CANDLE SPOTLIGHT: Cranberry Pear Bellini (LAST CANDLE FOR WINTER)
Products: candles and bulb
Area used in: living room
Time Period: mid February - mid March
Description: Bubbly and delicious - a bright blend of sparkling cranberry, sweet pear nectar and luscious blackcurrant - Cheers!
Missing note: nectarines
This scent has been a post - winter holidays staple as well as a fan favorite for years and yet, I've never really given it much attention....that is at least until this year. First of all, I wanted something different; something that wasn't too wintery yet not quite spring-y. Moreover I wanted a fun and vibrant scent that I could use thru Carnival season til Mardi Gras. So I thought I'd give this bad boy a try.
So the performance...it was kinduva a mixed blessing. The flames started off nice and high but, like a drunk tourist on Bourbon Street, they went down! The wicks/flames remained stubby to the very end. However, it never tunneled/canyoned and there was always a deep and even wax pool. And the throw is super strong (for both the candles and bulbs) - it would knock me out as soon as I walked into in the living room. Thank goodness I enjoy the scent!
I can see why people totally go nuts for CPB. It's such a perfect transitional scent from winter to spring; a nice departure from the minty, pine tree-ish winter scents and not a floral or tropical fruit scent that we see in spring. There are sooo many words you can use to describe CPB - fresh, fruity, juicy, tart, crisp, vibrant, zesty, effervescent, bubbly, etc. It's like a winter time version of Pink Sangria. I love the fizzy nose-tingliness in the blend, not as intense as Summertime Soda but still really nice. You get a nice crisp and tart cranberry note, though not as intense as Cranberry Woods or Cranberry Harvest (which I think I would've liked); the other notes kind of calm it down a bit. Then there's sweet and succulent pear note, definitely more of a pear syrup or liquor than an actual fruit. At finally, there's that blackcurrant note...
Let me rant for a second.
BBW tends to use black currant a lot in their "alcohol-ey" scents - this one, Champagne Toast, Peach Bellini, Bellini Café and I think maybe Pink Sangria too. For reason, to me the blackcurrant note that BBW uses always reminds me of cough syrup or Luden's Cough Drops and it turns me off a bit. and I smell it more in the wallflowers bulbs. When I sniffed the CBP bulbs before plugging them in, they immediately made me think of cough syrup.
*sigh I like CPB but I'm not in love with it
a) I can't get past the blackcurrant/cough syrup note
b) the wicks and flames were too stubby
c) when the candle gets near the bottom, the scent gets more and more sooty and burnt smelling..which I've noticed that that is a shared issue I've had with other "alcohol-ey" candles. Dunno why though.
I have one more candle left and I'll be burning that with reckless abandon throughout Carnival so that I can be rid of it and be able to move on to something else. It is not a bad scent by any means and like I said before, I can see why soooo many people love it. I'm not 100% sold on it; for me it's not buy-in-bulk worthy nor is it can I can see myself getting again. However for the moment I'm content with it. Don't let what I say deter you; if you're interested, try it!
I dont have this candle, but I purchased the wallflowers and I am not impressed at all. I can barely smell it. Also, I have only had it plugged in 2 days and the oil is 1/4 of the way down!
ReplyDeleteI will probably purchase this candle when it comes back out again, but I am not getting the wallflowers again.
It seems like the wallflowers have become a waste of money in general. They are not as good as they were a few years ago.
Yeah, the wallflowers are always a gamble. And it also depends which wallflower plugin you're using.
ReplyDeleteThe candle is definitely worth a try!
I am using the original wallflower plugin, the ones that were out before all of the cutsey ones that they have now. The same ones that I have been using for years. I dont have a problem with them in general, but I just couldnt smell the CPB.
ReplyDeleteI plugged it in on Monday night before I went to bed and this morning the liquid is already down to the words "wallflower" on the bulb! It has only been 3 days! I think they must be old. That is part of the gamble when you get things at the SAS. You can never be too sure how old they are.