WALK 'N' SNIFF: Fall 2019 Scents ~ Autumn Glow, Luminary Woods, White Barn Collections
*sigh
Life have been a little busy and stressful for me lately and I needed a bit of a pickmeup. As I said in my last post, I've been quite bored with BBW lately and needed some newness in my life. So today I decided to take a trip to my local WB store to see if the second round of fall scent were there and sure enough, they were!
As usual, I'm just gonna focus on the newness; I'm too mentally fried to sit and spill T on every single candle in each collection. So without further ado, let's get into this WALK N SNIFF...
Apple Weather (9203AGA2) - this scent has been getting quite of hype on social and the reviews so far has been polarizing. On the one hand I was intrigued as I do love apple scents but on the other hand, I had to (as always) take what was said on social media with a microscopic grain of salt. So let's get to brass tacks. A lot of people have said that it smells like straightup Farmstand/Heirloom Apple. Ehhh, yes and no. It is absolutely NOT a straightup repackage HOWEVER there is no denying that the apple note is EXTREMELY similar to Farmstand Apple. Other folks have said this smells like Sweater Weather mixed with apple...huge overstatement. Maybe there's a batch variance or maybe people are smelling what they want to smell, but what I smelled today was nothing like Sweater Weather. That said, there is a cooling mentholy camphorous lavender (and what also smells like eucalyptus) that has a similar brisk outd. Anyhoo, omoorsy feel/vibe as Sweater Weather. There is absolutely no cinnamon whatsoever so no worries there. To me it just smells like Farmstand Apple with lavender and eucalyptus..no groundbreaking or exciting. Definitely a bit of a let down for me.
Spiced Chestnut (9200G3A15) - So I made a prediction of what I thought this could potentially be a repackage of...and nobody wanted to hear it. However, after smelling it today, I feel a bit justified. I don't think it's a straightup repackage however in my most humble of opinion, it's smells extremely similar to last year's Evening Hearth. If you're expecting a sweet, nutty, starchy, spiced/vanillic chestnut scent like Chestnuts Roasting or Chestnuts & Clove or Chestnut & Birch, you'll be disappointed; it's definitely less gourmand and more conceptual. And it's so close to EH that it's making me second guess myself; I'll have to bring my EH from home and dare to compare. So, the notes... the chestnuts mentioned in the name and notes..debatable. I think this is a power of suggestion type of situation. I can see or rather, sniff what could possibly be roasted spiced chestnuts but I don't know if it actually exists. I get the same spiked/boozy sweet to the point of being syruppy cider note as well as a cedar (possibly oak) woodiness. Like EH, it just feels misanamed and marketed wrong.
ADDENDUM: There is a batch variation with this candle. I recently sniffed a A3 batch that smelled caramelly and nutty. There's also an A1 batch that smells smoky and a A4 that smells caramelly
Welcome Home (9203AGA8) - As soon as I first saw this candle and peeped out the notes, I was almost certain and I had this candle pegged. I thought for sure that this was a repackage of the random Cinnamon Honey Apple mason jar candle from awhile back. I had a candlebuddy reach out to me today who just happened to have a CHA candle at the ready and did a sidebyside comparison.... They're not the same but have a similar vibe. So what does this smell like? Straightup legit apple butter - cold apple butter on a leftover biscuit...that's Welcome Home. There's a cooked apple note similar to Warm Apple Pie. And there's an autumn spice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice. And it may be my nose playing tricks on me but I do get a hint of bakery that suggests baskets. I'm kinda into this scent but the name kinda throws me for a loop. It reads as a conceptual scent but it's definitely gourmand/bakery; I dunno why BBW didn't just call it Warm/Fresh/Homemade/Artisanal/ Farmstand Apple Butter.
Vanilla Sage (9211M8V2F) - So this scent just appeared out of nowhere with no warnings or announcements and had everyone, myself included, very intrigued. The scent itself was rightup my alley - I do enjoy a herbal piney conceptual scent. I was wracking my brain thinking of what this could possibly be repackage of... plot twist, it's not a repackage! I do believe it's actual newness however it does smell and feel familiar. So picture this - imagine Iced Vanilla Woods mixed with Chestnuts & Clove (sans the clove) with a hint of Winter Mint & Spruce for good measure and that my friends is Vanilla Sage. You ge a soft powdery yet creamy vanilla note. And there's an almost aromatherapy herbal blend of sage, lavender and maybe some vetiver. Sage and lavender can both equally be overwhelming but they blend very nicely and are softened by the vanilla. And there is some pine actually though not as potent as Fresh Balsam or Evergreen. All in all, it's a very unique blend; it's cozy, it's comforting, slightly masculinely but NOT cologney and very aromatherapy-ish. This would make for a great boudoir candle or for a soak in the tub or reading a book under a blanket. I do think, as is often the case with new unique blends, it's marketed wrong. First of all, it shouldn't have been called Vanilla Sage cuz it just sounds blah; plus while there's definite sage notes, they are prominent. I also think this would have made more sense as a winter scent as opposed to autumn. At any rate, if you enjoy subdued sweet herbal piney vanillic blends like Iced Vanilla Woods, Chestnut & Clove, Vanilla Balsam, Peppermint Rosemary or Winter Mint & Spruce, I defintely recommend giving VS a sniff!
I also got to finally sniff
Ghoul Friend (9165K3A7) * SIGH I DESPISE soap/pocketbac/bodycare "inspired" candles. I also despise unseasonal notes marketed as seasonal. BBW has had a long history of marketing/rebranding scents with unseasonal notes, particularly for Halloween. You can kinda get away with that for soaps and pocketbacs but to make a candle out of it? Unnecessary! Here you have a blend of super sweet and highly artificial blend of "berries" and "flowers" and it just feels out of place. To me it smells like candy, almost like bubblegum. It's girly/pink/cutesy-cutesy which would be kinda ok for a soap or pocketbac or bodycare but NOT as a candle. And what annoys me about this candle is the hype..not for all the candle smells, but rather the packaging; people are only buying because of the label. Sooo many long forgotten and overlooked autumnal scents could've taken this candle's place but nope; packaging is more important that decent scents that fit and make sense.
Life have been a little busy and stressful for me lately and I needed a bit of a pickmeup. As I said in my last post, I've been quite bored with BBW lately and needed some newness in my life. So today I decided to take a trip to my local WB store to see if the second round of fall scent were there and sure enough, they were!
As usual, I'm just gonna focus on the newness; I'm too mentally fried to sit and spill T on every single candle in each collection. So without further ado, let's get into this WALK N SNIFF...
Apple Weather (9203AGA2) - this scent has been getting quite of hype on social and the reviews so far has been polarizing. On the one hand I was intrigued as I do love apple scents but on the other hand, I had to (as always) take what was said on social media with a microscopic grain of salt. So let's get to brass tacks. A lot of people have said that it smells like straightup Farmstand/Heirloom Apple. Ehhh, yes and no. It is absolutely NOT a straightup repackage HOWEVER there is no denying that the apple note is EXTREMELY similar to Farmstand Apple. Other folks have said this smells like Sweater Weather mixed with apple...huge overstatement. Maybe there's a batch variance or maybe people are smelling what they want to smell, but what I smelled today was nothing like Sweater Weather. That said, there is a cooling mentholy camphorous lavender (and what also smells like eucalyptus) that has a similar brisk outd. Anyhoo, omoorsy feel/vibe as Sweater Weather. There is absolutely no cinnamon whatsoever so no worries there. To me it just smells like Farmstand Apple with lavender and eucalyptus..no groundbreaking or exciting. Definitely a bit of a let down for me.
Spiced Chestnut (9200G3A15) - So I made a prediction of what I thought this could potentially be a repackage of...and nobody wanted to hear it. However, after smelling it today, I feel a bit justified. I don't think it's a straightup repackage however in my most humble of opinion, it's smells extremely similar to last year's Evening Hearth. If you're expecting a sweet, nutty, starchy, spiced/vanillic chestnut scent like Chestnuts Roasting or Chestnuts & Clove or Chestnut & Birch, you'll be disappointed; it's definitely less gourmand and more conceptual. And it's so close to EH that it's making me second guess myself; I'll have to bring my EH from home and dare to compare. So, the notes... the chestnuts mentioned in the name and notes..debatable. I think this is a power of suggestion type of situation. I can see or rather, sniff what could possibly be roasted spiced chestnuts but I don't know if it actually exists. I get the same spiked/boozy sweet to the point of being syruppy cider note as well as a cedar (possibly oak) woodiness. Like EH, it just feels misanamed and marketed wrong.
ADDENDUM: There is a batch variation with this candle. I recently sniffed a A3 batch that smelled caramelly and nutty. There's also an A1 batch that smells smoky and a A4 that smells caramelly
Welcome Home (9203AGA8) - As soon as I first saw this candle and peeped out the notes, I was almost certain and I had this candle pegged. I thought for sure that this was a repackage of the random Cinnamon Honey Apple mason jar candle from awhile back. I had a candlebuddy reach out to me today who just happened to have a CHA candle at the ready and did a sidebyside comparison.... They're not the same but have a similar vibe. So what does this smell like? Straightup legit apple butter - cold apple butter on a leftover biscuit...that's Welcome Home. There's a cooked apple note similar to Warm Apple Pie. And there's an autumn spice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice. And it may be my nose playing tricks on me but I do get a hint of bakery that suggests baskets. I'm kinda into this scent but the name kinda throws me for a loop. It reads as a conceptual scent but it's definitely gourmand/bakery; I dunno why BBW didn't just call it Warm/Fresh/Homemade/Artisanal/ Farmstand Apple Butter.
Vanilla Sage (9211M8V2F) - So this scent just appeared out of nowhere with no warnings or announcements and had everyone, myself included, very intrigued. The scent itself was rightup my alley - I do enjoy a herbal piney conceptual scent. I was wracking my brain thinking of what this could possibly be repackage of... plot twist, it's not a repackage! I do believe it's actual newness however it does smell and feel familiar. So picture this - imagine Iced Vanilla Woods mixed with Chestnuts & Clove (sans the clove) with a hint of Winter Mint & Spruce for good measure and that my friends is Vanilla Sage. You ge a soft powdery yet creamy vanilla note. And there's an almost aromatherapy herbal blend of sage, lavender and maybe some vetiver. Sage and lavender can both equally be overwhelming but they blend very nicely and are softened by the vanilla. And there is some pine actually though not as potent as Fresh Balsam or Evergreen. All in all, it's a very unique blend; it's cozy, it's comforting, slightly masculinely but NOT cologney and very aromatherapy-ish. This would make for a great boudoir candle or for a soak in the tub or reading a book under a blanket. I do think, as is often the case with new unique blends, it's marketed wrong. First of all, it shouldn't have been called Vanilla Sage cuz it just sounds blah; plus while there's definite sage notes, they are prominent. I also think this would have made more sense as a winter scent as opposed to autumn. At any rate, if you enjoy subdued sweet herbal piney vanillic blends like Iced Vanilla Woods, Chestnut & Clove, Vanilla Balsam, Peppermint Rosemary or Winter Mint & Spruce, I defintely recommend giving VS a sniff!
I also got to finally sniff
Ghoul Friend (9165K3A7) * SIGH I DESPISE soap/pocketbac/bodycare "inspired" candles. I also despise unseasonal notes marketed as seasonal. BBW has had a long history of marketing/rebranding scents with unseasonal notes, particularly for Halloween. You can kinda get away with that for soaps and pocketbacs but to make a candle out of it? Unnecessary! Here you have a blend of super sweet and highly artificial blend of "berries" and "flowers" and it just feels out of place. To me it smells like candy, almost like bubblegum. It's girly/pink/cutesy-cutesy which would be kinda ok for a soap or pocketbac or bodycare but NOT as a candle. And what annoys me about this candle is the hype..not for all the candle smells, but rather the packaging; people are only buying because of the label. Sooo many long forgotten and overlooked autumnal scents could've taken this candle's place but nope; packaging is more important that decent scents that fit and make sense.
First off, thanks for your walk 'n' sniff review! I have felt compelled lately to really thank and commend people like you and tinadivalicious, who are always so spot-on about scents and know how to describe them well. There are so many people on Instagram these days who I think are heavily influenced by what the notes on the candle say and their "reviews" often turn out not accurate at all! So thank you for continuing to contribute to the candle community.
ReplyDeleteGetting into these new scents - I will admit that I smelled it quickly, because I was on my way somewhere and only had a few minutes to stop in B&BW, but I didn't think Spiced Chestnuts smelled anything like Evening Hearth (I wish it had). I love EH, but I was super disappointed in Spiced Chestnuts - the one I smelled was sweet and almost syrupy. It reminded me of scents like Bourbon Sea Salt Caramel and so many other Butterscotch type scenes. Whereas Evening Hearth to me is more in the family of Pumpkin Woods, Cinnamon Pine Cone. But I feel like if it smelled similar to EH I would have picked it up in a hot minute, and instead I was turned off from first sniff. I will have check it out again when I'm not in a rush, maybe my nose was tainted by some other smell in the store!
But I totally agree about Apple Weather, so I was disappointed there too. The Sweater Weather with an apple vibe description had me excited about it, but it was much too similar to Farmstand Apple. I didn't hate it, but I don't see myself picking it up unless I'm really just craving an apple scent sometime this fall. Vanilla Sage surprised me - I usually hate vanilla, but I agree, the herbal notes and the pine blended nicely with it.
Here's my counterargument about Spiced Chestnuts - there are 2 different selling batches; A3 smells like what you described and A5 is what I smelled at my review. 9xtimesoutta10, if what I sell isn't what the reader smells, it's because there's a batch variance, I'm very rarely if ever wrong about these things
DeleteThey need to bring Pumpkin Carving back for a Halloween candle, it would be so perfect! Completely agree with you about Ghoul Friend, what a waste of space.
ReplyDeleteGreat walk 'n' sniff as usual! I ordered Vanilla Sage over the weekend and can't wait for it to arrive.
Thank you kindly. Still debating whether or not I'm gonna buy one
Delete