Brand: Solstice Scents
Scent Description:
White Amber, White Musk, Vanilla Accord, Peppermint Cream, Cold Winds
A chilly white blend of an ethereal snow blanket and cold winter winds, Snowshoe Pass combines pale white amber, delicate and smooth white musk, a sweet touch of vanilla and a faint whisper of creamy cold peppermint. The result is a unique take on a winter scent inspired by heavy snows and desolate rural regions. On cold sniff and initial application a creamy peppermint note is detectable as a top note, though it is a careful addition that takes a backseat to the other notes as it wears on the skin, ultimately receding entirely. There is just enough peppermint to enhance the coolness of this plushly white blend. The other notes swirl together to evoke not only a snow covered landscape that may only be traversed with snowshoes and a pioneer spirit, but the calm and intense silence after a snow deep in the wild.
Showshoe Pass is VERY similar (on me) to White Fox. SP has white amber and peppermint cream but they both dry down to the SAME vanilla musk type of base with awesome longevity. The peppermint cream note in SP is subtle and short lived. SP and WF are so similar on me that I feel like I don’t need to have both in my collection at the same time. If I had to knit pick WF has more of a vanilla musk base while SP is smoother from the white amber. Overall both scents are very much the same, especially in the dry down. If you already own WF, try layering a peppermint element and you pretty much replicate Snowshoe Pass. In the short and sweet, Snowshoe Pass is a bit smoother with a slightly creamy peppermint element while White Fox has a more dominant vanilla musk to it. Really really similar to my nose and how they wear on my skin. If you like white amber and creamy mint go for SP but if you prefer musks then try out WF.
The opening is wonderfully minty, and actually has decent projection for an oil. After about an hour, though, the mint fades (sad face); but what’s really curious is what I’m left with. I swear, I smell pepper when this dries down. Pepper, and maybe a pinch of nutmeg. It doesn’t project much, but longevity is ridiculous (you might need to bathe before this fades).
This is similar to White Fox without the musk. A slightly sweet very cold vanilla.
I get a whiff of strong, astringent peppermint in the opening before it melts into the dryly resinous notes (Solstice’s amber accord tends to read woody instead of honeyed or floral to me), with the cool vanilla-musk emerging as it dries to round out the sharp edges. This blend never leans too gourmand, but the mint note always reads a little pungent; pleasant from a distance but musty, not musky, up close (which is admittedly close to how real mint leaves smell).
A cold, musky vanilla with the gentlest nip of peppermint hiding in the background. The vanilla is creamy and smooth but not foody. The musk is white/grey-smelling and adds to the cool fuzziness of the entire blend, plus serves to enhance the longevity to several hours.
Very strong amber and white musk with a cold feel. This one lasts for ages, too; I could still smell it with minimal fading after 24 hours. I don’t get a minty smell specifically, but it does have a tiny hint that you could easily miss in the background. It’s strong, not too complex, and very “white”.
Musky cold amber and peppermint, not too foody but atmospheric
One of my favorites! It’s perfect for colder weather- the initial mint smell makes the scent really “sharp” but it dies down to a mellow cold vanilla musk after an hour. To be fair, I amp musk so for some others, it might be a sweeter vanilla drydown. It’s not a gourmand vanilla at all- it’s very evocative (to me) of a winter blanket of snowy vanilla.
“Cold vanilla” perfectly describes this scent. The coldness is creamy, minty at first but you don’t get much of that tingly sensation. Feels like a grown up perfume, but still unique and light. I hope this one gets reformulated with an alcohol base, I think it would suit it. I never tried the EDP so I can’t say much about it, but it must be beautiful.
A cold, smooth, and sweet vanilla. Much less complex than White Fox are far less musky. The mint isn’t even obvious after the first few minutes – it’s just there to give an impression of “cold”. It’s very inoffensive, lasts a long time, and is good for blending.