Skadi

[yeahbutnobut]

Skadi

 

The Snow-Shoe Goddess, Giantess, the Norse embodiment of winter. Frost-rimed winter berries, crisp pine needle, and a slush of bright snowy notes.

 

In the bottle: wow. This is one of the loveliest festive scents. There are berries there, with warm spices, cinnamon and cloves, with a chilly menthol/pine scent, which smells less medicinal, and more like a winter forest.

On skin: this smells more medicinal now, but also with a warm spiciness. It smells like pine, menthol, cloves, but with sweet berries and mulled wine there too. It also reminds me of a remedy my mum dropped on my pillow when I had a cold-it came in little capsules and smelt similar to this. But that's no bad thing. It's like a biting winter wind, but with an undertone of heat, like a log fire in a forest cabin, sheltered from the cold. Very interesting!

After a while: this doesn't morph much, but the smell is quite complex as it is-an explosion of hot and cold notes, very clearing to the head and nose, making me feel chilled and warmed simultaneously, which is seemingly impossible, but there it is-a paradox in scent! But it does tend to get sweeter, similar to Midwinter's Eve but not as sweet, because of the spice and pine.

Verdict: this is an incredible scent-it has the amazing capability of smelling both hot and cold at the same time. There's pine and menthol-similar to a cold remedy but more pleasant-adding a chill to this scent, but the spices and berries bring a gorgeous, comforting warmth. It brings to mind a snowy forest, and your looking into a welcoming log cabin with a warm fire and the smell of mulled wine is wafting from the cabin, inviting you in. this would be fantastic as a room fragrance. Please bring it back this December! This is much better than Midwinter's Eve, this is the best Christmas scent!

[theshapeshifter]

Skadi is just GORGEOUS. Despite the fact that it's a Yule scent, it was a wonderful thing to wear on a disgustingly hot, sticky summer day.

 

Initial application: I get a rush of something sort of halfway between evergreen and menthol - it feels like a little winter breeze just snuck in. So refreshing!

 

Drydown: Within a couple of minutes, it turns into sweet berries laid on a bed of evergreen boughs. Fresh, and sweet, and cool. It stayed more or less the same through the drydown, although sometimes I was getting more berry, sometimes more evergreen, and the hint of mint would waft in every now and then. There's a hint of ozone as well, making it all very fresh, and not at all Christmas-candle-like.

 

A definite winner!

[slave1]

In Bottle: Pine.

 

On Skin: Ok, I don’t like pine, but this isn’t a Pine-Sol pine. It’s more more real and fresh. It reminds me of Christmas and getting our tree. Driving home and the snow on the trees and ground in the mountains we lived in. So pretty and festive. The berries are very light but sweeten the scent perfectly. This is a holiday scent for sure, I can’t imagine wearing it any other time… even wearing it may be a bit much, but it is a perfect room scent.

[Krista]

I can really smell the pine in this one. This is a really lovely winter scent; it’s light and fun and reminds me of snow. Normally pine is not a favourite of mine, but I can just imagine wearing this out on a nice winter evening near Christmas. I hope this is something Beth decides to bring back for winter this year.

[emzebel]

I got my swappy imp of Skadi in the post the same day as my very first order of imps from the lab - that order was mostly heavy, spicy, hink sirts of stuff, like Blood and Szherezade and Madrid. It was a hot night - still probably over 80 even at 9 pm.

 

The first thing I thought of when I opened Skadi was cold and clean - like snow when it has first fallen. Like the blue that virtually always represents January on a calendar. I have a very hard time picking out the notes in Skadi, and I like that. The pine doesn't jump out at me - it blends in with the berries and the chilly aquatics and makes this a very fresh scent. I love the hint of sweetness, from the berries, I suppose, although something about this makes me think of the divinity candy that my grandmother used to make every December.

 

I know there is already an "Ice Queen" oil, but to me, Skadi is my Ice Queen. If there were a series based on The Lion, the Which and the Wardrobe, Skadi would be the Winter Queen - cold as ice, but with a hint of Turkish delight. To be sure, I've not had this scent in winter, and if there is any left, I am sure that I will love wearing her as the chill of December decends, but for now, she is a welcome breath of winter on a sweltering summer day.

[binkyboots]

oh my.. this is complex!

 

I love the piney/medicinal note, it's yummy, unfortunately my skin took the berries and amped them up a million times.... I'm not such a fan of sweet berry types.

 

I've tried it twice in case I was having hormonal issues with it, I so wanted this one to like me.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Cold, green (evergreen), and a hint of something else.

 

Just On: Still cold and evergreen, and I think the something else is a hint of sweetness.

 

An hour or two later: It's getting sweeter as time goes by.

 

Around 6 hours: Wow, this just disappeared.

 

12 hours: Obviously, all gone.

 

Overall: This morphs in such an interesting way on my skin. I really like it.

 

After reading other reviews: On me it starts out with the cold pine, and warms into the sweet pine scent. I like it. I think I said that before, I think (Department of Redundancy Department Muahahaha).

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: Snow covered Christmas trees in a bottle....I would LOVE to smell this on my man... It truly embodies the fresh cut Christmas tree...

[maewitch]

Daaammmmm.

 

This is completely scrumptious. I was a little worried about the pine, and it is indeed what I smelled most strongly when I applied it. It wasn't, however, the gross pine of room deodorizers, but the wonderful pine that you get walking in a northern forest at night. Woody, clean and a little icy. I liked it, but I wondered if it was perhaps a little too woody for me, too masculine.

 

As it started to dry, I got a very faint spicy note, which eventually morphed into the suggestion of warmth. It went from a fragrance that I could see on my boyfriend to one that he would have to pry from my cold dead hands.

 

Seriously, this is soooo incredibly beautiful. I CANNOT stop smelling it. It is woody yet sweet, cool yet warm. I still have that sense of walking through a starlight boreal forest, snow crystalline and perfect under my feet. But I am also wrapped up warmly in a shawl that's been hanging in a country cottage, where my grandmother has been baking. This fragrance is elusive yet so utterly comforting. I don't know how Beth does this.

[olympia301]

Pine and apples on a cold cold night in the dark. That is Skadi to me. It starts off as very PINE, I could not see anything else underneath it, something like opening the front door of a warm house on a cold night.

 

It has to dry before the apples contribute their small chorus to the blend and the pine tones down to a nice recognizable stature. Then it is very nice indeed.

 

I enjoy Skadi and think it's beautifully seasonal. I don't think I get as much of a charge out of it as many people do, but I salute it as a very fine variation on a difficult if not downright impossible theme (evergreens), and it admirably meets the challenge of not smelling like air freshener, Pine Sol, cheap candles, or any of that clap trap. It is refined and special.

[zankoku_zen]

In the Bottle: Very piney and berry.

On Skin: Smells very Christmassy. Its the pine. And the sugary berries. And there's some menthol to it. There's something very herbal about this.

On Drydown: Now I smell some pineapple. Odd. Very odd. The pine scent is still there though.

 

Verdict: It's very Christmassy. It makes me think of a Christmas tree. Unfortunately, I don't fancy smelling like pine. It's a comforting scent. Beth is a genius... for putting Christmas cheer in a bottle. But its not something I can wear.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - wow, strong pine and snow?!

 

Dry - the pine fades and the berries come out to play. This is nicer than I expected, a cool, crisp wintery blend with just a light touch of fruit.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 3

[coulrophobe]

My bottle of Skadi showed up as a bit of a surprise - I'd totally forgotten about buying it.

 

I'm a bit wary of anything with evergreen notes - trees are great, but I don't really fancy smelling like one. So I was hoping the snow and berries would save Skadi for me.

 

In the bottle and wet on my skin, it's far too piney. I smell like an air-freshener. But a hint of sweetness starts to come forth as it dries, and it starts to smell more like *real* evergreens.

 

When completely dry, the berries come to the forefront, while the evergreen needles provide a cool tartness in the background.

 

Unlike others, I got no warmth out of this one whatsoever - this is one cold scent! But very fresh and pretty. As a warm-weather loving person, I'm more likely to wear this on a hot day, rather than in the dead of winter when I have months of nasty cold weather to endure before summer comes. But on a 90 degree day? Fabulous.

[Blood onmy hands]

While Mistletoe was like walking through a snow laden pine forest on a moonlit night, Skadi is like coming in from the forest into a warm cozy house to sit in front of the fire.

 

At first I smell an almost smoky pine. Like sitting in front of a fresh cut Christmas tree and a wood burning fireplace. The pine is very light and I can perfectly envision the green needles and golden sap. Then a bit of spice and cinnamon comes through and warms everything up. Like spiced cider and gingerbread cookies .

 

I love the mental picture that this conjures up. Pine and cinnamon are usually so heavy and overwhelming on me, but they're light and perfectly blended here.

 

I hope that I can find a full bottle of this when I use up my imp.

[Miyabi]

In the bottle: Lightly spiced pine, with a slight bubblegum tinge to it.

 

On skin, wet: Oooh, pine! I'm not getting the cold images I originally had. Well, maybe for a second, but it's drying to something warmer. I'm getting images of sweet pine.

 

Drydown: Sugar n' spice pine, with a slight menthol tang to evoke the coldness. Oh, my. This is delicious. I'm going to have to get my hands on a big bottle or see if the Yule 2005 scents divulge anything like this.

 

ETA: Final drydown, I'm not so keen on. It lingers, since it's been more than a day since I put it on, but it doesn't smell like pine. It's like, a dryer sheet sort of nondescript sweetness.

 

My brother doesn't like it, and originally I bid on a big bottle, but since I've been outbid, I think I'll just hold onto the imp or try my luck if there's a 2005 edition of Skadi out. I still think it was pretty amazing, though.

 

Now this one, she has me sold on BPAL.

Edited September 3, 2005 by Miyabi

[korshka]

It first it is very evergreen especailly in the bottle - quite overwhelming. I'm not a big fan of it. As I where it, though, the sweet berries start off soft, then grow. It's not bad. Evergreen just isn't my thing. It doesn't last long either.

 

My man didn't like either, but the dog on the other hand - was all about sniffing and trying to lick my arm

[Bean Rua]

Skadi! Beautiful, beautiful Skadi.

 

I didn't think I'd love it. I bid on a benefit auction, and voila...I open the bottle and...

 

Trees! Sappy trees. We're at a tree farm, choosing just the right tree to cut. It's just the right day, with sun, to encourage the trees to give off their special fragrance.

 

And sweetness! And spice! Like I had some hot mulled something in my hand, wafting up towards me.

 

Just a zip of something almost citrusy. Playful!

 

It fades all too quickly on me...as many scents do...into something vaguely sweet and spicy, like the memory of a lovely day in the woods, laughing, hot drinks, snow angels...

 

I would love to buy more, so I could use it in my oil burner. This bottle I am using on me. More, Beth, please? Pretty please?

[quikslvr]

Courtesy of the random LE swap circle.

 

Soft fir. Very holiday-esque, like going to one of those holiday fairs that sells beautiful wreaths, both dried and live. Some pine, eucalyptus, a touch of dried berries. Sweet, fresh, snowy pines and firs, mostly. A touch of sap and cider/mulling spices in the background, which gets sweeter and overtakes the pine after less than an hour into the drydown. Two hours later, it's a beautifully light, only vaguely pine-y floral, so soft as to remind me of Antique Lace.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in a word or two: Citrusy pine needle.

 

In the imp/bottle: Fresh, crisp pine needle.

 

On skin, wet: Citrusy pine? How strange.

 

On skin, dry: No change from wet. The mental image I get is of oranges growing on pine trees.

 

Conclusion: In a care I once had, I kept some air fresheners (the tree-shaped kind), mostly Forest Pine and Fresh Orange in a plastic bag in my glove box. Whenever I'd pull one out, a scent very, very close to this would hit me. It brings back some interesting memories, but I don't think I'll buy this if it's in the Yule 05 collection. Pity, I wanted to love it!

Edited December 18, 2005 by Aredhel

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle: Christmas! The sharp pine smell reminds me of home.

 

Wet: Unbelievably, it stays the same on my skin, perhaps getting a bit sharper.

 

Dry, the pine fades a bit, to be joined by a soft berry scent.

 

The pine is beautiful without being overwhelming. ::sniff:: I smell like Christmas!

 

This one is definitely a keeper - too bad for me it was an LE.

Edited October 19, 2005 by harmonyfb

[sophia_helix]

An imp from the wonderful Shelldoo...

 

This was quite lovely. A strong, sharp, juicy pine at first, smelling exactly like walking through a forest of Christmas trees. I got a hint of citrus or florals as it dried down -- not berries, though -- but for once my skin didn't make this too sweet. I was worried it would become too similar to Dublin, but that very true pine-scent stayed.

 

Long-lasting, too! I could still smell it this morning. I would buy this in a heartbeat if it had become available, wah.

[crain]

Totally in love with this scent- it is true fresh and light pine with some berries and some air. I can't get enough of it, and am hoping that I can find a replacement in one of the 2005 holiday scents. I have worn this almost everyday during December 2005, layered with a pine and coconut body lotion, and I am already sad that the Christmas season is going to pass so soon. Thank you for making one beautiful, evocative scent.

[Voleuse]

Another beautiful evergreen scent, this one slightly sweet, with snow crunching underfoot. This is cold, but still cheery. As it dries, however, it gets spicier, sweeter. This is beautiful. (I'm trying not to get too attached.)

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle this smells sweet with a touch of sharp pine. On my skin it is very fresh, and reminds me of expensive men's cologne. As it dries, it gets sweeter and less masculine in scent, though I'd still hazard that this is one for the men of the room. It's a nice, winter scent but my skin gobbled it up within seconds.

 

One for the swap pile, but a real pleasure to have tried.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Skadi is a lovely scent. I have to say that it is quite similar to Snow Bunny and Snow Moon too. Skadi is the piney-est of the three, and it has the heaviest mint, which Snow Bunny also has. Snow Moon is the sweetest of the three, and Skadi is the tartest. Snow Bunny and Skadi are alllllmost indistinguishable compared one on each wrist. Snow Bunny is a bit more complex, a hair sweeter, and a little less harshly pine scented. They all three have slush/snow scents too. Skadi is nice, but I certainly don't cry that I can't get a bottle with the other two similar scents stocked up.

 

I'd give Skadi a 4.5 out of 5. It was a great scent, but I think Beth refined the idea a bit in '05. I like the less-aggressive pine in Snow Moon & Snow Bunny.