Pumpkin King

[alicia_stardust]

Creamy pumpkin, a red muted sort of spice like ginger or cardamom, and a regal quality to it. This isn't too food, not too spicy, and it's definitely not the buttery sort of pumpkin that I can't wear. Love this to bits.

[wren08]

Thank you to Golden Rubee for including a testable sniffy in my swap package... I squeeled out loud when I saw it!!

 

On first sniff, in the imp this is delicious spicy pumpkin... Jack's older, darker, spicier brother.

 

Wet: It's still spicy pumpkin but with a powdery note. It has a lot of throw though... which is good since there's not enough for another test or even for me to slather like I usually do.

 

Dry: The powder note has disappeared... but so has almost everything else. It's warm spicy pumpkin but it's not strong at all now. It has gotten very dark with cinnamon and clove and some allspice. There's a little smokiness... like a wood fire or candle smoke. I would have this if I could but mostly because I love pumpkin scents.

 

Comparisons:

 

Pumpkin Queen has amber in it and that makes it sweeter and lighter than Pumpkin King. It smells more like a perfume and less like a room scent. Jack is lighter than both but not as sweet as the Queen nor as spicy as the King. Jack plus a cinnamon blend and a touch of Smiling Spider might make Pumpkin King or a reasonable facsimile thereof. I wonder what layering Jack and Priala would do?

 

A lot of the original reviews compared Pumpkin King to pumpkin cheesecake. I don't get that with the Pumpkin Cheesecake oil. It's got more butter in it and is a little more sweet but it's really close once it dries. If you really want the smell of Pumpkin King, make a pumpkin pie and go heavy on the spices and light on the butter and cream. Your whole house will smell like it.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Wren08

[gchris]

In Vial: Spicey pumpkin pie

 

Wet: Cinnamon, clove, pumkin, vanilla maybe. Lightly sweet, somewhat foody. Scent is very light, barely imperceptible.

 

Dry: The cinnamon is not very strong in this. Seems buttery sweet pumpkin.

[djnevermore]

Oh what a heartbreaker!!!!!!!!!

Not because I expected something great and didn't get it but because I expected something OK and now I NEED a bottle of this but have pretty much no hope of that years after such a limited release. I would scream if Beth re-released this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously I'd scare people. I love it SOOO much. And I've spent insane amounts of money on vials and partial vials of this. Pumpkin King is so very bad for me, yet so very good.

 

This was the very first of the scents I call 'stinky' or 'incensey' that I came to love. However, PK is special in another way because he did not have to grow on me. It was love-at-first-whiff.

 

There's something about it that really does smell stinky (to me) in the vial. Try as I may, I cannot figure out what it is but it does not turn me off. It's very playful in the vial; at times it smells fresh and vegetably to me and other times it smells really creamy and rich/deep.

 

Dry on my skin it is always spicy; very, very smooth and creamy (buttery?) without being sweet or fake; soft and strong simultaneously. This has been called foody and, if I'm to agree, it's pumpkin bread and it's to die for.

Edited August 4, 2008 by djnevermore

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is sweet, creamy, spicy pumpkin with a rich, buttery crust....

ZomG!!

 

once applied the spiciness of this amps up...clove, cinnamon and nutmeg...this is the "best" pumpkin

scent i have ever encountered ... an absolute masterpiece...the butter note in this is *nothing* like

the butter note in jack...it is veeeeeeeery smooth and combined with the pumpkin this is a win-win....

 

i am beyond thrilled that i was able to find/try this one....if beth could bring this back you can bet

i would be on the bandwagon for a bottle or 2

[VioletChaos]

i join the ranks of those who have fallen in love with this scent.

 

it's not buttery, as all the other pumpkins have all turned on me. it's spicy, warm, and sexy. in fact, i dont find this autumnal or foodie at all- it's more like VooDoo Queen, actually.

 

 

which is pure love on my skin.

 

sigh.

 

well, if anyone decides they suddenly hate their bottle of this coveted scent, y'all know where to find me...

 

 

[Gin]

Pumpkin King

 

This has been in the precioussss imp box for years. I'm trying to be ruthless and cull even my most hoarded, so I figured it as time to give it a go.

OMGWTFBBQ, this is fantastic. Cinnamon apples! With nutmeg and cloves! It smells like the most delicious apple pie ever. There's a touch of pumpkin, and a slight masculine edge, but I mostly get apple pie.

[fairnymph]

I only had a dry sniffie of this, so I apologise for the vagueness of my review.

 

Foody spice - I don't get pumpkin, but I get a delicious creamy-sweet, rich vanilla, clove, cardamom, ginger, black pepper and I'm pretty sure some gorgeous earthy patchouli. Chai with patchouli, essentially. Cinnamon too but a subtle cinnamon that doesn't bully. The vanilla/patchouli combo in this is amazing and reminds me of Storyville's vanilla/tobacco combo.

 

It feels very dark, intense, rich and manly - as well as appropriately autumnal, and sort of spicy-exotic while still being a touch foody-sweet. I can certainly see what all the fuss is about, but this one is not for me. I could see being tempted to use it to scent a room or a man-thing, though...

[zankoku_zen]

Okay, so I don't really get pumpkin out of this. I think however it does have vanilla, ginger, cardamom, and I don't think its patchouli but sandalwood, as it dried, this became incredibly powdery on me. Perhaps a touch of cinnamon.

 

Thankfully, the powderiness sort of overpowers everything, which means, its made.of.lose on my skin.

 

WOOHOO for dodging a bullet.

[bridgetvoid]

This is actually the first bottle of BPAL I ever owned, thanks to a friend who went to Convergence.

 

It is, by far, the best pumpkin scent I've ever smelled. It reminds me of pumpkin pie and mulled cider combined, but in a soft and non overpowering way. Everything just is balanced perfectly, it's heavenly.

[greylen]

With Tom's review challenge, I plan to skip around and review whatever the spirit moves me to---- I thought I would start with this absolute treasure. It helps me to read reviews of rare things to satisfy my curiosity and this will be the first review here since 2016!

 

I have just under a half bottle and I wear it once a year, on Halloween. I wore it for my wedding. I built it imp by imp on eBay I think. It's been awhile since I've seen it pop up for sale bc not many bottles were made and no one who has it wants to sell it. And rumor has it Beth has lost the recipe for this.  Pumpkin King is the MF holy grail. I've physically handled one other bottle and some of you know where/whose it was. I dearly hope it found a loving home and is treasured. My bottle does not leave my house. I did put a couple drops in a decant for Meet and Sniff purposes, back when we had those.

 

Pumpkin King is the only pumpkin that ever really, REALLY worked for me. Not a hint of butteriness or squashiness. Just impeccably blended fall spices and a sweet patchouli. The cinnamon is dry and so beautiful-- cinnamon is usually cheap craft store candle on me and/or burns my skin. And I guess owing to its age, nearly 20 years at this point, it lingers and has the most amazing sillage.

 

The closest I've smelled to PK is Pumpkin Spice Silky Bat HG and Pumpkin Spice Antikythera Mechanism perfume, so if you want the next best thing, try to find those!