Haul: VCMA Halloween Sampler!

Sometimes I go through phases where I actively try to avoid Facebook, not because of the drama llama rearing its ugly head or awkward quizzes, but because of WAX. Yes. WAX. It gets to the point where, if I am on Facebook, sometimes I will go through the many wax groups I am part of and browse for sales because I am bored. NO. BAD LOLO. *swats hand* I was am *trying my best* to go through one of those self-imposed Facebook bans/going it is less-es right now, and it was working until BEEZY. But, I only got a few scents, so I will share those with you.

I also go through phases where I do and I don't want to share my hauls. Not because they are embarrassing or I am ashamed of the amount of wax that I bought because, let's be real here, we passed that stage a loooooooooooong time ago. I just don't want it to come off as braggy. I know that sounds stupid, but sometimes I (and many others, so why I feel this way makes no sense) are very lucky to place orders when wax vendors like Beezy/SMT/Rosegirls who only open every so often here and there, so I just don't want it to seem like a "Dumb and Dumber" HAAAAAAAAAA-HAAAAAAAAA!! IN YOUR FACE!!!!111~~`` moment.

Anyways, this is uber late and, once again, I fail, but today I am going to share with you my VCMA (Veteran Candle Makers Association) Halloween sampler. But, I took the pictures, so you will have to deal! MWahahaha!! *eye-roll at how late I am* This purchase happened on a day when I was bored and happened to be at the right place at the right time. And boy, am I glad! It was about $20-$25 shipping, I cannot remember the exact price point.

The sampler came with this cool Halloween pen. I LOVE PENS! I love themed pens even more! It writes really well and has pumpkins on it, so there ya go!

The first vendor in the VCMA sampler is Makes Scents Candle Shoppe. YAY! This vendors has been on my "to buy from next" list, but I haven't jumped the gun and I don't know why. I have only tried one thing from her in the past, which was a tart from a round robin, and it was great. Other people have compared this vendor to CFTKR in that she uses paraffin and gives a ton of samples, but I noticed that even her scent descriptions are CFTKR-esque! Woot! When I start buying again in 2072 (because seriously, that's when I will be out of wax at this rate), she is next!

Pumpkin Marshmallow Latte- Pumpkin spice, rich espresso and sticky marshmallows…what a fantastic combination! 

This scent smells incredible and I usually hate coffee scents. It's rich and creamy, but also has a pumpkin note, the one that I love. Mmmmm, can't wait to melt this.

Halloween Treat Bag - Everything you’d find in a trick or treater’s bag….caramel apples, marshmallows, candy corn and a little bit of magic!

Halloween Treat Bag is very much a candied apple scent with other nondescript sweets in the background. Now that I know candy corn and marshmallows are in there, I guess that's where the slight hint of creaminess is from, but to me, it is sickeningly sweet smelling with a little bit of candy apple. Nice, but not my favorite. Strong on cold sniff, though.

Pomegranate Cider - Tart pomegranate with spicy notes of cinnamon and clove and nutmeg. This fragrance wax will bring a warm and cozy feeling to any room.

 I have really come around to pomegranate scents this year! Plus, it's fun to spell and write. P-O-M-E-G-R-A-N-A-T-E. heheheh! I really liked this one as I already melted it. It was spicy, fruity, bright and fun. I give it a 7.5/10. The throw could have been stronger, but in the bathroom, it smelled amazing. The scent didn't linger, though, and was helped by a great cold and warn sniff smell overall. Very, very cozy.

Cinnamon Orange Swirl - The sweet, zesty orange scent blends deliciously with the cinnamon swirl.

On cold sniff, this smelled like it was going to be super strong, but in reality, it was a nice, mellow orange cinnamon scent. I melted this one, too, and gave it a 6/10. I loved the overall scent, but felt it could have been a little stronger.

Rustic Lodge -  This warm and cozy blend has notes of fresh green apple, honey, cinnamon, nuts, creamy caramel, maple sugar, spiced cider, and warm French vanilla. 

To me, Rustic Lodge has always been a more masculine sounding name, so I was taken aback when it still smelled like a craft store. This was nice and had a decent strength with good lasting power. so When I saw this was apples and honey and sugars and vanillas, I was shocked. I got mainly an apple scent from this, but there was definitely something more musky in there, which you wouldn't know by looking at the scent list above. Good one. 7/10.

The next vendor in the sampler is Sugar and Spice Gourmet Soy Candles. I have ordered from Shanna several times in my life and LOVE her stuff. She is an excellent, consistent vendor. If I'm not mistaken, she's the one who puts these samplers together and ships them out with all the vendors inside. Cool! Her website is being redone, and some of her scents are unavailable anyways, so I will go through them with descriptions as best I can.

Mac Apple Leaves Marshmallow Fireside is a combination of Leaves (BBW type), Marshmallow Fireside (BBW type) and Macintosh apples. I have melted this before and was excited to have another one. WOW, talk about quintessential fall! I LOVE this scent and it is ridiculously strong on cold sniff. Yum! This one is an 8/10.

Campfire Marshmallows smells a little bit like marshmallow fireside in that it has a smokey marshmallow smell to it, but with a slight graham cracker note and maybe even some chocolate mixed in he background?? I like it, and again, it's strong, too.

Pumpkins in the Fire is another scent I have tried already. It was nice, but there's a slight perfumey note that is a little bit off-putting to my nose. I don't know if it's muskiness or just the way one of the notes in this scent is, but it makes me like it less. At least it's strong, which could be good or bad in this case?? 6.5/10.

Pumpkin Pecan Waffle CB (Cookie Butter) Crack...totally not anything I'd ever be into all wrapped into one scent. I was determined to give this scent the old college try, and I did and liked it, surprisingly! It had a soft cookie note in the background mixed in with a warm, rich pecan waffle scent, all topped off with waffles and a liiiiiiiittle drippingly decadent butter note to tie it all together. OH MAN, where will the bakery loving end?! 6.5/10 because the throw was less than I expected.

Ghost Munch ~ *Sugar & Spice Exclusive Blend!*blend of caramel apple, toasted marshmallow, candy corn and zucchini bread...just awesome! #1 best seller!

I already know I don't like Ghost Munch because the zucchini bread is all I ever smell, so I will be gifting this to a friend who I know loves it. :)

The last vendor in this sampler is Can-Do-Candles, another vendor I have tried in the past. In my opinion Can-Do does amazing with fresh and overly fruity scents, but some of her sugary and vanilla scents are lighter in throw. Her website is also closed in preparation for Thanksgiving, so no scent descriptions here, either.

Cider Webs is a very appley scent with another note in the background I can't quite make out...caramel? Sweetness? There is spice here, too, but it's overpowered by the apple scent. Love!

On cold sniff, Black Licorice smells just like the real thing and is pretty overpowering! While melting, quite a bit of the punch is taken away in the throw, but it was still nice. I don't know if I'd ever go out of my way to buy it, though. 5.5/10.

Autumn Spice is just that, spiced! Cute mold, too!

I looooove Leaves (type), which is apples, crispy crunchy leaves and other fruits and a BBW dupe, and Donna's version is delicious smelling and strong. I will melt this one soon and report back!

Pumpkin Marshmallows smells soooooooo good on cold sniff. Creamy, sweet, and very true to the pumpkin smell. Yum!

Pumpkin Butt was the first thing I melted from this sampler. LOOK AT THAT FACE! How adorable! This was a combo of pumpkin and sugar butt, which is some sort of a vanilla scent, I think? Either way, excellent scent and great throw. 8/10. The sweetness and pumpkin worked together instead of against each other and it lasted for 8 hours in the bedroom, though the throw decreased by a bit after about 5-6 hours.

And there's my VCMA sampler! I don't feel as bad being late since I have melted some of these and being able to report back to you on performance. Have a wonderful weekend, all!