MULTIPLE CANDLE SPOTLIGHT : Italian Piazza Collection

I heard about the Italian themed collection (replacing the French themed collection of the past) months before it was released. After so many repackages and redistributions, I was very excited for a line of relatively brand new scents. So with bated breath, I waited patiently for the nationwide release which was to be sometime in April. However, right before Easter, I happened to be in the store and lo and behold, there were the Italian Piazza candles!


Candle/bulb-wise, the line consists of.... Pizzeria (a test scent; pizza dough and sauce), Limoncello (sugary lemon; possible repackage of "Lemon Gelato"), Sicilian Orange (orange scented crayons), Gelato (raspberry jam; possible repackage of "Sweet Macaron"), latecomer Dolce (test scent; repackage of "Vanilla Bean Noel") as well as the following gems....

Espresso Bar

Product: candle only
Area used in: living room

Time Period: April -

Description: In Italy, you never take your coffee “to go” – instead to stop and savor the aromas of roasted espresso beans and sweet vanilla froth that inspired this fragrance

I had my doubts about this at first/ EB got soooo many good reviews but for some reason, I just wasn't sold. I figured it would be an uber sweet coffee-like scent so I wasn't interested.  BBW has done two coffee-esque scents before ("Pumpkin Caramel Latte" and "Café au Lait"), neither of which smelled like coffee. Anyway, I got a chance to smell it in the store. O..M..G..It does smell really really good! My bf LOVES it! This is the first candle since our beloved Black Pepper Bergamot that we've made it a point to stock up as much we could.

Now this doesn't smell like straight up espresso coffee in a mug but rather more like fresh espresso beans being grounded in a coffee shop. Think of the same heavy coffee aroma you get from Starbucks or PJs. However this scent is a bit more enticing; you really do get the feeling of being served fresh espresso that was grounded before your eyes in an coffee shop in Italy.
  
The espresso note is pretty dominant; it's astringent but is sweetened by the faint vanilla froth note. Now there’s a unlisted chocolate note to that comes outta nowhere and it's kinda overwhelming. To me, EB smells like chocolate covered espresso beans. 


So far, we've gotten 5 EBs; two we have already burned, one we're burning now, and two to burn later. The first two burned perfectly from top to bottom. The one we"re burning now...well, it's kinda funky. The wicks are stubbing out and drowning; I had to do the old cotton ball trick. Also with this third one, the chocolate note isn't as strong as the first two.  BBW candles are always such a gamble.

Normally the bf and I like to burn candles during the evening. We burned our first EB at night...we didn't like it. This is definitely a morning/early afternoon scen. Now we only burn it on the weekend in the morning when we having breakfast or brunch.

Tuscan Herbs

Product: candle only
Area used in: living room
Time Period: April -

Description: Aromatic herbs from the sundrenched soil of Tuscany inspired this fragrance that blends fresh basil, parsley and garden greens

I was REALLY unsure about this one; I just didn’t know if I would like a candle that smells like basil. And for the most part, most BBW fanatics were equally as unsure. Reviews were mixed; some thought it smelled clean and herbal fresh while some say it smelled like hot pesto sauce. Well, I made it a point to smell it when I was in the store and I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised; I wound up really liking it!

I'm in the faction of BBW enthusiasts who think that it smells herbal fresh; it really does smell like fresh basil in a garden! I have sweet Genovese basil growing in my herb garden…and this candle smells just like it! Parsley..ehhh, a lil bit. Greens...maybe?  Honestly, it’s all about the basil. With that said, I don't burn this all the time cuz I don't want my apartment to smell like basil all the time. But once in awhile, I'll burn it, just to mix things up a bit. I like to burn it when I'm eating Italian food. My TH burned like a dream...at first. It got to mid-range and it started tunneling like crazy; I even had to do the cotton ball trick. I haven't finished burning this one and I have another to go; I hop I don't have this same problem with second. Anyway, just for the uniqueness of the smell, this is definitely worth a try! 

Villa Bergamot

Product: candle & wallflower
Area used in: bedroom

Time Period: April - July

Description: Aromatic bergamot grown in the warm and sunny Calabria region of Italy provided the inspiration for this elegant citrus blend that also includes lavender and geranium

VB was kinda the dark horse in this line  It kinda just showed up outta nowhere; it :started popping up in test stores and no one knew if it would go nationwide. Sure enough, unannounced, it appeared in certain stores. I heard about it on Youtube and I was very intrigued. Since Black Pepper Bergamot is MIA, I wanted a replacement for it to use in the bedroom. The bf and I went to BBW not expecting to see this or any of the Italian Piazza candles for the matter (this was the end of March before the "grand release" in April) Lo and behold, there they all were including VB. We took one sniff and we were in love!

This is kinduva spring/summer version of Black Pepper Bergamot or as I like to call it, Black Pepper Bergamot's little brother. Like BBP, it's a rich, sophisticated, sensual high end blend. I can definitely smell the bergamot note. And there's a faint citrusy almost lemon-like note that adds a nice zestiness . I'm really hard-pressed to pick out the lavender and geranium notes; these are the same notes that are in Mahogany Teakwood and my theory is that they simply added that attract lady shoppers. I mean, I guess I kinda smell lavender; there is an astringency but that could very well just be from the bergamot.

With a heavy sigh and eyeroll, I will say this smells like a cologne. I hate when people use the word "cologney" to describe notes that they can't pick out or understand..but that's a rant for another day. Anyway, someone posted a comment a Youtube review of the candle saying that it smelt like Tommy Hilfiger's Tommy cologne from the 90's, which is interesting since Tommy's notes include bergamot, lavender and citrus. I digress. I will just say that this is definitely a masculine scent and leave it at that. The candle burns perfectly and the throw is medium strong. The bulbs is not so strong but I love the wrought iron design mimicking the picture of the wrought iron gate on the candle (design-wise, I really like all of the pictures used on the candle labels in this line.)  

If you like the more high end, sensual and masculine type scents, you should definitely check this one out!



Bellini Café
Product: wallflowers only
Area used in: living room
Time Period - June

Description: A bellissimo blend of sparkling berries, juicy apples and sugared grape notes

I could not stand the smell of the candle. Many have said that it smells like beer...I kinda have to agree. It smells like seasonal fruity beer. Anyhoo, I decided to buy the bulbs; I heard that they smell like Pink Sangria which doesn't have matching bulbs. I haven't used the BC bulbs yet so we shall see.....