Shopper claims there’s a ‘right way to smell Bath And Body Works candles'—we’ve been doing it wrong

When purchasing scented candles, the default instinct is to pick up the entire product and get a sniff. No matter how big the candles, whether tealights or palm size or even larger, we awkwardly use our hand muscles to pick them up and get a sniff. A shopper, Savana Meaux (@savanameaux), revealed that there’s a simpler, less embarrassing method to do the same. While shopping at Bath & Body Works, the woman realized there was a hassle-free way to get authentic fragrance from scented candles and finalize which you liked best. Sharing a video of herself at the store, she captured a couple of Bath & Body Works candles displayed in a pyramid structure. The candles were of a "Eucalyptus Rain” scent and were in covered containers.

Instead of picking up the entire candle container and awkwardly submerging her nose into it, she did something simpler. She took the lid off of the container and took a quick sniff and put it back. “In my 25 years of living, no one was going to tell me that there’s a right way of smelling these candles without picking the entire thing up,” the shopper wrote in the text overlay. The trick is only to pick up the lid and get the scent in a more effective and simple way. A seemingly insignificant tip but it can be essentially helpful when you’re busy shopping with all those bags and shopping carts browsing different displays. Like this shopper, several others had no idea of this simple trick.

@thatdarnpanda who used to work at the store revealed, “I miss working in B&BW. You can smell either way but there’s more fragrance on the lid initially.” @pmarie.gonzalez added, “I figured this out yesterday when I got so tired of picking out candles and smelling them.” @virgos.grooves said, “Yes, that’s the right way. The scent of the candle rises to the lid.” @marimackk03 remarked, “I only know this because when I was in Bath & Body Works, someone dropped the candle and the worker said you’re only supposed to sniff the lid.” Another shopper, who goes by @kelsieylynnxoxo, added that this trick was revealed to her, too, when she was shopping at the store.

“A long time ago, a Bath & Body Works employee let me in on a secret that has forever changed the way I smell candles,” she said. The woman continued to explain that smelling the lid instead of the candle is not only hassle-free but also gives a better idea of the authentic scent. “If you want the most accurate depiction of how the scent is gonna actually smell, you need to smell the lid, not the jar,” she said. She added that she didn’t have the logic behind the theory but had surely tested it to work.

“The lid and the jar smell completely different. Every time I smell the lid and the candle and light my candle, it always smells like the lid,” the shopper said. @user6078126523237, who used to work at Yankee Candle, revealed, “Wax is cooled down and the lid is left on as the wax cools. That’s why you smell the lid, the scent seeps into the lid.” @lilmizzsunshine39 remarked, “Prone to migraines and I always smell the lid to know if a scent is too strong for me.”

You can follow Savana Meaux (@savanameaux) and (@kelsielynnxoxo) on TikTok for more content on shopping and lifestyle.