Bath & Body Works Vanilla Bean is a Study in Fragrances of the Past
I picked up the “new” Bath & Body Works Vanilla Bean Fragrance Mist and Body Lotion on Tuesday when I ventured out to see what the Semi-Annual Sale had to offer. I actually walked out of the store with a lot more than I thought I’d buy even though the sale pretty much sucked.
Gosh, remember Semi-Annual Sales back in the day? It was such a freaking array of wonderful things! Nowadays it’s sort of limited to body washes, body lotions, mists, and a few select candles. But back in the day the entire store was on sale with tons of back stock from the Holidays. You’d find Halloween accessories, candle holders from Christmas, many, many seasonal body care and fragrance items. It was REALLY a good sale.
Now it seems like most of the sale item are really recent items and the “retired” fragrances they bring back seem like they are ALWAYS the same.
But I admit to coming out of the store with a lot more than I thought I’d buy. I think I got about four candles one of which was Paris Cafe that’s really quite a strong coffee sent and Italy which is a nice chocolate-y scent as well as the newest Summer scents like Root Beer Float and Banana Split. I also grabbed a few body mists and lotions one of which was Vanilla Bean.
When I noticed that Bath & Body Works launched Vanilla Bean I assumed it would be much like Victoria’s Secret Bare Vanilla because the two companies are sister brands after all and I just thought,”Hmm these probably smell the same!” I picked up Bare Vanilla recently during my semi-annual haul and I loved it. It’s really quite a nice vanilla. And it’s something that’s long overdue as Victoria’s Secret deals in a lot of fruity florals. Nice to see them venturing away from that.
I should know with Bath & Body Works you never truly get what the name implies. But sometimes, I still take the names at face value. I saw Vanilla Bean and visions of a soft creamy vanilla entered my mind. But of course, it isn’t that. But it’s still gorgeous however, it’s a study in how much Bath & Body Works loves to bring back fragrances and name them something else because Vanilla Bean is in fact Beach Nights which I loved so, hey, I’m glad to have it back! But I must express some disappointment.
Beach Nights had notes of toasted marshmallow, sea salt breeze & s’mores where as Vanilla Bean has notes of fluffy vanilla, white orchid, toasted tonka and whipped cream. To me these pretty much smell spot on the same aside from the fact that Beach Nights seemed to linger a little longer and didn’t have the initial alcohol note on first spray.
To me this smells like a creamy, toasted vanilla that’s warm and cozy. There’s a little bit of the twang on the back end which might be the white orchid but it’s subtle so all in all you’re getting a nice, warm, comforting gourmand.
I’m glad they brought this back but I do wish they’d be more upfront about returning fragrances. This is pretty irritating in particular candles which are pretty much the same rotation of scents over and over and over again with new labels. I know for a fact they can do better than this so why deceive your fans?
None the less, those who missed out on Beach Nights or those who loved it as much as I did you’ll be happy to know it returns in Vanilla Bean.
I loved this scent before and I love it now. It’s a nice vanilla blend worth checking out.
Smelled it already?
Do share!