Real Talk About Bath and Body Works Candles

I'm sure everyone has gotten emails about it, seen posts or pics on Facebook...but in case you haven't heard...BBW is practically giving French Lavender 3wicks away! GO OUT AND GET YOUR FRENCH LAVENDER ON!!!

Just when you thought you could finally catch your breath from all of the many lines of candle BBW has been throwing at us, there's a yet another line of candles currently in test mode - Summer Sips! Just from looking at pictures and reading the notes, these seem like a hybrid of a summery Fresh Picked and summer drink lines from 2011-2012..by that I mean they're all fruity summer drink inspired scents. Now whether or not these are all new or repackaged remains to be seen. Pomegranate Spritzer -   A fun and fizzy blend of lush pomegranate and juicy guava that adds sparkle ot any and every event (Pomegranate Lemonade?) Peach Cilantro Twist - capture all the fun of a backyard bash with this fresh and fruity blend of early summer peach, fresh garden cilantro and a hint of juicy mango. (Mango Cilantro?) Nectarine Green Tea - Now and Zen- Take a break with this soothing blend of Japanese green tea and ripe juicy nectarines. (...I got nuthin', though I'm quite...

So ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make...I, Bronzeblogger, am a lush! I love goin out and having cocktails or stayin at home and makin cocktails at home. My bf and I have a fully stocked bar so I get to dabble in mixology and experiment with various alcohols, liqueurs, fruits and herbs. So with that said, recently on a whim I started thinking of cocktails inspired some of my fav candles from all of the various fragrance lines this spring Spring (martini) Sour Apple Pucker St Germain Liqueur Absolut Pear Vodka Lemon pour some Absolut Pear Vodka over ice in a cocktail shaker, then just a splash of Sour Apple Pucker and an even smaller splash of St Germaine . Then squeeze one wedge of lemon into it. Then shake. Pour into martini glass. Finally as garnish, you can place a slice of green apple on the rim, or drop a small of pear (or green apple or a maraschino cherry) into the glass. Lilac Blossom Violet Syrup Crème de Violette Gin Lem...

Product: candle Area used in:  living room Time Period: March - Description: The ultimate citrus lovers' delight - a blend of tart grapefruit, sweet pomelo and juicy orange This was really the only scent in the Fresh Picked line that I was even remotely intrigued by(BBW hasn't done a grapefruit scented candle since Blackberry Grapefruit back in spring 2012) although with that said I hadn't really thought about buying it..that is until I went to the store and smelled it in person. After a good sniff, I thought what the heck, just get it! I've only burned through half of it at this point but so far the burn is aiight. The wicks look kinda wimpy but they seem to be getting the job done. The flames were high-ish and the wax pool..well, it wavered between being deep and even to sometimes canyoning and took quite while to melt out. Now let's rap a taste about the scent. If you're expectin a super sour tart mouth puckerin grapefruit scent, you're gonna be...

Product: candle and bulbs Area used in:  bedroom but switched to living room Time Period: March - Mid April Description: Delightful lily of the valley blossoms and violets surround lush lilac in this springtime fragrance So my bf and I got LB last year as we both loved the scent and it was a hot mess! It tunneled thro like crazy and it was practically unscented. Needless to say I didn't have high hopes for it when it appeared this year. I decided to go ahead and buy one as my bf really liked the smell of it. We had it burning in the bedroom while we had Spring in the living room. After took Spring back to the store for an exchange, I brought LB into the living room and bought more wf bulbs. We were both happy with it until recently when it decided to become a dud! It was a DID - dud in disguise! So in the very beginning it burned like a champ. Thick mushroom tops, tall dancing flames, deep even wax pool - the works! The wax did get a little cruddy as does most white...

Well today is the vernal equinox - in other words the first day of spring! Spring is definitely in the air! It's getting warmer, we're seein a bit more green, birds are chirpin, people are sneezin.. I for have never been more happier for winter to be over. It was particularly brutal this year, even here in the south. I couldn't wait for this day to arrive! So as is my blog tradition, on the first day of the season I like to briefly discuss my favorite seasonal  scents. Now truth be told, I tend not to buy or burn many candles in the spring; in springtime BBW tends to release either very floral scents (which as you know I'm not a big fan of) and tropical scents (which I don't tend to want to burn until summertime). However I do have some favs that for me evoke everything about spring and I have to have every year.  So my two all time favorite spring scents are..  For me Spring is the epitome of..well..spring! It has everything; da...

Product: candle Area used in:  living room Time Period: mid March - Description: Bright green snap peas with the perfect amount of snap are the centerpieces of this fresh green blend So I bought this bad boy out of pure curiousity the weekend of the first 2for22. Sooooo many people were putting SP down... "Why would I want a candle that smells like snap peas?" "Snap peas belong in a salad not a plate!" "Peas are gross, this candle's gonna be gross!" And so on and so forth. Because I'm a sucker for the underdog, I defended SP vehemently. I told people to be open-minded...that fresh snap peas actually smell nice as opposed to peas in a can..that folks should make judgement after they've actually gone to the store and smelled it in person..etc etc. So I'm at the store and there's SP right in the front staring me down. So I sniff it....and start gagging - I hated it! Yet I couldn't let it go, I was still intrigued. In between ...

So yesterday I went to BBW to return/exchange my Spring candles/wf bulbs . Also I wanted to get my sniff on and see what the big deal was about these Aloha Hawaii candles. Lanikai Coconut I did not like this one at all! Honestly I'm not a big fan of coconut scents but if it's blended right with other notes, I could dig it i.e. Tiki Beach. But this one just smelled strange. It think it's the "seawater" note; it made what's an otherwise creamy really salty. HATED IT! Pineapple Palm Grass This truly smells like legit pineapple! And not your Dole's canned pineapple slices in syrup  but a fresh pineapple from the market that's just been sliced and is dripping in its own fresh juices. This one is definitely one of the winners in this line! Black Sands This is definitely a "mandle"! I won't go so far as to say that it's "cologne-y" but there's a definitely a masculine vibe to it. Now as I was smelling this in the store...

Product: candle and bulbs Area used in:  living Time Period: March - Description: A delicate blend of light rain, yellow daisy, daffodil and sycamore woods that contains the freshness of the season Missing notes: apple blossoms Spring was for a time one of my all time favorite scents as well as my go to scent for springtime. In fact, When I first started this blog, Spring was one of the first candles that I reviewed and I gave it the "THIS IS THE BOMB.COM" stamp of approval. I would fervently defend Spring as got and continues to get a lot of hate from the BBW community. And as a person who is not a big fan of floral scents, all of this speaks volume. So you're probably wonderin why if I loooooove Spring so much did I give this scent the HOT MESS AWARD? What changed from last year to this year? Spring was literally making my bf and I sick! I was super excited when my Cranberry Pear Bellini  wf bulbs ran out so that I could replace them with the Spr...

One of the main reasons I've become so obsessed witb BBW candles is because I'm utterly fascinated with fragrance blends. Like a cologne or perfume, BBW uses top, middle and bottom notes to create a blend for their candles. It's truly a science and an art to mixing notes thus creating a blend that truly smells like a certain object or evokes a mood or setting. I know I know...this is nerdy and boring ish... let's get to the point... There was a time back in the glorious Slatkin days, candles had for the most part a good portion of the notes listed - they kept it real about what everyone was actually smelling. Since he left, things changed. Nowadays, we get 3 notes total. The description is not so much to inform but rather to entice. The description writers pick the three notes out of the blend that's guaranteed to draw in potential buyers. For example, take one of my all time favorite scents "Tis the Season". The notes usually listed are red apples, ...

Product: candle Area used in:  living room Time Period: mid February - Description: Offer your guests a special treat - a sugarberry spritzer. This springy, effervescent blend captures the fun and festivity of a garden party in sparkling water, sugarberries and elderflowers So out of all of the Garden Party candles that were testing, I was the most intrigued with this one. First of all, I dunno about y'all but I get super excited when BBW releases something that isn't a repackage. Moreover I get even more excited when a scent has notes that have never been used before. Now with that said, the note that really jumped out at me was elderflower , which as far as I know BBW has never used that in a scent before. I LOVE elderflower, particularly elderflower liqueur..especially St. Germain  - sooooo good in cocktails, champagne, white wine and..well, spritzers. So intrigued was I with SBS that I broke my rule about not buying candles without a preliminary first sniff. I attempt...

Products: candles and bulbs Area used in:  bedroom Time Period: mid February - Description: Intricate layers of black pepper combine with uplifting bergamot and lavender in a fragrance inspired by fall's changeable days Ok so E'RYBODY knows how much I looooooooooove Black Pepper Bergamot! It's my all time favorite, my number one, yada yada! Throughout fall, I stocked up on good ol BPB but I never burned them cuz I had more fall appropriate candles to burn. In fact I just recently started burning my first BPB candle a few weeks ago and it just magically transported back in time when my bf and I burned BPB for the very first time. OR-FRIGGIN-GASMIC! Love at first sniff! I've already written a review about good ol BPB on here; in fact it was one of the candles that I talked about when I first created this blog. With that said, I won't go into much depth about it. In fact, the only reason I'm writing this is to address an issue - the throw. For some reason,...

Products: candle Area used in:  living room and bedroom Time Period: mid January - Description: A fragrance featuring merry and bright peppermint with touches of vanilla and sugary musk is the perfect companion for a very snowy day  I have ignored this candle for the longest; despite all of the good reviews TP gets, I just never had any interest any it at all...that is until very recently. Several people on Facebook recommend burning this particular blue TP to help with headaches/migraines as well as congestion from colds. As I do get the occasional sinus headache as well as rare case of the sniffles in winter, I thought I might test its so called healing properties. And as it should happen, there were blue TPs still on the website at the time and it was during SAS so it was half off. I couldn't pass it up so I went ahead and bought one. Let me tell y'all, this candles lives up to the hype! Whenever I have a sinus headache, I would burn it next to my bed and...

So as y'all already know, I live in New Orleans. Well yesterday was our most well known celebration, Mardi Gras...which this year it was a hot mess or rather a cold mess as it was freezing and rained the entire day! Anyway recently I was musing to myself that it would cool if there were New Orleans/Mardi Gras themed candles to burn during Carnival time, like the Chicago and Florida Destination candles. So for shits and giggles, I thought of past scents that could be repackaged... Riverwalk - As relaxing as a stroll alongside the Mississippi River, this is an enchanting blend of lush verbena, zesty citrus and a hint of musk (Lakeside/Verbena Waters) My New Orleans - Capture the excitement and mystery of this Southern city with the enchanting fragrance of wild magnolia, honeysuckle and juicy peach (Southern Magnolia) Creole Beignets - A combination of fresh dough, creamy butter and rich sugary vanilla powder conjures the memory of biting into this uniquely Creole conf...