Rosegirls Haul #1 - First Impressions and Cold Sniff Reviews

Good morning everyone and happy almost weekend! I'm going to jump right into a few hauls that I have for you all today.

First up is my very first Rosegirls haul! Rosegirls is a very popular vendor in the wax world and I'm so glad that I finally got a chance to place an order. Rosegirls generally opens up one day a month, gets slammed with orders, then closes down until they are finished with those orders and opens back up again for a day, and so on and so forth. They are currently closed and probably will not be opening back up until March. I don't mind this system at all but it does mean that you have to  stalk their page a bit for when they open so you can get your order in before they close back up again. I've placed 2 orders with Rosegirls so far and both times I was able to get everything that I wanted so that's a plus. 

Rosegirls is famous for their chunk wax cake melts. Chunk melts are not your normal, run-of-the-mill wax melts. They often combine 2-3 or even more fragrances through the use of smaller wax chunks and then another fragrance is then poured over top of those chunks. Then the chunks are cut into little pieces, and voila! You now have your chunk cake melts. There are a few vendors out there that do chunks but the Rosegirls' ones are among the most beautiful. You'll see what I mean when you see the pictures! Rosegirls also does huge chunk pies, where you get a whole pie sized amount of wax! 

They only downside I can see to Rosegirls is that their wax is fairly expensive. An 8 oz. bag of chunk tarts is $9. Compare that to an 8 oz. bag from a vendor like CFTKR that sells 8 oz. for $5.50, the cost of these adds up pretty quickly. However, for the amount of work that goes into these chunks, the extra cost is definitely worth it. If you're not willing to commit to a $9 bag, they do offer samplers. I believe you get 20 different chunks for $30 plus shipping. It's a great deal! The only thing is, these samplers sell out really quickly so stalking is key! I woke up at about 5:30 AM last Friday so I could snag a sampler. So keep your eyes peeled for that. 

TAT for this order was a little less than 4 weeks, which was well within their stated TAT of 2-5 weeks. I honestly expected to be waiting longer than that based on how many orders they received so I was pleasantly surprised to receive my order in that amount of time. Overall, I am absolutely smitten with this order! I ended up placing a pretty large order when they opened back up again this month (a birthday gift from my awesome parents!), so I can't wait for that one as well. I can see Rosegirls becoming a favorite vendor for sure. They have some really fun and unique blends and their wax is absolutely gorgeous! 

Without further ado, here's my very first Rosegirls order. Enjoy!

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• Soothing Lavender Dreams - Because the website is currently closed for ordering, I can't see exactly what components are in these blends. I believe that Soothing Lavender Dreams is a blend of sweet lavender, zucchini bread, and some sort of vanilla bakery scent. This is a really nice blend. I normally prefer herbal lavender scents to sweet ones but it works really well here with the bakery notes. And again, not much of a zucchini bread fan but I like how it is done here. Really a nice blend! 
• Vanilla Streusel Coffee Cake - This is one of Rosegirls' signature blends (it has now been renamed Streuselkuchen). I believe it is a blend of a coffee cake scent with vanilla frosted grahams? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, it's a gorgeous spicy bakery scent. There's some nice sweetness in there from what I'm assuming is the "vanilla frosted" note, then a rich spice and a cakey-bready note. There is no coffee note in here. Really scrumptious! I ordered this is a blend with strawberry in my most recent order, I bet that one smells amazing too!
• Celtic Moonspice Pancake Batter - This is another great spicy blend. Celtic Moonspice is always a favorite of mine, as it's a great strong, spicy scent. The pancake batter note is hard to describe, I don't really smell much maple to it but it definitely has a batter quality to it. Very unique! My husband doesn't normally like spicy scents but he was in love with this one! 

• Sweet Lemon Confection, Pink Sugar and Gilligan's Brew - This is an AWESOME blend of lemon, Pink Sugar and coconut (Gilligan's BRew). I can smell each note in this equally, not one overtakes the other. This is awesome because normally Pink Sugar and lemon scents can be quite strong and overpower other notes in a blend, but the coconut shines through nicely in this as well. Love it!! I'm going to try to save this for when summer gets closer but I'm not sure I'll last that long =)
• Pink Sugar, Blue Sugar and Royal Sugar Cookies - The royal sugar cookie note is the most prominent here. It's not a crunchy cookie note, but more of a sweet cookie note. If you've ever smelled CFTKR's sugar cookie, this is the same scent. The Pink Sugar is the next most prominent note and then I get faint hints of Blue Sugar. You all know my obsession with Blue Sugar so I was hoping that would be more noticeable in this blend. Oh well, it's still a great scent!
• Florida Key Lime Pie, Serendipity and Vanilla Ice Cream - Another winner. I absolutely love this blend! The key lime note is a touch stronger than the Serendipity in this but I can smell them both. I'm not sure I get a strong note of the vanilla ice cream but it does its job of adding a creamy aspect to this blend. I almost got the blend that was just Key Lime Pie and Serendipity but I'm glad I got the one with the vanilla ice cream as well because it really ties it all together. Lovely!

Here's all the beautiful chunks! 

Clockwise from the top left: Sweet Lemon Confection, Pink Sugar and Gilligan's Brew; Pink Sugar, Blue Sugar and Royal Sugar Cookies; Florida Key Lime Pie, Serendipity and Vanilla Ice Cream; Soothing Lavender Dreams; Vanilla Streusel Coffee Cake; and Celtic Moonspice Pancake Batter. 

Here's the two freebies that she sent. Super generous! These chunks are huge.

• Royal Ice Cream - This is a blend of Royal Sugar Cookies and vanilla ice cream. Really nice! Would be great for blending.  
• Monster Coffee - This is a blend of their famous Monster Cookie scent with coffee. I'm not a fan of coffee scents but it does smell nice with their Monster Cookie scent. I can tell that I like the Monster Cookie better than the Royal Sugar Cookie scent. MC seems to have more of a crunchy note to it, along with a hint of spice. Really good, even with that coffee note! Coffee lovers, you would love this one. 

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Thanks for stopping by! Did any scents from this order jump out at you? Have you tried Rosegirls before? I'd love to hear what you think!

Be back soon with another haul =)

Weekly Wax Meltdown #2 - 1/27/13 to 2/2/13

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been MIA the past few days, my birthday was over the weekend and accompanied with that I had some sort of stomach bug going on. I'm back today to share with you my weekly melts! I didn't do nearly as much melting as I usually do this past week because those days I was ill, I wasn't really feeling up to smelling anything. I still did a fair amount though and I'm excited to share with you what I did end up melting!

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First up are the candles.

Yankee Candle

World Journeys Brazilian Passion Fruit

• Notes: Pure Brazilian passion fruit extract
• My take: I have been looking for a good passion fruit scent forever, as it is my all-time favorite fruit. However, this one is definitely not my favorite. I know a lot of people rave about this fragrance but there's something about it that I'm not loving. It has a heavy perfume note to it that throws me off. I'm still on the hunt for a true passion fruit scent that is tart and juicy just like the real thing. This candle tunneled like mad at first, but I poured out a bit of wax and foiled it for a while and it evened itself out. Throw was medium.
• Repurchase: No.
• Overall rating: 5/10

Bath and Body Works

Paradise Daiquiri

• Notes: Raspberry, rum, sweet orange, coconut cream, vanilla
• My take: This is one of my favorite Bath and Body Works scents ever. This fragrance first surfaced in the Temptations body care line back in 2005. It was then named "Frozen Daquiri." With the discontinuation of that line, I never thought I would see this scent again. Then, low and behold, last summer in 2012, they released the Paradise Daiquiri candle! Much to my delight, it was the exact same scent as Frozen Daiquiri! The scent is absolutely divine. It says that it is raspberry, but I smell a tart strawberry with perhaps some other fruits mixed in. It is SO STRONG! The candle burned flawlessly, and the throw was excellent. I'm a bit worried because it doesn't seem like they are going to be bringing this one back this year =( I'm glad I have two more backups! 
• Repurchase: If they bring it back again this year, absolutely! If not, I may have to stalk eBay for a few more.
• Overall rating: 10/10

Henri Bendel

Cinnamon Bark

• Notes: Cinnamon bark, bergamot, orange, clove bud, smoky musk
• My take: Henri Bendel candles used to be available at Bath and Body Works for $26 each, and I would always save up my coupons for those. Unfortunately, they are no longer available at B&BW and only available through Henri Bendel at $30 each. I ended up finding this one for a really good deal on eBay and I was so excited because it's my favorite Henri Bendel candle fragrance. Out of the box, this candle fills up a room with its unique fragrance. The scent is definitely cinnamon, but I get a hint of earthiness with the bark aspect and the clove bud note. It is a highly unique cinnamon fragrance, very deep and luxurious. However, when I actually burned the candle, the throw wasn't nearly as strong as it was just sitting around, unlit! Very odd indeed. Then again, this candle is probably quite old (Henri Bendel doesn't carry this fragrance anymore) and the candle doesn't have a lid so this could have something to do with why it was very weak when lit. However, I'll keep it around and just place it out when I want the room to smell like this. I won't even have to light it!
• Repurchase: If HB starts carrying this fragrance again, yes. From eBay, no.
• Overall rating: 7/10

Now onto the tarts!

Sugar and Spice Gourmet Soy

Blueberry Muffin - 

• Notes: Blueberry, orange zest, butter cake, vanilla, almond.
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 scent shot
• My take: This is a great blueberry muffin scent. It doesn't have that sharp blueberry note that some vendors blueberry scents have. It's a wonderful creamy, bakery-type blueberry. I wish it would have been a bit stronger but it was still nice. Medium throw. Lasted about 6 hours. 
• Repurchase: Probably not. I have blueberry muffin scents from other vendors that are stronger and longer lasting.
• Overall rating: 6/10

Lasting Scent Candles

Berry Panna Cotta

• Notes: Custard pudding, summer berries.
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 scent shot
• My take: This is a nice wildberry mousse-based scent. The main note is definitely wildberry mousse but there is a hint of creaminess that I assume is the panna cotta part of it. It was decent, but nothing too special. At this point, I have a lot of Wildberry Mousse scents that I like better. Not incredibly long lasting but it did have a strong throw while it did. Lasted about 5 hours.
• Repurchase: Nope. 
• Overall rating: 6/10

Autumn Dreamin

• Notes: (official notes unknown) lavender, spicy bakery
• Warmer: 25-watt light bulb 
• Amount used: 1 scent shot
• My take: I absolutely LOVE this scent! It is a blend of lavender and some sort of spicy bakery, pumpkin pie perhaps? The scent was LE for fall and is no longer available so I can't get the official description for it. Anyways, if you've never tried lavender blended with spicy bakery - DO IT! It's so amazing! You wouldn't think these two scents would go well together but they do. LSC's lavender scent is more on the herbal side, and mixed with the spicy bakery note, it takes on a whole new dimension. SO good. Strong throw. Lasted 12+ hours.
• Repurchase: Absolutely! I'm well stocked for now but hopefully she will bring it back next fall so I can purchase it again.
• Overall rating: 10/10!

Scent Appeal Candles

Blue Christmas

• Notes: Blue Sugar, Vanilla Bean Noel
• Warmer: 24 watt hotplate 
• Amount used: 6 cubes
• My take: I am absolutely OBSESSED with Blue Sugar (a.k.a the male counterpart to Pink Sugar). Not a lot of vendors do Blue Sugar blends so I was really excited to see that Scent Appeal did. This is a nice blend of Vanilla Bean Noel and Blue Sugar. The BS definitely takes center stage in this blend but the VBN tones it down and adds a hint of sweetness. At first I threw in 2 cubes and did not get a strong throw. Threw in 1 more, still wasn't strong enough for me. So I figured what the heck, and threw in the the rest of the clamshell. I got wafts of it throughout the day but I was starting to get bummed out because it just wasn't doing as well as I had hoped.  I ended up forgetting to turn off the warmer at night and I came down the next morning with my house FILLED with this scent. It was SO STRONG! I don't know what happened there. This tart has been curing for well over a month now but perhaps it needed to develop on the warmer? Anyways, this bad boy ended up lasting for over 24 hours! Light at first, and then later on burn-your-nosehair strong. Very strange but the scent was amazing!
• Repurchase: Maybe. I'm going to try some other Blue Sugar/VBN blends and see if they perform differently for me.
• Overall rating: 7/10

The Kissing Booth

Boozy Brunch

• Notes: Champagne, orange juice
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 2 cubes
• My take: After a few not-so-great experiences with Kissing Booth products, I didn't have high hopes for this one. It was my favorite scent from my first order so I crossed my fingers and gave it a chance. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The champagne and orange blend together nicely, but there is a prominent perfume note in this one. To me, it smells almost exactly like my 90's signature perfume, Clinique Happy! Definitely not what I expected when ordering, but I ended up loving it nonetheless. Medium-to-strong scent throw. Lasted about 8 hours.
• Repurchase: I did end up getting a second clamshell of this in my second order with The Kissing Booth so I'm glad I have a backup because I don't see myself ordering from this company again (more on that in a different post).
• Overall rating: 7/10

The Bathing Garden

Coconut Candy Apple

• Notes: Winter Candy Apple, Coconut
• Warmer: 24-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 3 cubes
• My take: I love this scent! Winter Candy Apple is my favorite holiday Bath and Body Works scent and I was intrigued when I saw it blended with coconut. The WCA is definitely the stronger note in this one but the coconut is definitely there. I first put in 2 cubes and it wasn't quite strong enough for me. 3 cubes was perfect. Medium-to-strong throw. Lasted about 6 hours. 
• Repurchase: Perhaps. I think I'm going to try blending this with another coconut scent to amp up that note in it. 
• Overall rating: 7/10

Front Porch Candle Co.

Lemonberry Crumble

• Notes: Lemon, blueberry, bakery
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate, 24-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 grubby tart in each
• My take: WOW was this one fantastic! I wanted my whole house to smell like this so I put 1 tart in 2 warmers and it definitely filled my house! This is a nice blend of a strong blueberry note mixed with lemon bakery. Normally I don't like strong blueberry notes but the lemon and bakery notes blended so well together with it so that not one note stood out. I love lemon and blueberry scents and this one is at the top of the list. Amazing! Strong throw. Lasted 12+ hours.
• Repurchase: Heck yes!
• Overall rating: 10/10

Cotton Candy Cookie

• Notes: Cotton candy, sugar cookie
• Warmer: 24-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 3 grubby tarts
• My take: MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT! I melted one of these in December and it did really well, but for some reason this time around the scent was almost undetectable. Even with 3 tarts in the warmer, I could barely smell anything besides a faint sweetness in the air. I'm going to experiment with warmers with this scent because I still have 2 whole 4-packs left! Very light throw. 
• Repurchase: Probably not =( And this was even a top 10 of 2012 scent! Son, I am disappoint.
• Overall rating: 2/10

Sugary Marshmallow

• Notes: Warm Vanilla Sugar, marshmallow
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 grubby tarts
• My take: This, on the other hand, was absolutely INCREDIBLE! This was a gift from the lovely Shelby, thanks girl! This blend of Warm Vanilla Sugar and marshmallow is truly amazing. You can smell both notes equally here. FP's marshmallow scent is so strong, and WVS is such a strong scent so the fact that I can ever smell the marshmallow with it is a testament to how amazing it is. This lasted almost 48 hours, and probably could have lasted longer if I hadn't finally dumped it out. The throw was strong, but the scent itself wasn't too overpowering. Does that make sense? It carried through the house really well and was reasonably strong but I could still smell the other scents I was melting.
• Repurchase: YES! I believe this was only available in the marshmallow sampler, but I am going to request she makes this a regular scent. I will buy it in bulk!
• Overall rating: 10/10!

Sniff My Tarts

Pumpkin Apple Butter Mallow

• Notes: Pumpkin apple butter, marshmallow
• Warmer: 24-watt hot plate
• Amount used: Half of a chunk
• My take:  Yayy, my very first Sniff My Tarts tart! I was absolutely thrilled when I saw this in the birthday package that Shelby sent me, thanks again <3 This was amazing! The chunks are the pumpkin apple and the overpour is marshmallow. It's definitely stronger on the pumpkin apple note, but the marshmallow mellows it out quite nicely. The pumpkin apple scent is sweet but with a prominent spice note. LOVE THIS! Medium-to-strong throw. Lasted about 6 hours.
• Repurchase: Absolutely. Sniff My Tarts is currently the most difficult vendor to order from on the face of the earth, but once they finish up their outstanding orders in the next few months, they will be re-opening as a strictly RTS company! Can't wait for that! 
• Overall rating: 8.5/10

Ten Digit Creations

Cherry Slushie

• Notes: Cherry frozen drink
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 scalloped tart
• My take:  My oh my was this fantastic! It's an amazing, sweet cherry scent (think maraschino cherry) with a citrus fizz undertone. Not much else to say about it except that I am in love with it. The scent throw was strong and it lasted about 8 hours. Sad that this is now discontinued!
• Repurchase: Since TDC discontinued this scent, I will be on the lookout for it from another vendor. Please let me know if you see this on anyone's scent list!
• Overall rating: 9/10

Candles from the Keeping Room

Strawberry and Toasted Marshmallow

• Notes: Strawberry, toasted marshmallow
• Warmer: 24-watt hot plate
• Amount used: Half of a fruit pie tart
• My take:  You didn't think I would go a whole week without melting some CFTKR, did you?! This came in my massive haul from last week and as soon as I was done taking pics, I popped this bad boy in the warmer. Carol's strawberry scents are amazing, and this blended with the toasted marshmallow was fantastic. Scent throw was strong but sadly this only lasted about 4 hours. But for that 4 hours, it was in your face!
• Repurchase: I think so!
• Overall rating: 8/10

Tiffany Candles

Buttercream Frosting (new wax)

• Notes: Butter, sugar
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 2 gingerbread men tarts
• My take:  On cold throw, this was a nice, sweet buttercream scent. Sadly, I could not smell this at all when melting. Not even when I put my nose directly over the warmer. The new wax has been nearly as hit or miss for me as the old wax was. I'm going to keep trying with this vendor though! I have faith that I'll find some more good ones =)
• Repurchase: Nope.
• Overall rating: 0/10

Beezy Tarts

Strawberry Passion

• Notes: Strawberry, cotton candy, vanilla
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 donut tart
• My take:  Yet another awesome strawberry scent! I love this scent from lots of different vendors, and Beezy's is no exception. The cotton candy adds a nice sweetness to the strawberry scent. It also has a hint of a green note to it which is nice. This was a medium-to-strong throw. Lasted about 8 hours.
• Repurchase: I think so!
• Overall rating: 7/10

Orchid Lake Candles

Grapefruit Jasmine

• Notes: Grapefuit, jasmine
• Warmer: 18-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 mini sampler tart
• My take:  This was so nice at the beginning, a very tart grapefruit scent with the slightest hint of a floral undertone. I thought I had found my perfect grapefuit scent. But then after a few hours, the grapefruit faded and all I could smell was the jasmine. I do like floral scents but jasmine is not one of my favorites. It was really nice while the grapefruit note lasted though. Strong throw, which was surprising for such a little tart! Lasted about 6 hours.
• Repurchase: I think I am going to buy a large tart in this and give it one more try.
• Overall rating: 6.5/10

Sweet Fixations

Pancakes & Berries

• Notes: Buttermilk pancakes, sweet berries
• Warmer: 24-watt hot plate
• Amount used: 1 scallop tart
• My take:  This was another awesome gift from Shelby from our first swap. This one was AH-MAY-ZING. It smelled very similar to my beloved Jelly Donut scent. You get the sweet dough note and a super sweet berry scent as well. Anything close to jelly donut is an automatic win. I need to order this in bulk for sure! Strong scent throw. Lasted about 8 hours.
• Repurchase: For sure!
• Overall rating: 10/10!

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That's it for this past week! I know, not very much but I had some amazing scents in here this time around. Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back tomorrow with some hauls =)

Candles from the Keeping Room January Reopening Haul - Cold Sniff Reviews

Hey everyone! I've been feeling under the weather (yet again) and I wanted to post this yesterday but wasn't feeling up to it. But I'm back and SO EXCITED to share this haul with you all!

Today's haul is from Candles from the Keeping Room. As I have mentioned on here before, CFTKR is one of my top favorite vendors. It is run by a lovely woman named Carol who has great customer service and always goes out of her way to make her customers happy. CFTKR is strictly a RTS business, meaning that Carol pours the tarts and them lists them on the site for sale. Since it is RTS, the TAT is very fast even when she is slammed with orders. 

She has the most extensive selection available out of any RTS vendor. There are 23 different categories of tart scents and each category has a large selection of different scents. The scents are available in 4 oz. and 8 oz. bags. You cannot purchase the tarts individually. Sometimes she'll have samplers that have 6 different tarts of all different scents in them. These sell out pretty quickly though so you have to plan for that. She always keeps us updated through Facebook on what she's working on, if she's working on remakes, when samplers might become available if she's working on them, etc. so it's easier for customers to plan out their purchases.

This is my biggest order from CFTKR yet, it was my birthday gift to myself =) She was closed for about a month and half for the holidays and to get a lot of remakes done. For this opening, along with tarts, she had TONS of samplers, cuttables, special tarts and candles. I had never tried her candles or cuttables so I made sure to order some of those and I got a bunch of samplers and bags of tarts as well. She opened up a bit before 5 A.M. last Thursday and you better bet I set my alarm and woke up early to order! She ended up having to close for a few days to process the huge influx of orders that she received that day.

CFTKR is another vendor that I would recommend if you are just getting into wax. The TAT is fast, customer service is excellent, there's tons of scents available and she always gives great samples so you can try lots of different scents. Keep in mind that CFTKR is 100% paraffin wax and because it is a harder wax, you will need a hotplate or tealight warmer. This wax will not do well in a lightbulb warmer.

Another thing about paraffin wax is that it doesn't give as strong of a cold throw as soy wax does. Sometimes you can't smell certain notes in paraffin on cold sniff but these notes will come out when melting. For this reason, I was unsure if I was going to do cold sniff reviews. I decided that I am going to because you can definitely smell the tarts in the bags, but I do so with this disclaimer: Cold sniff reviews on paraffin wax may not be accurate to the actual scent of the tart when melting. So please keep this in mind when reading my cold sniff reviews of CFTKR. 

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Anyways, let's get into the fun stuff! 
First, we'll start with the regular bags of tarts.

• Raspberry Peach Summer Tea - I'm smelling mostly raspberry with hints of peach and tea. This is so awesome! I love tea scents so I'm sure I will love this one when melting.
• Raspberry Sorbet - This is so good! It smells exactly like tart raspberry sorbet. Delish!
• Raspberry Vanilla Cream - This one smells like Lush Rockstar to me, very candy-like with a bit of a powdery note. I was hoping for more of a true raspberry scent but I actually do like it! I'll have to melt it to see if more of a true raspberry note comes out.
• Peach Pie Filling - OMG this one is soooo good! This is a very tart and sugary peach scent. It smells exactly like what I would think peach pie filling would smell like. There's no crust note here, it's all peach!
• Peach White Cake - This is a nice blend of peach and cake. The peach is a bit artificial smelling, I was hoping for more of a fresh peach scent with this one. Of the two peach scents I got, I prefer the Peach Pie Filling. This one is still good through!

• Pink Sugared Lemon - This is a great blend of Pink Sugar and lemon. The lemon is stronger in this one but you can still smell the Pink Sugar. Really nice!
• Lemon Noel - This is a blend of lemon and Vanilla Bean Noel. Again, the lemon is the stronger note here but the Vanilla Bean Noel adds a nice sweetness. Love this one!
• Lemon Summer Cake - This is a fantastic lemon bakery scent. I don't smell any other notes in here, it's just a straight up lemon, sugar and cake scent. I can never have enough lemon bakery!
• Serendipity Marshmallow Delight - This is one of my favorite CFTKR scents. I actually got a few bags of this because it's so good. It's a blend of Serendipity and marshmallow. Amazing! Carol's marshmallow blends are always awesome.
• Satsuma and Strawberry - This is a new blend that was requested by a customer. It's definitely heavier on the orange note but the strawberry adds a nice sweetness. I'm hoping the strawberry will come out more when melting.

• Banana Wafer Pudding - You guys know me and my banana scents! This was a new scent for 2013 so of course I had to try it. It's a really great creamy banana scent. It's not exactly a dead-on true banana scent but it's not a candied banana Runts one either, kind of in between. It's a very nice banana scent. Really like this one! 
• Buttery Cake Bites - Another new scent. This definitely has a very heavy buttery note that almost smells kind of maple-y. I'm not sure on this one. I have a feeling it will smell a lot better when melting though so I'm not counting it out just yet!
• Celtic Moonspice - This is a favorite scent of mine from any vendor. It's a strong spicey scent with a slight hint of bakery sweetness. Love!
• Marshmallow & Butter Brickle Pie - I have heard so many good things about this scent so I finally broke down and ordered it. I can't believe it took me so long to try this! It is SO GOOD. It has a sweet, crunchy caramel note to it but it is mellowed out nicely by the marshmallow. 

Next up is all the cuttables! These are large tarts that are to be cut into smaller pieces to put in your warmer.

• Wildberry Mousse & Toasted Marshmallow (Fruit Pie Tarts) - The crust on this one is toasted marshmallow and the filling is wildberry mousse. Oh so good! Wildberry mousse is such a great berry blend and it smells even more yummy with that toasted marshmallow note. 
• Vanilla Bean Noel - Raspberry Coconut (Chunk Muffin Cuttable) - This has raspberry coconut chunks and the overpour is VBN. This smells so good! The VBN is more prominent but it's probably because most of the chunks are within the muffin.
• Vanilla Bean Noel - Blue Hawaiian (Chunk Muffin Cuttable) - Chunks in Blue Hawaiian, overpour in VBN. I smell mostly VBN in this one too as the chunks are on the inside of the muffin. Love Blue Hawaiian though, can't wait to melt this one.
• Toasted Marshmallow - Pink Flamingo (Chunk Muffin Cuttable) - Chunks in Pink Flamingo, overpour in toasted marshmallow. This is really good! Pink Flamingo is a strong sweet cherry and orange scent an the toasted marshmallow adds a nice bit of creaminess to it. Really like this one!
• Strawberry & Toasted Marshmallow - I am currently addicted to strawberry scents, so this is one of my favorites from the order. The crust is the toasted marshmallow and the filling is strawberry. It's amazing.
• Fruit and Spice (Donut Cuttable) - This scent is a blend of citrus, cranberry and spice. I went out on a limb with this one and I'm not sure I love it. I'm really picky with cranberry scents and this one is not my favorite. I know it's a really popular blend though so hopefully the spices will mellow it out when melting.
• Jelly Donut (Donut Cuttable) - If you've seen my Top 10 of 2012 post, you'll know that this is one of my all-time favorite scents. It's a fruity dough scent. It's hard to describe unless you've smelled it yourself. Amazing! When I saw that she did donut-shaped cuttables in this scent, of course I had to get one! 

Here's my very first candle from her. It is absolutely GORGEOUS!

• Strawberry Whirl (Pottery Bowl Candle) - How gorgeous is this candle?! It has the strawberry and mini banana embeds and the top is dusted in sugar. So cool! Better yet, the scent is amazing. Strawberry Whirl is a great strawberry banana scent. Two of my favorite scents together, you just can't go wrong here. This candle is so pretty, I almost don't want to melt it! But I will =)

I ended up ordering 10 different samplers. These are a great way to try a lot of different scents without committing to a full-size bag. These individual tarts are also great for swaps and round robin boxes!

Melons and Blends No. 25 Sampler

• Watermelon Garden - This is an awesome watermelon-floral blend. I think this is my favorite of this lot!
• Sour Watermelon Candy - Not my favorite. A fake, tart melon scent. 
• Passion Melon - I know a lot of people love this blend but I'm not a fan of it myself. This is a blend of watermelon and passion berry. Passion berry is a blend or berries, fruits and passion flower. All of these things together sound like I would like them but it's just not working for me. It's almost too sweet. But like i said, I know a lot of people love this one.
• Honeydew & Whipped Cream - I already have a 4 oz. bag of this in my stash and it's a good honeydew scent. It has a bit of a floral note to it but I don't mind. 
• Watermelon - This is a great straight up sweet watermelon scent. Love this one!
• Melonade - This is a blend of melon and lemonade. I almost ordered a bag in this but I wasn't sure I would like it. It's okay. I much prefer other fruits blended with lemonade. Not bad but not my favorite.

Banana and Caramel No. 20 Sampler

• Banana Colada - This is a blend of banana, brown sugar and tropical fruits. Really good! I love how the brown sugar note blends with all the fruits. Love it!
• Caramelized Banana Cake - Honestly, you really just can't go wrong with banana and caramel scents together. This is fantastic! You can smell the cake, the banana and the caramel notes here.  This is definitely one of my favorites of the whole order!
• Banana Nut Bread - This is your standard banana nut bread scent. For some reason, as much as I love bananas, I tend to not like banana nut bread scents. There is a fake-y note to them that rubs me the wrong way.
• Sticky Licky Buns - This is a blend of apple, pecan, maple, honey, butter, cinnamon and batter. I love this one! Though caramel isn't listed as a note, all of the sweet notes in this together lend themselves to a caramel note, albeit less sweet than normal caramel scents. Delish! 
• Sea Salt Caramel - Awesome, strong caramel scent! I think I want to get a bag of this just to blend with other scents.
• Banana Zucchini - Guess what you guys?! A zucchini bread scent that I like! It's a strong, sweet banana with a hint of zucchini bread. I'm so curious to see how this will be when it's melting. I'm amazed that I actually like this one. 

Spa and Greens No. 14 Sampler

• Cactus and Sea Salt - Okay, I'm really bad at describing clean/green/fresh scents so please bear with me! This one is kind of a beachy scent with a hint of cologne. I really like this one! 
• Glitter - This smells like something from Lush. It's sweet but powdery at the same time. I wish I knew what this was a dupe for! It's not advertised as a dupe but it smells dead on to something I've smelled there. Anyways, I like this one too.
• Green Tea and Lily - I don't think this one is my cup of tea. Green tea notes are always very sharp to my nose and that turns me off. Not a fan.
• Badedas - This one is really nice! There's all kinds of different notes in this one, such as florals, leafy greens, basil, citrus, amber and musk. I can't really pick out anything specific in this but it's a nice fresh, green scent. Not sure it's a reorder but I'll be glad to try this one out.
• Jade - This one is nice as well. It's mostly florals such as jasmine, violet, lily, lavender and rose with pineapple, apple and melon. I get mostly the floral notes with a hint of sweetness from the fruits. Again, probably not a reorder but this will be nice to melt in the spring.
• Shampure Aveda - I am obsessed with the Shampure scent from Aveda so I was super excited to see this one in the sampler. It definitely smells like Shampure! It's very strong. CFTKR also has a Shampure type scent called Shampoo de Luxe an I actually prefer that one to this. The Shampoo de Luxe is a bit softer and it smells more like when you walk into an Aveda salon. This one is very sharp and has a bit more soapiness than SdL does. I still do really like it though! 

Serendipity Blends No. 41 Sampler

• Serendipity - This is just the straight Serendipity scent. This is one of my favorite scents ever. For those that don't know, serendipity is a blend of cherry, coconut, orange, powdered sugar and vanilla. It's sweet, fruity and strong! It's one of the most popular scents in the wax world in general, as most people seem to love it!
• Pink Sugared Serendipity - This is a great blend of Pink Sugar and serendipity. You can smell both equally in this one!
• Serendipity Noel - The blend with VBN really brings out the vanilla and powdered sugar notes in this one. Another great blend!
• Ultimate Serendipity - This is a blend of CFTKR's Ultimate Bakery Shop scent with serendipity. Ultimate Bakery is an awesome mix of cakes, cookies, breads, donuts and icing. The bakery scent is dominant here with a hint of serendipity. Really nice! Usually serendipity dominates other scents so it's nice to smell one where it takes a bit of a back seat.
• Serendipity and Sugar Cookies - This is a blend of, you guessed it, serendipity and sugar cookies. Again, the sugar cookie is the stronger note in this but the serendipity adds a nice fruitiness. 
• Serendipity Marshmallow Delight - This is my favorite Serendipity blend ever. Marshmallows and serendipity - amazing! Since I ordered a few bags of this, the sample will be going to a friend =)

Cotton Candy No. 43 Sampler

• Sugar Cookie Cotton Candy - How cute is this one with all of the sprinkles? Anyways, this is a delicious blend of buttery sugar cookie and sweet cotton candy. It makes for one extra sweet and yummy blend!
• Blue Cotton Candy - This is a very light cotton candy scent. It smells like cotton candy bubble gum! Love this one.
• Cotton Candy Frosting - This is a cotton candy scent that a lot of vendors have. It smells exactly like the cotton candy body spray I had as a kid. Really strong off of cold sniff and really nice! 
• Watermelon Cotton Candy - I think this is my favorite watermelon scent in this entire order. Watermelon with a hint of sweetness. Cotton candy tends to be a very light scent so I don't really smell it but I know that it is adding the sweetness to the blend.
• Cherry Lime Cotton Candy - I'm not sure about this one. There's almost a powdery note to it. I think this is one of the ones that you really have to melt to get the full experience. 
• Rainbow Cotton Candy - This smells like bubble tape gum! Love it!

Spicy Bakery No. 38 Sampler

• Grandma's Cupboard - This is supposed to be an oatmeal cookie scent mixed with other baked goods. I can definitely smell the oatmeal cookie and it is BY FAR the best oatmeal cookie scent I've ever smelled. It smells like the real thing! So good.
• Amish Cinnamon Bread - This is an amazing spicy bread scent. It's not a zucchini bread scent but still has a nice, authentic bready note. One of my favorites of the whole order.
• Warm and Cozy - This is just a nice spicy scent, no bakery notes in this one. I smell clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. Good and strong.
• Celtic Moonspice - I got a bag in this one so I'll be passing this sample on to a friend. A nice spicy scent with a hint of bakery.
• Amish Quilt - This smells pretty much the same as Celtic Moonspice. That's fine with me because I love spicy scents!
• Home Sweet Home - This is supposed to be a dupe for Yankee's famous scent, which also happens to be one of my favorites. This one has a certain sharpness that the original Yankee version doesn't have. I prefer the original.

Citrus No. 10 Sampler

• Fresh Squeezed OJ - This is a good, strong orange scent. I prefer orange scents blended with other things so I'll probably blend it with something else.
• Lemon Clean - This one smells like lemon cleaner, but not as sharp and bitter as the real stuff. I didn't think I'd like this one but I really do! This is a good clean house scent.
• Cool Citrus Basil - This used to be one of my favorite scents from back in the day when Bath and Body Works actually made good body care scents. I love this one. It almost has a soapy note, but in a good way. 
• Bite Me - This is a fizzy citrus scent! I love effervescent scents so this is right up my alley. Sweet, fizzy goodness. It reminds me of Ten Digit Creations Ginger Ale! 
• Sea Island Grapefruit - This is such a nice grapefruit scent. It's fresh and tart, with a hint of floral. Very good.
• Berry Verbena - This one is so strong! It's a sharp blueberry note with a sharp verbena note. I like it but I'd really have to be in the mood for this one.

Lavender and Blends No. 37 Sampler

• Lavender and Moonspice - I know it sounds weird, but lavender and spicy scents smells amazing together. CFTKR's lavender seems to be on the sweet side (as opposed to herbal) but it doesn't have that odd laundry detergent quality that a lot of sweet lavender scents have. This mix of sweet floral and spicy really works here.
• Apple Cream & Lavender - Another awesome blend! The creamy apple note blends so well with the lavender. I didn't think I was going to like this one but now I feel like I need to try every apple lavender scent ever. It smells, once again, like something I've smelled at Lush before. I really need to take a trip to Lush and smell everything so I can places these scents that I'm referencing here haha. Anyways, it's definitely my favorite of all the lavender blends in this sampler. 
• Coconut Milk and Lavender - Okay, this one actually does seem to lave a bit of a laundry detergent note to it. Sometimes coconut scents can have a bit of a soapy quality though so maybe that's where I'm getting that from. I still really like it though! It's a very sweet lavender scent.
• Lavender Berry Sugar Cookie - The sugar cookie note is strongest here but I can smell bits of lavender and berry. Really like this one!
• Lemon Lavender - This pretty much smells like Yankee's Lemon Lavender. Always a classic!
• Lavender and Sweet Cupcakes - This is a great blend too! It smells like lavender frosting. I really like it!

Strawberry Blends No. 32 Sampler

• Strawberry Fluff - This is a blend of marshmallow and strawberry. Not much else to say here except for AWESOME.
• Strawberries and Cream - This is definitely my favorite of the bunch. A classic, creamy strawberry scent. Once she restocks this one (the bags are already sold out) I will definitely be getting some.
• Fresh Picked Strawberry - A great fresh strawberry scent. The most authentic of all the ones in the sampler. I'll probably be picking up a bag of this one as well. I can't resist things that are shaped like strawberries!
• Strawberry Shake - I did a melted review on this one last week. This is a creamy strawberry scent with a hint of a green note to it. Really nice.
• Strawberry Rhubarb Pie - This is the only one of the bunch that I didn't care for. Weird, soapy note to it. I haven't yet found a rhubarb pie scent that I like.
• Strawberry Milk - I did a melted review on this on last week as well. It is a sweet stawberry scent with a strong milk note. It performs really well when melting so I'm super excited to have another one!

New 2013 Fruit and Citrus No. 34 Sampler

• Bliss - This one is ozone and green notes blended with strong citrus. I quite like this one. It's probably not something I would have ordered on my own based on the notes but I do like it.
• Chubba Dubba - I've smelled this one from other vendors and this one smells the same as those ones do. It's a very strong green citrus scent with a dominant lemongrass note. I like this one too!
• Berry Bellini - This is a berry cocktail with champagne. I definitely smell both the berry and the champagne notes. Love this one!
• Citrus Punch - Sort of a nondescript citrus scent. It's good but not a favorite.
• Sage and Citrus - This smells very similar to the Yankee scent of the same name. Herbal sage with a hint of citrus. Very nice.
• Lemongrass Kiwi Cassis - Strong lemongrass scent. I don't smell the other notes at all. Has a bit of a cleaning solution scent to it. Not my favorite.

And now for the freebies. Yes, all of the following items were sent by Carol for free. How awesome is that?! That's another thing I love about CFTKR, she always makes sure to send a few samples. I requested 5 of the scents and the rest were picked out by her. So thank you Carol, if you ever come across this. I appreciate these samples more than you know! She sends these all in a little brown paper bag and it's always a fun surprise to see what she sent.

• Strawberry and Toasted Marshmallow (Fruit Pie Tart) - Yes, this is a full size, cuttable tart! I actually purchased this same item so I got another one for free! Incredibly generous. Love the strawberry marshmallow blend in this one.
• Lavender Noel Zucchini - This was the big surprise of the order. I LOVE THIS! It's probably one of my favorites from the whole order. Yes, another zucchini bread scent that I actually like. It is the best bakery lavender scent I've ever smelled. I can't WAIT to melt this one!
• Blood Orange - This is a really nice, strong orange scent. I like this one a lot more than the Fresh OJ one that came in the sampler. 
• Fresh Floral Linen - This one smells like a fancy soap. Definitely not my cup of tea but I think my mom will like this one. I'll give it to her to enjoy.
• Pink Flamingo (request) - I requested this one not realizing that I had bought a muffin that had this scent in it. Hey, it was 5 AM! Anyways, this is a really nice, strong creamy cherry and citrus scent. Love this one!
• Lemon Noel Sugar Cookie - This one is fantastic! I actually placed a small order a few days after this one and this was one of the scents that I got. It's a great lemon bakery scent. It's one of Carol's new blends for 2013 and it's a huge hit!
• Bendel's Fig Type (request) - This is a really fresh and green fig scent with a hint of sweetness. I'm glad I got a sample of this instead of a whole bag because I'm not sure I'm going to love this one. I'll melt it and see.
• Biolage (request) - This one smells exactly like Biolage hair products! I like it but I probably won't order a bag of this. I much prefer the Aveda shampoo scents to this one.
• Snickers Coffee Blend (request) - I have heard lots of good things about this one but I'm not much of a coffee person so I just wanted to try a sample of it. I actually really like this one! It's a yummy nutty coffee blend. 
• Cherry Vanilla Swirl (request) - I'm always on the lookout for the perfect cherry vanilla scent. This isn't it. I think the closest I've found yet is Pink Flamingo! 

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WHEW! That was a CRAZY BIG order. I'd like to say that I won't be ordering from CFTKR for awhile but why kid myself?! I have another small order out and when I get that one in, I'll probably put together a list for another small order. Paraffin tarts last a very long time so I don't have to worry about these losing scent anytime soon. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed seeing my haul! I'd love to hear what you got from CFTKR's reopening =)