Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works is a good chain in which you can find a wide variety of body washes, hand soaps, lotions and anti-​bacterial sanitizers. The Bellevue Square location is pretty typical as I have received the same treatment at other locations I have visited. There is always a greeter at the front, who also can help you with things.
For those who like to browse and find things on their own, the attentive service here can seem a bit of an overkill. As for the products, they are good and a nice deal when BBW holds their semi-​annual promotions in which many popular items are heavily discounted.
I would give BBW four stars, but they do follow that annoying practice of asking for zip code and e-​mail address when making a purchase so I have to take a star. I like the offerings, but a few of the practices at BBW may make some consumers (particularly those new to the brand) feel like they are coming on too strong.

Oh. My. God.
This store is my kryptonite.
So many yummy smelling soaps, lotions, sprays — you name it.
When I first began my addiction [probably a year ago or so] I walked in, said «I want to smell the way I look.» I walked out with a bottle of the irresistibly scented Pink Chiffon, and a changed outlook on life.
This location has the friendliest staff of the local B&BW stores — it’s probably bad, but they recognize me because every time I’m at the mall I *have* to stop in and smell all the new fragrances… and more often than not, take them home with me.
My boyfriend’s mom loves the Japanese Cherry Blossom scent, and I hope she never opens the cupboard underneath my sink, because I’ve got a few birthdays worth of JCB lotions, shower gels and hand soaps waiting for her.
My car has FOUR of their clip-​on scents in it. They’re not open, as I only use one at a time [it’d be overkill even for me] but the clips are too cute to pass up. I’ve got a little skunk, a penguin, a pink bow and a cupcake.
I am there so often that I stand around displays and offer suggestions to other shoppers. Today I upsold a woman old enough to be my grandma some lipglosses [their lipglosses are great too!]. I think I really do have a problem.
Admitting it is the first step, right?

One of many things all Bath & Body Works have in common is every store is deceivingly big and cavernous. You walk in to what appears to be a 10-​mile long stretch of bottles of lotions, perfumes, sprays, candles, body mists, foaming soap, sanitizers, and come out smelling like a bowl of fruit salad with gummy bears. You’re like, «how does that work?! I was only in there for 2 minutes.»
If ever you were curious as to why you get sporadic nose bleeds every time you walk past a girls’ locker room at the gym or a classroom with a female-​bias, then you only have this store to blame. There are smells that I never knew existed, some prime examples of these are: moonlight, love, water. What does moonlight even smell like? Like a Satsuma mixed with grass? Your guess is as good as mine. I think once I came across a candle that smelled like fireplace ash during their Christmas line-​up. Talk about head-​scratchers.
The five-​piece Bath & Body gift set is similar to the quintessential bouquet of flowers – they both assert, «I had no idea what to get you, but I think these are what girls normally like.» These average, uninspired gifts should be like the linoleum flooring you were about to get in your kitchen, just skip it entirely. I still have a 5-​piece Japanese Cherry Blossom set that is rotting beneath my bathroom sink. When purchasing for yourself; however, I’m all about their 5 for $ 25 specials in foaming hand soaps. With the right scents, it virtually feels like it’s washing every single piece of dirt and bacteria off your hands. This is unrealistic, but it’s what it feels like, okay.
In the rare occasions I do decide to walk in here, when I really feel like I need a punch in the face by a thousand scents, I have never been greeted by any of the people who work here. I would say it’s rather difficult to move around this store in particular because they have so many sections set up that it makes the walking space narrower. Not all that fun, I would say.
The chocolate drizzle on top of my already fun sundae? This store is right across from Abercrombie & Fitch.

You’d think if you’ve been to one B&B Works store, you’ve pretty much been to them all; after all, the products are all the same (all wonderful, btw), the store layouts are all similar, there’s not much difference from one store to the next. All of this is fairly true. But… The staff differs from place to place, and I encountered the nicest, friendliest and most helpful gal ever at this store. I had already been rung up and had presented my coupons and, when bagging all my goodies, I casually mentioned, too bad I couldn’t use another coupon I had for a free item (I already had used 2 on this transaction). The gal said, oh no, I could use this coupon as well, but it would entail returning all the items I had already purchased to refund them all, and ringing them all up again. I had a lot of stuff, so I said not to bother, as this would take a lot of time. She said no worries, she was happy to do it, and she did! And it DID take a long time, but despite my apologies, she said no worries, this was a great deal and I shouldn’t pass it up. She was awesome!
So, word to the wise: they will accept multiple coupons here up front, even if used all on the same transaction. So present them all at checkout!

Love this place!
Got to sample some of the newer stuff. I had a $ 25 gift cert that I needed to use while i was there.
I picked up tons of hand soap and mini hand sanitizers. Soo many fragrances to choose from, u can be in there the whole day just testing them out.
Will go back for sure when I’m in the area.

As the newest location in the Seattle area, this Bath and Body Works definitely lives up the the Bellevue Square image. It is sleek, shiny, crisp, and bright. Fully stocked shelves merchandised for maximum Ooh! Ahh!, sampling, and impulse purchases. And of course, eager staff ready to help at every turn.
Once upon a time I was powerless in the face of their superlative product lines of bath, beauty, and home accessories. There was a veritable metric ton of every thing imaginable under my bathroom sink. Now I am able to refrain, but just barely. This place calls to me, and is destined to become yet another establishment to which I cannot be trusted to bring currency.