Snow White

[aleciarivas]

A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers.

This is the 2007 version. It's been one of my favorites for years, and is one of the very few faves that is not a foodie blend! This is also one of the few rose scents I love- and the rose does NOT amp on me (for once). It is light and airy and very, very lovely. This is one of those scents I tried and immediately stocked up on- and there have NOT been many of those! Beautiful and sweet and delicate!

[Alethia]

I've got the 2009 version here, for reference.

 

Wet, it's almost heartbreakingly beautiful. I can't even describe it, except that it's simply stunning.

 

Dry down: This morphed into pure, scented cat litter on me. What?! For about 45 minutes, all I got was pure cat litter.

 

Dry: Now it's a little calmer, and is a lovely vanilla floral. It's soft and feminine and sweet, not powdery at all (which is an excellent thing).

 

Verdict: The cat litter stage is almost unbearable. I was the only one who smelled it though, because when I waved my arm at my mother going "OH MY GOD I SMELL LIKE A CAT PAN!!!!" she took a deep whiff, smiled, and said "That's the first of your BPALs that I would wear. It smells nothing like cat litter! It's beautiful!" So I think that this needs retesting (I'm very close to that time of the month, which has been known to turn even dependable blends into their Mr. Hyde counterpart) and if I still get cat litter, my lovely mother gets the imp!

[LizMarivi]

I was generously frimped an imp of Snow White 2010 and I was so excited to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Outside of the imp: Smelled SOOO good! I couldn't wait to try it out.

 

In the imp: Burned doll rubber with a hint of almond and sweetness. Maybe the rubber smell will go away after I apply it?

 

Wet on skin: ^ See above, with the added feeling of utter disappointment.

 

Dry (an hour later): I still get that rubber smell though it has lightened up a bit (but definitely takes center stage nonetheless). Under the rubber smell though is a really nice sweet, floral-y almondy scent, similar to what I smelled on the outside of the imp. If the rubber wasn't there I would TOTALLY be in love with Snow White.

 

Conclusion: Not sure what went wrong... this has been aged so I'm bummed. Maybe the 2011 version will be better? Or maybe Snow White and I just weren't meant to be. lol

[mollyfatale]

2011 version

 

I am new to BPAL and reading on bpal.org informed me that Snow White was pretty much THE YULE to get. So when I saw that it was offered this year - in my cart it went!

 

in the bottle: OH MY GOD this is almost identical to Lush's Snowcake Soap. Having been a Lush fan far longer than BPAL I was almost delighted to smell this. Definitely almondy, sugary, marzipan. There is an element of plastic-ness about it (people posting before have named 'doll plastic', i have to agree. Its a bit intimidating in the bottle. I really want this to work on me and my first time wearing it it was like OH MY GOD my worst fears have come true...

 

But here is the tricky thing. When I got my yule order i tried on like five other perfumes and it just didn't smell right, so i decided to give it another shot. This is the thing that I am learning with BPAL is that learning these scents is not instant gratification. You need to give them a few chances before you make up your mind completely.

 

But i've been wearing it non-stop since. It is a bit "foody"..it reminds me of raw sugar cookie dough. Not really warm...just kind of uncooked and cold but still delicious smelling. The almond is still present for me. It is a bit floral but only in the most faint whisper.

 

I am a preschool teacher and can definitely seeing using this for school days. Its soft and calming and not inappropriate. I love it. Already considering a back up bottle to get through the year!

[SadariEvenstar]

2011 version:

 

When I put this on wet it smelled just like Playdough. Magic happened when I rubbed it in though and the Playdough scent went away immediately. Now it's definitely a warm vanilla/almond scent with just a hint of coconut. It reminds of Eden, which I happened to have put on this morning so it was fresh in my mind.

[pHyper]

2011 Snow White

 

This smells like vanilla and I think pineapple. There is a coconut smell beneath the vanilla and pineapple. It's really strong and warm straight from the bottle and while wet. Once it is dry and has calmed down it smells cold and a mint shows up. I like it, but it's not my favorite.

[Sateki]

2011: Smells like snow and something vaguely nutty, or perhaps that's the coconut. Later on becomes a snowy coconut. Very soft and feminine. I quite like it! Need to be an inch away from the skin to smell it, but it lasts for the whole day!

Edited January 4, 2012 by Sateki

[becca_s]

I am new to BPAL so this is my first version of Snow White (2011) - and I love it

 

It's such a soft and delicate perfume. I can smell something vanilla in it and maybe berries?

[lavenderfrost]

Decanted imp from the 2011 version.

 

In The Imp: Coconut and pineapple. Throw in some rum and you'd have a piña colada.

 

Immediate Application: Pretty much the same. I feel like this would be a bar-hopping girls'-night-out blend. Y'know - if I bar-hopped. ^^;;

 

30-45 Minutes Later: Piña colada meets frozen sugar cookie dough? Not sure how else to explain. Very chilly, very sweet, very fun. Like a couple having a snowball fight that dissolves into a tickle-match.

 

Verdict: Jury's still out on whether I'll buy a bottle. It definitely bears re-testing, and even if I don't buy a full 5ml, I'm hanging onto the imp.

Edited January 8, 2012 by lavenderfrost

[Circaea]

2011 version. I will concur with the reviewer who called this heartbreakingly beautiful. Sweet, but delicately demure coconut and something else, something too pretty to be edible... Something indefinable, as if the Lab had bottled an angelic prayer or an instant of true adoration...

 

And then, my third or fourth wearing, this one turned to burnt power cord on me. I wear it in a scent locket now, with a sensation of unworthiness, as if I have failed some moral test. Ah well, there's always my friend Debauchery, which actually smells good on me. (You, my civety friend, know my true nature.)

[AnyseLawsBray]

In bottle: Sweet, cold, with an odd tang.

Wet: Ah, I have a feeling these night-blooming flowers include jasmine, which is hit or miss for me. I am also getting some almondish-coconutish whiffs. Almost husky or musky?

Dry: Smells... melted. Like a wad of jasmine blooms fell off the vine into a slushy, icy mudpuddle. Actually, exactly like that! How odd.

[yuniper]

Snow White 2011 on me is sweet almond and vanilla

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is from a decant circle. I'm glad I got the chance to try this before springing for the price of a full bottle!

 

In the imp: Vanilla and white flowers. It's kind of a strange combination - the sweetness of the vanilla gives the florals a hint of the sweetness of decay that makes this seem the tiniest bit skanky to me. Like cut flowers that have been in the vase too long and are starting to brown and wilt.

 

On me, wet: Slightly less sweet on me, but otherwise the same.

 

After 10 minutes: Leaning away from the florals and more towards the vanilla. I know that this is one of BPL's most popular scents, and I usually adore florals, so maybe it's just me, but I don't like this all that much. That tinge of rankness bothers me. And I'm not a fan of vanilla, either.

 

After 15 minutes: The scent has picked up some coconut and maybe a breath of pineapple, but is still mostly vanilla with an undertone of florals. And it has become super plastic-y, without losing any of that note of sweet decay.

 

After 30 minutes: Little change. If anything, the note of decay has strengthened and developed a musty aspect. There's some of the marzipan that others have mentioned. It reminds me of being on a diet where I had to drink skim milk every day. I don't like milk - especially skim - so I flavored it with Equal sweetener and almond extract to make it bearable. Not a great memory. It was okay, but I'd so rather have skipped the milk and had some real marzipan instead. This gives me that same sense of artificial almond flavor.

 

After 4 hours: The skanky note is completely gone, and most of the plastic smell as well; leaving a scent that is now 100% pleasant, but also 100% foody since the floral note has also vanished. It's mostly vanilla and coconut, with some marzipan and a hint of pineapple.

 

After 8 hours: No further change as it gradually fades away. There is still some fragrance left on my wrist.

 

Verdict: I don't like this. Too foody, and with that skanky "off" note as well. I won't be wearing it, but I think I will keep the imp for future reference.

 

My rating: 1 star

[Altaira]

2011 version.

 

In decant: A medium strength vanilla with hints of coconut and cat-poop jasmine.

 

On skin: Mostly coconut with cloying headache inducing flowers. At least the dirty littler box scent has gone away. The vanilla has faded far into the background.

 

The best I can say is it's not as gross of Pink Snowballs. But this just doesn't work for me at all.

[absalem]

Okay. Uhhhh. How to put this....

 

When I first sniffed my decant I thought to myself "So this is Snow White. Smells pretty good, I'll give it a go."

 

I put it on. Well, that's an under-exaggeration. I'd just taken a shower, so I slathered it on my neck, ears, wrists, and combed it through my hair. Within a minute, great wafts of plastic were coming up from everywhere. Disheartened, and hoping it would be better dry, I skulked downstairs to watch television with my family. My mother - who is notoriously critical of my perfumes - immediately says "what's that?" Expecting a negative comment I replied something along the lines of: "It's my perfume, it's kinda nasty, I know."

 

Unexpectedly, my mother began raving about how beautiful I smelled, and demanded to huff me. She made my sister smell me when she came home, and my sister also said I smelled great.

 

Now, a month later, it still smells like plastic to me, but my family loves it. I kept the decant because it gets a good reaction, but it makes my nose crumple everytime I wear it. Kinda like how only certain people can taste that bitter chemical in brussel-sprouts, I guess. I think it may be coconut? I also smelled something plastic-y in Goblin (which my mother also adored ) and vanilla and florals have never gone off on me before.

 

Still, it gets good reactions, has great throw, and lasts fairly well... I guess if your nose likes it, it's a good scent. Just be aware that some people will wanna plug their noses.

[lilyliza]

2011 version

 

In the imp: A really innocuous scent that's hard to describe. Airy, a little watery, slightly creamy. Doesn't offend me, doesn't grab me.

 

Wet, on my skin: Innocuous scent plus a piercingly sweet note. It reminds me of Sprinklecake, it's so sweet, only it's drowning out the rest of the notes. I don't mind sugar rush-sweet, but definitely not as a single note.

 

Drydown: After a deathmatch on my skin between the sweet and the innocuous (which the innocuous wins, thank goodness), this starts to blend more. Now it's creamier, still pretty sweet. I like it better now- somehow it reminds me more of snow, I guess because it is just the tiniest bit powdery. Now I finally get the flowers. I don't mind the sweetness from the florals, as it's a lot softer and smoother. I think the sweet note from earlier was some kind of almond- it was just really sharp.

 

Dry: The same smell, but softer and a little bit more powdery, although not overwhelmingly so.

 

It is pretty, but it's not my style at all.

[MadameFaye84]

Snow White 2011 Version

 

Utter and total love! Snow White was my first BPAL purchase and it did not disappoint. On me I get creamy vanilla with a subtle hit of flowers. Not sure what night-blooming flowers are really. Snow White stays close to the body, which I love since I'm not a huge fan of heavy throw that knocks people for a loop as you walk by, lol. Find myself sniffing my wrist often when wearing this. Must look like a crazy person to anyone that is watching . I live in a rather 'snowy' state and Snow White reminds one of those days where the snow is fresh and lightly falling. Love it! So glad I bought a back up bottle of this beauty.

[starsinhereyes]

Oh this is lovely! Sweet vanilla, snow, and just the slightest bit of coconut. It's a gentle skin scent, but it lasts for hours. I may need another bottle of this.

[Helas]

I mainly expected white flowers and cool vanilla from Snow White - not my sort of thing, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It actually smells like a pina colada smoothie to me, sweeter than a regular pina colada and without the booze. There is also an odd, inorganic, almost mineral vanilla note that wafts in and out. It is similar to the vanilla note in Black Opal, which smelled like Barbie crotch to me, but somehow I enjoy it in Snow White. It imparts a cool, detached, slightly inhuman beauty to the scent. My visual impression is a white granite angel statue holding a tropical drink with a little umbrella in it. Odd, quirky, totally unlike what I expected.

[OctoberGwen]

2011 version

 

I like this very much: it's soft and white and pretty, without the dreaded snow/slush note that I was expecting.

 

Sadly, my skin devours it in a matter of minutes. I'll use up my tester in my scent locket, but won't spring for a bottle.

Edited January 30, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[Incendiare]

2011: Classic Snow White. So magical and nothing like its description. Normally I cannot stand snow notes, and I always associate night-blooming flowers with jasmine, which rarely works for me. Luckily I get neither of those notes in Snow White. It's hard to give a mega accurate description, but it actually smells more like coconut than anything else. Actually, it's like Lush's Snowcake minus the almond. This year's smells chillier than last year's. I love it all and cannot wait to get more.

[aphrodite]

ugh. whatever night flowers are in here do not work for me, at least in this combo. there's something i almost want to like, but mostly it's like an offputtingly sweet floral with crushed chalk and soapiness.

Edited February 5, 2012 by aphrodite

[thekittenkat]

This is for the 2011 version.

 

In the bottle: The lovely icy snow note and a whiff of coconut vanilla drink.

 

Wet: The ozone is very present.

 

The dry-down: This year's version is mostly ozone and some sweetness from the flowers. The coconut/vanilla note went poof! the moment it hit my skin. This will need some aging.

 

ETA: After an hour or so, the lovely cold coconut scent that I am used to in early versions of Snow White started drifting up from my wrists, I am happy to report.

Edited February 6, 2012 by thekittenkat

[Floria]

It's a perfectly pleasant smell, creamy and light but with decent staying power, but I confess to being just a bit disappointed. It's a lot like Dana O'Shee to my nose - not identical, but the main creamy note is very similar - and I already own a big bottle of DO'S.

[aentee]

2011:

 

I am so sad, I really wanted to love this scent. It smelled lovely in the bottle, a bit like Lush Snow Cake but colder, with a hint of white florals. But on my skin it mostly became plastic & almond, yeah I don't know where that came from either I got no vanilla or sweet notes that people are mentioning. But I'm not ready to give up yet, I'll try again when it's no longer my time of the month.

 

It has good staying power though, I tried to wash it off because I couldn't handle the plastic smell, but I still get wafts of it even 4 hours after application. Maybe it will fare better on someone with different skin chemistry.

Edited February 19, 2012 by aentee