The Pure Essence collection is the second drop of Yankee Candle fragrances in the spring/Q1 release, following the My Serenity collection, which I posted about last week. Yankee Candle have chosen to extend their popular Pure Essence collection, which originally came out last year with the scents Aloe Water, Shea Butter and Cassis, with three further scents that have a similar fresh feel. This year's additions are the following; White Tea, Verbena and Vanilla.
I like to buy the sampler sizes of each scent, so I can decide which (if any) I'll buy in a larger jar, and this time around I went for votives. I was blown away by the strength of the My Serenity tarts, and found them too overpowering for my smaller rooms, and votives typically give off a more subtle scent. The sampler votives, retail for £1.80 and have a burn time of 15 hours. I like to burn mine as intended, but you can also cut the votives into quarters and pop them in a melt warmer to get a stronger scent and make the wax last longer.
The first scent in the collection that I tried was White Tea. This is described on the Yankee Candle website as being "A delicate and relaxing scent of white tea with lemon gently swirled inside." I find white tea in general a really interesting note. Having never really drank white tea, I have no idea what it is actually meant to smell like, but other scents and products with the white tea scent have tended to smell far from tea-like. For example the Origins White Tea body range smells more like tropical fruit, from what I can remember. Here, we have a sharp, citrussy rendition. The tea in this case presents itself in a similar way to green tea, and is reminiscent of both Elizabeth Arden and The Body Shop's Green Tea ranges.
Yankee Candle's White Tea smells very clean, with lemon top notes and an undertone of patchouli. I did get some strange notes from this one that I couldn't quite place; an almost foodie note, licorice perhaps. Although it has connotations of relaxation, I find this an energising fragrance that would be well suited to the morning. White Tea made for a pleasant, uplifting burn but it's not something I would necessarily choose in a larger candle.
Next we have Verbena, a more traditional floral spring scent. Verbena is interesting described as being "matched with citrus and creamy vanilla-clean and refreshing". This was a really interesting, multi-faceted floral. Far from the migraine inducing Island Spa of 2008, this is a more gentle scent. Taking a sparkling citrus top note, sitting outside enjoying the first sun of the year with a glass of cool water with a wedge of zesty lemon. You catch a smell of the spring blooms in the breeze, the pretty purple flowers emitting a sweet perfume. Although the base is described as being vanilla, I get a jelly bean-like accord, which makes this a fun scent for spring.
Vanilla was the scent I was most looking forward to trying out of the collection. Vanilla is by no means a stranger to the Yankee Candle line-up, there currently sits the classic Vanilla Cupcake, as well as the recently retired Vanilla Satin, a more fresh, perfumed approach, as well as the deep Vanilla Bourbon. Described as being "a pure vanilla fragrance that is both sweet and subdued, sugared yet creamy", this effort sits somewhere in between Cupcake and Satin with top notes of sugar, a heart of vanilla orchid and a base of vanilla and white musk.
On cold sniff, Vanilla reminded me of my first holiday to Spain aged 2. Now I can't fully explain why my brain made that connection, but I assume it is because you could perceive Vanilla to have a very slight sun lotion scent. I also detect a hint of Shea Butter, one of my favourites from the previous Pure Essence release. On lighting Vanilla, it reminded me of Angel's Wings. I don't love the scent as much as I thought I would, but it makes a lovely crowd-pleasing scent for communal areas of the house.
There wasn't a scent in the collection that I disliked, which is very rare these days. Verbena really surprised me. On cold sniff I thought it would be my least favourite, and it is actually one that I enjoyed the most. Both My Serenity and Pure Essence collections have painted the picture of relaxation, mindfulness and purity, and Verbena is the one that for me, fulfils this image for me the most. Vanilla was enjoyable too, and although I did like it, I think White Tea was my least favourite as it came across a little sharp. I think these new scents make a great addition to the existing Pure Essence range, and I'm intrigued as to whether I'll be buying any of these in jar form once my samplers run out.
Have you tried any of these scents? If so, which was your favourite?
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