Candles and more candles.

Hi and hello from Sunny Florida, 

As promised, I am gonna talk about some candles today. My sense of smell didn't return yesterday as I had hoped it would but today, despite working off the last little bit of this cold, I can finally smell again and it's wonderful! Funny how much I miss it when I can't.

So I posted the other day about my candle haul. Here it is.

This is what I walked away with on day one of the candle sale. Again, these are 2/$25, with the new sticker price of $22.50. I want to take a moment to talk about this pricing. Reiterating, I am not happy with the increase, as are folks rarely when prices go up. During my visit, I asked the manager on the shift if she had heard anything about why the prices went up, you know, curiosity getting the better of me and all. She had mentioned to me that the wicks were improved, though how she didn't say, to promote a more even burn and wax pool. She then sort of laughed and told me that I probably won't notice a difference. Well alrighty then.

Anyway, at this price point, picking up 3 candles is no longer the best value for your money. If that's the way you prefer to roll, then I give you more kudos, however each haul I am bringing less home. This particular day, I would have brought home six. Instead, I brought home four for the same price, plus some body care that's essentially make up to get it to $30. SAS leftovers saved me this time. It's much better to get something to bump it up to $30 or just above so you can use a coupon because then you're paying a few dollars less for the same two candles on sale, plus you're getting other product out of it. In my case, I complimented my two sets of candles with two Paris Nights, and two Sweet On Paris lotions at $2.75 each making each total $30.50 before coupons. 

Without further ado, I'd like to talk about what I bought.

Raspberry Peach Macaron: This has a light and fruity scent to it, complimented by a bakery scent that's just utterly delicious. I smell a lot more raspberry than peach. Instead of being in your face, the peach is nestled quietly into the background as an accessory rather than clumsily trying to steal the show. This one is easily my favourite of the bunch. It does give a similar vibe to Gelato, now that I'm able to smell the 3 Wick opposed to the mini candle, however it isn't a straight up repackage. I'll do a proper review once I get around to burning it. 

Cinnamon Sugared Doughnut: I never smelled the original - I imagine it doesn't smell any different though I can't say for sure. It smells just like a doughnut shop, minus the sweet custard fillings and jam. As a fan of old fashioned cake doughnuts, this one's a winner on cold throw so far. I look forward to burning it.

Tokyo Petals: I prefer the old name, Electric Tokyo, and it's packaging a lot more than this new label. They've girlified it. I mean don't get me wrong, it's got florals in it and all but I hate how everything has to be packaged in pretty pink. Anyway, despite the description "Cherry Blossoms", this is not a redo of Japanese Cherry Blossom. I can't stand Japanese Cherry Blossom. It's an overly floral scent with a heavy powdery thing going on with it, hot mess, not attractive. Tokyo Petals, however has a nice balance of sweet fruit and floral that isn't too much for the palate and funnily enough when I read the description, it was the last one I expected to actually pick up once candles went on sale. I have to say it smells like something I've smelled before at B&BW, but I can't say for sure what. Watch me figure it out whilst away and forget when I actually come back to type it up.

There you have it. I passed on Strawberry Sorbet as it's essentially a repackage of Strawberry Picnic, Watermelon Lemonade speaks for itself as it was released last year in the Lakeside collection, Red Velvet Cupcake was just out for Christmas (and a terrible performer so I hear), and Frosted Cupcake is one of the usual suspects.

The Destinations are looking great as usual, despite most of them being returning scents or former tests, I tend to treat it like Holiday candles, I just know there's the staple stuff. Like the core Spring collections for example. 

It is my wish for 2014 to be a much better year for candles. So far not a strong run out of the starting gate, but they've got all year to wow us.