Jack

[ethermaiden]

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

OOH! Butter! Wow does this smell like butter... or butter cookies... or something else that is very buttery. Even the oil is a pretty buttery color.

Once applied this becomes pumpkin pie with butter in the background, very foody and VERY warm. It dries down to a slightly more vanilla verson of those big round mulled cider scented candles.

The tail end of this one is, finally, the peach. It's a peach vaguely reminiscent of the fruit in Snow White. Maybe that was white peach?

[Dustbunnyxox]

JACK:

 

From the bottle: omg. this one smells SOOOO good. it smells like a cookie and like a autumn afternoon in the sun.

 

On me: still smiles of cookies, very faintly, but now its pure autumn leaves and apple pie. and spice, but nice spice. mmmmm. i looove it!

 

Two hours later: hot apple cider. autumn leaves. i cannot explain how wonderful it smells. I MUST get more.

[HoneyHoneyNY]

The imp I'm testing is a decant.

 

In the imp on the first sniff, it smells like pure salted butter. On further sniffing, it smells a bit pastry-ish, like a super buttery pie crust, or shortbread cookie dough. My friend sniffed it in the imp and said it smelled like the butter flavored oil they use on popcorn at the movies. I almost didn't want to put it on, because I was afraid of smelling like a tub of margarine.

 

As soon as it hit my skin, the strong butteriness fell off, and a pumpkin pie smell appeared. The spices came out, and they were very soft. They smelled "cooked" not prominent and prickly. Lurking under the spices was the buttery pastry smell, but much more faint, and a smell that wasn't exactly like, but more reminiscent of pumpkin. As it dried the peach came out softly, but I only really noticed because I was sniffing for it, and it wasn't fresh enough to overcome the richness of the fragrance.

 

I'm starting to find that I like foody scents, but this was too rich for me to wear. I like my spices much sharper, and I kept sniffing for something astringent to cut the unctuous butter scent.

 

I think this might be delicious as a room fragrance, so I 'll probably keep the imp for that purpose.

[emma_rising]

In the bottle...

In the bottle it smells very sweet, almost like buttery marshmallow, with an overtone of something green. I was surprised at the lack of spiciness in the initial smell, but read on...

 

On my skin...

When I put this on my skin, I get all of the spiciness I had hoped for. It really smells like Halloween, and appropriately for Halloween, a bit artificial. I feel like I'm trick-or-treating again, walking up to a house with my plastic pumpkin bucket, candles burning on the porch inside the jack-o-lanterns.

 

This is a fairly strong scent. I don't find it to be too foody for me, and I am happy that it doesn't have any perfumey tones (like baby powder). I keep it at work and use it when my sweet tooth is calling for a nonexistent snack.

[empi girl]

On, very sweet and buttery pumpkin (pumpkin candle), with soft spice in the background. The apricot made itself known for an instant and then bowed out for the pumpkin. It is actually a very nice scent, but perhaps a little sweet for me. It stays this buttery pumpkin spice for 1-2 hours, and then changes into a earthen scent. I seem to get this earthen scent in the drydown of several blends, so I think it is a specific note that doesn't agree with me. I will have to figure it out!

 

Anyway, overall, the scent is a little too sweet and foody for me, and I don't like the dirt note at the end when I'm not wanting to wear a dirt-like scent. So it goes to swaps!

[wolfie13]

In the bottle: Yikes. REALLY buttery and sweet. The second I even OPENED it someone in the cubicle next to me popped up her head and said "Do you smell buttercream frosting?" (Not knowing that I was scrabbling around with my bpals.)

 

Wearing: Still too buttery. This note does mellow quite a bit after about 20 minutes or so and then I think some earlier posters have really hit the nail on the head when they mention "peach cobbler". I get a lot of peach and baking spices, with the buttery note in the backgound. Surprisingly - don't get much in the way of pumpkin at all - if anything it actually has apple-y moments on me!

 

Overall: That dang buttery note (also found in Milk Moon to mention another) does not suit me at all. And even when it fades this one is WAY too foody for me.

[porcelain_doll]

Jack. Ah, Jack! Quite possibly one of the most beautiful, warm autumnal scents I've ever smelled, ever. I got this as a decant from the fabulously fun gothiccastle, and was completely blown away! In the imp, it's spicy, warm, and very pumpkin-y. On my skin, it smells like warmed nutmeg, pumpkin, and--one of those wee, scentless votive candles you stick down in your jack-o-lantern for Halloween. There's something musky down in there, too, in the dry-down. I'm gonna wear this one from September through to Thanksgiving, because it smells just plain dee-lish! Welcome, Fall, leaves and all! SQUEEEEE!

[RunsWithScissors]

Jack is a kitchen filled with cinnamon pumpkin pies fresh out of the oven. A fire crackles in the fireplace. It's cold outside with the crispness of after holloween. Air that just chills you to the bone. And you just want a warm cup of cider and to wrap yourself in a blanket and sit in front of the fireplace watching it burn while you let all these comforts of home wash over you. Jack feels like comfort from the cold, harsh world and smells like what we dream holidays should be like, with lots of loving relatives and smiles and hugs. Everybody is happy to see you, and you're happy to see them. And you could just sit in front of this warm fire and soak up all that goodness because that's exactly the way life is supposed to be.

 

Hours later, it's still lasting on me and as strong as when I applied it. The pumpkin has softened and the clove is coming out to play a bit more.

[telesilla]

Why I tried it: I figured that if I was gonna like something foody, this'll be it.

 

In the bottle and wet: Pure pumpkin pie.

 

Drying down: Still insanely foody. I don't even like pumpkin pie and I want some. NOW! Unless this mellows, it's just too foody for me; I'm seriously thinking of gnawing my own forearm off.

 

Dry: It's gotten to be peachier now, but still all with the nutmeg and cloves. It's odd that I don't think that March Hare is too foody but this one is. It's a lovely smell and might make a good room scent if you like foody room scents.

[LiberAmoris]

I'm testing out possible fall scents that I never got around to last year, and Jack was tops on my list. The Labbies must be mind readers, because I got an freebie imp of Jack in my last order. Thanks, Labbies!

 

Wet, Jack is buttery, buttery, buttery, with a hint of peach. But once I get it on, the butter mellows and the pumpkin comes forward. I know this is going to sound weird, but it kind of smells like Captain Crunch cereal to me (not a bad thing!).

 

I have a feeling that Jack might be a good blender with some of the other fall blends, like Samhain. I'm definitely keeping the imp, as it's so quintessentially autumnal without being heavy in any way.

[imaginepageant]

I was sure I already reviewed this! I must have forgotten to copy and paste from my LJ. Well, here goes!

 

In the vial: Wow! Baking! It smells a lot like oatmeal muffins, but with a strong hint of pumpkin and nutmeg.

 

Wet: I didn't think it could smell any more like baking, but it does. Sweet spice springs immediately to the surface, and there's more nutmeg, as well as a bit of cinnamon. I've never experienced a perfume that smelled more authentically like food in my entire life. It's making me hungry!

 

Dry: Ginger snaps, total ginger snaps! There are so many scents coming through my head is spinning and I can hardly tell what's what: pumpkin, molasses, brown sugar, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, butter, maple, OH MY! Deliciously sweet and spicy. So much so, in fact, that there's no way I would think of this as a fresh pumpkin or jack-o-lantern; this is entirely pumpkin food. This is a very warm, fiery, and inviting scent. It's snuggling up in a toasty blanket in front of a fire when the nights start to get crisp in the beginning of October.

 

An hour later: I'm smelling more than pure food now. A bit of wood and smoke, which adds beautifully to the autumn feel of this scent. It's romantic and yearning, in a strange way. It's mythical and witchy.

 

Overall: This was my favorite BPAL scent, until I met Dorian and ran off into the sunset with him. I need to get a big bottle of this before autumn begins, because I know I'll be wearing it all season.

Edited August 22, 2005 by decemberine

[slugbait]

I recieved this decant from the lovely Shanti. Thank you!

 

At first sniff this smells very buttery. Not what I was expecting, but ok. On my skin this is buttery, then the butter dissappears, and I smell peaches and light pumpkin mingling with baking spices. Reminds me a bit of pumpkin gobs. Mmm. Good stuff!

 

As this dries, the peach becomes more prounounced, and it highlighted with the warm spices. Smells like a cross of the Ginger Peach/Pumpkin Spice fragrance line at Pier 1 imports. Which isn't a bad thing at all, they both smell fantastic!

 

Jack has very good saying power, I could smell it all day. I applied this early in the morning (6 am) and I could still smell it when I went out for dinner later in evening. I would definately purchase a bottle of this.

[oceandreamer001]

I'm new to BPAL, and I've been busily swapping, and I got Jack. This smelled really nice in the bottle, pumpkin, spices, and something else I couldn't identify.

 

On my skin wet: Ooh, this is nice. I smell pumpkin pie, warm, relaxing. Something else is just under the surface though.

 

On my skin dry down: I still smell the pumpkin, but that other note I can't identify is there on top. If I smell my skin, it activates my gag reflex. It's not the clove, I don't know what it is, and I don't want to smell too deeply to figure it out.

 

On my skin after an hour: I smell mostly pumpkin and nutmeg again, most of the bad note is gone, but, well, bad memories.

 

I like the scent, it doesn't seem to work on my skin. I'm so disappointed, this is a fabulous fall scent. I'll try it again and see if there is any difference.

[sophia_helix]

Was happy to swap for this before fall hits.

 

In the bottle:

 

Butter, yikes. Sooo much salty butter. A foody-pumpkin smell beneath, very sweet.

 

Wet:

 

The butter fades a bit, and it's more like sugary pumpkin bread.

 

Drydown:

 

This scent spent a good five minutes being "peach cobbler" on my skin, which was nice but not what I was looking for. Then it morphed into more pure pumpkin -- but alas, it was the dreaded "pumpkin candle" scent. I kept looking for nutmeg, cloves, or anything spicy, but it just smelled fake. I could even smell the wax! My friend R. came home and I whined, "I smell like a cannnndle." She said she'd thought I was burning something somewhere!

 

In conclusion: I remain true to Samhain '04, my fall BPAL love.

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle: Ah, Jack, the "poor man's Pumpkin King". I've heard a great deal about this, and have only today gotten my hands on a bottle. In the bottle? It smells... like butter. Butter with brown sugar in it, and very little else. Pumpkin? Where?

 

Wet: Better on the skin than in the bottle. Still very buttery, but I can smell the peach and the clove and autumness. It's /very/ sweet, but not the 'crawl up your nose and die' sort (no, I STILL can't forgive Gluttony, why do you ask?). It makes me kind of hungry, though.

 

Dry: Same as wet, as far as I can tell. Sweet spice, nutmeg and clove, butter, and an autumnal pie-ness that falls somewhere between apple, pumpkin, and peach without hitting any of them squarely. It /does/ remind me of Halloween, though, it does indeed. It's like those 'autumn spice' candles, but without the fake quality.

 

Final opinion: Another for the 'success' bin, I think. I have apparently evaded the pitfall of it smelling over-buttery on me, and I don't find it cloying at all (like Thanatopsis). It -is- awfully foody, and not something I'd wear daily... unless it were October, in which case, I think it'd get a lot of mileage. Or for wearing to Thanksgiving dinner or such. It would seem terribly out of place in say, June, but for what it is, it's very pleasant. Ever buy one of those 'pumpkin/autumn spice' candles? That's EXACTLY what it reminds me of.

[BelladonnaBarbie]

I don't know about this one. When I first opened the imp it was pure foody butter. The spices and pumpkin were probably underneath there somewhere, but I couldn't get past the butter. When I tried it out the butter stage lasted for probably half an hour which then gave way to a very strong pure clove/potpourri type scent. Lastly, it turned into a very nice mulled cider, I could detect both the peaches and the cloves. I really liked this last stage, but I don't know if I'd like it enough to go through the first two every time I wore it.

 

From all of the LE fall/winter scents, I've noticed that I've ended up liking them more as room scents. I think I'm going to have the put Jack in that same category.

[zombie_striptease]

Despite my past difficulties with foody smells, Jack works incredibly well on me. It's very very sweet and buttery, as other have mentioned, and the peach comes out beautifully. It won't be an everyday scent, but I imagine it will be just perfect for those chilly Autumn days once they get here.

 

In the imp: Sweet and buttery, almost syrupy. It smells like some wonderful baked goods cooling on the windowsill.

 

On wet: Wow, peach! I'm not really getting any pumpkin yet, but this is a really good peach cobbler scent. My mom's nose was around to give an opinion, and the first thing she smelled was cinnamon. I'm getting bits of clove here and there, but mostly it's still the overwhelming SWEET BUTTERY PEACHY.

 

Dry down: A bit mellower, the nutmeg has come out to visit. I catch a whiff of something like pumpkin now and then, and also candle wax? but it doesn't ever stay for long. The peach is toned down but still very present. This is such a warm cozy scent. It makes me want to put foody things back on my list again...

 

Conclusion: The imp is a keeper. I don't know that I'll use enough to need a big bottle, as it's definitely very seasonal. I don't think I would want to wear this anytime past April at the latest. But it's good for now, and I'm also tempted to try this as a room scent. Nice work, Beth!

[binkyboots]

whee!

 

jack, ok it's a twisted tale of heartbreak, desire and finally true love.

 

I tried jack (jack #1) a long time ago, hated it, was sad, very sad.

 

I love halloween, pumpkins, lanterns, glowing candles, spices and leaves....

 

I craved a jack that would love me as much as I loved it.

 

tried my old imp again today (because my big sister ordered the pumpkin patch and I wanted to figure out what pumpkin smelt like, lol) oh my, it's aged beautifully!! it's very rounded and smooth.

 

pumpkin, spice, and a little honey/vanilla, very good, very

[erikasilverstein]

BOTTLE SNIFF: Moist hearty pumpkin bread, freashly baked -- and heavy on the nutmeg.

 

WET ON SKIN: Very similar to bottle. It's a scent you can almost taste.

 

DRYDOWN: Peach comes out a bit more. Not noticing the clove at all. Stays pumpkin bread for a long time before aquiring a more pulpy, raw pumpkin scent. The peach actually comes out alot more.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS: Goes on very strong! More of a bakery scent than anything -- which I love. Very foody. And, I feel, layers very well with Samhain

[AlaskaSnows]

Oh JACK my LOVE!! I knew immediately upon smelling this scent that I would NEED it alot during Fall and Winter, so I set it aside. When I saw the Pumpkin Patch 2005 set, I thought of Jack and knew I needed some of that, NOW!!

 

Jack smells warm and golden and light, like, as said by others, pumpkin bread, with honey and walnuts, but the pumkin bread is inside a house, while you are outside of it in the night, looking at its glowing windows and smelling the sweetness on the air.

 

I get no change after dry down. Beautiful stuff, this.

[jewelbug]

Bottle: Buttery spicy pumpkin pie. I want to drink this.

 

Wet: Butter and spice. Super autumnal foody smell. Very homey and tasty.

 

Drying: Buttery pie with cinnamon and a hint of peach. There is also a syrupy smell (good syrupy--like a dark brown sugar sauce). This settles into a buttery spicy peach smell that is warm and comforting. It fades to almost nothing in about 3.5 hours.

 

Overall: I adore this scent. I just don’t think its something I'd want to smell like all day. But I would really love to have my house smell like it. It's so yummy and homey and warm. Makes me wanna cuddle with the hubby. I will look into oil burners for this, I think. And a larger bottle!

Edited January 1, 2006 by jewelbug

[Nemesister]

not so sure about this one.......it's very, very buttery. once it's been on my skin for 10 minutes or so it's less buttery and all the autumnal goodies start to come through.....it might just be spicy enough for me to keep it and love it.

 

ETA that i don't think i can get past the buttery-ness......it make sme feel sick before the spices come through

Edited November 27, 2005 by Nemesister

[elphaba]

I'm pretty sure Jack is going to be one of my favorite autumn blends. It smells like a jack o' lantern at the end of the night, when the candle inside is melted and the flesh of the pumpkin is warm. That amazingly warm Halloween scent of wax and pumpkin is mixed with lovely spices that makes it even warmer.

 

I can't wait to wear this one on a cool autumn night.

[maewitch]

This is absolutely wonderful. Much softer than the first five minutes predicted and an ideal fall scent.

 

The first few minutes were a little off-putting, as the nutmeg came on quite strong, and the pumpkin was strangely artificial, like potpourri.

 

Drying down, it morphed into an incredibly creamy and oh-so-slightly-spicy pumpkin pie scent. I think the peach, while not explicit, lends a little sweetness and serves to lighten it up a bit. It actually smells like Samhain without the woody-earthy aspect. I can see myself wrapped up in a huge blanket and huddled up on my couch, sipping something warm and alcohol-laced, watching the leaves fall outside.

 

This goes on the big bottle list.

[Firewaver]

Jack is... buttered popcorn?

 

Initial sniffs make me think of what shill must smell like.. pure unadultered buttery butter. Oh god please dry down to something less buttery and nauseating... please please please. I'm saying this now... and I haven't yet smelled the drydown.. I don't know if I can take this buttered popcorn stage, it's almost too much for my nose to contend with. It's just too.. yellow and dripping with butter.

 

Ok.. I can detect some spicy pumpkin trying to come through, slowly but surely. Maybe a teensy bit of nutmeg. PHEW i just got a waft of cat pee smell, the boy needs to clean the litter box asap!-anyway.. OK, now 20 minutes later I can smell pumpkin.

 

 

I like the drydown, I do.

But I don't know if I'm brave enough to take the butter again! I think I will, because I'm DETERMINED to like Jack because I've been waiting for so long to get my hands on an imp.

 

I give the wet smell an F

I give the drydown a B+