THAT'S SO TEST SCENT: Havana & Prickly Pear Sugarcane (Cold Sniff Review)

So I have been looking for this candles for the longest with little to no success. Then finally I had my chance. On Instagram, @halifkinarlene was doing a major candle destash and she just so happened to have these two candles for a relatively cheap price. Total impulse buy! 


Havana ~ Sweet Tobacco & Spice

Description: Visit the intoxicatingly atmospheric city of Havana with this rare blend of sweet tobacco, amber and spice

Missing notes: leather, agarwood, caramel

So I have been after this scent in its many incarnations - Havana Heat, Ski Den, and Den

Needless to say, I was very excited at the prospect of finally buying courtesy of halifkinarlene. That excitement waned once I sniffed it; actually after a few sniffs, it was starting to make me feel nauseated. Now you would think this since this is a mandle, that it would be right up my alley and I initially thought that as well however it pains me to say that I really dislike this scent. I didn't really know what to expect and I'll admit I had my expectations set way too high. I should've known better just based on the notes; it's a melange of fragrance notes that I generally don't like on their own but combined it's just blitzkrieg of yuck assaulting my nose. The prominent note is tobacco which is very pepper and medicinal smelling. Thats followed by a blast of sweet smoky incense notes - the agarwood aka oud gives a deep rich resinous sweet almost chocolatey Ski Lodge type vibe with possibly a hit of patchouli. There's a tiny pinch of amber, often used in "Fireside-y" type scents to give it some warmth. There's a little bit of leather that gives the blend a depth and a rugged manly type feel. And finally in the background there's as sweet layer of body care caramel ie it's not gloopy ooey-gooey sickeningly sweet gourmand kind of caramel but more of a body spray/cologne dark sensual kind of caramel. This all sounds sexy as hell but to me blend is nauseating. And I get different whiffs of stuff everytime I sniff. Like on the first initial whiff, I'll get a sweet warm spicy cologne and I think I could possibly like it. Then I'll smell it again and I ll just get the leather and incense and it just smells like wet sweaty jeans. Or I'll smell the caramel and spices and I get flat Dr Pepper. It's really bizarre! While I typically go for complex and out there scents, this one is a little too complex and out there for me. While I applaud BBW for being experimental, I just don't think this scent is for me.

    Prickly Pear Sugarcane

Description: Blend home a blend of luscious prickly per fruit and sweet sugarcane inspired by the exotic flavors of Mexico

I was soooo disappointed that this didn't go wide - the really good test scents never do! And now having finally sniffed it, I'm that much more disappointed as it is AH-MAZING!!!! And it smells EXACTLY like a prickly pear - think a juicy green pear mixed with cucumber mixed with raspberry (texture wise, it's like a kiwi). I have a bottle of Monin Desert Pear syrup and the candle smells just like it. There may be actual pear notes in this just for the sake of giving the blend some depth and fullness (or might actually be pear with other notes added to give off the illusion of prickly pear-ness) but whatever the case may be, the scent is spot on! I also get some wet juicy green notes in the background - agave or aloe, maybe cucumber. The blend is so green and fresh and crisp with a little bit of sexitiness and it's sweet without being obnoxious. I am LOVING thisscent and I am still kicking myself for not getting another one. I am wishing, hoping and praying that this makes a surprise appearance during SAS! How this scent failed but stank ass Pineapple Lily didn't is beyond me. I don't get it BBW, I just don't get it!