Bath & Body Works Create Mists Which Are Fine: Cup Of Warmth, Wrapped In Comfort, Cozy Sunday Morning (2015)

Bath & Body Works have launched a new trio of perfumes in the Signature Collection whose watchword is comfort called Cup of Warmth, Wrapped in Comfort and Cozy Sunday Morning...

The blends are described as "fine fragrance mists" with the world "fine" laying the stress on the fact that these are real perfume compositions resting on a classical and elaborate olfactory pyramid. On the other hand, they are "mists" i.e., light, meant to appeal to people who like to think of fragrance as an extension of the bath/shower ritual rather than as a jewel or fashion accessory. Bath and Body Works like to specify that this form is "...the lightest, most refreshing way to fragrance!"

The fragrance bottles mimic the pattern of a knit, thick woolen sweater to invite you to feel better a cozy atmosphere.

Cozy Sunday Morning is a "A cozy blend of chamomile tea, fresh bergamot & soft cotton."

Top Notes: Soft Bergamot, Chamomile, Cotton Blossom, Sparkling Pink Peppercorn
Mid Notes: Golden Iris Petals, Pink Peony Petals, Creamy White Magnolia
Dry Notes: Gilded Amber, Addictive Orris, Soft Sandalwood, Cotton Musk

Cup of Warmth is "A warm indulgence of vanilla chai, toasted biscotti & a sprinkle of nutmeg."

Top Notes: Sparkling Bergamot, Cinnamon Leaf Oil, Nutmeg
Mid Notes: Ginger, Lotus Blossom, White Ginger Flower
Dry Notes: Biscotti Crème, Caramel Musk, Whipped Vanilla Chai, Sandalwood

Wrapped in Comfort is "A comforting blend of soft cashmere, almond crème & blackberry rosé."

Top Notes: Pink Pepper, Watery Star Fruit
Mid Notes: Airy Baby Muguet, Cotton Blossom, Cashmere Iris Flower
Dry Notes: Caramelized Musks, Soft Sandalwoods, Creamy Musk, Almond Crème

SRP for a 8 fl.oz spray is $14. There are ancillary products.

Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar (2007): An Euro-American Cultural Curio

Warm Vanilla Sugar Eau de Toilette by Bath and Body Works (2007) - to be distinguished from the 2006 limited-edition BBW Seductive Perfume Mist Warm Vanilla Sugar - has an interesting story to tell. It was expressly designed by perfumer David Apel like a puzzle to be solved consisting of the most popular common notes which he could find both in the European and American markets at the time of its creation. Veltol, which is another name for Ethyl Maltol and smells of cotton candy and caramel, is one of the 8 Transatlantic notes.

"I looked at [the top fragrances in the] US Market and the European market -- they were completely different." At the time, gourmand notes dominated in Europe, while the US list was ruled by "very aquatic, sheer" scents. I made a compilation of just the raw materials that were common between the two," he says. "There were only eight. Those eight raw materials in that proportion is Warm Vanilla Sugar by BBW. Everyone said, "This will never sell,"but we presented it and [the client] snapped it up. It's fun to find some kind of puzzle." [Perfumer & Flavorist Magazine] 

How it Smells

The perfume opens on an airy floral, orchid-like note of vanilla with a nuance of exotic Jackfruit followed by a more toffee-like impression of sweets, all enlivened and spiced up by a hint of smokiness. Indeed smoke, as users of Liquid Smoke know, can feel like spice for its wake-up-call effect and light jolt given to the nerves...

The Basmati rice accord is distinguishable on its own smelling more at times like sticky rice pudding and at other times like an ethereal impression of rice steam. You can see that the note contributes to add both lightness to the vanilla absolute and brings added fattiness to the buttery toffee impression which nevertheless stops short of smelling like a regular caramel candy; it is a little bit more abstract and suggestive than that.

The Basmati rice accord becomes more distinctive as the watery note in it becomes more discernable. There are fleeting nuances of almond milk and almond-scented glue too.

The gustatory impression in Warm Vanilla Sugar is undeniably present. When you smell the perfume again after a short pause, the general fresh impression of it feels like lifting the lid of a cooking pot containing a hot stew of Thai coconut curry, savory nuance included. Created before Jo Malone Sweet Lime and Cedar (2008), there are common tonalities between the two scents and certainly a shared kinship within the family of gourmand fragrances.

As the perfume further dries down, the almond nuance of heliotrope becomes more prominent accentuating the comforting personality of the scent but also its slightly vintage charm as if L'Heure Bleue or Hypnotic Poison would have accidentally been spilled into a bowl of warm milk made from diluted condensed milk. On another occasion, it makes you think of a Belle-Epoque Après L'Ondée by Guerlain whose flacon would have been filled with dry granulated brown cane sugar.

What prevents the composition from feeling just like a predictable ode to Ethyl Maltol (Thierry Mugler Angel; Aquolina Pink Sugar) are the white notes of Basmati rice and Heliotropin which cut through the brown caramelized crust of the sugar.

Going back to David Apel's quote, we can see more clearly that what he did also was unite the gourmand oriental family, which is popular in Europe, with the sheer musky-floral one, a perennial favorite in the United States. The Basmati Rice note, you suspect, might come from Creed Love in White (2005) which wanted to feature that accord to suggest the ritual of throwing rice grains at newlyweds.

The official list of notes shows that there are indeed 8 distinct notes, as promised. Apel confesses to having a scientific mind-set; it was apparently given leeway in this fragrance made by a perfumer with the soul of an engineer.  

If you test the scent at your next visit to a Bath and Body Works store, you will be able to smell a well thought-out Euro-American cultural curio, something you probably did not suspect was on display at the local mall.

It also goes to showing that perfumes are not inert, stupid objects but really the translations of mental processes inviting you to open the pages of their contents to decipher them.

Notes: sheer florals, vanilla absolute / Basmati rice, coconut, vanilla absolute / vanilla absolute, heliotrope, musk, Veltol, sandalwood.

The fragrance is currently on sale for 50% less at $13.25 for 2.5 fl. oz.    

Tahiti Island Dream (2015)

Bath & Body Works have released a new eau de parfum in their Signature Collection baptized with the escapist name of Tahiti Island Dream (Rêve de l'île de Tahiti)...

The shape of the bottle signals a higher concentration in perfume oils for the brand which carries so many bath and body products with forays into fine fragrances - edps in particular - as an ulterior thought.

A sexy summer blend of coconut water, Tahitian vanilla musk & kiwi blossom

The blend features top notes of fresh coconut water, sparkling mandarin, golden pear, and kiwi blossom seguing into a heart of jasmine petals, water lily, lush frangipani resting on a bed of Tahitian vanilla musk, skin amber, and Australia-harvested sandalwood.

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