Pumpkin II

[boomtownrat]

Pumpkin, coffee absolute, tonka, teakwood, cedar, cypress, and patchouli.

Oh, my poor bank account.

This is fresh from the mailbox, but I'm too excited not to try it tonight.

In the bottle it reminds me of Pumpkin Latte 2011, but with a woody undertone. Wet on my skin and when it's just barely dry, the woods come up to the same level as the pumpkin and coffee. The more it dries, the more cedar I get - and the patchouli arrives, but dressed in its most sophisticated Halloween costume. This might be the most subtle patchouli I've smelled.

Pumpkin II is warm and soft with a medium throw on me. It's something I can easily imagine wearing to work, to hang out with friends, to sit around at home and enjoy all by my greedy self...

I expected to love Pumpkin V more out of the two that I bought, but I underestimated how gorgeously these notes would sing together. I may need a backup bottle.

[PurringPulsar]

Pumpkin II 2012

 

In the imp: this reminds me of L’Autunno bath oil meets Pumpkin Latte. Sweet patchouli and mossy wood with pumpkin and coffee.

Wet on skin: very reminiscent of the more autumnal patchouli scents, but with a buttery pumpkin backdrop.

Dry on skin: this is very much like the autumnal ‘forest floor with a foody sweetness’ patchouli in Tricksy and L’Autunno bath oils, and also reminds me of Falling Leaf Moon. But the scent this reminds me of most of all is Arcana’s Leaves Falling Like Rain! It lacks the spices, and it is a bit more pumpkin-y, but there is a similarity in that coffee and earth and decaying vegetation smell. It suits today’s weather (foggy, damp, grey, mild) perfectly. The teak adds a rich woody undertone, and the tonka sweetens everything up.

After a while: now the cypress comes out, and it has that wonderful sappy/resinous scent to it, gives the whole scent a touch of evergreen, warmer than pine or juniper. The patchouli-tonka-teak (which is similar in feel to Antikythera Mechanism) scent is still going strong but the pumpkin latte smell isn’t as obvious now. The patchouli and wood get stronger and it eventually becomes a kind of warm teak with earthy patchouli underneath, and a waft of something that reminds me of incense.

Verdict: this is a perfect scent for one of those grey autumn days when the fallen leaves are wet and squishy underfoot, it combines the smell of pumpkin latte (not spiced) with that classic October/November forest scent-damp woods, patchouli evoking the forest soil, a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. It smells dark and humid and mysterious, but the teak and tonka smooth out and sweeten the scent, making it feel cosy. I may well get more of this.

Is it a keeper? it’s potentially bottleworthy, and I’m keeping the tester.

If you like this, try: Halloween at Miskatonic University, Falling Leaf Moon, Pumpkin Latte, L’Autunno, Tricksy bath oil, Samhain, Elegy IX The Autumnal

Edited October 24, 2012 by yeahbutnobut

[fairestrocza]

Of the three pumpkins I have available for testing, this one was the most appealing in the bottle.

On the skin, this one immediately reminded me of Pumpkin Latte - it has the same pumpkin/spice combination, and the same powerful throw. There is less of a foodie vibe here (still spicy, but not sweet), and the wood note is there to distinguish Pumpkin II. After an hour or so, the powerful throw backed off to a moderate throw. Up close, there is a vegetative note that balances out the spices, and I can pick up the coffee scent.

Overall, this is like Pumpkin Latte toned down a notch. I'll definitely keep my decant, but a full bottle might be redundant.

[OctoberGwen]

The first time I put this on I got a lot of the rich woods and coffee along with the spiced pumpkin, which was very nice - I really liked the way these notes worked together.

 

The second time I applied, it was almost all craft store spices and pumpkin, with the emphasis on the spices.

 

I have it on again now, and it's still super spicy. I think I will enjoy this decant a lot in the oil burner, but it's not something I will wear. I wish the woods, coffee, and patchouli had been able to tame the spicy pumpkin, because that first application was really nice.

[Caper]

I really really really like this one. Really.

 

It is like The Changeling and Expressive Head got together for a warm, woodsy romp with a pumpkin pie and a cup of coffee. There is a hint of cinnamon at the dry down that just enhances the warmth of the blend.

 

I love The Changeling and I only have an imp of Expressive Head, so I'll be adding this to my long list of must have bottles from the weenies.

[zankoku_zen]

Pumpkin, coffee, and patchouli. All very strong and fighting for dominance.

 

So much so that sniffing this actually brings out the sneezes.

 

So I'm going to say that this is a PASS for me.

[ladymeag]

As I mentioned in my other Pumpkin Patch reviews, I think these were all too sweet for me. They definitely all carry a pumpkin pie scent as the base, rather than simply spiced pumpkin.

 

In the bottle: Caramel pumpkin coffee. I definitely agree with the Pumpkin Latte comparisons.

On Me: Wet, pumpkin spice coffee with a little bit of teakwood peaking in. Picks up cypress as it dries. However, this dries down to pumpkin pie in a sweaty barn on me. Most unpleasant, unfortunately. I think the "dirtiness" of the patchouli is making this smell like a dirty barn - and I've cleaned a few too many of those.

[Little Bird]

The pumpkin patch blends seem to get spicier every year (a trend that I don't enjoy, unfortunately). My decants of this year's pumpkins all seem to be heavy on the spice/cinnamon potpourri smell. On me, Pumpkin II 2012 is cinnamom potpourri with an undertone of dry wood and dirty, sour smelling patchouli.

[midnight_aeval]

Oh yes, that's the stuff. A mellow version of Pumpkin Latte 2010 plus woodsy goodness. Ugh. Can't get much more perfect than that.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Sweet pumpkin latte, heavy on the sweet.

 

Wet: Wet, this deepens into something more complex. I still get sweet pumpkin latte but now the patchouli is making an appearance, especially in the throw. Up close, it's almost tooth-meltingly sweet.

 

Dry: Oooh! The super-sweetness backs off as it dries and warms on my skin and I begin to get the woods and patchouli a bit more. The mental picture I get is sitting on a log in a damp pumpkin patch, sipping at a spiced coffee. Unfortunately that phase lasted only a few minutes before it morphed to straight cinnamon. I can just barely get a hint of patchouli if I try, it's CINNAMON. Sadly this one is not going to work

[anaengel]

I keep wearing this and each time, it smells different. I think a lot of it has to do with how warm I am at the application time, but at least they all seem to be nice.

 

On wet, mostly I get pumpkin with coffee. I never smelled Pumpkin Latte, so I can't say if it's the same or not for me. Sometimes, there's a cream with it and others more like a black coffee. Like I said, depends on how warm I am at the time. (The warmer, the more likeliness of cream added.)

 

As it dries, the spices come out. If I'm warm, the pumpkin pretty much fades out and I'm slammed with spice and cedar. The cooler I am, the more the pumpkin stays. And it's the pumpkin for me of the lingering smell from pulling out the guts, not pie. But, that's just me. Plus, I get a bit of patchouli in it, which knocks down the cedar.

 

At the end, I get teakwood and coffee. With a hint of pumpkin pie. But, the patchouli goes away too. Unless I'm warm. Then it's all pie spice and not so identifiable woods. Like eating a piece of pie on a deck outside.

 

It's a nice one to have on, no matter what my temperature is. This one is definately something for me to wear often.

[fufu_berry]

Wet: Pumpkin pie - not too cloying, but definitely foody.

 

Drydown: Coffee coming out - I like that the coffee is very distinctive in here, but it's more Starbucks-y than straight-up roasted coffee.

 

Dry: Sweetness is slightly tempered by the woods; coffee still prominent. I don't think I'll need a bottle of this, but it felt very appropriate to wear for some holiday decorating. Not bad overall.

[milo]

So this pumpkin is a bit different than the others. I'm getting the spicy pumpkin base, but there's also a bit of masculine woodiness here, and maaaybe a touch of bitter coffee. I kind of like this, but probably wouldn't wear it too often, as it is pretty spicy. Nice to try though!

[filigree_shadow]

I have tried quite a few Pumpkin Patch scents over the years, but not too many recent ones. This one barely smells like pumpkin at all to me. It mostly smells like a spicy (like cinnamon) coffee scent, with a little bit of wood to ground it. I guess the pumpkin adds some sweetness, but honestly I'm not sure I would have even guessed this had pumpkin in it if I didn't know it did.

 

I like it (I almost always like the Lab's coffee scents), it's just not quite what I thought it would be. My husband, who has probably smelled me wearing about 500 different BPAL scents by now, and only comments if he really likes something, said that he really likes this and wanted to know the name of it. So, vote of confidence from him, too.

[milo]

A bit more wood here than other pumpkin blends, but its basically much like the other pumpkin spice blends that the lab puts out.

[t_for_tau]

Oh, this is *delicious*. It's not one I would necessarily have sought out, because of the pumpkin note - but I would have been foolish, because the rest of the notes read like a dream to me. Like Beth made a pumpkin just for me - throw in galangal and I'd be set.

 

It reminds me of my beloved Pinched With Four Aces in feel, with the coffee and woods - warm, rich and smooth - but with pumpkin sweetening it instead of tobacco and the patchouli rounding out the bottom with a masculine resin. There's a definite classic Lab autumn-outdoors note to it, which I love.

 

After it's been on a bit a warm coffee shop cinnamon-ginger spice emerges, giving it faint echoes of Shub, with the cypress from Loup Garou behind it, making it a blend of some of my favourite scents

 

That cypress might make it a bit much for people who don't like its almost nose-stinging, nearly-eucalyptus dryness, which especially with the teak makes this a very masculine foodie. By now it smells like carpenters who're having a coffee break with *very* expensive fancy spiced coffees in the room they've been sawing in: there's my friend cedar.

 

I don't get much of the tonka; it just gives a sort of creamy roundness to the whole thing, tying the pumpkin-coffee-spice and wood-patchouli halves together. If this stays like this, I may have to hunt down another bottle when I can afford it. I can see that for some it might seem a bit strange, but to me it's absolutely delightful, and I want to roll around in it!

[Rouge]

Oh my word.

 

Wet, this is rich buttery pumpkin with an autumnal smoky backdrop. It's a quick morpher on me, and soon develops into something that's gloriously woody and rich or overly foody ( hough in my view, foody is never a bad thing)

 

Bonfire night heaven.

[Aveya]

Imp: Coffee Patch (omg why isn't that a flippin' thing)

Initial on skin: Eh. Dumbed down pumpkin latte, basically.

Drydown: Woodier elements peak out through the pumpkin. Spicy, rich, deep. Not bad.

 

Verdict; Strong spicy pumpkin scent - I just prefer some of the others. Nothing crazy notable about this one to me. But it's solid. Slightly masculine.