Why Does Bath & Body Works Retire Their Best Scents?

Raspberry Peach Macaron - Bath & Body Works Retired Candle

I FINALLY CAVED. I went on Ebay and purchased one of my favorite rare candles that Bath & Body Works never brought back. Being someone who has never purchased a candle at full price, it actually hurt spending more than I ever normally would. But, when you see a decent price for 2 mason jars of Raspberry Peach Macaron you don’t think twice as you hit ‘place order’.

This shopping experience really got me thinking, why does Bath & Body Works seem to retire all of their best scents? For example, here are just a few fan favorites:

Pink Petal Teacake
Radiant Red Maple
Raspberry Peach Macaron
Strawberry Rhubarb Marmalade
Winter Garland
Cider Donut
Cranberry Pumpkin

Go on Ebay or Mercari and you will see these fragrances selling for an obscene amount of money. If Bath & Body Works did any sort of research they’d realize if these scents were brought back to the market they’d make a great deal of money for their corporation. Sales couldn’t have been that bad when these candles were initially brought to market if there’s this big of a fan following.

So why doesn’t Bath & Body Works return all of these favorable fragrances? Here are a few of my theories.

1. Forgotten Formula

I feel like Raspberry Peach Macaron is a prime example of this. The wax community has never been able to find a dupe for this fragrance from any other wax vendors. Is this scent so unique that no one can duplicate it, including the original source? I’ve heard of breweries not writing down their brew formulas and never being able to replicate it, so maybe it’s the same when it comes to our favorite candles.

Raspberry Peach Macaron - Bath & Body Works Retired Candle

2. Formula Issues

Again, Raspberry Peach Macaron is another prime example for this theory. Anyone selling this 2014 candle online states that there is crystallization in the wax. Consumers have called corporate regarding this issue and were ensured that ‘this was an ongoing problem for this specific scent and it wouldn’t effect the overall burning experience.’ Maybe the company wanted to bring this fragrance back but just couldn’t solve the wax crystallization issue. However, I haven’t heard of this happening to any other candles.

3. Collection Size

It’s no secret that Bath & Body Works always brings back it’s returning “favorites” each season in multiple collections. Maybe they are well aware that we want the other scents to come back too but know that Marshmallow Fireside, Leaves, etc are better sellers. Having been involved with the process of creating lines of products before, I know higher ups give marketers a specific number of slots to fill with products. It could really be as simple as this; BBW looking at their sales and not having the shelf space or sku’s available for our other rare favorites.

These theories of mine may not be correct at all or maybe it’s a mixture of the three. No matter the reason, it would be nice to see some of the best scents from the past several years brought back again. Even if it’s just one more time in a ‘Fan Favorites’ collection! Or it would be nice if they rotated our their retuning favorites each year. Hopefully one day Bath & Body Works will listen to us and we will be able to get our hands on these fragrances again at a decent price!

What is your favorite Bath & Body Works candle that has never returned? Share in the comments!

6 Comments

Sandra Lewrey

Aargh, yes, the mystery of the disappearing scents – think we’ve all been stung by that one. My favourite BBW scent (which has subsequently never seen the light of day) was Pink Apple Punch from the Poptails line of a couple years’ ago. It was yummy and pretty popular, I think, but nope, it hasn’t been seen since.

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Michelle

Ahh yes, another great one. Did you hear that we’ll apparently be seeing Pink Petal Teacake again this holiday season?! I can’t even believe it and am crossing my fingers the rest of our beloved scents come back soon too!

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Christi

Sometimes they are renamed. It was back as Hooray this past season. Some may still have it 🙂 black packaging with hologram writing.

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ray

funny to see that i’m not the only one missing radiant red maple. i have one left that i’m hoarding, but it probably won’t be long until i break down and overpay on eBay for another

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Teresa Richards

Wish I could get Radiant Red Maple. I was so disappointed when I went to purchase on line from Bath andBody, and realized that it was not at the store……I just can’t justify the cost from other on line places, though I did find a price that I would have grinned and barred, I just could not accept the price with shipping also!

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KATHY

YES!!!! AMEN!!!! BRING BACK RASPBERRY PEACH MACAROON!!!! I AGREE WITH YOU TOTALLY, I’VE WRITTEN TO THEM AND TOLD THEM TO CHECK OUT THE INSANE PRICES PEOPLE ARE PAYING TO GET THIS CANDLE. I FEEL THEY ARE REALLY MISSING THE MARK RETIRING THIS SCENT

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