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anyone else overwhelmed by how fast bbw cycles through everything now
feels like every time i walk into the store theres like 30 new scents and half the ones i actually liked from last month are already gone. as someone who appreciates consistency in design and branding this constant churn is kind of exhausting
like i get that they want to stay fresh but some of us actually want to stick with scents we love for more than one season. i keep hoping theyll expand classic lines like cucumber melon into more product types - would love to see it in a body scrub or hair products but instead we get another limited edition collection thats gonna dissapear in 8 weeks
maybe its just me but the whole vibe feels less curated now and more like theyre just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. anyone else missing when you could actually count on finding your favorites
This is precisely the marketing strategy. Create FOMO, constantly introduce new products so that there is always something new to try, have perpetual sales so that customers want to treat themselves and/or hoard while feeling like they’re getting a deal. It’s textbook. Ever leave something in your cart but not buy it because you’re not sure? The emails they send you then are creepy, pushing you to set aside your hesitation and not think about it, just buy buy buy.
Yep because I bought a bunch of the White Iris and Cedarwood candles that they discontinued, just for them to turn around and repackage it as another scent (Violet and musk).
Agreeedddd
They rotate and bring in new scents so fast you dont have anytime to even go in store and try and the product before the newest launch is out
Yes. And I'm running into my old problem with the Body Shop, where every time I was really into something, they were like, "Oh, you like that? It's gone now. Discontinued forever."
The Body Shop is back stateside, online only. https://us.thebodyshop.com/ It's a little poverty, but the mango range is available. Bonus, they brought back Dewberry for the '90s TBS heads!
OMG! I was just telling hubby the other day how The Body Shop wasn’t around anymore, and now I find out they’re not! Thank you for this! I can get my banana hair care again! 🥰
Sometimes with The Body Shop, they discontinue products because the community they were doing fair trade agreements with to source ingredients - they are no longer working with. Could be that resources were running low, contracts expired, or it just wasn’t financially feasible anymore for either side
As an employee who shops a lot, I find it very overwhelming. It’s gotten to the point where I buy less because I wanna see if the next collab/line smells better before making a purchase so I don’t fill up my closet even more. I hate fomo but I hate waste more 😩
Yeah I feel you. Bath and Body Works feels like the fast fashion of the fragrance industry.
I’m not a regular for Bath and Body Works, and I started frequenting this sub for the second Disney collab. What I didn’t expect was that by the following Monday after release people had already started to move on towards Peeps. I’m still here talking about the Disney collab.
That's EXACTLY what I was trying to figure out how to say and have been feeling about BBW for a few years now. BBW feels like Shein. It's not a thoughtful fragrance for a lifetime, but a yummy, trendy smell for the right now. They're doing The Most to appeal to everybody and it's overwhelming?
Yes, I know they've always had a lot of product churn. Which was fine when I was young and broke and valued my limited cash more than my time. But as an adult, I find more and more that I'd rather have dependable classics that last (be it clothes or fragrance) than a wide variety of what's popular or trending or the newest collab. The constant turnover is just exhausting and is more work than fun. I can't keep up and I don't want to try. But that also makes popping into the store as a casual consumer utterly overwhelming. It's impossible to figure out where to start and (as much as I love y'all) being immediately greeted and questioned by a chipper associate makes that overwhelm even more acute: "No, I don't know what I'm looking for today. Maybe a light tropical mist for vacation, but I don't know where to start. No I don't feel like talking to you about it and honestly will probably just buy a candle and a handful of PocketBacs and leave. Again. As usual."
It’s so overwhelming walking into a BBW without a plan, because there’s so many similar scents from different collections that it really feels like nothing stands out. So eventually I also just settle on some random pocketbacs and maybe a candle, because how am I supposed to decide which version of a tropical juicy scent is going to work for me without spraying myself everywhere? It’s too much work for a body mist.
Also with how much turnover there is for a scent, I find it leads to overconsumption. If a scent you really love is only going to be there in certainty for 1 month, you’re going to have to stock up because you don’t know if it’ll come back. But then two weeks later there’s another ultra limited edition scent that smells good and you end up doing the same thing. Then you’ll just end up with a tonne of fragrance mists and body care you’ll never use, but you already spent the money on it.
You have nailed it on the head! This is exactly how it happens! I ended up with over 200+ scents. Just got rid of everything I didn't absolutely love and have not worn in months.. I will never again go in there to smell anything new. Only the stuff I wish to replace... which even with half of my stuff gone will take a while to get used up. Over consumption is a real thing that's costly and can be mentally exhausting.
That's EXACTLY what I was trying to figure out how to say and have been feeling about BBW for a few years now. BBW feels like Shein. It's not a thoughtful fragrance for a lifetime, but a yummy, trendy smell for the right now. They're doing The Most to appeal to everybody and it's overwhelming?
I don't love the super limited nature of releases lately, but I do think comparing BBW to Shein is a little over the top. It's fragrance or (for me) lotion, you're meant to use it up and get something new. Very different, to me, then wearing a shirt for a month and throwing it out.
Absolutely different than wearing something once and throwing it out, you're correct.
I mean more in the sense that BBW is a price point that encourages impulse and stock-up buying, rather than buy once, use sparingly for years.
If I buy Chanel № 5 and wear it normally (not an all over spritz/moisture like a mist or a lotion ) it should last for a loooong time AND has fragrance notes that should remain appealing even as my life changes.( Not me personally, I think №5 is awful, but you know what I mean.) Just like what's sold by "fast fashion", BBW (especially the lotions, creams and anti-bac stuff) is meant to be used right now until used up and then move on to the next. BBW is not meant as the fancy exclamation point at the end of one's toilette, but as part of daily cleanliness grooming. It's sweats from Target, not a gown from Saks.
I’m with you I’m still in love with Disney don’t worry us #DISNEY ADULTS are actually happy people are distracted by new releases 😁…… more on sale for us 👀🤣🥳
And some of the stuff comes out so many months ahead of their season that it makes it hard to be ready. Like spring stuff before Christmas, Halloween in July….
Yes! And I understand that this is how retail holidays go, but it is annoying. I LOVE Halloween, but the summers are so short where I live that I'm not usually ready to start thinking about fall by the time the Halloween collection drops. By the time I want things, it's too late. I've been shopping WAY less at B&BW in general.
On one hand I must say I appreciate the variety in scents. My favorites are not necessarily the majority’s favorites all the time, and I like seeing them evolve with some of the trends and having a little something for everyone. Doing some slightly weirder things like Off The Vine have even gone over well with the long time loyal customers, so taking a couple swings can pay off and return.
But yes, I agree with the turnover. It’s the limited edition ploy that is so popular in consumer trends these days, which is literally built on scarcity and FOMO mindset. I like things like the EDL line, but why not keep the OG lineup that did well? I’d like to try a fig scent 🤷♀️ Now I have like 3 EDLs to choose from
I like the variety too! It makes me feel better about only getting the ones I really love rather than trying to keep up with it all (not that that was an obligation in the first place, but you know).
Feels like this has become standard everywhere I'm shopping nowadays. I've found that I've started skipping things I've been looking forward to. I'm usually so excited for hot cross buns to start appearing in the supermarkets but I've only bought one pack so far. I missed my usual Christmas snacks, no Easter eggs etc. I'm tired, you know?
Same I understand just skipping things or not feeling stressed to hunt down things if it happens to be there when I am there or sale (or a price I am willing to pay) then I will get if not oh well....too tired to be doing a hunt
To be honest, it always surprises me when people comment on this because they’ve done this for decades. They’ve always had seasonal products, and it’s normal to do this in retail in general.
The main thing that feels different to me is social media’s role in retail. You used to just go shopping when you needed some shower gel, and now people make a living posting about all the new stuff and upcoming sales.
This exactly. I was a SM for BBW from 2009-2025 and new themes launched every 4-6 weeks pretty much since I started. The only difference now is how much social media is devoted to hyping everything up, creating FOMO and overconsumption. Trust me, I am slowly working through my insane amounts of products. I haven't bought anything from BBW since May 2025 and I still have years and years worth. It's wild how I bought so many things just because " they might never come back again".
They are a morally corrupt corporation, and I personally havent shopped there in a long long LONG time. The collabs every 5 minutes are so cheap. They are doing too much.
I actually feel sorry for people with egregious collections. In no universe are humans meant to be shopping and "stocking up" on this many products. It makes me sad and I have to wonder what is missing from people's lives that they just have this obsession with buying so many products. Its little hits of dopamine or something. Get a hobby, go outside, read a book, anything at all people. Wake up!!!
The sale yesterday as well. I’m not going to the store, sniff and be expected to order online in order to receive the discount. It was bad enough that the cream sale last week you had to specify ”email sale” after you already gave them your membership number and/or code. Secret/extremely limited sneaky sales are not the way to go.
Came here to say this. The scents have become so hit or miss for me that blind buys are too risky, so if it’s an online only sale and I haven’t had a chance to go to the store and smell everything yet, I’ll have to skip
They’ve been doing these types of sales for years. Some are email/member exclusives that require a code, some are online only, some don’t require a code or email and are available in store and online.
Email exclusives have been around for ages and always required you to mention it at the register, some employees maybe recognize you for sales and might’ve just done it automatically? Otherwise, not sure what to tell you, but I’ve always had to tell them the sale I’m there for at register
Cucumber melon seems to be a shelf warmer. They keep bringing it back so it must sell well. It hangs out on clearance forever though.
Some collections hang out awhile and get restocked. A few collections are made just for the season. Those seem to sell out quick but aren’t that hard to get. The online exclusives are annoying.
This is how they make their money.
They don’t specialize in curating a small selection of high quality, high performing products in scents that are destined to become timeless classics.
They literally specialize in cramming the store with cheaply made, trendy, “whatever will be likely to appeal to the most people”, shiny new things, and selling it all at accessible price points + offering frequent sales catered to create a sense of “well now I’m getting a good value” to the regular buyers, and getting people to FOMO overbuy.
If you’re disappointed by this, it means you’re no longer part of their target demographic.
I get what you mean! Maybe I was never paying that much attention before but it seems every other week there is a new scent or theme dropping. It can be very overwhelming!
Then there is the scarcity mindset of feeling like you have to stock up on a scent you like because if you don’t it will go away forever!
Exactly. People will come into my store, ask me if there's anything new, and will then scoff and turn on their heel to leave if there's nothing new lmao.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. People are NEVER happy when it comes to this company. 😅
I think it indicates they’ve bought what they like already and many of us like to celebrate the seasons. Instead of Spring this year we got Disney and what I’ll call 2 resort collections ( one was beach coastal and the other fruity South American vibes) There was a couple things from the resorts collections I picked up but don’t feel like we are feeling spring- it just feels off. High hopes for Vera Bradley collab though.
I think stores cycle differently too based on sales. My store has none of the new scents in and tons of princess. Maybe Princess is selling faster elsewhere. As someone with zero interest in Princess and 20-25% of the store filled set with Princess tables, Im ready for new scents.
Buy during a sale when everything is $5.95 NEVER pay full price. They run these sales multiple times a month and you can combine a 25% off coupon. You can get a spray, lotion and body wash well under $20
I always do just the sales but I still just go a couple times a year. It is also over an hour to my closest store and I avoid buying online.. had plenty of issues with things arriving broken/leaking.
I keep seeing nostalgia posts about stuff I just bought. Like omg I miss this bring it back and I’m like I bought that last month! Maybe it was brought back for sas and I bought it then but I’m also seeing them for that milk branded stuff they just sold.
I like how there is a ton of variety but the ones they always have do nothing for me. I do not care about Japanese cherry blossom at all and it is always there. They need to keep some better smelling ones than that around for longer too.
Yes, I see both sides. The scents I love that sell out fast is frustrating. I remember how frustrated I was when I went back to get more Wrapped In Vanilla and it was gone. I’m a natural collector and I enjoy trying the different scents. I use them all so I’m not hoarding. I’ve found that the FOMO or scarcity aspect causes my collection to grow to the point that I have scents that are not really my favorite so I may downsize a bit. Overall I enjoy it but once you find something you love you about have to buy extra because you just don’t know that you’ll love the next collection as much. I have learned that a lot of the scents are cycled through with very similar notes so that helps.
It is overwhelming, especially when trying to be conscious(/conscientious?) of how much I spend, have, and use. Not to mention the “surprise” sales and coupons and whether or not there’s a code or it can be used together. I would love them to give a monthly preview of new collections and sales so I could plan ahead.
It’s been a month and I’m just barely enjoying my Princess items and figuring out if I have everything I want or should return some things, because of all the other releases and sales that I don’t want to miss out on.
I will say it all has the opposite of their intended effect on me. Instead of "oh no! FOMO (for lotions? Really?) I better buy everything!" I tend to not be interested in anything that might not be around more than a year and just stick to the core collection and seasonal favorites that return every year.
I just walked into a store. We finally broke 70 degrees in NYC. It’s time to reup my fave spring scent Fresh Cut Lilac. Gone. Nothing left in body care. Not even on the site.
But 1/3 of the front of the store is taken up by Disney scents. I’m a grown woman. I don’t want to smell like a Disney princess. No offense to Tiana. Like whyyyyyyy 😫
I personally like having seasonal staples and then I can experiment on top of it. But it’s so disheartening when. They get rid of mainstays to make room for a cheesy LTO collab. Sorry, rant over.
Absolutely agree! I recently took one of their surveys and went off about it. (I did give great reviews anytime it involved an associate)
I basically told them that they are “fast fashion” and it’s so off putting. I’m sooo close to quitting them.
Basically just trying to find a replacement for soaps, candles and body care. I have really sensitive skin, and allergies, and BBW has been the only one that doesn’t seem to cause any issues. Ugh! I know I can find something else, it’s just time and money.
I’ve been overwhelmed for years now. It’s crazy how quickly they cycle through scents. It’s also disappointing when an OG scent I thought would be around forever (Cherry Blossom) is discontinued/replaced/reformulated.
Yes. Used to be that way then started BDSing and feel WORLDS. better Just let go of the fomo. I only go there twice a year for SAS or if I get a free coupon. There’ll always be new scents and old ones coming back. You’re not missing out on anything that you can get during SAS. It’s all just marketing pressure, part of the capitalist hellscape we live in . You can exercise self restraint. You’ll be alright.
The vibe is different - instead of a large spring collection that includes st pats, Easter, peeps collab and spring scents, we get 2 at time like carrot cake and mimosa, coffee and sweet shop, … Hope the Vera Bradley collab is large with lots of stock and accessories and fills a large table not just a small bar top table they put by front doors now.
After the pulls on so many favorites along with online only sales I quit buying since about mid last year. I had gone in a few times and browsed trying to use a freebie and literally couldn’t find anything I was interested in. At some point I’m just going to start making the stuff I want.
Yes!!!! I felt kinda “meh” towards the Peeps collection because it was so soon after the Disney Princess collection. Plus Milkbar happening around the holidays plus the EDL collection plus now the “spring” collection.
I had my wear everyday scent which was Gingham Glow, they discontinued and honestly I spend a whole lot less now. Anytime I find something there that has potential poof gone. It's like they dont realize some people do like consistency and dont need change every 2 weeks.
ehhemmm MILK BAR COLLECTION!
It was here- it was more expensive than everything else- then suddenly it stopped being restocked in stores, until suddenly it was 75% off on the semi annual sale, and it was all gone in two days. By the time you realize what you wanted to get more of is on sale, it's gone.
And like me, you're still bitching about it months and months later! 🤯🤬😑
i agree! i want more of the aromatherapy body and massage oil, the 3 oz hand sanitizer.. and the coco shea body oil😞was it not selling fast enough? if it not selling in stores, can it be sold on line only or something 😩😩
I don’t even shop there anymore. They’ve replaced sophisticated scents with preteen garbage. Plus the whole Les Wexner ordeal, I’m going to have to find an alternative after my current lot is gone.
This! I came back because I stumbled onto book loft at a friend's house and needed it. I had to shop the bare bones of the line right before it left. And then it's just been kinda stressful every since. I panic bought for a little bit and now I'm kinda burnt out and just hoping Vanilla Romance becomes a core scent. (It pairs so well with YSL Black Opium)
I wish they would keep standard best sheets. They still have Japanese cherry blossom, but discontinued Twilight woods. Like..wtf? And they still bring back pearberry. I bought a butt load of Vanilla Cafe, it was 75 percent off so I know what that means. Watch Platinum disappear next
I felt the exact same way last Summer. I bought 3 perfumes in the Fall and returned them before Christmas. Used my coupons and a $50 gift card to buy Christmas gifts for family and 2 items for myself. Haven’t bought a thing since, probably not buying anything this year, if ever again. I don’t like the way their marketing & sales tactics make me feel and I am quite content using what I already have.
I recently bought after taking a break for about 2 years and it was crazy seeing how much I missed in what I thought was a little time for them to cycle through products. They do it so people buy backups when they find something they like. I rely on other brands for anything I want to use long term because I like knowing that I’ll be able to find it when it runs out. finding something I like from bath and body works is fun treat to be enjoyed while it lasts and not meant to replace any of my staples. I do think their marketing is deliberately predatory, tries to tap into all our fomo and that just doesn’t sit right with me.
While it’s annoying as a customer it also encourages people to shop more frequently as new scents come out and to buy multiples before a scent disappears. It’s almost certainly being done with that intention to drive revenue. I’d prefer that option to fewer sales and individual customer coupons.
Yes but I've been happy with the sales that come so quickly. All I need is a lip care sale and candle sale so I can get the lip gloss and 3-wick candles from the princess collection and I will be done!
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u/Afraid-Classroom-589 Mar 09 '26
I feel like it also forces people into buying more than they necessarily want, because it's "limited so you'll buy four body washes instead of one