BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Boathouse Row (2018)

Products: candle and wf refill
Area used in: bedroom
Time Period: mid- July - September

Boathouse Row was my bae from backintheday. It was truly love at first sniff from the very beginning. My bf and I always made sure we were sufficiently stocked up and burned this candle in our boudoir with reckless abandon. When fall arrived, neither I or my bf were too pressed about stocking up for the future - you really didn't need to do that back then as most scents almost always come back; we figured since it was new and unique and sexy and seemingly popular due to all of those reasons, we figured we'd see it again eventually.

By eventually, I meant the following summer, NOT 5 years!

Fast forward to 2018! BBW releases a small collection of most requested fan favs - including my bae  - muthaeffin Boathouse Row. My proverbial panties were most assuredly creamed; I practically slipped off my chair for moisture at the very sight off it on social media. You can bet your sweet ass that I bought myself a few as the likelihood of seeing it again is slim to none. Furthermore I waited for the dog days of summer to arrive  so I could light this badboi up.

The performance was pretty good - the flames were consistently tall and dancing and the pools have been deep and even with every burn.  The ecru colored wax as it melts isn't nearly as pretty to look at as the dark almost pine green wax of the ol school version but at least the flames flickering behind the blue colored glass is pretty.

The throw...*sigh

I was naively hopeful and optimistic that the new version was gonna be just as much of knockout as the old one. Honestly I should've known better! I have ranted and raved about how returning ol school candles are rarely as strong as their previous incarnations, mainly because BBW has been using lower grade fragrance oils in their blends and it completely changes the recipe for old scent formulas. Alas, BH 2.0 is not the exception; the throw is soooo light compared to the old one. You only really get the full capacity of the scent if you're standing near the candle itself. It does manage to fill the room but at a slow glacial pace and it dissipates after a few hours. I've been using one of my leftover BH refills/bulbs from backinday and even after all these years, it's 10x stronger than the candle. I'm more than a little disappointed with the throw but the scent itself and the nostalgia it conjures makes up for it.

So BH is a mandle for sure; it is...*sigh..cologney; in fact, if you're familiar with Burberry, the have a cologne called "Burberry London for Men" and BH smells extremely similar. Anyway, compared to the old scent, this new version feels tweaked, definitely somehow sweeter..which tends to be a trend with returning mandles (*cough cough Flannel and Mablahgony Stankwood). I'm not sure it was a decisive move to be a cologney scent more palatable to the basic masses or the end result of trying to formulate an old recipe with low quality oils, not sure.

I realized as I was writing this that I didn't really write much of a deep and cohesive breakdown of the blend in my old review so I'll do that now. So you get a watery base but of a different kind. It's not the usual fresh, crisp/oceanic/ozonic aqua notes/blends you get in water scents; the water vibe in BH is more dark and lush. The moss adds a rich wet almost musty feel feel intensified by the earthy/herbal velvetty sage note. The bay leaf adds a sharp slightly citrusy spice. This is one of those instance where I wish BBW went more in depth with the notes as there definitely notes they are telling us. There's probably some more herbal notes thrown in, possibly some vetiver as well. And now the pink elephant in the room - that added pomegranate note in the description. It definitely was mentioned at all in the old notes. I don't know what to think as it sounds so out of place. I personally don't smell pomegranate but because of the added sweetness, I can see how someone through the power of suggestion could think there is pomegranate in the blend. Then again there might actually be actual pomegranate; there may have even been some in the old version. Who the heck knows, it's a conundrum for sure. Whatever the case may be, if you're expecting a juicy tart fruitiness, you will be disappointed. You get a manly blend of watery notes and earthy green herbal notes; I personally get the image of hanging out a lakeside cabin. It also makes me think of the wet humid swamps/bayous of Louisiana with swarthy Cajun men toiling away in their shrimp boats with zydeco music playing in the background. *fans myself from getting the vapors

All in all, BH is a gorgeous, upscale, high end, sexy scent , perfect for the boudoir or a mancave. And for me, having this scent back was so nostalgic and brought back memories of my candle obsession really kicked into high gear and having to get my hands on this candle after listening to Touchthefiretwice's review . It was so awesome that BBW bought back a candle so many of us ol schoolers have been clamoring for, albeit briefly. Perhaps, given the commotion at the time, BBW will come to their sense and put BH back in rotation...but I seriously doubt it.