October

[countessmouse]

Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air.

2010 Version

Dry leaves in the imp. Once it was on my skin and drying, I picked up a hint of pepper and within 15 minutes, a masculine spice note popped up.

It smells really nice and I think I'm going to try it on the BF.

[ravenscanary]

I don't know how Beth does it...but this smells exactly like autumn air, with smoke, leaves, fading greenery and a slightly chill breeze. It's amazing. No other words for it.

[Geminirubyshoes]

2010 edition - I am so happy Beth did this again! I had the 2007 version and it smells rich and smokey now. I am hoping that this bottle from this season will do the same in time. I am pleased with how cold it smells! It does smell a wee bit cologney at first but that wears away quick and the smoky, dry leaves in the cold night thing starts to happen. Honestly, I truly feel that this smells exactly like fall here in VT so it makes me very happy that I can have it all year round.

Edited October 23, 2010 by Duskinhereyes

[crebbsgirl]

2010 Version:

 

Honestly, this was a little sharp when I first applied it. It went a little cologney on my skin. It had a bit of an aquatic feel at first, but as it dried, the scent blended and smoothed out a little bit. This was very, very dry on my skin. It smells exactly like leaves and dirt and crisp autumn air (without being ozoney).

[Edeniade]

In the bottle it smelled really sharp and I hesitated in trying it out. But when I did, oh my good lords. This is actually what my ideal man would smell like! It's dangerously alluring! it started out smelling a bit like a spicier Nothing Gold Can Stay but mellowed into the most gorgeous musky yet sweet masculine scent; so much so that I want to make out with my arm right now. Which would be awkward.

[aquazoo]

Very pretty, is that sap or maple? Rustling leaves and a whiff of smoke. On me it's warm, not cold at all.

[Ceisdein]

In Bottle: Trees. Wow.

 

Wet: Still trees. Real trees. That's impressive.

 

Dry: Trees with hints of smoke. It runs around cologne but never actually drop into it for me. The longer it's on the more a peppery spice picks up.

 

Overall: Smells just like a autumn forest, all sun-warmed leaves and smoky breezes. This is what I was hoping for from Nothing Gold Can Stay. It definitely loses some of the tree realism in the later stages but even then the pepper stage is nice. Masculine but I think I could rock it on the right occasions. Bottle worthy for me.

[pandorasmuse]

2010 iteration.

 

In the decant: Very musty dead leaves.

 

Wet: Dried leaves and sap. The description is spot-on.

 

Drydown: Masculine. It reminds me of the way my husband smells, actually.

 

Later: More smokiness. I like this, but I think I’d have to be in a special kind of mood to wear it. It's a wrap up in blankets, stay inside when it's warm kind of smell. I’m definitely keeping my decant.

 

I tried it on my husband, and it didn’t work at all—very surprising, as it smells very much like him. I thought it would amp his natural good-smelliness, but no dice.

 

Now regretting not springing for a bottle. I may have to seek one out.

[strahlend]

October 2010

In my decant I really liked this scent. It made me think of piles of dry leaves laying near puddles. On my skin though it turned into a very soapy (irish spring) kind of scent. I bought a partial bottle anyway because of how nice it smelled. It finally dawned on me today to put it in my clocket and now I've found the perfect solution to wearing this scent. Yay!

[MagentaLuna]

October 2010

 

The first time I tried it, I remember thinking that it was very sharp and aquatic. 5 months later, it's mellowed out quite nicely. Still slightly aquatic, but warmer with dry leaves. I like it so much! It really does evoke the feeling of October.

(as a note: colour association - Jade green, though it doesn't smell "green" in the sense of herb-y)

[stellans]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed either of these yet, when October is my birth month and I've loved October the blend since its first introduction. Well, since this year has brought yet another incarnation of October (which review shall be added below), it's time these amazing scents were reviewed.

 

October 2007:

This is dry leaves, and the slight smokiness of a bonfire, but it's mostly leaves. Just smelling this evokes Autumn in all it's glory: the reds, oranges, and yellows of trees, and the fun of jumping into a huge pile of leaves. Someone above mentioned a slight saltiness in this, and I agree, there is a slight saltiness but it's not the sea salt of the ocean, it's more earthy, as if you'd found the salt lick in the woods used by deer. This is a definite keeper! 5 of 5 stars, for sure.

 

October 2010:

This release is almost the same as the original 2007 release, with maybe just a hint more spice on my skin. The same lovely leaf/fire/wind notes abound, and I am still in love. I have multiple bottles of the 2007 already, though, so I think a single bottle of this year's vintage will be enough. Since the 2007 release aged magnificently, I have no doubt this year's bottle will as well. Much love to Beth for her skill in evoking the sense of my birth month so perfectly. And again: 5 of 5 stars.

 

October 2011:

This release is slightly dryer than the 2010 release, a bit more like the original, but there's a hint of sweetness in this one which wasn't present in the first two. For some reason my skin is amping anything sweet this season, but luckily the sweet is so faint that even with my treacherous skin's ampage, this scent is still amazing on me, and I love it so much. The smokiness is also less than the first month, but it's still there, ever so faintly, and the dry leaves are just wonderful. Again, like the 2010 release, because I have so many back-up bottles of the 2007, I am not going to hunt down multiple back-ups of this one. These three October scents are all so perfect, I almost want to wear them excusively for the entire month of October! And rating: why spoil a perfect record - 5 of 5 stars again!

Edited October 30, 2011 by stellans

[Imbrium]

October 2011

 

I'm just incredibly floored by this scent. I skipped various previous incarnations of October because the sort of standard "autumnal" scents, much as I want to love them, never seem to love me back. Death of Autumn, for example, has something that goes painfully sharp and burning on me, and I figured that something in the smoke/leaves category of scents just doesn't work on me; I've never actually been able to smell the leaves or smoke in any of the blends that contain them.

 

Now I'm thinking that maybe they're just notes that get overwhelmed by the things that dominate on my skin, because October 2011 smells <i>amazingly</i> like autumn leaves, with just the slllliiiiightest hint of something aquatic, ozone-y. Fall is finally back in the midwest, and the piles of leaves outside smell like my arm. It's incredible, evocative.

[maoric]

2011.

 

In the vial: Woody, spicy cologne. There's something in here that reminds me of green bell pepper very faintly.

 

Freshly applied: Holycrapleaves. Bit of a cologne smell still (not that that's a problem!) and amazing dry, fallen leaves.

 

Drying: Aaaaand very faint. But... cedar? Ohh noooooo. I really hope this doesn't turn into a cedar monster on me D: After a few minutes the cedar-esque note calms down. I can see the pencil shavings comparison, though if pencil shaving smelled exactly like this I'd be sharpening pencils all the time. I actually do remember picking up dead leaves as a kid and them smelling like this as I crushed them in my fingers/slowly singed them with a magnifying glass for makeshift incense.

 

Later: An hour after applying, the scent seems to become very light, though I can still smell it while typing on the computer. Very faint dried leaves. Two hours later it's still faint. Six hours later I can still smell it, though it's still pretty muted.

 

This is a great smell, but very subdued. I'll keep the bottle and enjoy it now and then, but I don't think I need to run immediately for a backup bottle

[griffonner]

In the bottle- Damp leaves and chill.

Wet- Damp leaves and autumn wind.

Dry- Autumn, cold wind.

5 minutes- A subtle cold scent. Wind and leaves.

[SadariEvenstar]

I have an imp of the 2007 version and I just received a bottle of the 2011 version. Both are extreme love, I've been hoarding my imp of 2007 all these years in hopes that I would be able to get more one day.

 

It's October in New York here right now and I can firmly say that this perfume captures it extremely well. The 2007 version seems to have a little better staying power than the 2011, but the 2011 has a much nicer initial spicy smokiness that I don't remember the 2007 having right off the bat. I can't wait to see how it ages.

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

October 2011

 

This is so, so gorgeous! In the imp and wet, it definitely gives me that shot of green bell pepper (which is not something I'm fond of!), but it passes after a couple seconds. Then there's fallen leaves, cool air (how? how does Beth do this?), a touch of sap, and maybe the softest suggestion of a far off pile of leaves burning. It's not really smoky at all - it's more of a feel in the background. Some have mentioned October going bad-aquatic-soapy on them, but it is fine on me, and I'm very susceptible to anything aquatic going Irish Spring on my skin. I also tend to amp wood scents ridiculously, but the dried leaves here behave themselves on me.

 

This is really the embodiment of the perfect fall day. I adore it. I'm slathering it today to celebrate the breezy cool fall weather (finally!).

 

Some might find this more a men's scent. It is absolutely not girly, but I don't think it's wrong for a girl either. I'd call it a wonderful unisex scent!

[Klepz]

Ah, BPAL leaf scents... I always hope that they'll go the way of Evening Cicadas, but that's the only exception.

 

This is green- leafy, grassy green. It smells exactly like ICD23 and Chant D'Automne, and even though as it dries the leaves get a little more brown, it's that bed of overwhelming green-ness that smells like sap and grass all the time.

[strahlend]

The '11 version has managed to eliminate the soapy and/or cologne elements of past incarnations of October. It's totally all leaves with a touch of smoke in the most fantastic possible way. If you've tried October before and liked it except for the soapiness, give this incarnation a chance, it's probably exactly what you hoped it would be.

[SassyInkPen]

Interestingly, as opposed to the review above, I find mine to be VERY cologne heavy, and honestly not a whole lot else. I've never smelled any other October versions, so I have nothing to compare it to.

 

Sadly, this was NOT the perfect smell of Autumn I was really hoping for - I don't get any of those notes of leaves or crisp fall air, or anything like that. I'm hoping that perhaps aging it might bring out some of those things.

[coldandsleepy]

2011: In the imp, this smelled really herbal and green to me. For about five minutes after it hits my skin, it's RED PEPPERS AHOY! Which is not bad, and does evoke something of fall for me. Then the peppers back down and I'm left with generic soapy man cologne with just the tiniest hint of pepper in the background. It's not awful, but it's not working on me.

[V294]

Leafy goodness just like the '10 version. Very good throw! I have last years decant still and there are others from this year I'm more likely to get bottles of, but this one is very spot on with the name. The embodiment of October to me!

[Incendiare]

Very dry crunchy leaves coupled with equally dry woods in the vial. Yet there is a fading greenness that reminds me of autumn, when you're walking along a grassy path in the cool autumn air. On me, it goes even drier, which is not a surprise. And drier, and drier. A sharpness from the cool air still remains, though. No smoke. This is pretty much what I expected it to be. Not really up my alley.

[Caper]

this is the 2010 version.

 

imp- at first it reminded me of a magazine perfume sample from the 90s. i have no idea what it was but it was definitely there. i didn't get any leaves or autumness at all. after about the tenth sniff i can get past the cologne smell and identify a bit of leaves.

 

wet- ugh! sharp cologne. one i don't like at all.

 

dry- same. i had such high hopes for this one that i tried it twice but i can't get past the sharp biting cologne association.

 

it seems well-loved so i'll have to swap it.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Mmmm…. Leaves. Lots and lots of freshly fallen leaves bruised underfoot. The hint of sap is an excellent complement to the dominent scent, and the understated atmospherics work. Wet: The leaves are still strongest, but the ozone and smoke ramp up a bit as it warms. It really does capture an October storm knocking leaves from the trees. I’ve been disappointed by a lot of Autumnals, but not this one. Dry: Alas, the bright beauty of the leaves goes flat and breaks down the way many leaf notes do, leaving the pieces to mingle with ozone tailings. I have still not found the perfect October scent to my great sorrow.

[angelmecha]

In Imp: Now THIS is Autumn. Cold, dry leaves, a hint of smoke. Truly authentic of hiking in the chill of fall. Mmmm. There was a similar "cold" in Hessian of the Hollow, but I like the leaves and other notes in this one better.

Wet: At first I do get a chilly, cologne-y smell. It actually amps some kind of skin musk on me while it's wet. o_O After a couple minutes of "calm down" time the dead leaves come back out with more vengeance.

Drydown: Mmm. It morphs back into it's In the Imp self, but the coldness has been cut about in half. It's still quite nice, smoky and leafy with a hint of sweetness. Again, if you can envision going on a hike in some foothill forests with a neighborhood not too far away where they're maybe buring some leaves in the backyard on a cold day... that's this perfume.

Verdict: I like it. I'm not sure if it's bottle worthy, as I'm not sure how often I'd reach for it outside of this time of year (plus I tend more towards warmer scents this time of year, anyway...) Hmmm. I'll call it 3/5, and contemplate on if I need more...