Does Bath Body & Works’ new ‘Football Season’ candle actually smell like football?

Training camp is in. Optimism is high. Football season is almost upon us. The scent engineers at Bath & Body Works are hoping to capitalize on your excitement for football with a new “Football Season” scented candle, which is sure to freshen your home and make guests ask questions like “Why did you buy a candle called ‘Football Season’?”

As soon as we got wind that there was a football-themed Bath & Body Works candle we knew something had to be done. So our writers James Dator and Mark Schofield were dispatched to their local stores to pick up “Football Season” and give their thoughts.

Now, in order for this to be a fair and balanced candle review we refused to discuss our feelings on the candle, instead choosing to write independently. This shall be called being “scentquestered” henceforth. The first time we’re seeing what each other thought about ‘Football Season’ is right here, right now.

This is a good smelling candle. I’m not going to front and pretend it smells awful, because it’s very nice. With three dogs, including a highly-flatulent Staffordshire Bull Terrier, we are absolutely a scented candle household to prevent our home smelling like 1,000 egg farts.

That said, there is very little about “Football Season” that reminds me of football season. Obviously I wasn’t expecting the candle to smell like leather, grass, and dirt – because the idea of the candle is to evoke a feeling, a mood. The issue is that the feeling being evoked here is from somebody who has never been to a football game and only has this Hallmark-esque view of the sport being all about cuddling under a blanket on bleachers, complete with a cup of hot chocolate.

The overwhelming scent of “Football Season” is eucalyptus, which is really jarring as someone from Australia. It’s the least American scent imaginable, and not something I would ever associate with fall. In the case of the candle it’s being used as a generic “greenery” type scent, I suppose to make you think it’s a little grassy – but I grew up smelling eucalyptus on the regular, so I was able to single it out immediately.

Outside of that there’s a big hint of fall. Not quite “Leaves,” which is a favorite Bath & Body Works candle in our household each fall. It’s also gently pointing to this being a fall candle with the orange color, which falls somewhere between that of a football, and a pumpkin.

This is a really nice candle that kind of bridges summer and fall, but there’s nothing about it that reads as “football” to me.

“You’re here to pick up the two ‘Football Seasons,’ correct?”

Hearing that question highlights the surrealness ... almost the absurdity... of where life finds me this Tuesday afternoon. It is deep in the heart of July, nearly August, and the weather in the Maryland suburbs of our nation’s capital is oppressively humid. With air temperatures approaching 100 degrees and a heat index well over 100, it is too hot to be outside.

And definitely not the weather for being at a Bath and Body Works to purchase a candle named “Football Season,” that is supposed to smell like “cozying up on the bleachers with a warm flannel blanket.”

The things we do for content.

The idea is simple: On the cusp of football season, a handful of SB Nation writers would pick up the candle and ... share their notes. Similar to a wine tasting, where one would share notes regarding hints of chocolate, red fruits, strong aromas, and more.

But with a candle, and an undertone of football.

I get home, take the candle out of the bag, pop the top off, and ... inhale.

There are some hints of what I might describe as autumn here, but more of the “strong cologne” variety and less of the “sitting on cold metal bleachers and being disappointed in your favorite football team” variety, which is how football seasons have gone for me lately as a New England Patriots fan.

As for the smells that remind one of fall, there is a woody scent to this candle (from the description, I assume that would be the cedarwood). After a few more minutes, I picked up on the sage and eucalyptus.

Again, not overly reminiscent of football, but certainly reminiscent of fall.

Which is football season after all ... so I guess it works.

I’ll add this candle to the fall rotation.

Do you like lighting candles in the fall? If yes, then — sure, why not. It’s a little dumb having something on your coffee table with a pennant that reads “GO TEAM” on it, however.