Jack

[mandalinn]

The scent of warm, glowing jack o’lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove.

In the bottle----buttery pumpkin with a hint of sweetness

On, wet----creamy, buttery pumpkin w/spice.

Dry----YUM! Same buttery pumpkin with spice and a hint of apple. I get the apple too like others. It smells like a slice of pumpkin pie with a steaming cup of cider on the side.

I need a bottle of this for sure, perfect fall scent! Edited September 29, 2007 by Shollin

[Malista]

Jack worried me a little. In the imp it was very, very sweet. I was worried about smelling too sweet, too much like pumpkin puree, or both. I needn’t have been concerned. My skin tends to suppress sweetness to some degree so even lotus doesn’t go cloying on me, and it appears that pumpkin is a sort of neutral note, on my skin, being more rich, warm and foody in an indeterminate way than jack-o-lanterny or pie-ish.

 

On my skin the spices and peach come out more strongly than any of the other notes. I suppose there’s a buttery undertone, but it, like the pumpkin, just adds a sumptuous sort of richness to the blend rather than being distinct enough to identify. Jack on me is a thick, spiced peach scent, very warm and golden-orange and supremely comfortable in that bring-it-on-nothing-will-ruffle-my-feathers-today kind of way that comes in very handy at the office more often than seems quite fair. I feel as close to motherly as I am ever likely to get when I’m wearing Jack – a shiny-copper-pots-and-pans-and-something-wonderful-in-the-oven vibe. I have no objection to smelling as though I have been making spiced peach cobbler all day – quite the contrary. An added bonus is that Beth’s foody scents seem to satisfy actual food cravings, and I’m far less likely to snack when I wear them. Jack is no exception.

 

I can’t wait for a gray day in the low 50s to really put Jack through his paces as a comfort-and-warmth scent. Along with Samhain (which is far less domestic but no less rich and evocative), this is a perfect autumnal blend for me – a suede boots and chenille jacket sort of scent. Yummy! (Layering note: Jack and Three Witches are feisty but still comfortable. I’ll bet Chimera would work well, too.)

[Cesare]

I found Jack a little disappointing. There was a pumpkin smell in the imp, but once I put it on... where did the pumpkin go?

 

This is predominantly buttery, with a faint bitterness to it, kind of like Jelly Belly's buttered popcorn beans. The longer I wore it, the more it had a kind of popcorn-husk bitterness. From my experiences with other blends, I think the lab's butter note just doesn't suit me very well. Oh well.

Edited October 17, 2005 by Cesare

[wanderingredhead]

Wet: this is an imp of hot melted butter. With quite a throw. I was almost afraid to put it on.

 

Once on my skin the peach peeks out a bit, and sweetens the butter, and as it dries the spices come out to play. Yum!

 

Overall- slightly different than I was expecting, but then BPAL always exceeds my expectations. A lovely cozy stay at home scent.

[Voleuse]

Right out of the bottle, this was very buttery and pumpkin, with a weird sour note that made me recoil. After a few seconds, though, the sour note disappeared, and it became all warm pumpkin with a peach undertone. Oooh. I wouldn't have thought to meld those two fruits, but this works very prettily.

 

After a while, the peach fades, and the overall scent warms. Very pumpkin pie, I think. And the clove becomes more dominant over time.

 

I wouldn't label this a Halloween pumpkin, though--the peach makes it very fresh and sweet, and more something I would associate with a kitchen in autumn than anything else. Truth be told, if there were some woodsy notes in this, this would be exactly what I hoped Samhain 2004 would smell like. Alas, this is actually a little too sweet for me, though if there was more peach, I think I would like it better.

[herdivineshadow]

This is very strong on me. Mostly I get what I can only guess is pumpkin - kind of smooth and buttery though, and almost a sour peach undertone. I think it's a bit too strong and a bit too pumpkiny.

[PurringPulsar]

Jack

 

In the imp: eek-butter!!! Strong butter, almost Shill like. I do get pumpkin and peach as well though.

Wet on skin: now the peach comes out a bit more. It's still buttery, but I think that's going away.

Dry on skin: this now smells like a pumpkin pie with peach and very buttery pastry and a few spices. It's a warm, foody scent, very rich and autumnal. The butter seems to have retreated. I am worried that this will go all cloying and sweet on me though.

After a while: it's all peachy pumpkin now, but oddly, I get a scent like apricots here too! this is very, very rich indeed. A bit too much for me to handle I think-it has tons of throw, but it's making me a bit queasy. I think it's the butter, which hasn't left entirely but is lurking there…

And then, after a few hours, butter makes a comeback and becomes prominent again. Dang it.

Verdict: I don't mind the smell of butter in food-but not as perfume. A light buttery note I can handle-one where it doesn't smell blatantly buttery (such as a cookie dough/cake/pastry scent). Unfortunately, in here, it is very blatant butter indeed. It does retreat at some points in the scent, but I'm afraid this scent was a bit too sweet, rich, and overwhelmingly foody for me. The peach and pumpkin were very sweet here, and I wish I got more spices. It's not disgusting as a scent, but not my thing either, I'm afraid.

[SeaMonkey]

This is all warm, buttery pumpkin and the slightest bit of nutmeg. I get more butter than pumpkin. I'm not much of a food scent person, but this is nice to smell. I never wear it, but I like to frequently sniff my imp

[chapatti]

First whiff: Butter! -er, wait, ...butter??

Yup, the very smell of melted butter.

I'm not that sure I want to put that on my skin now... but, experimental purposes, right?

 

 

Drying down: Phew! The butter was but a flash in the pan (tee-hee, butter, pan, get it? Yes, I'm hee-lay-ree-us )

 

So, after the thankfully short butter assault, what I'm quickly left with is the exact smell of a pumpkin pie just out of the oven. A warm, sweet pumpkin scent, with all the spices, and I swear I can even smell the crust of the pie.

 

It is... alright, I'll never claim again that I'm not a foodie.

It's warm, yummy, comforting and homey - in one word, lovely, and I adore it.

Also, it feels homey to me, but I've heard more than once that studies showed the smell of pumpkin and/or apple pie was actually the scent men found most arousing, and THUS I SHALL STICK TO JACK FOREVER.

 

As it goes, the spiciness slowly vanishes to give way to a mellow cooked peach scent. Not quite as gorgeous, but still very pleasant.

 

 

Verdict: Lovely! I noticed that it might be the BPAL I wear most often these days, because it's so all-around nice and comforting.

 

9/10

[Aurelius]

In the vial Jack smells buttery and almost hazelnutty. Very foody and very warm. Once it hits my skin it's buttery peach with hints of pumpkin. Dry it's pretty much the same: glowing, warm, and foody. This is honestly one of the best BPAL blends I've tried and I feel ashamed to say I won't be keeping it. Why? Although the peach is gorgeous (I smell like the most fantabulous pie), it's really not my thing. I was hoping for more pumpkin and the peach just enjoys my skin too much. This is downright drool-worthy!

[Pixelpixie]

This has to be one of, if not the worst BPAL scent I've tried. It smells like fake pumpkin flavouring in the bottle and burnt plastic when I put it on. Such a shame. I got no nutmeg, no spice and no butter at all, just super strong fake pumpkin smell. I'm quite nervous now as well, I have a Pumpkin Patch set on the way at some point. If they're all with the same pumpkin base I'm going to have problems.

[brownbear]

mmmmmmm

tasty

This one starts out very pumpkin. Then the spices come out. After it dries completely another buttery vanilla type note comes out. Though I do like the initial scent a bit better. mmm This is so good. If you like this you'll like the pumpkin patch and vice versa.

[Rheliwen]

I immediately get that buttery popcorn smell from Shill. But when I put my nose to it, it turns into a really boozey, spiced pumpkin....like pumpkin eggnog.

 

It smells EXACTLY like Bath & Body Work's pumpkin body butter.

[Thursdae]

This is the house that Jack built.

 

This is the pumpkin pie so sweet

That lay on the sill of the house that Jack built.

 

This is the spoonful of booze that tipped

Into melting butter, gently dripped,

And the homey spice of cider sipped,

And the cloudy softness of fresh cream whipped,

To make the pumpkin pie so sweet

That lay on the sill of the house that Jack built.

[sideviewhotel]

Holy COW. Is there any way I can develop this scent into something edible? Because, OMG.

 

Ok. In the imp, I got a really strong butter smell. Ew, I thought, this smells strong & yucky. But, I put it on and WOO! The butter smell dies down considerably, the peach comes up, mixes and forms this.. pie-like smell. Peach cobbler-esque. With spices.

 

I tested Dorian on a different part of the same arm and they seem to be mixing in the air with each other and yum.

 

Jack is definitely a scent for cold weather and hot tea. I'm going to have to try layering them at some point in the very near future.

[Fefferbella]

This smells like fresh pumpkin, butter and nutmeg. Wow. I want to lick it off my arm it smells so delicious!

 

Foody blends tend to love me more than I love them... It's hard walking around all day at work wondering why you're craving pumpkin pie!

 

This is deffinately a keeper, but I think I'll use it at a fall holiday room scent.

[lemonade]

I found this way too buttery sweet for my liking without the spice i wanted,

 

then i had a fab idea.

 

I got my fave bpal scent which is gingerbread popet and layered it with jack.

 

Jack gave gingerbread poppet the one element i needed that poppet never seemed to produce

 

A buttery cakey smell that lasted more than and hour mixed with ginger spicey goodness.

 

 

 

Together these scents are perfect on me.

 

Jack makes Poppet last longer

 

hmm that sounded decidedly rude

[alicia_stardust]

I'm not sure what it is about this, but it doesn't work for me. I've tried it on a couple of ocassions to see if I will find something I like after drydown. But no. I end up getting a varied result. Sometimes I think the peach is too strong. Mostly I think I smell like buttered popcorn with a slight nutty smell to it. I'm not a foody person to begin with, but I thought I'd like the pumpkin.

 

I gave this a 1 out of 5. If you're not very into foody scents, this isn't for you.

[ancilla_morte]

this is really amazing. It's a delicious spiced pumpkin with an end note of peach.

then as it dries it turns into a strange sweet apple.

I love this. I never thought of putting pumpkin with peach and apple.

[ABrokenAngel]

In the Bottle: It's amazingly well layered. As the ingredients are listed is what I smell. First the heady aroma of nutmeg reminding me of yummy pies....then the peach giving it a spiced fruit smell and then the clove grounding it and bring all the scents together. This so far reminds me of a victorian christmas pie. With heavily spiced fruits and yummy crust

 

Wet: Mmm warm nutmeg with a bit of peach lurking in the background. A small spattering of clove wafting around the pie now. As if the baker had set a dry pot of cloves out while baking. The nutmeg and pumpkin are mostly smelled and the others a mere afternote.

 

Drydown: Ew. What happened to this one? It was very nice and comforting up until the dry down. Now it smells like the nutmeg and the clove have gone bad and I cannot smell any of the peach or pumpkin.

[herongale]

preconceived notion: Well, after my disaster over Pumpkin Patch #2, I wasn't too hopeful. But that doesn't keep me from thinking that the description sounds really, really good. And I know that a ton of people love this one. Admittedly, usually they are "foodies", which are to me a strange and exotic creature in the scent-appreciation world (probably because /me hates the ubiquitous vanilla something fierce). However, no vanilla or almond listed, and I do love nutmeg and cloves.

 

in the imp: nutty and creamy sweet, this kicks me with a scent that smells nothing like pumpkins and which has a leading edge that reminds me of butter melted over warm banana nut bread. I can't say I love it, but I really don't hate it either... it's not got that artificial candle smell that I hate, the notes all seem to blend together nicely. It's STRONG.

 

wet: At first the sweetness intensifies but it quickly mellows down. There is no way this is like the Pumpkin Patch #2, no way... this is a lot milder and far more appetizing. Not at all giving me a pumpkin vibe, but perhaps I get a butternut squash thing out of it. Instead of banana bread, this reminds me more now of zucchini bread, which is getting me slightly closer to gourd territory. And, strangely, there is almost the hint of cider here. It's a fruity, spicy scent that probably comes from the combination of peaches and cloves, and it's fresh and warm and nicely sets off the overarching golden melty savour I'm noticing.

 

dry: whoa, what a pretty spicy scent. It's very comforting, like the way I'd imagine a classically-run farmstead kitchen would smell. The kind of kitchen that has wood burning ovens built into the wall, where lard is rendered and winter apples are sliced. In fact, this reminds me of the Eagle Tavern in Greenfield Village which is run like an old-style saloon (website says it was built in 1831), and which serves hot apple pie with custard, buttery squash, ciders and ales and rums, meat pies, and a whole bunch of other really yummy things.

 

verdict: against all expectations, a keeper. It is unclear if I will want a bottle of this later or not, however.

 

post-conceived notion: maybe I, too, am a foodie... a vanilla phobic one.

[mdargen]

In the bottle, wet, and dry:

 

Jack smells like sweet and salty buttered popcorn with an underlying scent of peach Jolly Ranchers.

[terrierhead]

I was worried this was going to be nauseatingly buttery - butter's all that I get out of the imp - but was pleasantly surprised. The butteriness drops as Jack dries, and I'm left with a pleasant, mulled apple cider scent. It's not what I was expecting, but it's nice. I wish I got some pumpking out of it.

[angharad]

Butter. No pumpkin, no clove, no peach, no nutmeg. From the imp I can almost smell a spice underneath the butter, but as soon as I put it on -- butter. Someone had recommended this to me when I joked about a scent that smelled like butterscotch schnapps, but Jack doesn't even do that. It just smells like butter that's been sitting on the counter for a few hours, so it's soft and gooey and all over the place. It's very strong, though, and lasts through several washings. I'll need to try this with Gingerbread Poppet.

 

ETA: After letting Jack sit for a while, I finally get pumpkin and a bit of spices (mainly nutmeg) from this. It's still a bit buttery but nowhere near as strong. Average throw, lasts for at least 3 hours. It's reminding me a lot of pumpkin pie.

Edited January 12, 2006 by angharad

[volant]

How I love foody smells. And I, like others here once read that men in scientific studies identified pumpkin (pie) as their favorite scent most consistently. So, it's with disappointment that I report I cannot really wear Jack, though this isn't for lack of scent fondness.

 

Overall: pumpkin, caramel, and clove... and a rawness at the back of my throat.

Wearing it dry: It's a delicious smell to me - sweet, round, spicy. Enough to satisfy the most foody scent lovers without giving up its personality as a perfume entirely. It's quite strong, lasting 4 or 5 hours of constant goodly wafting. This would be a good thing, except that mere minutes after first smelling it, the back of my throat becomes scratchy and sore, and every delictable nosefull brings another dose of discomfort.

The boy: After wearing it a while, I gave my wrist to my boyfriend for assessment. The harsh critic doesn't like how foody it is, and appears unmoved by the supposed pumpkin effect after... discreet observation.

Addendum: I'm still enjoying this as much as I can as a home scent in the diffuser. It's a delicate balance, though, as just over a certain threshhold even this more subtle method irritates the back of my throat.