Gingerbread Witch

[Belladonnastrap]

Gingerbread, pumpkin pulp, Arkansas black apple pulp, rosemary, and lemon peel.

[Casablanca]

Gingerbread Witch is interesting. At first, I was a reluctant "no" on it: Despite the listed notes all looking lovely to me, something in this is unpleasantly funky on my skin at first. I don't smell this funk on the wand, so it might be my chemistry. It seems to arise from whatever is blackening the apple. The closest real comparison I can make is burnt tires.

 

Once the blend dries, though, I'm taken with it. It reminds me of the Shadowed Veil (black pumpkin, leather, pomegranate incense, agarwood, and bourbon patchouli), which to me is the perfect witchy blend. I tore through most of my bottle of that this fall, and was sorry it didn't make a return in the Weenies so I could get a backup. When Gingerbread Witch dries, it puts me in a close mood to what Shadowed Veil brings, so it might work for a backup of sorts.

 

I get a big smear of blackened apple-pumpkin primarily, with plenty of gingerbread backing it up. Traces of lemon and rosemary keep it interesting. The touch of an herb is good in so many blends, and it helps evoke "witch" here.

[doomsday_disco]

Gingerbread Witch is my unexpected favorite of the four gingerbread monsters I tried (mummy, witch, wolfman, and zombie). It actually kind of makes me think of an apple cereal (like if there were a fancier version of Apple Jacks), but with a little more spice. Something in this is combining (maybe the apple, lemon, and bready part of the gingerbread) to make me think of cereal whenever I sniff this, and I am here for it. Maybe the pumpkin is contributing to that, too, because there's something akin to the pumpkin waffles in Waiting 2020 going on here, but with more apple than pumpkin. The apple remains the star of the show on me throughout wear. There's a bit of lemon lifting the scent, and just a hint of rosemary along with it. You'd think the combo of the gingerbread and pumpkin would make this super spicy, but this isn't heavily spiced, and the apple pulp and lemon keep those notes in check.

 

I tried layering a drop of this with a drop of Ghost Milk on another part of my arm, and the result was mostly just the Gingerbread Witch, although the goat's milk and white chocolate of the Ghost Milk do show up by the end of the day. So this one might need more parts milk than witch in a future layering experiment.

 

I like smelling like cereal, so I think I'm going to need a bottle of this.  

[a_bear]

Gingerbread Witch starts off predominately apple and a pumpkin note that reminds me of the pumpkin in Pumpkin Pie Musk, but instead of musk and pie crust, it's accompanied by a witchy combination of rosemary and lemon. If it wasn't called Gingerbread Witch, I'm not sure I would pick it out as a gingerbread scent. Once it's dry I also get the apple cereal vibe. The pumpkin and rosemary recede, but a lightly spicy breadiness comes out to accompany the apple. I prefer the slightly funky way it starts, but overall it's enjoyable. I keep forgetting that it's a Winter/Yule scent rather than a Halloween scent.

 

Update however many months later.... Not sure if it's difference in skin chem/weather/aging or some combination thereof, but Gingerbread Witch smells less like cereal now. I still get cereal if I really stick my nose in it, but the waft is mostly spiced apple.

Edited September 16, 2021 by a_bear

[fairybites]

Pumpkin and apple spice with sweet gingerbread and rosemary. The gingerbread note is heavy on the spice, but isn't as strong as it was in Gingerbread Mummy. Lemon was present when it was drying, but it faded pretty quickly. The mix of all these spices reminds me of potpourri. If you're not a fan of scents like that, this may not be the oil for you. 

 

Will be upgrading! I do wish the gingerbread note was stronger, but regardless I'm really enjoying it. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm really curious how well this will layer with Ghost Milk!

[bambi]

In the decant: "well, that sure is gingerbread."

On my skin, oh yum chemicals. Cinnamon always goes chemically on me, so I let this one sit for a while to see if the spices would tone down just a bit. As the spices calm down, I get a hint of sharp lemon, which also fades after a bit. The apple and pumpkin soften this up a bit, and keep it from going all holiday-craft-store on me, and the rosemary gives it a tiny hint of something special. Overall, I wish that the other aspects had had more time to shine, as this dried down into a fairly generic gingerbread, but in the drying stage, it was really fun to have something slightly different.

[zankoku_zen]

Pumpkin, spices, and apples. Medium throw and wear length.

[splendidissima]

Oh, this is fun! Apples, ginger, pumpkin, and brightness from the lemon! I love pumpkin and apple scents, and I knew I wanted this, and it's just lovely. It doesn't seem to change much from wet to dry, though it became a very close-to-the-skin scent after a few minutes.

[Lucchesa]

Gingerbread Witch could easily be a Weenie.  Pumpkin and apple and mulling/gingerbread spices.  I didn't get any rosemary, which bummed me out.  Nice, but not remarkable on me.  

[skyturtles]

I have a decant and I LOVE it! It's the Nightmare Before Christmas - part weenie; part winter holidays.

Wet on my skin I immediately get the gingerbread, but the spices aren't overpowering due to a slight earthiness that I'm guessing is the bread meeting the herbiness of the rosemary. The apple pulp gives me the perfect amount of sweetness to maybe make a cookie out of it, and the citrus is only slightly there, enough to lift it a bit. It's great.

It dries nicely, letting the bread and pulp take over mostly.

I'd not say no to a bottle, just sayin'.