Autumn Scents - recommend the ones you love

[hkhm]

i didn't give the death of autumn the love it deserved when i first got it and now i'm getting near the end of my bottle. it's so lovely, my perfect autumn scent lately.

[darab]

I nabbed Harvest Moon '06 off of ebay last year around this time. It works as a great fall sent for me. It seems to encapsulate the beginning of the season nicely, from wet (fall fruits) to dry (hay loft full of drying hay bales).

I cannot wait to get Samhain this year, I have not tried it yet!

I enjoy buttery Jack as well and always get lots of comments on it.

[Mousesong]

While it's not actually autumn-smelling in and of itself, Dee is the best scent to smell snuggled up into a light scarf or to smell lingering on your peacoat when you're out taking a walk in October... oi. I don't know that I will ever be able to wear it outside of autumn.

 

A favourite scent for my favourite season, though: that makes sense

[Dark Alice]

Pulled To Autumn out. And oh my. I can't wait till it cools off here enough for me to wear it. So far, it's the only apple scent that I have ever truly loved from the lab.

[imaginepageant]

When I was a BPAL addict way back in 2005, I came across a blend that immediately made me think of decaying autumn leaves - a scent I absolutely love. Half a decade later, I cannot for the life of me remember what blend it was, and I was hoping you guys could help me!

 

Obviously, it was one of the earlier blends; it would have been released prior to 2006. I am fairly certain it was GC, and I know it definitely wasn't a Halloween LE. I remember being surprised that it was so perfectly autumn leaves because the name and description of the blend didn't hint at that at all - so it's not going to be something that sounds obvious. I think the title was two words, but I'm not sure on that.

 

I keep thinking Hollywood Babylon for some reason, but the description is way off - I can't imagine not getting vanilla and cherry out of that blend, and there was no vanilla or cherry in the blend I'm looking for. Plus, none of the reviews mention it smelling like autumn. Yet, Hollywood Babylon keeps nagging at the back of my mind. Would anyone relate it to that autumn leaves smell?

 

Anyone have any other idea of what this could be?

Edited May 8, 2011 by imaginepageant

[khazakant]

It wouldn't be the strangest thing that's ever happened (some people's chemistry just goes wild with some notes) but Hollywood Babylon smells like a sweet red lollipop to me, very far removed from autumn leaves.

 

Maybe it's something with a similar name, like House of Night?

[ChipNoir]

That sounds really good! Man I wish I wasn't so late getting into BPAL. I'd love to have that. It'd be a nice Halloween scent that isn't pumpkin-spice for a change

[imaginepageant]

@khazakant: I'm fairly certain it's not House of Night, because I don't recall ever trying that one.

 

@ChipNoir: If you want a non-pumpkin autumn blend, I strongly recommend Samhain. It's probably my favorite overall BPAL blend (definitely my most-worn one), and it smells so precisely of autumn that it's scary. It does have a "touch" of pumpkin in it, but all of the other notes are so much more prevalent that I don't even notice the pumpkin.

[meaganola]

I just took a wander through my spreadsheet sorted by date, and my best guesses are:

Hunter Moon 2004 -- A blend of traditional lunar oils touched with dry leaves, autumn bonfires, warm mulled wine, feral, animalistic notes and the chill of approaching winter.

 

The Castle -- A distant whisper of pine, wet moss and dry leaves passing through vast halls and winding dungeons whose scent bears the memory of blood, faded splendor, imperial elegance and stunning violence.

 

Unfortunately, they're both LEs, as is my all-time favorite decaying leaves scent: Falling Leaf Moon. It's bottled Portland Autumn: Rain, wet decaying leaves (for some reason, I can't stand *dry* decaying leaves), and patchouli. If you can find some, snag it immediately.

 

ChipNoir, if you want non-pumpkiny Halloween scents, just wait until August! There are always a *lot* of non-pumpkin Halloween scents. It seems like I counted last year and figured out that fewer than a quarter of the Halloweenies over the years have pumpkin. In 2010, we had 41 scents -- and only three of them had pumpkin. Not even ten percent. I think my favorite recurring Weenie is Dia de los Muertos, although we didn't get it last year. While we usually do get a Pumpkin Patch with five or six different pumpkin blends, this past year, we got the Pomegranate Grove. And I second the fact that Samhain's other notes pretty much kill the pumpkin. I even forget it's in there until I read the notes.

Edited May 9, 2011 by meaganola

[Wwindy]

I don't know what the original scent might have been, but I second the recommendation for Falling Leaf Moon! Definitely a hyper-realistic autumnal leaf smell there.

[imaginepageant]

I may have figured it out! I was just looking through my old LJ and found a mention of getting a frimp of Hell's Belle, which I found "SO AUTUMNY!" Hell's Belle is oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice - definitely not something that sounds autumnal from the description. So this may be it. Must track down an imp immediately.

 

ETA: Scratch that - this is definitely it. I distinctly remember it now! YAY!

 

Will also be hunting for some Hunter Moon and Falling Leaf Moon. Thanks for the recs, guys!

Edited May 10, 2011 by imaginepageant

[sqwook]

Give Gomorrah a try, too.

[imaginepageant]

I actually tested Gomorrah yesterday! (Hah, it's still my SOTD in my profile, even.) Another example of awesomeness in the imp, but blechness on my skin.

[Kayah]

Also, from last year's halloweenies definitely try Halloween: San Francisco - it's totally decaying leaves with salty sea spray in the air.. also, last year's October had the dry leaves going on a bit, and Nothing Gold Can Stay is the smell of the leaves, turned in color and falling down..

[Altaira]

Autumn in Winter from this past Yule is another very autumn-y. Dry fallen leaves with frigid cold just around the corner, but not here yet. Unfortunately, it also has an unlisted lily note and my husband is very, very allergic. So, it was a no-go for me.

 

Autumn in Winter and the Autumn Grove atmosphere spray from the Trading Post are the only blends that I have confirmed with the Lab about an unlisted lily note, but from my husband's reaction, it is in many 'fallen leaves' scents. Which is unfortunate, because actual fallen leaves are one of his favorite scents.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Altaira

[Pika]

"October" and "November" 2007 were my faves for dead Fall leaves. So good they almost gave me headaches at times, and I had to swap them away because I stopped reaching for them.

[*butterflybynight*]

Here are some other leafy scents (not necessarily composted leaves, mind you)

 

Dia De Los Muertos - This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus.

 

Devil's Night - This is the scent of autumn night, fires in the distance, with a touch of boozy swoon, playful sugar and thuggish musk. ("leaves" aren't a note, but if you search the topic for the word you will come up with 3 pages. I personally can get a hint of them in my '05s.

 

Chant D'Automne - The scent of the year's fall and the setting sun, ominous and foreboding: dried leaves, charred wood, blood musk, amber, khus, and Nicotiana tabacum.

 

edited4?sp.

Edited May 16, 2011 by *butterflybynight*

[jizatt]

Im happy you found it =) I was going to suggest Ulalume!

[fasn8me21]

Repeat post as threads were merged.

Edited August 10, 2011 by fasn8me21

[fasn8me21]

This could use bumpage.

 

To answer - must-haves (I could possibly go my entire life and only wear the following scents:)

 

Samhain

Death of Autumn

Smiling Spider (the ultimate goth scent, and thus autumnal.)

October

 

A step behind must-have, but still fine in their own right:

 

Falling Leaf Moon (a lighter Samhain with rain)

November (a wintery October.)

Devil's Night (love it for the first half hour or so before it dries down to a cinnamon bonfire scent that's nice but not must-have.)

 

Pretty good:

Lamb's Wool (the perfect apple scent, but more "cheery autumn" than I'd like.)

Samhainophobia (Nice but not as nice as Samhain, and similar enough that I'd never opt for it over said 'hain.)

 

"Eh" on me:

Chant d'automne (too acrid)

Jack (too buttery pumpkin and not spooky enough)

Edited August 16, 2011 by fasn8me21

[HerbGirl]

October, November, Samhainophobia, To Autumn, The Decrepit House, and Nothing Gold Can Stay.

[venusinfurs]

Samhain has a note that smells like hay/dry decaying leaves. I quite like it, so I should try some of the other scents mentioned here!

[Verse]

I love the smell of autumn and keep seeing Samhain mentioned as a popular fall scent, but I'm not a big pumpkin fan (well, the SMELL of pumpkins anyway, I do love Jack-O-Lanterns!) so I'm a little leery of putting this one on my "to hunt" list. So how strong is the pumpkin in this?

[Altaira]

I've never been able to smell pumpkin in Samhain. Fir is the main scent on me.

[Little Bird]

I don't notice the pumpkin in Samhain either. It's more of a dark, earthy-spicy sort of scent on me (and not really foodie-spicy or sweet).

 

My top ten favorite Halloween releases: Pumpkin Patch 5 2005, Samhainophobia, Pumpkin Queen, Mircalla, Calaveras, The Madwoman, The Shadowy & The Sublime (first bottles, as the bottles I purchased near the end of the season smell totally different), Perle von Mauren, The Girl, and Encroaching Madness.

 

Falling Leaf Moon is my ultimate autumn leaf scent, though. Falling Leaf Moon, Pumpkin Patch 5, and Samhainophobia smell the most like autumn to me <3