Pumpkin II (2007)

[Blupest]

Pumpkin with tobacco, champa flower, carnation, and tonka.

Since overtly foody pumpkin scents are everywhere this time of year,I thought it would be interesting to try the not-so-foody pumpkin blends from The Lab this fall. Pumpkin II opens very buttery-pumpkin-pastry but that very quickly fades and the floral notes begin to sing.
Next,the spices begin to mingle with the smell of the florals and the pumpkin stays very much in the background. Once the florals begin to fade,the spicyness remains and the other aspects of this blend become more apparent. Its very interesting how much this changes..more like embarking on a scent-journey rather than applying a scent.

I like foody pumpkin scents, but I welcome a sophisticated floral-spicy pumpkin scent such as this as well. I find this scent perfectly compliments the feeling of the season right now.

[Finny]

This one smells great! It reminds me of going to the local garden center/pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. The chrysanthemums, the hay stacks, the corn field and the fresh cut pumpkins in the carving hall of fame. No spicy pumpkin pie scent here, just a squashy pumpkin note, with lots of dry green herbal notes, and a hint of chrysanthemum.

[Brianne]

Goes on strongly of carnation - soft, pink and slightly sweet (in terms of floral). Then the champa flower shows up with some spiced quality - very incensey and yet floral. This is possibly the first pumpkin blend ever where pumpkin was not completely evident in the blend. I can smell it, but it's just not as strong as in other pumpkin blends I've tried.

 

It all comes together in a sort of floral incense blend - it's softly floral but I would definitely say that's a prominent aspect of the blend. Slightly sweet, slightly incensy and a little spicy-ness from the tobacco. Very beautiful and unexpected, but it fades very quickly from me (I could barely smell it on me after 15 minutes).

[filigree_shadow]

This is the Pumpkin I was looking forward to the most. And... I love it! It's mostly a dry scent; it's not that buttery pumpkin I've smelled in other scents. The flowers in this one give it a little bit of spice and complexity. The tonka and pumpkin combination is extremely pleasant, and I like it a lot.

 

Definitely my favorite of the Pumpkins this year!

[Nidaba]

Wow, trying these blends I have learned that I amp pumpkin like crazy. lol

 

Wet: This one is all buttery pumpkin when I first apply it. Something chocolatey pokes out as well. (Reading the notes I believe that is actually the tobacco. I often confuse tobacco for cocoa.

 

Dry: This smells a little like pumpkin cider to me. I'm not sure why. I can still smell the tobacco and it gives it a very warm, full feel to it.

 

Overall, I like it!

[hkhm]

bottle: flowering pumpkin. i think it's the carnation i'm smelling and it smells quite good with the pumpkin.

 

wet: the florals have come out to play! the pumpkin has definitely taken the backseat to all the other scents.

 

dry: i'm getting a lot of carnation from this, the pumpkin has gone and left sticky florals behind. too bad i'm not terribly fond of carnation.

 

(edit: i'm suddenly struck by the fact that tobacco is an ingredient in pumpkin 2 but it's pumpkin 3 that smells like tobacco smoke to me)

Edited October 6, 2007 by hkhm

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Buttery pumpkiny loveliness, yum. Hmm, something decidedly not foody lurks beneath. I think it's the tobacco I'm smelling.

 

On the wrist: The other notes start to beat on the pumpkin right away in this blend. I'm getting a lot of tobacco and what must be the champa flower. Not much in the way of carnation or tonka and less and less pumpkin. Oh no, I just made a very disturbing connection. Champa flower is the namesake of Nag Champa incense isn't it? Oh bugger, I hate that stuff! The pumpkin has fought back hard and kicked the ass of all other notes. Huzzah for uber-pumpkin! Admittedly there is a bit of something not pumpkin, but I'm pretty sure it's the tonka and that's fine by me.

 

Drydown: After a while this fades into a mostly tonka scented sort of thing. The pumpkin takes a far, far away backseat, no champa (thankfully) and the tobacco isn't noticeable either.... I may swap this, but I have to think on it.

[dronzeka]

In the imp: all pumpkin all the time, baby. Wet: still buttery pumpkin, but the florals rise up fast. I don't really get the carnation; what I smell must be the champa flower, which doesn't do too much for me. As it dries, I get a little bit of the tonka and a little bit of the tobacco. I don't know, though, I think I have a hard time wrapping my head around pumpkin and florals (I had the same reaction to Pumpkin IV). The tobacco is kind of a bridge, but I still find it odd. And then it fades REALLY quickly. Ah well, it was fun to try!

 

ETA: okay, I lied, I have to come back and edit this because I didn't let it dry long enough. After quite a while of (to me) an odd jumble of slightly piercing florals and buttery pumpkin, and then a patch where it smelled like it had vanished, this has actually turned into something kind of sweet and quite lovely. It's a quiet sweet floral, I guess carnation melding with champa flower, and it's much mellower than when it started. And to be honest, it smells the tiniest bit like a lollipop - that may be the tonka? I'm not sure where the tobacco went, or the pumpkin, for that matter, although they both may be in the background grounding this. I actually like it quite a bit at this point. I'll probably have to try this again, to see if I can wait for this drydown or if the initial weirdness ruins it for me. (It would also probably help not to try it at the same time as five other Weenies...)

Edited October 10, 2007 by Anna D.

[n3m3sis42]

In the bottle:

Pumpkin with just a teensy whiff of champa and carnation.

 

Wet:

Pumpkin and carnation. And then pumpkin and champa.

 

Dry:

Only a hint of pumpkin, with carnation and champa. I really like this.

[Little Bird]

I put off trying this Pumpkin because I was afraid of the tobacco in it, but I don't get any tobacco from this at all. This is really a lovely scent, and one of my favorite of this year's Halloween offerings. I love the lab's carnation note, and though this isn't quite like some of the other carnation blends I've smelled, it's still wonderful. Rather than smelling like a fresh cut carnation, this is more of a dry, warm blend on me.

 

In the vial this smelled like straight buttery pumpkin, but on my skin it morphs into something like dried flowers and a hint of pumpkin. I think it's the combination of the champa flower and carnation that I'm loving. On my skin this smells almost like a sweet floral incense and a spicy, dried carnation mixed with a warm, buttery pumpkin note. Really nice. I might get a full bottle of this

[dorothy humbird]

I decided to check out one of the pumpkin blends this year, since I've been very conservative in my LE purchases up until now. Tonka, carnation, and tobacco have all worked wonders on me in the past (Morocco, Alice, Red Lantern, Perversion) so I was hoping they would do nice things with pumpkin.

 

In the bottle, Pumpkin II smells very pumpkin-spice, sort of buttery but not overwhelmingly so to my nose.

 

First on, I get a LOT of pumpkin and spice, sweet and candle-esque. It's got a strange red fruit note of juiciness that seems odd to me.

 

After a little settling down, the spice calms and it begins to smell oddly waxy, and still sweet. Vanilla, a little bit of spice, and I can barely tell that it was once very pumpkin-y. I think the champaca and carnation are adding a bit of a floral note but it is not FLORAL-smelling.

 

It's a really lovely scent, but the waxiness I'm getting brings candles too much to mind. I think I will be on the look-out for a swap with this bottle; someone else should love it as it deserves!

[Victory]

For some reason, my nose interprets pumpkin as being very similar to a cidery note though when I compare to dried Punkie Night I say, "No, it's not the same at all!" Really weird but that's the first thing I think when I smell the two pumpkin blends I bought this year. Both blends also disappear really quickly unless I slather, but I found that putting it in my hair helped a lot. Anyway, on to the review! I have to say that I'm pretty unimpressed. I don't get florals or tonka, Pumpkin II opens with pumpkin and then transitions to tobacco. There's nothing offensive about the scent, but there's also nothing special about it. It feels like it's missing something (having the florals make an appearance on my skin might do it, I don't know). Meh. I might try aging this until next year and see if the scent becomes richer, since I didn't love last year's 'weenies until this year.

[greencat03]

in imp: baked pumpkin, with tobacco and tonka grounding it and the flowers proving a faint lightness. Very warm and comfy.

 

on me: mmm pumpkin gingersnaps! still with a depth from the tonka and tobacco, and an edge from the flowers and spiciness of the ginger.

 

after a few mins: now the flowers are ramping up the sweet, drats I liked the pimpkin gingersnaps stage. although I guess this is nice too.

 

Overall: Very warm and cozy and autumnal. Good pick me up.

[ceiswyn]

In the imp: At first sniff, this smells of biscuits. Nice oaty ones. No, I don't know why, either. At second or third sniff the biscuits have mostly disappeared into an edible smell - which is just like the eat-my-wrists smell from another pumpkin blend many moons ago, and which I must therefore label 'pumpkin' - with vanilla, backed by lighter, sweeter, fruit-and-flower notes. Which I promptly get on my nose.

 

On the wrist: Having washed it off my nose and reapplied it to the proper place, it's a strongly edible note sweetening sophisticated flowers. The tobacco is a very faint smoky edge to the pumpkin and tonka. It's like a much, much sweeter version of Et Lux Fuit, with just a teensy hint of Red Lantern. If the pumpkin-vanilla were only a little fainter, and the tobacco a little stronger, this would be really wonderful.

 

One hour later: It's much the same, although the individual scents have blended together a bit more. The perfumey scent of the flowers is now stronger close to the wrist, although the sweetness lingers in the throw. It's lovely, but just that tiny bit oversweet, I think.

[tinyvulture]

i wouldn’t call this a foody scent. the pumpkin is on equal footing with the other notes, with the tobacco being especially dominant. its dark spiciness cuts the richness of the buttery pumpkin, in a good way. the sweet tonka and light florals round out the scent. what a warm, pretty combination of smells.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle if spicy pumpkin & carnation

 

whoa! whoda thunk that carnation and pumpkin would be such a crazy and

sensational blend?! this is wonderful...spice and floral are top notch!!

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Pure buttery pumpkin.

Wet: A floral pops up --not quite the intense spice of the carnation, but neither the overly soapy, feminine florals I tend to think of when discussing floral notes.

Drydown: Fades to minimal scent. Just the barest hint of warm florals with a slight buttery tinge.

Dry: Faint, sweet floral with zero throw.

 

My rating: 3/5. It's very pretty, and might possibly be the one carnation I can wear, but it fades so quickly as to be non-existent within a half hour.

[n0thing]

Initially - the bright orange, glowy pumpkin of Jack. But fortunately - no butter! (i swapped mine on after someone informed me i stank of popcorn!)

 

Wierdly the tonka doesn't show it's face much, but the carnation's really nice (this shocks me, i'm not a floral person AT ALL but carnation i love!).

Edit to add - sticks around a good long time on me too - bonus

 

Overall it's beautifully sweet, very pumpkiny, but interestingly sweet and spicy - loving this, glad i went for a whole bottle! (and the bottle is totally cute too )

Edited October 15, 2007 by n0thing

[aleciarivas]

Ok... So again I kick myself and tell myself to ALWAYS follow my own advice and TRY IT BEFORE I JUDGE IT!!

 

I smelled Pumkpin II in the bottle and thought- erm.... no...

 

But then I came back to it and pondered it for a moment before giving in and slathering it on....

 

Wow... I seem to be on a roll lately, all the LE BPALs that found me due to my ISO posting are showing up nicely on me!! Still not as yummy as my Jack, but the lovely floral (light and floaty, never knew I liked Carnation so much!) blends right in, and the nice softly spicy undertone holds it all together. My sister in law stopped by and tried it on too and while it smells much different on her, it still smells yummy! On me it's more pumpkin (yay) and on her it was more carnation and spice.

[porcelina]

in the bottle, all i get is buttery pumpkin, and on my skin it's the same creamy pumpkiny scent, with a hint of spice. it also sadly lasts about 5 minutes before vanishing altogether.

[mamoyer]

I'm wondering whether my decants were mislabeled, because the one labeled Pumpkin II smells like CHOCOLATE and the one labeled Pumpkin III smells herbal-y and floral.

 

I'm trying to figure out which is which, since I really want to buy a bottle of the one labeled II!

 

Here's my review of the one labeled II anyway:

 

In the imp: buttery, pumpkin, chocolatey smell. MAYBE it's the tobacco, but it's just so foody! And I can't smell any carnation. I can, however, smell what may be tonka.

 

On me: My skin is amping chocolate and cream with a hint of pumpkin pie spice. O_O

 

Dry: It just might be a sweet tobacco scent. To my newb nose, though, it smells like Mexican hot chocolate. I hope Día de Reyes smells like this!

[angharad]

I have no words to describe precisely how pretty this is. The pumpkin is very soft, creamy, feminine, with that unspicy-spiced feel I get from carnation. At first I get a faint whiff of something darker and assume it's the tobacco, but it fades quickly and just leaves me with this gorgeous scent. It's not foody, but it's not floral, either. It's just plain PRETTY. It's a very good close-to-the-skin scent because it doesn't have an overpowering throw, but it lingers on my skin for hours and hours on end. Much love.

[dcmo]

2nd of the plunder: Like #1, when wet it's all pumpkin all the time, but as it dries down it becomes warm, rich, and spicy. I love every note in this oil so I'm not surprised I love it. Don't really get any tobacco, but love the mix of the pumpkin, carnation and champa. Just gorgeous! 2 for 2 so far!

 

ETA: Good throw and lasting power.

Edited October 19, 2007 by dcmo

[Bagfish]

When wet, this is all pumpkin all the time. On dry down, it becomes very floral. I normally love champaca scents, but this time it was much too lush for me and almost fruity and mixed with the pumpkin, it was all too much unfortunately!

[CrazyPretzel]

Imp: Buttery, sharp, earthy, leathery. Tart sweetness of champa.

Wet: Tobacco and champa with buttery pumpkin. Feminine but rather aggressive.

5 min: The slight fruitiness of the champa and tobacco blend very well with the pumpkin. Deep, fruity, sexy.

Dry: This is a little buttery but not sickeningly so. The carnation is not strong. Tobacco, champa, and tonka are totally brilliant. Tough but smooth and sexy. A definite winner!