Frostbitten Knave of Hearts

[zankoku_zen]

No additional description provided.

[torikitty]

Starts out with slushy snow, which is somewhat disappointing. I was hoping it would be like previous years' "Frostbitten" where it smelled more like Snow White. You can smell *something* in the background, but it's not nearly as obvious as the regular Knave of Hearts. I think the tart aspect is slowly coming through. The snow note really overpowers anything recognizable from Knave of Hearts. So, if you were expecting something similar, this doesn't deliver. If Knave of Hearts is too powerful in the rose department, this really knocks that down, and makes it more approachable. Overall, though, there's not much that stands out from the blend.

[windbourne]

I had my bottle of KoH handy, so I applied that one to one wrist and this one to the other.

 

This year's Frostbitten scents (I got three) are definitely a cold, slightly minty frost note to my nose. As Torikitty commented, Knave, unfortunately completely gets overtaken by that note for most of the wear time. As it dries, I do get more of the base, a little cold rose and some fruitiness, plus a little bit of pastry. It dried down to a softer, almost dryer sheets-y version of the base scent. I like it, but I wouldn't consider it an essential unless you're absolutely obsessed with both parts.

 

If you haven't tried KoH, the notes are "crushed roses and blackcurrant tarts", and it's pretty delightful, imo. This one didn't do a whole lot for me as a separate scent, but if I couldn't find my bottle of OG KoH, I'd be reasonably happy with it.

[Katillac]

I personally LOVE this. For basically the reasons the other reviewers were iffy on it. 
On me, the snow (without any floral note) really plays well with the blackcurrant. It knocks down a lot of the buttery/heavy notes of the pastry as well. 
It also doesn't make the rose go soapy on me (which is what I was really worried about, KoH is one of the few rose scents I can wear without smelling like those tiny seashell powder room soaps.). 
I don't get any of the dryer sheet smells that Windbourne got, but I can easily see how it might go that way for some skin chemistries. 

KoH is one of my favorites, but there are times where it's a bit heavier than what I want. This is a perfect lighter/colder/sister scent. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by Katillac

[zankoku_zen]

Snow, blackcurrant, and a whiff of rose. Knave of Hearts is a very heavy buttery pastry not for me, and this knocks it out, so that it's a sweet snow-blackcurrant blend on me with whiffs of rose. Medium throw and wear length.

[samanare]

The icy 'frostbitten' note over the blackcurrant/rose foody scent of Knave of Hearts. Smells just like the original with cold snow over top.

[Kytha]

Buttery notes are a nightmare on me -- when they're part of foodie scents, my skin seems to like to pump it up until that drowns out whatever other notes were in the mix, and then also promptly go rancid. Insult to injury, the damn stuff then lasts forever... Original Knave of Hearts on my skin is just yuk.

 

For that reason, Frostbitten Knave of Hearts is wonderful for me. It feels like it cools down the warmth of the original blend (I recently got an imp to compare it against, so super handy!) to a point where it's actually wearable -- snow-covered fruits and a touch of flowers that comes out as it dries off. I think the snow note here is a minty marshmallow (so, not the sugary snow that's in Frostbitten Dorian). It's still a rosy tart, but it's more of a frozen tart, now, with a gentle throw that means I'll catch whiffs of it as I move my arms around. I can still sniff the butter trying to do its thing from time to time, thought, which is truly frightening. Glad I picked this up -- my normal comfort zone for foodie stuff tends to be restricted almost exclusively to fruits, and I didn't realize the original scent had such a buttery component to it, but this is a great change of pace.

Edited January 28, 2020 by Kytha

[doomsday_disco]

In Frostbitten Knave of Hearts, the Knave is buried under a ton of bright, citrusy snow (more of the slushy sort of snow than the sugary pine/fir snow, Snow White's sweet snow note, or the mentholic one). I get some blackcurrant at first, but then it becomes mostly all about that snow note on me with just a bit of buttery pastry behind it. After a few hours of wear, the rose emerges, so that it's the bright snow note plus a tart rose.

 

I was originally going to blind bottle this one since it is a Mad Tea Party variant, decided to hold off and see if I could find a decant or partial since the reviews said it was so snow-heavy, and ended up having to grab a bottle anyways since I couldn't find anyone parting with any. Maybe I should have held out a little longer. I'm going to hold onto this for a bit, retest it in a month, and see how it goes. It's not bad, and I am glad that I seem to have gotten more of the pastry than most reviewers seemed to, but I would appreciate this one more if it featured less snow or a different snow note. At the moment, I have to say that I prefer the original Knave.

Edited February 6, 2020 by doomsday_disco

[fairybites]

Wearing this with the regular Knave of Hearts to leave a comparison review. Honestly, Knave of Hearts almost gets completely buried by the Frostbitten note. I'm just getting snow and a very faint hint of rose. If I didn't look at the label of my decant, I could have sworn this was just a snowy rose instead of Knave. The blackcurrant is not appearing for me at all.

 

I'd rather have the regular Knave to this, but if you are a fan of snow notes and roses this could be a good match for you! Disappointed by the lack of the currant and that I'm mostly getting snow from this, but it's not a bad scent at all. I was just expecting something different than what I got.

Edited April 7, 2021 by fairybites
Typo

[Little Bird]

Perfumey rose with dry, flaky, buttery biscuits and cold, slushy snow (like snow melting with a hint of evergreen sap - I do love bpal's snow note, but not paired the way it is here).  I think that this could have been really beautiful if the Frostbitten was Snow White and not just snow note, but the combination of musky rose, stale biscuit and snow is pretty weird to my nose.

[theredkilt]

wrong post

Edited March 13, 2023 by theredkilt