Yankee Candle Water Garden

I have a confession to make... I only wanted to buy this candle for the label and the wax color. Seriously. The beautiful photo of pink water lilies on a tranquil pond, combined with the wonderful teal wax... I didn't really care what it smelled like, I just wanted it! Then I actually slowed down, used my brain, put some thought into it, and realized that dropping $30 on a candle I may not even like was not the smartest move. Instead, I opted to buy a small jar and test it out before making the plunge. Maybe my jar is not the prettiest, but hey, it was cheaper than buying a huge one.

 My heavily discolored small jar of Water
Garden, with its stunning label.

The elephant in the room: the wax looks nothing like it's supposed to. This wax would usually be a lovely shade of teal, but it's faded to a dull cream color. That's fine by me, though – after all, I am just trying this scent out.

On cold sniff, this smells absolutely lovely. It's fresh, but it's not your typical clean scent. It could be the power of suggestion, but I think I smell the water, the greenness, the florals... Here's Yankee's description, which I think fits perfectly:

"Soothing reflections ... pretty water flowers and lush green notes with hints of melon and musk"

It also reminds me a lot of my youth. I think there must have been an air freshener at one of my childhood friend's houses that smelled exactly like this, because that's immediately what this makes me think of – being a kid and going over to a friend's place for the day. That nostalgic element honestly makes me like this scent more. 

...Unfortunately, I don't like the smell of it burning. This could be a fluke – considering the discoloration of the wax, there's also a good chance that the fragrance oils have degraded as well. Still, it just smells kind of waxy and unpleasant. I guess I'm getting a sort of fresh whiff as well, but it's not nearly as strong as I'd have liked. Either this candle I've got is a dud, or Yankee majorly failed with this one... I'm hoping it's the former, because I find it hard to believe they'd put out such a gross scent. Blergh. I'm gonna let the wax reach the edges, put it out, and light my beloved Kitchen Spice to clear it out in here. 

Sigh... I wanted to love this one so badly. It sounds good in theory, and it smells great before burning. But once it's going... it just smells awful. I really do think this might be a problem with my jar in particular – as stated above, the fragrance oils may have degraded – but I can't be sure. Well, I sure am glad I didn't buy the large jar!

Oh, in other news, I'm waiting on some Paradise Spice votives in the mail. I was watching a video from Andy's Yankees (love that guy) and as he described the scent, I knew I needed this candle in my life. It smells of bananas, vanilla, and spices... um, HELLO!? Where have you been all my life! I'm a sucker for anything banana flavored/scented, and the combination with spices sounds downright divine. I probably would have snagged a large jar right from the get-go, but this scent is very rare, and large jars can go for $50+. I wanted to be extra sure about it before dropping all that cash! I was able to snag 3 votives for $9, which is good enough for me. Those should be here next week, and I'm super excited!

[Hi there, this is me editing from 3 months after posting this! I’ve since thrown this candle away, but on closer inspection, I have reason to believe that this may have been a fake. The neck of the jar is unusually long, which is a characteristic of many fake Yankee Candles. The quality of the scent also makes me question the legitimacy of this candle — even when discolored, a Yankee should not emit such a terrible waxy smell. Therefore, I think this may be a counterfeit candle. I really liked the fragrance cold and have heard good things about it, so I will be buying a large jar and posting a review of that in the future. Thank you!]

And until next time... xx