RANKED: 12 pumpkin mashup candles from Bath & Body Works

This year, seasonal scents store Bath & Body Works went ham on pumpkin, with an impressive (and unnecessary, IMO) 120+ different pumpkin-related products in 20 different pumpkin-centric scents.

And we decided to smell them all.

…Well, as many as we could, anyway; we wanted to go with all the same type of product (we went with candles in this case) for consistency, and could only get 12 out of the 20.

But guess what? We smelled 'em and ranked 'em anyway.

We assessed each scent in four metrics: how accurate the scent was in relation to its name; how strong/overwhelming each scent was; how pumpkin-y, if you will, each was; and how balanced each was. Each metric was scored out of five, for a highest possible score of 20.

Here's how they stacked up:

12. Berry Pumpkin Strudel

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 7

Pumpkin and berries together? In a strudel? I was skeptical going in and, as I put my discerning nose to the test, I was right to be — the candle smelled overwhelmingly of fruit, but not really berries in particular… and there was no hint of pumpkin at all. 10/10 would not smell again.

9 (TIE). Pumpkin Apple

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 8

This candle scored high in scent strength, but very low everywhere else. It smelled tart like an apple, but lacked an apple's trademark earthiness. And where was the pumpkin? Nowhere, that's where.

9 (TIE). Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 8

The Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte scent was overwhelmingly sweet, like melted butter and sugar, but I didn't really smell any marshmallow specifically. Or pumpkin. Or latte. It was kind of a disaster, really.

9 (TIE). Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 8

Wait — Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte and Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow!? "What's the difference?" you're probably wondering. Well, I'm here to tell you… that there isn't one. I couldn't pick these out in a lineup. Moving on.

7 (TIE). Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 10

If you like the smell of cinnamon, then this is definitely the pumpkin candle for you, as it's the first thing that hits your nose as soon as you take the lid off. Still, I was disappointed by the lack of pumpkin on this one as well.

7 (TIE). Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 10

This candle hit the nail on the head as far as the cheesecake part goes! It had that same kind of cheesecake tanginess we all love. But the pumpkin part? Very little. I'd still burn the shit out of this guy, though.

5 (TIE). Pumpkin French Toast

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 11

The best thing about french toast is its signature brown-sugar-and-maple-syrup aroma, and that's 100% what you'll find here. It's a strong-scented candle. You can smell a bit of maltiness the way you might find in pumpkin, but if the label didn't say pumpkin on it, I never would have known.

5 (TIE). Pumpkin Cupcake

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 11

GODDAMN this is an overwhelmingly strong candle. Like, Febreeze-level strong. This shit will mask any and all other scents you've got going on within a 50-foot radius, at least (and if that's what you're looking for in a candle, then look no further). It's got a really sugary smell, and some pumpkin-esque spice.

4. Pumpkin Woods

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 12

What a pleasant little candle! If blindfolded, I'd probably guess that this was… pine-and-spice scented, so it's sort of accurate there. It's still lower on the pumpkin than I would've liked, but it's well-balanced, unlike its cousin Berry Pumpkin Strudel (that *bitch*).

2 (TIE). Caramel Pumpkin Swirl

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 15

As the kids would say, "accurate AF." This powerful candle was very, very caramelly, but the pumpkin was definitely present, and it balanced out the caramel really well. Now we're getting somewhere!

2 (TIE). Pumpkin Pie

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 15

The Pumpkin Pie scent was very pumpkin-y (perhaps a little too pumpkin-y?) and pretty strong. Basically, it delivers. And who doesn't want a pumpkin-pie candle that delivers pumpkin-pie scent? Show me that person, and I'll show you a liar.

1. Pumpkin Spice

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Revelist/Melissa Stanger

Score: 17

Finally, it's the pumpkin candle we've all been waiting for — and who knew that it would come in the form of Bath & Body Works' year-round Pumpkin Spice scent? It's accurate to its description, it's quite pumpkin-y, but it doesn't overwhelm in strength, pumpkin, or spice. Now excuse me while I get down on one knee and propose to this candle.