Yankee Candle Summer Love: Loves Me Lots

The beach is calling and so is romance!  Yesterday our Summer Love began with First Kiss.  It was pretty good for a First Kiss, but there have definitely been better ones!

Today we continue our search for summer romance (although, technically, we can very easily find it at a Yankee shop and in the form of their latest Limited Edition range Summer Love).  Shall we see if he Loves Me Lots?

Loves Me Lots is a completely different from First Kiss.  It's cold throw belies strong notes of sweet citrus, fresh marine, and soft aromatics.  These aromas blend to create an enticing scent which made me anxious to check out its hot throw.

In use the fragrance does not disappoint, if anything it gets better.  The citrus and aromatic characteristics are ever present, but the notes that jump to take the lead are lusciously marine.  Wow - it's a fabulous clean and fresh fragrance and I want more!  I wonder if I could convince Yankee to make this a permanent scent in one of their standard ranges?

So, I think I will pass on First Kiss and I definitely enjoy Loves Me Lots, but will it be my True Crush?  Find out in tomorrow's post!

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

A (brief) review of Yankee Candle Man Candles

Isn't it great when a plan comes to fruition?  I bet the marketing department at Yankee Candle is having a congratulatory party as we speak.  Why?  Because everyone is all a-buzz about Yankee's recently launched Limited Edition Man Candle range.  NPR had a segment on Morning Edition and even Jimmy Fallon mentioned the range on his show ('Mandles', I believe he called them).

So, what's all the fuss about?  I contacted Yankee Candle for some hot-off-the-production-line samples, but I was told Yankee does not provide samples.  Instead, they recommended I buy votives.  Ok, no problem!

The first chance I had, I drove across town to my 'local' Yankee shop.  There they were: pride of place in the center of the store.  I grabbed one variant after another: Riding Mower, 2x4, First Down, Man Town, Fireside.  Wait, what?  Fireside?!  They snuck that one in there - Fireside is a variant in Yankee's base range and is available all year.  Cheeky what's-its!

I sniffed to my hearts content in the store.  The overpowering scent of cut grass stung my nose with Riding Mower; cedarwood infiltrated the senses with 2x4; Man Town had distinct hints of marine reminiscent of men's cologne; First Down ... hmm.  Well, First Down supposedly smells of leather, but I can't remember what notes graced my nose, only that my husband thought it smelled 'gross' (a trained nose he is not).  No biggie, though, I got the votives to test at home, right?

Wrong.  I feverishly looked around their display, but there were no Man Candle votives to be found!  I asked the sales assistants about it and guess what - they informed me that Yankee wasn't launching any votive Man Candles, only jar candles and Car Jars.  No votives, which meant no evaluation and no review!  I couldn't believe it - had I been misinformed ...or intentionally misguided to get me in the store?!

Back home and terribly frustrated, I emailed Yankee to express my disappointment; supposedly my case is now with the supervisor and the PR department has been informed as well, but that was days ago and I had a deadline to meet!

So, there you go, my brief review of Yankee Candle's Limited Edition Man Candles, which (unsurprisingly) were launched just in time for Father's Day!  And, as Jimmy Fallon sagely said, "Just what a guy needs - a manly candle that smells like weekend chores."

The Sheerness of Burberry Brit

I'm feeling fabulous!  Why?  Let me tell you: while I was buying a pair of awesome shoes I noted that there was a free perfume sample at the counter which was mine for the taking!  Shoes and perfume? How could the day get any better?!


Launched in 2007 as a limited edition, and brought back to shelves in 2010, Burberry Brit Sheer entered the flanker scene to what appears to be neutral reviews.  (Should you want to peruse them yourself, you can check them out at Basenotes, Fragrantica and Osmoz.)  But, what do we think about it here at Scents n Scentsibility in 2012?


I've just tested it and Wow!  The top notes are very fresh and clean.  There are light citral-soapy notes that warm into a very slightly powdery floral with the tiniest hint of marine way at the back.  The musk of the dry down makes the fragrance heavier than when first sprayed, but the bright floral notes remain to lighten it and keep it smelling fresh.


This is definitely a fragrance you'll want to have at the ready when spring arrives, the sun comes out and the flowers start to bloom ... put this fragrance on and and you'll be springing and blooming as you step out into that gorgeous spring day!

Fall scents already? I haven't even perfected my tan yet!

The bright sunshine glistening on the newly cleaned pool was calling to me, but instead I climbed inside the excruciatingly hot car and headed over to the mall to buy a much belated birthday present.

Once there, I made my purchase and soon found myself deviating off track.  Instead of heading back into the heat, I was heading over to the Yankee Candle shop.  Before I knew it, I was asking the shop assistant if there was anything new in stock!

He directed me straight over to their new Fall fragrances - Kitchen Spice, Nature's Paintbrush, Over the River, Pumpkin Buttercream and Vanilla Satin.

I exclaimed, "Fall fragrances?!"  The shop assistant just smiled at my surprise and showed me one of the more popular of the five:  Kitchen Spice.

Unfortunately, it was not a new or exciting scent - mostly just clove, clove and more clove.  Very undistinctive from other Fall spicey scents, so let's move on.

Nature's Paintbrush was a bit more interesting-

It is warm, woody with definite musk tones, but also with a hint of dampness.  The combination of these notes are reminiscent of the smells found when walking along a path after a soft Autumn rain, playfully kicking up the moist, multicolored leaves along the way.  Yankee Candle has definitely embodied the outdoor scent of Fall in this fragrance.

Next up - Over the River

This was the shop assistants favorite, but that is unsurprising as he was male and this scent is very male fine fragrance-y.  I would say it was nearly a straight marine fragrance.  Sophisticated for a candle, but not too interesting beyond that.

The penultimate fragrance - Pumpkin Buttercream

I am a lover of gourmand fragrances and this scent definitely starts out well with creamy, cake-y undertones ... which lead into a punch in the face of cinnamon that just does not go away.  I cleared my nose more than once to attempt to get the yummy buttercream smell back, but the cinnamon was too overwhelming.  If you like Big Red, this one is for you!

Finally, last but not least, Vanilla Satin

 

(apologies, no photo was available of the product)

Vanilla and Sandalwood?  Not quite - try Linen!  Linen is one of the most popular fragrance concepts at the moment, and Americans love the vanilla scent.  Pairing these two hot ticket items together should make for a winning fragrance, but this was not the case.

Firstly, for Yankee Candle standards I did not find that the cold throw was very strong.  I had to re-smell the fragrance multiple times before I discovered that it was your run-of-the-mill linen scent.  If you like the common 'fresh linen scent' this one is for you, just don't expect to find a vanilla hook in there per the product name!

There you have it!  The five new fragrances from Yankee Candle for the Fall.  Nature's Paintbrush has intrigued my nose, but as for the rest ... maybe not this year!