by the now-freezing Musette
Awhile back March said it would be January for a few more months – she wuz right. I cannot believe the shockin’ amount of snow, the gale-force winds, the paralyzing cold. Welcome to February, the new January. It’ll be here awhile.
So while the rest of you are snuggling into your Snugglers, toasting by the fire, I decided to work my Inner Freak. I pulled on the Sorels, the Fargo hat and the ski gloves and went outside to shovel almost a foot of snow. Because I am Just That Crazy.
And I armed myself with two Nordic-type scents, just to take the cold amp to ELEVEN.
Andrea Maack’s Craft was courtesy of a lovely Swapper. I am not sure what I was expecting here – there was some loose talk about aldehydes and frozen metal. I was so ready to brave these scent elements, with the biting, hypodermic winds and all…I mean, FROZEN METAL? What could be colder than that, right?
Sadly, all I got was a big ol’ blast of Pine-Sol. I felt like I should be inside cleaning the bathroom, rather than braving the permafrost temps, watching the pine trees bow and sway in the swirling snow. I did a sniff-check about halfway through, as the physics of moving all that snow around, altered the chemistry of the perfume a little bit (see? I was paying a bit of attention in Science – Very Little)…
Still no Frozen Metal. No fjords. No clashing Viking swords. Just a nice riff on Clairol Herbal Essence. It’s nice but no fjords. Okay, I’m off to clean the bathroom. Then I’ll shampoo my hair.
Notes, via Luckyscent: Aldehydes, elemi, cold metal, ice, cedar wood, patchouli
Softeistanz Im Nebel – I got this one in a split. Softeistanz, which I first thought was the name of the perfume, is a tiny indie house in Portland, Oregon. It’s a great name and I think this tiny house will be one to watch in the future. Im Nebel means ‘in the fog’ in (Lord help me….is it Swedish? You’d think I could find that out but noooo!)…anyway, this was another Total Opposite of What I Was Expecting. The notes are Water apple, leather, silver linden, pepper leaf, ginger, milk cedar, green notes, floral notes, incense, per indiescents.com and I was hoping for a lot of silver linden, because I love linden (it’s very calming) and I love silver, especially in winter…and I imagined a walk through a snowy, foggy woods, with a rushing stream (is there anything more beautiful than a swift-moving stream in the foggy woods in winter? )….but this one got all apple-y on me. Four hours into it, that’s still all I’m smelling. It’s actually very pretty – just not at all what I was hoping for. Then again, I don’t even know if that exists!
So let me put it to my beautifulicious Posse – what scents evoke cold silver in the foggy snow? Bring it! I’ll have plenty of time to investigate, as it looks like January is here to stay.
Went to fragrantica and grabbed a description of the Bogner– it should read warmer than it does–“Top notes are green notes, fruity notes and violet; middle notes are iris, jasmine, cyclamen, lime (linden) blossom, rose, lily-of-the-valley and ylang-ylang; base notes are musk, sandalwood, oak moss, virginia cedar and heliotrope.” Maybe it’s the cedar, making me think of those cedar shingle cabins at Tahoe– anyway–I just dabbed on a bunch more– potd, in your honor!
:)>-
=))
I know that one! I once was so insanely determined to get to the gym….we’d had ridiculous amounts of snow and the entire alley (I lived in the middle of the City then) was a solid 4′ of snow. I’m serious.
So…..do you think I took a look at it, said ‘oh, to heck with it’ and went back inside like a normal person?
[-(
I spent an HOUR digging out the space in front of our garage, my then-husband watching bemusedly….worked up more of a sweat than I ever could’ve at the gym….
…and then, after I’d gotten all of that done, he said
“that’s GREAT!…..now what are you going to do about the REST of the alley? :d ”
The fact that he made perfect sense only made me want to hit him harder!
xoxo >-)
Hi Anita! I hope you are staying warm and have a stack of trashy novels to read! In the semi-cold here, I have been gravitating toward warm smelling, spicy frags– Tabac Blond, for tough days, Cuir de Lancome for cozier days. In the swap, I had a sample of DSH Cathedral– I think from you!? which I absolutely love. I have one little perfume that makes me think of snow– a mini of Bogner Woman. It has a spruce-y, floor wax-y, pine tree, fresh air-ish vibe. I don’t know what’s in it–but it definitely reminds me of the day last year when I spent two hours trying to pput on chains on the access road to the snow park we never reached . . .oy. I am a snow wimp. Hang in there!!!
I love Molinard du Molinard in the winter. It’s an oldy but goody that has a hint of Christmas trees-not just pine trees-but sparkling Christmas trees.
oooh! spaaaarkly! I love sparkly! 😡
xo >-)
Not that I think I’d really want to wear something that felt cold when I *was* cold, but if so I’d have to reach for either TDC’s De Bachmakov, which feels like bathing in an icy gin martini, or CdG’s Stephen Jones, which is like mainlining frozen metal violets and rock dust. Frigid, the both of ’em.
Good luck with all the digging out!
I can’t wait to try De Bachmakov – everybody is swooning over it and lord knows I loves me some gin martini :x….that’s what swept me head over heels for Brillante. It smells so Urban – and urbane. Of course, it will be a few days before I am able to try anything not currently in my perfume closet – we’re sill buried in snow. But at least it has stopped and there is none on the way (so they say [-o< Shelley called Stephen Jones 'violets in space' - I really need to revisit that one (and it is in my closet so....:-? xo >-)
Hmmmm, this Calgarian is wondering… do I even say something? (I recognize that Canadians can sometimes get annoying with our “Aw shucks, you think that’s cold? You call that a lot of snow?”)
Yeah, I’m gonna forebear here. Especially since the snow dump and cold snap we had this weekend had us all whining as well, which can get a little ridiculous, because it’s not like it’s such a surprise here. (Wow! Snow and cold at the end of January? Didn’t see that coming!)
I think Calgarians whine because weather here is so much more variable than it is further north, where I grew up. Chinooks are such wacky things – Thursday last week was +13 C (55F) and everything was melting, Monday it was -32 C (-26F) with 25 cm of snow, and today it’s back up to 0C (32F) with another chinook on the way. Definitely keeps you on your toes.
Right now the coldest thing I own is TDC’s Bois d’Iris, and I’m definitely going to try Zagorsk. To my mind, you can never have two many incenses.
Canada always gets a pass, in my book. It’s just strange up there, weatherwise.
I think people who complain about snow should expect other people, who get even MORE snow, to scoff – it’s their god-given right, for pete’s sake! It’s the ONE compensation. [-(
I haven’t worn Bd’Iris in awhile – I think I have a little samp here – will pull it out for the afternoon!
xo >-)
Oh my goodness, 4 foot drifts!! We got just under 2 feet. But the snow blower just decided to stop working! So I guess we go at it with shovels in hand:( At least the kids are having fun…built a tunnel in the snow in the backyard!
Im going to join you and have a Bas Day! I feel better already!
Thanks and be safe!
You, too! Kids and snow = FUN! Us old codgers forget to have a bit of that, which is a shame. I think I’ll go throw a snowball at the dogs! ;))
xo >-)
I’m on my second snow day – in Dallas! – and it’s really more ice than snow. I agree with freesia being a “cool” scent, but I’m more concerned with trying to offset the cold with something warm…let’s see, Eau duelle or something floral???
I’m thinking a stiff vodka myself!
xo >-)
I picked up a bunch of white freesia yesterday and they are a perfect scent backdrop to the grey sky and white everything else.
I haven’t ventured further than my front door this today, but I’m sure I should go shovel the snow at some point. I will be dabbing on some Soivohle Green Oakmoss for that adventure.
Be careful with that whole ‘shoveling’ thing, will you? Thanks!
My paperwhites are blooming so I totally relate to the scent backdrop to the white/grey visuals. They are a lifesaver!!!
Oooh! Green Oakmoss. Totally silvery-green! So pretty.
xo >-)
Grrr! I recently looking for a “cold” scent myself, and ordered Craft instead of Zargorsk, which, by the looks of it, may have been a mistake… We’ll see. I also got a recommendation from Robin at NST for Lesnez The Unicorn Spell for chilliness, so that’s on it’s way as well.
Well…not everybody gets PineSol – you might have a better take on it. Will you holla back and let us know?
xo >-)
absolutely!
My first scrubber! Almost seems like something to celebrate, except for the nausea. I couldn’t agree with you more, it is frighteningly (commendably?!) reminscient of pinesol. My nose burns with indignation.
My nose burns with indignation.
You SO know I’m gonna scrab that one, right? 😉
xo >-)
If it will save others from a similiar fate, I would consider it your duty.
Musette-I was watching Today show w Al Roker’s weather report in Chicago – people trying to walk or even stand, Lake Shore Drive drivers rescued by fire department last night, having to leave their cars. How could I not think of you? And you’re outside? Are you nuts? Brrrrr. It could be worse-if you were in Australia right now:)
I immediately thought of Irish Silver Mist. It’s got that elemental silvery icy metallic tongue stuck to a frozen pipe sort of zing to it. I know, makes no sense but neither does this weather.
I just sprayed some Zagorsk on, still forming an impression. Like an angel in the snow.
So true about Australia – horrible weather in a different way. :-(
To me, Avignon is the cold of a medieval cathedral at night.
That ‘tongue’ visual is gonna stay with me awhile! ;))
Chicago is still getting hammered. Down here in Central IL we are now just being tortured with incredible winds and 4′ drifts. We might actually be okay, once we all dig out, if the snow doesn’t come back.
[-o< xo >-)
and Australia! OMG! They are getting hit hard!!! Cyclones! b-( Thoughts and best wishes to everybody dealing with that Down Under.
… Zagorsk, hmm? I should sample that.
Cold silver in foggy snow sounds just gorgeous (from *inside* the house, comprends tu?).
ISM is pretty chilly, but those carrots – which I liked! – make it springy, I think.
😕
what isss dis ‘spring’ of which you speak?
;))
xo >-)
Sympathies to all you guys suffering what sounds exceptionally wintery weather! Reminded me of a Flanders and Swann song – A Song of the Weather where at the end they sing “Bl**dy January again!!” It is only because of the story behind its creation but I thought of Nuit de Noel – all that coming indoors from the cold bit. I do love the vintage though, its dark green mossy inkiness.
I keep meaning to revisit NdN. Maybe tonight, since today is Bas Day!
xo >-)
Bad was my choice too. Seems to be a wide-spread phenomenon today.
bas*… to the contrary, a bas day is
a good choice. Ultra comment fail!
We had howling wind and beating rain yesterday late, but that was nothin’ compared to what the rest of you are experiencing. Please stay inside, if possible. Musette, we don’t want to read about your bod being found during the Spring Thaw. Newscaster: “Searchers making the discovery reported that she still smelled good”.
I’m going to be on the lookout for Zagorsk. For now, my iciest scent is Cristalle.
LOL – the perfumista’s epitaph: sample fast, die before IFRA totally ruins all perfumery, and leave a beautifully scented corpse!
I want to be embalmed with Nuit de Tubereuse.:)
I’m going with cremation but! I think they put you in a winding sheet so perhaps they could spray that with vintage Mitsouko? But quite awhile from now, if you don’t mind…
Thankee kindly much!
xo >-)
=))
I would be pickled in Bas de Soie and cryogenic as all get out!
xo >-)
ps. that response is in reply to falling out in the driveway. ‘real’ cryogenics freaks me out!
b-(
Iris Silver Mist — actually, most irises smell silvery and cold to me — and Zagorsk, which has always reminded me of the movie “Dr. Zhivago.”
Stay warm! This winter will be remembered.
You’ve tried Iris 39, right? It’s one of the few ‘warm’ ones – at least to my nose.
I’m enjoying the (very) brief forays outside (we’re talking 10′ from the house, btw)….it makes me really appreciate the privilege of heat and comfort…..so many people don’t have that….:”>
xo >-)
Filles in Aiguilles (sp?) smells like pine forest to me and I could see it working in the cold.
Silver Factory might be beautiful too, but it was very masculine on me.
I get straight-up incense with SF – not bad, but I’m not much for incense. FiA is nice in concept – less Piney than Craft – but something doesn’t quite work for me there. Maybe I’m just not a piney kinda gal…
xo >-)
I’m going to chime in on the Zagorsk- cold stone Church with wind buffeting the stained glass and making the icicles rattle. Stay warm and leave the shovelling to El O!:d
Hi M, I’m with you and the other posters on the Zagorsk. And I agree with the Bond 9 Silver Factory as well.
And dear Musette, please take it easy and stay warm.
El O is a guy. And an idiot. And I don’t have enough life insurance on him. So we’ll both wait until the guys with the Bobcats show up, wanting $20 to plow the driveway. Sounds good to me! ~o)
xoxo >-)
LOL- deadly combo, that is! Reminds menof my grandfather reaching into, INTO mind you, the blades of the snowblower to free a stick that was jamming the mechanism and you can imagine what happened next… He calmly opens the door and asks ‘me to get my mother who comes down to see what’s up and then FLIES up the stairs to get first- aid supplies and her car keys to drive him to the doctor to get his fingers sewn back on! And he wasn’t an idiot…:d
None of them are idiots – until it comes to that kind of stuff. 8-|
Mind you, I have come theeees close to taking First Place in the Idiot Hall of Fame with some of my shenanigans so I have little to be smug about. But ‘guys’…..:-? I dunno….sometimes they just wear me out.
xo >-)
Soft Ice Cream Dance in the Fog has to be the greatest perfume name ever! Worth having for the name alone…
As for cold scents: Bas de Soie is the icy glance of the dowager duchess in the elegant sable cap… Douce Amère is Lana Turner, trailing a mink stole through the blizzard after her lover has left her. In black-and-white. In the dark.
And then there’s Rosine’s – sadly discontinued – Rose d’Argent: the last silvery rose bud, frozen under a cap of snow.
Oh, and Malle Eau d’Hiver: it smells of spring in a warm room and lowers the temperature by several degrees in the cold!
Bas de Soie was the first to come to mind for me, too – icy, but with the promise of spring flowers. Bond 9 Silver Factory is an effervescent cold incense, almost bubbly. Love that one. And to reiterate from the Posse the other day, YSL Nude is a chiller on me.
I’m up in the middle of the night – oh wait, this is when I’m usually up for work, but bcs of the blizzard we have a snow day, yay!! Yet can I sleep in? *sigh* I’m spending the day reading, perfume sampling and watching Nicolas Nickleby on Netflix. Shovelling can wait. Be careful to all in the blizzard zone…
r,
I’m more of a pusher,rather than a flinger – that is a surefire way to a cardiac incident! But even with the pushing, this is just stupid snow –
The 😕 : we need to get the Bobcat. But first, we need to get TO the Bobcat……….ain’t happenin’ anytime soon..;)
xo >-)
“Need to get TO the Bobcat”!
No, I’m not laughing… except in a BeenThereDoneThat sort of way. You midwesterners really have my sympathy today. As a courtesy, I will not tell you what the weather is like here in the mountains of VA.
The last time we had a blizzard was in March of ’93: The CEO went to stay at his uncle’s house so they could take care of about 300 spring calves, and I didn’t see him for three days. We had drifts of 7-10′, and ice formed on the INSIDE of the windows of our house in town. Brrrr.
😮
Glad you guys are not having horrid weather. My farming neighbors are having some rough times with their 3:-o3:-o3:-o (these are small family farms) – I think the ~:>~:> are okay (we have a flock just behind us, who sometimes cross the street into our yard – uh, not lately ;))
it’s just nasty. but at least it’s stopped snowing!
xo >-)
It’s still snowing here…. :-ss
b-(
it’s stopped here. I managed to get some birdseed out and dumped it under the bushes (right outside my window). There are about 30 birds under there right now!
xo >-)
Your day sounds just wonderful!
I love the first chilly blast of Bas des Soie, then it warms up to something even lovelier (it’s one of my 3 ‘warm iris’ scents, the other two being Mythique and Iris 39.
I think I’ll wear BdS today, in honor of the 40mph winds and 18F temps. :((
xo >-)
for some reason, Miller Harris’ Terre d’ Iris comes up in my mind as a cold winter smell. Not sure why. When I looked at the notes…I suppose there is a fir note in there. My experience of it was as a ‘warm’ coldness. So maybe I want it to be spring already. haha.
L’eau d’Hiver is very frosty and not very honey-like on me.
Off to make a hot drink! :)
With a few notable exceptions, I find Iris to be a very cold note. That’s not a bad thing, btw. My experience of L’eau d’Hiver is the exact opposite. I see it as winter – but winter, viewed from inside a cozy house.
I’ll join you in that ~o)
xo >-)
“Soft Ice Cream Dance” is the name of the company. Auf Deutsch….
Thank you!
I knew it was something ‘soft’ but I have a difficult time with German, having never taken the time to learn it…:”>
xo >-)
Lalique’s Flora Bella is an icy silver floral, with chilled milk. And for winter, can’t beat CdG’s Zagorsk, which smells like a Northern Russian Orthodox church, with snowy trees outside.
Oooh! I have never smelled either! Zagorsk reminds me of Neil Morris’s Dark Season, which I have also not smelled, but descriptions of it are quite evocative.
xo >-)
It’s scary cold here…. I got off work early (that’s a first!) someone dropped me at the el… I had to walk four blocks to my building and the wind was so strong I had a hard time breathing. A broken down bus let me sit inside while I caught my breath, and when another bus finally came I took it for the last block…
Silver in foggy snow does sound really beautiful…. certainly not what’s happening now. I can’t think of a scent that approaches that… I’m too busy cursing god at the moment.
😮
You know how I miss City Living…:-? that is one thing I do NOT miss! CTA is great – until it isn’t.
It’s getting shockin’ cold here as well – 40mph winds aren’t helping. I am SO glad you got home okay. Now STAY home, okay? [-o< xoxoxo >-)
Fortunately, I’m off work today….
I wrote the above when I just got home…. it was pretty painful. I’ve since let god off the hook, and apologized…. I had to blame someone! CTA was still operating, except that broken down bus.. and it was nice for the driver to let me take shelter! I only had one more block to walk (the rest [from the Dominicks where we last chatted!] was off a bus route), but it would have been death for me. Sheridan Road was like a wind tunnel.
I thought more about wintery fragrances…. the first thing that came to my mind was Encens Flamboyant…. cold incense in the woods… but I don’t think it has the note of clarity that the silver would bring. I also thought of Zagorsk, as Masha and others note below.
As for irises…. I also thought Hiris. It’s pretty chilly… and it has that clarity perhaps… but I don’t get “silver in foggy snow” from it or other irises I can think of… I need to think more.
Is it me, or has the CTA gotten ‘nicer’?
Glad you are home safe and sound. It’s unbelievably stupid down here. The streets have 3′ of snow. Luckily everyone here has off-street parking (it is rural-ish, after all, so thank Floyd for that! ^:)^ ) But we have ONE plow and one front end loader for the town – so it’s gonna take awhile.
Add to that…El O forgot to get gas for the snowblower :-w so it’ll be awhile before we get out of here. Fine by me. We have power and lots of ~o)
and a pot of homemade ~:> soup for lunch!
xo >-)
Musette, I too have a decant of Craft courtesy of last November’s Swapmania – I think we swapped with the same delightful perfumista in Sweden. To me Craft smells exactly like when I was a kid immersed in a bath tub full of hot soapy water with ivory and camay soap and assorted background smells of an old Victorian farm house. In other words, the height of coziness and warmth. Of course, I don’t think Icelanders survived the glaciers by trying to amp up the cold, so I’m not totally surprised.
I was just reading that one of the biggest snowstorms since the 1950s is basically exploding over the Chicago area. I’ll try to think of a cold scent if you will please just stay indoors until this blizzard blows itself out. How about SL Iris Silver Mist? 8-x
Babe, I couldn’t get out if I wanted to. If you could see the drifts!!! Oooh! ISM! Chchchhhhilllly! 😡
And yes, it was one of my TWO Swedish swappers – my fabulous PO gals started taking bets on the country origin of the next incoming pkg ;))
xo >-)
Violetta di Parma.
My grandparents’ church was built in 1807, and it’s beautiful, but *cold* in the winter. That sort of gentle, innocent smell really blends with the icy cold, beeswaxed pews and the ancient dust of the place.
That sounds gorgeous! Must try it.
What an evocative description! I haven’t considered VdP in that way – must revisit!
xo >-)
Am I actually first here? Staying up listening to my house shake in this blizzard. I actually have about three inches of snow building up in between the panes of a window with a bad storm window attached. Cold silver in the foggy snow sounds like Zagorsk to me, which is lovely, but not for me right now. I’m going to need something nice and toasty for listening to the winds howl. Be careful with that shoveling! It’s only going to be blown all over the place until things settle down anyways.
I know! :(( we awoke to 4-ft drifts! And the wind is having a field day. It sounds like young banshees out there, fighting over a chest of doomed souls.
xo >-)