Yankee Candle 50th Anniversary Returning Classic: Blueberry

 

My Review for:   Yankee Candle Returning Classic- Blueberry

                 

Yankee Candle Description:
 "Wonderfully tangy and sweet . . . a pure, delicious burst of juicy wild blueberry aroma."

                                        

Fragrance Notes:

                               Top:  Tart Candied Citrus

                                                   Mid:  Wild Blueberry, Raspberry, Cherry

                        Base: Musk, Soft Violet

OOO Boy....

This is a tale of two reviews, so please bear with me. I'm going to give you my cold sniff, thoughts on the FIRST burn, and my conclusion based on all burns thereafter. Here are the gory details: Cold Sniff Impression: Grape Soda. Grape Drink. It's not even Kool-Aid, but something entirely loaded with sugar, and a lingering acrid body I just can't place. Old wine maybe? It smells artificial, but I can smell some Blueberry over the grape soda top notes. It smells like smooshed blueberry that's sat out too long, so it's starting to go bad. It hit me, like a punch to the face, as soon as I took the top off the jar. I didn't have to put my nose to the candle. I had to put my nose AWAY from it! If you like sugary, overripe, smooshed blueberry w/ a twist of grape soda, you're in luck because this candle is STRONG. I think it's the strongest candle I have. I swore I could smell it, sitting on my coffee table with the top still on. Despite my strong revulsion to this particular take on "Blueberry", Let's Light This Puppy. After about 45 mins. I can only smell it from 10 feet away. No big deal. Some candles start to pool right away and some it take a little longer. After about 90 mins, this scent has taken over my medium sized living room and can be smelled all throughout the hallway. Thankfully, I smell less grape soda, which I am guessing came from the candied citrus top notes. I had this candle going for about 3 hours until it gave me a horrible headache and I couldn't take the smell anymore. This candle badly needed a bakery note or creamy-vanilla to calm down the berries and sugar. Is the smooshed berry smell also the "wild blueberry" smell? Or is it the combo of blueberry, raspberry and cherry that gives it that weird quality. It's a mishmash of berries, and I really wanted the blueberry to sing on it's own. This is the first candle I've had to put out because it gave me a headache. I'm pretty tolerant of smells, but this one was a bit too much for my uber-sensitive nose. If at first you don't succeed... try again. I gave this candle another shot. This time I left the window open a few inches. I was in the bedroom, absolutely DREADING coming back to a nauseating, headache inducing smell. Walking out into the hallway, it didn't smell terrible and I was shocked. The throw is still very strong. I can now smell it coming into my house from the garage downstairs. From a distance, it smells really nice. It reminded both my boyfriend and I of our beloved Blueberry Muffin Candle. Back in the living room, ground zero, the closer you get to the candle, the less it smells like bakery blueberry. Now it smells closer to the smooshed blueberry of yore. BUT I can tolerate it. Maybe my newfound respect for this fragrance was because I had the window open. A few hours later, the house is still pleasantly scented with Blueberry Pie filling. This scent has had an amazing transformation. I haven't experienced this significant a change of fragrance, from one burning to the next, until now. This just goes to show you, first impressions aren't everything when it comes to candles. There are a lot of notes to this simply named candle. You have to burn it a while to break through the layers and finally let the musk and violet come through. I can't smell these notes in particular, but they have definitely changed the fragrance in a big way. I think Yankee Candle's Returning Favorite Blueberry will be a fabulous mixing candle for any of my weaker bakery, berry, or even floral scented candles. The sky is the limit, though I do have to keep in mind, the Blueberry candle is SO STRONG, it could overpower the candles I mix it with. When I try layering Blueberry with something else, I will update this post. For now, this candle stands on it's own, and it's a great candle to add to your collection. Don't let the initial grape soda, artificial smooshed berry smell keep you from enjoying the main body. Burn it twice, and you'll see what I'm talking about. This candle isn't for everyone, but if you like the smell of blueberry pie FILLING without the bakery notes, you will appreciate the richness found in this candle. -Fragrance: 6/10   (points for transformative powers!) -Throw:    10/10 -Overall: B- Until Next Time, my Candle Subjects! 💗The Candle Queen