On Seeing a Tuft of Snowdrops in a Storm

[LiberAmoris]

When haughty expectations prostrate lie,
And grandeur crouches like a guilty thing,
Oft shall the lowly weak, till nature bring
Mature release, in fair society
Survive, and Fortune’s utmost anger try;
Like these frail snow-drops that together cling,
And nod their helmets smitten by the wing
Of many a furious whirlblast sweeping by.
Observe the faithful flowers! if small to great
May lead the thoughts, thus struggling used to stand
The Emathian phalanx, nobly obstinate;
And so the bright immortal Theban band,
Whom onset, fiercely urged at Jove’s command,
Might overwhelm, but could not separate!

 

- William Wordsworth

 

Observe the faithful flowers: snowdrop and sweet pea, wintersweet, winter-flowering honeysuckle, and deep purple honeywort.

On Seeing a Tuft of Snowdrops in a Storm is a really pretty winter-into-spring floral. Wordsworth's sonnet* about the noble snowdrops, underdogs of winter, is a lovely inspiration for this snowdrop-strong blend. Appropriately, snowdrop is the strongest note on me, with sweet pea and pale honeysuckle right behind. Dry, it's a waxy, lightly buttery, pale white and yellow floral with a salty, almost marine flume.

 

*Arguably, the grand tension/conflict in Wordsworth's poetry is Nature versus God, which we see in high relief in this particular work. I highly recommend reading The Prelude (the 1805 version, not the 1850 version!), if you haven't already.

[zankoku_zen]

I actually get a fair bit of honeysuckle, snowdrops and dash of sweet pea. This one smells like Spring. It's got a slightly buttery overtone to it, and it sort of codes as aquatic lilies as well. I sort of want to love it simply because of the snowdrops, and because I'm currently dreaming of Spring on a day when the windchill makes the temperature feel like in the single digits. Medium throw and wear length.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: So honeysuckle is my new fave floral, and if I am not careful I will have a whole box full of honeysuckle scents come spring. This is predominantly a honeysuckle scent, but a very cold honeysuckle. I can detect other florals, but not being familiar with some of them, can't really identify. I don't get much, if any, sweet pea. I can almost imagine flowers peaking up through a late-season snow fall. It's VERY pretty.

 

 

Dry: All about the honeysuckle still! This is a drier, less sweet honeysuckle than some of the others I have fallen in love with lately (Wild Honeysuckle SN, Eostre, Potamides). I really like it, but I think I have enough honeysuckle for now!

[gchris]

Whatever florals are in play here, they not smell good to me. or on me. AS it sits, the floral becomes more mild. Even so this blend is not for me.

[PrinceofcatS]

A really pretty, honeysuckle-dominant scent, with sweet slightly-herbal slightly-floral edges to it. This reminds me a lot of Do the Dancing Maidens Sleep Or Are They Dead (enough that I wonder if i should have them both, and I have SN Wild Honeysuckle too...), but that one had a touch of the Snow White-esque snow note and a pale, pale honey note; this one is just other flowers. It feels really bright and fresh for early spring and is a beautiful late-winter scent, hopeful and gentle.

[VetchVesper]

This is a beautiful, soft honeysuckle. I'm sure the other flowers add complexity, but I don't smell them as separate from the honeysuckle. Heel and Do the Dancing Maidens Sleep had a green sappiness to the honeysuckle which didn't quite work for me, but this is creamy on my skin. My husband, who is not a big perfume fan, but does LOVE the woods, immediately recognized this as honeysuckle, so that should say something about how realistic this scent is. Seeing a bottle in my future.

 

One caveat, it's wear length is a little short. Between 2 and 4 hours. Light florals like this usually don't last too long on me though. Still beautiful.<3

Edited January 20, 2018 by VetchVesper

[mishi-bear]

One of the notes in this did not work on my skin at ALL. I get some nice honeysuckle and sweet pea for a moment and then... wham, something comes out that literally made me sick to my stomach and I had to hop in the shower.

 

Admittedly I wasn't familiar with every note in this blend so I can't really say what it was that smelled so funky on me. Likely one of the more herbal notes.

Edited January 24, 2018 by mishi-bear

[Pika]

Beautiful early spring flowers. Really light and pretty, and works better on my skin than most florals. Does seem to fade in 3-4 hours, but not uncommon for a “light” scent. Glad I got a bottle.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: Lots of honeysuckle! Yaaaas! That is just what I was hoping for! Hopefully that will still be the case on my skin. I also think I am getting lots of snowdrop, too.

 

Wet: The honeysuckle note is the first to greet my nose, along with what I believe to be the snowdrop note. I am not familiar with the scent of wintersweet or purple honeywort, so I don't know whether or not I'm smelling those, but I am familiar with sweet pea, and I'm not smelling that note at the moment. The honeysuckle continues to reign as the scent begins to dry, and it's a bouquet of sweet, non-soapy florals. I'm pretty sure this is the honeysuckle note used in BPTP's Nice Glop, which is amazing.

 

Dry: The honeysuckle loses a lot of its sweetness during this stage, the snowdrop note is stronger than it had been (it ends up being just as strong as the honeysuckle after a few hours), and the other floral notes are playing a bigger role now.

 

Verdict: I really enjoyed the wet phase of the scent, with the strong honeysuckle, but I didn't feel like it was nearly as awesome during the dry phase. I'll be holding onto my decant to pair with Nectar HG, and I'll test it again before the Yules go down just to make sure I don't need a bottle, but I think my decant will suffice.

[theseagrows]

i received a frimp of this in a swap it's definitely a honeysuckle with hints of other florals and greenery. it smells like fresh flowers blooming in the rain or snow...i think this is a perfect rainy spring scent, actually. i get a bit of sweet pea to sweeten the scent, but this is primarily honeysuckle and a greenish floral note. nice for spring yet not something i would wear all that much, though it is pretty.