A few days before Christmas I was dropping off our trusty old Apple router (they no longer make them anymore) for recycling up at the Oak Brook Shopping Center. And I stopped by the Bath and Body Works there before heading home. Way too busy to ever do, but I possibly would never have come across Book Loft, a new candle from White Barn (WH)/ Bath and Body Works (BBW)— due out in full force this spring, according to formidable decades old blog Life Inside The Page. But even Tess, the woman behind this Bath and Body Works insider blog isn’t privy to the notes yet.

I bought only one Book Loft candle but sincerely hope to be able to find it once it’s widely released. Right now it’s being soft launched in select stores. Who knew the home fragrance industry was so interesting right?

The back of candles from BBW and WH almost always have the main 3 notes listed—but the back of Book Loft only has these mysterious words: “Cozy Up Under a Warm Blanket As You Turn the Pages of Your Favorite Book.”

Even the other Spring 2024 candles have their notes are clearly listed on the back of them (you can find several people posting photos of the rare ones of them online).

But I think I’ve got the notes of Book Loft figured out. 

Book Loft Candle Notes

Book Loft

3-Wick Candle

UPC#: 667559259374

ILN #: 400000070394What’s this?

Ingredients: Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (8016-70-4, Wax), Paraffin (8002-74-2, Wax), Hydrogenated Palm Oil (68514-74-9, Wax), Fragrance (Parfum)(Fragrance Ingredient), Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina, Cire microcristalline)(63231-60-7, Wax), Hydroxycitronellal, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate (6683-19-8, Stabilizer), Hydroxyl-Benzotriazole (Stabilizer), Hindered Amine Light Stabilizer (Stabilizer), Limonene, Linalool, BHT (128-37-0, Stabilizer)

Bath and Body Works Ingredients Directory

You can’t find the candle or wall flower on the BBW website yet, but I was able to track down the ingredients list thanks to Tess’ blog, which appears to consistently list the UPC codes of Bath and Body Products. Much thanks goes to her for making this internet expedition so short.

With the UPC# I was able to find it in the Bath and Body Works Ingredients Directory (which I never knew existed!). The waxes and stabilizers don’t give any fragrance notes away. Zeroing in on the other ingredients give the most substantive conclusions however:

• Limonene – chemical found in the peels of citrus fruits and in other plants (Fragrance Conservatory).
• Linalool – a floral and spicy terpene alcohol found in such plants as lavender and citrus fruits. High concentrations are used to give beers a fruity hoppy aroma (Fragrance Conservatory).
• Hydroxycitronellal – is scent produced synthetically from citronellal (a type of lemongrass), used to give a floral, waxy scent—reminiscent of muguet (lily of the valley) (Fragrance Conservatory).

My nose read the candle as a delicate, sophisticated, unpretensious scent. The subtly of it makes the notes hard to pinpoint, but muted lavender, earl grey tea, and beeswax felt like the notes for me. I detected no citrus, which is curious given that these three giveaway ingredients come from some citrus plant varieties.

What Others Are Saying

A gent over on YouTube with a 20.5k+ subscriber channel aptly called The Candle Channel uploaded a video review of Book Loft a few days ago. Though he doesn’t know the notes either, it was nice to know I’m not the only one scratching their heads about this candle.

Not much is online about Book Loft, which adds to the mysterious of it.

I love Book Loft, whereas the reviewer found it disappointing and week. I do agree with the reviewer about it’s strength. But, I will be buying more of the candle because in a small room or next to me on my office desk while I work, it’s worth it.

Widely Released On the BBW Website January 10, 2023

And the notes were just revealed on the Bath and Body Works website as of this morning: https://www.bathandbodyworks.com/p/book-loft-3-wick-candle-028000329.html

• Crisp Bergamot
• Neroli
• Cozy woods

I got close to spotting one of the notes: neroli, but regardless it was fun wondering for a while. Now it’s time to take advantage of buying the candle more easily and during the semi-annual sale no less!

Happy shopping readers.