JACK & THE DEVIL (General Catalog)

Not actually as much pumpkin-spice-candle as I expected, though those pie spices are in there, with the cinnamon especially standing out in the top notes. But there’s also something smoky with some aged furniture wood, sweetened with tobacco leaf. Brings to mind an autumn evening in a slightly eerie carnival atmosphere. Someone’s selling cinnamon-caramel apples in the vicinity. Or perhaps an elegant old mansion decorated for Halloween, with treats being cooked in the warm kitchen even while the rooms are darkened to show off the jack-o’-lanterns better. Okay, so the name and description are surely influencing me toward that interpretation, but it does work for me as I sniff it! And leaves me smelling as if I've just been baking something absolutely delectable.

I am so torn on this one. It is absolutely glorious, delicious, and evocative and one of the best scents I've ever tried for the few hours, but then the patchouli emerges with gusto on the long term dry down. I say long term because it was a few hours before it showed up so strong. I'm not a fan of patchouli, as it goes dank dirty hippie on my skin and I could still smell the patch the next morning (immediate scrub required). I keep trying scents with patch, hoping it will grow on me, but it never does unless it's very well hidden. But....if YOU like patchouli, this is a MUST TRY. It really is an incredible scent.

On me, this never settled, being a foody gourmand combined with green, loamy dirt notes and it was awful. On my sister, however, it is exactly the kind of barely-gourmand atmospheric that she loves, with the notes all blending into a autumn-night melange that truly evokes October. Over to my sister, then!