Wax Meltdown - 4/14/2013 to 6/15/2013

Hi everyone!! I'm finally back with a wax reviews post!! I started a full-time job this past week and I'm still in school and I just haven't had the time to blog lately as I would like. Because I had SO MUCH to review today, I figured the quickest way for me to get through all of these melted reviews was to film a video! Now, I normally don't post my YouTube videos here but I figured since reviewing what I have melted is part of my normal blogging routine, I would post it here in case any of my readers would like to see what I've been melting these past few months!

Since I'm still in the beginning stages of balancing life, work and school, I haven't had as much time to read blogs and keep in touch with my wax community friends these past few weeks but I promise I'm still here and things will be getting back to normal soon once I get back into a regular routine. I can't wait to see what you all have been up to! My wax ban is going incredibly well and I am super proud of myself for sticking to it. I am liking my new job a lot and I am getting ready to graduate at the end of this semester, so that is exciting as well. 

Without further ado, here is my melted wax reviews video!! I'm so glad to have this done so I can finally clear out my melted bin and start fresh! Grab some coffee and snacks y'all, it's a long one =)

Thanks everyone for reading and I'll see you all soon! Hope you all have a fantastic weekend <3

Weekly Wax Meltdown #7 - 3/24/2013 to 4/13/2013

Hey ladies (and gents)! Long time no see yet again, eh? I can't believe I haven't posted in almost three weeks! I've been busy with various things these past few weeks and in addition to slacking on the blogging, I haven't been melting a whole lot either. At the same time, my stash seems to have grown exponentially recently due to several swaps and RR's that I've been participating in. This means 2 things - first of all, I absolutely need to make an effort to be melting more when I'm home and second of all, DESTASHES! So, keep your eyes peeled for some destashes from me very soon! 

Also, I've started doing YouTube wax videos! A lot of my YT friends have been requesting that I do some videos and I finally gave in. I'll mostly be doing swap and Round Robin videos there, and I plan on keeping the majority of my melted reviews and hauls on this blog. So if you're interested in checking those out, here is the link to my YouTube channel: Scholarly Nail on YouTube. 

I may have another exciting announcement for you guys soon as well, but I'll keep that on the DL until things pan out with that. And no, don't worry, I'm not knocked up! For now, let's get into what I've been melting these past few weeks!

~~~~

• Front Porch Lemon Cotton Candy (1 tart) - Man oh man was this one awesome! I believe I've reviewed this scent before so I won't go into to much detail but it was truly phenomenal. Front Porch has one of the few cotton candy oils that is SUPER STRONG as well as long lasting. FP also has one of my favorite lemon scents so the two of these together is pure heaven. This little grubby tart lasted me over 12 hours in my 24 watt hotplate. I'm on a wax ban right now but I made sure I had another 4-pack on hand before that started =)
• Front Porch Iced Cinnamon Rolls (1 tart) - I got this one out of a recent RR box and when I went to put it away, I realized the bag was ripped so I just tossed it into one of my warmers. I'm not sure how old this tart was or how long the bag had been ripped, but I didn't get a whole lot out of this one. It was a generic spicy bakery scent, and I got a nice medium throw in my 18-watt hotplate but it quickly fizzled out after a few hours and started to get that waxy smell to it. I think I have a newer tart of this scent that I'll try before I come to any conclusions about this one. 
• Front Porch Blueberry Cheesecake (1 tart) - This was a nice scent from Front Porch but not really anything special. It had a very generic blueberry scent to it and I didn't get a whole lot of the cheesecake note in it, which was a bit disappointing. Overall a good tart but not a favorite. It had a medium-to-strong scent throw and lasted a good 8 hours in a 24-watt hotplate warmer. Probably won't be repurchasing this one, as I much prefer the Blueberry Cheesecake scent from Tiffany Candles. 
• Candles from the Keeping Room Strawberry Cookie (1 tart) - Okay, now this one was AMAZING. Wow. Wow wow WOW you guys. If you haven't tried Carol's Strawberry Cookie scent, you absolutely must. It smells a lot like her Strawberry Milk scent with a cookie undertone. You get the strawberry note, you get the crunchy cookie note, but then there's this underlying milky sweetness that is present as well. If I had to name this scent myself, I'd call it "Strawberry Milk and Cookies." It was a nice medium-to-strong scent throw in my 24-watt hotplate and it lasted about 6 hours before it started to fade. I'm so glad I have another sample and a 4-pack in this one because it is a new fave for sure! 
• Closet Full of Wax Blushing Peaches (1 Mickey shaped tart) - This was the first thing I've ever melted from CFoW and I was pleasantly surprised! I've heard that this vendor has been hit or miss for people and I can definitely see how, just based off of cold sniff of the ones I've smelled, but this is a definite winner! This is a very sweet peach scent with a bit of a berry undertone. I'm really big on peach scents lately for spring and summer so this one was right up my alley. Medium-to-strong scent throw. Lasted about 6 hours. I got back a pack of scallops in this scent in my RR and I have this scent from CBV as well so I think I'm good and stocked up for awhile.

• Lil' Kitchen Candles Twinkie (1 large teddy bear tart) - I just really have not been having great luck with LKC these days. This was a HUGE bear tart, probably around 1.5 ounces or more and I really didn't get much from it. I don't know if my order was a bad batch or what. I could smell a faint sweetness when this was melting but that's pretty much it. Light throw in a 24-watt hotplate. I ended up dumping this one out after about 3 hours because it just didn't do much for me. I have a scent shot from LKC in Twinkies Cheesecake that is a bit stronger on cold throw so I'll try that one to see if it does better for me. 
• Lil' Kitchen Candles Strawberry Banana Smoothie (1.5 scent sticks) - As a last ditch effort to try to get some of my LKC stuff to work for me, I threw 1 and a half of these sticks into my 24-watt and surprisingly, this one did really well for me! I got a medium-to-strong throw off of it. The blend was really nice too, you could smell the banana and strawberry notes equally. The banana was more of a Runts banana as opposed to a fresh banana so this scent was very sweet and candy-like, which I loved! Lasted a good 6 or so hours. I'd probably repurchase this one if I order from LKC again.
• Tiffany Candles Jelly Donuts (1 scallop tart) - Yum! This is Tiffany's new Jelly Donuts blend, which is actually a jelly donut scent blended with their infamous Donut Shop fragrance. I definitely get the fruity jelly scent but I also get that wonderful undertone of spicy fried dough coming from the Donut Shop scent. SO good! I was surprised that it performed so well for me, usually 1 scallop from Tiffany's doesn't really do it for me but this was pleasantly strong. Medium-to-strong scent throw, lasted about 6 hours. I'd definitely repurchase this and in fact, I bought a jar of scoopable wax in this one! Can't wait to try that out =)
• Tiffany Candles S'mores (1 scallop tart) - Meh. This wasn't all that strong on cold throw but I figured that since this is paraffin wax, it would come alive a bit more when melting. It didn't. At first, I got a slight hint of chocolate, a whole lotta marshmallow, and maybe the littlest bit of that graham cracker note but after about an hour it just faded into a generic sweet scent. Light throw. Lasted not even 2 hours. Definitely will not be repurchasing this one. I much prefer Campfire Dessert from Sniff My Tarts.
• Tiffany Candles Strawberry Banana - This was another great strawberry-banana scent. It was less candy-like than LKC's strawberry banana, probably due to the slight green undertone in the background. Medium scent throw. Lasted about 8 hours. Definitely not my favorite strawberry banana scent so I probably wouldn't repurchase. My current fave strawberry-banana scent is Rosegirls Strawberry Banana Bubblegum but it's not quite perfect so I'm always on the hunt for others (suggestions welcome).

• Candles by Victoria Banana Coconut Cream Pie (half a scent shot)- Two of my favorite scents in one, pure heaven! I could smell both notes equally, the sweet banana bakery scent mixed with the sweet coconut bakery scent. I just can't get enough coconut or banana scents lately!  Strong scent throw, lasted about 12 hours in my 24-watt hotplate. I ended up ordering this scent in a scoopable from her! Can't wait to see how CBV's scoopables work for me. 
• Shayz Crystal Light Peach Lemonade (1 scent shot) - This one was nice, but a bit odd. Shayz' lemonade scent isn't really a true lemonade scent and instead smells exactly like a fizzy pop scent. Okay with me, but I know a lot of people do not care for Shayz lemonade scents. Anyway, this scent did pretty well in my 24-watt hotplate, I got a strong scent throw for the first few hours of the fizzy pop blended with a nice peach note but after a few hours the peach fizzled out and it was all fizzy pop. Not bad but I wish the peach would have lasted longer. Not a repurch, as I don't see myself ordering from Shayz again in the near future.
• Haley's Heavenly Scents Cotton Candy (1 scent shot) - This is one of those super light cotton candy scents that just don't perform all that well melted. I got a faint cotton candy note when this was melted but not much else. I'm not too surprised because it didn't smell like all that much on cold throw and cotton candy scents are notoriously weak. Not a huge loss, as I got this one out of a RR box. Very light throw. Melted for about 2 hours before I tossed it. Not a repurchase. 
• Nene's Kitchen Melts Strawberry Buttercream (1 mini scent shot) - This was a really awesome strawberry and frosting scent. I absolutely love buttercream scents, and it didn't have that plasticky note that some frosting scents can have. The strawberry was sweet but not too sweet so the addition of the buttercream note didn't send it into that "too sweet" category. Unfortunately, this faded after a few hours in my 24-watt warmer. I am going to melt my Nene's stuff in lower wattage warmers from now on to prolong the scent throw. 
• Lasting Scent Candles Blueberry Muffin (1 scent shot) - I looooooove LSC's blueberry muffin scent. A lot of blueberry muffin scents are too heavy on the blueberry note but I get a great doughy note in this one as well. Strong throw in a 25-watt lightbulb warmer. Lasted 12+ hours. I have had amazing luck with my LSC tarts in general and they continue to be one of my go-to vendors so as long as they keep offering this scent, I will keep buying it!
• Lasting Scent Candles Candy Land Dreamin (1 scent shot) - I am getting to the end of my stash of this scent and I am bummed because it is SO DARN GOOD. It is a blend of lavender and peppermint with a slight hint of vanilla. It reminds me of something I used to buy from Lush way back in the day (Ickle Baby Bath, perhaps). Strong scent throw. Lasted about 8 hours in a 24-watt hotplate. To me, lavender mixed with peppermint is the ultimate relaxing/spa kind of scent and Candy Land Dreamin is BY FAR my favorite lavender/peppermint blend from any vendor. Unfortunately, it was limited edition for the holidays and is now discontinued. I'm now on the hunt for a lavender/peppermint blend that is just as good and I have not found one yet that can even hold a candle to this one!
• Lasting Scent Candles Pink Marshmallow Shortbread (1 scent shot) - HOLY COW YOU GUYS. This one is slap your mama good. I've been really into Pink Sugar blended with bakery scents lately and this is one of the best I've smelled thus far. I get the Pink Sugar and the marshmallow notes but the shortbread scent is the star here. Super rich and buttery, it blends amazingly with Pink Sugar. I need to get my hands on more of this for sure. Strong throw. Lasted about 8 hours in my 25-watt lightbulb warmer. Definite repurch!

• The Bathing Garden Cheshire Cat (2 cubes) - This was a nice raspberry/lemon scent but it honestly wasn't really anything special for me. I know, I know! It's such a popular Bathing Garden scent but something about it was lacking for me. The lemon scent was leaning towards a bakery lemon  so that was fine but the raspberry was oddly floral. Medium-to-strong scent throw. Lasted about 6 hours. Not sure I'll be melting the rest of this one. I'll probably pass it along in a swap or RR. 
• The Bathing Garden Cinnamon Cookie Dough (2 cubes) - This one I was unsure of on cold sniff but once it was warmed, I really loved it!! The cookie dough scent is very, very sweet and although this scent is very heavy on the cinnamon, that sweetness helps it from becoming too spicy. I melted this one in a tealight warmer because it was the only one I had open at the time, which is definitely not the ideal warmer for soft waxes like The Bathing Garden's. It only lasted about 3 hours but I know it will last longer in a different type of warmer. Really good!
• The Bathing Garden Gardenia Coconut Cream (1 cube)  - This is, hands down, the best gardenia scent I have ever smelled in my whole life! Absolutely incredible!! I didn't really smell a whole lot of the coconut on its own but it added a really nice sweetness to the gardenia scent. Gardenia scents can often be too sharp of soapy, but this one was soft, sweet and very pleasant. I enjoy floral scents and this one has to be one of my top favorites now. Strong scent throw from just 1 little cube! Lasted over 12 hours in a 24-watt hotplate. I hope she lists this scent again one day because I'll definitely need a backup of this one! 
• The Bathing Garden Lemon Curd and Rose Milk (2 cubes) - This is another one of The Bathing Garden's signature scents that I was thrilled to be able to get my hands on. Now this lemon blend was a definite winner in my book!! The lemon scent in this blend was not a bakery lemon, but it wasn't a cleaner-type lemon either. Just a nice fresh, tart lemon that blends really well with the floral and slighty sweet rose milk scent. This is pure genius scent mixing right here, folks. It is a very unique scent, I don't believe I've ever seen another vendor with this blend before. Strong throw! Try it, you'll like it =)

• Sniff My Tarts Raspberry Chocolate Truffle (half of a medium sized chunk) - I don't think there will ever be a SMT scent that I love more than this one. It is PERFECTION! I have been really into chocolate scents lately which is quite odd because I don't even really like chocolate all that much in real life. Anyway, when I do like to eat chocolate, my favorite is the raspberry truffles from Godiva. This, my friends, smells exactly like you are taking a bite into a delicious raspberry truffle!! It's truly wonderful. There is a slight boozy note to the chocolate scent but somehow that makes it seem all-the-more of an authentic chocolate scent for me. I can't get enough of this scent you guys! I recently passed a chunk of this on in a RR and I'm kind of regretting that because I want it all to myself. I did half of a chunk in my 24-watt hotplate and this bad boy lasted over 12 hours for me. So not only does it smell amazing, but it lasts forever too. I may have to switch out one of the bags in my pending SMT for this scent so I can have backups. 
• Sniff My Tarts Smoothie Sugar Peppermint (1 chunk) - This is a really awesome peppermint and vanilla blend. I've realized that as far as minty scents go, I much prefer a straight up peppermint to "candy cane" scents, which have an odd undertone to my nose. Anyways, this was very strong as well, lasted about 8 hours in my 24-watt hotplate. I'm not sure what the "sugar" note in this one is supposed to be, but I'd definitely order this blend again once I actually figure out what that sugar note is. Sugar cookie? Warm Vanilla Sugar? Either way, it was a winner for sure. 
• Sniff My Tarts Campfire Dessert (1 chunk) - This scent blew Tiffany Candles S'mores out of the water!! You get notes of chocolate, graham cracker and chocolate evenly in this one and they all blend together quite nicely (much like an actual S'more!). Medium scent throw, lasted around 6 hours. I was really hoping for a bit of a stronger throw with this one but it was good nonetheless. I think I'd repurchase this blend, but probably only in scent shot form because they tend to be stronger than the chunks. 

• COMBO: Candles from the Keeping Room Serendipity and Birthday Cake (1 tart each) - I thought this sounded like a great blend idea and it was good but strangely, the Birthday Cake scent really seemed to dominate the Serendipity in this blend. I found this odd because usually Serendipity is a strong scent and birthday cake scents generally aren't as strong. I did end up liking this one but next time, I'll try only using half of a birthday cake tart to see if the Serendipity comes out a bit more. Medium scent throw. Lasted about 6 hours in a 24-watt hotplate warmer. 

• Candles from The Keeping Room Acai Berry (1 tart) - This scent started out AWESOMELY! It reminded me of a wildberry mousse scent but without the creaminess that WB mousse scents have. It was really fantastic for the first couple of hours and then it fizzled out quite quickly in my 24-watt. I hate to say it but I haven't had the best luck with CFTKR tarts as of late. I find that I'm starting to need 2 tarts to get the scent throw and longevity that I want from them. This is from a more recent order so I wonder if it's just a recent batch issue? Who knows. This would have been a new favorite scent if it would have lasted longer.
• Candles from the Keeping Room Pineapple Upside Down Cake (1 tart) - This did pretty well for me! I didn't get much cake, but I sure got a nice, sweet pineapple scent from this tart. I'm getting into pineapple scents lately, especially with the warmer weather on the horizon. I would have preferred a bit more of a cake scent from this but it was really yummy nonetheless. Medium scent throw. Lasted about 6 hours in my 18-watt hotplate. 
• Candles from the Keeping Room Fruit Loops - Toasted Marshmallow (2 tarts, 1 in each warmer) - This is one of Carol's most popular scents, I've heard nothing but raves for this one. It was really nice, you get both the Fruit Loops and Toasted Marshmallow scents (by the way, I LOVE Carol's Toasted Marshmallow scent) but the throw wasn't quite as strong as I had hoped. I melted one tart in a 24-watt hotplate and one in a tealight warmer. I got a medium throw from this scent in both warmers. Lasted about 6 hours in the hotplate, 4 in the tealight. I really like this scent I just wish it were stronger. 
• Candles from the Keeping Room Cotton Candy Frosting - Now this one was AWESOME! I love Cotton Candy Frosting from any vendor, I find it to be one of the strongest cotton candy oils available. Carol's version did really well for me, I got a medium-to-strong scent throw from it and it lasted a solid 6 hours. I'm trying to not order from Carol when she reopens because I have so much CFTKR already (plus that whole wax ban thing), but if an order happens, I'll definitely need to grab another bag of this one!

~~~~

Alrighty guys, that's all I've melted for the past few weeks. Definitely some hits and misses in that bunch. Thanks to everyone for stopping by today and I'll see you all again very soon! xoxo

Shayz Scents Haul - First Impressions and Cold Sniff Reviews

Now I have for you my very first haul from Shayz Scents!

Shayz Scentz is a fairly popular vendor in the wax world and I'm very excited to share my very first haul from them! I ordered when they were having a sale, I believe it was 4 free scent shots and free shipping with any order $25 and over. Their normal deal is 3 free scent shots and free shipping, so basically the sale was just for an extra scent shot. Still a good deal nonetheless! TAT on this order was about a week which was super fast considering they were having a sale. 

I picked out some pretty random scents in this order, a lot of them were beyond my normal "scent comfort zone."  I would say I like about half of what I got in this order. I wish I would have picked some scents that were more to my liking. Oh well, there are still some great ones in this order so let's jump right into what I purchased. I don't remember which ones were the free ones, but keep in mind that 4 of these were free. 

• Pink Raspberry Macaroon - I am getting mostly Pink Sugar out of this one with a slight hint of the raspberry scent. I was hoping for more raspberry in this. Not bad but definitely not a favorite.
• Peachy Pink - This, however, was my favorite scent in this order by far! It is the perfect blend of Pink Sugar and peach, not one overpowers the other. I'm really into peach scents lately so this is a nice addition to my stash of peach tarts. Nice and strong off of cold sniff.
• Pink Fire - This is another PS blend where the pink note overpowers the other. It is blended with cinnamon here. I can definitely smell the cinnamon and it is a good, true cinnamon scent but if it were a tinge stronger than the PS I think I would like it more. Of course the true test will be when I melt it.
• Apple Mint Jelly - This is a really interesting blend. I'm not sure I'm loving any of the other apple scents that I ordered but I do like this one. The mint adds a really nice freshness to the red apple scent. Very unique!
• Pistachio Macaroon - This is a nice pistachio scent with a crunchy cookie note from the macaroon. Maybe a hint of coconut as well? It's nice but nothing that jumps out at me. 

• Pumpkin Crunch Cookies - This one is very, very light off of cold throw. I get a hint of a sweet cookie note and a tiny bit of spice. This scent is a favorite of mine from CFTKR so I was hoping to find a good replacement until she restocks this scent. This is decidedly NOT a good replacement.
• Doodle Cookies - This is a blend of their snickerdoodle and regular cookie scents. I love this one! It's a very strong and rich cookie scent. It's hard to find a cookie scent that is strong on its own but this is a keeper for sure!
• Bedtime Snack - This scent is so weird. It smells like oranges and a fresh cotton scent. Definitely not working for me but I know a lot of people like this one.
• Pumpkin Pickin - This is a lovely, spicy pumpkin scent. I can smell the sweet pumpkin filling as well as all the spices. I can see this becoming a favorite pumpkin scent for fall!
• Crystal Light Peach Lemonade - I've heard that a lot of people don't like Shayz' lemonade scents and I think I know why. The lemonade is more of a fizzy pop scent than a true lemonade. But you know me, I am obsessed with effervescent scents so I love this one! It's mostly the fizzy pop scent with a bit of sweet peach. Yum!

• Pineapple Pappy - This is supposed to be a blend of pineapple and paprika and some other stuff. All you need to know is that this smells like a generic bathroom air freshener. Do not want.
• Caramelized Lemons - This sounds good in theory but it was a major letdown. You definitely get a strong caramel note and a strong lemon note but they do not work well together at all in this blend. The lemon is more on the "cleaner lemon" side which means it smells like caramel Pledge. Yuck!
• Sunny Buns - This is a blend of pineapple, coconut, peach and banana. All things I love! But somehow, I am not loving this blend. Again, I am getting a very generic smell from this one. Not bad but not great.
• Flip Floppers - This is a coconut and vanilla blend that totally missed the mark for me. The coconut is oddly perfumey in this one. I know a lot of people like this one though so I will find a good home for it.
• Cinnamon Apple Marshmallow - I don't know what it is, but there is something off about Shayz cinnamon apple. It doesn't really smell like any cinnamon apple scent I've smelled before. Maybe it's because it's a green apple scent blended with cinnamon? Either way, I haven't made up my mind about this one yet. I'll have to melt it and see.

• Amaretto - This is an amazing and strong amaretto scent! Lots of almond and cherry in this one. Smells just like the liqueur!
• Blueberry Lemonade - Again, this lemonade is almost identical to a fizzy pop scent. It's really nice and fruity blended with the blueberry scent. Definitely a keeper!
• Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes - This smells exactly like a fresh stack of blueberry pancakes! I don't get a maple note from this, just a battery blueberry scent. Delish!!
• OMG - This is a blend of cinnamon apple and banana. An unusual combo but definitely something that seems like it would be right up my alley. It is nice but again, not loving the apple note in here. It smells kind of like a cinnamon apple herbal tea which is nice. But I was expecting to smell more of the banana note in this one.
• Island Kola Nut - Now this is a really nice coconut and vanilla blend. The coconut in this is rich and sweet and the vanilla adds a creamy note to the scent. This is more of a true coconut scent than the plastic-y blend found in Flip Floppers. Loving this one!

• Creamy Vanilla (freebie) - The label was located on tissue paper after this picture was taken. This is just a nice, run-of-the-mill vanilla scent. No bakery notes to it, just a fresh vanilla. Very nice!
• Mystery Scent (freebie) - Have no idea what this one is. I'm not getting much of a smell off of this one.
• Blue Breeze - This is a blend of Blue Sugar and lots of different fruits. I'm so happy to see vendors using Blue Sugar to blend with other scents! Pink Sugar is the golden standard for blending but I feel like Blue Sugar would be great in a lot of blends as well. However, I'm not quite sure that I'm loving this particular blend. There's something about it that smells burnt to me. But I've got to give them credit for using Blue Sugar! 

~~~~

Edited to add: Overall, I don't think that Shayz is going to be a favorite vendor. I'm not really overly impressed with anything I received in this order other than Peachy Pink. I'll use up the ones that I have but I don't see myself placing another order with this vendor.

Thanks for stopping by today everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you all soon <3