Pumpkin Queen

[deleahrium]

The Glorious Grand Dame of the Pumpkin Patch! Regal Egyptian Amber, red ginger, orange peel, mandarin, cardamom, fig leaf and warm pumpkin.

This is honestly so similar to Jack on me that I have nothing more to say but hello, Jack. Maybe I need to try and compare them more, but really, the difference is hardly noticeable.

[storme]

In the imp: lots of pumpkin and cardamom and ginger and butter - very warming but sort of greasy. Hmm.

 

On me, wet: Wow, everything but the greasiness vanished, pretty much. It smells like I smeared slightly gingery butter on myself.

 

On me, dry: Hmm. Faintly warm and still rather greasy pumpkin and ginger, without much orange peel or cardamom. Sigh.

 

Verdict: I can't see myself ever wearing this. I never wear Jack, after all, and it's the same greasiness that bothers me there. I think this bottle can get in my swap/sale pile.

 

Note: (this layers nicely with Lick It Again, though that's not really enough reason for me to keep the bottle around.)

[SeaLady]

In the bottle: Blahhhhh, buttery madness! with a little pumpkin :/

 

On: Spicy pumpkin deliciousness! Butter disappears almost completely, hooray! Spices, barely a little orange, warm pumpkin with amber underneath.

 

I didn't find the throw to be very strong, but my roommate told me Her Highness was stinking up the room in a most delightful fashion!

Wearing this on Thanksgiving...I think she'll go just right with the food, and she sure won't bother those members of my family that dislike perfume (I was one of them, until BPAL ).

[moon_lemming]

When I first sniffed the buttery pumpkin scent in the imp, I thought: Disaster! Oh no!

 

But for the first few minutes on, Pumpkin Queen seemed like she might be the one BPAL pumpkin blend that would work on me. Warm spicy pumpkin bread. Yummm.

 

Sadly, after ten minutes the "buttery" note does what it was born to do and keells the goodness dead. Now it's mostly wax and a teensy bit of ginger, with a hint of amber.

 

I still have not given up hope for a BPAL pumpkin blend that works on me, but this isn't it.

[zankoku_zen]

The Queen has arrived!

 

In the imp: Pumpkin goodness!

 

On Skin: Pumpkin and citrus and spices. Woohoo!

 

On Drydown: It's more pumpkin-lite than say Jack. Also, infinitely less buttery. I get a very similar smell to that of Pumpkin Patch #1.

 

Verdict: I love Pumpkin scents. Occasionally, Jack can be too buttery for me. I really can't get over how similar PP#1 and PQ are. I might have to make a comparison test to smell the differences! Woohoo!

[Neely]

In the bottle: sugared oranges with butter. Unlike Jack who is "I can't believe it isn't butter in a bottle, this is subtle in the butter arena. So those of you who feared Jack and his stick o' butter, this is a much tamer butter.

 

Wet: the butter disappears right away. It becomes a lovely creamy, citrusy, spicey perfume.

 

Dry down: more of the same. Oranges in a bowl of cream infused with ginger, cinnamon, alspice on a table that would make Martha Stewart green with envy. This is a sophisticated real elegant lady perfume. Which my friends would argue that I am not, but they were too busy plastering their noses to my wrist to be heard. This is a Hallowe'en party with elegent china, crystal, and candlelight.

 

30 minutes: Doesn't change, still the same elegant perfume.

 

Conclusion: A must have. I must horde bottles. Her Highness and I get along very, very well. When a good looking co-worker of mine sniffed me twice, you know it is a keeper. If you were afraid of Jack and his stick o'butter up the nose, don't be afraid of this one. Give it a try. I am working on getting more bottles as we speak. My favorite of all the new Hallowe'enies.

 

Rating 1-5, on my skin, this is a 5.

Edited November 22, 2006 by atropos

[stardreamer]

First impression: Ew, way too buttery! Where'd that come from? There's no butter listed in this!

 

On skin: The butter backs down quickly, which is a Good Thing. I can smell the pumpkin and some of the spices.

 

Drydown: After 20 or 30 minutes, the amber amps up, along with a sweetness that's probably the fig leaf (although amber does tend to go sweet on me as well). Beyond an hour, amber is all I'm getting. Staying power seems light for the strength of scent -- 6 to 8 hours and it's barely there.

 

Bottom line: Between the too-buttery opening and the relatively short period before it becomes pure amber, this is a disappointment. I'll try it at least once more before making a final decision, but I think it's going to be a swap.

[Em-]

I finally really wore this on Thanksgiving and trying this without rereading the description, I throught to myself, pumpkin pie and cider. I also throught to myself -

 

But really, this is not a "foody" pumpkin scent - the Queen is sophistocated and spicy and that shot of what I guess is citrus, not cider, really lightens her up from the heavyness of some pumpkin blends which tend to go a little off on my skin.

 

I really love this for the autumn holidays. Thanks Beth!!!

[Mountaingrrl00]

I've worn this a few times now and it's been different each time. The first time the buttery note took a long time to dry down, and I wasn't all that keen on the scent. On subsequent wearings I've gotten more of the other ingredients. The best was when I put it on after a hot bath: warmed, the butter disappeared instantly and the scent instantly became a perfectly blended spiced amber with a bit of orange zest. I think the pumpkin does add nicely to the creaminess of the amber; it's not just some annoying buttery thing to be gotten past. The cardamom in this one is very true, and the ginger and orange are cheery. I'll be wearing this in situations where it can heat up properly to be an excellent feel-good scent.

[Naamah_Darling]

Just you try and pry this out of my cold, dead hands! In the bottle it smells just gloriously of pumpkin and spices, with just a hint of razzy orange and a faint draft of husky amber.

 

It goes on biteable, yummy, ferociously tasty! The orange peel is the genius note here. I'll be damned, this may be one of the most warmly perfect blends I've smelled yet.

 

I was in Bath and Body Works the other day, sniffing at their pumpkin-flavored stuff, but this slaps the knockoff bottom shelf pumpkin perfumes right to the floor. I need to order another bottle!

 

It's diabolically grand, a warm, biteable cookie of a smell with a huge jack o'lantern grin. I love it. Not for those who don't like pumpkin, but for those who do, it may well be the ultimate Halloween scent.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is buttery pumpkin mixed with sweet spices. When first on it's a juicy fruit- oranges- with a rush of spices. It's very similar to Jack and PP #1 at this point and a bit too sweet for me. Luckily the sweetness begins to mellow after about ten minutes and the cardamom and fig leaf start to develop. Now is when this is gorgeous!! The amber and fig mix with the spices and pumpkin. This turns out to be a stunner on me! On the dry down it's all warm amber, like Bastet. Pumpkin Queen is a Grande Dame indeed and was well worth the wait!

[Dinah]

Buttery and rich like pie-crust with something juicy, zesty underneath. There are definitely spices there but it's hard to say what kind. The buttery note doesn't disappear on my skin, as it has for others, but stays pretty strong while the scent develops. The initial sweetness tampers down a lot and the amber comes into play.

 

A very interesting, changing scent, somewhere between foody and elegant.

[arabella]

First Impression: Spiced Pumpkin Pie Filling.

 

Dries down to: The sharpness of the spices mellows and it turns into a lovely, rich and creamy pumpkin blend.

 

Additional Comments: This is bottle-worthy. The orange peel and mandarin keeps it very fresh and the amber softens the edges. My absolute favorite of the Halloweenie series.

 

Lasted: 2-3 hours.

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

[cinderfallen]

I love this! The mandarin is the note I love most, because it keeps the pumpkin/ginger/spices from being too heavy. It's a very unique scent that straddles the savory, darker smells of the pumpkin and amber with the seamlessly blended ginger and mandarin. I get the tiniest whiff of cardemom, too.

[silver_dollar]

As soon as I open the bottle: Oh, God. Nasty butter. So I come to this thread, and, reassured by the reviews, finally dab some on.

 

Immediately the butter goes away and is replaced by baked pumpkin and ginger and sweet amber with maybe a little citrus. It's amazing, and there's something in there that reminds me of Red Lantern before it went gross on me (Red Lantern, that is). It's still a little buttery, but not as much as, say, Penny Dreadful - it's not overpowering at all. It morphs a lot for the first half hour or so, giving each note a chance to be up front for a moment. Now that it's settled down, it's mostly pumpkin and ginger. And let me say, I like this ginger a lot more than I have in other blends. It's great, and I'm glad I decided to try it.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - spices, primarily ginger with a hint of orange and buttery pumpkin

 

Wet on me - mainly orange and ginger with a bit of biscuit from the pumpkin and something that smells like celery

 

Dry on me - Creamy pumpkin, rich spices, cut through with fresh, almost astringent orange. There is a dust/ashes moment, but it's covered by the brightness of the orange

 

Overall - This was a much brighter lighter blend than I expected and I liked it. I'm not certain hown much though

[valentina]

In the bottle, Pumpkin Queen is that round, buttery pumpkin smell with spices. Very mellow and warm. When it hits my skin, the pumpkin is very predominate at first, but as it starts to dry down, all the elements of the scent become apparent. It's such a well-blended fragrance that it's really difficult for me to say that I'm pulling any one component in particular -- I detect pumpkin, but also a very elegant orange and deep, but not overpowering spice. I think the amber, cardamom and ginger give this blend a certain exotic quality that separates it from the more traditional pumpkin pie scents. For me, it's not the warm, cozy smell of mom cooking pumpkin pie in her country kitchen, but rather a more sublime, mature scent that would be worn by a queen. This is a beautiful scent that could move beautifully from autumn into winter, and I'm so pleased that I have a bottle!

Edited December 12, 2006 by valentina

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 4/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Pumpkin-y gingersnaps!

 

In the bottle: Ginger, orange peel, fig leaf, and pumpkin!

 

On skin, wet: Slightly dusty, buttery spiced pumpkin. Very similar to Jack, yes, but with a bit more spice, and a distinctly chalky (the fig) quality that I don't entirely dislike.

 

On skin, dry: There's something about this that reminds me terribly of gingersnaps, especially the scent of the actual cookie: the cooked, slightly crispy dough. The cardamom is surprisingly muted in PQ, as is the mandarin. The amber's very warm, and keeps the whole blend just this side of "too foody."

 

Conclusion/Notes: PQ reminds me of a fantastically well-done, rich, high-end pumpkin cookies/pie candle. I suppose I've been to too many craft malls during the Thanskgiving/Yule season not to associate "spiced pumpkin" with "candles" on some levels. It really is a lovely scent, but it's also very similar to Jack. Even further, I'm not sure if I want to smell like a gingersnap. (Shub, of course, is different; Shub is an evil gingersnap.) Time will tell, I suppose, in whether I wear this one much or not.

[Lunaratu]

ok, when I first put this on it smelled very strongly of pumpkin--very buttery and round. However, as this settles into my skin it becomes very sharply citrus with the warmth of the amber and the spiciness of the ginger.

 

It becomes a warm, but slightly sharp citrus, however. I want the round pumpkin scent back truthfully. I really hope this citrus scent backs off a bit again but I doubt it will. I'm newish to bpal scents so I'm still figuring out exactly what elements work on my skin. I like the ginger, I like the amber, and I want more of the pumpkin to come back out again. I do not like the sharp citrus, however, so in the future I'll know to stay away from a scent that has two citrus derived ingredients so as to avoid this overly sharp scent on my skin.

 

Hold on--ooh, the citrus is backing off a bit and I'm getting this resinous gingery scent. There's still the citrus there but now that the other scents are coming back out and rounding out Pumpkin Queen I'm much happier now. This spicier scent is definitely nice for the wintery months--very warming.

 

A Year Later: This smells almost like fresh-baked gingersnap cookies whenever I put this on my skin--buttery, warm, gingery, and rather yummy.

 

Throw: Low

Rating: 3.5/5

Edited October 7, 2007 by Lunaratu

[phedre]

In vial: cardamom and ginger. this reminds me of good gingerbread spice.

 

wet: this is all pumpkin spice, with tons of cardamom and ginger. I don't get any amber or orange.

 

drydown: Wow, complete change. Mandarin and orange peel are coming out in force now. The pumpkin spice has almost completely disappeared, leaving behind just a bit of cardamom and warm pumpkin pie. I'm still not sure what I think of this one, if I love it or just like it, and whether or not I like it as a perfume oil. It's definitely worth trying though, so I'll think on it awhile.

Edited December 26, 2006 by phedre

[Delight]

I love pumpkins. I feel that they are the perfect organisms. They are brightly colored, they smell lovely, all but their outer shell can be eaten, they can be carved and filled with fire, and they are always beautiful. When pumpkins die and start to rot, you can roll them down someone's driveway or smash them in the face of someone you dont like. Even in death, pumpkins are useful. But I digress

 

This pumpkin filled vial was no exception to my obsession. The pumpkin is matched in strength by ginger and cardamom. I imagine if I garnished a cup of Indian masala chai with pumpkin puree, this is what it would smell like. It is very rich and spicy but not overpowering. It reminds me of 'Drink Me' except the sweetness is replaced by spice. If you can get your hands on a vial, I'd definately recommend it.

Edited December 29, 2006 by Delight

[mjames121]

Smelled like Gingerbread out of the bottle.

When i put it on right away it was all butter and gingerbread.

After a bit I smelled Orange. Everyone thought I smelled like gingerbread cookies...orange gingerbread cookies. Ick! Had to get swap this bottle out...it just wasnt working.

[Tess]

I'll admit it, I've never tried a scent with pumpkin in it before. But when the Hallow's Eve update came around, I just had to have everything it was in. THIS scent was the number one thing I was looking forward to trying.

 

In the bottle - Other people have mentioned butter, despite the note not being listed, and I'm getting that, too. Heavy buttery pumpkin with just the barest touch of cardamom.

 

Wet - This smells like Shill with some pumpkin and spice tossed in. Hmm...

 

Drying - Mmm, the cardamom and fig are coming out, as is the Egyptian amber! Goodness, I think I might love this whole heartedly. The buttery scent of the pumpkin is being lifted by the citrus notes and spiced up by the other notes. It's oddly enticing.

 

Dry (45 minutes) - I think I've found a type of foody scent that works with my chemistry. The joy! The scent still has that buttery pumpkin scent, with the amber making it sweet and slightly seductive, the cardamom giving it the barest hint of spice. Through it all lingers the musk to make it mix. Lovely!

 

Overall - This is a keeper, for sure. The More Than Friend loves it, too, which is an added bonus.

[wikkidraven]

PQ is all buttery goodness when sniffing from the bottle...almost PURE buttery goodness. but it morphs on the skin into spicy, pumpkin love. the pumpkin isn't cloying, and i agree that this isn't the in your face pumpkin of Jack (another one of my faves, though). instead, the Queen is subtle and yes...regal. i'm SO glad i have two bottles

[edenssixthday]

Pumpkin Queen - I don’t normally like pumpkin scents, and there are few I can hang with, but this one knocks my socks off. I mean, it’s GORGEOUS. I’m really surprised at how un-buttery the pumpkin is. I’m also surprised at how creamy this scent is, considering how many spicy and bright notes are in this blend. (When I wore it around my mom, she thought I was wearing a vanilla perfume!) The spices in this blend are definitely there, giving the pumpkin amazing body and kick, but it’s not overpowering. Every note blends so incredibly well together, and I really just can’t get enough of this. I loved it enough to buy a bottle, which for me, is saying a lot, considering my usual aversion to pumpkin. The sillage is very strong, although the staying power isn’t so great on my skin and has to be reapplied every couple of hours.