Pumpkin Patch V (2005, 2006)

[Voleuse]

Pumpkin with five woods, English ivy and galangal root.

2005 Version
I expected this to be foodier than it is. The pumpkin is the same buttery pumpkin, of course, but it's overlaid by a green garden scent--the ivy, I assume. This is a tame blend, very subtle to my nose, but definitely outdoorsy.

As it dries, the pumpkin gets stronger. The green note disappears, but it's replaced by a mild, spicy wood note. Somebody described this as "a pumpkin tree," and I think it's that's the perfect phrase for this blend. Not a forest scent, but an odd, slightly-fantastical tree hidden in the overgrown corner of a cottage garden. Edited November 22, 2007 by Shollin

[littlefoot76]

Alright, let's start with the smell straight from the bottle. I imagine a jack-o-lantern waking up the day after Halloween. He's been out all night at an outdoor party in the middle of a pine forest. The remains of a large bonfire are smoldering a few feet away. Mr. O'Lantern is foggy. He's starting to hit peak ripeness, having been carved a few days earlier. The patchouli incense that had been burning in his empty shell is out (because, no cool pumpkin burns candles, anymore, don't ya know ), but the fragrance lingers. He gets up and stumbles home for a shower, but not before taking in all of the heady aromas.

 

Wet on my skin:

Whoa, there's an almost immediate rush of...not pine, but close. The pumpkin almost immediately departs and I get herbaly, woody notes, with a hint of sharpness. It's almost as if Mr. O'Lantern has taken a shower and is now breaking out the pine oil to start cleaning up the place. The morning dew is evaporating off the ivy and giving off wafts of tartness. The bonfire's totally out by now and the smokiness has pretty much dissipated.

 

Dry on my skin:

To be added shortly

ETA - Okay, this one dried to the smell of dry leaves. Maybe there was a tinge of sweetness? Like a leaf pile being burnt? Sadly, it faded a little quicker on me than other BPAL blends.

 

All in all, I find it a lovely scent with food ingrediants that ends up being not at all "foody". It's darker & heavier than I expected, but in a good way. I quite like this scent.

Edited January 11, 2007 by Littlefoot

[Tess]

The last of the Patch for me and sadly, none of them have worked so far. Will this be the one that saves it all?

 

In the bottle - Warm, rich and woody with a slightly spicey tone to it. NICE.

 

Wet - The pumpkin pops out a bit more, but there's still that rich woody tone with the spice to it.

 

Drying - I really do like this! It's complex without being overpowering. The pumpkin gives it a smooth backdrop while that almost nutty wood hangs about, the spice giving it a sharp edge, almost like a pepper.

 

Dry (45 minutes) - This isn't as smooth as it was earlier and it's VERY strong, but I still do like it. The pumpkin's faded quite a bit, but it's got bite. It's a scent for specific settings, but it's got attitude.

 

Overall - I'm not sure if I'm liable to use an entire bottle of it, but I'll keep it around for awhile.

[porcelina]

bottle: this is hardcore pumpkin.

wet: still pure pumpkin.

dry: pumpkin with a background of pleasant greenery.

overall: yet another brilliant fall scent!

[AliBabble]

i don't know why, in the month of may, i would reach for a pumpkin scent, but there you have it. this is the only pumpkin patch scent i've tried, and i don't wear it all that often, but i do enjoy it - with the ivy and woods, it is very different from pumpkin queen and samhain - much less sweet and "pumpkin pie-ish", and more evocative of dusky forests, and ivy-covered cottages. this oil really does conjure up dark green tones and mysterious woodsy imagery. the ivy is strong, and almost sharp for a bit, but eventually it is the woods that dominate, on my skin. i'm usually not a big "wood scent" fan, but i do love these woods, combined with the pumpkin and ivy - it becomes rather comforting, and has the mysterious feeling of crisp air on an autumn night. i like it a lot.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Definitely pumpkin, it's the same smell that I love so very much in Jack. Ginger... dirt and something... green? *checks description* I would guess it's the galangal giving me the ginger note, the ivy definitely accounts for the green scent. Not sure what is up with the dirt note I am getting, possibly one of the woods. So far this is very promising.

 

On the wrist: Very similar to Jack, but also very much it's own scent. The ivy is more prominent on the wrist than it was in the imp. The ivy gets stronger as time passes, the woods aren't putting in much of an appearance.

 

Dry: The ivy has completely taken over at this point and turned this into a sweet, green, slightly powdery scent. Ivy seems to like doing this to me. It's the only note I know of that can be both sharp and powdery, green and perfumey. Alas, chemistry strikes again. To the swaps.

[steelfaerie]

Oh, man. I pulled this back out as part of the Autumn Oil Fiesta I'm currently having, because it's about six hundred degrees here in DC and I'm longing for fall.

 

This is definitely my favourite of the Patch scents. Not as foody or comforting as the others, in this one I'm sitting in a dark pumpkin patch with a chill wind, smelling a nearby wood - and further beyond the wood, someone is having a fire. Yet it's not a spooky or lonely smell at all, really. More like I'm just kind of chilling in the Patch, maybe waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

 

I'm going to flit about the apartment wearing this today and try to forget that it's hot enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk.

[Browneyes]

2005 version

 

Short review: Pumpkin pie in a log cabin in the dark woods on Halloween night

 

In depth: Ok, maybe this is my favourite patch after all. (Damn, why isn't the new patch like the 2005 one? Or why wasn't I around and savvy in 2005??) It's dark, woody and leafy, a chilly autumn scent. Is it the ivy? Combined with the pumpkin, which gives it a rich, foody, spicy base. Pure LOVE!!

Edited September 2, 2007 by Browneyes

[filigree_shadow]

Oddly, I can't really smell the pumpkin in this one except right at first. It has none of the buttery goodness I was hoping for. The galangal is kinda strong, and the whole scent ends up as an ivy + galangal combination after a few minutes and stays that way.

 

This one was my least favorite of the Pumpkin Patches because of the way galangal likes to amp up on my skin.

[bombus]

my favorite of the patch! I think that the woods cuts the sweetness of the pumkin quite a lot. It is the least foody of the bunch.

[zankoku_zen]

This has to be the most un-pumpkin pumpkin scent that I've ever tried. At the beginning, the pumpkin is there but it lacks the strong buttery note I've come to associate with it. Instead, it smells like pumpkin and ivy and makes me think of old brick buildings covered in ivy. This scent puts me in mind of an autumn day, with crisp wind and dying leaves in the air, in an old ivy-leagueish college. The perfect kind of scent to accompany a pea coat and a multicolored knitted scarf.

 

On the drydown, the pumpkin is barely present and it's a strongly ivy + other plant smell.

 

I have to admit that this scent was an utter surprise. It's not the kind of pumpkin scent I'd be attracted to, but boy oh boy, was it fun!

 

Definitely a fall scent. Definitely a scent for a fun walk on a not-too-windy day when you want to appreciate all the colors of autumn, and look forward to coming back to a warm cup of tea.

[gypsysingleton]

Wowzers!!!

 

In the bottle: Pumpkin and Vanilla (that is so unexpected)

 

Wet on skin: Pumpkin, Ivy and general Wood

 

Drydown: The pumpkin and Ivy fade away and I'm left with the Loveliest, Gentlest Cedar I've ever encountered - I really didn't expect to like it, because I'm so wooded out, but...

[suki]

2006 version

 

in the bottle: yummy buttery pumpkin, alright.

 

wet on skin: sweet and yummy, like pumkin cake. not pie, there's definitely a "baked goods" quality about it at this stage.

 

dry down: yup. pumpkin cake. but a bit less sweet. i know- pumpkin bread!

 

in all: i don't get even a hint of anything else. certainly no ivy. perhaps some of those "wood" elements are toning down the sweetness, making it more 'bread-y' less 'pie-y'. but either way, this is a TOTAL keeper for sure.

 

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

OMG THIS IS BUTTERY FAIL!! At least, that's immediately what went through my head when I put it on. I had to keep my wrists away from my nose for a good 20 minutes. As it dried though, the woods and herbs really blossomed on my skin. It cut through the pumpkin and really mellowed it out. The pumpkin sweetens up the herbs and woods beautifully. The final product is something totally wearable, and I think I will love this in the fall.

[splendidissima]

I tested this at a meet n' sniff without knowing the notes, and my first reaction was, "gingery pumpkin! delicious!"

 

I would never in a million years have guessed that this was a woods-and-ivy pumpkin scent, and I'm glad I tried it without knowing, because that's not the kind of thing I'd normally pick up. On me, it's almost all that ginger-pumpkin scent, almost sparkly (yes, really! I don't know what my skin is doing here...). After about an hour, I do catch a hint of something cool and green in the background, which I'm guessing, now that I've figured out the notes, is the ivy. But it's still mostly a bright ginger-pumpkin on me, with the ivy keeping it just on the right side of candy-sweetness.

 

Just amazing, and wonderfully evocative of Halloween fun--pumpkin-picking, autumn air, and scurrying past that creepy-looking and possibly haunted house at the end of the block...

[Schmoozy]

 

This is most definitely a woodsy pumpkin. Earthy, and green, it lacks the spice and buttery feeling that most of the pumpkin patch blends give. With that being said it is still a damn good one. It feels more like picking pumpkins than baking pumpkin.

[Invidiana]

This is a dusky and deliciously woody pumpkin, like a pumpkin pie sitting in the corner of a log cabin in the woods, complete with an ashy fireplace. The galangal adds this lovely creepy-forest feeling to it, kind of like Hansel and Gretel stumbling upon a house made out of pumpkin sweets instead of gingerbread in the forest. The tangle of woods is really at the forefront here, with the pumpkin adding just a hint of sweet spiciness in the background. A great mysterious autumn scent for sure!

[irishelf]

Pumpkin Patch '06

 

In the imp: buttery pumpkin and a hint of woodsiness.

Wet: Ooooh. That smells so, so good. A hit of spice comes out of the pumpkin, but not overwhelmingly so.

Drydown: the ivy and something really smooth comes over the pumpkin, and it smells just awesome on me. I'm not sure what it is.

Dry: Sweet, glossy leaves and a hint of pumpkin spice. Amazing. I wonder if there's even any bottles left around...