Ice Queen

[Batgirl]

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

I love this oil. I didn't order it when the Yule LEs were released (I went for Snow White instead, what was I thinking?) but was able to buy a decant and then instantly tracked down a bottle.

When Ice Queen first goes on it is very, very piney - too much so. Fortunately this phase dies after about 30 minutes. What is left is a lovely fresh scent. The pine is still definitely there, but much toned down and a soft floral, fruity scent develops. I can't explain it and maybe it's just the power of suggestion but this does, in fact, smell cold.

Ice Queen and Cold Moon are very similar to me, but different enough to warrant owning both. If you love Cold Moon, you're going to love Ice Queen and vice versa.

ETA - I don't get haughty and distant from this one at all. This is my kick butt, don't mess with me scent. The woman I picture wearing this has a fabulously tailored black suit, perfect shoes and bag. She's smart, independent, and totally in control.

[ChupaChup]

I got a decant of Ice Queen from The Vampire Lilith in a swap . I didn't initially order it because I had a feeling it wasn't me but I was curious to try it. It was quite lovely at first, very cool and minty. But fairly quickly, the aquatics and fruits came out to play, notes that don't usually agree with me, and it became rather unpleasant. The mintiness went away and I never got any pine/spruce notes that others have mentioned. I only put the tiniest dab on the back of my hand, oof was it powerful, I had to wash it off. Except for the initial minty phase, this does remind me a lot of Cold Moon, another blend that didn't work on me. I'll be swapping this little imp.

[Gin]

This is a cold scent, almost minty for a bit, but I think it's the spruce. I get the impression of fruits and flowers, but Ice Queen doesn't strike me as a fruity or floral scent. I can only describe it as icy and crystalline. Very beautiful.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Wow. Ice Queen is strong, and cold, and sunshine-on-snow bright. She’s not the withdrawn, aloof beauty I was expecting – she’s in-your-face and loud. She’s Phyllis Diller in ermine.

 

Wearing: Cold grapefruit with a breath of flowers. Just lovely. It’s quite a bit more subtle on my skin, and very nice.

[laochodia]

-weeps- why oh why did i not buy a bottle of this? (voice from back of head- because you didnt know about bpal then)

Ice Queen, for some reason, makes me think of a woman walking untouched through a snowstorm...like she can stop it from snowing on her from sheer force of will and personality.

That being said, let me say what a gorgeous scent! This is what i could see a female bouncer or someone else who has to be that tough wearing. This is a total ckass, in control, balls-made-of-solid-platinum scent. Yummy.

[helarctos]

Whoa, GRAPEFRUIT! Grapefruit and white musk. They go well together, though I never would have dreamed it. It's a very strong scent.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: definitely spruce, but with lots of fruits and flowers thrown in. very, very cold.

on: this is very strong. sweet berries and pine. pungent. i think i like it, but...it's making me feel uneasy.

1 hour later: still very strong. it's also still very nice, scent-wise, but i'm still uncomfortable.

7 hours later: this is much lighter, but it still makes me feel anxious.

overall: although this is really nice, i have to get rid of it.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Pine! And I'm pretty sure I smell the white musk.

Wearing: Hmmm... not so much. The musk has gone all funky on me (as white musk is wont to do). The florals have come out to play, and the pine has faded into the background. This is a very chilly fragrance indeed.

Final Impressions: This is chilly, but in my mind it is not as aloof as Snow White. It's just - chilly. I'm very glad I got to try an imp of this, but it really isn't me.

[autumn24]

This is beautiful: it starts off with a whallop of strong, cold pine backed by refrigerated citrus fruits-- then it all becomes more subtle and complex: all icy, creamy fruits, if that combination is at all possible. Sweet, thin musks combined with blue blue pine boughs, a gust of winter air, backed by a breath of crystalline flowers. All of it warms up and remains chill, but soft and remote... as if the very Ice Queen herself, appearing cold and distant, starts to warm up to you, and approaches you sweetly and kindly.

[alston78]

This scent sounds so lovely on other people...I wish it had worked as well on me!

 

In the bottle: If I sniff with my eyes closed, I get sharp, green, and white. I can smell pine, mints, possibly eucalyptus, and a citrus note like lemon or grapefruit. I can just barely smell floral notes.

 

On my wrist: The same thing happens as did with Queen of Diamonds- I end up smelling like a cross between lemon-scented cleaning products and the "Nantucket" Yankee Candle scent. What note is doing this to me? These are the only two fragrances I've tried that react this way- though admittedly I usually stay away from aquatic notes and scents that sound sharp.

 

On drydown: I left it on for a few hours to see what happened, and I understand the Snow White comparison now- after two hours, the scent has morphed into a creamy floral that almost, but not quite, reminds me of Lush's Alkmaar soap. It would work well with the soap, I'm sure. I smell a light fruity note as well, but I don't think it's citrus anymore. Much, much better!

 

Final decision: The drydown was nice, but the first hour was rough. There are so many blends that work well on me in every stage, I'd rather pass this one on to someone who will appreciate it more.

[eadavenp]

I got this off ebay, and I LOVE IT. it is cool and almost a little menthol. It has a definite fruityness, but not in a way that screams fruit. It is sort of a reserved scent, but i like it for that reason. It doesn't scream smell me, it sort of softly beckons with sophistication.

[Muppetk]

Bottle/wet on me: Pretty. Slightly "perfume-y", but pretty. Is that a melon note I sniff?

 

5 minutes in: one of the spruce-like notes comes to the foreground. Still a whiff of... I think it's cantaloupe. That would be a winter fruit alright.

 

10minutes: Florals are peeking out again.

 

Later: Light, pretty, a nice round base beneath (light musks?) but I'm not sure sure about the melon bit. Same reaction I had when trying it on the first time. It's pretty, but ambivalent about melon. Hmm. Well, the duplicate goes to the swap pile. The first one I may keep.

[Celogrl]

Ice Queen...my frozen friend! I received my first bottle of the chilly Ice Queen today in a swap and I am in love. My initial impression was one of pine, winter, frost, spruce and Christmas! Next after a bit of a dry down, the berries or cold fruits came to the surface. I can't stop smooshing my wrist to my face to take another sniff! It keeps developing into a gorgeous winter scene right in front of my nose! Ah, this is SO beautiful. I love Snow White, but this is what I hoped for when I ordered Snow White for the first time. This is going to be a major stock up item for me.

[Nemesister]

to me this was bewitched's winter sister. it had all the berries and mossy heather but with an added frostiness.....gorgeous

[loveandprozak]

In the bottle: Wow, this smells almost like straight pine to me. Interestingly, I'm not turned off by it. A lot of pines I am repelled by, but this doesn't have that 'sharpness' to it that I am used to. Perhaps there is something sweet undercutting it.

 

On my skin: Pine still seems to be the dominant note, but something sweet and chilled has definitely moved in. I'm detecting a lot of fruit in this snow... likely a pear accord, though if someone told me it was apple, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

30 minutes: This is just fascinating. The pine keeps dying and the sweet accord just keeps getting /frostier/. It's the most interesting powdery note I've ever smelled. It's sweet, tangy, and slowly overcoming the pine.

 

I love this scent. It's truly a magnificient conceptual smell for me. Every time I wear it I get the image of a pine forest just before a snow storm moves in, and as the oil dries down the snow and winds get heavier and heavier until they overtake the forest. Beautiful.

 

Not quite how I would express this very near and dear character to me, but just.. a lovely olfactory interpretation all the same.

[brandileigh]

What I envisioned something named Ice Queen would smell like and the reality was a little bit different. I still went ahead and got a bottle off of Ebay just to give it a shot.

 

The sniff out of the bottle was green, musky and slightly aquatic. I am not a fan of aquatics but it was all reminscent of melting ice somehow.

 

I applied to my arms and it almost instantly it turned into strange melon tinged with ozone and had a soapy smell to it in the background. I resisted the urge to wash it off immediately and stuck with it.

 

An hour later, still melon soap so I sadly washed the last little bit off.

 

Stupid body chemistry.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Oooh, this smells a bit like the air before it snows.

 

Just On: Very crisp clean scent of oncoming snow.

 

An hour or two later: Very icy scent of crisp clean air.

 

Around 6 hours: It's pretty much the same. I like this more than I expected I would.

 

12 hours: I still have a little bit of this on, and I still think it smells like winter air.

 

Overall: I like it, but I'm ready to swap it off for something sweeter. I'd buy it if it came out again.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't really get the pine or tree scents out of this at all. I guess the mint might be what seemed cold, but it wasn't an obvious mint, like crushing a mint plant or anything.

[Witch's Dagger]

Ice Queen

 

Preconceived notions: I do not remember the description, but I remember hoping for something like cranberries, evergreens, and vanilla... I remember that the description was close, but very different, and that I had a hard time choosing Ice Queen over Skadi.

 

In the bottle: Sweet, fruity pine.

 

On me:

This is pine candy. Or really sweet fruit candy under a pine tree. This is really, really sweet. As in, really sweet! Cotton candy sweet. Sugar plums sweet. There’s pine in there, and fruit, but the overwhelming scent is just plain sweet.

 

In 10 minutes:

Okay, it’s calming down on the sweet a bit, but it’s still very sweet. But there’s more pine now. It’s a very unique scent. I’ve had it for several months now, and am only just now reviewing it, though I did try it at the time, and I remember liking it. I’m not so sure I like it as much anymore. I’ll give it some more time, but darn is it sweet.

 

In 20 minutes:

Now, I’m getting some more fruit, which, unfortunately, is making it sweeter again. Tart and sweet, with a hint of pine. But, yet, as I continue to type and sniff, I’m getting something like vanilla - something creamy and light, but somewhat smoky. It cannot compete with the teeth-hurting sweetness, but maybe in another 10 minutes or so, it will have morphed on to something not quite so painful.

 

In 45 minutes:

Nope. It’s not changing, just fading *sigh*. I think I may have to swap this one... It’s just too sweet.

 

In 1 hour:

It’s sweet, and pungent. The fruit is gone - just sweet pine, but sweet like candy.

 

Overall:

If you haven’t heard me say it yet, this is way too sweet for me.

 

Edited to add: After reading several other reviews, I'm inclined to believe that mint is the note responsible for the insane sweetness. It's like those soft pastel mint things they put out for weddings and other gatherings. Pure sugar. And mint. With little breaths of pine and fruit coming in occasionally. It's still too sweet for me, but at least I know what's causing it.

 

Edited again to say that I just read Red_Hot_Mama's review and it creeped me out to think about the story of the Ice Queen (she lures children away and teaches them to hate), but at the same time, this does explain the extreme sweetness of the scent. Beth, you're a genius! (but it's still too sweet for me )

Edited June 7, 2005 by Witch's Dagger

[QueenFae]

Ahhh... the stunning scent of an Ice Queen. This could not be better suited to it's name. It's like somebody buried fresh, ripe fruit in a snowbank over night. It conjours Brian Froud-like images of ice nymphs and winter goddesses. This is definitely one of my top ten favorite scents of all time. Enchanting, elegant, icy....superb. Bring this one back!!!!

[sh1mm3r]

This one brought back an immediate scent memory for me.

 

Every year before Christmas, my Dad would manage to pick the coldest possible day to drive up the mountain to a tree far, and we would tromp around until we found the perfect blue spruce tree to cut down. I would hold the top as he sawed the bottom, and my gloves would get a little sticky from sap. It would be so cold that we would be shivering by the time we got back to the car.

 

One year I distinctly remember there wasn't any snow, but it was so cold that the dirt was frozen with dirtsicles.

 

This scent is exactly that air - fresh, clean, and cold air with acres and acres of trees. *sigh* Wish I had some of my own!

[eisoj5]

My god, this is a wonderful scent! I think I got a little on my lip just now (oops) and it's tingly in a minty-pine sort of way. I definitely smell citrus and freshness and I am *so* glad that I bought this bottle from rosefaith! It's not Narnia's White Witch, nor is it the cruel Snow Queen of the fairy tale, but it's Arienrhod turning to Moon Dawntreader from Joan D. Vinge's Snow Queen cycle. Cold, but with a hint of promise for the summer. I could sniff this all day.

[coulrophobe]

Like some others, I got a minty-pine from Ice Queen, softened with light florals and musk (no fruitiness in here to my nose).

 

But it's taken me a while to review this (I've had my bottle for months now), because I've had a hard time separating out the actual notes. What was distracting me? A nostalgia kick. This smells exactly like some soap or shower gel that my great-aunt used to have. For the longest time, I would sniff the bottle and all my brain could register was "Aunt Hazel's bathroom!"

 

It's a great scent. Fresh and cold, and one of the few green/coniferous scents I can wear - the minty notes and the musk tone down the "I smell like a tree" factor, which is great on some but not on me.

 

I don't wear this often, but I'm really liking it today. I put it on this morning thinking it would be great for a hot, sunny day like we had yesterday... I really should look out the window before applying oil based on the weather, because it was pouring down rain today - but I'm enjoying Ice Queen nonetheless.

[aidenraine]

Wow, I expected this to be less floral. It was cool and clean in the vial but on me it made me actively cough, made my nose burn, and made my sinuses hurt. It was chemical and floral in a way that I hate. There's an undertone of "york peppermint pattie" that I wish would emerge further and cover up the floral, but my skin seems determined to leave this nauseating.

 

 

*time passes*

 

Ok, stronger mint, a clean smell over the florals.

 

It sweetens up a lot on me, but becomes very faint. I like this final stage, but not enough to endure the initial shock.

[Dustbunnyxox]

From the bottle: smells like ice, but i'm not sure what it is. spruce too. nice.

 

On me: woah. i can smell mint and spruce. a little flowery something is in there, but I have no idea what. smells like im out there playing in the snow among some winter trees.

 

Two hours later: softened up. smells alot like snow white with out the coconut. lost alot of the winter trees smell, now it's just floral. I like it.

[MaryMoon]

In the bottle: strong strong floral.

 

Initially, when put on, that's all I get as well. As it dries down, there's a minty note that pops through with maybe just a hint of pine underneath it all. The musk is almost non existant on my skin - but then again, my chemistry is a little wonky right now.

 

This really has some staying power, though. Hours later and I still get a lovely mint-floral throw from it.

 

It definitely evoked an image of a pale, luminous beauty all in white and surrounded by snow.