Guest Post - Dana from Dana's Little Wax Blog

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all having as fabulous a week so far as I am! 

Today I have another guest post for you. This time it's from Dana of Dana's Little Wax Blog! Dana is a great friend of mine, we actually met through a Cleveland nail bloggers meet up a few years ago and have been friends ever since! We always seem to have a lot of the same interests, so when I started my wax blog Dana was very intrigued! I sent her a box of wax to try and she's been obsessed ever since! Dana now lives out of state but we keep in touch pretty much daily and always visit when she is in town. I'm honored to have my nail polish soulmate and wax partner in crime posting here today! 

Today, Dana is going to share with us some of her most recent wax melts. Take it away, Dana!

~~~~

Hey there!

Today is my very first guest post as a wax blogger! Pretty exciting since my little blog is brand new! Even more exciting? Who I'm doing this guest post for! Jacqui is a great friend of mine AND she's the one who got me into wax! Very fitting indeed! :) Have a fun, safe trip to Florida and I can't wait to see you in a few weeks, girl! Here we go!

Better Homes And Gardens: Iced Carrot Cake - I really, really enjoy Better Homes And Garden's bakery scents. My absolute favorite cake is carrot cake. (In fact, we're having carrot cake cupcakes at my wedding!) This is AMAZING. In fact, I only have two cubes left. I love the spicy and moist notes to a classic carrot cake scent, it smells so realistic. So awesome. I need to pick up more the next time I'm in Walmart. This was STRONG but I loved it that way, it filled my entire apartment. Melted two cubes in my 20 watt.

Skinny Dip Soaps: Pink Sugar - This is one of their one ounce scent shots. I got this in a destash and it's the one and only Skinny Dip wax I've tried. It was your typical Pink Sugar scent, but I love Pink Sugar so I was happy with the results! It was really cute with pink glitter on the top too. :) For a little scent shot, the scent throw was medium - it was nice to melt in our bedroom in the evening. Melted in my 18 watt.

CFTKR: Harvest Indian Bread - Eh. I love CFTKR's Amish Cinnamon Bread so much more! I don't dislike this, it just didn't wow me in any way. I melted both bread tarts in my 18 watt, and I just had a nice, sweet bakery scent. Throw was really good though, medium.

Better Homes and Garden: Frosty Peppermint Snow - I am on the biggest peppermint kick right now. I have melted so much already, and I have so much on it's way! (In fact, this clam shell is empty, but I'm saving that for another post about my empty clam shells.) Frosty Peppermint is a fantastic, strong straight-up peppermint scent and I LOVE it! I found this for two bucks with free shipping on eBay and I haven't been able to find it that cheap again since. I'm keeping my eyes peeled! I melted two cubes each time at bedtime and it was so relaxing to fall asleep to. Nice strong scent and great throw for the bedroom. Melted in my 18 watt. 

Sweet Fixation: Frosted Lime Cupcake - OMG Jacqui I LOVE this one! Thank you! I've learned that not only do I love lemon scents, but I love lime as well! I need to place a Sweet Fixations order soon, I've fallen in love with everything I've melted from them so far, and I can't wait to try more! Frosted Lime Cupcake has that amazing tart lime scent with the bakery undertones - the perfect amount of each note! Bonus? It had green "sugar" sprinkled on the top of the tart! I melted a whole tart, and MAN was it STRONG! I should have known better since I only melted half a tart of Lemon Drizzle Bread and it was strong even then! This lasted seriously for two days, and it FILLED my entire apartment! I need more lime bakery scents for sure. Melted in my 20 watt.

Front Porch: Caramel Apple Funnel Cake: Another home run for me from Front Porch! I can be entirely hit or miss with with apple scents, but this is fantastic! I love the crisp apple scent blended with the creaminess of the caramel. I don't think I'm a fan of funnel cake scents, but I think the caramel apple here overpowers the scent. I've only smelled one straight up funnel cake scent (it's from FP too) and I wasn't really a fan, but maybe I just need to try another vendor or two. This had a nice medium throw in my 20 watt. 

Front Porch: Zucchini Bread Cupcake - If this is how my relationship with zucchini scents is going to be, count me in! I LOVED this one! I decided the next time I place my next vendor order I want to try a couple of other zucchini scents and see what I think of them too. This had such a creamy bakery scent that just warmed up my living room! Such a smooth scent if that makes sense. Melted in my 20 watt.

Front Porch: Funnel Cake - Now this was a miss for me. Don't really know which note hit me the wrong way, I think it might have been the notes of powdered sugar? It was just an awkward bakery scent. Every nose is different. The scent throw for this was pretty weak, which was fine since I wasn't feeling it. Melted in my 18 watt.

Better Homes and Gardens: Spiced Apple Wreath - Not a fan. Not enough spice, too much overly fake apple scent to me. Like I said, apple scents can be hit or miss to me. I don't know why I even bought this at Walmart, a few days later I was like "What Am I thinking?!" I melted two cubes in my 20 watt and had to dump it. Passed this along to a friend.

COMBO: Closet Full Of Wax's Ice Cream Scoop Bread and CFTKR's Buttermint - I've been trying my hand at blending a little bit more these days. This time I melted CFTKR's Buttermint first, which came in the mint 2 #11 sample bag. I loved the snowflake shape! I was a nice buttery mint scent but it wasn't doing too much for me. I had't tried any waxes from Closet Full Of Wax, so I threw in Ice Cream Scoop. (It was a prettiest tart! I love the iridescent glitter Michele puts on some of her tarts!) I LOVED this combination, but after an hour it was pretty much gone. No waxy after-smell, just nothing. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. Melted in my 20 watt.

CFTKR: Pink Sugar Milk - JACQUI! THIS IS AWESOME! I think every time I turn around there's more wax I want from Carol! It really never ends, does it? Pink Sugar Milk is just amazing. The milk adds a creamy lightness to the Pink Sugar scent, and MAN it was strong! I melted this in my bedroom starting two nights ago on and off, and it's after one-thirty in the afternoon on the second day and it's STILL going strong!  I need a big bag of this. A wax lover's wish list never really ends.

Closet Full Of Wax: Cotton Candy Serendipity - This didn't have the best results for me. I've had much better results with other Closet Full Of Wax scents that I'll be sharing in a later post. I didn't get much of the cotton candy, just Serendipity and it was a GREAT scent! Strong on the cherry, which I really enjoyed. The only problem? I could only smell it by having my face directly over my warmer. Which was such a shame considering it smelled so good. I got frustrated and dumped it after about an hour. Melted in my 20 watt.

CFTKR: Peppermint Patty - This is what started my chocolate peppermint obsession! This was another that came in mint 2 #11 sample bag. This too was in an adorable snow flake shape. This smells EXACTLY like a peppermint patty to perfection! Jeff and I both fell in love with this melting in our bedroom, it was so nice and strong and it lasted for over 12 hours! I ordered a couple different chocolate peppermint scents (from another vendor) yesterday thanks to this scent. LOVE!

Front Porch: Pumpkin Cheesecake - Not the best pumpkin scent and they can be one of my favorites. I think the creaminess of the cheesecake toned down the spiciness of the pumpkin a little too much, but all in all it was pretty nice. It had a really light throw, so I ended up adding one cube of BH&G Iced Carrot Cake to spice it up and I REALLY like the combo. 

Thank you so much for letting me do a guest post for you, Jacqui! Can't wait to see you soon!

<3 Dana

~~~~

Sounds like you had some great melts recently girl!! That Pumpkin Cheesecake/Carrot Cake combo sounds amazing!! And I'm so glad you loved the CFTKR Pink Sugar Milk! Thanks again to Dana for doing this guest post <3 Hope you all have a fantastic day and I will see you all again soon!

Guest Post - Abby from SoCalCandleGirl's Top 5 Favorites of February 2013

Hey everyone! I am on vacation right now so I figured I would have some of my wax buddies do some guest posts for me so this blog isn't abandoned for the whole week that I'm gone. First up is Abby from SoCalCandleGirl. I've been reading Abby's blog for quite a long time before I started mine so it's an honor to have her guest posting for me today! She has an awesome blog so definitely check it out if you haven't already. Today, Abby will be sharing with us her top 5 favorite scents for the month of February. Enjoy! Take it away, Abby!

~~~~
Top 5 Favorites: February 2013

I don’t think I’m really all that picky when it comes to scents. I tend to like a wide variety of things and there are many scents I’d reorder. It’s gotten harder for me to keep track of what I like versus what I looooove. So I’ve decided to do a monthly post listing my top five favorite scents that I’ve melted for the month. I hope this helps me when I am plotting future orders and maybe one of you may find these lists helpful too.

Out of all the scents I reviewed for the month of February, these five stood out (listed in order):

1. Monster Cookie Fluff Puffs by Rosegirls – this is a very popular scent and I can definitely see why. It is simply amazing! Brown sugar cookies with a hint of spice perfectly blended with marshmallows.

2. Lavender Noel Zucchini by Candles from the Keeping Room – this has replaced Front Porch’s Lavender Sugar Cookie Dough Bread as my favorite lavender bakery blend. The lavender is  herbal while FP’s version is the Downey type.

3. Pirate Punch by The Bathing Garden – I love tropical scents. This is a blend of creamy pina colada with a hint of tropical flowers. Perfect for Spring/Summer. I have a TBG sugar scrub in this scent and I can’t to use it when the weather gets a little warmer.

4. Frosted Vanilla Graham Crackers by The Bathing Garden – really cozy and delicious. A slightly spicy cinnamon graham cracker blended with sweet and creamy vanilla frosting.

5. Ultimate Serendipity by Candles from the Keeping Room – Serendipity (coconut/orange/cherry) is one of my favorite scents in general and this version is blended with a bakery note (CFTKR’s
Ultimate Bakery Shop). It smells like a Serendipity shortbread cookie to me.

Have you tried any of these scents?

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned.

~~~~

Wow, Abby, some really awesome picks! I literally love every single scent you mentioned. Great minds think alike! Thank you so much Abby for guest posting today <3 And thanks everyone for stopping by, I will see you all again tomorrow with another awesome guest post. Have a great day!

Lots of Smaller Hauls from the Past Few Weeks

Hey everyone! I've been busy getting ready for vacation and I have all these boxes sitting around of little hauls that I've gotten throughout the past few weeks. I don't really have time to do cold sniff reviews for all of these but I figured I'd show you them all before I get them put away in their respective drawers. 

There's a few new vendors in here, and I would have liked to do a big review of those vendors but I will try to include that sort of information in my melted reviews for the new ones. If you have any questions or are really curious about a certain scent, please let me know and I can give you a quick review. I'll be sure to incorporate a lot of these into my weekly melts in the next few weeks! If any scent particularly stood out to me, I will let you know in the pictures.

So, here are my last few weeks worth of hauls in pictures. Enjoy!

~~~~

Rosegirls Facebook Destash

 L-R:

Caramel Apple Puff Pastry, Apple Fritters, Pink Sugar Rose Petals, Pink Snuggle Baby, Pink Serendipity Smoothie

Top: 1/4 of a large pie in Cranberry Cobbler, Pear and Baked Zucchini Bread

Botton, L-R: Peppermint Coconut Mallow (AMAZING), Beach Vacation, Strawberry Banana Bubble Gum (AMAZING!) and Cuppa Cuppa Cake

~~~~

Beezy Tarts Haul 

L-R, top to bottom (I ordered 2 of each of these scents):

Butt Naked, Spiced Apples & Peaches, Pineapple, Fresh Peaches, Strawberry Passion, Strip & Go Naked, Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake, Birthday Cake, Vanilla Frosted Grahams (so awesome!) and Orange Juice Cake

Clockwise from top left (all freebies);

Pumpkin Creme Brulee, Cherry and Blonde Moment

~~~~

Candles from the Keeping Room Haul

 L-R:

Crunch Berry Crisp, Vanilla Bean Noel Fluff

Clockwise from top left (all freebies):

Farmhouse Treats, Black and Blue, Tooth Fairy, Gooey Chewy Kettle Corn

~~~~

Closet Full of Wax Haul

Clockwise from top left:

Eucalyptus Spearmint, Pumpkin Cheesecake (awesome), Pink Sugar, CK One, Cinnamon Donuts (worst cinnamon donut scent ever) and Blushing Peaches

Clockwise from top left (all freebies):

Peppermint Bedtime Bath, Buttercream Crunch, Honey Bunny

~~~~

Front Porch Haul

L-R:

Row 1: Celtic Moonspice Noel, Blueberry Fruity Loops, Buttercream Iced Orange Danish, Orange Pineapple Filled Cake

Row 2: Caramel Vanilla Buttercream Cupcake, Vanilla Grapefruit, Blueberry Marshmallow, Iced Cinnamon Rolls, Pineapple Lime Cake

 Chunk Muffins, L-R (bottom picture):

Banana Marshmallow and Caramel Vanilla Buttercream Cupcake, Celtic Moonspice and Cinnamon Ice Cream, Loopy Marshmallow and Strawberry Lime, Ruby Red Grapefruit and Sugary Marshmallow

Lemon Cotton Candy

~~~~

Gift from Sarah (Sarah Ferguson on YouTube). Thank you Sarah <3 <3 <3

Clockwise from top left:

Rosegirls Caramel Apple Puff Pastry, Tiffany's Donut Shop, Truely Yours Honey Pear Cider

~~~~

Sugar and Spice Gourmet Soy Haul

Clockwise from top left:

Pink Peach Margarita, Simply Divine Cherry BBW Type (awful, nothing like the original), Strawberry Lemon Key Lime Pie Cake, Strawberry Tres Leche Cake (yum!)

Clockwise from top left:

Fruit Crush, Peach Strawberry Cream Cake, Coconut Island Fruits, Peach Margarita

Clockwise from top left:

Flip Flops, Lemon Lime Sugar Cookies (I'm not liking her lime scent), Lemon Berry Wafers, Pink Blueberry Cake Batter Ice Cream

~~~~

Haley's Heavenly Scents Haul

L-R:

Pink Lemonade, Toasted Strawberry Noel (amazing), Americana (amazing blend of strawberry and Blue Sugar), Whipped Peaches and Cream (one of my new top 10 favorite scents EVER!)

L-R:

Sinus Relief, Juniper Breeze, Iced Cinnamon Donuts (another cinnamon donut scent I don't like), 

Strawberry Ice Cream Scoop Dough Bread

~~~~

Ollie's Soaps Haul

L-R:

Pink Vanilla Butter Fudge, Donut Shop

Freebies: Leaves, Neopolitan Ice Cream (absolutely amazing! smells like freeze dried astronaut ice cream)

~~~~

Ten Digit Creations Haul

Clockwise from top left:

Monkey Bread, Ginger Ale (my ultimate fave from TDC), Magnolia Blossom, Cucumber Mint (gross), 

Fizzy Pop

L-R:

Row 1: Lollipops, Forget Me Not, Sunday Morning

Row 2: Cinnamon Butter Cookies, Maple Cinnamon

Row 3 (freebies): Tahitian Orchid, Coffee Cake & Spice, Honeysuckle & White Patchouli (not bad)

~~~~

Tiffany Candles Haul

L-R:

Jelly Donuts (awesome), Pomegranate (so good), Cherry Cheesecake (amazing)

L-R:

Fruitopia (fantastic), Fizzy Pop (I like TDC's Fizzy Pop better), Kiwi Cucumber Mango 

Clockwise from top left (freebies):

Pink Sugar Cookies, Lime Cheesecake, Stress Relief (HATE! smells like cheap men's cologne), S'Mores

~~~~

That's all for now! Again, let me know if you are curious about any of these scents and I would be more than happy to let you know what I think. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you all again soon =)

Weekly Wax Meltdown #5 - 2/17/13 to 3/2/13

Hey everyone! I'm back here with another edition of my Weekly Wax Meltdown! 

As you may notice from the dates, this is actually two weeks worth of melts. I took a few days off from melting last week and I've been pretty busy these past few weeks so I just haven't been melting as much in general. I need to up my game this week! Also, ever since taking a few days off from melting, I am finding that I can smell things much better and the scents seem to be lasting much longer for me. Anyways, I am leaving for vacation this Friday so this will probably be my last weekly melt post for the next few weeks. 

Also, I am going to change the way I do these posts. Before, I would separate the different aspects of my review for each scent and it was just taking too much time. So, I'm just going to keep it simple and just do all parts of my review in one blurb. Also, I am no longer going to link to each vendor's site in my reviews. I plan on compiling a list of vendors, their abbreviations and their websites very soon and I will link it at the top of the page. I really did like the system that I was using and it was nice and organized, but again, just too time consuming. Maybe I'll switch back to that format later on down the road but for now, I need to try to keep things a bit more concise. 

I once again didn't melt any candles. I really need to start melting through my candles, I am going to make that a goal for when I get back from vacation! In fact, I think I am going to start a project wax. More on that later.

Here's what I melted these past two weeks:

• Combo #1 - ScentSationals Raspberry Fizz and Front Porch Pink Sugar Marshmallow - This was such an amazing combo! Shoutout to my friend Dana over at Dana's Little Wax Blog (check out her blog, she just started it this week) for picking up this Scentsationals for me! Raspberry Fizz is a super sweet and effervescent raspberry scent. It smells like raspberry pop! The FP Pink Sugar Marshmallow added a nice sweetness to the Raspberry Fizz and they really worked well together! The Raspberry Fizz was still the dominant scent but the FP was definitely there. Strong scent throw on this combo. Used 1 cube of the ScentSationals and 1 FP tart in a 24-watt hotplate warmer. Lasted 12+ hours. Scentsationals and FP are two vendors that never let me down in terms of scent throw and longevity. Good stuff!

• Combo #2 - Candles from the Keeping Room Wildberry Mousse Noel and Beezy Tarts Pistachio Pudding Cake - I have been seeing a lot about this combo from various youtubers and I wanted to try it for myself. I used a full scent shot of the Beezy's and one CFTKR tart. It was a really nice combo but the Pistachio Pudding Cake definitely overpowered the Wildberry Mousse Noel scent. Together, the sweet berry scent really went well with the pistachio pudding cake scent but I wish I would have smelled more of the wildberry. I am going to try this again but next time, I will only use half of a scent shot of the Pistachio Pudding Cake. Strong throw together. Lasted about 8 hours.

• ScentSationals Coffee Cake Swirl - Yet another gift from the lovely Dana! This is a new scent for spring 2013 and I was having a hard time finding it here so Dana hooked me up.This scent is absolutely phenomenal, I don't know how I've lived without it this long. It is one of the most perfect cinnamon bakery scents I have ever had the pleasure of smelling. I can smell notes of flaky pastry as well as some sort of cake scent, and then a sweet frosting and a true cinnamon scent. No coffee notes here! Just the glorious scent of spiced coffee cake. Used 1 cube in a 24-watt hotplate. Strong throw. Lasted about 8 hours. Would repurchase this one again and again!
• Better Homes and Gardens Butterscotch Maple Cream - Whoa mama is this one strong!! It's definitely a super sweet butterscotch and maple scent. I can smell both notes in here. I used one cube in an 18-watt hotplate and it just about knocked me over all the way in a different room. Next time I melt this one I'll probably add some sort of vanilla scent to tone it down. If you're looking for something super sweet that will knock your socks off scent-wise, this is the tart for you!
• The Kissing Booth After Church: The Little Ones - I am not exactly the hugest Kissing Booth fan these days but I am pleasantly surprised by this one. The scent is a blend of frosted graham crackers and fruit punch, inspired by the owner's favorite after church snack as a child. This is such a yummy blend. The fruit punch note is tempered by the creamy graham cracker scent and together, it's a creamy-fruity-crackery-cookie blend. I honestly don't know that I will be ordering from this vendor again so I will have to ration what is left of this scent! Used 2 cubes in an 18-watt hotplate warmer. Medium-to-strong scent throw. Lasted about 6 hours.

• Sweet Fixations Banana Caramel Pound Cake - I did a lot of SF these past few weeks. Good stuff! Banana Caramel Pound Cake is probably my favorite banana-caramel-bakery scent ever. It has a true, ripe banana note, a strong caramel note, a slight nutty note and then an awesome cake note underneath it all. Most Banana Caramel Cupcake scents I've smelled are super heavy on the caramel but this is an even blend of all the notes. Amazing! I have a huge stash of these tarts and I've been passing them on in a lot of swaps and round robins lately so people get a chance to experience the awesomeness. 1 scent shot in an 18-watt hotplate warmer. Strong throw. Lasted 12+ hours. So awesome.
• Sweet Fixations Banana Cream - This one was pretty good, but not a favorite. I don't think I like the combination of banana with Pink Sugar, they smell kind of odd together. The Pink Sugar was the dominant note here but the banana is prominent as well. 1 scent shot in an 18-watt hotplate warmer. Medium-to-strong throw. Lasted about 8 hours. Not a repurchase.
• Sweet Fixations Georgia Peach - This is the perfect straight up peach scent. No perfume-y notes, nothing artificial. Just a nice, juicy peach scent. I need to get a few more of these. I think this would be great for blending too! Strong scent throw in a 24-watt warmer. Lasted about 12 hours. Love this one!
• Sweet Fixations Watermelon - Another great straight-up fruit scent. This one is a sweet watermelon scent, without the candied note that a lot of watermelon scents tend to have. Just sweet and juicy watermelon. Definitely one of the more authentic watermelon scents I've smelled. If only it were a bit stronger, it would be perfect. Medium scent throw in an 18-watt hotplate warmer. Lasted about 6 hours.
• Sweet Fixations Sinus Relief - This is a Vick's Vap-o-Rub scent. It has a strong herbal menthol note and that's about it. I'm finding that with the couple vendors' sinus relief tarts I've tried, they're not quite as strong as I would like them to be. If I need sinus relief, I need to be able to breathe in and feel the menthol clearing my chest and sinuses. It was about a medium throw but I would have loved for it to be punch-me-in-the-face strong. Lasted 12+ hours.

• Front Porch Lemon Cotton Candy - This is incredible. It jumped right up into my top 10 scents of all time the moment I could smell it when melting. You can smell the lemon, of course, but there is a super strong note of cotton candy as well. I haven't been having much luck with FP cotton candy blends lately but this one is an exception. It's so strong and so good. It smells like some sort of lemonade drink you would get at the county fair. Amazing is an understatement. Strong throw in a 24-watt hotplate warmer. Lasted 12+ hours. SO GOOD.
• Front Porch Sweet Pine Noel - Yet another Front Porch favorite! I got this one out of Shelby's round robin. The pine in this is very sweet, and then you get the added sweetness from the Vanilla Bean Noel. I don't know how else to describe it other than a super sweet pine scent. It's not really a bakery sweetness, but just a creamy sweetness. Make sense? No? Well, order this next holiday season and you'll see what I mean! It's so awesome. Strong throw in a 24-watt hotplate. Lasted 12+ hours.
• Front Porch Cherries Jubilee Ice Cream - This one I got out of Stephanie's round robin. These were in the super cute mini ice cream scoop shapes. Out of all the unique shapes I have in my tart collection, these ice cream scoops are among my top favorites. The scent was fantastic as well. It was a super strong, sweet cherry scent with almost a syrup-y sweetness to it. There's also the sweet, creamy ice cream note and a hint of chocolate as well. The husband said that this one smelled like a cherry cordial and I have to agree. I am in love with both chocolate and cherry scents lately so this was a really good pick for me. Strong scent throw. Lasted about 8 hours.

• Candles from the Keeping Room Coconut Strawberry Cake - This one was quite yummy! I'm used to seeing raspberry/coconut blends so to see a coconut/strawberry blend was a nice change of pace. The coconut is just a hair stronger in this blend but I could smell the strawberry in there as well. I didn't get much of a cake note but that's fine with me because the strawberry and coconut scents blended really well together. Medium-to-strong scent throw in a 24-watt hotplate. Lasted about 8 hours.
• Candles from the Keeping Room Honeydew & Whipped Cream - This was a nice surprise all around! I was out shopping with my mom last weekend and when I came home, the husband had done a bit of cleaning and had popped this tart into the warmer, all by himself! How adorable is that? This scent isn't a favorite in my stash off of cold throw but I was pleasantly surprised when this was melting! The honeydew is a very strong and fresh and has a bit of a floral/powder note to it. However, this powder-y not wasn't at all unpleasant. In fact, it was AWESOME! I'm not sure I smelled much whipped cream, but I did get a super strong floral-honeydew scent. Really, really good. Kudos to the hubby for picking this one out! Strong throw in a 24-watt hotplate warmer. Lasted 12+ hours.
• Candles from the Keeping Room Strawberries and Cream - Yum. That's all I really have to say about that. Haha okay, I guess I can share a bit more. This is a very sweet, creamy strawberry scent. Yes, it is an artificial strawberry scent but I LOVE it. It smells like these cupcake dolls I used to have when I was a kid. Does anyone remember those? It's a very nostalgic scent. Anyways, I got a medium-to-strong scent throw with this one in a tealight warmer. Lasted about 5 hours. I will always need to have this in my stash! 

• Rosegirls Celtic Moonspice Pancake Batter - Someone hand me a rag, I can't stop the drooling! This one was incredible! Celtic Moonspice is one of my favorite spice-based scents, it's a nice, cinnamon-y scent with a hint of a bakery undertone. Pair that with the scent of fresh pancake batter with the slightest hint of maple syrup and you've got a real winner on your hands. It's amazing! I first started out melting a chunk in my 24-watt hotplate and got a strong throw from it. I wanted the rest of the downstairs of my house to smell like it so I did a small chunk in a tealight warmer in the front of my house as well. My whole house smelled like a cinnamon pancake. Wonderful. As my friend Shelby would say, it's a great breakfast scent!
• Rosegirls Pumpkin Creme Brulee - I got this one out of Shelby's round robin. This is another hit from Rosegirls. The blend itself isn't unique, as it smells exactly like my Pumpkin Creme Brulee tarts from Tiffany Candles. This little chunk just about knocked my socks off with scent throw. You get a really nice pumpkin pie scent with lots of spice and then the crunchy caramel creme brulee note. This is a very "Jacqui" kind of scent. Lasted 12+ hours. Glorious!

• Lil' Kitchen Candles Serendipity Cotton Candy - I didn't have much luck from the last LKC tarts I melted (little legos in Circus) but this one was fantastic! I didn't get much cotton candy, just a nice strong Serendipity scent. Perhaps the cotton candy added an extra bit of sweetness to the blend. Used 1 Hello Kitty tart. Strong scent throw in an 18-watt warmer. Lasted about 8 hours. Really good but nothing too special, I have lots of other serendipity blends where I can smell the other notes better. 
• The Scented Princess Strawberry Satsuma - This was the first thing I melted from the Scented Princess and I have to say, I was quite impressed with the scent throw. However, the blend was very one-sided. I could pretty much only smell the satsuma with a slight hint of strawberry here and there. Off of cold throw, most of the blends I got from this vendor were pretty heavy on one note so hopefully with time, she will get better with blending. I melted 1 of these large scallop tarts in a 24-watt warmer. Medium-to-strong scent throw. Lasted about 8 hours.
• Yankee Candle Black Coconut - This was definitely my favorite scent out of all of their new scents for spring. This is a deep coconut scent with a background of musk and a bit of a perfume-y note as well. Really nice. I would call this one a "sexy coconut" scent. I melted this in a tealight warmer and had a super strong scent throw for about 3 hours but it fizzled pretty fast. By hour 4, I couldn't smell this one at all. I have a candle in this scent and I can't wait to melt it because I know there will be a nice, stready scent with that one. 
• Ollie's Soaps Elf Sweat - Another pick from Shelby's RR box. This was a popular scent around the holidays. It is a peppermint scent with a strong effervescent note and the slightest hint of spice. You know me and effervescent scents - I just can't resist them! I can definitely see why this would be popular around the holidays, as I've heard it compared to the scent of ribbon candy. Really nice. I got a medium-to-strong scent throw off of just one of these little stars. Lasted about 5 hours in a tealight warmer. Next time I'll probably throw the last two of these in a hotplate warmer to get a more long-lasting scent.
• Can-Do-Candles Lessie's Coco-Mint Frost - This is an amazing blend of creamy coconut and mint! I had never seen a coconut and mint scent before but now they seem to be popping up everywhere. In fact, I received a coconut mint scent from Rosegirls yesterday and it is just as awesome! This one is pretty evenly blended between the creamy coconut scent and peppermint. It wasn't as strong as I had hoped when I melted it, about a medium scent throw in a 24-watt hotplate. I really like this blend so if the Rosegirls one doesn't perform well for me I will for sure be buying a couple more of these. 

• Orchid Lake Caramel Coconut Cookie - This one was a nice coconut and caramel cookie scent. I could smell the caramel, the coconut and the cookie notes equally in this blend. However, it just had a medium scent throw for me. I'm finding that a lot of my Orchid Lake bakery scent shots (even the 2 oz. ones) aren't quite as strong as I would like them to be. It had a medium scent throw in an 19-watt hotplate. It was a very pleasant scent but if only it was a bit stronger, it would be perfect. I have another one of these coming in my most recent order and I am going to try that one in a 24-watt hotplate to see if I can get a stronger throw from it.
• Orchid Lake Pixie Dust - This one, however, was nice and strong! This one is a blend of pomegranate, berries, peppermint and vanilla. If you've ever smelled a Tinsel scent, this one is very similar but with a strong pomegranate note. Really nice and refreshing! I need to get my hands on more of this scent for sure. Strong scent throw in a 24-watt hotplate. Lasted 12+ hours.
• Pics, Petals and Scents Iced Lemon Cookies - This was a birthday gift from Shelby. Man, was this one fantastic! Iced Lemon Cookies scents are a lot different from most other lemon bakery scents because they have a strong almond-y undertone, almost like a biscotti note. Love that! I get a nice, sweet lemon with a crunchy, almond cookie scent. Super strong scent throw in an 18-watt hotplate. Lasted about 12 hours. Great performance for just a teeny 1 oz scent shot! Color me impressed. 
• Sugar and Spice Gourmet Soy Peach Margarita - I'm really into peach scents lately and this is a nice change of pace from all the sweet and bakery peach scents I've been melting. I don't really get much of a lime note per se, but I do get a really tart, almost fizzy note along with the sweet peach. It does have a bit of an artificial note to it but I actually like that about this scent. Strong scent throw in a 24-watt hotplate warmer. Lasted about 8 hours. Definite repurch!
• Nene's Kitchen Melts Cherry Chip Cake - I have been having awesome luck with my Nene's tarts lately! If you've never tried this vendor, I highly suggest it. This is another nostalgic scent for me, it's a super creamy, fake cherry scent with a hint of an underlying cake batter scent. I know that the words "fake" and "cherry" don't sound like they would make for a really yummy scent, but I promise they do. Again, it smells like some kind of scented doll that I had as a kid. I just ordered 8 ounces worth of this scent today because it seems like she's discontinuing this oil. Strong scent throw in a 24-watt hotplate. Lasted about 8 hours.
• Sugar Works unnamed mystery tart - Sugar Works (a.k.a Isle of Eden) is a very popular bath and body vendor who is famous for her body scrubs. I placed an order from her in October and received this as a freebie. It's a wonderful orange creamsicle bakery kind of scent. So strong and so awesome. Unfortunately, I believe that she shut down her online store and only sells her products in a brick and mortar store. Bummer because this was really fantastic. I would definitely order this one again if I could.

~~~~

That's it for today kiddos! I hope that my new melt review method is okay for you guys. Let me know what you think! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you all soon! 

Sniff My Tarts Chunk Lot Haul - First Impressions and Cold Sniff Reviews

Hey everyone!! I'm so excited to share this post with you all today. I present to you my Sniff My Tarts chunk lot haul!

For those of you who don't know, Sniff My Tarts (SMT) is a crazy popular vendor in the wax world. I mean, insanely popular! They are most famous for their chunks but pretty much any SMT product is a hot commodity in the wax world these days. It is run by a mother and daughter team, Donna and Amy, and is based out of Ohio. Both Amy and Donna have full time jobs but they seem to spend pretty much every waking moment not at their regular jobs pouring orders, mixing scents and coming up with new and exciting things for their customers.

Sniff My Tarts got backed up on orders late October-early November so they closed up shop for a bit to catch up. They reopened on December 1st with a great sale, and were absolutely slammed with orders. I don't think anyone could have foreseen the amount of business they received on that day. December 1st is the sale that will go down in Sniff My Tarts history! At the time of this post, March 3, 2013 they are still working on filling sale orders. I believe they only have 20 or so orders left, so there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. 

As you've realized by now, the back up from this sale means that SMT orders that have been placed recently have an extremely long TAT. My order was not even placed until December 5th so I'm probably looking at end of March before I get my order. That will mean that my order will have roughly a 3-4 month TAT. Insanely long. But guess what? I don't mind one bit! Sure, I'm impatient and I can't wait to get my order but I am more than willing to wait for their stuff because it really is that awesome.

Occasionally, Amy and Donna will post chunk lots on their Facebook group, and the first person to comment on the  post gets the lot. Usually the lots are about $30-40, with a bunch of different scent combinations and sizes. These chunks are overpours, things left over from orders that they've filled, scents they're testing out, etc. I have attempted multiple times over the past few months to score one of these lots an have never been successful. They even tried selling them on eBay a few times but they would always sell out in seconds. You have no idea how bummed I was when after hours of stalking, I refreshed their eBay page and in the same second, the lots were posted and sold. So you can see that when I say that SMT is crazy popular, I mean it! 

So I'm just checking my Facebook one day and I see that Amy has posted a massive chunk lot on their Facebook page. A few people before me had posted questions about the lot but none of them had claimed it. I frantically typed  "me!" in the comments, and lo and behold, the lot was mine! I couldn't believe it! This was no normal lot mind you. It was a massive, 7 pound lot of chunks. It was $100, making each ounce of wax less than $1. It was all scents that I thought I would like, and I figured the ones that I didn't like, I could pass on to friends. 

When I received this chunk lot in the mail a few days later, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY. Everything smelled absolutely phenomenal. Even those scents that I wasn't so sure I would like....I loved! This was definitely meant to be. This lot was meant to be mine! And now we shall live happily ever after together.

Anyways, enough jibber jabber, I know you all are dying to see what I got so let's get into it! Here's what was in my SMT Facebook chunk lot:

• Smoothie Sugar and Peppermint - This is a blend of vanilla sugar and peppermint. Not exactly sure what the "sugar" note is but I am getting vanilla and peppermint in these chunks. The peppermint is very strong here but it is toned down nicely by that vanilla smoothie. My guess is that the chunks are peppermint and the overpour is the vanilla smoothie. Really nice blend, very strong! I love peppermint scents so this is right up my alley!
• Lavender Pink Sticky Mallow - This is a blend over lavender and their Pink sticky marshmallow scent. So basically, we've got Pink Sugar, lavender and marshmallow here. This one is awesome as well. The lavender is definitely the prominent note here. I am now kicking myself for not getting any lavender blends in my December order, their lavender is amazing! It's somehow sweet and herbal at the same time. I get a background scent of Pink Sugar with a hint of creaminess. My guess is that the lavender are the chunks and then the overpour is Pink Sticky Mallow. Really love this one.

• Raspberry Lime Vanilla Smoothie - This is a blend of Raspberry Lime and Vanilla Smoothie. I can smell all notes equally here. I get a sweet, candy-like raspberry, a tart lime and a creamy vanilla. This is an awesome blend. I love how the sweetness of the raspberry blends with the tartness of the lime and then the vanilla just brings it all together. So awesome.
• Serendipity Vanilla Butter Fudge - SMT is famous for their vanilla butter fudge scent! There's no chocolate notes in this, it's just a super creamy and rich vanilla scent. However, pretty much all I'm smelling here is the serendipity scent. But that's okay because I am a huge fan of serendipity. The vanilla butter fudge does add a nice bit of creamy goodness to the blend. Love it!

• Raspberry Chocolate Truffle - This was one of the ones that I wasn't sure I was going to like but in the end, it ended up being one of my favorites of the whole order! It smells phenomenal. Their chocolate truffle scent is very rich and true, and I can almost smell hints of liqueur and coffee in it. The raspberry is sweet and blends really well with the chocolate scent. It smells like a raspberry chocolate truffle, which is by far my favorite fruit/chocolate blend to eat as well. You may have seen me post a picture of one of these chunks on Facebook, they are massive! So thick. I will have to cut each chunk into fourths before I use them. Super duper strong!
• Hot Cocoa Peppermint Vanilla Smoothie - These chunks, on the other hand, are the thinnest of the bunch. Still a good size though! The notes here all all blended nicely, I can smell the peppermint, the hot cocoa, and the vanilla smoothie scents equally. This smells like peppermint hot chocolate with marshmallows on top, even though there's no marshmallow scent here. Amazing! It's about a medium scent throw off of cold sniff. 

• Camp Fire Dessert - And yet another amazing blend. Seriously guys, there's not a single dud in the bunch! This is a blend of marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate. This was another one I wasn't sure I was going to like but I am in love with it! I really, really like the chocolate oil that they use. Once again, I can smell all notes equally here. Crunchy graham cracker, sweet marshmallow and decadent chocolate. Super strong! As you might be able to see in the picture, the bag had a tear in it so I repackaged these ones.
• Wildberry Mousse Zucchini Sticky Marshmallow - I know what you're thinking. "Jacqui doesn't like zucchini bread scents, she's going to hate this one." Well, you're wrong - I actually like this one! It's probably my least favorite of the whole lot but I still can see myself melting it. The wildberry mousse and marshmallow notes tone down the ZB note enough that I can handle it. Very yummy! I'll still probably pass some of this on to a friend but I'll definitely be melting some of it myself as well. Huge, thick chunks. I can probably get 4 uses out of each of these chunks.

• Lemon Bundt Cake Fudge - This is my second favorite of the order. It is SO, SO, SO GOOD. The lemon bundt cake scent is such an awesome bakery lemon scent. It almost smells like Fruit Loops. I got a few blends with this scent in my December order and upon smelling this, I'm really glad that I did. The vanilla butter fudge adds a really nice creamy note to the blend. Amazing. I can't get enough of this! These chunks are a bit crumbly so there's a lot of smaller pieces in the bag. But based on how strong this is off of cold sniff, I'll probably only need small pieces anyways.
• Caramel Butter Cookie - This is, hands down, my ultimate favorite scent of this chunk lot. Simply put, it is incredible. I have heard many raves about their butter cookie scent, but never did I think it would be THIS good. The caramel scent is strong and amazing. The butter cookie scent is strong and amazing. I am IN LOVE with this blend. I am going to share a few chunks of this order with friends, but I will be keeping every single chunk of this to myself. Sorry guys. It's just too good. 

• Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow (freebie) - This was very generous of them to throw this in, seeing as I was already getting a fantastic deal on these chunks. This is a blend of Fruity Pebbles and marshmallow. Fruity Pebbles pretty much smells like Fruit Loops to me, I can't smell much of a difference. The Fruity Pebbles scent is strong but I can still smell the marshmallow very well in this blend. Awesome!

~~~~

So concludes my very first Sniff My Tarts post! For those wondering, Sniff My Tarts is currently closed to catch  up on orders and when they reopen in a few months, they will be strictly RTS which will cut down drastically on the TAT. If you don't already have an order in, your best bet to get your hands on these is to stalk their Facebook page and see if they post any chunk lots. 

Anyways, thanks for stopping by today and I'll be back shortly with my Weekly Wax Meltdown! See you all soon =)