Ice Queen

[malanna]

A majestic blend of precious pale musks, brittle winter blossoms, spruce, and frozen winter fruits.

Ice Queen is really nice. I kept on expecting pine from this, but I guess I got it confused with Skadi. It's clear, cool, with a bit of aquatics and citrus. A bit of something like ozone comes out. Before the ozone part, it has the same tone as Frost Moon, except sans mint (or not as much of). Overall, it's a really calming scent. I was starting to regret letting go of it, until I hit this weird stage that made my love for Ice Queen die. I can't remember what that stage was (that's the problem of not doing reviews the same day you have it on). Maybe it was something musky and stale?

[Little Bird]

Mmm. This reminds me of being in a pine forest, next to a thawing stream. The spruce is a sort of minty pine scent, and there's a cold aquatic here underneath it all. It's a very refreshing forest scent. I close my eyes and can see thawing ice and a stream roaring to life as the snow melts.

 

In the drydown a bit of a citrus and blackberry smell comes out, but it's underneath that pine and aquatic scent, so it's not overwhelmingly fruity. I'm not getting any strong musk or floral from it.

 

8 hours later I can smell a creamy slightly fruity aquatic scent. It's delicious.

 

I love this. I'm so depressed that I don't have a bottle...

[iriedanym]

Mmm. The first notes I detected were spruce and the fruit. Perfect Yuletime imagery. The musk is there, but light. It's a wonderful, chilly scent. (Note: I have the 2004 version of this scent). I had no idea that trees could smell so wonderful!

[PurringPulsar]

Ice Queen

 

In the imp: fresh, cool spruce and sweet musk.

Wet on skin: this smells so cold…it’s the scent of a winter forest, but with a hint of sweetness, a slight fruitiness.

Dry: this scent brings to mind one thing…Narnia! It’s cold, snowy, and with hints of frozen flowers and berries. I can smell the spruce here, it adds a real cool feel to the scent, and the musk note in here is gorgeous, soft and velvety. The scent is white and gentle like the first fall of snow, but with a cold heart warmed by something sweet and almost candied. This fragrance is magical…when I wear this, it’s like I’ve stepped through the wardrobe into another, wintery world.

After a while: though this fragrance is cold, the smooth and soft musk brings to mind the image of a great white fur coat, warm and comforting against the chill outdoors. I also get something that is almost like an aquatic scent-a sharp, frozen aquatic, an ice or snow note, contrasting with the gentle and slightly sweet musk scent. The spruce note is fresh and chilling like a winter wind, and there are hints of fruit and flowers here and there.

Verdict: I love this wonderful winter scent. It has a similar feel to Skadi but without that spicy warmth that I got from that scent. This one is much colder, more icy, but so nice…it’s a fabulous white musk scent with cool, green spruce and with little hints of berries and flowers here and there, frozen under a snowy coat of this soft musk. It’s an enchanting scent, and I know I’ll definitely be wearing this when I go and see the Narnia movies! I wish I could get a bottle though I don’t think I ever will…but I will cherish the decant I have.

[Rhowan]

Ice Queen

 

In the bottle: Yum! Sweet snowy, citrusy pine.

 

Wet: A myriad of scents! The sweet pine, white musk and I am catching a hint of citrus - smells orange but I could be wrong. Right out of the bottle, this smells like pine garland with oranges and lemons attached to it, hanging around the front door in the snowy cold!

 

Dry Down: I don't know what to think - the pine is really starting to take over in a pinesol sort of way - damn my chemistry! All pine turns to Pinesol on me - and this time it's orange scented Pinesol! Come back snowy cold! Come back sweetness! What happened to the musk?

 

3hrs later: So, after an hour or so, the malignant pinesol smell started to fade and the sweet musky/snowy sent started to come back. Unfortunately, as soon as that happened the whole scent started to fade away to nothingness....

 

Conclusion: If your chemistry does well with pine and keeps the oil pretty true when you apply it - Ice Queen is for you. I wish I could suspend the smell of Ice Queen in its first applied state for all day but unfortunately - that isn't going to happen.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Rhowan

[Voleuse]

Oh, wow. This is yet another gorgeous, snowy, piney scent that the lab does so well. (Too bad this one is discontinued.) This is a bit different from blends like Snow Bunny and Dublin, as it manages to have a tinge of sweetness to it, without going plastic as sweetness often does on me. There's also a musk note that I don't get from similar blends.

 

After a while, I start to get a minty note which is, again, unique. Everything stays crisp and cool, and it strikes me as quite feminine. Beautiful.

[LittleGreyKitten]

OK, I am a big dork and put Ice Queen, Talvikuu, and Nuclear Winter all together, as those were the ones I thought were the most similar (Snow Bunny, Skadi, Snow Moon, and Dublin all being much sweeter and pinier in my opinion, though they also do have the slushy/icy note too). Ice Queen is minty and slushy, as is Nuclear Winter. NW is mintier than Ice Queen, and a hair sweeter. Talvikuu is a wee bit more aquatic, and seems a little bit more masculine. Nevertheless, they're all remarkably alike. Nuclear Winter of them all is the one I like the best. The extra mintiness is great, and the fact that it's a hair sweeter is also a plus. Talvikuu is wonderful on my husband but I don't wear it much myself.

 

Ice Queen is a lovely scent but it's not unique enough to keep. I love the slushy note, and the lack of much pine, but it's my second favorite in the group of similar slushy scents. I don't necessarily get the musk note- it just smells cold, slushy, and a little minty.

[elspeth]

Long live the queen! As soon as I put it on I swear I felt the chill. It was a wonderfully cold smell...like ice and trees. Then I was nervous because the pine came on stronger but after a bit the pine receded and what I thought must be the musk came forward. I have a hard time with musks but this one behaved beautifully. Definitely a keeper.

[kiio]

It's a nice piney-minty scent, that just doesn't do anything for me. Another one that smells nice in the imp, but not as much as I thought it would.

[GypsyRoseRed]

I wasn't a fan of Skadi or Talvikuu, so I didn't expect to like Ice Queen at all. In the imp, this is all pine/spruce-y, but interestingly enough that fades and smoothes out on the skin, becomes almost slightly creamy and very pretty. If I close my eyes, Ice Queen reminds me of sledding in winter on the hill at the edge of the woods.. and that almost freaks me out a little. It's not the loveliest of Beth's creations, but this has something in it that evokes the scent of winter in the woods. As much as I hate pine scents, I'd wear this for sure if it wasn't so darn rare.

[desu]

In the imp: Chilling pine with a slight hint of sweetness.

 

On me: About the same at first, but it gradually gets stronger. Some of the edge is gone now and is slightly sweeter.

 

Later on: Still icy, still sweet, but it has lost some of its piney edge.

[edenssixthday]

Ice Queen - The only scent I get from Ice Queen is spruce. Lots and lots of overwhelming spruce. Fortunately, the spruce actually doesn't smell anything like a car air freshener, but it smells like a real spruce tree. Makes me think walking through an X-mas tree lot. It's an unpleasant scent to me, and not something I enjoy in the least. After it starts to dry down, a subtle undercurrent of winter berries peeks through, and it's really pretty, but not enough to counteract the pungent spruce scent. I know this is a favorite of many BPALers, but I don't understand why and wish I could. I will be making sure another BPALer who enjoys this scent gets to enjoy this particular imp.

[The Perfumed Ferret]

This is a glittering, ice cold scent on me

with a dry pale floral, and light musk finish. This is one of my favorite blends.

[dawna]

In the vial: Its like... snow. A very white snowy winter day with a very faint hint of a minty pine.

 

Wet on the skin: Oh wow, Its very pine/green scent blossoming out with a hint of mint. There is a slight sweetness which I am guessing is the fruits. I am actually liking this one a lot.

 

On drydown: This is one gorgeous winter floral/green with a hint of mint and berries once it dries. Its like being in the mountains on a winter day walking through a thicket of pine trees with snow and ice all around you. I see why this one is so sought after.

[fairy]

Wow. This one is amazing. It's the perfect icy morning. Lovely, icy, fresh new snow. Gorgeous and a top favorite. Chilling and sweet

[Em-]

I tried a decant of Ice Queen on a whim, thinking it would be too...something. Floraly? Icy? Piney? All things that have, er, chilled me on some winter blends in the past.

 

In the vial it smelled of very cold florals, like ice perfume. Not really me.

 

But on my skin, the Queen blossoms into a winter cornucopia of petals and fruits, ice tinged with just enough pine bough to keep it earth bound.

[steffanina]

Ice Queen (2004)-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, pine and orange and sugar. I like.

 

Wet: The orange comes out more strongly; not as yummy as in the bottle, but this has strong dry-down promise, I sense.

 

Dry: Wow, I can see why this is hugely popular! It's kind of orange-sugar-warm; fades a bit quickly but it's delicious while it's around. Mmm!

 

Overall: I love.

[supremegoddessofall]

The spruce is throwing an evergreen note on top of everything else. I get a bit of fruit and floral, but it's hard to pick out specific notes because the spruce is so strong. Not getting too much musk here. This is more masculine than I thought it would be. I think I'll hang on to it and maybe try it on my girlfriend.

[little_galaxie]

Ice Queen would be the PERFECT winter scent if it weren't for the birch. The iced berries are awesome, it literally smells like red and purple berries frozen in pebbles of ice, but stupid BIRCH has to ruin everything. Oh well, at least it's not as bad as pine.

 

 

ETA: So it's spruce, not birch, eh? Ah well, those silly tree notes all smell the same to me.

Edited March 8, 2007 by little_galaxie

[myoubi]

Thanks to the lovely Jocosa, who frimped me a 1/4 imp of this rare beauty As much as I love this scent, my nose sucks, so this review is almost completely impressionary and I'm awful at picking out notes...

 

Ice Queen is lovely. It's a subtle, light scent that doesn't scream its presence -- the soft musks ground it in the skin, and when I wear it the wafts I get are of the iciest spruce and some light and unidentified fruits. They aren't juicy fruit scents, but a touch of sweetness that's rendered more complex by some unidentifiable floral. Other than the spruce, which is definately present, the scent is very well-blended -- it doesn't separate out into components and they're tough to tease out even when I'm really hunting. THis one is gorgeous, and will be lovingly saved.

[metaldog32]

So…I have had The Ice Queen for 2 years…yep…2 years folks. It was one of the first BPAL’s I acquired and yet..yet…I never tried her on until now. Seems like I could never find the right time to put her on..and was in danger of doing this yet again. BUT. Something had to give. I couldn’t go another day without trying..especially when there is SO much more BPAL to try.

 

Tonight is the night.

 

It’s all about the snowy icy blends.

 

Initial sniff from bottle: I gotta say….everyone who remarked that The Darkling Thrush is similar to Ice Queen are on the money…from the bottle these two are extremely similar. To my untrained nose DT from the bottle smells a tad bit sweeter but ultimately they both share that winter/snowy vibe. Interestingly enough I don’t get much of that spruce from the bottle..which suits me fine as that tends to amp a bit too much on mel..but let’s see how everything translates once it hits my skin.

 

Applied wet on skin: Hmmm..on me it’s actually more soft snowy notes with an undercurrent of the winter blooms. This doesn’t smell nearly as ozone/aquatic as DT did…but I can detect the pale musks…funny…my wrist kind of tingles..as if it registers the coldness…I am always so amazed how Beth can do that. I get a sweetness..a tinge of it in the back..I wonder if it’s the berries??? They are very subdued…and I don’t get anything overtly fruity. Interesting..maybe it’s not just berries..but maybe other winter fruit as well??? Ah well..we shall see how this moves along.

 

Couple of minutes on skin: It’s the winter blooms…undercut with a breath of something sweet…and the trademark wintry note. This isn’t the snowy note in Snow White..no..it’s the cold and chilly winter snow note that popped up in Frost Moon and Darkling Thrush…it’s the startlingly clear and cold beauty of winter ice…and I can detect the spruce a bit..but it’s understated. I believe that the “winter fruits” might not be berry at all..instead maybe a touch of citrus??? It’s on the tail end..king of eluding me..but I think that’s what I am registering..a wisp of something citric…to go with that glittering ice and floral.

 

Half an hour later: So now this is where she deviates from DT. Whereas DT had more of a floral anchored with the orris and a touch of the amber. Ice Queen retains the icy notes and has the musks and touch of fruit in the back. It still glitters coldly…the spruce is wwwaaay in the back…but it’s there..muted. This has softened up considerably.

 

Hour later: It’s now just like a soft winter breeze…it’s all about the pale musks…with a touch of sweetness..and a trickle of that chilliness..

 

Drydown: It’s almost like a faint tickle in my throat…a whisper of the musks with the winter note.

 

Throw on me was soft and lasting power…2-4 hours at most.

 

Bottom Line: Ice Queen is definitely the chilly winter scent..not bogged down by pines and fierce winds..but rather a silent and glittering beauty…with the coldness simultaneously keeping you at distance yet seducing you with her silent allure. DT is similar…at least in feel but not a replicate…which is a good thing…because I love to have new interpretations when it comes to Beth’s snowy blends. Am happy to have my 5ml..but one is enough for me.

Edited March 6, 2007 by metaldog32

[TheIceMaiden]

Ice Queen is my favourite of the snowy scents. She starts out snowy evergreens. A little musk comes out then the fruits join in on the drydown. This is such a feminine and lovely scent and its a little haughty and aloof as an Ice Queen should be.

[filigree_shadow]

As usual, the "cold" part of this scent amps unreasonably on me. I can barely smell any fruit or spruce or musk. What it smells like to me is just a cold and sweet scent. Vaguely floral-ish. I can't really distinguish this from the other cold blends due to my crazy skin chemistry, so I'll let the decant go on to a better home.

[forspecial_plate]

As usual, the "cold" part of this scent amps unreasonably on me. I can barely smell any fruit or spruce or musk. What it smells like to me is just a cold and sweet scent. Vaguely floral-ish. I can't really distinguish this from the other cold blends due to my crazy skin chemistry, so I'll let the decant go on to a better home.

 

I'm with you on this scent.....it's 90% coldness on me with a little sweetness in the background. I may still have a novice nose, but this smelled incredibly similar to Death of the Grave Digger and I actually did a side-by-side comparison. I could tell the difference, but still quite similar to me. Ice Queen has that sweet, musky/fruity/floral background. How to describe the coldness? I don't know, it's just cold. Not minty, exactly. It's one of those things I just don't know how to describe to someone who's never smelled it.

 

This scent does work well for me, and lasts for hours. I already knew I liked Grave Digger, and I'm still working my way through my imp of that. So, really, I don't have a need for another icy scent like Ice Queen. It will most likely end up with someone who has been longing for more of it.

 

Edit: Ice Queen has an ozone component that I didn't really pick up on before.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[lyndsayj]

On me this blooms into something that is very reminiscent of Oisin. Quite minty and musky, overall the association is rather masculine (probably because of the Oisin resemblance). Glad it's being swapped. I kept this for so long and never even used it.