I absolutely HATE winter. I don't like cold weather or grey skies, and snow, well, it is amusing for about the first 30 minutes of the first snowfall of the year; after that, I could do quite well without it. I used to live in Southern California (and I'm still vaguely puzzled as to why I no longer live there) and to my mind, that is what winter should be like: an occasional overnight frost, a few chilly days here and there, otherwise, business as usual, meaning blue skies and bright sunshine.
I am guessing that perfumer Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume likes winter better than I do; at least, he likes it well enough to capture it in fragrance. Winter 1972 is meant to evoke a "field of untouched new fallen snow, hand knit woolen mittens covered with frost, a hint of frozen forest & sleeping earth". It goes on light, and smells very cold, just as you'd expect, but without any of the high metallic cooling effect that you find in some fragrances meant to smell cold. As it develops, there are hints of damp earth — if you've tried CB I Hate Perfume Black March, you will recognize a bit of common ground (excuse the terrible pun, I couldn't help myself) in the undertones of Winter 1972.
There is a very light wood note, and I might be dreaming but I would swear that there really is a touch of something like cold wool mitten. It stays chilly straight through to the end. Winter 1972 is a great scent, and might be fun to wear in mid-August when winter actually sounds appealing, but for today, I'm wearing Black March on the other arm and I like that one much better. I'll take spring over winter any day.
If you want all four seasons from CB I Hate Perfume, try the Black March fragrance mentioned above for spring, Memory of Kindness for summer and Burning Leaves for fall.
Winter 1972 is available in perfume oil ($60 for 15 ml) or water formula ($60 for 100 ml). I prefer the water formula in general, but I have only tried this one in the perfume oil, and the lasting power is very good. For buying information, see the listing for CB I Hate Perfumes under Perfume Houses.
Hi Robin,
CB definitely has some unusual creations. I haven't sampled any of them yet.
FYI….. I live in SoCal. and even though the weather is great most of the year, I long for a place to live that is simple and not overcrowded. The older I get, the more unappealing SoCal is. Why did you leave anyway?
Happy 2007.
Dawn
Dawn, I first went out to San Diego for graduate school. Then I missed the East Coast and came back. Then I missed CA, and moved back for a few years, and then I missed the East again, LOL…
What would be best, I suppose, is to have houses on both coasts, or to move every 5 years.
We visited San Diego very briefly 2 years ago, and I was quite literally shocked at how much more crowded it had become since I left around 1994. I don't think I could live there now. The traffic was like LA traffic. I wouldn't be able to stand it. But I almost cried standing on the beach in La Jolla — it is just so beautiful, and there are so many things about it that I love and miss.
If I had a choice now (and I don't!) I think I would move to New Mexico.
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on this, but maybe that's for the better! :):)
But I understand that you are featured in a national magazine this month, dear R. I have to stop at the grocery store today, and you can bet that I am going to buy it! Congratulations! I think that's marvelous.
Hugs!
This sounds great! I live in Florida, and everyday the sun is unbearable, so I like cooler fragrances. I don't know if I would attempt to wear this one, since it's for women, but a truly wintry fragrance sounds great! Especially when the closest thing I have is Curve Chill…
Ooh, enough already about the CB line! I read about his scents; he sends me his newsletter…but he doesn't send abroad, so I am shrivelled with envy and lust! They ALL sound mesmerising. I'm especially intrigued by the concept of water-based scents; I don't enjoy the alcohol blast of many perfumes, so the idea of a water base is very attractive. CB used to have one outlet in London, but that closed last year. I hope someone else takes this line up.
Congrats on the good publicity, I understand? Highly well-deserved!
I never realized that CB's Secret History fragrances represented the four seasons (or, to be more exact, his personal experiences of the four seasons)! I am fanatically attached to At The Beach 1966, even though I am anything but a summer person.
I really do enjoy this line overall. I'm glad you wrote this review!
At last, at last, someone who says they hate the cold weather as much as I do! Like you, I often wonder why I live in rainy, grey London, when I could be in sunny Nice. I have a cousin in San Diego – if Britishers were allowed to settle in the USA, I would go there like a shot (I'd be allowed in but not my partner). Just wanted to hug you for saying what you said.
Thank you R! I am honored to be included in any list that includes Design Sponge, and now I wish DS would come redesign this blog, LOL…
I don't think this scent is for women at all — it is about as unisex as you can get.
I heard Scent Systems was being revived?? All I see on their website so far is something about custom scents, so maybe that is the only part coming back to life.
And thanks
Oh, I don't think they are *meant* to represent the 4 seasons, I just see those 4 scents that way — and actually they aren't all in the SH series, so that probably isn't what CB had in mind at all
J, we should all retire to the South of France somewhere, that is my vote. We can open a perfume shop and argue about what we'll carry, and then use up the stock ourselves instead of selling it, LOL…
I am always vaguely suspicious of people who love winter — are they all nuts???
In Europe you can buy the CB I hate Perfume fragrances here: http://www.suendhaft.com Currently only to order by phone. Not sure if Scent Systems will be stock other than their own fragrances.
You're so full of good ideas, R! *slaps own head for not thinking of it*
They *are* all nuts. I know that for a fact.
PBI. Welcome news, *only* if it's not run by the same silly man. He was such a moron.
I love to smell everything he makes, but not necessarily to wear them…
In order to create my own comfort, I wind up layering a LOT of them, and that's not very practical [but it's fun, sometimes].
definitely a part of olfactory education 101…
Ah come on… he is not that bad (and no, it is not me ;- ) )
Wait a minute, were not nutts for loving the crisps cold air in our lungs in the mornings and the warm winter clothes with shoes to show less skin.
Top that! LOL
The guy who used to run Scent Systems was an absolute twit.
Aha! I stand corrected. They aren't all Secret History scents.
You're right, though: whether or not he set out to do it, he *has* captured all four seasons, in his own wonderully idiosyncratic fashion.
Lol, I love the term twit… it reminds me of some bird sitting on a branch twittering uselessly.
Black March is wonderful, as is Memory of Kindness. This new winter smell sounds really nice too. I love that he makes his inspirations come alive. Thanks for the review. I live in soCal but like winter vacations (skiing!).
Won't butt into this discussion since I've never met the man, but I love the word twit too. Brits have better slang than we do in the US.
Exactly, although I guess really the At The Beach is more appropriate for summer, isn't it? I just like Memory of Kindness better.
See, none of those things appeal to me. Crisp air is all very nice & well in the fall, but once it is below 30 degrees, it just burns the lungs. Bah!
I layered the apples & burning leaves, but haven't experimented much otherwise. Any other great combos I should know about?
Ah, but then it is just a vacation, LOL…although still, I hate skiing too (and ice skating, and all the rest).
I love the idea of winter (watching snow falling, smelling the crispness in the air, etc.), but only for a very short while. Then again I lived most of my life in climates where winter would span 5 out of 12 months of the year. It all depends what you are used to.
I find that I prefer our climate here, since CA is too hot for me, and IL is too cold.
Showing up late as usual. You already know how much I love all of these (and you are personally responsible for my strong foray into the line, starting with Black March).
However. What I really wanted to say was, we lived in NM for 10 years. And it smells WONDERFUL. I don't know why (the dry climate? the flora?) but it does. Each season. There is nothing like it.
LOL! Trust me on this: he was.
5 months of winter would kill me, LOL…but what I loved about San Diego is that it was always warm, but rarely hot. Nothing like Philly in August, trust me!
Oh, completely agree. My Dad lived in Taos for years, and it smelled wonderful all around that area. Don't remember if Albuquerque smelled great too, but I'd love to live near Albuquerque some place.
One of my favorite smells in the world is the University of Cal at San Diego in La Jolla — you had the smell of the ocean mixed with Eucalyptus groves. Eucalyptus smells sooo wonderful fresh.
Well, in Florida we have NO winter. At all. I love Florida, but I hate the weather.
I could live with no winter, but have spent very little time in Florida so don't know if I would love it or not.
You lived in La Jolla? My cousin lived there for a long time, back in the 70s.
He's retired now, but he was a professor of molecular biology and genetics.
J, I lived in La Jolla for 2 years — in graduate student housing, which is the only way I could possibly afford to live there. In some ways I preferred the funkier beach towns to the south & north (La Jolla has that kind of sterile, overly perfect atmosphere that very wealthy enclaves often have) but the beach was just stunning, and the University grounds were beautiful as well.
Am guessing that it was a better place to live in the 70s than it is now. The surrounding area is pretty overcrowded.
Oh, boo! It sounds so nice. I always regretted not being able to go and visit my cousin in La Jolla – even more now.
In 1966, when he was teaching at the University of Salt Lake City, I got accepted as a student there (in the Psychology dept). But I wasn't of age and my father (his uncle) said 'no'. The entire course of my life would have been different… I can hardly bear to think of it.
I love the idea of *secret histories* ~so much of one's interior landscape (emotion, memories) is mapped with scent, it feels like an appropriate name. I have moved some of the “I Hate Perfume” fragrances from my daydreamy wish list to my written-down wishlist. I am planning to buy Blood Orange, Wild Pansy, Russian Caravan, and Black Tea, and soon. I will report back!
-Kate
Robin, congrats on the good press. You absolutely deserve it. I love this site, I visit it every day, and it has inspired many perfume purchases, mostly unsniffed. I am happy to say that I regret none of my purchases instigated from this site. I thank all the lovely writers for helping my collection grow to ridiculous proportions.
About So Cal. I live here, have since 1988, originally from GA. It's odd, but in spite of the traffic and the very odd people, I can't imagine living anywhere else. The mountains, the ocean, the deserts, the forests…but truly, I understand why you'd leave. I have contemplated it many times. I can't really explain it, either. The east coast is so different from the west, and sometimes I feel these differences acutely and I miss a certain element of the east.
Anyway, recently I bought Memory of Kindness. Love it. This one sounds nice, but not like a must-have. Thanks for the great review, once again.
You can't bear to think of the lost possibilities, or how glad you are that your parents saved you from disaster…?
K, I love Russian Caravan Tea — I have it in the room spray, which you can also wear on skin. Do let me know how Blood Orange is, I've never tried it!
Gina, so glad to hear of another fan of Memory of Kindness, I think it is just brilliant.
You know, when I was moving back & forth from the East Coast to the West, my life was much more fluid than it is now. I don't think at the time that I thought I was leaving CA for good. I really do miss it terribly, and haven't entirely given up: after my son grows up, CA will still be there, right?
I would love to revisit the central coast, around the Cambria area. If it isn't yet as overcrowded as everywhere else, it might be perfect.
And thanks so much for the very kind words
Oh, of the life I might (probably would) have had. There would have been no disaster, I'm quite sure.
Ah, the road not taken! I know the feeling.
I grabbed this over Black March – which I do plan to go back and buy for Spring! Great seasonal suggestions. I also have Memory of Kindness which I like for summer. Winter 1972 is perfect to counteract the musty wet wool smells on the subway. It smells so clean. I buy absolutes for their staying power – I've never tried his water based scents though.
If you're happy with the oils, do stick with them. I don't know why but I can't get used to oils so love the water formula.
It's rainy and cold here and I was delighted to try my new sample of the water perfume. Perhaps it's the power of suggestion via the name, but the fragrance does inspire indoor activities. I detect a smidgen of laundry detergent (a past Tide powder scent? Powder form, not smell) but that's all to the good.
Interesting — I'll have to try it again and see if I can catch that.
Dana Vigilante writes – Okay, I think I'm missing something here. I recently recieved 10 vials of CB fragrances, including Winter 1972. I asked several friends what they thought of this fragrance. The answer was the same each time – all of my friends said that this smelled exactly like Pine-Sol. No one believed that it was an actual perfume ( I had put it on my wrist then let them smell it), until I showed them the actual vial. One friend even asked if he was being “punk'd”, as he could not believe that this stench was an actual perfume and not a household cleaner! What am I missing here? I'm a freelance writer and I have smelled ALOT of different fragrances that I have been asked to write about. Some odd, some strange, some horrific. But none even came close to this fragrance. Dana Vigilante
They are not conventional perfumes, so not surprised that none of your friends could believe it was “an actual perfume”, and I am quite sure they are not to everyone's taste. Ah well, plenty of other scents out there!
Hello!
Coincidentally, I was born and raised in San Diego/La Jolla, and when my parents divorced, my mother moved to New Mexico — I grew up in both NM and SoCalif! So, yeah, I feel the love for both states. Small world! Anyhow, onto perfume talk . . .
I just bought a sample of Winter 1972 from ThePerfumedCourt and I absolutely love it. It's so fresh — I'm a big fan of clear, clean scents, with sweeter tones, and Winter 1972 is a solid scent for these particular criteria. I also bought a sample of March Water — I like it as well, although I think Winter 1972 edges out March Water as my favored scent, but only barely. They are both crisp, striking scents, that are interesting and appealing. I know I will enjoy wearing both of these scents.
Oh, I have a cousin who lives in San Diego (and previously in La Jolla). I've never been. I hear it's very beautiful there. Lucky you!
2penny, 2 of my favorite places, lucky you! If you haven't tried the other one with mushroom — Wild Hunt, I think, but now I forget, you might try that one too. It's an earthier version of the Black March.