THAT'S SO TEST SCENT/HOT MESS AWARD: Holly Jolly Christmas

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Products: candle
Area used in:  living room
Time Period: none

Description: Have a holly jolly Christmas with this festive blend of bright mandarin, red pomegranate and fresh balsam

So, I saw this SOB on Evilbay and thought about getting it cuz very very few people were talking about it. So after going back and forth and deliberating with myself, I decided just to go ahead and get it just to ease my curiousity. That was a big mistake!

Now some people were saying that HJC smelled like Winter...and I was like "No, can't be. That doesn't make an ounce of sense!" I get a little leery and distrustful when folks on various social media start comparing scents and saying suchandsuch smells like suchandsuch cuz many of these people are relatively new to BBW and don't know any scents past 2013...like Winter. Anyhoo, based on the notes, I had a hunch that maybe it was a repackage of an old Slatkin-era Christmas classic called "Winter Garland"

Now the notes for that was...

"A sparkling combination of cranberry champagne, blood orange and red berry mixed with the essence of evergreen moss, white cedar and toasted clove"

cranberry champagne = pomegranate
evergreen moss and white cedar = fresh balsam
blood orange = bright mandarin

With the way BBW mixes and twists and renames their notes, it's easy to see how I came to that conclusion. Unfortunately, I was wrong, very wrong!

The packaged arrived and the candle itself was perfectly wrapped. I took a whiff of the candle hoping to get a noseful of Winter Garland-y goodness but instead I smelled...wait for it...AUTUMN FRIGGIN' NIGHT!!!!! I was like "AW HELL NAW!!!!" I kept huffin it over and over to make sure I wasn't trippin....but I wasn't. I even took out an actual Autumn Night and did a side by side sniff comparison - they smelled JUST ALIKE! Granted, HJC smells slightly sweeter and not as intensely woodsy/smoky but the base notes smell exactly alike! I couldn't believe it, I stood there in utter disbelief! I couldn't believe that out of all the better test scents there were on Evilbay that I wasted my money on this one! I seriously wanted to toss this piece of crap out of the window!

So yeah ladies and gentlemen, Holly Jolly Christmas is a repackage of Autumn Night!!!

Which leads me to my next question...WHY?! What the f*** does Autumn Night have to do with Christmas?! Now don't get me wrong, I really really like Autumn Night (REVIEW TO COME)...as an AUTUMN SCENT! Hell, the word "AUTUMN" is in the friggin name!!!! How does an autumn scentnsuddenly become a winter scent?! Why would anyone want to burn this in winter, especially at Christmas time?! There are SOOOOOOOO many scents that could've been used instead of AN - Snow Day,  Chestnut & Clove,  Frosted Pine,  White Barn Christmas/Apple Garland,  Sleigh Ride,  Holly Wreath, Winter Wonderland,  Holiday Pomander,  Orange Clove....HELLO, MUTHA-EFFIN' WINTER GARLAND!!! Again, I ask, why Autumn Night?!

Furthermore, I hate being bullshitted against and this is flagrant bullshit! How the actual f*** does "nutmeg/cinnamon stick/applewood/cedar" magically transform into "pomegranate/balsam/mandarin"?! Even the notes for Autumn Night are utter bullshit cuz don't nobody smell any of those notes and the ones who claim that they do are in deep denial!

I'm really REALLY pissed off. I'm pissed off at BBW for releasing this shit..oh and get this, apparently it's gonna be a "holiday exclusive" - like Buttermint Cream last year and White Barn Christmas the year before. I'm also pissed at myself for wasting money on a scent that I hate and because the Evilbay seller doesn't do returns and has suspiciously not responded to my email reply that I hated it (after audaciously asking me to give her a good review), I'm stuck with it.

This debacle has furthered me to enforce my new commandment - I SHALL NO LONGER BUY ANY MORE NEW TEST SCENTS ON EBAY! FURTHERMORE I SHALL NOT BUY ANY SCENT FROM ANYWHERE THAT I HAVE NOT SNIFFED IN PERSON!

And so it is written...

Holly Jolly Christmas...Holly Jolly Shitmas more like it!





Comments

  1. Never Enough NailsOctober 3, 2014 at 8:37 PM

    Lmao you crack me up and thanks for the info about this one. I won't be getting it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TheBronzebloggerOctober 4, 2014 at 8:35 AM

    Lol you're very welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LizOctober 8, 2014 at 1:14 PM

    They've really been slacking, so many repackages of old scents and then just duplicate scents in different jars. How many different versions of Leaves and Marshmallow Fireside do they need? I don't know I've been disappointed in the new scents as well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TheBronzebloggerOctober 9, 2014 at 6:07 AM

    Seriously! This all started happening since Slatkin left, there hasn't been truly original scents since 2012. I thinks a combination of financial loss and lack of brain power. Either way BBW/White Barn needs to get it together!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Classy Fab SarahMarch 22, 2015 at 5:18 AM

    I'm creeping back through your blog because I'm a huge B&BW candle nerd, and granted I never had a test version of this candle, just the one that launched late Christmas, company wide - but isn't this White Barn #2, Chestnut and Clove?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TheBronzebloggerMarch 22, 2015 at 7:57 AM

      Hey there, welcome back!

      The test scent version and the company wide version are the exact same thing.At time I bought this candle and wrote this review, it was still testing and wasn't in stores

      Also, it most certainly is NOT Chestnut & Clove! I wouldve been lot happier if it was cuz I love that scent. It also wouldve made more sense as C&C is wintery/Xmasy scent. But no, it is definitely Autumn Night

      Delete

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