Bath & Body Works: Salted Caramel Pumpkin

I know I have stated several times already that I adore the fall season. Candles, lotions, and hand soaps are no exception to this – I love fall-themed anything. When I heard about Salted Caramel Pumpkin coming out as a body care scent at Bath & Body Works this season, there was no question that I was going to purchase some for myself.

When I first sprayed the fine fragrance mist onto my skin, I immediately noticed that the scent is similar to Beach Nights: Summer Marshmallow, only with caramel in place of the marshmallow. I sprayed more and more, but I couldn’t detect all of the wonderful notes that were listed in its description, which include tangerine, apple, maple, pumpkin, buttercream, orchid, caramel, vanilla cake, pineapple creme brulee, sugared woods, fluffy musk. If I try hard, I can detect something like an apple or maple note, but for me, it is too faint to distinguish.

I cannot say that any one of those scent notes stands out to me except for vanilla cake and bit of caramel. I don’t pick up on any pumpkin, or anything distinctly “fall” in this fragrance. I have the same problem with Salted Caramel Pumpkin’s performance that I described with Beach Nights, which is that I can barely smell it after putting it on and I have to keep reapplying the spray and the body cream throughout the day. I have to work to smell both fragrances even just 30 minutes after application. Both Beach Nights and Salted Caramel Pumpkin are described as sweet and a bit salty, and there is some overlap in the scent notes, such as orchid, vanilla, woods, and musk. This is likely why they are so similar to me, but the weakness of both fragrances doesn’t help. The differences between each scent are harder to pick up on since they are both so weak and do not last.

This is not a bad scent, but for a fall release, I expected it to be stronger and more noticeable. Unlike how forgiving I was about Beach Nights, I am let down by the lack of strength and longevity, as well as scent originality, since this is a brand new fall release. I would even argue that Beach Nights is a little stronger, which to me, is backwards. The Salted Caramel Pumpkin scent description mentions all of these top, mid, and dry notes that make the scent sound very intriguing, and really all I am getting is a little bit of caramel/vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt. Luckily, I do like Beach Nights and always find uses for the weaker scents in my collection. I won’t be returning Salted Caramel Pumpkin, and I’m happy to have it on display since the packaging is lovely. I’m just disappointed that I didn’t get a heavier, unique autumn scent to fall in love with as I have in previous seasons.

I wouldn’t repurchase this. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean I wouldn’t recommend it. You probably don’t need to pick this up if you already own a Beach Nights set, as the fragrance and the performance is quite similar. If you are a fan of light, sweet sprays, and pretty, festive packaging, go ahead and grab Salted Caramel Pumpkin. What I would recommend is not to read too much into its scent description, because that’s where my expectations turned into disappointment.