WALK 'N' SNIFF: Desert Candles, Post SAS Transitionals and Fall Candles
I dunno about you, but I had kinda been avoiding BBW/WB lately; I hadn't stepped inside one since the first week of SAS. And since finding long lost treasure and 75% goodies are a thing of the past (at least in my experience) and I had already bought what I wanted to buy, I just didn't have a reason to make an appearance. Now that SAS is over and newness is poppin up, I now had a reason. I actually did have to go to pick up a room spray, but I heard thru the grapevine that WB stores were doing fall previews which gave me further incentive. Lo and behold, my WB store did indeed have fall candles; I got to buy a room spray and get my sniff, killing 2 birds with one stone.
Now before I get with the fun stuff, let's get the boring stuff out of the way ie the Desert ish and the miscellaneous transitionals.
Desert Wildflower (9151M8A1D) *sigh I've said it before, I'll say it again - I am NOT a fan of body care inspired candles. In my most humble of opinions, they just always smell cheap. This one is no exception. Honestly, I had little to no expectations of this candles and said expectations were met. I like scents that conjure an image; this scent, even with the name, doesn't conjure any. What I get mostly is an intense, sharp, acrid apple note that's a little too Pink Apple Punch-y for my liking. There's a creamy, woody sandalwood which personally I wouldn't have minded if it wasn't for that PAP apple note; the 2 notes don't blend very well. And there you get a bouquet of white floral notes. Overall, it's just meh; it's not bad but it's not good either; it could've worked if there was another note instead of that apple note.
Fresh Water & Aloe (9149AGA2) - I was kinda intrigued with this one as it sounded right up my alley; I do love me some watery/fresh scents. I never smelled the soap so I didn't really know what to expect; plus the notes for the soap are completely different from the notes from the candle. Honestly, what I smell is basically a slightly more feminine version of Wild Sage & Aloe. It get the same basenotes of sage and aloe with a something extra. I pick up some floral notes but I can't say with a competent degree of accuracy that it's "dewy waterflowers" (which I assume refers to either water lilies or water lotus). I guess there's a little bit ozonic freshness and a bit of wateriness but mainly I get WS&A with floral notes. If you liked WS&A but found it too harsh or mainly, give FW&A a true. If not, sniff it for curiousity's sake and keep movin'.
Fresh Orange (9154AGA4) - Honestly folks, there's not much to say about this one. It's NOT Sicilian Orange like I and other ol schoolers thought it was. There was talk on social media that this might be a repackage of the infamous online unicorn candle Citrus Crystals but having never sniffed that, I can neither confirm or deny. Scent-wise it's straightfoward - it smells like a orange zest. Maybe a hit of lemon, a slight effervescence but not in a soda way but in citrus rind/peel/zest way. It's pleasant, guest-friendly, kinda summery but a little bit boring. There's just no reason for it to be around, it's just there to be there.
ADDENDUM: No sign of Green Tea & Jasmine which is what I was quite excited to sniff. It's not even on the website so it may have failed; who knows
Blueberry Pie (9122AGA8) I finally got to smell the 3wick of this; my initial review of this scent was based on the wf bulb and my thoughts and opinions haven't changed. Don't get me wrong..I like the scent and I don't think it's a bad one at all. However in my most humble of opinions, I wholeheartedly do not believe it deserves the hype it's getting on social media. Buying it full price? Buying 10, 20, 30 of it? Filling folks' newsfeed with posts of how amazing it is? Insanity! Is t worth sniffing? Sure. Is it worth buying? Sure. Is it worth falling for the ridiculous social media overhype? Absolutely not.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's talk fall stuff!
My store only had the collection with all of the classics ie Leaves, Sweater Weather etc as well as the bakery collection. I'll forego the classic collection since my store didn't have the one new scent (Pumpkin Clove) and all of the rest you have probably sniffed dozens of times (though if you do want a review, I'll happily acquiesce)
As for the bakery collection, there's really only 2 to talk about
Salted Butterscotch (9163AGA2) - I sniffed this for the sake of a review; as you know, I detest caramel/toffee/butterscotch/maple scents with a white hot passion and most them all smell alike to me..and this one is no exception. I thought this might've been a repackage of Butterscotch Toffee as the notes are similar but I don't think it is. It kinda leans more towards Bourbon Butterscotch sans the bourbon. There's no saltiness/savoriness despite what the name suggests. It's mainly just brown sugar and cream. It's just ok, not better or worse than the all of the other caramel/butterscotch/toffee scents BBW has concocted.
Peach Cobbler (9168AGA2) there was some initial intrigue over this candle on social media cuz it was an "online only" exclusive...which do get my started on that BS. But it started popping up in stores and suddenly it was no longer "online only" on the website anymore. I thought for sure it was gonna be Harvest Peaches from backintheday while others, for whatever odd unexplained reason, thought it might be Peach Meringue..even though the notes have NOTHING in common with PC besides peaches. Having sniffed it, I can confidently say it is NEITHER. It is actual newness..but dont get it excited because, well, it's awful! It does not at all smell like what the name suggests. You get a very generic and artificial peach but it's oddly bright and almost springtime-like, almost like White Peach. And the notes mention "cinnamon sugar"..absolutely not! It's total red hot Hot Tamales Fireball Whiskey Cinnamon & Clove Buds kind of cinnamon and it smells so out of place and wrong next to that peach note. It's almost like they had a spring scent and tried to make it autumnal by throwing in soice. And before another person asks - NO, there is absolutely no bakery crust note AT ALL! Peach and spice, that's all you get. There's nothin remotely "cobbler" abolut this Peach Cobbler. If they absolutely had to have this olfactoral monstrosity around, they should have should it "White Peach & Spice" and thrown it in WB core. But to have the audacity to call this mess "Peach Cobbler" and put in a collection that's bakery themed thus probably making it most popular collection in the bunch was both a huge stretch as well as a misstep.
It appears Sugared Snickerdoodle and PB&J are at the moment "online only" exclusives. If Sugared Snickerdoodle is the same one from last winter/Christmas , thats not a big deal. PB&J on the other hand, that hurts. Hopefully that will be subject to change.
Now before I get with the fun stuff, let's get the boring stuff out of the way ie the Desert ish and the miscellaneous transitionals.
Desert Wildflower (9151M8A1D) *sigh I've said it before, I'll say it again - I am NOT a fan of body care inspired candles. In my most humble of opinions, they just always smell cheap. This one is no exception. Honestly, I had little to no expectations of this candles and said expectations were met. I like scents that conjure an image; this scent, even with the name, doesn't conjure any. What I get mostly is an intense, sharp, acrid apple note that's a little too Pink Apple Punch-y for my liking. There's a creamy, woody sandalwood which personally I wouldn't have minded if it wasn't for that PAP apple note; the 2 notes don't blend very well. And there you get a bouquet of white floral notes. Overall, it's just meh; it's not bad but it's not good either; it could've worked if there was another note instead of that apple note.
Fresh Water & Aloe (9149AGA2) - I was kinda intrigued with this one as it sounded right up my alley; I do love me some watery/fresh scents. I never smelled the soap so I didn't really know what to expect; plus the notes for the soap are completely different from the notes from the candle. Honestly, what I smell is basically a slightly more feminine version of Wild Sage & Aloe. It get the same basenotes of sage and aloe with a something extra. I pick up some floral notes but I can't say with a competent degree of accuracy that it's "dewy waterflowers" (which I assume refers to either water lilies or water lotus). I guess there's a little bit ozonic freshness and a bit of wateriness but mainly I get WS&A with floral notes. If you liked WS&A but found it too harsh or mainly, give FW&A a true. If not, sniff it for curiousity's sake and keep movin'.
Fresh Orange (9154AGA4) - Honestly folks, there's not much to say about this one. It's NOT Sicilian Orange like I and other ol schoolers thought it was. There was talk on social media that this might be a repackage of the infamous online unicorn candle Citrus Crystals but having never sniffed that, I can neither confirm or deny. Scent-wise it's straightfoward - it smells like a orange zest. Maybe a hit of lemon, a slight effervescence but not in a soda way but in citrus rind/peel/zest way. It's pleasant, guest-friendly, kinda summery but a little bit boring. There's just no reason for it to be around, it's just there to be there.
ADDENDUM: No sign of Green Tea & Jasmine which is what I was quite excited to sniff. It's not even on the website so it may have failed; who knows
Blueberry Pie (9122AGA8) I finally got to smell the 3wick of this; my initial review of this scent was based on the wf bulb and my thoughts and opinions haven't changed. Don't get me wrong..I like the scent and I don't think it's a bad one at all. However in my most humble of opinions, I wholeheartedly do not believe it deserves the hype it's getting on social media. Buying it full price? Buying 10, 20, 30 of it? Filling folks' newsfeed with posts of how amazing it is? Insanity! Is t worth sniffing? Sure. Is it worth buying? Sure. Is it worth falling for the ridiculous social media overhype? Absolutely not.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's talk fall stuff!
My store only had the collection with all of the classics ie Leaves, Sweater Weather etc as well as the bakery collection. I'll forego the classic collection since my store didn't have the one new scent (Pumpkin Clove) and all of the rest you have probably sniffed dozens of times (though if you do want a review, I'll happily acquiesce)
As for the bakery collection, there's really only 2 to talk about
Salted Butterscotch (9163AGA2) - I sniffed this for the sake of a review; as you know, I detest caramel/toffee/butterscotch/maple scents with a white hot passion and most them all smell alike to me..and this one is no exception. I thought this might've been a repackage of Butterscotch Toffee as the notes are similar but I don't think it is. It kinda leans more towards Bourbon Butterscotch sans the bourbon. There's no saltiness/savoriness despite what the name suggests. It's mainly just brown sugar and cream. It's just ok, not better or worse than the all of the other caramel/butterscotch/toffee scents BBW has concocted.
Peach Cobbler (9168AGA2) there was some initial intrigue over this candle on social media cuz it was an "online only" exclusive...which do get my started on that BS. But it started popping up in stores and suddenly it was no longer "online only" on the website anymore. I thought for sure it was gonna be Harvest Peaches from backintheday while others, for whatever odd unexplained reason, thought it might be Peach Meringue..even though the notes have NOTHING in common with PC besides peaches. Having sniffed it, I can confidently say it is NEITHER. It is actual newness..but dont get it excited because, well, it's awful! It does not at all smell like what the name suggests. You get a very generic and artificial peach but it's oddly bright and almost springtime-like, almost like White Peach. And the notes mention "cinnamon sugar"..absolutely not! It's total red hot Hot Tamales Fireball Whiskey Cinnamon & Clove Buds kind of cinnamon and it smells so out of place and wrong next to that peach note. It's almost like they had a spring scent and tried to make it autumnal by throwing in soice. And before another person asks - NO, there is absolutely no bakery crust note AT ALL! Peach and spice, that's all you get. There's nothin remotely "cobbler" abolut this Peach Cobbler. If they absolutely had to have this olfactoral monstrosity around, they should have should it "White Peach & Spice" and thrown it in WB core. But to have the audacity to call this mess "Peach Cobbler" and put in a collection that's bakery themed thus probably making it most popular collection in the bunch was both a huge stretch as well as a misstep.
It appears Sugared Snickerdoodle and PB&J are at the moment "online only" exclusives. If Sugared Snickerdoodle is the same one from last winter/Christmas , thats not a big deal. PB&J on the other hand, that hurts. Hopefully that will be subject to change.
Please review the fall classic scents! I love hearing your thoughts, even if I know what they smell like.
ReplyDeleteThey need to bring Cider Lane back or I'll cry! :( Caramel Apple is WAY too sickly sweet for me.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed White Pumpkin and Pumpkin Patch from last year. Thus far they are not on the website but I'm holding out hope that maybe they'll release a 2nd wave of scents and those two will be among them!
ReplyDelete