WALK N SNIFF: Hawaiian Collection *UPDATED*

Since I was in the area, I decided to mosey on over to BBW to see if they had some of the new Hawaiian candles and lo and behold they did...well the main ones (except Fiji White Sands) and not the fancy glass ones.

Alright, on with the review; I'm only gonna talk about the new scents (ie no Hawaiian Hibiscus, Rainforest Gardenia, Mahogany Coconut and Honolulu Sun)

Waikiki Beach Coconut - Y'know, I've said it before and I'll say it again..I am not a fan of candles based on/inspired by bodycare. And on top of that, it's a coconut scent which as y'all know I loathe with a white hot passion. That said, I must say that this surprised me as I didn't dislike as much as I thought I would. So as y'all may (or may note), this based on the bodycare of the same name. The coconut note on top isn't as obnoxious as it usually is in BBW candles; it's a fresh slightly sweet coconut water with a sprinkle of sea salt. The middle notes are a blend of powdery tropical floral notes typical in summery/beachy/tropical feminine scents - gardenia, frangipani, passionflower, jasmine. Finally there's a heavy sandalwood note hangin out in the background. Also there is hidden fruit note that they arent tellin us; its a candy like tart sweet amd sour note, like Green Apple Pucker. As my candlebuddy @whitebarncandlefan so aptly described it, its "à watered down Beautiful Day mixed with Honolulu Sun. Overall it's a very safe and unassuming feminine fresh summery/beachy scent in the same family as Rainforest Gardenia, Endless Weekend, Baja Cactus Flower, etc

NOTE: Tinadivalicious said in his review video that it was a repackaged as Beach Breeze (which was accidentally mislabeled as Sunkissed Days. My WB store got them very late; I sniffed them both and wasn't a fan. Frankly I don't remember how BB smelled so I can't agree or disagree with Tinadivalicious.

Golden Pineapple Luau - sigh..so pineapple is one of those fruit notes that BBW doesn't seem to get right; it just always smell slightly plasticy. This scent unfortunatly isn't the exception however it's not that bad. So right off the bat GPL is not that plasticy overrrated overused hot mess Pineapple Mango, it's not Pineapple Palm Grass (not as fresh and doesn't have that outdoorsy grassy note) and it's not Spiced Pineapple Samba (not as ooey-gooey and obviously no spice) What I think it might be (and other fellow Slatkineers seem to agree) is Pineapple Punch from spring '12. And based on the notes (pineapple, sweet cherries, mango sorbet, coconut milk) it makes sense. If it's not PP, it's quite similar. The pineapple note is sweet and drippy but still ever so slightly plasticy. I don't get either papaya or hibiscus as GPL's description notes suggest. There are fruity notes behind the pineapple top note that they aren't tellin us..again, this is why I think it may be Pineapple Punch. That said, it does smell like a syrupy sweet beverage - think flat and bubbleless pineapple Fanta or, for my fellow Louisianians, pineapple Big Shot.

Tiki Mango Mai Tai - this was the only scent in this collection that I was drawn to (and I did end up buying it) I'm almost positive that this is a candlelized version of the Mango Maui Mai Tai handsoap. You get a very subdued "bodycare-ish" mango top note - sweet but not very juicy or fresh and borderline syntheticy. It says grapefruit in the notes which I kinda get but I also get a noseful of mandarin and blood orange. And there's a small tiny hint of floral action peaking out from the crowd to say aloha; it's says just jasmine but I think it maight be the same tropical floral/"solar musk" blend that I mentioned in WBC above. That all said, it doesn't smell nearly as juicy as it all sounds, its very much on the candy side. TMMT is just aiight, it definitely did not blow me away means. I wish it smelled less like mango flavored candy/gum and more like the actual fruit or rather the actual drink

Fiji White Sands - this was the one scent that I was kinda intrigued with and of course despite the hype, it ended up disappointing me. It smells soooooo close to Tiki Beach; I even did a side by side sniff comparison to make sure I wasn't nuts. It's not a repackage of Tiki Beach but it's damn close - practically cousins. The only difference is it's much sweeter and you do get a nosepunch of sandalwood. And despite no mention of coconut in the notes, there is no denying that intense Tiki Beach-esque coconut! I don't remember how the soap smelled, but I dont remember it smelling like Tiki Beach. Quite the disappointment.

Overall, this collection is nothing exciting. yet another lazy and uninspired "Hawaiian" collection. I just wish BBW would get out of this tropical Hawaii/Tahiti/Fiji hibiscus mango coconut kick that they've been on lately; 3 years in row, enough is enough!!! And if I see Rainforest f***ing Gardenia one more, I'm gonna scream...though y'all already know we will as well as more mango and coconut BS as we get into spring and especially summer. I don't mind a summer/beach collection but all this vaguely Hawaiian or some other tropical island collections needs to stop; ya'll are going to anger the Tiki gods! BBW, just stop and think of something else, some other tropic location..better yet let's skip tropical all together for awhile. Candle fans thank you and so does Hawaii!