CANDLE RETROSPECTIVE: Bronzeblogger's Best New Scents of 2019
As per tradition, right before New Years, I'll post a retrospective looking at my favorite new scents of the past year from SAS/spring to winter. Without further ado, let's get started!
Key Lime Pie - I love anything lime related, including key lime pie which is one of my all time favorite desserts. Naturally, I was excited when BBW finally gave us a key lime inspired (emphasis on "inspired") candle...AND it wasn't a repackage of Tequila Lime Cupcake which would later be repackaged (tested and failed) as Key Lime Pie. Now does the candle actually smell like Key Lime Pie? Mmm, not particularly; BBW has never been the best at actually capturing bakery scents, especially after 2012. That said, I think it is a really nice interpretation. In my most humble of opinions, KLP was the absolute star of the Sweet Shop 2.0 collection!
Cucumber & Lily - not many people talked about this one and I think it was most undeserving of the total indifference it received. Granted it was a very understated scent (which I prefer in spring/floral scents) and wasn't an intense grandiose bam in your face popular floral like rose or like or gardenia but it was still pleasant enough. And (fanfare please) it was friggin NEW. That in and of itself should've garnered more attention. Anyway, this is the kind of florals I like - soft, fresh, wet and dewy. And anything with cucumber involved makes me happy. C&L has been confirmed to be returning in the WB core line in 2020 so fingers crossed it'll get more attention the next go-round.
Jasmine Green Tea - I'm including this scent even though I never ended up buying on. It's a classic case of hemming-and-hawing for too long; I kept waiting around for a decent sale, went in with indecisiveness and wound up waiting around too late cuz it disappeared in my stores. Even though the combo of jasmine and green tea is exactly groundbreaking, it is any combination we haven't seen in home fragrance... at BBW at least. It was slightly jasmine heavy than I would've preferred but it was still a really pleasant scent and I'm still kicking myself for not biting the bullet and buying one.
Fresh Sea Walk - another scent that wasn't talked about much as it was overshadowed by the other new scent in that collection, Salted Ocean Air. Plus there was also Suntan and Berry Waffle Cone and Aloha Kiwi Passionfruit, the poor thing didn't stand a chance. And in a classic case of mandle-hatin, folks wrote this off as just a watery cologney scent..and yes, on a very simplistic superficial level, yes it is. But it's a nice one. Furthermore, how often do we actually get cologney scents, watery or otherwise? Also I am personally happy to have a summer beach scent with no coconut, pineapple or mango involved and a mandle that isn't a variant on MaBLAHgony STANKwood.
Vanilla Sage -this was a surprise hit that just randomly came out of nowhere with little to no fanfare. And despite having such a strong and polarizing note such as sage, VS was oddly popular..though I think that had a lot to do with the addition of vanilla...folks love vanilla scents. I wasn't too impressed when I first sniffed it and had my bf not bought it, I probably wouldn't have given it a try..but I'm glad was able to. I don't think it was right for fall, it would've made a better winter scent. Fingers cross, we'll see it again, in fall or winter.
Pumpkin Clove - despite my ever diminishing pumpkin bias, I still wasn't too enthused or intrigued about it. The name was boring (BBW loves created new blends under the radar and giving them most blandest generic names they can think of) and notes sounded like every other autumnal "pumpkin" scent. Boy did this turn out better than I thought it would! It's all of the spices you associate with all and yet it isn't piquant or bakery and basic. And there's a (relatively) authentic pumpkin note which most BBWian "pumpkin" candles don't possess. PC just has "fall in a jar" appeal and I hope for that sake alone that it returns. In an ideal world and my personal fantasy, PC replaces Shit Cinnamon Poopkin
White Winter Woods - granted it didn't smell like the soap...although what candle actually does. Still it was a welcome addition to this year's winter lineup. And I am always here for piney/smokey blends for wintertime.
Citrus & Spice - many wrote this off as just a spicy musky citrus scent and nothing particularly special. THE FOOLS! I realized it's awesomeness after one sniff and it turned out to be an ancient class from way backintheday - Holiday Pomander, a scent very near and dear to my heart and one of my all time Christmas favs. That candle predates the Golden Era (2011-2013); how many (rare/failed/one hit wonder) candle return as a repackage, especially from that long ago. Despite that, I doubt it'll return..although I think it should and become a staple.
The Perfect Christmas - who would've thought this candle would be so awesome?! I sure as hell didn't! Given the utter basicness of the scents in the "The Perfect Blahblahblah" family, I assumed this would be lame as well..but it isn't! Surprisingly, it is true to it's name; it does indeed smell like the perfect Christmas!
Chocolate Peppermint Cream - I'm tentatively adding this to the list. While I did enjoy this one enough to buy it, it's nothing groundbreaking nor does it reinvent the wheel. Although I will say that out of all of the mint chocolate variants we have seen throughout the years, this is probably my favorite..secondly only to the 2013 version on Mint Chocolate.
Peaceful ~ Peppermint & Tea Tree - another tentative desperation add to this list. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it, enough for me to buy one. I am here for more peppermint scents for wintertime and when have we ever seen tea tree notes in anything, aromatherapy or otherwise? However, it does smell like a previous scent and possibly a repackage of it - Blue Winter Sky. I will see I did enjoy this more than Thankful which is really the main reason for including Peaceful on this list.
Key Lime Pie - I love anything lime related, including key lime pie which is one of my all time favorite desserts. Naturally, I was excited when BBW finally gave us a key lime inspired (emphasis on "inspired") candle...AND it wasn't a repackage of Tequila Lime Cupcake which would later be repackaged (tested and failed) as Key Lime Pie. Now does the candle actually smell like Key Lime Pie? Mmm, not particularly; BBW has never been the best at actually capturing bakery scents, especially after 2012. That said, I think it is a really nice interpretation. In my most humble of opinions, KLP was the absolute star of the Sweet Shop 2.0 collection!
Cucumber & Lily - not many people talked about this one and I think it was most undeserving of the total indifference it received. Granted it was a very understated scent (which I prefer in spring/floral scents) and wasn't an intense grandiose bam in your face popular floral like rose or like or gardenia but it was still pleasant enough. And (fanfare please) it was friggin NEW. That in and of itself should've garnered more attention. Anyway, this is the kind of florals I like - soft, fresh, wet and dewy. And anything with cucumber involved makes me happy. C&L has been confirmed to be returning in the WB core line in 2020 so fingers crossed it'll get more attention the next go-round.
Jasmine Green Tea - I'm including this scent even though I never ended up buying on. It's a classic case of hemming-and-hawing for too long; I kept waiting around for a decent sale, went in with indecisiveness and wound up waiting around too late cuz it disappeared in my stores. Even though the combo of jasmine and green tea is exactly groundbreaking, it is any combination we haven't seen in home fragrance... at BBW at least. It was slightly jasmine heavy than I would've preferred but it was still a really pleasant scent and I'm still kicking myself for not biting the bullet and buying one.
Fresh Sea Walk - another scent that wasn't talked about much as it was overshadowed by the other new scent in that collection, Salted Ocean Air. Plus there was also Suntan and Berry Waffle Cone and Aloha Kiwi Passionfruit, the poor thing didn't stand a chance. And in a classic case of mandle-hatin, folks wrote this off as just a watery cologney scent..and yes, on a very simplistic superficial level, yes it is. But it's a nice one. Furthermore, how often do we actually get cologney scents, watery or otherwise? Also I am personally happy to have a summer beach scent with no coconut, pineapple or mango involved and a mandle that isn't a variant on MaBLAHgony STANKwood.
Vanilla Sage -this was a surprise hit that just randomly came out of nowhere with little to no fanfare. And despite having such a strong and polarizing note such as sage, VS was oddly popular..though I think that had a lot to do with the addition of vanilla...folks love vanilla scents. I wasn't too impressed when I first sniffed it and had my bf not bought it, I probably wouldn't have given it a try..but I'm glad was able to. I don't think it was right for fall, it would've made a better winter scent. Fingers cross, we'll see it again, in fall or winter.
Pumpkin Clove - despite my ever diminishing pumpkin bias, I still wasn't too enthused or intrigued about it. The name was boring (BBW loves created new blends under the radar and giving them most blandest generic names they can think of) and notes sounded like every other autumnal "pumpkin" scent. Boy did this turn out better than I thought it would! It's all of the spices you associate with all and yet it isn't piquant or bakery and basic. And there's a (relatively) authentic pumpkin note which most BBWian "pumpkin" candles don't possess. PC just has "fall in a jar" appeal and I hope for that sake alone that it returns. In an ideal world and my personal fantasy, PC replaces Shit Cinnamon Poopkin
White Winter Woods - granted it didn't smell like the soap...although what candle actually does. Still it was a welcome addition to this year's winter lineup. And I am always here for piney/smokey blends for wintertime.
Citrus & Spice - many wrote this off as just a spicy musky citrus scent and nothing particularly special. THE FOOLS! I realized it's awesomeness after one sniff and it turned out to be an ancient class from way backintheday - Holiday Pomander, a scent very near and dear to my heart and one of my all time Christmas favs. That candle predates the Golden Era (2011-2013); how many (rare/failed/one hit wonder) candle return as a repackage, especially from that long ago. Despite that, I doubt it'll return..although I think it should and become a staple.
The Perfect Christmas - who would've thought this candle would be so awesome?! I sure as hell didn't! Given the utter basicness of the scents in the "The Perfect Blahblahblah" family, I assumed this would be lame as well..but it isn't! Surprisingly, it is true to it's name; it does indeed smell like the perfect Christmas!
Chocolate Peppermint Cream - I'm tentatively adding this to the list. While I did enjoy this one enough to buy it, it's nothing groundbreaking nor does it reinvent the wheel. Although I will say that out of all of the mint chocolate variants we have seen throughout the years, this is probably my favorite..secondly only to the 2013 version on Mint Chocolate.
Peaceful ~ Peppermint & Tea Tree - another tentative desperation add to this list. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it, enough for me to buy one. I am here for more peppermint scents for wintertime and when have we ever seen tea tree notes in anything, aromatherapy or otherwise? However, it does smell like a previous scent and possibly a repackage of it - Blue Winter Sky. I will see I did enjoy this more than Thankful which is really the main reason for including Peaceful on this list.
The Perfect Christmas is everything I wanted Vanilla Balsam to be (I like Vanilla Balsam, but it needs more vanilla). I didn't try the candle, but I did get the wallflower and I'm in love. They do need to give it a different name, mainly because "The Perfect Christmas" is also the name of their Christmas collection, so when you search that on the site, you get ALL their Christmas stuff as a result -__-.But yes, this is a gem, as is Pumpkin Clove! And I agree, it should absolutely replace Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, which smells less like Pumpkin or Cinnamon every year.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna beg and plead B&BW all year for Vanilla Sage to come back because it's my absolute favourite Bath and Body Works candle I've ever smelled. I'm also still fingers crossed for a return of my other absolute favourite, Peppermint Rosemary.
ReplyDelete