These 3 Bath & Body Works Retired Scents Are Back on Shelves
Millennials, ready thy nostalgia
PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and some items may be gifted to us. Additionally, PureWow may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. All prices are accurate upon date of publish. You can learn more about the affiliate process here.
Bath & Body Works is notorious for bringing back popular retired scents to the surprise and delight of many millennials (and zillennials like myself). I remember the days of lathering my middle school self in Sun-Ripened Raspberry body lotion and breathing in the sweet, fruity scent. It also happened to come out the year I was born, 1996, but only rarely sees the light of day during some Bath & Body works Semi-Annual Sales.
And while my favorite scent has yet to return this year, some other incredible early to mid-00’s and 2010’s favorites are back on the site, waiting for you to add them to your cart. Think: Cucumber-Melon. And better yet, many of them are a part of the mix-and-match sale where you can scoop up tons of your favorite fragrances so that you don’t have to go without (just in case they ever disappear for an extended time). I’m still holding out for a raspberry return, but I guess I’ll just have to do some shopping in the meantime.
Shop Recently Returned Bath & Body Works Millennial Favorites
Originally released in 1998, Cucumber Melon is a *classic* early ’00s favorite. With notes of crisp cucumber, watery honeydew, summer cantaloupe, sparkling grapefruit and sheer woods, you are going to smell like the freshest fruit salad. Sweet, melon-y and ultra dewy, lathering with this lush scent will bring you straight back to summertime in your teens. Relaunched in 2023 as a part of Bath & Body Work’s 25th Anniversary celebration, this online exclusive is mall nostalgia in a green bottle.
Launched in 2019 and back on the site after a long hiatus, Gingham is a Bath & Body Works fan-favorite. I remember smelling Gingham when it first hit the shelves in college—upbeat, exciting and super fresh, Gingham has of notes of blue freesia, white peach, fresh clementine, violet and clean musk. A fruity floral with all the makings of a layerable signature scent. Gingham also has some new cousins, Gingham Gorgeous, Gingham Fresh and Gingham Glow, all newer iterations of the beloved late-2010s scent. Plus, the namesake gingham packaging is oh-so-very cute and totally giftable.
Though Sun Drenched Linen has never truly disappeared, it’s taken on a couple of different identities. What used to be known as Fresh Linen according to numerous Redditors and retail employees, has been reworked over the years to Sun Drenched Linen. A clean, airy and fresh scent, Sun Drenched Linen is laundry day in a nutshell. Notes of fresh linen, crisp tart apple and soft musk combine to embody the essence of washing clothes on a summer day. This time around, the scent is available in the form of candles, air fresheners and room sprays so that every room can smell like a load of warm, clean clothes.
If You Liked These 4 Retired Scents, Try These Alternatives
According to Fragrantica, Love & Sunshine, contained notes of lemon, strawberry and daisies. While not exactly the same, Bath & Body works does still have products in a scent called Sunshine & Lemons that will definitely give you that citrus kick you’re craving with notes of bright citrus, fresh squeezed lemons and cane sugar. The downside is that you can only get it in hand sanitizer form. So snag one for your bag to take on the go…or stock up using their six for $10 deal.
One of a number of scents that Bath & Body Works sold while I was a youngster (Reminder: I’m 28), Coconut Lime Breeze is the scent of summer vacation. No homework. Endless days by the pool. Gnawing on fruity popsicles like your life depended on it. Sadly, it’s been discontinued and nowhere to be found on-site. However, they do still have Waikiki Beach Coconut and Reviving Rain, which when layered, can give you a similar scent experience. Coconut Lime Breeze had notes of lime, coconut, musk, orange blossom and jasmine. If you’re working with Waikiki Beach Coconut, you get whiffs of tropical white coconut, saltwater breezes and sun-bleached woods for that warm and creamy element from Coconut Lime Breeze while Reviving Rain with its notes of zesty lime and sparkling neroli give you that zing of citrus that you’re missing from the first.
- Deal: Mix & Match Minis: B3G1
- Deal: Mix & Match: B3G1
A classic. Black Raspberry and vanilla isn’t just one of the best flavor combos, it also made for one of the best fragrance combos, too. And one that I yearn for constantly. I’ve found that finding a berry forward scent that doesn’t veer sickeningly sweet is hard to come by, so I’ve kept my eye out for alternatives. The Black Raspberry that I knew and loved smelled like fresh raspberries, vine-ripened blackberries and vanilla orchid, so finding replacements meant looking for fruity, floral and gourmand notes. Black Cherry Merlot with Warm Vanilla Sugar is an innovative layering pair to mimic the essence of the OG Black Raspberry and Vanilla. On its own Warm Vanilla Sugar, with its notes of vanilla, white orchid, sparkling sugar, fresh jasmine and creamy sandalwood is on the sweeter side, but when working in tandem with Black Cherry Merlot, featuring notes of dark cherry, black raspberry and merlot, creates more of a fruity vanilla with the depth and fervor that Black Raspberry and Vanilla was known for.
4. Try Rouge Rebel If You Loved Country Apple
Bath & Body Works
- Deal: Mix & Match: B3G3 or B2G1
If Country Apple had an older, wiser and really chic sister, it would be Rouge Rebel. The beloved retired scent features two major notes: McIntosh apple and sweet clementine, which combined make for a gorgeous fruity delight. While it’s missing the clementine, Rouge Rebel is apple forward, but elevated with heartier notes of amberwoods and sugared musk that keep this scent earthier and more mature. Plus, some TikTok-ers swear by it as an affordable alternative to Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris’s Baccarat Rouge 540.
Assistant Editor
- Covers beauty, fashion, news, entertainment, travel, wellness, money and LGBTQ+ culture
- Has worked in media for the last eight years and has held positions at Boston Magazine, Boston Common Magazine and Northshore Magazine
- Graduated from Emerson College in 2019 with a degree in Writing, Literature and Publishing with a minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Why You Should Trust Us
PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women’s walking shoes that won’t hurt your feet, we’ve got you covered.
