WALK 'N' SNIFF: Home for the Holidays, Spa Day and Let's Get Away
Alright so let's start at the beginning with Home for the Holidays - I won't waste your time with Cranberry Pear Bellini, Merry Mistletoe, Hot Buttered Rum or Chestnut & Clove
Spice - Spice for awhile was a Christmastime staple backintheday . Then sometime in 2012 it became a WB core collection scent sold all year round. Then it disappeared..until now. Scentwise there's really not much to say about it - it's an intense red hot cinnamon scent along the lines of Cinnamon & Clove Buds and Holiday...but not nearly as piquant and in your face..and awful. You get that typical holiday spice blend with a hint of orange zest peel that gives it sort an old fashioned vibe.
Creamy Nutmeg - yet another Slatkin era holiday staple that disappeared..well actually that's not entirely true. In 2013's Winter Market collection, it was repackaged as "Winter Vanilla Latte". So CN sounds like it would be a spicy scent but it's not, not at all. It's actually more along the lines of Nutmeg & Spice or Kitchen Spice backintheday. You get a smooth and rich almost decadent milky creaminess a la Nutmeg & Spice. There's a hint cinnamon but it's not red hot or cinnamon-sugar but cinnamon stick/bark that's a little more earthy. The nutmeg is there; it adds to the spice blends and gives it an almost nutty flavor. Finally you get a powerful top note of almond. The best way to describe this scent is eggnog heavy on the vanilla mixed with amaretto and top with whipped cream sprinkled with ground nutmeg.
And now Spa Day...which first of all, it's wayyyy too early to be seeing a collection like this and secondly if this isn't one of the most laziest and random collections in BBW history, I dunno what is. Actually now that I think about it, it's really not worth talking about this collection cuz they're all returning scents and the two "new" ones are repackages...
Vanilla Flower - Vanilla Beach Flower
Bergamot & Suede - Bergamot Woods/Villa Bergamot
And now, last but not least the newest non-Christmasy collection to hit stores, Let's Get Away collection. As you know, BBW always does an exotic tropical trip to the beach type collection every year...but usually in the spring and not before SAS or Christmas..just bizarre! I won't waste your time or mine talking Beach Cabana, White Sand Beaches, Mango Dragonfruit or Coconut Leaves
Salted Vanilla - ok so I wanna ask what I think is an obvious question...what the f*** is "salty vanilla"? "salted" caramel... yes..."salted" chocolate again..yes...but "salted vanilla"? And if that is an actual thing, what does that have to do with the tropics or the beach?! It essentially smells like Buttercream Frosting/Frosted Cupcake with salt..and I dunno about yall, but that's kinda gross. It also kinda has a popcorn type feel to it, common in a lot of BBW-ian buttercream and "salty" scents. And there are some notes that they aren't telling us. There is something lurking in the background that does have a tropical vibe about it...some kind of nut maybe? Macadamia? This scent is just all kindsa weird to me but I'm sure all of the bakery/frosting/vanilla lovers out there will lost their proverbial ish over this.
Jasmine Water - So what I smelled in the store was not at what I was expecting; I was expecting something along the lines of Island Waters/Sunrise Lagoon or Fresh Bamboo or Verbena Waters/Lakeside; a fresh watery scent with a hint of floral. What I got instead was an intense uppercut of old lady perfume. It smells soooo similar to Sun Tan aka Beachside which was very powdery and "mature" smelling. And there is a watery aspect with a hint of citrus that reminds me a lot of Bergamot Waters. This is in the same white powdery floral/dewy fresh water fabric softener family as Baja Cactus Blossom, White Gardenia, Tahiti Island Dream and Island Tiare Flower
Raspberry Lime Margarita - there was soo much speculation about this one..is it Island Margarita with raspberry? Is Raspberry Citrus Swirl/Smile ~ Pink Lemonade Punch? In my opinion it smells extremely similar to an old Slatkin scent called Raspberry Sun Tea..which I burned this past summer so it's still relatively fresh in my scent memory. So right off the bat, this scent is totally misnamed; you do get raspberry but there's no lime and there's no margarita;to call this scent a "margarita" scent is a huuuge stretch. The raspberry is really sweet and artificial. And there is an undeniable black tea with citrus note a la London Calling. And further in the background there's a faint but noticeable floral note, hibiscus maybe? Overall, kinda disappointing and very misleading.
DISCLAIMER: There may be a batch variance situation with this scent as people are reporting that the get an intense (hibiscus) floral bodycare-ish smell a la Aloha Waikiki
Tobacco Flower - again, so much speculation. I thought at first maybe it was Havana aka Havana Heat aka Ski Den cuz that scent had hints of tobacco in it. Then I took a good look at the notes and thought "Hmmm...Mad about Madrid" Then I finally got to sniff it and sure enough I was right - Mad About Madrid ~ Under the Spanish Moon aka Tailgate from Fall 2014. So right of the bat, it's a "cologney" of the sweet and spicey variety. The black pepper and tobacco gives the blend a warm, spicy, piquant feel. There's also a sweetness, almost sappy and resinous borderline Flannel-ish. If you like sweet resinous earthy cologney blends like Flannel, then you'll like this one
Spice - Spice for awhile was a Christmastime staple backintheday . Then sometime in 2012 it became a WB core collection scent sold all year round. Then it disappeared..until now. Scentwise there's really not much to say about it - it's an intense red hot cinnamon scent along the lines of Cinnamon & Clove Buds and Holiday...but not nearly as piquant and in your face..and awful. You get that typical holiday spice blend with a hint of orange zest peel that gives it sort an old fashioned vibe.
Creamy Nutmeg - yet another Slatkin era holiday staple that disappeared..well actually that's not entirely true. In 2013's Winter Market collection, it was repackaged as "Winter Vanilla Latte". So CN sounds like it would be a spicy scent but it's not, not at all. It's actually more along the lines of Nutmeg & Spice or Kitchen Spice backintheday. You get a smooth and rich almost decadent milky creaminess a la Nutmeg & Spice. There's a hint cinnamon but it's not red hot or cinnamon-sugar but cinnamon stick/bark that's a little more earthy. The nutmeg is there; it adds to the spice blends and gives it an almost nutty flavor. Finally you get a powerful top note of almond. The best way to describe this scent is eggnog heavy on the vanilla mixed with amaretto and top with whipped cream sprinkled with ground nutmeg.
And now Spa Day...which first of all, it's wayyyy too early to be seeing a collection like this and secondly if this isn't one of the most laziest and random collections in BBW history, I dunno what is. Actually now that I think about it, it's really not worth talking about this collection cuz they're all returning scents and the two "new" ones are repackages...
Vanilla Flower - Vanilla Beach Flower
Bergamot & Suede - Bergamot Woods/Villa Bergamot
And now, last but not least the newest non-Christmasy collection to hit stores, Let's Get Away collection. As you know, BBW always does an exotic tropical trip to the beach type collection every year...but usually in the spring and not before SAS or Christmas..just bizarre! I won't waste your time or mine talking Beach Cabana, White Sand Beaches, Mango Dragonfruit or Coconut Leaves
Salted Vanilla - ok so I wanna ask what I think is an obvious question...what the f*** is "salty vanilla"? "salted" caramel... yes..."salted" chocolate again..yes...but "salted vanilla"? And if that is an actual thing, what does that have to do with the tropics or the beach?! It essentially smells like Buttercream Frosting/Frosted Cupcake with salt..and I dunno about yall, but that's kinda gross. It also kinda has a popcorn type feel to it, common in a lot of BBW-ian buttercream and "salty" scents. And there are some notes that they aren't telling us. There is something lurking in the background that does have a tropical vibe about it...some kind of nut maybe? Macadamia? This scent is just all kindsa weird to me but I'm sure all of the bakery/frosting/vanilla lovers out there will lost their proverbial ish over this.
Jasmine Water - So what I smelled in the store was not at what I was expecting; I was expecting something along the lines of Island Waters/Sunrise Lagoon or Fresh Bamboo or Verbena Waters/Lakeside; a fresh watery scent with a hint of floral. What I got instead was an intense uppercut of old lady perfume. It smells soooo similar to Sun Tan aka Beachside which was very powdery and "mature" smelling. And there is a watery aspect with a hint of citrus that reminds me a lot of Bergamot Waters. This is in the same white powdery floral/dewy fresh water fabric softener family as Baja Cactus Blossom, White Gardenia, Tahiti Island Dream and Island Tiare Flower
Raspberry Lime Margarita - there was soo much speculation about this one..is it Island Margarita with raspberry? Is Raspberry Citrus Swirl/Smile ~ Pink Lemonade Punch? In my opinion it smells extremely similar to an old Slatkin scent called Raspberry Sun Tea..which I burned this past summer so it's still relatively fresh in my scent memory. So right off the bat, this scent is totally misnamed; you do get raspberry but there's no lime and there's no margarita;to call this scent a "margarita" scent is a huuuge stretch. The raspberry is really sweet and artificial. And there is an undeniable black tea with citrus note a la London Calling. And further in the background there's a faint but noticeable floral note, hibiscus maybe? Overall, kinda disappointing and very misleading.
DISCLAIMER: There may be a batch variance situation with this scent as people are reporting that the get an intense (hibiscus) floral bodycare-ish smell a la Aloha Waikiki
Tobacco Flower - again, so much speculation. I thought at first maybe it was Havana aka Havana Heat aka Ski Den cuz that scent had hints of tobacco in it. Then I took a good look at the notes and thought "Hmmm...Mad about Madrid" Then I finally got to sniff it and sure enough I was right - Mad About Madrid ~ Under the Spanish Moon aka Tailgate from Fall 2014. So right of the bat, it's a "cologney" of the sweet and spicey variety. The black pepper and tobacco gives the blend a warm, spicy, piquant feel. There's also a sweetness, almost sappy and resinous borderline Flannel-ish. If you like sweet resinous earthy cologney blends like Flannel, then you'll like this one
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