediocre wear length.

 

But on the other hand, if you wanted your men-folk to smell Christmassy without smelling like they haven been rolling around in pine sap, give this a whirl.

[Cali]

Somehow ended up being exactly what I imagined. It's like lullaby but stronger and more earthy/metal-y.

The moss is very poignant in this and there's something oddly sweet... Doesn't morph much on my skin from the bottle.

[Little Bird]

Tobacco flower always smells cold, white and soapy to me. I get lots of tobacco flower with hints of sharp, lemony bergamot. As it dries down, the Spanish moss creeps in and smells damp and sour. This is pretty awful on my skin.

[Lucchesa]

The Cross of Snow is lots of moss and cypress on me, and some sharp tobacco flower especially when wet. Then a cologne-style bergamot makes an appearance, though the clove never does on me. Definitely earthy and mossy and unisex, trending masculine. My skin eats this one up fairly quickly.

[Casablanca]

2018

A green, aquatic cypress leads, but Spanish moss follows it, close as a shadow. Tobacco flower floats out separated from the other notes, so it feels like an odd presence, but it doesn't last long on me. The rest of the blend is an enticing mix of bergamot, clove, and a soft perfume-cologne quality. 

 

More than an hour after drydown, Cross of Snow was very sweet and green on my skin. I had been inclined to bottle it, but I tend to not reach for cypress often, even though I like it. It's still a quite enjoyable blend.

[doomsday_disco]

2018 version, I think? I'll have to double check the vial when I get home.

The Cross of Snow sounded promising from the note list, but it went all kinds of wrong on me in the same way that Winter Landscape went wrong on me. In the vial, I get the cypress, moss, clove bud, and bergamot, and on my skin, the cypress, moss, and bergamot are the dominant notes, but then it just becomes a skin chemistry fail. For some reason, some combination of these notes on my skin is akin to that kind of thin tomato sauce found in a can of Spaghettios?????

So, yeah, it's a skin chemistry fail. It doesn't smell like that in the vial, though, so please ignore my review unless you think we are scent twins or something.  

Edited December 30, 2019 by doomsday_disco