Review: Streetman Candle's Raspberry/Strawberry/Bird of Paradise

Despite its (sometimes) recent dissent into crazy-town, the wax community is really awesome overall. I have had the opportunity to "meet" many cool people here, even some who I've become "waxage" friends (where we sending and receiving wax packages in the mail).

One of these friends is Jessi: you might know her from her YouTube videos.

She and I are embroiled in a wax war for the ages.

She lives in Canada, and Candles from the Keeping Room won't ship internationally. So, she has the orders sent to me and then I ship them to her (along with other wax goodies).

...one day, unexpectedly, we got a knock at the door.
"I DIDN'T ORDER MORE WAX!!!" I shouted to Josh, perplexed.
"Streetman Candle Company? I haven't ordered anything but samplers from Heather in a while...huh?"

Upon opening, I noticed a letter written by Heather, the owner of Streetman. Jessi, the sneaky devil she id, bought me a bunch of wax as a thank you! I was so surprised and grateful! She and Heather tried to pick out blends they thought I would enjoy. (If you're reading this Jessi, just know, I have something in the works...mwahahahah).

One of the first scents from the box o' goodies that grabbed my attention was Raspberry/Strawberry/Bird of Paradise. Now, Bird of Paradise is a flower, but what could be in this scent? I'm not sure, but all I know is this is delicious! It's so juicy, so sweet, and STRONG!
This 2 ounce scent shot lasted about 7.5 hours total in my 24 watt hot plate. Only in the last 2 hours did it start to go down in strength. The thing about Heather's fruity scents is that they are never overwhelming in a bad way. Her raspberry and strawberry scents are some of my favorites in all of the wax community. Her raspberry isn't that floral one you find in some other vendors...nope, just straight fruity goodness here.
Josh loved this one, too! I don't see Bird of Paradise on her scent list as of right now, but I hope she changes that! This one is GOOD, folks.

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Streetman Candle Company's Raspberry/Strawberry/Bird of Paradise
Cold Rating: 8/10; really nice smell right out of the "cold" gate, it's slightly tropical with hints of sugar, berries, and perhaps some citrus?
Lit Rating: 8/10; mmmmmm! We both loved this one! Super strong while melting, stayed that way for many hours. Didn't get tired of this one like I do with some fruit blends from other vendors. Heather has a knack for combining scents!
Throw Rating: 8/10; pretty great as far as throw and I could smell this a little in various parts of the house. Sweet and ripe-fruit-smelling.
Overall Rating: 8/10; another Streetman winner, excellent combination! What is in Bird of Paradise? Crazy 8's. Loving uber-fruity scents for Spring this year. Finding words to describe said fruits as "juicy." Mira I started juicing. Gin & Juice. "Juice" starring Tupac Shakur. "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry feat. Juicy J. Random tangents about juice.

Wickless Wednesday (On Thursday): KBShimmer Spring 2014 Nail Polish Haul!

When I started trying "indie" brands of nail polish, I came across KBShimmer and, on a whim, bought a polish and instantly fell in love.

1 or 2 bottles of their polish quickly turned into 12 or 13.
DON'T JUDGE ME. ;)

Now, I have amassed quite a collection after their most recent Spring 2014 launch. Between their brilliant glitter polishes and their super rich looking cream colors, I am OBSESSED. I'm sure people online were getting tired of me blabbing about their launch.
Well, my package came in the other day and I wanted to share it with you. I don't own colors like these in my collection already, so I felt okay going a little bit crazy. Plus, their prices are super reasonable!

Here's a look at all of my pretties!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Belle of the Mall is the one I went back and forth on the most. I don't own very many reddish polishes (pink yes, red no), and I know that glitter is a pain in the keister to remove, but I was drawn to it for some reason, probably the gorgeous color. It's got that wonderful KBShimmer chock-full-o-glitterness combined with a reddish/pink base. I can't wait to wear this! It's so pretty!

As always, KBShimmer has the best, most fabulous white polishes that are flooded with colorful hex and sparkly glitter pieces. Full Bloom Ahead is no exception! A take off of their famous Oh Splat! polish (one of my all time favs), this one boasts a very nice assortment of springy colors such as teal, yellow, orange and even some dark blue and fuchsia! This is probably my favorite glitter polish of the ones I bought just because I am a sucker for anything in a white base. Beautiful!

When I saw other bloggers swatching Rush Flower Traffic, I knew I needed it. This one is a glitter polish in a clear base and damn is it bright! I love the way each of the colors play off of one another to create a really cool, springtime topper. This one is just swell and I already have a few manis in mind for this one.

 

One of the coolest things about KBShimmer is her polish names. Aren't they freaking creative? Really, love them! Prism Break is a linear holographic topper polish. Just in case you're not familiar with linear holographic polishes, those are polishes where, when they are spread out over the nail, you can sort of get a rainbow effect from it! Linear holographic polishes are really cool and can take a simple manicure over the top if the polish is good...and this one is! I can already tell this is going to make a splendid bling-fest.

Have I ever mentioned that (besides rainbow, lol) yellow is my favorite color? Many of the other people I saw preview this collection said that while the formula and color were good, the mustard yellow polish didn't suit them. Well, that just means there's more for me! I love yellow polishes, the brighter and flashier, the better. Chick Me Out is the start of the cream colors I purchased in this haul and the very first one I added to my cart. I went straight for it. I love it so, so much, and I think it will look fantastic when paired with Rush Flower Traffic. UGH, it's so gorgeous, and, another color that is missing from my (growing) collection.

Honeydew List is a very nice creamy pastel, lighter green polish. I have been really loving pastels for the past few months and this one was a definite showstopper. While it might seem simple, I really don't have anything quite like this polish, either! Sure, I have a turquoise and a lime green, but this sort of fits in between both of those, just more green and less flashy. Love this one.

Do you own any gray polishes? I don't, and I haven't really seen too many that have caught my eye. My Life's Porpoise had a cute name, an attractive not too dark gray color, and I think it's going to be an all-around good cream to have. I swear this leans a little on the blue side of gray to me, do you notice that?

A Touch of Glass is a minty sea-green/blue polish that's a real looker. I can never have too many mint green/blue polishes, really. I think I have something similar to this which is a shame because I don't like having so much polish that I don't know what to do with. I think I will swatch them all next to one another and go from there. For now I will say that I think this is a really pretty pastely polish, I just hope I don't have this exact polish elsewhere already!

Last but not least, we have Life Rose On, a rosy pink polish that is brighter in person that in this picture. Boy, is this one pink! I'm okay with light pinks, so I took a chance on this one. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. Obviously, I won't be able to tell until it's on my nails, but I find my skin color looks better with lighter shades of pink. We shall see. It is very pretty, though, it sort of looks like it has blue or purple undertones in the light, too.

That's my most recent KBShimmer polish, folks! I love this company so much and have never been disappointed, that's why this post is so overwhelmingly positive without actual swatches. I can't wait to get the last few ones from this collection for my birthday! :D

Review: Haley's Heavenly Scents' Pink Christmas Cookies

You guyssssssssss...I miss Christmas. :(

Now, I personally don't know the difference between cookie cookies and Christmas cookies. They all end up in mah belly at the end of the day. Would someone care to enlighten me if they know the difference? :)
Really though, any pink blend from Haley's Heavenly Scents is sure to be a good one. Her pink scents are generally amazing.
Pink Christmas Cookies is really no exception.
On cold sniff, this just smells like a bakery and pink sugar scent, but while warming, it actually takes on more of that fresh baked cookie smell. It's really nice. I actually prefer my bakery scents with pink sugar because pink sugar makes everything in life better.
As far as warm sniff performance goes, this had a medium-high scent throw and I really haven't a thing to complain about. It was a great mix of the two scents, lasted all day (around 8 hours total), and affirmed my belief in HHS as being a pink sugar goldmine.
Look at those OILS. Dang!

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Haley's Heavenly Scents' Pink Christmas Cookies
Cold Rating: 6.5/10; the majority of this on cold sniff is pink sugar, but I still get a slight whiff of cookies.
Lit Rating: 7.5/10; that cookie note comes out more while melting, and when it's combined with the wonderful pink sugar from HHS, this really was quite a treat. Love this blend and I will always repurchase it.
Throw Rating: 7/10; medium-high throw and good longevity, I didn't get tired of this like I do other bakery blends. Haley's makes a bitchin' "cookie" scent.
Overall Rating: 7/10; great mix of pink sugar and warm, buttery cookies. Christmas sadness because it's gone Christmas HAPPINESS because cookies and carols and lights and happiness and family!!! Raised electric bill. LOL MIDDLE FINGER SNOWMAN. Gold everything!!!!!!!!!!!```1111~~``

Review: Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery and Confections in Wax's Wicked Watermelon Serendipity Jaimie Melon Ball Fizz

WOW, that title is a mouthful!

I have mentioned several times that I am sad that Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery and Confections in Wax closed. It is for the best for the vendor. That being said...when you get a scent or a blend that's really, really good, you sort of selfishly wish they were back.
Well, this is the case with Wicked Watermelon Serendipity Jaimie Melon Ball Fizz.
I was gifted this tart by my waxy pal Karen friend for Christmas. I was excited to see such a strange sounding blend, mainly because I know Karen likes to blend stuff that has a way of turning out really, really awesome.
JUST LIKE THIS TART.
OMG.
It smells so good while warming, even better than it does cold, in fact. On cold sniff, I really only smelled Wicked Watermelon, which I swore was a Scentsy dupe but apparently not. Don't get me wrong, I love watermelon, but I was initially disappointed because it was all I could smell.
While warming, this really bloomed!
Almost instantly, the watermelon mixed with the coconut note in the serendipity. WOW, it's a really nice combo! Also, there was a hint of sweetness unlike anything I had smelled in these two scents before, so I had to assume that was the melon ball fizz coming through. Overall, this one little scalloped tart lasted 8 hours in the bedroom and fizzled the last hour and a half or so. I would definitely buy this blend again if JLCCW comes back!

**PS (and unrelated to this post): If you have bought your hot plate warmers on Amazon.com in the recent past (particularly from Candles Warmers Etc.), PLEASE turn them over and make sure they are 24 watt hot plates, not 20 watt ones. 24 watt warmers seem to be phasing out all over the place, and lots of vendors are selling 20 watt warmers labeled on their listing as 24 watts. It makes a difference, people!**

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Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery and Confections in Wax's Wicked Watermelon Serendipity Jaimie Melon Ball Fizz
Cold Rating: 6/10; all I smell is watermelon on cold sniff, but it's decent enough! I was initially disappointed...
Lit Rating: 7.5/10; ...but this smells wonderful while lit! You get the coconut from the serendipity, the watermelon, and the sweet melon from the fizz scent. But, no fizz like a soda or a drink scent. This is so good! Thanks Karen!
Throw Rating: 7/10; pretty great throw, too, not disappointed with this at all.
Overall Rating: 7/10; unexpectedly good combination. Blends can bite you in the ass if they are bad. Spring means WATERMELON SCENTS!!! I don't like the fruit watermelon in real life, though. What's a melon ball fizz, is it a drink? MENTIONING DRINKS AGAIN. Another closed vendor, more sadness.

To Try: Influenster's J'Adore VoxBox!

I absolutely love Influenster. I have had the opportunity to test so many cool and new products FOR FREE I wouldn't have normally ever thought to try. Well, I got picked to take part in the J'Adore VoxBox, and I wanted to let you know how I felt about all of these products at first glance! Over the next week or two, I will go

You know it's a good day when the mail lady shows up with a big pink Influenster box of goodies! HUZZAH!!

Here's the informational card Influenster sent. They are always so colorful and fun looking.

This product is super obvious: Hershey's Kisses! Who doesn't love them?! These are delicious and fun to use in recipes, as well as eat by themselves. Can I have a Kiss? Yes, please! Did you know that Hershey's makes kisses with caramel now? And dark chocolate ones? Uhhhh, how is it possible to make something that's already great even better? I don't know, but Hershey's keeps doing it!

When I opened the box, this was the second item I saw, and I nearly fainted. If you remember, I've posted about my disdain and hatred for false eyelashes before on the blog...they just creep me out! I can't explain why...but they do. They are SO WEIRD. I might try these Kiss Looks so Natural eyelashes, but let's be real....I doubt it. I don't want to pull out my damn real eyelashes to try out these fake ones, you know? They do look natural, so I'll say that much is true.

My hair is boring. I never do anything with it. It's just straight and split-endy. I am interested to see how much more straight the John Frieda Frizz Ease will make my hair in just a couple of days. Does anyone know anything about products like this? I am willing to learn!

For a long time, I have thought about trying a clay mask to cleanse my face. I have really dry, red skin on my face, and besides the fact that I HATE IT, I would really like to fix it, especially now that I'm getting serious about makeup (LOL ADULT TIME). This Boots Botanics Ionic Clay Mask seems pretty neat! Also, I love the company's tag line "The Power of Plants." Seems earthy! Can't wait to try this stuff.

Tea and me have a love/hate relationship. I go through phases where I love tea and it's all I want to drink, and then there are times when I forget about it altogether. I am having an "on" tea time right now, so this is perfectly timed! I have never tried Red Rose tea, but I am really looking forward to trying this! This VoxBox came with 3 Creme Caramel teas and one Lemon Chiffon decaf tea.

So, THAT'S IT FOR THIS BOX! It's a decent one, folks! According to the Influenster website, I was supposed to get something from Vaseline, too, but I didn't, so it's all good.

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Here's some info on where to follow these brands online!

-Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes:  Kiss Products on Facebook || @KissProducts on Twitter
-HERSHEY KISSES Milk Chocolate:  Hersheys Kisses on Facebook || @hersheyskisses on Twitter
-Vaseline Men Spray Lotion:  Vaseline on Facebook || @VaselineBrand on Twitter
-Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask: Boots Beauty USA on Facebook || @BootsBeautyUSA on Twitter
-John Frieda Frizz Ease 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray:  John Frieda US on Facebook  || @JohnFriedaUS on Twitter
-Red Rose Simply Indulgent Teas:  Red Rose Tea on Facebook|| @ShareRedRoseTea on Twitter

Random Picture Post: Non-Waxy Photos From the Last Few Weeks #9!

It's almost Spring, friends! HuZzAh!!!!
It seems like we have had a lot of strange, fun adventures since I last did a random picture post, so I'm here to share some fun photos with y'all! Hope you enjoy! :)

We went to this place called The Waffle Spot a few weeks ago for breakfast....notice anything?? Doesn't it look like the giant pancake looking jester is flipping us off? RUDE.

We went to the grocery store the other day and Josh bought me some daffodils, which are one of my favorite flowers. They are so cheerful! :)

I love taking surprise pictures when Josh doesn't know, LOL. It really makes life amusing to take random pictures like this. :)

LITTLE BUTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's not good at hide and go seek. :P

My newest bumper sticker. Your stick family tasted delicious. :)

Speaking of delicious, get a load of this hot chocolate from Snooze in downtown San Diego. ER.MAH.GERD. It was soooooo good!

I recently bought one nail polish from Amazon.com. This is how it came packaged. Inefficiency at its finest, ladies and gents!

LOLBYEBITCH. Does anyone else not feel the slightest bit sorry for buggly-wugglies that happen to fly into our wax warmers? Has this ever happened to you? Like I said on my Instagram, at least it died a glittery, scented death!

Ohai Freddo, plz stop trying to steal our souls. KTHX!

I meant to share this at Christmastime, but between the flu and business, I forgot. This was in my stocking: it's a dark chocolate tasting odyssey from Trader Joe's, featuring Coffee & Cocoa Nib (amazing), Salt & Pepper Potato Chip (surprisingly good), Almond Ginger (too many almonds), Chili & Cinnamon (one of my favorites, it's so weird how good this was!), Coconut Caramel (another winner), Orange Hibiscus (BLEHHHHCK, ick, nast!), and Black Sea Salt & Caramel (always fantastic).

Josh made this. Well, he sculpted it. Well, he fashioned it. How good is this? He did it from his brain, no help, on the first try at ever sculpting. He has some real, natural talent for art! It is painted now, and when it's dry, I will take a photo and show y'all!

Hope you enjoyed these photos from the past few weeks!

Review: The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Box #3 Melted Review!

Heyo!
So, my last box from The Melting Fairy trial subscription has come and gone. I'd like to thank Grace for the chance to review her wax, I had a really great time testing everything for her! I wish you much success in your waxy adventures!
Here are my reviews for the third box. Enjoy!

This time, the box had another label on it! 2/3 of them did, and I really like their really unique label!

The normal thank you note, complete with the scent description for the custom blend of the month, Valentines Day Fluff Brulee.

It seems like lots of vendors are doing chunks now, and I am not complaining. I love chunks and everything about them. They are so pretty, and this one is no exception.

The Melting Fairy's Valentine's Day Fluff Brulee (CUTE NAME!)
Cold Rating: 5/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 5/10; now, as with all my reviews, take what I have to say with a grain of salt. This chunk was too overpowering for what it was. I'm already not so much a fan of the creme brulee genre of scents, but something in this was very milky and not to my liking. That being said, that milkiness came through more when melting. But, I cannot discount how strong this scent was as far as throw. WOW. I melted this in the bathroom, and while it didn't last longer than 3 hours in my house, it would have probably gone longer, but I needed to change the scent. Not for me, but creme brulee fans might like this!

The Melting Fairy's Carrot Cake
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 5.5/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; a very nice interpretation of carrot cake! I wish it would have been stronger. I got little bursts of this for the first hour, and then it lasted about 5 more hours as a mellow background scent. It was spicy, yet sweet, but not overpowering. I could really pick up the cream cheesiness in this, which mainly came off as sweetness. If it was stronger, I'd buy it in bulk!

The Melting Fairy's Mango Sorbet
Cold Rating: 4/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 3/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; I was looking forward to this the most, mainly because I'm typically not a mango fan. I think it's too sweet for my liking. Well, to be honest, this just wasn't that strong. It did smell sweet and slightly tropical, but even in a smaller room like the bathroom, this wasn't super strong. I left it in the warmer for 12 hours and it was pretty much a "stand right over it to smell it. Sad.

The Melting Fairy's Lemon Meringue Pie
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; fabulous scent! This really, really smells like lemon meringue pie straight from a bakery! The throw of this was medium-high, which was a welcome surprise! I melted this in the bedroom with great results, and even smelled it from the back when we walked into the house after a movie run. Mmmmmm, now I want some pie!

The Melting Fairy's Birthday Cake
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; I want to bathe in this scent. Mmmmmm!!! It's just your wonderful, delicious, sweet and creamy birthday cake with lots of frosting. YUM. Really, this one is good. It lasted 5 hours in the bedroom and stayed pretty strong right until the last half hour or so!

The Melting Fairy's Iced Pineapple
Cold Rating: 5/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; the overall scent of this was fine, just a little bland. Everyone knows what pineapple smells like and that's just fine and dandy, but these 2 tarts weren't particularly that strong. At any rate, this was okay, but for a scent with not a lot going on, I should have been blown away by the throw.

This box was, again, hit or miss. Some scents do extremely well as far as scent throw and longevity, and others don't. I did not continue my subscription with The Melting Fairy, mainly because I forgot to pay for the next month, plus I was waiting for a nail polish Spring 2014 launch and was reserving funds for that. Will I continue in the future? Perhaps. I like that the box is a 3-month subscription, but some months I want to wait to buy my wax. I like that this vendor is offering such a box, but I feel like some throw and blend issues could be tweaked a bit. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to try this vendor out, and please, check out the links below to see reviews and keep up with this vendor!

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-Join The Melting Fairy Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/565037053589411/
-Follow The Melting Fairy on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/TheMeltingFairy
-Sign up for The Melting Fairy (for $10 + $4.50 shipping) here: http://themeltingfairy.com/
-Check out Deb's (It's Always Something...)'s thoughts on The Melting Fairy here: http://somethingalwayz.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Melting%20Fairy
-See what suukasi on YouTube has to say about her box here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mevglcORxdI
-Visit LoveForLacquer for their thoughts here: http://www.loveforlacquer.com/2014/01/the-melting-fairy-monthly-wax.html