Monday, February 24, 2014

Review: The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Box #2 Melted Review!

Hey friends! Better late than never, right? Box #2 from The Melting Fairy has been melted and tried and tested. Now, onto my thoughts! Looking forward to reviewing box #3, which I'm almost finished melting!
The Melting Fairy's Strawberry Passion
Cold Rating: 7/10; to me, this smells like a vanilla strawberry candy or cream-pop: luscious, sweet, fruity and with that "whipped" smell, almost like mousse.
Lit Rating: 6/10; surprisingly, this wasn't as strong while warming, not by much, but I could detect a difference. That being said, it still smelled nice!
Throw Rating5/10; medium throw that lasted 4 hours and lessened a bit more over the next 2 hours, for a total of 6 hours. Could have been stronger, but it wasn't too invasive.
Overall Rating6/10; great scent from box #2. Dropped off a bit in throw, but lasted a decent amount of time. This scent was nice, perfect for any kind of weather.
The Melting Fairy's Orange Cream Swirl Cake
Cold Rating: 7.5/10; this smells DIVINE. It's almost like a real dessert, like a 50/50 bar but with cake and frosting. OMG, it's hard not to rave about the cold sniff smell of this. Mmmmm, it's almost like I can taste the cake now!
Lit Rating: 6.5/10; The scents and throw on most of the melts I have had from The Melting Fairy are medium-ish, and this is no exception. Most of the time, I like my bakery scents medium, but this time, I wished it would have been in mah face strong because IT WAS SO GOOD.
Throw Rating6/10; the throw was a medium, too, which lasted 6-ish hours. I didn't want to relinquish this from my warmer so I left it until there was nothing left.
Overall Rating7/10; my favorite scent from this box. Wanting to have cake so, so badly. Delicious smelling, very realistic cake with frosting scent! Needing to find a recipe for an actual dessert like this.
The Melting Fairy's Orange Chai Tea
Cold Rating3.5/10; I just...did not like this scent. At all. It was oddly perfumey and soapy combined. I didn't smell any chai, any spice, or any tea on cold sniff.
Lit Rating: 3/10; as much as I didn't like this on cold sniff, I liked it even less while warming. It reminded me of this store I used to walk by at the mall when I was younger...overly perfumey, more mature, and again, no spice or chai or tea. This was almost musty, too.
Throw Rating4/10; the throw on this was low-medium, but I'm not complaining. Too much more of this scent would have been overkill.
Overall Rating3.5/10; my least favorite scent from this box. Reminders of horrible smells from my youth. Teenage dirtbag. No spice, no chai, unfortunately. Distance from tea scents. Needing real tea right now!
The Melting Fairy's Fruity Loops
Cold Rating7.5/10; strong for a fruit loops scent! Nice mix of cereal and that lemon scent that always comes out when you smell a fruit loops scent.
Lit Rating: 6/10; not sure what else to say considering pretty much everyone in the wax community knows how fruit loops smells, and this is good!
Throw Rating7/10; strong throw for about 4 hours, medium throw for 1.5 hours, low-medium throw for about 3 hours. Pretty long lasting for fruit loops!
Overall Rating7/10; your average fruit loops scent, but pretty dang strong! Fizzled kinda fast, but I could still smell this for a long time. Needing to eat cereal from a cup instead of a bowl and for dessert instead of breakfast.
The Melting Fairy's Coco Mango
Cold Rating5/10; I don't feel strongly one way or the other about this scent. It's okay, but nothing special. The coconut is a fresh one, and the mango is pretty sweet, but it's still nothing to write home about.
Lit Rating: 5/10; average tropical-type scent. Nice coconut, eclipsed by fruity mango.
Throw Rating4/10; not a stellar throw on this one, low-medium, and I could smell wisps of it as I moved around the hallway near the bathroom.
Overall Rating5/10; I hate to be so "meh" about this, but it really smells like any other tropical scent. It's not bad, but not a fav.

I find most of the melts are a medium for throw while decent on cold sniff. There are always exceptions, though! Box #3 has already been cracked wide opened and I only have a few left to melt. Look for the review shortly!

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Review: Ava's Country Cupboard's Celtic Moonspice

...aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm back to the spicy spicy scents. I can't stay away for too long or I start to go crazy.
I ordered once from Ava's Country Cupboard  in the middle-fall of 2012 and didn't have the best of luck with her wax. Some of it was really downright smelly (sorry, but it's the truth!), and other tarts were fine, but nothing blew me away. Well, I'm a firm believer in second chances, so I made another small order at the end of 2013 to try some of her tarts again. I was pleased to see that her bags had changed since I had last ordered, and she is now offering TONS of shapes and an expanded scent list. WOOHOO! Plus, free shipping with a $10 order (at the time, not sure if this is still going on or not), I mean, how can you beat that?!

When I spotted one of my favorite scents on her ready-to-ship list, I knew I needed to try it! Ava's Celtic Moonspice came in a biiiiiiiiiiiig bread loaf, and I mean BIG. It might not look like it from the picture, but I could have easily gotten 2, perhaps 3 melts out of this.
Well, being the dope that I am, I didn't cut it up and put the entire thing in my warmer. Go big or go home, right?!

This scent was nice. It's your average celtic moonspice, cozy, comforting, homey, spicy, so I really had no qualms about how it smelled or what it would be like. This lasted 2 days in the bedroom, only because I didn't want to part with it. The scent started out medium-ly and fizzled throughout the course of those 2 days. Could it have been stronger? Yes, but I find I don't need my celtic moonspices to be sucker-punch strong. It was just a nice background scent, something I will always like and always look forward to melting!

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Ava's Country Cupboard's Celtic Moonspice
Cold Rating6.5/10; it's hard not to love the comforting aroma of spices, and this is no exception. Lighter than other celtic moonspice scents I've smelled, but not weak by any stretch of the imagination.
Lit Rating: 6.5/10; it's a nice, reasonable scent, nothing too special, yet just what I wanted. So, so lovely.
Throw Rating6/10; medium throw, not as overpowering as this scent from other vendors, and threw for a very, very long time (perhaps because I threw in the entire loaf?).
Overall Rating6/10; nothing special, but something loved. Medium all around. Giving vendors a second chance and benefit of the doubt. Changed wax bags.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Review: Lasting Scent Candles Island Sparkle

Remember when I said yesterday that I was gravitating towards spicy scents even though it was warm here in San Diego?
...well, I lied.

This past weekend, Josh, my brother-in-law, his girlfriend and I went to brunch at this amazing place on the waterfront. There were boats, and mimosas, and crab legs as far as the eye can see (but none for me, because I don't eat crab)! It was so much fun that when we got home, we were in a tropical mood.
Well, what's more tropical sounding than Island Sparkle?!

On cold sniff, this scent smells like a wonderful island drink...you know, something with tons of sweet whipped cream and a little umbrella on top. Just divine!
When melting, however...all I smelled was banana, which I don't particularly care for, unfortunately. It was a mix of banana and something tropical, though I can't quite put my finger on what it was. Strawberry? Papaya? Generalized sweet fruit? The throw was about a medium, but nothing really more or less. I was sort of disappointed with this one...

...but I will be getting that tropical whipped cream-topped drink with a umbrella very soon to compensate. ;)

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Lasting Scent Candles Island Sparkle
Cold Rating6/10; not too terribly strong on cold sniff, but there it a lot going on! I smell sweetness, fruity drinks, and lots of "sparkle" here! No banana (?) on cold sniff.
Lit Rating: 5/10; unfortunately, all I smell is banana and some sort of other sweet fruit. The banana overpowers everything. This is also too sweet for me, personally, but I could see a fruity fan loving this.
Throw Rating5.5/10; definitely not the strongest LSC tart I've ever melted, but it's not a bad thing here because I didn't care for this scent while warming.
Overall Rating5.5/10; banana is overpowering. Not too strong. Missing some other note, perhaps sour/tart...okay, let's be honest, when I hear "island," I think pineapple. Shattered expectations. Too dramatic. Brunch is delicious and an excuse to drink cocktails in the morning. Tiki mugs costing $16.50 is a bummer, man.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Review: Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax's Nana's Kitchen & Glazed Cinnamon Donuts

It has been warm here this past week in San Diego. Winter all but skipped us. #humblebrag
And still, I find myself reaching for the warmth of spices, the smell of a kitchen cupboard, the love of something comforting.
While I was sitting in the "wax room" one day, I stumbled upon my Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax stash. As some of you might be aware, JLCCW sadly closed its doors. Jen, the owner, had one of my favorite vendors. Most of her wax is/was pretty consistently strong. If memory serves, she closed because of family issues, so it's good she's getting those solved...but part of me hopes she comes back eventually!

I didn't quite want to get into my Nana's Kitchen reserve stash yet (especially now since she's closed down), so I grabbed this blend of Nana's Kitchen and Glazed Cinnamon Donuts to fulfill my spicy craving. This scent was delicious! The throw was about a medium, but it didn't need to be overwhelming. The donut note in this was definitely there, but obviously the strongest scent was cinnamon. I think I prefer plain Nana's Kitchen to this one since I'm not a huge fan of donuts, but JLCCW's donut is more of a cake as opposed to a fried delight. Overall, a really good scent, pretty strong for a 1 ounce cupcake tart!

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Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax's Nana's Kitchen & Glazed Cinnamon Donuts
Cold Rating7/10; cinnamon overload??! You really pick up on the donut scent on both cold and warm sniff. Pleasantly spicy!
Lit Rating: 7/10; not a "choke you out" cinnamon, but it's enough to make me want more. Donut smells more like sweet cake, which is good for me because I don't like fried donut scents. Quite nice, pretty sweet, too!
Throw Rating: 6.5/10; decent throw, nothing overly impressive, medium-high-ish.
Overall Rating7/10; love the cinnamon sprinkles as embellishments! Nice, but not overwhelmingly so. Hefty donut scent, but still sweet and spicy. Large supply of Nana's Kitchen is now useless and I can't get more. Sadness about favorite vendors shutting their doors. Tears. Warm weather will dry them. Stupid weather.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Review: The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Box #1 Melted Review!

As you will recall, I was contacted by the owner of The Melting Fairy Wax Co., who we have discovered is named Grace, to try out her new wax tart subscription box! What a cool concept!

Today, I have for you my thoughts on box #1 since I have (slowly) melted through everything she sent me.
I'd like to apologize for my late review, but I wanted to get through everything and put it all in one nice, neat post as opposed to a bunch of smaller reviews. Anywho, take a look!
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Apple Berry Cinnamon
Cold Rating6.5/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; while I didn't think this scent was all that interesting as far as blends go, I picked it because of my love for all things spicy. It is definitely nice and not overwhelming. The apple and berry came together quite nicely with the cinnamon. Whatever floral notes I smelled on cold sniff weren't really there while warming. I do think that this scent is pretty generic, and I feel like I have smelled it somewhere before, perhaps in candle form from Yankee or Glade. It was on in the bathroom for 12 hours overnight in the bathroom 24 watt hot plate, but the medium throw got knocked down to a low throw after about 4.
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Fall Festival
Cold Rating5/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating6.5/10
Overall Rating6/10; when I smelled this scent on cold sniff, I was really struggling to get each and every note individually. Sometimes when scents have lots of fruity notes, I find that they can be hard to distinguish. Well, while I thought this was a bit weaker than some of the other wax tarts on cold sniff, the performance didn't let me down! I melted these two tarts in the bedroom 24 watt hot plate, and the throw lasted about 5 hours. Right off the bat, I got the orange and apple notes. This was quite a nice fruity explosion! It mixed really well with the spicy notes (cinnamon and perhaps clove), just like the first set of tarts. I didn't get any vanilla or blush rose from this scent. This was one of my favorite scents from this box.
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Apple Butter Pie
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating7/10; remember how I raved about this one in my cold sniff post? Well, I liked it while warming, too, and Josh did as well (which is surprising since he dislikes 90% of bakery scents). This scent maintained its authenticity very well while melting! The apple was there, the crust note was there, it had spices, it was very lovely. I wish it would have lasted longer, though, as this one only lasted about 3.5-4 hours overall. Also, there was no sweet milk scent while warming, which is a good thing, because I think it would have ruined this scent's awesomeness. One tart in our bedroom 24 watt plate produced a medium-high throw.
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Apple Strudel
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating6/10; this one is a 6 straight across the board. 2 tarts in our bedroom 24 watt plate gave off a medium throw, and I was sort of "go either way" with this one. It sort of smelled similar to Apple Butter Pie, but more crusty and buttery, which was cloying. But, the apples and cinnamon notes were very nice, just like in Apple Butter Pie, which is why I could go either way with this one. This one lasted 3-4 hours.
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Peppermint Fluff
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating7/10
Overall Rating: 5/10; I have to be honest, I really did not like this scent on cold or warm sniff, but not for its lack of strength. This one was STRONG while warming. But, the overall scent wasn't for me. The peppermint was way too sweet, and it had this strange, strong, weird berry-like floral undertone, almost powdery, that I didn't care for. The mint was almost the the point of being medicinal. I could only melt this one for about an hour before it got the best of me. Not for me.
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Hansel & Gretel's Cinnamon Buttercream Cookie Crumbles
Cold Rating6/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating6/10; this chunk was the specialty scent of the month and had a very pretty orange and bright pink wax color, which I loved (I'm a sucker for colors, what can I say). Hansel & Gretel's House is usually very buttercreamy with tiny hints of cinnamon, lots of graham cracker sweetness...it's very sweet. The incorporation of the cinnamon and cookie crumbles in this scent dials that usual sweetness back quite a bit, which I welcome since I'm not a "sweetie" lover (though there are some sweet scents I can't get enough of). I just have to say: the cinnamon oil that The Melting Fairy uses is really nice, and I've seen it in just about all of the scents on this post. Really liked this one, throw was about a medium, and the entire chunk lasted about 5.5 hours in our bedroom 24 watt hot plate. I really liked this one a lot!!
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Autumn Harvest
Cold Rating6.5/10
Lit Rating: 3.5/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating5/10; while I really enjoyed this one on cold sniff, I couldn't handle it while warming. EEP. I melted one tart in the bedroom, one tart in the bathroom, and was immediately enveloped in a citronella-esque scent. It was so overwhelming that I dumped this only after 2 hours. It smelled like the spray that is in the dog's natural anti-bark collar. Very harsh, but it did have quite a bit of initial strength that faded over the 2 hours, but not by much.
The Melting Fairy Wax Co.'s Xmas Cheer
Cold Rating7/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating6/10
Overall Rating6/10; this was a sample from The Melting Fairy. I melted this just before I got really sick at Christmas and jotted my notes down as it was melting. This one was strong on cold sniff, but I'm always hesitant about tree/woods scents while melting...some tend to go south for some reason. There were many elements of "cologney" smells here, which I think is found in a lot of nature/tree/woodsy blends. I only got a little bit of another note, cinnamon, on cold sniff. While melting, there was still just a faint cinnamon scent. Also, there was a fruity sweetness to this tart, too, which was welcome considering it basically smelled like Christmas. I couldn't tell you if that sweetness was apple or not. Surprisingly, the throw while warming wasn't too in your face, but I could definitely notice this in other rooms of the house. Same 24 watt hot plate set-up in the bathroom. This one lasted about 4.5-5 hours before I got sick of it/sad about Christmas being over (LOL).

Overall, I had some hits, some misses, but had fun testing box #1 from The Melting Fairy! Thanks again for the opportunity, Grace! :)
I have box #2 already almost all the way melted, so keep your eyes peeled for those reviews soon.
Thanks for reading, waxy friends! <3

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