WALK 'N' SNIFF: Cork & Vine and other fall stuff

So I was in the City running errands and I decided to stop into B&BW just to see what there was to see.. or rather sniff what there was to sniff

So as y'all today was the grand premiere of the Cork & Vine candles...

Now both I and my bf are big wine drinkers, that said I was initially very intrigued with this collection. Now once I saw the names and saw the notes, I became less intrigued. Now I like the theme, I even like the look, but the scents themselves are kinda blah. So first I'll talk briefly about the old relaunched scents for the newbies then I'll go more in depth about the new ones

Harvest Gathering - This first came out of nowhere back in '13 and has been a fall staple ever since. That said, I don't really know what it's doing in this collection but whatever! Honestly I've never really been a fan of this one cuz to me it just smells generic - like a low budget version of Leaves that you'll find in Marshalls or Homegoods. It even has that "craft store/Michael's autumn spice potpourri" vibe to it. You get the whole harvest in this candle - there's apple, there's cinnamon stick, there's a little bit of cranberries and the notes don't mention it anymore but there is pumpkin as well (the original '13 notes were fresh pumpkin, warm harvest spices, and apples) It like Leaves, Pumpkin Carving/Heirloom Pumpkin and Cranberry Woods all rolled up into one.

Sundrenched Vineyard - So this is from the Provence Garden collection back in the spring '14. Despite sounding like a wine scent, it was/is a straight repackage of Cranberry Woods. Though this year's version seems to have been tweaked; the oak seemed more pronounced this go-round and I did get a faint wine-like effervescence but those base notes were undeniably Cranberry Woods. Even though the name "Sundrenched Vineyard" makes more sense as far as the theme goes, I wish they would've brought back CW instead

Citron Cedarwood - another scent from Provence Garden. It's...cologne-y;  it's a repackage of Sandalwood Citrus. It's a sweet aromatic wood with an intense "cleaner" lemon note. No mint! In the past, I described this scent as "Lemon Pledge sprayed on a dusty wood drawer" It's one of the few cologne scents that I don't like so that should tell you something

And now onto the new stuff...

Black Cherry Merlot - ok, disclaimer..if you are expecting this to smell like the soap, you're gonna be very disappointed cuz it doesn't at all! Now there was "Black Raspberry Merlot" in the WB exclusive So Basic, So Shit collection back in the spring, but I never got to smell those so I dunno if BCM is a repackage of that. This mamma-jamma smells kinda weird - there's no wine-ness at all and it doesn't smell nearly as fruity and tart and juicy as you would expect. You get vague almost borderline generic dark berry notes ie cherry, raspberry, blackberry and maybe currant. And then there's that amber that kinda makes BCM  almost old lady perfume smelling. Not a fan of this one at all.

Sparkling Pear Riesling - I thought for sure this would be White Pear Champagne aka Champagne Toast from the aforementioned So Basic, So Shit collection...it's not. It's a new scent though it smells very familiar. There was a scent in the fall themed Fresh Picked collection back in '13 called Heirloom Pear, which was a very light, generic and for the most part unpopular pear scent; the pear note in SPR smells similar to that. I also get a very sweet Welch's white grape juice note and a faint bubbly effervescence. This is nice but nothing special

Napa Valley Sunset - So I was initially really interested in this one. Just based on the notes, I assumed it would be a repackage of or at least similar to Autumn Day/Autumn Night. It's not! What I smelled was sooooo not what I was expecting. Now you would think with notes like fig, oakmoss and musk that it would smell very earthy, musky, manly...cologney. No, not at all! NVS is surprisingly sweet and I don't know why. The only note I smell is fig and it's a very sweet candy like fig a la Fig Newtons. It's not earthy and creamy like Autumn Day or Winter Fig. And it could be my nose playing tricks on me but I smelled peach or apricot but a body care take on peach or apricot. Yeah, NVS is a total pass in my opinion.

Wine Cellar - So '14, BBW started the first of a series of expensive fancy-schmancy hoity-toity bougie candle collections - the Prestige collection, inspired by a stay at A high end ski lodge resort. One of the candles in that collection was Wine Cellar. The collection failed and was pretty much forgotten; Wine Cellar was one of the scents that I was the most intrigued (I've been wanting a mulled wine scent from BBW) , but at $30 a pop I planned on staying intrigued. Well it made it's way to this collection and I was very excited...until I smelled it. It doesn't smell so much like mulled spiced wine as it does a spicy women's perfume. You get red fruit - pomegranate perhaps, but body fragrance red fruit a la Midnight Pomegranate or Dark Kiss. There's also a strong, heady, earthy saffron note that gives the blend a nice dose of spice. Now this version mentions cedarwood whereas the original notes mention patchouli which is what I smell and it kinda turns me off a little (I'm not a fan of patchouli at all). I don't know if I like this one, I might have to resniff it but at the moment it's a no.


The store also had it's Pumpkin Preview shrine smack-dab in the middle. It had all of the pumpkin bodycare (what woman or queen would want to smell like pumpkin is beyond me) as well as Heirloom Pumpkin wf bulbs (why in pumpkin spiced HELL isn't there a candle?!) and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin (ugghhhh), Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow and Pumpkin Pie candles

Pumpkin Pie - First of all, what the hell took BBW this long to come up with a pumpkin pie scent?! That's quintessential! Every other candle company has one...better late than never I guess. Anyhoo, there has been some debate as to what this smells like; some people say it's Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin/Pumpkin Carving while others say it's totally different and new. I can't lie, when I first sniffed it I thought "Aint that bout a bitch?! This is goddamn SCP!!!" But there was a SCP candle near it so I got to do a comparison test - PP is NOT SCP or PC! PP doesn't have the sharp burnt cinnamon-iness of SCP or the earthiness of PC. On first sniff, the pumpkin note is deceivingly similar to SCP but a couple sniffs later (or a comparison sniff), you'll realize how wrong you are. Also PP isn't as heavily spiced; it's spiced (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) but it's more balanced. There's also nice vanilla action don't you don't get in either SCP or PP. Lastly, you do get a nice warm flaky bakery note so it's not just pumpkin filling like SCP or PC. I'm not as love with it as thought I would be (I'm really trying to get over my total pumpkin scent phobia); like Wine Cellar, I think I have to resniff this to reach a verdict.  

Lastly my store had a handful of the (Autumn Day/Harvest?) leaf lid candles, including my bae Leaves. I almost had a conniption fit cuz I thought we weren't going to be getting Leaves this year; no one was talking about it, it wasn't mentioned on any blogs and there was nary a picture of it on social media. Ol school fall staples have been disappearing, ie Spiced Cider and Cranberry Woods so it's not surprising that Leaves would disappear as well. I was ready to riot, torch in one hand and pitchfork in the other. Luckily Leaves started appearing in stores and people began posting it on Instagram and Facebook and I say it for myself in person so all is right with the word.

So the only "new" scent at my store was...

Buttercream Frosting - It's Frosted Cupcake, that's all there is to say about it.. plasticy, waxy ass Frosted Cupcake. Why Lord Jeezus, why Frosted Cupcake?! Of all the more yummy, appropriate, fallgasmic bakery scents of the past...Apple Crumble, Caramel Apple, Brandied Pear, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Sticky Toffee Pudding..and y'all asses brought back gross ass nasty ass Frosted Cupcake. I..just...CAN'T!!!!