MULTIPLE CANDLE SPOTLIGHTS: Rainforest Sugarcane, Island Waters, Black Sands

So I bought these candles back in February or March (I think March) and I just got around to burning them recently. You're probably wonderin why I started burnin them so late? Well at the time I just wasn't ready to start burnin what I consider very tropical summery scents; I was just getting over that whole polar vortex craziness and was ready for some spring action. Plus the move from Luziana to Joisee pushed me back a bit scent wise. Needless to say, I was long overdue to start burnin these candles.

So why these three? They're all the types of scents that I gravitate to - lush/green - Rainforest Sugarcane, fresh/watery - Island Waters, woodsy/manly - Black Sands. The other ones were just too fruity and sugary sweet for my taste. So let's get into the reviews shall we...

Rainforest Sugarcane
Product: candle
Area used in: living room
Time Period: June - July 

Description: Venture into Hawaii's rainforest with an intriguing mixture of fresh lime, raw sugarcane and rare vanilla orchid

Ever smelled a candle that you just wasn't sure about? You sniff it over and over yet can't come to a conclusion as to whether or not you like it? That's how I felt about this bad boy. Even now, I've almost burned it to bottom and I still don't know what I think of it. I don't hate it by any means but I'm certainly not head over heels in love with it. And the scent itself is very hard to describe. First of all it's very lush and green, as you would aspect from a scent that's supposed to be conjuring the image of rainforest. Yet it doesn't smell entirely outdoorsy. There's a sweetness to it that's almost borderline desserty, like a sweet drink or cocktail. The lime note isn't nearly as fresh and zesty as you would think; it's more of a muddled lime note, think mojito or caipirinha.  Then there's the "sugarcane" note..and I'm using quotation marks because sugarcane doesn't really have much of a smell. It smells like the natural amber colored sugar you find in coffeehouses, Sugar in the raw, again adding to the sweetened cocktail a la caipirinhna aspect of this scent. Then the vanilla orchid note gives the blend a sweet yet rich almost earthy scent. This is gonna sound strange, but RFSC kinda reminded of a test scent from last winter called Frosted Pine which was a sweet yet earthy dirty pine scent- this is like a tropical version of that. Anyhoo, like I said I just don't know what to think of this one. I don't regret buying but I won't miss when it's gone nor would I ever buy anything like this again.

As this didn't have matching wf bulbs, I bought Sparkling Mojito wf bulbs off Evilbay to go with it..which I finally just got in the mail; of course I got em once I'm almost done with the candle...grrrr!!!


Island Waters
Product: candle and wf bulbs
Area used in: main and guest bathrooms
Time Period: June - July 

Description: Dive into an invigorating mix of water notes, lush green palm leaves and a hint of fresh cut bamboo

I was a little bit excited to start burning this one as I immediately liked this one first time I smelled it in the store. Out of the three, I think I like this one the most. However, performance-wise, it was the worst out of the three. It had teeny tiny mushroom tops and the wax took forever to completely melt and pool out. Luckily, despite having a ratchet burn, it did have a decent throw; I daresay it had the strongest throw out of the three. And now let's rap a taste about the scent. If you don't already know, this is a repackage of a scent from the spring/summer of 2012 called Sunrise Lagoon. With that said, completely disregard the notes given at the bottom of the candle cuz it doesn't smell like any of that bs but rather pay more attention to the notes of Sunrise Lagoon which were melon, citrus, peony and jasmine. Melon is often used in watery/oceany type scents and this one is no different. The melon gives it a refreshing seawater oceanic vibe and blends nicely with the citrus notes (lemon/lime/orange) which brightens and perks the blend up a bit. Then you have peony, which again is often used in watery/oceany scents; it gives off a fresh pink water lily/water lotus type vibe. And there's just a very small faint hint of sweet heady powdery jasmine in the background. Overall, I think this is the best "ocean" scent BBW has ever made; this is what Oceanside tried to and should smell like. I think Island Waters/Sunrise Lagoon could/should replace Oceanside and remain a spring/summer tropical staple.

The bulbs were really nice too, stronger than the candle's throw. And so far they hasn't gotten stale. I recommend using these as bathroom scents during the summer.


Black Sands
Product: candle and wf bulbs
Area used in: bedroom
Time Period: June - July 

Description: Visit Hawaii's dramatic black sands beach with an unforgettable blend of ocean mist and exotic amber finished with creamy cedarwood

Like the other two, I was quite intrigued. By all reports, this was a "cologne-y" which was alright cuz I love cologney scents. However once I smelled it, I was a little disappointed cuz it didn't smell like what I was expecting. Moreover, it just smelled too familiar, a repackage with a twist if you will. However I still liked it and my bf loved it. Through a mishap, I wound up accidentally getting another one and I was goin to take back for an exchange but my bf asked me to keep it cuz he liked it so much. I eventually got him another one during as SAS when 3wicks were $10. Anyhoo, on to the review. Performance-wise, it burned like a boss. Big mushroom tops, full wax pool, high flames etc. and with that blue black wax color, it's very pretty to burn at night. The throw is decent, I'd say it's medium-strong; it managed to fill the entire bedroom. And now the scent. There's no denying or getting around it..BS is a repackage of Eucalyptus Mint & Rain with a hint of Sage  & Cedar aka Black Tie. The "ocean mist" note is actually the "rain" note from EM&R, which is basically cucumber. And you get the same creamy, woody, heady cedar note from Black Tie. The combo as a whole does smell like a cologne; I'd totally wear a fragrance like this in the summer. In conclusion, I don't think this is anything special. I mean I get what BBW was trying to do achieve with this scent and I get their logic behind repackaging with a twist EM&R but I really was hoping for something new and different...that's probably asking too much

The wf bulb was ok, it definitely has a stronger cologney-ness than the candle. It's not very strong though, thank goodness; I'm not that wild about this scent for it to be superstrong and overwhelming.

So yeah there you go. These were all nice in their own way but truly nothing special. I don't regret buying any of these but honestly I'm bored with them all in varying degrees. I won't miss any of them and I can't wait to move on to other scents.