Review: Arcana - Pumpkins Crave Quietude
Perfume: Pumpkins Crave Quietude
Brand: Arcana Wildcraft
Format: Oil
Price: $26 for 5ml in an amber glass bottle.
Availability: Limited edition; as of 11/7/18, unavailable on the Arcana Wildcraft website, but Julia explained in a recent Facebook post that she planned on listing more very soon.
Description: (From the Arcana Wildcraft website)
Soft vanilla, white amber, white musk, Mysore sandalwood, sweet pumpkin, and a tiny pinch of white pepper.
Background:
Pumpkins Crave Quietude was actually my first-ever autumn perfume purchase, and only my second-ever purchase from Arcana. It was a blind-buy after purchasing Cascadian Mermaid on a whim on my birthday, which remains on my top 5 summer perfumes. I'll review that one someday!
PCQ is an interesting one. The name actually, ironically, speaks for itself: it's a very understated fragrance, which promises pumpkin and some abstract concept of "quietude," which we can only assume is the vanilla, amber, musk, and pepper. The pumpkin here really only serves to lift up the "quietude," so you could argue that this perfume should really be called "Quietude Craves Pumpkin," but that doesn't flow as nicely.
My theory is this: the "Quietude" in Pumpkins Crave Quietude is Haint. I believe those who have tried both would agree with me (though I would love to hear your opinion!), but I was lucky enough to try PCQ before getting my hands on Haint, and my first thought was how truly similar they were, which would explain the hype surrounding both.
This autumn has been a really exciting one for many Arcana fans, because Pumpkins Crave Quietude is easily a crowd-favorite, and it's been somewhat-reliably available all season, so far. That said, let's jump into the scent journey with this one.
Review:
In the bottle, all you can get from this is pure sandalwood and musk with a little kick behind it. There's not enough vanilla in a cold-smell of the bottle to mistake it for Haint, but it's definitely reminiscent of the classic. Speaking of cold, whereas Haint is a chilly vanilla, this perfume is its warmer cousin. I really credit the spice here, which you don't get as much until you apply it. Wet, it's more of the same, but the pumpkin spice shines through a bit better. It's a very clean sort of smell with an almost soapy quality, without outright smelling like a bar of Dove.
Dry, you really start to get some of the white pepper, which truly intermingles beautifully with the pumpkin spice. The slightly vanillic musk-and-sandalwood combo, however, is still the main star of this fragrance. I don't think a layman would pass you on the street and say, "Hey, you smell like pumpkin!" but probably would agree with you that whatever the fuck your wearing is definitely autumnal.
I wanted to berate this fragrance a little bit for promising a 'sweet pumpkin' but delivering only a little bit of pumpkin spice, but as it further dries, you can smell it quite clearly: a sweet, somewhat acidic pumpkin, overtaking the spice and mixing in with the vanilla. This leaves me with very little, if anything, to complain about with this scent, and I love complaining.
It is worth warning that I once read a short review from someone who complained that this fragrance smelled like pure soap to them. I can understand this in theory, but not in practice; I think this might come down to your past experiences with soap, which is to say there may be a soap out there that you have used in the past that is very similar to this scent. I have not, and don't get 'pure soap,' so I can't comment on this. If you're concerned about smelling soapy, you might consider picking up a decant of this from a friendly PCQ owner before you commit to the full size. Or, just commit to the full size and resell it if you don't like it. The best part about PCQ is just how easy it is to resell since there are so many rabid fans.
Throw: Medium-heavy. I've gotten comments on my perfume from people just a couple of feet away from me, but it doesn't seem to get noticed by people far outside my bubble.
Longevity: Strong for about 6 hours, and a skin scent for another 6. Bear in mind just how dry my skin is; this kind of throw and longevity is impressive on me.
Summary: Haint for people who want a warmer Haint. Sweet and vaguely spicy pumpkin act as the legs for the musk, vanilla, sandalwood, and pepper to stand on. Arguably soapy, but your mileage may vary.
Rating: 9/10, only docking a point because there is a clean quality to it that could be mistaken for soapiness, even if I personally don't detect 'soap' unless I squint.
Song: Sufjan Stevens, "Death With Dignity"
Brand: Arcana Wildcraft
Format: Oil
Price: $26 for 5ml in an amber glass bottle.
Availability: Limited edition; as of 11/7/18, unavailable on the Arcana Wildcraft website, but Julia explained in a recent Facebook post that she planned on listing more very soon.
Description: (From the Arcana Wildcraft website)
Soft vanilla, white amber, white musk, Mysore sandalwood, sweet pumpkin, and a tiny pinch of white pepper.
Background:
Pumpkins Crave Quietude was actually my first-ever autumn perfume purchase, and only my second-ever purchase from Arcana. It was a blind-buy after purchasing Cascadian Mermaid on a whim on my birthday, which remains on my top 5 summer perfumes. I'll review that one someday!
PCQ is an interesting one. The name actually, ironically, speaks for itself: it's a very understated fragrance, which promises pumpkin and some abstract concept of "quietude," which we can only assume is the vanilla, amber, musk, and pepper. The pumpkin here really only serves to lift up the "quietude," so you could argue that this perfume should really be called "Quietude Craves Pumpkin," but that doesn't flow as nicely.
My theory is this: the "Quietude" in Pumpkins Crave Quietude is Haint. I believe those who have tried both would agree with me (though I would love to hear your opinion!), but I was lucky enough to try PCQ before getting my hands on Haint, and my first thought was how truly similar they were, which would explain the hype surrounding both.
This autumn has been a really exciting one for many Arcana fans, because Pumpkins Crave Quietude is easily a crowd-favorite, and it's been somewhat-reliably available all season, so far. That said, let's jump into the scent journey with this one.
Review:
In the bottle, all you can get from this is pure sandalwood and musk with a little kick behind it. There's not enough vanilla in a cold-smell of the bottle to mistake it for Haint, but it's definitely reminiscent of the classic. Speaking of cold, whereas Haint is a chilly vanilla, this perfume is its warmer cousin. I really credit the spice here, which you don't get as much until you apply it. Wet, it's more of the same, but the pumpkin spice shines through a bit better. It's a very clean sort of smell with an almost soapy quality, without outright smelling like a bar of Dove.
Dry, you really start to get some of the white pepper, which truly intermingles beautifully with the pumpkin spice. The slightly vanillic musk-and-sandalwood combo, however, is still the main star of this fragrance. I don't think a layman would pass you on the street and say, "Hey, you smell like pumpkin!" but probably would agree with you that whatever the fuck your wearing is definitely autumnal.
I wanted to berate this fragrance a little bit for promising a 'sweet pumpkin' but delivering only a little bit of pumpkin spice, but as it further dries, you can smell it quite clearly: a sweet, somewhat acidic pumpkin, overtaking the spice and mixing in with the vanilla. This leaves me with very little, if anything, to complain about with this scent, and I love complaining.
It is worth warning that I once read a short review from someone who complained that this fragrance smelled like pure soap to them. I can understand this in theory, but not in practice; I think this might come down to your past experiences with soap, which is to say there may be a soap out there that you have used in the past that is very similar to this scent. I have not, and don't get 'pure soap,' so I can't comment on this. If you're concerned about smelling soapy, you might consider picking up a decant of this from a friendly PCQ owner before you commit to the full size. Or, just commit to the full size and resell it if you don't like it. The best part about PCQ is just how easy it is to resell since there are so many rabid fans.
Throw: Medium-heavy. I've gotten comments on my perfume from people just a couple of feet away from me, but it doesn't seem to get noticed by people far outside my bubble.
Longevity: Strong for about 6 hours, and a skin scent for another 6. Bear in mind just how dry my skin is; this kind of throw and longevity is impressive on me.
Summary: Haint for people who want a warmer Haint. Sweet and vaguely spicy pumpkin act as the legs for the musk, vanilla, sandalwood, and pepper to stand on. Arguably soapy, but your mileage may vary.
Rating: 9/10, only docking a point because there is a clean quality to it that could be mistaken for soapiness, even if I personally don't detect 'soap' unless I squint.
Song: Sufjan Stevens, "Death With Dignity"
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