CANDLE SPOTLIGHT: Snow Day

Products: candle and bulbs
Area used in:  living room
Time Period: Christmas - Mid January

Description: A bright and joyful blend of spruce branches, peppermint and sweet vanilla that captures the fun adventures of a snow-filled day


Ahh Snow Day...one of the few new scents this winter that didn't suck and smell like ass!

When I first heard about SD, I honestly didn't think much of it. Something about the combo of vanilla and peppermint mixed with a piney note kinda turned me off.  Moreover, reviews for this scent were mixed; some said it smelled cool and sweet and fresh, others said that it smelled like Vaporub while most said it smelled too much like Twisted Peppermint (which until quite recently I was not a fan of...but that's a story for another day). Anyhoo, awhile back I smelled the candle in the store and I found myself really liking it...but not enough to buy it. However some time later, I did buy some wf bulbs...and I fell in love with the scent. Then finally I bought the candle on Black Friday and I'm very glad that I did!

What I love about SD is that it's such a simple scent yet the blend conveys a grand image - being out and about on a snowy day watching snowflakes fall with Jack Frost nipping at your nose. For me, SD reminds me of a Christmas tree covered with sweet fragrant candy canes....which brings me to my next point. Another thing that I like about SD is that it's one of the few winter scents that's perfect for the holidays yet you can still enjoy them after and throughout the winter season.

I'll stop gushing now...

Anyhoo, performance-wise, Snow Day was pretty fabulous. It had a big thick mushroom tops and very high dancing flames from top to bottom (I am almost done with it btw). And the wax pool was always deep and even. It still had the problem that all white colored candles share - the wax did get a little cruddy from the soot off the wicks but very slightly. Most of the time I had it in one of the silver handle holders so I barely noticed the wax. My only complaint was that the throw wasn't nearly as strong as I would've liked it to be; it was medium, sometimes less than that. If the throw was a bit stronger, I would've given this my patented THIS IS THE BOMB.COM award.

Now onto the scent... *sigh

Let's not beat around the bush. EVERYONE says SD smells like Twisted Peppermint and Fresh Balsam...and I definitely have to agree. I recently bought and burned a 2012 Twisted Peppermint (blue with snowman label) from online..and they smell almost exactly alike. It's like BBW took the vanilla sweetened peppermint note and watered it down a few notches and then mixed with FB. The "Twisted Peppermint" note in SD isn't nearly as potent as..well..Twisted Peppermint. If it was, it would probably totally overpower the spruce note. And spruce adds a sweetness that blends nicely with the more crisp and astringent balsam.

SD reminds me a lot of Tis the Season as they are two very cozy holiday-ish scents. Moreover both scents have a pine note blended with either herb or spice that conveys an image about the holidays. While Tis the Season is more warm and makes you think of decorating the tree with the fireplace roaring, Snow Day makes you think of being outside on a snowy day and building a snowman. When you sniff SD, you get this cooling Peppermint Patty-like whoosh, like you just opened the window and let in a chilly winter breeze. I like to think of Tis the Season as the Heat Miser and SD as the Snow Miser.

 I digress..

The wf bulbs are amazing on first sniff but then once they're plugging, they kinda lost their umph. Like the candle, the bulbs aren't nearly as strong as they should be.

In conclusion, SD is a cute scent and I applaud BBW for coming up with a relatively new scent this winter that, I reiterate, don't suck. If the scent throw was stronger, this candle would be practically perfect in every way. That said, I do hope that SD sticks around in the following years as a winter staple and if so, the throw will be better. If not, stick to Twisted Peppermint.