MULTIPLE CANDLE SPOTLIGHT: The Lakeside Summer Collection

Following the trail of the Fresh Picked and Italian Piazza line came this all new line. Taking a departure from the usual tropical, beach-y, and summer boardwalk themes in spring/summer lines of the past, this new line take a new approach - summer vacation at the lake. Its scents were to conjure family trips, camping in the woods, taking dips in the lake and festive picnics in nature. While the concept worked in theory, the actual scents themselves were less than stellar. Some of the scents didn't quite hit the mark and there were one too many repackages. Once again, BBW got people expecting too much but actually got less than expected.

Scents included Strawberry Picnic (Lil Debbie Strawberry Short Cakes), Watermelon Lemonade (watermelon Jolly Ranchers), Summertime S'mores (watered down Marshmallow Fireside) and the following three...


Lakeside
Product: candle
Area used in: living room
Time Period: end of June - August 

Description: Jump into an invigorating blend of fresh water, sheer musk and the perfect pop of citrus

As everyone knows, this is a repackage of Verbena Waters...a very very watered Verbena Waters. On the one hand, I was disappointed that this was a repackage but I was also kinda excited cuz I love Verbena Waters. I can kinda get what BBW was trying to portray with this scent - summer lake surrounded by lush greenery (of course everyone's argument against Lakeside was that it didn't smell like a lake...which is good cuz lakes STINK!!!)

My only complaint is about the throw...it's soooooo WEAK!!!! BBW watered down the hell outta VW! Everybody knows how friggin strong VW was back in the day; the sandalwood and musk notes would uppercut you as soon as you walked in the door. Lakeside...not so much. You would literally have to put your nose over the flames to smell anything! And the notes are super weak. The sandalwood and musk are both very subdued and you get a hint of lemon/lime/verbena zest. And maybe my nose is playin tricks on me but it smells a bit sweeter and "cologne-y than VW; I'll go so far as to say this kinda reminds of a unisex body spray (think Citron/White Citrus). It (and VW) smells to me like Palmolive soap...the newer Lime Basil soap to be exact.

I had leftover VW bulbs from last year that I used in tandem with this candle; the bulbs totally overpower the candle.....and that's pretty pitiful! It's really a shame cuz the performance is EXCELLENT! Even though the wicks are skinny and the mushroom tops aren't very big, the flames dance high, there's always an even wax pool and it looks very pretty at night. Too bad there's no effin smell!!! I won't be getting another one!!!



Boathouse Row
Product: candle & wallflower
Area used in: bedroom
Time Period: end of June - August 

Description: The fragrance of deep, blue water surrounded by notes of moss, sage and bay leaves captures the essence of a lakeside adventure 


OMG....I...FRIGGING...LOVE THIS!!!!! In my humble opinion, BR was the runaway hit of this line. I LOVE manly scents like this; for me, this is right up there with Black Pepper Bergamot.

It's strange... when I smell this, the scent conjures different images. On the hand, I totally get what BBW was trying to capture and portray - wooden cabin next to lake; I definitely get both wooden and watery notes.  On the other hand, because everyone describes this as *eyeroll "old man cologne" smelling, I envision a sexy older middle-aged silver fox (think Anderson Cooper or any other older actor with salt pepper hair). And there's something European about it...British to be exact. Littleballadeer said in her review  that it reminded her of an"English lad"...and I totally get it! Ok, I'll stop gushing now...

The candle is EXCELLENT!!!! The wicks are thick and the mushroom tops were HUGE which caused super high! Because of the dark color, you couldn't really see the wax pool from far away but up close you could see that the pool was both deep and even. And the throw...OMG..the throw is absolutely PERFECT!!! It fills the room nicely and envelops you like a blanket; it's strong without being headache/nausea inducing. The bulb is strong too and more cologne-ish than the candle.

I love BR sooo much that I'll probably get more; right now I have 1 more candle and bulb. This will also be getting a SPOTLIGHT/THIS IS THE BOMB.COM post of its own!



Mahogany Teakwood
Product: candle & wallflower
Area used in: bedroom
Time Period: August-October

Description: The luxurious scents of fine woods - mahogany, cedarwood and oak are enlightened by delicate lavender and geranium notes


UUUGGHHHH. Why BBW, why?! Why did you feel the need to release this in this line?! Once again it's a case of a)BBW being lazy and b)BBW trying to BS people. First MT was sold as a autumn inspired scent (fall evening in a library) and now it's a summer scent (being on the wooden deck of a boat)? Really?!

Anyway, my bf really likes MT; he actually bought the original core version but after reminding him how bad it performed, I persuaded him to exchange for this version cuz I heard that it burned better. And I'll admit, I like look of this version; the old one was BOOOOOOORIIIINNG!!! And my nose could be playin tricks on but based on the cold throw, this smells slightly more woody than the core version. However it still smells too much of Abercrombie & Fitch store for me to ever like it!


Because my bf and I are very much content with Boathouse Row for the moment and neither one of us thinks that it's a summer scent, this'll get burned at the beginning of fall... *in my sarcastic tight smile voice I can't wait....