Perchta 2018

[patina]

Mod Note: There is a review topic for Perchta release years 2008 and 2017 located here. Per our Review sub-forum topic policy, a new review topic has been created for the 2018 release due to an inexact match with previous years' scent description. 

 

Perchta, the Shining One, is the Lady of the Beasts, an incarnation of the goddess Holda. She, too, leads the Wild Hunt, and is the protectress of wild animals, and appears to mortals as either a white-clad, white-skinned, white-haired beauty, or as a brutish, bestial hag. She is called Berhte Mit Dem Fuoze; one of her feet is shaped like a beast’s, which gives away her superhuman nature no matter how she is disguised. She is also called Perchta the Belly-Slitter, for, at Yuletide, she castigates the wicked, slovenly, and idle, and rewards those that are generous, good-natured, and kind. The Belly-Slitter enforced community taboos, punishing those that spun during holy days and those who failed to partake in sacred feasts, thus jeopardizing the next year’s harvest. Her punishments can be a bit over-the-top, though: they include disemboweling the transgressor and filling the empty cavity with refuse. 

 

Her scent is a blend of wild musk, snow, and alpine flora: Nigritella lithopolitanica, balsam fir, aconite, crocus, touch-me-not, edelweiss, iced sugar crystals, Iris variegate, and violet.

 

This is lovely. It's not the "coldest" snow or ice blend I've ever tried. It's white, powdery, but complex enough to be interesting. It's sweet but not tooth-achingly so. The only notes I can pick out for certain are violet and the barest hint of fir.

 

This is very clean and I'm considering a bottle

[annemathematics]

wow. what a gorgeous sophisticated snow perfume. haughty ice queen signature scent. a cool floral blend with the only note standing out being the touch of snow.  I really like it, but it's so different in personality that it feels like I'm an impostor in costume aka this will never be my "signature scent." at least on its own. I learned from my initial "test all of the decants at once because I have no patience" test that this layers well with other yules, most notably schoenperchten and one of the musky lashes. classy and slightly out of my league.

[mandragora369]

I'm from Austria, so I needed to sample it. Although knowing it must be floral heavy. Well it is, it's not overly bad nor is it reeking on my skin, but it's just no scent for me.

 

Didn't get any snow note, but after half an hour or so I guess there's a fir note far underneath the flowers.

[zankoku_zen]

Icy florals with a whiff of oudh under all that ice, cold florals, and touch of sugar crystals. Perchta in her previous incarnations didn't work for me, but this one comes the closest. However, the whiff of oudh is enough of a deterrent for me. Good throw and wear length.

[Lucchesa]

I thought Perchta would probably be too floral.  Violet almost never works on me.  It is much better on my skin than I expected.  Cool florals, without any old lady from the violet; it's more of an ice queen vibe, and might be good to wear in that work situation where you need to put someone in place with the heel of your ice-encrusted thigh-high boots.  There's some evergreen and a hint of minty snow at first, though these are subsumed in the florals after an hour or so.  This has pretty killer throw on me, which is unusual for my skin chemistry.  I don't need a whole bottle of something this far out of my wheelhouse, but I'm definitely keeping the decant!

[artisjok]

Perchta is a blast of strong icy snow laced with sweetness. I’m fond of this phase, though it’s not much different from other snow + sweet blends. I also got the whiff of oudh at some point, which I thought was my imagination until I read z_z’s review. The drydown is powdery florals and light musk. I agree this would fit an ice queen, and, I admit, I vibe that remote coldness sometimes. If the snowy cold stuck around I’d totally add it to my collection. I think it’ll find a new home, as it is.