Nuclear Winter

[malabar]

Annihilation. The ice, desolation and barrenness of nuclear devastation shot through by a beam of radioactive mints.

Interesting, I find it sort of a backwards Nine Mysteries (which I also love to death and beyond): whereas I get a big initial mint hit with NM and am left with the florals, with this one I smell mostly florals (with a great very slight hint of decay) initially, with a smidgen of mint. The drydown is lovely as well, but not very minty. I love it, but it's nothing like the mintiness of Cathode or Ultraviolet to me. Isn't variable body chemistry great? Edited December 23, 2005 by Shollin

[sarada]

This is the scent I was most looking forward to trying from my Christmas wishlist scents!

 

I really like mint, but as a perfume it tends to "go all toothpaste" on me. This reminds me initially of the mintiest parts of Ice Queen (which at first I thought didn't smell minty at all but now it does.....aging, or just a changing perception?)

 

I was concerned this would be too much like Tulzscha, which was a bit more aquatic and spectral, but no, this is quite different while still being a mostly-mint scent.

 

It really ... radiates, for lack of a better word. The spearmint becomes stronger but remains cold and strong. This is a fantastically long-lasting, strong mint. And what on earth is it that gives scents like this that positively glacier-like edge? A frosted pane of glass, or a sheet of ice with greenery trapped beneath the surface. Cold, cold, cold.

 

Icy desolation, or maybe toothpaste -- but I like it either way!

[Voleuse]

Ah. This is mint-flavored ice on first application, frosty and barely sweet. After a little while, I also get an underlying evergreen scent I didn't expect.

 

It reminds of Snow Bunny, actually, except less fresh, less green. The remnants of a field under a layer of ice. There's dirt underneath this, as it fades, and a mossy note that I usually associate with aquatic scents. Huh.

 

I like this scent a lot, but unfortunately, it fades to almost nothing within half an hour. I wish it lasted longer.

[desu]

In the bottle: Bone-chattering aquatic mint

 

On my skin: This hasn't changed much going from wet to dry. Sniffing at this one makes me want to turn the heater up just a bit.

 

Not sure how to feel about this one, really. I'm not really a "cold" scent person, but this one is quite nice.

[tsarina]

Love!

 

It's minty in a spearmint sort of way. Subtle, herbal type mint. There's an ozone/aquatic sort of tang to it. It reminds me of Frost Moon and Storm Moon combined. There's something tangy in there I can't place my finger on, must be the laser beams. It's very beautiful, and subtly masculine to me.

[zillah37]

This smells like ice and mint on my skin, very cool and haughty. It reminds me a lot of Tulzcha, but sweeter.

 

This is how I thought Numb would smell. It's not something I'm very crazy about, but it's a very cool, pretty scent. I'm glad I tried it.

[zenvodunista]

like a lighter and prettier Talvikuu. faded too fast for a bottle though.

 

n.

[Northernminx]

Aquatic mint. In the bottle this did remind me a bit of Ice Queen from last year. It's almost like mint on speed. The dry down goes soft and somewhat powdery on me (damn you aquatic note!) but since I'm not a huge "cool scent" fan anyway, that's both anticipated and okay.

[yeahbutnobut]

Nuclear Winter

 

In the imp: cool, slightly sweet, icy mint. I see the comparisons with Frost Moon-I think it reminds me of Cold Moon and Tulzsha as well-maybe there's cucumber in here?

Wet on skin: yup, I'm sure there's cucumber in here! This is a cool, liquid, white mint with a hint of greenness.

Dry on skin: this is a gorgeous mint scent. Unlike Lick It which was sweet peppermint, this scent isn't as sweet, and has a more icy quality, very frosty and very white. I agree that it's a peaceful scent-it's like the eerie calm that may settle if a nuclear winter did ever happen, silent, still, but sterile. I also get something slightly green, brings to mind the green glow that radioactive substances have in cartoons, or mutated plant life in the vicinity of the blast. This cold aquatic scent I get here is snowy and icy, slushy almost, different to the snow notes in other snow blends-it's more sterile and bleached of life. I'm also very sure that there's cucumber in here-it's very similar to Tulzscha, and also seems like a twin to Cold Moon. I just wish it had the same skin cooling reaction-I think this will be a lovely summer scent too.

After a while: oh, the drydown seems to be edging towards Ice Queen! I love Ice Queen and I'm getting a scent reminiscent of that in here-I'm wondering if there's a white musk note in this? It's a soft, snowy coating of slightly ozone-y cucumber and white musk. I love this stage of the scent and it means I won't be pining for more Ice Queen once my imp of that scent runs out!

Verdict: this is another gorgeous minty and wintry scent from the Lab. Totally different in mood and scent to Lick It, this is a white, calm, cool, iced mint scent, a winter-mint with green notes, something aquatic or ozone, and something which I'm pretty sure is cucumber, and also a white musk. This is-as many others said in the reviews-what I hoped Numb would be like. This to me is very similar to Cold Moon, almost a twin scent, but the drydown is more like Ice Queen. The scent is calm, silent, still and serene like a frosty night, but it's almost lifeless, like a major cataclysm has occurred, and the area has been partly destroyed and sterilised. But all is not dead, there's still a hint of something green and alive, albeit something mutated and glowing with radiation. The vicinity of the blast is covered with ice and snow, frosted and eerily white, the silence of the place is unsettling and yet it entrances and lures you. (But, as Olympia says in her fabulous review, don't eat the glowing green snow!) I think this scent will be lovely for winter-but also wonderful as a cooling scent for summer.

[darkling]

Nuclear Winter is a cold, light spearmint covering grass and herbs. It definitely evokes images of a lonely, icy world.

[jemz]

Nuclear Winter was one of the few I was eager to try when I received my order.

 

In the bottle, it smelled very icy and aquatic.

 

Wet, I smelled a burst of mint and a bit of ozone. Very cold but calming.

 

Drying down, I love the way it dries. It's like after an icy blast of wintry coldness was being tempered by the recovering earth. I smell a bit of woods coming out, calm and serene.

 

Hours later, the scent has amazing staying power. It's soothing and I get wafts of smelly goodness that makes me crave more.

 

All in all, this is a scent that I MUST have more bottles of and is one of my favorite Yule scents by far.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of mints, with something cold and remote behind them.

on: i don't know what it is about this, but it feels desolate. there's an almost disturbing smooth feel, with the mints sort of swirling calming around it.

half an hour later: still about the same.

2 hours later: faint. peaceful. vaguely minty.

3.5 hours later: pretty much gone.

overall: i'm a sucker for mints, so i definitely like this. however, i have a bunch of other minty scents that i like better. however, it toes fit the description perfectly.

[kitkat]

Ahh... what I was hoping Numb would do for me.

 

In the bottle and wet the first thing that hits me is spearmint - not that nasty artificial smell you get from gum but the light pure scent that always made me sneak a leaf when the kitchen was using it for garnish. I also get that hint of evergreen underneath as well, and it gets stronger as it dries down.

 

A keeper - I'm going to make sure I still have some of this for really hot days next summer!

[jasper17]

It took me a few tries before I got the mint in this but now, both in the bottle and first when I put it on, I get a sweet, herbal definite mint thing going on. Very subtle. It changed on my skin after not too long of wearing it and the mint dissipated and I was left with herbs and a general green scent. After a little while longer, it went powdery. I like the scent a lot but the staying power was somewhat lacking.

[The Perfumed Ferret]

Mint.

 

Desolate, Crisp, and Powerful.

 

By far my favorite scent

[Emu Nymph]

Very lovely scent. And yes it's a lot like Ice Queen on me. I'm so getting a bottle of this. I'm in love. I used up most of my imp already. So I need more.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is sharp and sour fruit mixed with evergreen. When first on it's something cool mixed with evergreen and maybe some florals in the background. I think this might be an aquatic I can actually wear! It's a bit hard to describe the notes. It doesn't really change much on me. This is similar to Snow Bunny but without the strong citrus note. I really like this one a lot! It's a very different type of blend and quite wonderful. Another great Yule blend.

[cuervosueno]

Yes, yes, yes! I agree--I wanted Numb to smell like this, instead of dryer sheets!

 

I love this--it surprised me by being my favorite of the Yule blends other than Jacob's Ladder, and I didn't expect it--in fact, I almost didn't order it.

 

In the bottle--sweet mint (spearmint?) and the slushy notes I get in Beth's winter blends like Skadi, Snow Bunny, etc.

 

On the skin, its lovely creamy mint--not as buttery as Snowblind, but it does have a sweet candy scent which I love (and not too sweet either--I agree that it is less sweet, somehow, than Snow Bunny, but it does have some evergreen in it too). And I get the greenness other people mentioned too. What it reminds me of is mint crushed under snow.

 

I like it!

[Penance]

Preconceived notions:

 

Another one that I want to love for the imagery alone. I don't normally love mints (although there are certainly exceptions - Snowblind being one of them), but something about this was calling me and I had to try it.

 

First sniff:

 

Smells a bit like those after dinner mints...spearminty and pepperminty at the same time. Warmer than I'd expected, but not as warm as Snowblind. This certainly isn't sharp and stabbing the way some mint blends can be, but it's not a soothing, creamy mint, either.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Creamy but not as creamy as Snowblind. Sweet and pepperminty, but not sharp and stabbing. It is a bit candy-like, but at the same time it's almost like freshly picked peppermint sprigs. I smell something almost like fir or evergreen in here, too, which is odd since it's not mentioned in the description.

 

Dry down;

 

There's something almost aquatic here, too...a bit snowy, but a bit sweet. I get mint and evergreen and something akin to BPAL's sweet aquatic blends (the ones that normally make me break out in hives for some reason). No hives yet, but that could be because this isn't really a sweet aquatic and just smells like one (there is a hint of ozone here that suggests that it's not). This is completely not what I was expecting but quite beautiful!

 

The bottom line:

 

I was expecting pure mint, but Nuclear Winter is so much more. Mint, evergreen, ozone...this is a very unusual, barren cold scent. I love it!

[bristlecone]

This reminds me a bit of Tulzscha at first, then Frost Moon and Talvikuu a bit later, but in the end it's completely original. If it were a color, I'd say it would be silvery-green (whereas Tulzscha is bright green, Frost Moon is teal, and Talvikuu is deep blue).

 

I wish I could think of more things to write, but I can't, so I'll just say it's gorgeous, I'm glad I got a hold of a decant, and I may have to purchase a bottle.

Edited January 6, 2006 by bristlecone

[donsixgun]

A very 'bright' aquatic, with a bit of mint underneath it. I didnt care too much for it.

[SeaMonkey]

I wasn't even going to try this because I don't really care for mints, but grabbed an imp of it off a forumite.

 

In the vial, yeah, its minty. When I put it on, I'm not getting too much mint. It starts to lose any semblance of mint as it dries and starts to smell fairly masculine.

 

But then........what's this? Its starting to smell a lot like my beloved Buck Moon! I'm starting to wonder if I got a mislabeled imp. I hope not because I'm in love with this and I'm thinking of ordering a bottle.

[LittleGreyKitten]

This scent is quite amazing in the way it does fit it's name. I had to try it, just to know what nuclear winter would smell like. Anyway, on me the mint is really rather potent, and there's this pungent green smell that keeps getting stronger and stronger. I really did think it captured an image with a scent amazingly well. The mint never faded out completely but it definitely did somewhat, leaving a hint of cold sweetness and a potent, pungent green note. Definitely could be unisex.

 

Like lots of BPAL blends it definitely grew on me. It smells less pungent, in a happy way.

 

When I offered an anointed wrist to the husband to sniff he said "Hmm. Can I eat you?" I assume it was a positive response to Nuclear Winter!

 

Then, later I offered him the bottle to sniff and he begged to be Nuclear Wintered. It was really cool to watch him get really into sniffing it and trying to analyze the notes and stuff. I had him read the online descrip and he was amazed at how well it went with the scent. I fear I may need a second bottle! Last I saw he was smearing it all over himself ;p It does smell amazing on him too I have to say, and I've caught him nose/wristing quite a bit the past few hours. I think BPAL may have another fan... which is remarkable since he's um, not exactly the smelly-stuff loving type usually. He also has tried Talvikuu and Bed of Nails and has loved those two as well.

Edited January 21, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[mandragora]

I was given a frimp of this by a fellow forum member (thanks Atropos!). At first sniff, Nuclear Winter is a cold minty scent, chilly even ::brrr::. On me, it's crisp and clean with light herbal green yet still minty feeling. This scent becomes softly sweet, melon cucumberish note. It smells fabulous. This goes to my favorites list and will be ordering a big bottle.

 

ETA: Lovely scent, I stocked up (5 imps and 2 bottles)

Edited February 4, 2006 by mandragora

[delerone]

In the bottle: Sharp, stark mints.

 

Wet: This is very clean-smelling. There's definitely a minty component to it, but it's not a mint I'd want to eat. To my nose, it smells slightly astringent. After an hour or so, it starts to get more creamy. I like this a lot! Staying power (on me) is very good as well.