Sparkle and Glitter

[Lycanthrope]

Snow-speckled white chocolate and fir needle.

Well, I don't have much to say...

This is going to one of those pop-up christmas tree stands set up in an abandoned Sonic parking lot, where the tree-monger is bundled up in two layers of coat and has an old, weatherbeaten touk that has seen better days. He's trying to be cheerful, but hours of standing on hard concrete with demanding hipsters who are bemoaning the lack of symmetry in the trees or the haggling down the price of his long-harvested, patiently grown crop wear at his soul.

You overhear an innocent family conversation between two trenchcoat, tweed-scarved gentlemen and their fully REI-clad daughter, Ava.

"Richard, honey, don't you think Ava would love this little threadbare tree, it's so Charlie Brown."
Todd pats the top of the diminutive, skanky little tree. It shudders and loses a few needles. Richard's eyebrow raises.
"Todd, you know I want something a bit more grand, more traditional."
Richard gazes lovingly up at a magnificent but utterly impractical seven foot Douglas. Todd rolls his eyes, it's always about size with Richard. Looking just a bit miffed, he turns to his daughter and asks her,
"Hmph. Ava, what would you like?"

The little girl wearing the poofy purple Polartec that she'll outgrow in two months blinks up at all the trees towering overhead. A little snow, but just a hint, is flurrying into the square. The man with the touk coughs impatiently. It's possible he only has one functioning lung at this point.

Remembering the artisanal hot chocolate she had at Vosges as part of her fifth christmas celebration with her fathers, her eyes light up and she knows exactly what she wants.

"I want the little tree!"
Richard's lips pull sideways in a tight line. Todd knows exactly how to get his way. Just like his mother. He's reaching for his wallet when Ava tilts her head to one side and adds jubilantly,
"I want the little tree dipped in white chocolate!"

Both men look a bit stunned.
The treemonger coughs again.

Todd says, "Wait, what? Honey, you know that's not-"

The treemonger puts up a single gloved finger to silence the dads, lets out a great big sigh and trundles towards the shed, where he keeps his economy vat of 50 pounds of white chocolate simmering exactly for this purpose.





... TL:DR

This is a super unique scent. Very weird. Wet, it's all fir, very realistic needles, the very slight powdery resin rubbing off on your fingers if you inadvertently touch a glob of sap, leading to stickiness and much cursing. As it dries, the chocolate starts to rise to the surface, but the scent retains its needly-fir essence. In the end it's still predominantly a 'nature' scent, it doesn't veer to me into foody territory, but neither does it avoid it completely. There's a richness, cocoa-butteryness, almost shea-butter depth beneath the fir so it's not a pure essential oil type scent. It's definitely not unpleasant, but it's... super weird. Like exactly the type of strange hipster thing that may happen with a bit of off-the-wall imagination. It totes smells like a bough of a christmas tree coated in white chocolate drizzle. Tickling at the edges is a hint of maybe a eucalyptus like snow-note, but as above... just a slight sprinkling. That may also be the top-notes of fir... but I can get a bit of a cooling note mixed in here and there.

[Auspicious Q]

White chocolate, fir, and a wet, aquatic snow. All three totally present with fir and chocolate at the front. It's a great combo, if you ask me.

[Christine Daae]

This was one of my quickest orders yet - the name was tailor-made for me and it sounded absolutely beautiful!

In the bottle: Mostly the white chocolate, with a cooling undertone.

Wet: Still mostly white chocolate; the fir and snow notes are very, very soft here. It is not very chilly! Sort of like you’re walking outside, all bundled up in a fluffy scarf and coat, drinking a milky hot chocolate while looking at Christmas lights, or picking out a Christmas tree! (Lycanthrope’s review is VERY evocative!!)

This doesn’t change much from the initial application - it’s a sweet white chocolate note (my husband definitively said “hey, you smell like chocolate!” when I sat down next to him!), much stronger than in Lady Amalthea (my best experience with the lab’s white chocolate note so far), with soft fir and snow notes. The fir note does get a touch stronger as the perfume wears on, but never strong enough to change this into something less predominantly white chocolate.

I believe I saw someone wondering if this would be anything like The Waltz of the Snowflakes (one of my favorites!), and I don’t find them similar at all. Waltz is much more snowy, cold, and fir-forward, and this is much sweeter. I actually was hoping this would be a little bit more snowy and cold! I tend to steer away from perfume with notes that are too foodie or sweet, so this is a bit outside my wheelhouse, but it is still quite pretty. If you like the lab’s white chocolate note, this will be a lovely festive blend for you!

[Numanoid]

Wanted to try this.... Yuletide is the ONLY perfume oil I have found to have a perfect blend of that holly/pine/green/ Christmas-y vibe that works on me without it being too pine-y on me. Plus with chocolate listed as a note... yes!!

 

In the bottle - WHOA!!! A BLAST of fir needles! Like, they were cut and the sap is all over the place. Kind of scared.

 

On skin - Ok... mellows quickly, but still pretty sharp on me. The white chocolate is now present and keeping the fir needle at bay.

 

Drydown - This gets a little better....fades a little, but in a good way. I think if this stayed strong like the first sniff, it would anger anyone around me. This is pretty and soft....not detecting too much chcolate. Hmm.....not sure this is for me at the moment.

[Klepz]

Cocoa and snow, sitting in a tree~

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes WHOAOMGFIRTREE

then comes ooooh, white chocolate

then it becomes the strangest scent ever.

But that's not all~ that's not all~

Then comes something really amazeballs.

 

Last night I dabbed it on very lightly because HOLY FIR but then it settled into something so gorgeous. So I dabbed a little more.. and a little more.. and today my desk still smells like a thousand pine trees with a mug of chocolate hiding somewhere.

 

At first, the fir is incredibly overpowering, but that dries off fairly quickly (10 minutes?) into a scent that's equally fir and white chocolate. I could only smell a hint of aquatic snow in my cleavage, but that could also have been the fir playing tricks with me. It's strange but pleasant.

 

While at first odd together, the fir and cocoa really mingle into something that makes sense. They become truly beautiful. When dry, it's no longer discordant, but a sweet, creamy fir scent that feels like gourmand winter. I love it. I woke up eight hours later and my wrists just smelled like creamy sweet winter.

[Casablanca]

Wet on my skin, this is a nearly even balance of fir and white chocolate mingling under a thin shell of glinty, aquatic, slightly chemical white snow. The effect of these together on my skin reminds me of a pleasantly lit synthetic white Christmas tree. There’s one of those still up in my living room. We really need to put that thing away.

 

The snow and fir fade by the time this has dried, leaving a comfy, vanilla-toned white chocolate.

[Aviatrix]

This is a weird one!

It smells heavily of a pine forest, but with a strange background of sweets, although my nose doesn't immediately register it as white chocolate. But some kind of rich chocolate background for sure.

I'm not sure this combination works very well for me personally, but you might want to check it out if you're into foresty blends.

 

The throw is good, and the staying power is medium.

[Little Bird]

I put off trying this, because it had a PineSol vibe in the bottle, but I finally got around to wearing Sparkle & Glitter today and really enjoy it.

When I first put this on, it leaned a little soapy and I was ready to list my bottle on my sale page. Within five minutes, though, this settles into a gorgeous, masculine white chocolate scent. I love the lab's white chocolate - it's a soft, creamy, not overly sweet vanilla-ish scent that's almost a little powdery on me, but not dry or baby powdery. It's elegant and lovely. The snow in this does go a little soapy on me, which usually doesn't happen with bpal's snow note, but it's clean and crisp. Peppermint, melting snow, and evergreen branches showing through a veil of creamy white chocolate and a whiff of men's soapy shaving cream.

I like this. It's kind of a clean and manly truffle scent.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Little Bird

[milo]

I keep hoping the lab's white chocolate note will work on me, and this sounded just lovely. Promptly ordered a bottle, and yes, the dreaded fake milk chocolate of doom with a beautiful evergreen note. This would have been lovely, and you'd think I would have learned my lesson, but this particular white chocolate just doesn't work on me.

 

eta: After a few weeks, the white chocolate has settled, and it's a beautiful vanilla fir with none of the dreaded white chocolate note. WIN!

Edited March 25, 2017 by milo

[zankoku_zen]

Evergreens, snow, and a dusting of cocoa powder. This one is a bit weird for me. Good throw and wear length.

[Fiam]

First sniff: Reminding me of my beloved Snow Moon but with a white chocolate background instead of the herbals.

Developing: Enjoying it even more as the chocolate is smoothing the sharp evergreens.

Final thoughts: Perfect for winter.