Black Ice

[Seelix]

Lovely, dangerous, slick, and bitterly cold: chilly white sleet-like notes with a hint of vetiver, a breath of smoky asphalt, and winter wind.

I actually didn't like this the first time I tested it, and washed it off after about 20 minutes. I must have had too much coffee (which makes me amp dark scents oddly) that day because I wore it yesterday and I have never smelled anything so perfect. It's a dry, slushy/icy smell. Little bit of vetiver, a little bit aquatic, and several other things that I just can't pinpoint.

This is extremely long lasting. I put it on yesterday morning before a 15 hour work day, and I could spell it this morning when I woke up. It changes nicely throughout the day too. My favorite stage is about 4 hours after applying it. It morphs into this beautiful violet-ish ice. Not a sugared violet, but a violet frozen in a late frost with green all around it.

I will be buying at least two bottles of this and hoarding it like crazy. I could see wearing this every day.

Also, everyone around me loved it too. They couldn't seem to pinpoint it as perfume, but there were lots of "Something smells good! What is it?" ::sniff some more:: "Oh, that's you!"

[steffanina]

Black Ice-

 

In Bottle: Strong perfumey-cologne-y aquatic, and there's a hint of spearmint.

 

Wet: Aquatic, not too strong, and that bit of spearmint in the background.

 

Dry: What a lovely light aquatic! I'm so pleased that it's not too heavy on me. This is one of my favorite aquatics now.

 

Overall: I like!

[yeahbutnobut]

Black Ice

 

In the imp: dark, cold, slightly aquatic-ozonic. Smells like a man’s perfume, but different to other ‘snow/ice’ scents.

Wet on skin: cold, almost minty now, dark aquatic notes.

Dry: mmm, now it’s sweeter, this smells a little bit like the mint from Lush’s Demon in the Dark soap, with added aquatic-cologne-ozone notes. it’s almost a salty aquatic scent, reminiscent of City in the Sea, but the soft, almost creamy mint scent adds an icy feel. it reminds me either of Frost or Cold Moon, but darkened. There’s a definite feel of darkness and dirt here, I can smell a little hint of asphalt but it’s surprisingly nice, not overwhelming or making me smell like I’ve been tarred. The vetiver, it seems, is of the lighter, softer kind, like in Bitter Moon.

After a while: the mint-like scent lingers, now it reminds me of the pine-menthol component of Beth’s snow blend, but with a slightly salty, fresh aquatic note. At first I was a little puzzled as to why this smells salty and now I understand…I’m not sure if this is intentional, but I’m reminded of how they remove black ice from the road with huge gritting trucks full of salt. I love the way that even that is captured in scent! I’m amazed at how good the asphalt note is here, adding a real edge to this icy, watery, airy scent. At times, the ozone sweetens a little, it reminds me of the ‘rain’ note from other scents, but colder. Ah, so this is what the ‘sleet’ note is like, it’s certainly different from the snow note. And this ozone does have a bitter briskness like winter wind…again, I’m impressed at how Beth captures weather in scent. And I’m pleased that this aquatic scent isn’t turning to soap!

At the end, it does seem to turn to a sort of fresh scent with a hint of crisp ozone and darker green vetiver at the base. Almost like fresh laundry but a little dirtier and grittier, leaning towards masculine.

Verdict: what a fascinating scent. This works on two levels…it is a fresh, almost masculine-sporty aquatic, cool and airy and ozonic, almost like something commercial-but not quite. On the other hand it really is evocative of black ice-the cold, the slush, the scent of the road, the bracing winds of winter, even right down to a hint of saltiness from the gritters attempting to remove the cold, treacherous ice from the road. The minty, frozen aquatic note used here is halfway between the ‘rain’ note and the ‘snow’ notes, which seems apt for sleet and slush. The vetiver is perfect-not pungent or overwhelming but adding the right amount of earthiness. The asphalt note really took me by surprise-I was expecting full-on tarmac but I get just a hint of dark roughness with a hint of tar, which really adds character. It’s not something I’d get a bottle of-it does smell more like something that would be nicer on a man, but I’m keeping the decant of this unique and different take on a winter scent, and it works better on me than I expected.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes, for the decant.

If you like this, try: Cthuhlu, Hurricane, Sea of Glass, Dirty, Jolasveinar, Numb

[storme]

In the imp: Whoa, lots of that fresh clean pure aquatic note that makes me think of men's aftershave.

 

On me, wet: lots of aquatics, and a hint of ozone behind it. This is nice, but sort of ephemeral-feeling - and not at all vetiver-ish.

 

On me, dry: soap. lots of very ozone-ish made-for-men soap, but still, soap.

 

Verdict: This has quite a throw, and it's a little less soapy and more aquatic at the edges of the throw, but I don't think I need to keep ths around.

[themerrybaker]

Black Ice is wonderful. It's my favorite aquatic so far after Undine. The initial heady floral rush (reminiscent of Black Moon), settles down to a cool floral cucumber smell.

 

This may become a big bottle.

[emzebel]

Mmmmmm....dark, smokey aquatic scent. Did I just say yum, aquatic? Yeah, something like that. This is the Lab icy special on a dark road at night...not my fave of the Yultides, but definitely a chilling appropriate scent.

[Koumori]

Wet, a slick icy aquatic with a hint of underlying floral. Once on, the aquatic and "darker" notes fade quickly into the background, and I'm left with a light, perfumey white floral. More sporty than cold, and not as winter-evocative for me as most of the other Yuletide scents have been. Not a keeper for me (and it gave my SO a mentholated headache, so off it goes...)

 

Rating: 3/5.

Edited December 27, 2006 by Koumori

[phedre]

In vial: pure vetiver, and maybe a touch of mint.

 

wet on skin: Oh this is pretty. the vetiver warms and softens, something almost creamy comes out. There's a light mint coming out for sure, and a white floral note.

 

drydown: it stays very close to the bottle scent. It's a bit aquatic, but mainly i smell mint and vetiver with a touch of floral. It's nice, but not a bottle for me.

[maijasu]

This is definitely an icy BPAL scent, and it does smell slightly floral, as others have mentioned. I was initially wary of the vetiver, but it doesn't take over the blend at all. I actually kind of like this, although there are so many wonderful snow/ice scents that I don't know if I really need a whole bottle. The decant, however, is a definite keeper.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

a watery floral

 

On me:

Right off the bat, I have to say that I think there is jasmine in this. Because when this is wet on my skin, just for 15 seconds, I smell that funky smell that usually indicates jasmine. Luckily, it doesn't stick around, it quickly dissipates into an aqautic floral - the floral being a rather generic floral scent, I can't pinpoint exactly what floral it is.

 

I definitely get a faint hint of what could be considered the "asphalt" - something dark and gritty behind this scent. But it's very difficult to detect and I only smell it if I put my nose right on my skin. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one though who doesn't get vetiver from this at all. I kept looking for it but I just can't smell it. In the long run, I would call this an aqautic floral - it's pretty and airy and strangely "cold" without having a menthol smell to it in my opinion.

 

Final note:

If you like Cool Water or other such aquatics, you'll probably like Black Ice. It's a very pretty, sophisticated and feminine floral aquatic. Not exactly my bag, but I like it enough to at least keep part of it.

[grifyn_whiffs]

I think I had a lot of high expectations for this one, even with the threat of vetiver. I was hoping for dark, smoky, ominous... the way Black Opal smells to me, only blacker. (I do like my "Black" BPAL blends for the most part!)

 

This one started out very nice -- a cold aquatic that just smells dark. Unfortunately, 20 minutes after that, it had gone to "department store man soap" on my skin.

[LiberAmoris]

Oooh, Black Ice definitely lives up to its name. I get the ice mingled with white slush and wind and the mineral glitter of the pavement. It reminds me a smidge of Black Opal, but as an aquatic, with the tiniest breath of ozone passing through it.

 

As a perfume, it's much more wearable than one might think---and more subtle. It has both a 'clean' vibe to it and something darker, maybe that's the vetiver that's otherwise undetectable, at least to my nose.

 

Fascinating!

[azhure]

In the vial: This really smells like chilly ice. Again I ask - how the hell does Beth do it?

On me - The icy scent only stays for the initial few minutes. Then it goes kind of muddy. Then vanishes, within about ten minutes.

[jasmine]

Initially, this is a savagely elegant blend of pale florals. It doesn’t smell at all like ice or asphalt, which is rather a relief. (When my decant order came, I spent some time staring at this one and wondering, “Asphalt? Why on earth did I order a scent that claims to smell like asphalt?”)

 

Picking the florals apart is difficult. I would wager on lily, and I suspect orchid, but aside from that... I’m really quite lost. This is one of the more perfumey blends that Black Phoenix has created, and I might disapprove if it didn’t smell so incredibly sophisticated. This is haughty, aloof, and intensely perfumey without being generic in the slightest.

 

Definitely a scent for me to remember in the future for formal occasions.

[oh_the_horror]

Noooooo! This smelled so amazing in the bottle. It smelled very perfumey but just gorgeous. Soft, minty, sexy and feminine. But once I put it on, it turned sour and soapy. There must be ozone in this one. :D

 

Now there's a floral amping on me in a bad way. It kind of smells like gardenia. I think there might also be some white musk in this which is nice. Man did this go downhill once it hit my skin.

 

I never smelled any vetiver or asphalt and vetiver usually gets pretty potent and nasty on me. I have a single drop in a vial though, not a bottle or imp, so who knows if that has something to do with it. ?

[savage_rose]

In the bottle: Light, very light. A sweet mint whisper...something ever-so-slightly berry-like. It smells so light I can barely smell anything, very understated.

 

Wet: I can smell the perfuminess now, but it smells so light.

 

Dry: It doesn't have much throw, but the best way I can describe this is haunting. Very unusual, and seems to get lighter and airier the more I wear it...the floral is so slight, it's mostly just mint and a hint of something herbal, and something slightly musky. It doesn't have a lot of throw, but it really seems to last.

[Nachtwulf]

In reading the description, I seriously didn't expect to like this, since the whole idea of 'asphalt' as a perfume note is fairly ucky (after all, who hasn't had to pass a tar truck fixing a pothole?). If I hadn't gotten to try it at a meet-and-sniff, I never would've known.

 

This is, in a nutshell, lovely. (And for once, a scent that other people have complained is soapy was, in fact, NOT on me. This is virtually unique!)

 

My impression is pretty much straight from the description, except it's not so much black ice as a cold, wet, late-autumn storm that's soaked the streets and left slush in the ditches, stirred in with the crushed leaves of fall. In a way, it's the 'urban' version of Quincey Morris... where Quincey was all fresh, wet forests and rain-drenched oilskin dusters, this is a city suffering the same downpour. The 'asphalt' note is...well... not so much I think 'blacktop' as something like 'car' or 'plastic' or something, and honestly, it shouldn't be attractive, but somehow, it works with the minty-wet-aquatic marvelously well, grounding it and keeping it from being needly or sharp.

 

It's sure not a warm, snuggy perfume, but despite that, I do find that I like it quite a bit.

[indicolite]

I am forced to make a very repugnant conclusion: vetiver does not play nice on my skin. Even worse, my skin wants to declare any presence of vetiver immediately. I have deduced what that smell was that made a lot of perfumes ruined for me, and it is the vetiver. I am in good company on this forum. But alas, Black Ice, it is not to be between the two of us: you are lovely in all the other notes I can smell, but the vetiver, ah the vetiver!

[roxyhead]

Well...it's better than Snow-Flakes, anyways. I agree with the first poster that said "cold and perfumey". The oil appears rather violently yellow colored to the extent that I can see the yellow when I put some on my skin...wonder how it'd look in an imp? I'm not sure what vetiver smells like, I don't smell anything similar between this and Black Annis, so I'm going to describe this one as white florals wielding snow shovels, ready to attack. Rather heavy white florals. Maybe even almost a little bit of lemon in there. The swap pile is screaming its name.

[Pesha]

Black Ice was the scent that made me decide that I had to buy more BPAL immediately. My favorite perfume is the limited edition Frozen Fragrance version of Cool Water and I was hoping this would smell like a darker cousin to that scent.

 

Man, I've never been so glad to be wrong.

 

In the bottle Cold with a touch of darkness, grit, and seduction -a stranger offering flowers as the wind picks up and the moon rises

 

It made me want to wax poetic and read something filthy.

 

Wet on my skin Heavier on the florals and I was worried about that as I am not generally the best with certain types of florals. I was afraid it would smell Avon on me or something, then it did this amazing thing when it dried.

 

Dry on my skin (About fifteen-twenty minutes after application) This is now the best scent ever made. It's back to that awesome scent from the bottle except the hint of flowers has almost faded away completely, leaving just a ghost of itself behind. It's not completely frozen as far as cold goes. It's more a chill wind than an actual freezing scent. It reminds me of my favorite parts of winter and it made me want to wear it every single day.

 

Rating Out of 5, I'd give this one a 4.5 if not a 5. I definitely want more and I'm so glad I managed to order some before it went off the market.

[PixieSkull]

This reminds me so much of playing in the snow as a kid, bundled up in our old neighborhood running around playing cops and robbers. It smells like the flurry of snowlakes that kicks up while running through the loose flakes in the alleyway, through the driveways and finally collapsing in a huge pile of shovelled snow.

 

*sigh* It's lovely.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Ozoney

 

On Skin: Aquatic, lightly floral, again part of me wants to compare it to Sea of Glass but the vetiver changes the 'aquatic' component in my mind.

 

On Drydown: Ozoney, sporty, aquatic. More of a male aquatic in my mind.

 

Verdict: I was hoping for something more 'snowy' or reminiscent of 'dark nights, driving down obscure roads, watchful'. I didn't get the scent of asphalt from this. It was a pleasant, if rather masculine, aquatic. Damn skin chemistry of mine. Alas, I continue to search for the wintery blend that will appease my fickle heart.

[Jilara]

Fascinating scent that I just keep sniffing, like the accident you can't look away from!

 

Wet, it reminds me of tar, must be that asphalt smell, but with a background of dark earth, and something like decay... This is the scent the La Brea Tar pits must have had, as the animals slowly sank into the mire...

 

Drydown: the aquatic note comes out, and the tar morphs into a dark background note. Slush churned on the roadside, with dirt and fir needles... It seems like a warming scent to me, in odd ways. Ice Age the Meltdown. Oh, here comes that hint of ice...how do they do that?

 

Dry: I can understand the comment on the Poison note. However, Poison makes me nauseous, but this doesn't. And I actually like this BPAL evocation, and don't like Poison. I keep thinking of a coal bog in the cretaceous, with decaying vegetation, but there wouldn't be this hint of flowers in the back, would there? To me, there are prehistoric beasts wandering around in the night, in the background of this one. It's rich, with the hints of vetiver, something haunting, mysterious, darkly menacing. It develops a fairly good throw as it settles in.

 

I wouldn't wear this one very frequently, but wow, it's a good one!

[harmonyfb]

This smells, wet to dry, like a commercial men's cologne. Must be vetiver.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: cold and almost sweet.

on: vetiver, but not a scary vetiver. cold and hard. interesting.

1 hour later: a watery, salty sort of scent.

2 hours later: still about the same. a bit soapy.

3 hours later: still the same.

overall: this is clearly not working for me.