WHITE BARN EXCLUSIVENESS: Summer Bonfire

Products: candle 
Area used in:  bedroom 
Time Period: end of July - mid August

Description: The perfect summer night at the beach comes to life in notes of warm woods, orange blossoms and green leaves


Every once in awhile BBW marketing/scent-making team really gets their creative juices flowin and in mad scientist like fashion creates a Frankenstein-ian scent that is so different, so out there, so weird that after one sniff, you turn into Scooby-doo...

 

AROO?!!!

  

Summer Bonfire is one of those scents! Much like last year's Snap Peas (another really weird scent), I kept going back and forth sniffing and resniffing. My bf really liked it so I decided to just get it for him. It eventually became our go to weekend afternoon nap candle. After a couple of burns, I found myself actually enjoying it. So much so, that I eventually bought another one.

Performance-wise, it burned like a mutha-effin BOSS. Huge mushroom tops, super high steppin flames, a constant deep and even amber-colored pool...and get this, despite having a light cream wax color, the wax didn't get very cruddy, barely noticeable. Throw-wise, this sucker is STRONG! It has what I call "warm blanket" throw - it doesn't strangle or chokehold but rather warmly but firmly embracing...which is why my bf and I choose to burn this during our naps. It has a very calming, lulling aromatherapy Lavender Vanilla type vibe to it.

And now the scent..oh boy. The scent is weird and very hard to describe. I'm pretty good at describing scents but this time around, I admit I'm having some difficulty. SB reminds me a lot of some Slatkin classic woodsy scents from back in the day, like Winter - complex multi-faceted scents with so many notes put together that you wouldn't think go together but they do yet at the same you have a really hard time describing the scent as a whole. 

A lot of people have compared this Slatkin's original Marshmallow Fireside (not the Summertime Smores remake that we have in stores now) in the sense that both scents have a creamy sweet vanilla element alongside intense smoky woodsy notes. That said, SB is NOT a repackage with a twist of MF but they do have similar elements. That said, if you're expecting this to have some sugary sweet candy-like overtones, you're gonna be very disappointed. There is a vanilla like sweetness but it's earthy and hearty, almost like Tonka bean; more aromatherapy-ish than candy-ish. Then there's the woodsy aspect. Think Fireside but take away the leather and amber and leave just a hint of smoke. That's what you get in SB. The  woodsy notes are very light and almost creamy, like sandalwood...which also adds the creamy/sweet/aromatherapy type feel. Then there's the note that's a matter of much debate, the orange flower. I see to be the only person who smells it, most say that they don't at all. I smell it plain as day, it' to me it's light but definitely there. It's a sweet powdery borderline body fragrance type orange blossom scent very reminiscent of Beach Cabana. Green leaves..I don't really know what they mean by that, that could be practically anything. That said, I do get the slightest hint of outdoorsiness freshness that compliments the orange blossoms and wood notes. All in all, I can see where they were going with this scent image-wise -  a small camp fire (less intense Firesidey warm woods notes) in the sand on the beach in the summer (orange blossom and green leaves).

In conclusion, I commend BBW from taking a break from all the repackages and sugar sweet candy bakery cutsy pink coochie scents and coconut crap and creating a new blend that is this strange and out there. This is and will definitely not be everybody's cup of tea; the overall weirdness on cold throw have and will turn people off. But for you brave souls out there who crave unique fragrances and prefer the more conceptual and outdoorsy/woodsy type scents, do give this one a try!