WALK 'N' SNIFF: White Barn Goodness

So the candle gods have finally took pity on me and answered my prayers. This week a new White Barn store opened....AT GARDEN STATE PLAZA IN PARAMUS!!!!!!!

*cue heavenly angelic choir singing

When I heard the news (you know who you are and again thank you), I am almost fell out of my chair and fainted. Naturally had to satisfy my curiousity so today my bf and I made a trip out there to see what we could see.

BEHOLD!!!!



The store is not too far from where the original store was...and it is gorgeous; beautiful layout!

Unfortunately, they did not have the Destination candles (not that I was remotely interested in those)nor did they have the Poptails collection (which I was very interested in)  but it did have some goodies as you can see. So without further ago, lets start the "walk n sniff" review!

Let's first rap a taste the Turquoise Water collection. Most of the candles in this collection are returning scents that most of you are already familiar with so I'll only review the two completely new scents.

Pomelo Paradise - Honestly this was the ONLY candle that I was interested in and I did end up buying one recently online during the 2/24 sale. Based on the notes and the tumbler color, it's easy to assume that it's a repackage of Coastal Sun aka Citrus Flower. It's not a direct straightup repackage however it's too similar to call it totally new. The scent has definitely been tweaked - Coastal Sun with a twist. I was hoping it would be similar to Pomelo Grapefruit but nope. Despite what the name amd notes suggest, there's no tart mouthpuckering  grapefruit action at all. It has the same sweet vaguely citrusy Sunny Delight smell that CS has. The difference is that there are some tropical notes in the background; there's a heavy candy-like papaya note, I don't get mango at all. Basically PP smells like CS with a hint of Papaya Sunrise. It's nice and very summery/beachy but it isn't anything special

Island Tiare Flower - This is probably gonna be the runaway hit of this collection. Personally I wasn't a big fan of this one cuz it contains my two least favorite types of scents - floral and coconut. First of all, completely disregard the notes cuz it's total BS. You get a very heavy heady borderline powdery gardenia note (which is what "tiare flowers" are) mixed with a fresh sweet coconut water note. The combination of the two notes makes it kinda smell like a tropical themed fabric softener. It's a pleasant clean feminine scent, perfect for a bathroom or boudoir for summer


The store also had what my buddy TTFT/Josh called the "ribbed for her pleasure" candles. We caught a glimpse of Tahiti Island Dream candle with the ribbed green tumbler (which is actually quite heavy) but it's actually a whole collection. Along with TID, there's Endless Weekend, Meet me in Tahiti, Rainforest Gardenia (I think?), Ocean Driftwood and Eucalyptus Mint and Waves (Rain) - if you look closely, this collection is in the pic above.

Tahiti Island Dream - I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not the biggest fan of candles based on body care; honestly I only sniffed it for the sake of this review. On cold sniff, it smells very very similar to another body care onspired candle, Endless Weekend. The notes you smell in EW you basically smell in TID; you get a orange-y citrusiness , some vanilla action and some coconut. The bodycare notes mention kiwi/kiwi blossoms...I guess? The only difference betwixt the two I think EW is slightly more sweeter and TID is more musky.


And now the part that you've been waitin for, an exclusive collection that you probably have only gotten to see on social media...the Seaside Summer Collection. I won't waste my time or yours talkin about Beach Cabana, Summer Boardwalk and Coastal Sun cuz those are scents that everyone is (or should be) familiar with those scents

Beach Grass - So for all y'all new BBW-ians out there, BG is returning scent - it came out back 2012 in a collection called "Summer Boardwalk". That and the rest of the collection made a special appearance at last year's Summer SAS. Anyhoo, BG is very fresh, very crisp and very clean. Think along the lines of Renew&Refresh. The difference is BG is more green, obvi. You get a whiff of fresh floral a la freesia with crisp dewy green notes.

Suntan - this was also part of that Summer Boardwalk collection back in the day. It came back a year later renamed Poolside. Now last summer there was a failed test scent in the Coastal Cool collection also called "Suntan" but it was actually a repackage of an old Slatkin scent called Beachside (also repackaged as another failed test scent Sunny St. Tropez)  I think this version of Suntan might be the latter. The original Suntan/Poolside was super strong, heavy on the coconut and smelled like straight legit suntan lotion. This one not so much; this Suntan is very light and more heavy on the citrus..which makes me think that it might be Beachside. It doesn't smell like actual suntan lotion but rather a sunscreen/body spray or perfume. It also kinda has summer beach spa vibe to it. The notes for Beachside were orange blossoms, ylang-ylang and white musk...that's essentially what I smell.

Lighthouse - I didn't and still don't know what to think of this one. The notes for this bad boi were beyond vague so I had absolutely no idea what this was supposed to smell like. After sniffing it, it was kinda disappointing. It's just a fresh air/fresh water scent; it kinda smells like Sydney Harbor but without the eucalyptus. The problem with this candle is that it smells awfully cheap and generic, like something you'll find in Target/Marshalls/Homegoods. I'm also not a fan of the bright red wax; it should've been a light tan or blue or sea foam green. Anyway, this scent is an easy pass!

Coral Seashell - I absolutely HATED this one! At first I thought this was gonna be a repackage of Calypso Sun or Carribean Salsa..nope! It's new but not good. All you smell is peach and BBW does not have a good track record with peach scents - they all smell mushy and musty and this one is not the exception. And it could've been my nose playin tricks on me but I smelled some spice, like Tropical Spice or that Pineapple Samba mess from the Brazilian collection. To me, CR reminded a lot of Harvest Peach from last fall - spicy rotten armpit-y peach yuckiness.

Nantucket Sails - As y'all already know, I love me some cologne-y scents so I was super curious about this one. Again, I was kinda disappointed cuz it smelled all too familiar. It basically smelled like Sage&Cedar aka Black Tie but with a splash of grapefruit. I also get the tiniest faintest hint of salt, like ocean air/seaspray salt. But I cant get past the Black Tie aspect of it though. It's not bad but again a little disappointing.

Summer Bonfire - This might be the star of this collection. However, with that said it's very VERY strange! There have been a couple of people on social media saying that it's a straightup repackage of Marshmallow Fireside...it's not! However it's very similar! As you may or may not know the most recent incarnations of MF was actually a repackage of Summertime Smores from the Lakeside collection; the original smelled much stronger and better...and that's what Summer Bonfire smells like. You also get a faint hint of orange that's sweetened by the vanilla/marshmallow notes which gives this scent a more summery feel. There's also an unexplained earthiness and dirtiness that makes you feel like you're outdoors. Essentially is candle is just a hodgepodge of notes that you wouldn't think would go together but somehow it works. I'm not 100% sold on this one but I love the fact that it's different and unique.




Comments

  1. I didn't realize there were seperate B&BW and White Barn stores! How cool! Summer Bonfire sounds right up my alley, I might have to talk one of my American friends into sending a tumbler over. Thanks for the news! :)

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    Replies
    1. Well this White Barn wasn't separate, the regular albeit refurbished BBW store was next door. i think some White Barn stores are truly separate but don't quote me on that.

      Summer Bonfire is truly one of the most different and unique scents that I've ever smelled. If you can get someone to ship it to you, go for it!

      And you're very welcome! :D

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  2. "ribbed for her pleasure" LMAO!

    Really looking forward to Summer Bonfire. I've almost used up the last of my Summertime S'mores hoard so need something new along the same lines.

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