I Sniffed Everything at Bath & Body Works and Didn’t Leave With a Headache
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For a teenager in the early aughts, mall was life. It was where we gathered and preened, dipping in and out of stores with zero dollars and zero cents, touching stuff and browsing slowly while talking about the week’s happenings. Bath & Body Works was always one of my favorite stops because it was sensorial. We could sniff with abandon and test out any number of lotions, perfumes, and creams. I would often venture into the connected White Barn with its low lighting and wood tables, mimicking Pottery Barn and Pier One Imports (RIP). I eventually started making a little money, enough to buy a candle here and there, sneaking them into my dorm rooms and eventually burning them with abandon in off-campus housing. I liked how grown-up it made me feel to have a candle burning. It felt like my space was finished and intentional, as much for me as for anyone visiting my place. At that time, Bath & Body Works also always had a sale on, so it was easy to get a three-wickcandlefor less than $15.
When I started working in beauty, suddenly I had access to all this free stuff and my taste evolved. Prior to that, I couldn’t imagine spending upwards of $50 on a Diptyque candle, but now I was getting them for free. Soon my house was populated with pricey fine fragrance scents created by some of the best noses in the world. And with that, the Bath & Body Works candles I’d come to love were relegated to the back of my closet to gather dust, less appealing with every fancy candle I added to my collection. As I became more versed in how candles work, I became even less interested, but recently I decided to return to my roots and see if there was more than nostalgia to be had.
Here’s what I learned.
The single-wick candles have great cold throw (but when they’re lit, it’s another story)
While these are well-priced and have great cold throw, meaning they smell nice unlit, I’m less impressed with them when lit. They burn well, but the throw is nonexistent unless you’re fairly close to it.
The three-wick candles’ scent can fill up a room — and they’re a great deal
The three-wick candles, on the other hand, really fill up a room. After they’d been burning for just a half-hour, before the wax fully pooled, I could smell the candle from my bedroom down the hall. Back when I shopped at Target, I’d named their three-wick as surprisingly good and affordable, the best you could do under $20. I haven’t shopped there in a couple of years now, so I don’t have a head-to-head comparison anymore, but the three-wick from Bath & Body Works is a very good deal. Full price, they’re $25, which isn’t expensive in the world of candles. A similar-size candle from a more accessible candle brand, like P.F. Candle Co., will run you $44.
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The best Bath & Body Works scents have spicy, earthy notes
I sniffed every candle in the Bath & Body Works on Lexington Avenue, and many of them were sickeningly sweet. It’s great if that’s what you’re into, but I couldn’t imagine burning many of them in my home. What I did like were the earthier scents like the best-selling Mahogany Teakwood, which has notes of mahogany, oak, and frosted lavender. Another thing I noticed about the Bath & Body Works lineup — the brand tends to iterate on a signature grounding note, tweaking it slightly. Mahogany coconut, for example, is fairly similar to Mahogany teakwood, the major difference being coconut instead of oak. I went on this pilgrimage in the spring, so most of the scents are tailored to fit that season. Come fall and heading into the holidays, those cozier, spicier scent notes are typically more readily available. I tend to enjoy fall, when all the peppermint-themed candles come out.
The ceramic votives feel fancy, and the scents are good (not great)
The brand is known for its glass votives, but the brand has a selection of candles that come in heavy, fluted ceramic jars. They’re nice-looking and sturdy and appear much more expensive than they are. The scents are also closer to what you’d find at an indie fragrance brand with notes of hinoki and oud. I burned the brand’s rose-and-oud candle for three hours and couldn’t smell it unless I was very close to it. I did some Googling, and users in this Bath & Body WorksReddit threadhad a similar experience. Some said the throw on their rose-and-oud candle was fine and that it may have been a bad batch. Either way, I’d hope for a more consistent result, especially since it contains paraffin, a wax known for its ability to hold a scent and produce a decent throw. That said, I was impressed by the scent profile, which has notes of sandalwood, oud and desert rose. It didn’t smell anything like the cloying scents I’d experienced in other parts of the store. With better throw, it’s a candle I’d even gift to someone else. There were other standout scents in this ceramic collection, like Frosted Cranberry (not currently in stock, likely due to seasonality), which has a fruity, woody scent, and Fresh Balsam, which smells like a Christmas tree.
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My final thoughts: There are better options out there, but don’t write B&BW off
While I wouldn’t go to Bath & Body Works with any regularity, I wouldn’t dismiss it outright. Every once in a while, there’s a scent that cuts through the saccharine offerings and really transforms a room. For me, that’s Twisted Peppermint on a cold winter day and during sweater weather in the fall. It’s still a solid option if you’re in need of a cheap candle, and it still makes a decent gift for under $20.
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