Review of 11 New Holiday/Winter Slatkin Candles from B&BW

Christmas Picks 2010

If you're like me, your place is already decorated for Christmas and you're already thinking about Christmas scented candles. I usually don't start this early with Christmas decorating but I'm really excited for all things Christmas to come. I've already said that word 4 times in this introduction.

This year I'm gonna give my picks for Christmas first, then my picks for winter in a later post. Some of them could be either, but in Pennsylvania, the snow doesn't hit really hard usually until after Christmas and when I think winter, I think snow and really cold temperatures. So I usually burn my winter scents after Christmas. Christmas scents I burn November and December when everywhere you look, places are decorated for the holiday and the christmas carols start to play.

Slatkin & Co. Fresh Balsam



I need to have a pine scent - pure pine to mimic the fresh cut pine tree we used to have in our living room when I was growing up. After trying several different types, this one is the perfect and purest one in my opinion. Bathandbodyworks.com describes it as "Crisp, clean balsam fir blends delightfully with fresh eucalyptus and sweet pine layered with notes of bright apple, cedarwood and musk."

Slatkin & Co. Spice



This is another must-have classic. A lot of people think of cinnamon when they think of Christmas scents. This is also a pure scent to me - cinnamon and clove, warm and cozy. Very holiday. "Spice is the perfect blend of red cinnamon, spiced orange peel and sweet vanilla cream."

Slatkin & Co. Winter Garland



This one is new this year along with a lot of other new holiday scents at Bath & Body Works. I smelled it in the single wick earlier in the year and hated it and now here I am listing it as one of my favorites. It's pine with other notes of cranberry and orange so it's a nice combination of scents. "A sparkling combination of cranberry champagne, blood orange and red berry mixed with the essence of evergreen moss, white cedar and toasted clove." I just realized the description on the website is different than the one on the bottom of the candle but they're similar enough to smell the same.

Slatkin & Co. Holly Wreath



This one is very unique. It smells like pine but it actually has no pine notes in it at all. I'll give their description first: "Fresh juniper and eucalyptus leaves combined with notes of spicy cinnamon bark and sparkling citrus." This one is very fresh and almost smells a little of mint. I can smell the notes of eucalyptus but no one note stands out more than the others.

Slatkin & Co. Mint Chocolate



This one isn't necessarily a Christmas scent or a winter scent but here's my logic - the cool mint reminds me of winter and the chocolate reminds me of holiday. This is more mint chocolate chip ice cream than a peppermint patty or peppermint bark. It's not fake smelling though. It's yummy and fresh. "Semi-sweet chocolate, dark cocoa and peppermint."

Honorable Mentions (with no pictures)

Yankee Candle Holiday Bayberry

"Pine, fir, and laurel are softened with the clean scent of bayberry, frankincense, and myrrh." Here's the story on why you should burn a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve (courtesy of Yankeecandle.com):

First made by early colonists who boiled real bayberries to get the wax, bayberry candles are considered by many to be the original scented candles in America. Because they were difficult and expensive to make, they were highly prized and reserved for special occasions. Traditional holds that when one receives a bayberry candle as a gift from a friend, then burns the candle on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve (allowing candle to burn itself out), they will receive good luck, good health, and much wealth. That translates into the popular saying that "burning a bayberry candle from tip to socket puts luck in the home and gold in the pocket."

Purchase Yankee Candle's Natural Bayberry Tapers to get the real thing with the story on the box!

Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie

If you're not baking constantly during the holiday season, just burn this candle and it smells just as good. It's one of the yummiest candle scents ever. "Buttery rich, vanilla scented, holiday sugar cookies."


Is Santa here yet?

{Currently Burning - Slatkin & Co. Cranberry Woods}

Scents of Christmas 2009

I'm not going to bother to list all the holiday scents for this year, I will only list my current favorites. I have to admit my favorite candles are Slatkin from Bath and Body Works then Yankee but I will try to review a variety of different brands on this blog.

Winter by Slatkin & Co.



Bathandbodyworks.com says this candle has notes of pine, bay leaf, red cinnamon, and warm winter woods. I get notes of pine, orange peel, maybe a little bit of cinnamon, and a woodsy herb smell - I'll take bay leaf. This is my favorite Christmas scent this year. They've had it years past but I don't remember liking it until this year. In my opinion it's the perfect holiday scent because it combines all the typical holiday smells into one fragrance. Give this scent a chance - when I first burned it I thought it was glorious.

Spice by Slatkin & Co.



Bathandbodyworks.com says this has notes of cinnamon, spiced orange peel, and sweet vanilla cream. The main note of this candle is definitely cinnamon, but it's not too spicy like some other cinnamon candles. I definitely get a sweet note of vanilla with it as well. They've had this scent other years too and to me it's a classic for holidays.

Fresh Balsam by Slatkin & Co.



Bathandbodyworks.com says this has notes of balsam fir, eucalyptus, apple, cedarwood, and musk. I just get notes of pine and a little of eucalyptus. Even though Winter has pine notes, I always need a strong pine candle to burn right around Christmas because it reminds me of our real Christmas tree when I was little. Now there's nothing but artificial trees for my family so burning a pine candle now is a must. This pine scent is lighter than most and has more of a fresh feeling.

Last year my favorite pine was Yankee Sparkling Pine so that gets an honorable mention.

Christmas Cookie by Yankee



This is a classic for me around the holidays as well. I remember my Mother burning this in the kitchen around Christmas. Plus a good sweet cookie foodie scent I'm always a sucker for. You'll see here that I love sweet scents.

Those are my picks for Christmas '09. I have some great winter scents as well but I'll save those for a Scents of the Season post.

{Currently burning - Jack Frost by Yankee}