Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Lightning Round Reviews #25: Holiday Melts Part I!

Since Christmas has only just scooted along by us, please enjoy my reviews of some recent holiday melts!
(no scent description available)
Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy's Autumn Leaves
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating7/10
Overall Rating6/10; sort of perfumey, not at all like Leaves (dupe), but much more earthy and pungent. Not my favorite scent, but it's not terrible. Decent throw, lasted 5.5 hours in the bathroom! Not a repurchase, though.
Bonfire Bliss~A fragrance reminiscent of gentle, dusky breezes and bonfires, with notes of dried, wind-blown leaves, heliotrope, charred woods of pine and cedar, amber, smoky sandalwood, and musk with a background containing hints of roasted marshmallows, brown sugar, coconut and soft vanilla. This is a fascinating, complex, unique and appealing scent.
Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy's Bonfire Bliss
Cold Rating7/10
Lit Rating: 8.5/10
Throw Rating8.5/10
Overall Rating8.5/10; what a complex scent description! I hink it shows because there are a lot of things going on here. There's the gooey marshmallow, sweet and creamy, but then another sweetness, perhaps a sugar note, plus the fire scent and then a very woodsy non-fire type of scent, I'm assuming it's the amber/sandalwood/charred woods of pine and cedar. Very intriguing indeed. Lasted 7 hours in the bedroom, Repurchase!
Frosted Pumpkin Cupcakes~ *Sugar & Spice Exclusive Blend!*Blend of Frosted Pumpkin, Birthday cake and Buttercream Frosting....yummy!
Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy's Frosted Pumpkin Cupcakes
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 8.5/10
Throw Rating8/10
Overall Rating7.5/10; yummy is the right word here. Sweet, cakey, buttercreamy, very delectable. I wanted to lick the air. Also had a strange more than cakey bread note, though, but maybe it was just me. Lasted 6 hours in the bathroom! Perhaps a repurchase.
Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy's Mac Apple Leaves Marshmallow Noel
Cold Rating9/10
Lit Rating: 9/10
Throw Rating10/10
Overall Rating9/10; insane how strong her blends are! MMMMM! The mac apple is bright and a little bit overwhelming in a good way, the leaves adds some much needed earthiness and crispiness, and the marshmallow noel sweetens the whole deal. INCREDIBLE! Many times repurchase!!! Lasted all freaking day in the bedroom, about 16 hours. Could smell this outside the house.
Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy's Mulled Cider/Leaves
Cold Rating8/10
Lit Rating9/10
Throw Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Rating8.5/10; what can I say that hasn't already been said about S&S...Shanna takes the time to blend her wax to its utmost potency. This is another wonderful blend, but it's missing that marshmallow sweetness and instead. replaced it with more apple and tons of spice. Good! Lasted all day, again, in the bedroom, about 16 hours. I am in love with S&S. REPURCHASE!
Bubbling Butter Brew - My interpretation of Harry Potter's Butter Beer. Sweet clotted cream, salted caramel, rich butterscotch, and a touch of bubbling cream soda.
The Bathing Garden's Bubbling Butter Brew
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating6.5/10
Overall Rating6.5/10; HARRY POTTER!!!!!!! I am much more accepting of all scents, now, and this wasn't half bad. Not fully sweet, not fully buttery, more creamy and butterscotch-like than anything. Really nice if you need something different for a change. Lasted 3 hours in the bathroom. Not a repurchase for me.
Old Time Holiday Shoppe - bubbling cranberry fizz layered with lemon curd.
The Bathing Garden's Old Time Holiday Shoppe
Cold Rating6.5/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating6/10; very fizzy and sweet, but not TBG's typical lemon curd to me. Much sweeter. Fizziness is nice, if you like that sort of thing. Lasted 4-5 hours in the bathroom and I think I melted all 6 cubes at once on this one (which I don't recommend. The less, the better.) and though I lover her decorations and touches on top, I am over the sugar crystals on her wax. They are such a royal pain in the ass to remove from pouring while hot. Not a repurchase,
Sugar Candy Wreath - sugar, cotton candy, eucalyptus, evergreen, plums, cherries, oranges and strawberries
The Bathing Garden's Sugar Candy Wreath
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating7/10; mainly a very sweet fruity smell with wisps of eucalyptus/evergreen notes. Nice, but needed to be stronger. Pretty tree-y sometimes. Lasted 4 hours two separate times in the bathroom. Possible repurchase.
(no scent description available)
Thirty Street Wax's Battle of Wits
Cold Rating8/10
Lit Rating: 5/10
Throw Rating6.5/10
Overall Rating6.5/10; a free sample from my order that lasted 5 hours in the bathroom. This smelled like spicy caramel cake on cold sniff, but while warming, something came out in this melt that I didn't like at all. Overly buttery to me. Not one I'd purchase for me.
Grandpa's Mug - Rum, maple, warm butter, vanilla, caramelized sugar
Thirty Street Wax's Grandpa's Mug
Cold Rating8/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; not my typical favorite kind of scent, but I was feeling adventurous. Wonderful on cold sniff, more buttery on warm sniff. Caramel has a tendency to go south fast, and while this isn't my favorite scent, it was okay. Lasted 5ish hours. Glitter still all over my warmer a month later. :P
Mrs. Frost – Cinnamon with hints of candy cane (A Tiffany Candles Blend)
Tiffany Candles' Mrs. Frost
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating6.5/10
Overall Rating6.5/10; a nice sweet cinnamon scent. Lasted 5-6 hours in the bathroom. Medium throw. Nothing special, but still nice. Cute name!
Pink Sugar + Rosemary Mint
Tiffany Candles' Pink Sugar & Rosemary Mint
Cold Rating10/10
Lit Rating: 10/10
Throw Rating10/10
Overall Rating: 10/10; amazing scent! Perfect blend of pink sugar and herbal rosemary mint! Unique blend in her rosemary mint, sort of medicinal, sort of sweet. Very pretty. Love melting this. Wonderful chunklets! Throw improved with this wax blend. So good. Potential to stain warmer with her other pink blends!
Up The Creek Scents' Spiced Cranberry Oranges
Cold Rating8/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating6.5/10
Overall Rating7/10; a perfect blend of sweet yet tart cranberry and oranges, plus a hefty dose of cinnamon spice. So nice. Cute imprints in the wax.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - Sweet Potato Pie, Toasted Marshmallow, Sugar Cookies and Caramel Cupcakes. Created by Caroline M.
Vintage Chic Scents' A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Cold Rating7/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating6.5/10
Overall Rating6/10; this smelled incredible for the first 30 minutes, but when it got into the first hour mark, it started to smell disgusting to my nose. Most people would like this because it's a bakery/rich/caramelly scent, but to me, it smelled like gross curdled milk plus caramel sweetness. Yikes. Sorry, Kirby, this wasn't for me! Good medium throw, though, but something in there was just....eesh!
Vintage Chic Scents' Elm Street
Cold Rating5/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating6/10; this is a special exclusive blend between VCS and Tiffany Candles. It smells mostly bakery to me with maybe a little touch of spice. It was okay, but nothing special to me. Bakery fans will like this one.
The Great Pumpkin - Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. (Created by Gina.)
Vintage Chic Scents' The Great Pumpkin
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating7.5/10
Overall Rating7/10; you can really smell the cream cheese in this one! Yum! The pumpkin is there, but it's sweet and not super spicy to my nose. I would have liked a bit more spice to this. Lasted 6 hours in the bathroom 2 times, each half of the leaf. I would repurchase this.

HAPPY NEW YEAR (COMING SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Random Post: The Christmas Tag, 2014 Edition!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!

Here's a fun NEW Christmas tag I'd love for you all to do, regardless of if it's before or after the big day! :)
~~~~~~~~~~

~*The Christmas Tag~*

-Favorite Christmas movie?
This is a tough one for me. For comedies, I love "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Scrooged," for classic I love "It's A Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story" and for others, I love "Home Alone," "love Actually" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

-What are 3 things on your Christmas list this year?
A Plum Paper Designs planner or Erin Condren Life Planner (fat chance), "Jersey Boys" on DVD or a new pair of cheapy sunglasses since the ones I'm wearing I have had since 2005 and are cracked down the middle of one lens and the frame, too.

-Does it snow where you live?
No. :( Unfortunately, San Diego is not known for its winter weather.

-What time do you get up on Christmas?
6:00 am or earlier because I am a perpetual child.

-Biggest pet peeve about the Christmas season?
Selfishness and greed. And crowds. I HATE CROWDS.

-Favorite Christmas song?
"My Grown-Up Christmas List" by anyone, "Cold December Night" by Michael Buble and "That's What Christmas Means to Me" by either Stevie Wonder or Cee-Lo Green.

-Hot chocolate or eggnog?
A couple of years ago I would have said eggnog, but now, hot chocolate all the way!

-Favorite thing to wear during the Christmas season?
My ~*fabulous~* gold reindeer antlers.

-Embarrassing Christmas story?
Hmmmm...nothing I can think of off the top of my head!

-Favorite Christmas treat?
Christmas means the proliferation of balls and I love balls. Peanut butter balls, cheese balls, and rum balls you name it, it's my favorite.

-Favorite Christmas character?
The Grinch!

-What are you doing for the holidays this year?
Going to my mom's on Christmas morning, my best friend's house for dinner, then hitting up the movie theater late Christmas night with our friends!

-Your favorite Christmas tradition growing up?
Drinking Santa's noses (sprite/7-up and maraschino cherries + juice), driving around looking at Christmas lights and then opening one present on Christmas eve.

-White lights or colored lights?
Both! I love the simplicity of white lights by themselves, but colored lights are way more fun, especially ones that flash and blink and bedazzle!

-Favorite Christmas dinner dish?
Not a dinner item, but my grandma's egg bake. It's the best! Mmmmmmmm, egg bake...

-Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
Christmas day.

-What tops your tree?
YODA!!!!!!!!! You're lookin' at the best $50 we have ever spent.
-Favorite Christmas story?
"Twas the Night Before Christmas" is a pretty good one.

-Artificial tree or real tree?
REAL TREE OR BUST!!!!!!!!!

What are your plans for Christmas? If I don't update the blog before then, please have the best day ever filled with love, joy and happiness. I thank you all for reading this ragtag blog o'mine and staying with me through the years. <3

Monday, December 22, 2014

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #52: Scentsationals' Black Pepper & Rosemary

Macho, macho man!

Scentsationals' Black Pepper & Rosemary
Cold Rating8/10
Lit Rating: 8.5/10
Throw Rating9/10
Overall Rating8.5/10; just like the scent describes and nothing more. Manly scent. Very robust and strong. Amazing throw. Long lasting, 13 hours in the bathroom the first time I melted 2 cubes at a time. Generous gifts from amazing friends. <3 The notion of disliking Scentsationals clamshells because they come from Walmart is silly. Awesome bunch of melts most of the time. Tracking down things you like without finding multiples first. Getting giddy picking out melts for special occasions and holidays. Rosemary bushes native in San Diego. One in the backyard. Rosemary breakfast potatoes. Black pepper and rosemary chicken. Cooking with pepper and rosemary. Evocative picture on the label. Multiple cubes per clam. Not certain how "Mediterranean" this is,

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #51: Lasting Scent Candles' Holiday Splendor

Only 6 days until Christmas, so I have been on my holiday melting game!
Lasting Scent Candles' Holiday Splendor
Cold Rating7/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating8/10
Overall Rating7.5/10; a mix of apples, fir, and balsam, perhaps a tiny hint of spice in there somewhere? Higher strength that I thought it might be. Lasted 12 hours in the bedroom on a rainy day. Apples in wax either fresh and clean or fresh and sweet. This one is sweet! Loving tree scents lately. Lovely labels, cute fonts. Bright red wax, potential to stain warmer? Exceeded expectations. Vendors not opened all the time. Flashy websites. Smaller than 2 ounce cups. Pricey.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Random Post: KBShimmer Winter 2014 Nail Polish Haul!

I'm back, and rather soon after from my last polish haul! A few weeks after KBShimmer put out their fall polishes, they came out with some winter ones! Of course, I jumped on the chance to get a few of these beauties. Here's my haul!
I received a nail file with my order. This is a simple one, nothing fancy, but their logo is on the back of it!
When KBShimmer first opened for their winter polishes, the first X amount of customers received these snowman glitter nail art pieces! Super generous! I can't wait to use them...once I figure out what to do with them :P
Another sugar scrub sample! This time it is in peppermint! I am stoked to try this one.
As part of their current ongoing sale, if you purchased $60 or more, you got a free polish! WHAT! Now, you were supposed to enter a coupon code once you added the polish to your cart. I didn't do that and cut my losses. So, when I pulled this out of the bag, I was floored! I know they said they weren't doing changes after orders were placed, so it was so cool to get this even though it was my error. This is Holly Back Girl, a Christmas glitter twist on their flecked white cream polish. LOVE! This would be good on white, or perfect on its own. Fun!
Merry Pinkmas combines pink and Christmas? What's better!? A bubblegum pink crelly base is with green, red, white, and yellow glitters in all sizes. This polish is SO fun! I have worn this twice and have loved it both times. The polish needed 2-3 coats each time for an impactful amount of glitter spread throughout. Very cute.
Sugar Plum Faerie is another polish I took a chance on trying. As I mentioned in my fall polish haul, dark colors and Lolo don't always mix. I am pretty amateur at clean-up, and since darker colors produce more noticeable smudges, I stay away from darker polishes them. Sugar Plum Faerie is such a gorgeous medium dark purple, though, I couldn't resist. The lime green, pink and blue glitters also enticed me to get this one.
While this polish might look a little bit blue from the photo, Let's Sleigh Together is a grey crelly with blue and green glitters. Taking a page from their wonderful white polishes chock full of glitters, this grey is fun, but looks a bit thin, so we'll have to see how it applies. I'm sure it'll be fine since I've never really had a huge problem with their formula.
Snow Way, what could be better than a polish that looks like snowflakes?! I love the light blue background amongst the flakes and speckles! So cool. This lacquer might actually make me have a white Christmas since lord knows we don't get snow/weather here.
If you have read my blog for any length of time, you might know that I am not only obsessed with glitter and shiny things, but gold things as well. Dressed To Gild called my name when the swatches of it first came out online. And let me tell you, this DID NOT disappoint! Oh. Em. Gee. Dang, this polish is stunningly blingadocious. I cannot wait to wear it again.
Pine-ing For Yule features red star glitters and green triangular glitters in a clear base with extra glitter in silver, green and red. Triangles? In my polish?! Unique! This top coat is very festive and will look great on a white or gray background. Perfect for Christmas day! Half of the proceeds from the sale of this polish were donated to the Toys For Tots charity, so that was an even bigger incentive to purchase it!
AGH!!! All Decked Out is a melange of colored glitter plus gold stars in a dark green crelly base. Love! The dark green worries me a bit as far as staining and hard clean up, but it is worth it to get in the spirit of the season. The glitter amount on the website says "medium," but to me, this looks like an insane amount of sparkle! Amazing color. The shimmer the glitter brings this polish would be fabulous for a Christmas party or event.
Kringle All The Way looks like something straight from a Christmas Tree! It looks exactly like the bulbs shimmering against the Christmas lights. Ahhh, I love Christmas. This will be perfect over a white backdrop.

There's my haul! See anything you like? :)

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Random Post: KBShimmer Fall 2014 Nail Polish Haul!

A couple of months ago, KBShimmer, my favorite handmade indie nail polish brand, released her Fall 2014 collection. I purchased some of the colors she put out and am just getting around to sharing my haul with you! If you haven't tried KBShimmer's nail polish, I urge you to do so. She has such a fantastic formula and I have never had any problems with this brand (other than buying colors that don't look good on me). Let's see what I got. I'll start with the Fall polishes!
As with most of the times I have bought from KBShimmer, a few samplers were given to me! Yay! This is a small soap sample in the scent Lemongrass, and unfortunately, I have misplaced this. I have looked everywhere, but can't find it. I have heard good things about their soap!
KBShimmer has recently started making nail vinyls, and along with my order, I got a sample of these jagged little diddlybobs. Very cool, and I may use them in a Christmas manicure!
Also included was a sample of their sugar scrub in the scent Paradise. This is particularly intriguing as I have been loving sugar scrubs lately, but I want to finish the one I have before I move on to this sample!
And now, for the polishes! Up And Cunning...the pictures don't do it justice. It is a mix between a darker green and a darker blue, almost like a teal but much darker. This is another holo polish and I am smitten with it, but very nervous about wearing it. I figure, if I can't do the manicure with a dark polish without making a trillion mistakes, it's probably not the polish for me. Nude polishes are just so much nicer to look at from afar!
Hugs And Wishes is, again, another polish that my camera can't quite pick up on easily. This is a straight lavender polish, but it is much more vibrant in the bottle. Love this one and it will be great on its own, as an "undie" for a glitter or top coat, or in a fun little striped or decorated manicure.
Stonewashed  will be a wonderful polish to add to my collection. A navy blue that leans green, KBShimmer makes the most impressive cream polishes that are opaque in 1-3 coats. I can tell this will also be good for stamping!
Leaf of Faith is one of the reddest of red jelly polishes I have seen in person! It looks like a crisp apple straight off of the shelf...well, with tons of glitter, that is. I mean, LOOK AT IT. It's so shiny. This is very not like my to buy so many polishes I don't even know if I would like, but if I don't, I fully intend on giving it to a friend. <3
How You Dune is a "greige" polish that looks super gloppy from the outside, but is great to put on once you get past the initial look of it from the exterior. Greige, by the way, is gray and beige! I LOVE NEW WORDS!!!! This will be a really good under-polish for the most shimmery top coats.
Rust No One was a polish I took a chance on buying. Typically, I stay away from reds or red-leaning polishes because they are such a mess for the under-experienced polishers (AKA: ME) to clean up if you screw up. Well, I am glad I took the chance because this shade is incredible. It is much more pinky-orange on my nail and skin tone. This is another holographic polish in a long line of impressive holographic polishes from this company. LOVE!!
A Raisin To Live is an amazing burgundy with some sparkle to it, but nothing too blingy. Again, not my kind of color, but I have worn this and ended up liking it! Very dark and could stain the nails.
Jack was the perfect Halloween color this year! It is a black jelly base with tons of sparkly orange glitter. Very cool polish. The amount of glitter in KBShimmer's polishes astounds me!
This polish was the disappointment of the bunch for me, and I want to stress that. Flannel Surfing is one of the coolest named polishes, but on my skin and nails, it just doesn't work well. The light blue is pretty, and it usually works for me, so I guess I don't like the glitter and the colors it contains. Oh well! Does anyone like this one or is it just me?
HOLY MOLY! Kiss And Spell is such a fun top coat polish! Full of bright lime green, orange, purple and black dots and stars and hexes, this is perfect for Halloween and beyond. Super cute and a good ol' time!

There's my fall KBShimmer polish haul! Have you tried this company? Are they in your top favorite handmade indie brands? I know they are #1 on my list!