Snow Moon

[Lady Ravenglass]

In December, the skeletal, ice-rimmed fingers of winter take hold, and the nights are long, chill and dark. The first flurries of snow touch the land, and the earth itself becomes quiet. A scent of purity and silence, soft with falling snow, as dark as Midwinter: an icy flurry over the winter blooms of narcissus, pansy crocus, dahlia, tulip, chrysanthemum and white rose, with a hint of fir and birch.

Pine. Pine, pine, pine. Fir.

Where are my damned snow-drenched florals?! Oh well Can't win 'em all.

I am not a pine-friendly girl, so the blend just sat and was pine-y at me. A pity, but there you go. Sadly, I didn't get anything else from it either. Like Yuletide, it was a one-note affair on my skin, and didn't really change or morph at all. Poot. If you like pine and fir and green, you'll love Snow Moon. Edited July 13, 2006 by Shollin

[chapatti]

First whiff: PINE!

Strong pine, very fresh, with a slight sour note. There's something I can't identify sparkling behind it, too.

 

Drydown: still pine, thankfully without that horrible sour/aquatic note from Snow Bunny. There's a slight hint of... berries(?) and a soft flowery waft, too.

As it goes, the pine stays true, while the flowers take a frankly fruity note, it doesn't scream FLORAL GALORE at all, contrary to what the list of notes would have you believe.

The resulting scent is quite pleasant, very winter-y.

 

Verdict: I don't like pine, so of course I'm biased. But for a pine scent, it's quite nice and much better than yucky Snow Bunny but that's not hard anywayz yuck yuck.

 

5/10

[wyldeflower]

When Snow Moon became available for purchase, I read the description and thought that the notes didn't sound like they would agree with me. I have learned from past experience, though, that it's much easier to just order the lunacy blends when they are available, instead of scrounging later so I took the plunge.

 

When it arrived, I opened the bottle to sniff and thought 'oh no'. I didn't think this was gonna work but put some on to test. When first applied it smelled like a cold, dark and snowy forest but I could tell that there was a promise of something more to come. Instead of washing it off, I decided to wait and see where this was going. I'm so glad I did! Within a minute or two, a light sweetness revealed itself like a breeze of berries and confirmed that there was more than just a dark, snowy and desolate forest where nothing could grow. After a while, I had found the clearing in the forest where field of sweet berries and snow flowers were just barely dusted with snow.

 

I'm so glad I have 4 bottles!

Edited May 17, 2006 by wyldeflower

[jewelbug]

Okay, so I’m gonna qualify this review with the fact that the description was unappealing enough to me that I only got a decant, and not a bottle (after making a rule to just buy every moon)…. I'm not a floral fan, and piney smells are quite hit or miss with me. Usually miss…

 

Imp: Mostly, this smells of piney cough drops to me. I know eucalyptus isn’t listed as a note, but this really smells like menthol/euc drops scattered under a pine tree. There is a bit of floral, too.

 

Wet: Sweet coughdrops still. There is a hint of “overripeness” to this. Like overripe red winterberries, if that’s possible. There are florals, but this is predominantly an evergreen/cool scent.

 

Drying: As this dries, it gets more like fresh green flower stems and develops a hint of powdery floral, but its still mostly wreaths and coughdrops.

 

Dry: The cough-drop is much less invasive now. It's more of an astringent evergreen with flowers. It's nicer, but it's not me. There is still the hint of overripe holly berries… Stays true to this scent until about the 8 hr mark, by which time it's faded to barely perceptible winter air on me. Throw is light to medium.

Overall: I think this very well portrayed the feeling of cold. The evergreen/eucalyptus makes it quite chill. It rather invokes Christmas time in the outdoors (rather than the foody/cozy indoor Christmas smell). I think Beth did what she set out to accomplish with this blend, and I am glad I got to experience it, but its just not the sort of scent I dig. I'm gifting this to a friend.

[jazlyn]

Snow Moon really reminds me of Snow Bunny; they were both odd scents to me. There are small, cold flowers and there’s pine/fir… sounds like they’d work together, but that wasn’t the case for me. Snow Bunny was more girlie and powdery I think, but other than that these two are pretty much the same!

[Voleuse]

Wet, this is strongly reminiscent of other snowy evergreen scents I've adored--Snow Bunny, Skadi, Ice Queen, Talvikuu. It's icy and prickly sharp. I'll powerless against these notes.

 

As it dries, however, it becomes greener. It's no less cold, but it's not encased in ice anymore. What's more, I begin to smell the floral notes mentioned in the description. They're definitely a backdrop to the evergreen on me, but it adds a nice, sweet complexity to the blend. Definitely a keeper.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I am chuffed that my decant of Snow Moon arrived the very day I used up the last of my decant of Snow Bunny. I like to use scents for the season and only keep bottles of my very-very favs (and even at that the stash keeps growing!).

 

At first sniff I thought I had more Snow Bunny--crisp fir over somethin' sweet. But almost at once the "sweet" bloomed into a complex floral bouquet, much stronger than S'Bun's touch of candied perfume. There's something effervescent and nose-tickling in here--what *is* that? I don't recognize it. It really does smell like a carbonated bouqet, as odd as that sounds.

 

This and the Inquisition imps should see me through the rest of the season nicely.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Imp from my Imp Pimp, Diana.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I didn't order this because of the floral notes, even if I do love fir and birch. Floral notes work for me maybe once in a blue moon and I just don't like them, but I seem to remember some people comparing this to Skadi, so it could theoretically end up being a scent I love if it really does smell like Skadi.

 

First sniff:

 

Well, I'll be damned, there is something Skadi-esque about this one for some reason. The florals aren't the main component here, strangely. Instead it's more of a fir and slushy snow with florals in the background kind of scent.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This reminds me of a mix of Talvikuu and Skadi with a touch of floral thrown in. It's very pretty and not what I was anticipating based on the description at all. I think I prefer Snow Bunny to this for some reason, but this comes in a close second to it as a replacement for Skadi.

 

Dry down:

 

A bit more floral now, but pretty much the same as when it was wet.

 

The bottom line:

 

I like this so much more than I'd expected to!

Edited February 16, 2006 by Penance

[Neely]

In the bottle: frozen citrus and florals.

 

Wet: frozen aquatic citrus and florals.

 

Dry down: smells like Skadi but with citrus rather than berries.

 

30 minutes: now it smells like Skadi and Talvikuu had a child. The older sophisticated sister to to Snow Bunny.

 

Conclusion: Of course I love another LE which I can't have. But I will enjoy my imp. Thanks to Mandragora, you rock girl!

 

Rating 1-5 on my skin, this is a 4.5.

[candygirl]

I thought this smelled floral tinged with pine, but Mr. CG said it smelled fruity. Just goes to show that different noses smell different things (one girl I know thinks butter smells like wet dog)! Ahem, back to Snow Moon. After about half an hour, there is a sweeter note of soft vanilla emerging but the piney floral still dominates. It definitely evokes a wintery feeling, but I'm not sure this scent is for me.

[feline.by.design]

I'm just trying this now. I know, it's taken me way long to crack open my bottle to see how I like it on my skin. I don't know why it's taken me so long. I got it from the Lab, even. I really am quite behind. I haven't even tried on my bottle of Beatrice!

 

This smells very similar to Skadi and the Ice Queen, though I no longer have my bottles to compare. It's a very frosty scent, cold and icy. It isn't overwhelmingly minty, which is what I fear when dealing with cold, wintery scents. I pefer scents with pine than with mint, and Snow Moon works for me.

 

It smells like a nice cold glass of gin. Ahh. Gin.

 

Snow Moon, I imagine, is what a lot of people were hoping Numb to be like. Snow Moon would most assuredly be very refreshing during the summer months. In Florida, I believe our summer starts up sometime in April or May, so perhaps I'm not late in the game with testing this after all.

 

-doreen

[storme]

In the imp: fir and ginger and florals.

 

On me, wet: floral and ginger and fir. there's a grapefruit-ish sort of scent in it, too, slightly sweet but sharp.

 

On me, dry: pine and sugary sweetness - a berryish sort of scent. I can only smell the florals faintly, but mostly this is sweet but cold - sugared ice.

 

Verdict: it's a bit sweeter than I want from a winter scent - nice enough, but not quite good enough to keep.

[MistressTera]

Fresh From The Imp: Crisp and clean, like falling snow.

 

Wet On My Flesh: Now I'm reminded of fresh-cut grass, though it's still a crisp/clean smell.

 

Drying Down: Whoops. Now the fir is drowning out everything else on my wrist. I smell like a fresh-cut Christmas tree.

 

Hour To Integrate: The fir has backed off, leaving a pleasant aroma behind.

 

End Of Day/Final Report: While I like this, I don't like it enough to track it down and hoarde it.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Snow-covered boughs of fir or pine. The floral notes make this almost fruity in the bottle. I can't detect any of them specifically, only the bouquet as a whole.

On me: It's almost purely pine - a sweet pine, and for the first tem minutes ago it was chilled with some floral components. But my skin amplifies wood (so I really ought to learn to like it) and it's overwhelmingly evergreen now.

Edited April 14, 2006 by k00kaburra

[nancybridget]

Fir is the dominant note on me, and I am enjoying this blend.

 

The flowers are airy, and even though its not listed, I'm catching a sugar or vanilla base.

 

If it was wintertime, I'd be all over this one.

Edited April 21, 2006 by nancybridget

[Cielamara]

Snow Moon. I've obsessed about this one since I missed being able to get it when it was originally released. I managed to nab a decant--and then a bottle--of it here on the forums.

 

In the imp: WHOA. That's like being bitchslapped by a pine tree. Yikes.

 

Wet: That pine tree is pissed off at me. It keeps walloping me from my wrist as I write. Oh, I'm hoping it settles down. I had such hopes for those pretty pale florals in it.

 

Settling: Oh...oooh! Yes! There are florals! Just like with Storm Moon *swoons* those biting woodsy notes are taking a back seat to the pale wet florals. Of course, at moments it seems a bit mannish on me, almost masculine. But that's okay. I like this cool, soft, snowy blend. Maaaybe it's better suited for my new tart/oil burner *purrs* but it doesn't smell half bad on me.

 

Drydown: Oh, how lovely. This is Snow Moon to me. This is pale, sweet snow, glittering in the moonlight. It's got the evergreen, but it's soft and shadowy against that pale bright moonlit snow. Mmmmm, this is lovely.

 

Blends like this make me feel a deep love for humanity. Okay, so maybe just for Beth, but still.

[isyche]

I've had an imp of Snow Moon waiting to be tested for a while and finally got to it.

 

It's much sweeter than I was expecting; my first reaction was "This is like a super-sweet Dublin." Then it turns more distinctly pine and sweet citrus with a fizzy/heady edge to it, so that the combination makes me think of pine-scented Sprite or something. Finally, the pine goes away and leaves a sweet candy-fruit scent.

 

verdict: I wish it smelled like the description, but my skin amps up the sweetness and I can't deal with the weird Sprite phase.

[dragonryder]

Oh the pine, the pine! At first, the pine was definitely the only scent I could smell, but knowing Beth's magic of changing, I decided to wait for the final results. I'm so glad I did. The scents of winter blooms came through and reminds me of the holidays at home. I can see the quiet winter nights with big snowflakes falling.

[Melantha]

In the bottle: Spicy, pine-y, cold. My DS said, "I wanna eat the pretty smell!"

 

On: The pine/fir blooms, then pulls back to reveal the bark and flowers. It smells cold, like I'm walking through a forest in the snow.

 

Oh, I'm so glad I got this!

[Muppetk]

Unbelievable. My skin hates narcissus. And Crocus. And I usually hate pine scents.

 

But this is NEAT. (At least wet. It's still drying.) It's a soft fir/pine, not overwhelming at all. It doesn't make my nose burn OR sneeze. And there's almost a feeling of slight fruitiness around it. Maybe lemon? Maybe tulip? Tulip has a lush scent. More like sweet lemon, meyer lemon.

 

Snow Moon has some serious throw for the first 15 minutes or so, then falls off a bit, and isn't quite so amazing, but still quite nice.

 

It's the only scent like this that I've liked. It's not especially me, but I think I'll keep it for the rare conifer mood.

[mirutai]

Ok, either my nose or my chemistry is out of whack, because I don't get pine from Snow Moon. No, I get... pineapple. Sugared, candied pineapple with a hint of... banana? What?

 

If I read the description while sniffing my wrist, I can juuuuust about persuade myself that I can separate out the scent into sweet flowers over a woody, light pine note. Ah, the power of suggestion! However, if I just sniff with no preconceptions, my brain insists that it's smelling a very sweet tropical fruit salad. It's too candyish to be enjoyable for me - it's like pineapple chewing gum.

 

Very, very weird. Snow Queen turned tropical on me as well - maybe my skin/nose is doing something strange with the "snow" note!

[zankoku_zen]

Another lovely gift from the ever geneous jewelbug

 

I've never been one for the moons. Most of the time, they don't really appeal to me. The only one I really want to try is the ever elusive Blue Moon and I might as well give up on that. Also, most of the wintery scents like Skadi and Snow White have not worked on me.

 

In the imp: Pine Galore. I don't mind the smell of pine. One of the things that I loved about my sojourn in the US was getting a real pine tree. The smell, which my brain doesn't automatically associate with Christmas, does remind me to intense bitter cold. At least, for a person who grew up in the tropics, it was intense bitter cold.

 

On Skin: Smells like pine and a wood. I think its fir. There's an underlying smell of light florals (I do get the image of white flowers) and a certain chilliness to it all.

 

Every time I sniff, I smell the pines and the woodsy smell... and oddly enough, it seems to clear my sinuses.

 

After 15 minutes, either I've gotten to the pine smell or its fallen into the background, and now I just get a slightly chilly/minty impression, light florals but it still is pretty woodsy.

 

Twenty five minutes in, the entire scent just sort of "fades" into my skin (admittedly, I only dabbed a teeny bit on). I get whisps of clean, slightly piney on my skin.

 

Verdict: Maybe its just me and I'm a bit of a weirdo but I like Christmas smells more when it's not the season --- maybe because during the season everything smells the same, be it in a store, in a mall, or visiting people's houses. I don't think I'd ever really wear this as a regular perfume because its not my type of thing. But I am extremely fond of the smell despite that.

 

This does remind me of winter, walking in the woods, the smell of pine and the chilliness you get on your skin from the temperature drops when you walk outside. I have to applaud Beth for such a complex smelling scent.

[Elrianra]

This is cool and sweet but bitter with a touch of longing, in the bottle I can smell something floral faintly through the fir and birch - like standing at the edge of a frozen river, downwind of a small garden in the first frosts, with a bank of trees between you and that haven of tamed beauty. The tulips and crocus are pushing their blossoms through the ice stubbornly while the rose lends its branches to shelter some of the more tentative florals, a heady blend from which I can't pull dahlia or narcissus or chrysanthemum. Once on, the ice melts a bit, as a weak winter sun shines down on the garden. The birch sap trickles slowly down my arms while the rose petals pool thick and heavy in my upturned palms, a soft snowy blanket for the other flowers to lay upon - at once a low note and yet a patient one, certain of it's own beauty and willing to share and let you see and smell and feel the other flowers as well. The fir wavers in and out of distinction, not a large tree at all but saplings, swayed by the softest wind. It's all there in ever changing variations of floral and wood and ice, all at once cold and inviting and beautiful with just the slightest hint of lazy waiting.

[Alchemy21599]

This imp was a gift and I had no idea what to expect.

 

In the vial: fir trees in the winter.

 

Wet: cold fir trees and eucalyptus.

 

Dry: still cold fir trees and eucalyptus.

 

I will use this as a home scent rather than perfume.

[gwyllgi]

When I first put this on, it had been ages since I'd read the description and couldn't remember the notes in it. It has a sharp, almost medicinal edge that made me think 'benzoin' even though it doesn't smell much like benzoin. It's only now, reading the notes, that I realize that it's actually pine. BPAL's pine is different from most pine scents I've tried before - which is a good thing, as I usually despise pine.

 

This is indeed a perfect snow scent; it makes me feel like I'm tromping through the woods just after a healthy snow storm. My woods aren't much for pine, but we have plenty of birch, and the sweet sharpness of Snow Moon perfectly embodies the general overview.

 

It's perhaps not ideal for a summer scent, but it'll be nice once the temperatures start dropping again.