Archangel Winter

[Coldfire]

Crystalline, glassy ice whipped by a snowstorm. Piercing ozone, winter darkness.

Imp: aquatic ozone
Wet on Me: Clean crisp aquatic ozone.
Drying Down: still aquatic…still get a cold white feeling from it, but now metal? Cold silver?
Dry: snowy silent water flowers. Sitting on a sterling silver platter in an ice hotel. WOW!

[anomie]

Bottle: Ozone and chilly water.

 

Wet: There's a slight floral hint behind the ozone, though it's definitely encased in ice.

 

Dry: Wow, that vanished super fast. I am sad, because the cool floral was really interesting.

[tinyvulture]

This is the blast of cold air that hits you when you step outside during a snowstorm, combined with the scent of smoke lingering in the air after a candle has been snuffed (sort of like Darkness). It’s as though a cold draft came in the front door and blew out the candle! I like scents that evoke such strong imagery in my mind. The wintry, slightly soapy ozone is enhanced by a touch of chill mint (just a little bit – this isn’t really a minty or foody scent). The candle smoke is, well, smoky, but not too strong. All in all, a clean, cool, pleasant scent. And it’s one of the rare occasions where I am finding ozone wearable. Hooray for that!

[pseedie]

Oooooh....ozone. Pretty heavy, but not in an air freshener way, like some of the other fragrances bpal has done (like Lightning). This fragrance is cold, bleak and simple. As the poem makes you picture....... I didn't get any smoke from my imp...perhaps time made that disappear, which for me is a good thing. I hope this reappears as a Yule, because if it does, I'm on it. The perfect fragrance for the days when your personality is a bit icy, on edge and you want to be left alone to feel the cold of the world. beautiful.

[devilot]

Archangel Winter

In the Vial: I haven't been in a snowy area really, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is what snowy places smell like.

 

Wet: Hm, almost, fruity?! Floral? I dunno what I'm smelling. It's really really interesting, though.

 

Drydown: All in all, still a clean and powdery scent.

 

Verdict: I'm definitely gonna keep the decant, but I don't think I'll be compelled to get a bottle. Nice, though, I don't have any other BPAL quite like this.

[Ishtar]

Just realised that I had never reviewd Archangel Winter, for some reason - now that mine is on its way to a better home, it's time to dig up my notes!

 

In the imp and wet, this was strangely astringent, and yes, piercing. It is not exactly soapy, but for some reason, it smells like powdered laundry detergent.

 

The drydown phase brings out a rather high-pitched cologne note and, strangely, an undercurrent of something...salty? In any case, this is very different from what I was expecting, and it doesn't really register as a snow or ice scent to my nose.

 

I guess I was seduced by the description, as I love the Lab's snow notes, but this only goes to show, once again, that I can't wear ozone.

[voorishsign]

Oh, here we are The winter scent I always wanted. There isn't much to say about Archangel Winter because it's perfect in its simplicity. I love ozone and there's plenty of that here, giving it a mildly cologney scent that I love, and it's perfectly chilly and cool without the usual mint or pine notes to suggest snow. Very clean, very beautiful. Am so happy I found someone to sell me a bottle! I hope it'll be back for Yule 2010 or 2011 - I don't slather but I don't know how long this will last me

[filigree_shadow]

Smells kinda glassy. Like Sea of Glass. It's not that rainy electric-charged sort of metallic ozone scent. It's kind of like dryer sheets plus ozone. I tend to like the ones I describe as being "like dryer sheets," and I like this one. The ozone gives it an interesting twist, but the base underneath smells comforting. Plus there's coldness over the top.

 

My husband usually likes the aquatic/ozone ones, so I let him try it. He said he wants to keep the decant. I guess he likes it!

[Vega]

In imp: I tend to use Lightning as my reference ozone scent, and Archangel Winter is Lightning with extra sweetness. It must be the Lab's snow note! This is the first snow blend I've smelled.

 

On skin: Slushy, wet ozone with a certain sugary sweetness -- flowers, maybe? It's cooler than Lightning, but much sweeter. Over time the ozone recedes and something sugary and creamy takes precedence. Archangel Winter and Sea of Glass are almost identical, but Archangel Winter is more slushy and the sweetness more assertive. Although I do get a slushy-snow vibe, there's no coldness at all. Not fond.

 

Verdict: I was expecting to love this -- I mean, "Crystalline, glassy ice whipped by a snowstorm"! Sadly, it was way too sweet for me, without any coldness or my beloved ozone. Doesn't fit with the imagery of the Archangel Winter either... Sigh. So continues my hunt for more beautiful ozone scents...

[brettashley]

In the bottle: Cold ozone, but with a strong whiff of something floral.

 

Wet: surprisingly sweet! The florals really come out to play but overall this is a cold "snow" scent.

 

Dry: Clean, cool, and pleasant.

 

Will definitely be keeping this one, but I don't feel the need for any more (I was swapped a little less than half a bottle).

[Schmoozy]

Cold, airy & aquatic. Winter white florals, drenched in snow. Archangel winter has an etheral feeling, and also a feeling of desolation.

[starfish327]

in the imp: the lab's snow note

 

wet: yep, the lab's snow note. it's pretty much a single note at this stage.

 

dry: wait, where is the candle? i keep smelling a candle- archangel winter keeps morphing between a straight up snow note and a blown out candle. it's very odd because it's either all or nothing with both stages, completely candle wax and smoke or completely snow.

 

it's one of the more wearable snows that i've come across from the lab (it's not as pain inducing as snow maiden or ded moroz) but i'm not sure how i feel about the candle stage. i like the smell, just not on me i guess. this is going to get another wear because i can't figure out if i like it or not.

[Gin]

Oh wow. This is quite different than what I expected. It's not "Lab Snow" to me at all. It's cold, and ozoney and almost-pine-almost-eucalyptus, and initially, kind of sinister. Then it does a 180 and goes sweet and sort of flowery.

Edited April 7, 2011 by Gin

[Monday]

In the vial it smells like I'm in the middle of a large church, there's a suggestion of snuffed candles and frankincense. On my skin it's still mostly a church. As it warms up there is a perfumey scent coming through like someone wearing a floral perfume just walked through the church.

Dry it has morphed to floral church cologne. I like the scent in the vial but I'm not very fond of it once it's dried.

[cherrycherry]

More ozone than snow, but still very nice. Sweeter on the drydown and has great throw. Glad I went for a bottle instead of a decant

[Kit Foxly]

Undique obscura regnabat nox,

surgite tandem laeti qui timuistis adhuc,

et jucundi aurorae fortunatae.

frondes dextera plena et lilia date.

 

I wore this for a touch of chill on a 32-degree (90F) day.

 

Sadly, it's not nearly as much to my taste as Nuclear Winter. It's got many of the same elements - that ozoneyness, possibly a hint of one of the mints, the same sorts of snow/winter note, even the touch of sweetness – but they're combined with crystalline, pale florals, very feminine and “perfumey” to my nose, and I'm just not the femme floral sort. No snowstorms here, nor any darkness to speak of – not a hint of the smoke or incense some mention, which is a shame because I like those notes as a rule. No, this is all whites, ice- and pastel-blues.

 

It's pretty, but I'm not after pretty. I prefer my archangels with broadswords, not lilies, in their hands!

 

It does last impressively on my skin (12 hours & counting!), and oddly, after about the eighth or ninth hour the florals have been ebbing and returning; sometimes it's almost Nuclear Winter, sometimes it's definitely not...