CANDLE SPOTLIGHT: Ski Lodge

Products: candle & wf bulbs
Area used in:  bedroom
Time Period: week of New Years - beginning of February 

Description: a fragrance inspired by a cozy winter getaway from the tall evergreen trees to the comforting warmth of the wooden lodge – smoky vanilla, deep green cypress and rich agarwood

What initially drew me to this scent was its newness; nowadays newness is hard to come by. Also the notes were surprisingly sophisticated and high-end, there was nothing remotely cutesy/girly/sugary-sweetie about the scent at all which is always a plus in my book. Then I sniffed it and I instantly loved it.

Performance– better but wise, this candle was okay. The flames always danced high, there were always plump mushroom tops and the wax always melted evenly and deeply. This was a beautiful candle to burn at night because the wax would melt into a gorgeous rich mahogany brown color which was beautiful against the candle flame's glow. The only problem was the throw; it was very very light which is surprising because the notes are very rich and deep heavy. The throw barely filled my bedroom which is not all that big. For Christmas as a surprise my boyfriend bought me a candle from another company called Millefiori, a candle company I ran into while we were vacationing in Scotland. The candle was called "Cedar" and it smelled almost exactly like Ski Lodge. And despite it being a small  1-wick candle, the throw was 10x stronger than the three wick of Ski Lodge.… Now that's bullshit!

And now let's talk about the scent. As I said before, what initially drew me to the scent or how sophisticated and high-end were the notes. How often do you see notes like cypress and agarwood in  BBW fragrances nowadays. Anyway, a review on the website described the scent perfectly – "if Espresso Bar and Fireside had a baby..." I think that's a pretty accurate description. It has the sweetness of Espresso Bar mixed with the smoky woodsiness of Fireside. You get the tiniest hint of vanilla bean, whether it's smoked or not remains to be seen. There's also a faint hint of piney resinous wood action in the background; and it could be my nose playing tricks on me but I smell a little cedarwood. However the note that hits your nose immediately is the agarwood, which is a note that many people probably would not be very familiar with. Agarwood is a pine type tree that gets infected with either a fungus are bacteria and in the process of slowly decomposing it creates a resin which is used in colognes as well as incense in the in the Middle and Far East. It is often described as deep, dark, heavy, leathery, sweet and smoky. I believe it is agarwood  that gives the blend a smoky "Fireside-y" intensity as well as sweet heady almost cocoa like flavor which blends very well with the vanilla. As a whole the scent is very warm and inviting, even a little sensual; you really do get the sense of stepping inside a warm ski resort in the woods in the middle of winter.

While I enjoyed the scent a lot and it was unlike anything I ever smelled and BBW before (though some have likened it to the Vanilla Sandalwood but I don't think it's a repackaging of that) I couldn't give it my patented "BOMB.COM" award because the throw was way too light for my liking. If the throw was more strong and heavy, I would have been completely in love but sadly it wasn't. I  definitely don't regret buying SL but I would not be heartbroken if it didn't come back again in the future.