WALK 'N' SNIFF: Tiki Beach/Brazilian/White Barn Market

So there's another mall near GSP, Paramus Park Mall, which I heard thru the Facebook grapevine had a really nice BBW. My bf and I decided to make a day of it, pay this mall a visit and check out their BBW. Much to the my surprise, the store had all of the "new" spring candles (sans the Mother's Day candles obviously) Needless to say, I took the opportunity to get my sniff on

I won't talk about those tropical/beachy candles cuz they've been around for yeeeaaarrrs and all of y'all (should) know what they all smell like. If not, here are a couple of old reviews for some of them that I've bought and burned in the past

Island Margarita       Beach Cabana       Oceanside

And now, let's rap a taste about the Brazilian collection... aka the Aloha Hawaii collection part deux. You know I wasn't all that impressed with this collection when I first heard about them - it takes more the vague splashy names and ambiguously ethnic label designs to get my attention. But then I sniffed them all and was even less impressed. Now don't get me wrong, they're not bad but they're nothing exciting. And, as usual, they're all repackages/repackages with a twist - not a single new scent in the bunch!

Brazilian Blue Waters - There's really not much to say about this one - it's a repackage of Turquoise Waters from the Coastal Cool collection (which is a repackage of Sea Spray from spring '12). It's fresh clean watery/aqua (aka cucumber/melon) with the tiniest hint of citrus and floral action in the background.

Rio Red Guava - again, not much to say about this one - it's Red Lava Guava from Aloha Hawaii (which I think is either a repackage or very similar to Pink Passionfruit from Fresh Picked last spring) It kinda smells like sweet dark fruit (passionfruit/guava) candy, kinda like bubblegum.

Rainforest Gardenia - this was without a doubt my least favorite of the bunch. Y'all know I'm not the biggest fan of floral scents and this one is intensely floral. It smells very familiar, like some tropical "Hawaiian" floral scent from the past - Aloha Waikiki? Hawaiian Hibiscus? I dunno, however it's that kinda scent

Spiced Pineapple Samba - ugh, yet another I did not like; it totally made me gag. So you ol school hardcore BBW'ers may remember Tropical Spice from back in the day. Well SPS is very similar to that but with a pineapple-y kick. There is a cinnamon bark note to the blend (think Cranberry Woods) with an intensely sweet brown sugar/dark rum note. Then there a sweet pineapple note in the background, like Dole sliced pineapple rings in syrup. It just smells very syrupy and gloopy and  gooey and the spice/brown sugar just made me sick to my stomach. So yeah think Tropical Spice and Pineapple Palm Leaf

Amazon Falls - So this one kinda threw me for a loop. I would keep going back to resniff it cuz I would pick up different notes. However that said, it smelled very familiar. At first I smelled a very fresh watery grassy green-ness with the tiniest hint of fresh yet powdery floral, so I thought this might be a repackage of Fresh Bamboo. But then after a couple of resniffs, I kept picking up a crisp dewy green apple on a tree note, so I was thinkin Garden Party from last spring. So yeah, I'm gonna say this smells like a mix of Fresh Bamboo and Garden Party - lots of dewy green grass action, a little bit of powdery floral with a little green apple.

Black Teakwood - *eyeroll do I even have to say anything about this bastard? Yall already know what this is a repackage of, do I even need to say it? Ok I will...mutheffin Mahogany friggin Teakwood. Really BBW, REALLY?! Will this scent ever die? Anyway I will say this, it's a little different, slightly tweaked. All that woodsy action is toned down dramatically. I also pick up the lavender note more than in the past. Still no matter how much it's been tweaked, it's Mahogany Teakwood

Mango Dragonfruit - again, do I really have to say a damn thing about this one? If you enjoyed Mango Dragonfruit last spring in the Aloha Hawaii collection..well, it's back!

Copacabana Beach - ugh, coconut. Coconut is one of those notes you can't mix with just any ol thing. That said, I think this might be a repackage of that hot mess Lanikai Coconut which basically smelled the coconut scented semen

And now let's switch focus to the White Barn candles. Now as y'all know I staunchly stalwartly virulently vehemently despise the sweetie scents except in very rare instances. But I gotta say, I really like this collection; I actually like every single scent in this collection! Craziness right?! But you know why I like this collection? A) it's the perfect mix of new scents, repackaged scents and old scents aaaaannnd the new ones outnumber the repackaged and old ones. And even though these are sweetie scents, they aren't obnoxious mainstream sugary sweet girly girl coochie scents; everything is well thought out and appropriate. This how a BBW collection should be!

So I won't talk about Peach Bellini, Watermelon Lemonade (another scent that refuses to die), Cinnamon Sugared Doughnuts so let's talk about the new ones

Vanilla Bean Marshmallow - I will admit, I was initially very biased against this scent; the name completely turned me off. Straightup vanilla scents are without a doubt in my all time top most disliked scents. However I gotta say, I found myself really liking it (so yeah pigs are flying, Hell is completely frozen, the lion is chillin with the lamb, the world is definitely ending) Anyhoo, I would describe this a perfect half and half mix of Frosted Cupcake and Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow. It has the intensely vanilla buttercreaminess of Frosted Cupcake and the creamy marshmallowy Lil Debbie Oatmeal Crème Pie-ness  of Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow.

Strawberry Rhubarb Marmalade - my bf and I were really stoked about this one as we love actual strawberry rhubarb jam. Though I will admit I was a little skeptical; as y'all know, BBW is not the best at strawberry scents - they either smell like candy or they're super waxy/plasticy/chemically. This one is more on the candy side, like a strawberry Jolly Rancher. Its a syrupy sweet strawberry scent with a little green action in the background. Ordinarily rhubarb smells a little bitter and sharp but when added with something fruity, it kinda intensifies the sweetness. So yeah, think homemade strawberry rhubarb hard candy.

Cherry Blossom Sangria - This is easily the star of this collection; this has been makin everybody's coochies explode. Though at the same time the name threw a lot of people, myself included, for loop - what the **** is cherry blossom sangria? But believe it or not, it's an actual existing thing. Anyhoo, I thought for sure that it would be a repackage/repackage with a twist of the classic Pink Sangria but I am happy to report that isn't; as far as I can tell, I believe this is a new scent. First off, just get past the name. While there is a floral (pear or plum or apple, maybe lotus or peony) aspect, it's sooo light most won't even pick it up. What you do smell is a strong intense cherry syrup/nectar note. As far as sangria goes, the only sangria aspect that it has is the chopped apple and a tiny hint of dark berries. There really is no wine/alcoholiness to the blend, if anything it's more like a punch or soda. That said, I would say that CBS kinda reminds me of Summertime Soda; it's like Summertime Soda with the cherry note amped up, the lemon/lime aspect completely toned on, the fizziness intact, a little apple/pear, some dark berries and a hint of floral.

Now a Facebook/Instagram friend of mine (shout out to my gurl Liz) bought this candle recently and she described it as smelling like a Shirley Temple...and it does. She also warned people that the warm throw is a little on the light side, so heads up

Sparkling Limeade - I LOVE lime scents so I was super excited for this scent. I thought for sure that was would be a repackage of Sparkling Mojito from way back in the day. It's an amazing scent that I love and I have been wishing/praying/hoping that it would make a grand reappearance. Alas Sparkling Limeade IS NOT Sparkling Mojito. I do believe this is a new scent however it's not particularly a very good new scent. I daresay Sparkling Mojito is so much better. Now lets get to the obvious - despite what the notes suggest, there's no lime note. Not surprising since the few lime scents that Slatkin/BBW ever produced never actually had lime notes. Now the online notes are more factual - lemongrass, tonic and gin. So this candle essentially smells like a gin&tonic cocktail...and I'm ok with that; gin&tonic is my go to drank of choice at the club. Here's the problem; there's something strangely soapy smelling, like those small sculpted scent soaps your grandma has in her bathroom in a soapdish that your never supposed to use. It's like a gin&tonic scented bar soap. I mean I like this scent, but I'm not in love. I feel BBW could've tried a little harder with this scent or just repackaged Sparkling Mojito

 

And as you know there are two "White Barn" exclusive scents (which don't even get me started on that) - Iced Almond Chai (which folks say smells similar to the fall's Vanilla Chai but not a repackage) and Tequila Lime Cupcake (I've heard everything from "it smells like a key lime pie" to "all I smell is a lot of citrus with no bakery notes". If you don't live next to a White Barn, rest assured cuz both are available on Evil-bay!