The Macabray

[Ravenclaw79]

Mistress Owens pushed him out of the Owens's little tomb. "Get along with you," she said. "I've got business to attend to."

Bod looked at his mother. "But it's cold out there," he said.

"I should hope so," she said, "it being Winter. That's as it should be. Now," she said, more to herself than to Bod, "shoes. And look at this dress - it needs hemming. And cobwebs--there are cobwebs all over, for heaven's sakes. You get along," this to Bod once more. "I've plenty to be getting on with, and I don't need you underfoot."

And then she sang to herself, a little couplet Bod had never heard before.

"Rich man, poor man, come away.
Come to dance the Macabray."

"What's that?" asked Bod, but it was the wrong thing to have said, for Mistress Owens looked dark as a thundercloud, and Bod hurried out of the tomb before she could express her displeasure more forcefully.

It was cold in the graveyard, cold and dark, and the stars were already out. Bod passed Mother Slaughter in the ivy-covered Egyptian Walk, squinting at the greenery.

"Your eyes are younger than mine, young man," she said. "Can you see blossom?"

"Blossom? In winter?"

"Don't you look at me with that face on, young man," she said. "Things blossom in their time. They bud and bloom, blossom and fade. Everything in its time." She huddled deeper into her cloak and bonnet and she said,

"Time to work and time to play,
Time to dance the Macabray. Eh, boy?"

"I don't know," said Bod. "What's the Macabray?"

White winter flowers plucked from a snow-covered graveyard.

Ooh, another first review!

This one is ... yeah. Flowers is about right. Makes sense, seeing as it's supposed to refer to the white flowers in the book. It's very floral, in a sort of soapy way, reminiscent a little of White Phoenix. If you like that sort of scent, this is probably right up your alley. Me, I'm sorta meh on it.

[angelicruin]

I've never been one for the heavily floral oils, but something about oils with winter or snow-covered flowers just works for me. This is most definitely a floral scent, but it's that soft wintery floral you get the with Snow White blend. A very light, feminine scent. I think this will only get better with age. I will definitely be keeping my bottle for now.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Flowers and something minty or close to it. Eucalyptus maybe?

 

Immediately on skin: This is very cold and snowy on my skin with hints of flowers. The non-floral notes in this are strong and kind of sharp. I get something almost minty, which I think is eucalyptus, plus some green notes and that lovely snowy sleet note the lab does so well. This is very strong and not as soft as I thought it would be.

 

After a little while: This turns into the scent I was expecting after a while. It’s cold with hints of light flowers with a slightly green, melon-like background. This is floral, but cold… and green, but not in a lush way.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is a lot more fragrant and complex than I was expecting. II didn’t enjoy the beginning stages as much as the dry down, but that didn’t really catch me either. The scent is very cold and snowy, and a lot more green or minty/herbal than I was expecting, especially at first. It’s very pretty though, but just not something I would find myself wearing.

[livingdead71]

Very pretty! My first impressions of this were soapy and snowy, but in a good way. I like this scent a lot. I immediately bought bottles of this and Banana Peel in a Graveyard when they were posted, and I'm really happy with both!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is snowy florals...

 

once applied the florals amp up....veeeeeeery strong...

a touch of mint...

 

unfortunately the floral notes in this do not work well with me so off to swaps she goes....

[inurbanus]

This is wet, slushy snow. I've finally figured out that BPAL's snow note doesn't do that much for me, but I'm sure that anyone who does appreciate it will like this. Unfortunately, all I smell is a thick blanket of slush, kind of like Cloister Graveyard in the Snow without the soil note. I don't get anything floral out of The Macabray, just snow and a little hint of mint hiding in the background. Nice, but not for me.

 

2.5/5

[Coldfire]

Decant: Clean citrus leaf? Aquatic with hints of mint?

Wet on me: more clean aquatic with mint hints

Drying Down: I’m catching a mandarin Orange vibe with mint..

and it’s working well together.

Dry: wow…this is almost, ALMOST like the scent in the air that I smell

before it snows. Clean, Crisp, almost minty but in this case that lovely

vibe of citrus I get to round it all out.

[Iceblink]

Cold, slightly sweet white flowers, with a watery touch--I guess on my skin, the snow's melted? This is lovely and light and crisp, and staying very true to its wet stage long after it's dried. It's a bit too light for me but it's very pretty.

[milo]

Wet, very fresh. I love the snow note until it dries, then it is just too ozoney, aquatic. Smells like there is a bit of mint here, and maybe a touch of flowers. Maybe I'll try this again when it gets warmer, for now, it is a "no go".

[Saya]

In the Imp

The lab’s snow note (which I love) mixed with floral elements. There’s also a noticable green scent, almost like the stems on flowers. So far it smells great.

 

On My Skin

Georgeous! The only difference I’m getting now that it’s on my skin is I can smell the mint note that other users posted about. This is a very crisp, bright scent.

 

After a Bit

Two hours later and this is barely lingering on my skin. The mint is completely gone now and I’m left with snow and florals with a hint of green. This is really nice, to bad I can’t smell it unless I stick my nose to my wrist.

 

Rating 1-5 (5 being best)

Scent - 4 Throw - 1.5 Longevity - 1.5

Overall (not an average) - 3

 

Final Thoughts

I’m going to try this in a scent locket and next time I’m going to slater it on. I really like the scent, it just doesn’t hang around long enough for me to justify getting a bottle.

 

 

[voodoocatwoman]

Gorgeous! Sniffing this reminded me of taking a deep breath of winter air... but while holding a bouquet of flowers close to my face. It is harsh and delicate all at once. Icy and floral. Gorgeous.

 

(just wish it would last a bit longer)

[Dymphna]

So, I've been lamenting the fact that Snow-Flakes didn't make a comeback since the 2007 Yules were released and it wasn't among them. I've stocked up as best I could, but I haven't been able to find more than a couple of bottles. I just bought a bottle from a lovely forumite last week. And I don't regret it one bit. However. If I'd gotten my Graveyard Book decants a couple of days earlier, I might not have bought it because The Macabray smells almost exactly like Snow-Flakes to me. This is the scent I've been wishing and hoping for--and it's GC!

 

Snow-Flakes, to me, is a green-yet-icy scent, snow plus mint, a hint of vegetation, like the last snow of early springtime. The Macabray has just that little bit more greenness to it. It's exactly as described, flowers in the snow. Love!

[Seadreamer]

This one is doing really weird things on me. On the one hand, I ADORE the smell of it in the bottle. It's so YUM. And floating around me on the air, it's beautiful. Nice throw, obviously. But up close and person with my skin? First it turned into soap. SOAP! WTH? And then it disappeared. I think I'm probably smelling it from where I got it on my shirt at the bends of my elbows. If so, it works. I think it's crying out for a scent locket. Oh, that absolutely justifies the price of one, yeah?????

 

The Macabray is still a keeper, even if I might have to treat it a bit differently.

[savage_rose]

I know the description sounds like so many Yule scents, but it's lovely! In the bottle it smells like vanilla mint to me with a hint of floral (Snowblind in a garden, maybe), but on it just makes me do a double take (double sniff?). It warms up nicely (maybe citrus?)...there's a eucalyptus-mint note in there that still suggests chill, but it's a very green, warm scent with a light floral note overall. The perfect transition scent from winter to spring!

[Blood onmy hands]

I don't usually care for white florals, and this is white flowers in the worst way on my skin. It's all sharp, cheap, and perfumey smelling, plus soap. I might get a bit of mint in here as well, but I have to wash this off after fifteen minutes or it starts to give me a vicious headache.

[nekogrrl]

In imp: sharp and fresh.

 

Wet on skin: icy florals. Usually florals don't work well on me, but the snow/mint are grounding them and keeping them in check.

 

Dry on skin: I'm getting something green, other than the mint I sniffed on first application. Green and cold. It's just about overtaken the snow and florals.

 

10 minutes later: Gone.

 

Verdict: This is very similar to The Snow Storm to me. So once that bottle is done, then I'll get this. And wear it in a scent locket.

[AnArtfuldodger]

This is almost an identical twin to Snow Bunny 2008 (the Yule LE) on me! It's nice, cool, with a hint of floral -- really, it ends up on the drydown reminding me of flower-scented laundry detergent, which (as I mentioned in my review of Snow Bunny 2008) I don't mind at all, because it's quite nice.

 

Snow Bunny without the pine. And I barely got any pine in Snow Bunny to begin with!

 

Very soft. At this point, an hour after putting some on, I can only barely smell it. It's a good sweet under-stated scent. Snow Bunny did last a little longer on my skin though, so if I had a choice I'd probably opt for Snow Bunny. But at least this is easier to get my hands on!

[zankoku_zen]

My favorite BPAL blend is Ice Queen. I've tried all the winter blends... but IQ is still my absolute favorite. This one has the same slushy snow note, but with more mint/menthol. I get the same fragrant snow, except the white florals are amped up underneath.

 

If you've wondered what Ice Queen smells like, try this. It's missing the sweet berry component, which you get hints of, but this is a nice substitute.

 

And yes, once I run out of Ice Queen, I know what blend I'll be turning to. Sorry, Cloister.

[Myotis]

This one starts off very similar to Cloister Graveyard in the Snow on me. Very icy green with a hint of earth.

About an hour later however, it morphs into something incredible.

I get a musky sort of cold snow blend with a hint of something floral and slightly sweet.

 

LOVE IT!

[anna1850]

I think this is what I expected Snow White to smell like before I tried it (which just ended up smelling of Barbie plastic to me). This is snow with a touch of florals.

 

It's fresh without turning into dryer sheets and snowy without being minty. The menthol note is perhaps a touch stronger than I'd like ideally but without it, it perhaps wouldn't be such an interesting blend.

 

I wore this the last time it snowed and thought it worked very well.

 

4/5 Very nice for cold, wintery days.

[Yoginispirit]

I gets no florals.

 

Unfortunately this smells similar to an aquatic (albeit a very cold aquatic) but I'm not sure it's sweet enough for me. The BF hated it and said it smelled like soap. To me it's just coldness. Aww. I was really looking forward to some flowers. I think I'll keep it for layering.

 

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Extremely pale, nearly colourless yellow oil. Sweet, cold floral. A bit of that sort of piney-sharp snow note, a little hairspray-ish. I'm reminded of L'Inverno.

 

Wet: Definitely mentholic, and much greener on my skin. A very cool, refreshing scent. Ivy, I think, adds a sort of wet, green, smooth note. Some mint, for sure. High-pitched white florals.

 

Dry: Increasingly minty - spearmint, but still some piney-sharp-snow. Something else sharply herbal and very green - sage? Still softly sweet, from - honeydew melon! Whoa.

 

Later: Deeply inhaling, it's sinus-clearing and invigorating. The flowers have faded and lost their slightly chemical pitch. I'm still not crazy about the pine, but it's bearable

 

Summary: Mostly this is snowy pine, spearmint , honeydew melon, cucumber, and soft flowers, over a salty musk that emerges in late drydown. This would be great in hot weather.

 

I wish the melon were stronger, but this is a lovely scent that reminds me of this spearmint honey dew body butter I have, if more herbal/green and mentholic.

 

 

[topazphoenix]

I don't think the lab's snow notes agree with my skin. This one turned to pure soap

[Voleuse]

Cool, sweet, and snowy. This is very much like Snow Bunny to my nose, but more flowery. Over time, the snowy parts soften into a cool/aquatic honeydew-like background for the flowers. It's sweet and semi-light (to my nose, it has a good deal of throw, but it's a light scent overall), and feminine, but not overly so. Not a lot of staying power--it's quite evident for about an hour on me, then fades to faint hints for a few more hours.

 

I can see where some people might think laundry sheets--the aquatic aspect could well turn ozone on some--but the scent is complex enough on me that I don't find this very laundry-like. When I run out of Snow Bunny, this is what I'll be getting. (Cloister Graveyard in the Snow is similar, but I find this sweeter, and thus preferable.)

 

[reynardine]

In the decant, this was piercing and pretty, but went soapy on my skin. Sorry, no luck on this one.