Vanilla + Musk Candle Review - Bath and Body Works
Is this Vanilla + Musk in this limited White Barn Neutrals collection a repackage of my favorite Marshmallow Musk candle? Get all the juicy deets on this Vanilla & Musk 3-wick candle here!
Product Details
14.5 oz 3-wick scented candle, $26.95
Released: Spring 2023, in select stores and online
Fragrance Notes: whipped vanilla, soft cedarwood and suede musk
New or Returning: Returning fragrance, new name
Image source: bathandbodyworks.com
What It Smells Like
Description: This smells like a beautiful mature marshmallow vanilla fine fragrance. It perfectly captures the velvety, powdery texture of a bag of marshmallows and is then enhanced with what is best described as a mature woman’s perfume fragrance. I believe this is done so by a powdery floral, perhaps heliotrope, which is known to have a powdery, fluffy quality.
The Bath & Body Works website states that this is supposed to smell like “walking through an antique shop—subtly sweet and woodsy.” But I really can’t get on board with that. As an avid antique shopper myself, most antique stores smell distinctly like mold and must, mixed with old books and aged wood furniture. While this fragrance does have a “mature” vibe to it, the marshmallow/vanilla is so sweet and fluffy that this really doesn't smell like an antique store to me. Maybe if that particular antique store was burning this Vanilla & Musk candle!
Comparisons: As confirmed by matching ILNs (Ingredients List Number) on the Bath & Body Works product database, for the Marshmallow Musk and Vanilla Musk room sprays, this appears to indeed be a repackage (both by nose and by ILN) of my favorite Marshmallow Musk from 2018! This was a one hit wonder, so I’m stoked to see it back. Other similar fragrances include Warm Vanilla Sugar, which is also Yankee Candle’s Dreamy Summer Nights.
How It Performs
Burn: This has the core wicks that burn extremely hot and fast. This particular candle soots like crazy! It performs exactly as the original Marshmallow Musk did.
Throw: Light. This is where this candle takes a real hit. Marshmallow Musk was not very strong to begin with (4-5) and this Vanilla & Musk appears to be even lighter! I go very nose blind to this fragrance and can only really detect it if there is no other form of competing fragrance going in the house, and only if I leave the room Vanilla & Musk is burning in and then return to that room. Sometimes I can smell it vaguely, sometimes I don’t even know that a candle is going. 2-3 out of 10.
Conclusion
While I am so jazzed that the Marshmallow Musk fragrance has returned, I’m not excited that the throw seems to be diminished on the particular one I have. I find the 2023 Marshmallow Musk room spray to actually be stronger than the 2023 3-wick, but perhaps you will have better luck with yours. Since I have two Marshmallow Musks in back stock, I don’t think I’ll be needing to repurchase another Vanilla + Musk this year.
However, if you’ve never experienced Marshmallow Musk before, I think it’s still worth trying the Bath and Body Works Vanilla + Musk 3-wick candle as the fragrance is so divine and it might still perform well for you in a smaller room.
For a video review of Vanilla + Musk, watch this on my YouTube channel!