Purple Snowballs

[Yuurei]

Sugar plum snowballs with a touch of currant and cardamom!

In the bottle: Purple fruity sweetness, with just a hint of frosty "snowball".

On skin: This is just so much fun, juicy and full of plummy, sugared goodness. The cardamon note wafts out here and there, and the spice aspect really gives Purple Snowballs a unique dimension. What's nice is that element of snow that keeps this from being a purely foodie scent. It's like every time my nose comfortably settles on plum, the snow part peeks its head up and says hey there! Not the easiest thing for your own perfume to keep surprising you, but this pulls it off. It's sweet but certainly not dull-a definite winner and a proud addition to the Snowballs family.

[cherrycherry]

The currant is stronger than the plum on me but it's a surprisingly lovely note and I will definitely look out for more blends with it in the future. The snow is there too, crisp and clean, and so is the cardamom and the plum. It is a very purple scent and it makes me think of this little sweet shop near where I live called 'The Pink Flamingo'. It sells slushies in every colour of the rainbow and the purple one - the flavour escapes me at the moment - comes to mind instantly when I sniff the blend. Icy, fruity snow with a the smallest hint of spice. Very nice scent indeed though not my number one of all the snowballs. Blue Snowballs still holds that crown.

[suki]

In the bottle and wet on the skin I'm nearly overwhelmed by the ozone note. Which is odd- I have all the various 'snowball' incarnations, and this is first time I'm getting a heavy whiff of ozone in the mix. Luckily, it dissipates as it dries down. Shortly after dry-down, the cardamom comes out to play and for about 20 minutes becomes the dominant note. Alas, once the scent really settles into my skin, cardamom vanishes- as it's done with pretty much every blend I've tried it in. I'm to the point where i think I'll just have to wait for Beth to put out a Cardamom Single Note and just douse myself in that, full strength, and THEN add scents like this one, just so my skin doesn't eat it all!

In the end, I get a light and lovely Sugar Plum scent with low throw that I will totally wear a lot right now. It especially strikes me as a scent to wear whilst out present shopping and running those kinds of fun errands.

 

And so I shall!

[violetblue]

I am getting the lab's fizzy note in this - to me it's fizzy berry soda.

[kajacana]

This is one of those scents that's hard to break down - it needs to be experienced as a whole.

 

In the bottle: EXTREMELY soapy, with a hint of cough syrup. I was worried!

 

Wet on skin: There's the fruit! It's very sweet, and juicy purple. The soapy quality is still there - I assume that's the snow? - but it fades to the background pretty quickly. I hardly get any cardamom, which is sad, as cardamom is one of my favorite notes.

 

Drydown: It's sweet (but not overwhelmingly so - the snow balances the sweetness); and very clean smelling. The extreme soapiness dies down considerably. It's hard to describe, but definitely good. Kind of gives off a "just took a shower with berry shower gel and now I'm taking a walk in the snow" vibe.

 

 

My roommate sniffed the bottle and said it smelled like old lady perfume, and then sniffed my neck and said it smelled delicious. Take that for what it's worth!

[Alaeidrel]

In the bottle: Cough syrup.

Wet on skin: Very fake, chemically berries with a sharp ozone note.

Dry: ??? gone???

 

Oookay then. You don't exist on my skin after ten minutes. It was so chemically I'm not entirely upset.

[mymymai]

ITB: It really does smell like sugared plum sushie with hint of currant. It smells delicious!

 

Wet: The cardamom makes its debut on my wrist, adding some depth to the berried fruit sushie. It reminds me of all the lovely smells of Christmas, save pine, but it is wonderful none-the-less.

 

Dry: After a number of hours, the scent is slightly plum-y with a touch of currant. The slushy aspect of the snow note must have dissipated somewhere in its 17 hour run.

[rinster]

This one scared me at first. It started off as a slightly soapy fruit! Like other reviewers mentioned, as it wore it became a bit like fizzy grape soda, but softer and not as sweet. If you don't care for it initially, hang on for the dry down before you make up your mind.

Edited December 21, 2013 by rinster

[karihan]

Alas, I am going to have to accept that the snow note in the Snowballs just hates my skin, no matter how lovely the other notes should be. Plum, currant, cardamom, I am so there! And yet, the snowball morphs into a eucalyptic monster and beats all the yummy fruit and spice into near-nonexistance.

[ReallyZeb]

Alas, I am going to have to accept that the snow note in the Snowballs just hates my skin, no matter how lovely the other notes should be. Plum, currant, cardamom, I am so there! And yet, the snowball morphs into a eucalyptic monster and beats all the yummy fruit and spice into near-nonexistance.

This

 

I WANT to wear a scent called Purple Snowballs because, hello, PURPLE but while it's lovely in the bottle, the ozoney snow just turns it into a chemical mess on my skin

[Soniadevi]

Can the colour purple be conveyed in a scented snowball form? The answer is yes, it most certainly can. Like this. With Beth's ability to turn a synaesthestic concept into a tangible "perfume". I love this. It smells to me like a snowball fight on an alien planet where snow is actually purple, and the air naturally smells of candy and incense. I love how BPAL transports me to these other worlds without my needing to leave the comfort of my mundane, consumerist human life. It's like watching Star Trek in 3D at the cinema.

[MiasmaResonance]

A slightly grapey Skadi.

 

Pass.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Minty snow dominant, supported by soft cardamom. The comfits are pervasive. The currants lend a soft juiciness. Wet: Mostly the snow note, mildly sweetened, with the mint and cardamom making a sharp green edge. I thought it might be to much at first, but it settles nicely given a few minutes. Dry: Minty snow dominant still, but the cardamom really pops on the dry down.

[Numanoid]

In Bottle: VERY juicy plums!! Definitely a heavy "purple" scent! Like when you have dark colored berries that dribble down your hand and stains everything!!

 

On Skin: Oh my....this is one HEAVY scent to me!! Gets crazy when on. I don't detect any kind of snowy, snowball, mint, or slushy anything in this. Don't know if I am confusing the heavy throw of the fruit to it not agreeing with me, but man...this is DENSE on me. Kind of headache inducing!!

 

Dry Down: Still stays the same....I am a foodie lover, but this is a bit much for me. Very purple for sure, but was hoping the cardamom would tame the plum down, but not on me. Sorry, but this one has got to go!!!

Edited December 29, 2013 by Numanoid

[aphrodite]

Out of over 20 Yules I tried this year between decants and bottles, this was one of only five I bought blind. I was certain it would work. Alas, I think the plum in this and Ezekiel's Phoenix must be the same, and it simply doesn't register on my skin at all. This was just the snow note and cardamom. It wasn't bad, but I have plenty of BPAL snow perfumes, and this one just wasn't special on me at all. :'( I sold it to someone who will hopefully love it as much as I wanted to.

[patina]

Sugarplum, snow, sparkling grape juice and the occasional hint of cardamom. I don't have much to say about this one except that it smells really delicious. The cardamom keeps it from being too simple and I can tell there's plum in it, not just indeterminate grape flavored sugar. I prefer this over Black Snowballs which threatens to be a bit soapy/floral.

 

This is a possible bottle purchase.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: Very fruity snow! The currant and the plum are the most prominent notes. I can smell a hint of the cardamom, but it's mostly just fruity snow!

 

Wet: The fruity snow takes the center stage, but the cardamom is more noticeable on my skin than it was in the decant. The snow note is a slushy snow, so this reminds me of a snowcone. The plum emerges more over time, so it is now plum and snow with a hint of currant. After that, it morphs into a slushy, ozone-y somewhat pine-y snow scent with the fruits in the background.

 

Dry: Slushy, fruity snow.

 

Verdict: I wanted a decant of this one because of the name... I just couldn't resist trying something called Purple Snowballs, even though I figured it would probably be too fruity for me, and it is, so no bottle for me. This blend certainly matches its description, though!

 

(Now, if Purple Snowballs had been the snow note from Snow White mixed with lavender like the lavender from TKO, I would have needed several bottles.)

[OctoberGwen]

I tried a couple of last year's Snowballs (Pink and Yellow), and I find these to be very fun, fresh scents. Purple is no different, and I think the combination of currant, cardamom, and sugar plum (the one sort of plum I like on my skin) is really lovely. I don't get Beth's distinctive snow note with these, they just smell fresh.

 

Not something I'd wear regularly (maybe on a super hot and muggy day, but that's about it), but still fun to try.

[tinyvulture]

Here's the slush/snow that was missing from my Pink Snowballs. It's paired with sweet and sour (mostly sweet) plum. This is one strong, bold blend. The currants are present, too...this scent is heavy with dark fruits. Cardamom is usually easy to pick out, but I'm not finding it. I like this decant, but there are other plum blends that I prefer, so no bottle necessary.

[Leopard403]

The notes combine into something almost citrusy, with a slight sweet sugarplum beneath. More of a Spring scent, really.

[izile]

In the Bottle - candy, but warm, spicy, sugar plum candy - something distantly floral, but subtle in the background.

 

Wet - Much more balanced, there's the snow! and juicy plum starts to come out, though still candy sweet and some interesting spices playing peek-a-boo in the background.

 

Dry - the candy does calm down eventually and everything plays well together with the "snowball" scent that's distinctive of the series, with a little floral and spice notes in the back, but a warm plummy sitting right on top.

 

So far, almost the entire snowball series is a win for me! This is definitely a fav!

[Sakura Tsukikage]

In the bottle, I feel like I get all the listed notes--bright sugared plum, with some darker currant wafting around back there, the spiciness of cardamom, and the slushy snowy note I've gotten from so many of the lab's snow blends, like this year's A Winter Dawn, Skadi, and Moon of the Terrible, as well as past blends like Ice Queen and Monastery in the Mountains. Slushy for sure, but definitely very, very purple. On, I get more of the cardamom. It's bright purple fruits buried in slushy snow and sprinkled with spice. It's very, very plummy to my nose, and as the first review describes, the cardamom wafts in and out. The slushy snow note is still there and very present, I'd say equal, but it surprises me how well it blends with the others. After some time, I get a snowy but very sugary, bright, rich sugarplum. It surprises me how rich and almost juicy it is, and how very sugary. Overlaid with snow, with just a hint of spice.

 

After some time, I have snowy sweet plums, just a bit frosty around the edges, with that hint of almost warm sparkly frost that I get from the snow note sometimes. Still very sugary, fruity, and sweet. I like it a lot!

[mermaidsdream]

In the bottle: Not quite sure what I'm getting. It's somewhat pleasant with a tangy undertone that reminds me of unwashed flesh.

 

Applied: Aaah ... there we go. There's that "slush" that everyone keeps talking about. I still get the the undertone of "flesh" (I think it may be the currant), but the plum & cardamom keep that in check.

 

Dry: There's this delightful, creamy almost vanilla scent. Unfortunately, this perfume sets off my nasal allergies like there's no tomorrow: headache, itchy, watery eyes, runny nose - the works. I love the drydown phase, but the allergy problems mean I may have to part with it.

[DovaKitten]

I got a whiff of this as I was opening the imp and I thought mmmmm, yes. That scent was so rich and purple and juicy, I could almost have drank it straight from the bottle. (I know, I know, bad Kitten.)

 

Unfortunately, as soon as it touched my skin, this blend went mmmm, no. Think purple scented candle from Yankee Candle that smells almost delicious but has a strange note that hits you right before you put the lid back on the jar--and that's just stage one. Now think overwhelming ozone-based men's cologne beneath grape cough syrup beneath a blend so beautiful and so purple and so fantastic that it literally pains you to not be able to smell it on your own. That, fortunately, dries down to a sort of potpourri scent that is rather nice, if not exactly something I want to smell like. Picture a bowl of pinecones, little purple flower petals, and some kind of bark all drenched in Glade air freshener and you get a basic image of what I'm smelling right now.

 

The really horrible part of all this is, of course, that I know it's a fantastic blend. I can smell it in the imp and I can even catch hints of that beauty on my skin, but my chemistry is just ruining it for me. I want to keep it and try to find a way to wear it, but I also want to pass it along to someone who can appreciate it the way it deserves.

[SadariEvenstar]

This was straight snow on my skin - no plum, no currant, no cardamom.