Braving the Ice

[JasminDreams2010]

Braving the Ice


White mint cookies with a drizzle of pomegranate cream, dusted with confectioner's sugar.

oh, my- the first review feels like more pressure somehow! And I want to do this one justice, since it's sooooooooooo delicious.

I will also add a disclaimer that my skin turns most things into incense and powder/woods, so most sweet scents get toned down a lot on me.

I got a bottle of this for a friend and because I'm a stinker like that, I tested a little on my wrist with a q-tip. I immediately ordered myself a

bottle. It is taking all of my reserves to walk to the post office and mail it to her!

HOLYEFFING*&*!! this is good...

In the bottle it smells syrupy sweet, so I was a little skeptical. I was also a little nervous about mint notes as I tend to like soft, warm perfumes. Not to fear! The mint, on me is tame at best, mostly it disappears into the background to add a crispy freshness. The pomegranate cream note blends smoothly with the yummy, buttery shortbread cookie scent and creates a cloud of deliciousness. OMNOMNOMNOM. I don't know if it's my skin or the cream note but there is a musky softness to this that makes it a bit sexy as well, like a skin scent.

But, in the end this is all about the confectioner's sugar. I smell like a pretty cloud of vanilla sugar, and it somehow isn't overly sweet but has enough throw to notice. It's all lovely- vanilla-cloudy-softness. My boyfriend LOVES it. And I can totally see this working with an Otto and Victoria theme! Yay!

I edited this to say that it reminds me a little of Demeter's Angel Food, which I really like. For days I want to feel feminine and happy.

[pinkstardust420]

Smells like luscious buttery cookies drizzled with just a touch of pomegranate cream. Super foodie, super delicious!!!! I do not detect any mint.

[cherrycherry]

Holy crap, this is incredible. If I was wearing a blindfold right now and someone hovered this under my nose, there is no way I would even think that it was a perfume oil at all. I would think that someone had been baking the most delicious cookies known to all mankind and that they were waving them teasingly before me. This is mouth-watering. I do get the pomegranite cream also, plus a very tiny little lick of white mint, both of which are also very lovely. Mainly, this is all cookies, all the time and you'd better believe it's delicious, my friends. The throw is great and this lasts and lasts also. A small amount is needed and the sweet, sugary goodness is all around me in a great big cloud of creamy-cookie love. I must buy more of this immediately.

[Atrous]

I was expecting to love this since foody scents usually work so well on me.

Braving the Ice is just not that great.

 

Wet Stage: There is something in this blend that amps like crazy. I can't really pinpoint what it is because there are no spice notes mentioned in the description. This note that amps up smells like a spice of some kind, nutmeg maybe? It's pretty bad though, in a nausea inducing way.

 

Dry Stage: That amped-up note dies down and I can smell the cream and the cookies but it fades to nothing in a few minutes. It's too bad because dry this smells nice while it lasts.

[MtMoonKitty]

This smells yummy in the bottle. Not at all what the list of notes would have made me think. Very Carmel cookie. But the moment it touches my skin it is instant nasty plastic and smelly socks. I'm not even willing to wait and see how this ages. Once plastic, always plastic. I gave it away to my daughter.

Edited December 24, 2013 by MtMoonKitty

[Numanoid]

In the bottle: Minty and creamy....very yummy! Like something you want to add to coffee or hot cocoa!

 

On skin: Lovely scent of minty cookies!!! Still creamy and can detect the pomegranate showing up!

 

Drydown: Seems most mints on me just disappear. BUT this still smells very good!! After mint fades, it dries down to a creamy cookie and a hint of the pomegranate. Not over powering but foodie nonetheless!

 

Not 100% sure I love this. Like, yes, but I always need to LOOOOVE a scent to keep it. But this is one for foodie lovers!!

[MiasmaResonance]

In the bottle:

 

Yummy mint cookies. A lighter thin mint than the Girl Scout kind.

 

On me:

 

I'm going to quote Atrous exactly... "there is something in this blend that amps like crazy. I can't really pinpoint what it is because there are no spice notes mentioned in the description. This note that amps up smells like a spice of some kind, nutmeg maybe? It's pretty bad though". And I also amp some sort of butter a lot, which makes this go wonky. I thought this would be perfect!

Edited December 30, 2013 by MiasmaResonance

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: This is definitely a cookie covered with powdered sugar! The pomegranate cream and the mint are lingering in the background. The cookie and the powdered sugar are the strongest notes.

 

Wet: A delicious, buttery cookie coated in powdered sugar with a hint of mint in the background. Then, the pomegranate cream starts to emerge. The cookie and the pomegranate cream are the dominant notes. After a few minutes, the pomegranate cream takes the center stage, with the mint sidling up to it. It's like I am mostly smelling the filling of the cookie now as opposed to the cookie itself. I hope the cookie note makes a triumphant return. Alas, the pomegranate cream steals the show. The mint is still there, but the cookie note insists on hiding in the background. This scent smells better when it is far away than it does up close.

 

Dry: Pomegranate cream dominant cookies with a hint of mint that have lost some of their powdered sugar to the box or tin in which they were contained.

 

Verdict: The reason I ended up going with a decant of this one was because I couldn't resist the artwork and the minty cookie, but I was afraid of the pomegranate. I'm not a huge fan of pomegranate (and non-apple fruity scents in general), and since the pomegranate is the most prominent note on me, I will refrain from buying a bottle.

[Wren12]

I love this so very much.

 

ITB: teeny bit of mint, lots of vanilla and a bit of a sharp note from the Pom

 

On: holy lord. I LOVE this. It is the ultimate buttery cookie with a sweet vanilla undertone and the pomegranate blossoms into a lovely tart top note to the warm sugary vanilla cookie. I'm not amping anything overly spicy, like Sugar Cookie does, which comes out as a wonderful snicker doodle, spicey, sugary cookies, this is more a pure vanilla butter cookie with a drizzle of pomegranate syrup over the top. I don't get any Mint at all when wearing it, in fact it comes off as a rather warm scent to me.

 

For me this is a possible multiple bottle buy.

[Sangria2]

I was most excited for this one out of all of the Yules, so upon ripping open my decants last night it was the first one I grabbed.

 

In the decant: Oh wow, this smells delicious. Crispy, buttery shortbread with a hint of jammy fruitiness. It reminds me a bit of the Raspberry Thumbprint Cookie bath oil from BPTP last year, only this is richer. I am not smelling any mint.

 

Wet: The wonderful cookie smell lasts about 15 seconds. As the cream amps up, it mixes with the butter and starts to go weird. It's hard to describe because it was almost musky, almost playdough, and almost plastic but at the same time not quite any of them. I decided to tough it out to see if it could be salvaged.

 

Dry: That strange, thick, off smell smoothed out a bit when dry, and I swear I could smell coconut under all of it. I only applied it to both wrists, but the throw was powerful enough to be present even while I was washing dishes. After an hour, I had to wash Braving the Ice off as well.

 

I think the butter ruined this one for me, but I'm planning on giving it another go in a scent locket because DAMN in the imp it is amazing.

[reynardine]

In the decant, this smelled AMAZING. It kinda reminded me of Left His Nurse in a Crowd for some reason? I didn't get any mint from it, but did smell the butter and cookie.

 

When first applied, there was this weird plastic phase, but within a few minutes it went to butter cookie. Maybe a tiny touch of pomegranate?

 

I'll definitely use up the decant but don't love this enough for a bottle. I think the butter is what doesn't work for me.

[Astarial]

In the bottle, this is a delicious buttery cookie. No mint, no pomegranate. Just cookie.

 

Once on my skin, the pomegranate shyly peeks around the corner and settles gently on top of the cookie. I keep waiting for some mint to show up, but it never does. This doesn't morph much through dry-down - it's a pomegranate linzer cookie, one definitely dusted with powdered sugar.

 

Tasty enough, but it looks like minty desserts are not bottle-worthy for me this time around. Kind of a pity though, since the label is adorable.

[Sakura Tsukikage]

Okay, in the bottle this is insanely buttery. Very, very very buttery cookie, almost shortbread, with some pomegranate creaminess and a hint of mint and powdery sugar far in the background. On, it's initially much the same. A bit plasticky at first, then very very butter cookie. After a while, it turns to thick but tart pomegranate cream overlaying powdered sugar and buttery cookies, and the cookie breadiness eventually fades so I just get a lot of pomegranate cream, but still the sense of, as another review stated, a pomegranate linzer cookie dusted with powdered sugar. At times during the drydown I get hints of mint floating around, but never very strongly. It turns into very sweet pomegranate creaminess toward the end, and it lasts forever.

[stellamaris]

Buttery, red fruity, delicious cookie is delicious. Not getting too much mint though

[StevenBoatman]

This is a butter cookie, topped with preserves and dusted with sugar!

 

In the bottle, it's pretty buttery and a little doughy (in a good way).

 

On, wet, it's a crisp butter cookie with a hint of something fruity and sugary in the background.

 

On, dry, it's sugary fruit with a few cookie crumbs mixed in.

 

Overall, THIS. IS. AMAZEBALLS. MUST OBTAIN ALLLLLL THE BOTTLES!!!

[Caper]

Weird buttery off-ness for me.

 

The pom and mint almost save it, but the too rich rancid butter takes over. Not for my chemistry,

[zankoku_zen]

Minty sugary goodness devolves into.... minty pommy condensed milk with a hint of plastic.

 

BPAL's cream note is typically a problem for me, and slightly less so in this one. The sugary condensed milk part I could handle, but its the plasticky overlay that remains a problem.

 

Sad that this didn't work out better. Skin chemistry, you fail.

[brilliantcat]

Oh god, this is a gorgeous, buttery sweet fruity shortcake with just a touch of mint. It smells so real I could eat my arm and I am absolutely craving baked goods now! This dries down to buttery shortcake and powdery sugar with just a hint of pomegranate. I like it well enough but not likely well enough to warrant a bottle no matter how much I adore the bottle art.

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Sweetened cream, with little hints here and there of cookies and a tart note that must be the pomegranate.

 

On skin, wet: The pomegranate dominates now, but unfortunately it smells a little bit artificial--not full-on Strawberry Shortcake Dolls, but not quite right. The cream note is there underneath, but not very strong.

 

On skin, dry: The cream part of the "pomegranate cream" note has come back to the top, but that slightly-artificial fruit note is still present.

 

After an hour: It's very faint now and mostly just the cream remains. It's nice, but not enough to make up for the offness of the fruit during the drydown stages.

[patina]

That is some seriously, seriously delicious vanilla mint cream with pomegranate. Sadly it shifts back and forth between that and butter cookies. Cookies might not sound so bad, but combined with the fruit, there's a vaguely artificial, plasticky sense to the scent. On drydown it's quite a morpher, switching between amazing mint vanilla and cookies. I can't decide on this one.

[ACVail24]

Braving the Ice

 

Gotta say: the artwork is adorable! Octopus on ice, helping a turquoise tressed steampunk girl? too cute!

 

In the bottle:

Minty sugar

 

On my Skin, Wet:

I get a prominent sugar note, then it starts to turn waxy and artificial

 

On my Skin, Dry:

yeah...

the waxy, artificial note sticks around, and I get nothing reminiscent of cookies, mint, pomegranate or even sugar.

 

Verdict:

I'll give this a try in a scent locket, but it sadly does not appear that it will work out on the pulse points

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Some mint, but mostly that butter note from Jack that dislikes me so.

Wet : Buttery mint, dusted w/ the powder sugar. I'm being brave to try this, since I had to wash off Jack.

The dry-down: Mint cookie, drizzled w/ butter and the sugar. The Pom cream was never obvious. Okay, but not my bag.

Edited December 7, 2016 by thekittenkat

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Cookies and fruity yoghurt with a waft of spiky mint in the background

 

Wet on me - Cookies overlain within a sour note that I presume if is the cream but it's not working for me at the moment

 

Dry on me - A kind of sour milky ashy concoction

 

Overall - This just doesn't work on my skin

[Adikia]

This is an amazing foody scent that I never imagined I would like...let alone LOVE...considering I didn't think I liked pomegranate and I don't like smelling of mint. However the mint is very, very soft only coming out on me after a couple hours of wear. It mostly smells like chocolate butter cookies with a very soft pomegranate cream drizzled over top when the cookies are hot out of the oven. Simply amazing. My decant of this has mellowed the sharpness of the pomegranate so I imagine my full bottle is only going to get smoother and better as time goes on.

[Eemia]

The cream and foodie combo in this just goes crazy bad on my skin. I have issues with those notes but I was hoping that I'd have luck with this one because I love mint and it just sounded so delicious in the description. But even in the bottle it's just heart crushingly awful. It starts out as heavy, rancid butter with a musky undertone and a thin sourness that's either coming from the pomegranate or the cream. It's heavy and feels like I've smeared expired lotion on my wrists. I wish I could make out some of the sweet cookie or mint in here… but nothing of the sort appears. I try to give most blends a fair shot on my skin but I absolutely couldn't do it. Had to wash this off after a few minutes. Unfortunately my bottle is getting passed on.