Subscription Box Corner: April 2015 Treatsie Box Review!

Howdy, folks! Today, I am bringing you my EARLY!!!!!!! (meaning, not 2 months from the date which I received it, LOL) review of the April Treatsie box! Let's dive right into it, yo!

As usual, the Treatsie packages come in special boxes. One thing I like about Treatsie is that there's only enough packaging for the contents, not a huge, unnecessary box that wastes space.

The card displaying the monthly contents of each box.

Malvi's Marshmallow Confections were good. Shortbread cookies on the top and bottom, a giant marshmallow in the middle and a thin layer of vanilla salted caramel in between the cookies to adhere it all together. While the cookies were pretty buttery and salty, it worked well within the dessert, but I wish they hadn't been so heavy. The marshmallow was nice, though. 3.5/5.

B.T. McElrath's chocolates came in 4 different mini bar bites. I like mini bars because they are a good form of portion control (unless you eat all 4 in a day, then you're screwed, LOL). Here are the flavors!

-Buttered Toast Bits: amazing. I don't know why something so simple tasted so good, but I must get another one of these. The "toast" part was breadcrumbs and you could tell something was in the chocolate, but it wasn't toasty, more like a contrasting flavor. So good! 4.5/5.

-Prairie Dog Bits: I don't really remember this one other than it was delicious. Sort of buttery from the toffee, but something I have had before. Still good! 4/5.

-Dark Chocolate Caramel Bit: again, sort of boring in terms of originality, but still delicious! Really good quality chocolate. 4/5.

-Super Red Bits: this one was my least favorite. The chocolate was dark, which I prefer, but the cherry, strawberry and raspberry bits all clashed together into an unidentifiable fruitness. I couldn't tell the flavors apart! 3.5/5.

Tumbador sent a full size chocolate bar in this month's box. This flavor was a PB&J bar. What!? This was much heavier on the fruit flavor than the peanut flavor. There's a crispiness from the peanut praline, but really no peanut flavor, which is nuts (HA, SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!) because peanuts are so distinct. Maybe the chocolate and raspberry go so well together it mutes the peanut flavor!? Who know! This was decent. 3/5.

Tumbador's Corn Nut Dragee were plain ol' weird, and as bizarre as a chocolate covered corn nut seems, this is actually a surprise for me! I really liked these! Even though it tasted strange at the start, they grew on me. It's not something I would crave, but damn if they aren't delicious! 4/5.

The same company again! Wow, heavy on the Tumbador! I love the light coating of powdered sugar on these little poppers. These are quite tasty on their own, but the coating sort of elevates the chocolate/pretzel combo just a bit, adding more sweetness to clash with the salty pretzel. These are quite good, and you really can't go wrong with chocolate covered pretzels, any shape or size! 4/5.

Overall, this was a surprisingly good box! Nothing overly bad here, a few generic flavor combos, but some other new, good treats!  Have you tried Treatsie?

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #69: Beezy Tarts' Clove

"I'm only happy when it rains."
Well, I sure as hell picked the wrong place to be born! :P

Beezy Tarts' Clove
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10; straight-up clove, nothing else. Pungent, wonderful. Spicy, but pleasant, and not bitter in any way like some spiced scents can smell. Quite a strong throw, melted in the bathroom warmer, lingered throughout the house happily for 6-8ish hours. Would be a good background scent while entertaining guests. Angering The Fall Slut. Wishing and hoping for her forgiveness. Mistaking sprinkles of "rain" for "real" "rain." Unnecessary quote end quote marks. Cute and small pictures on the labels. Love of Beezy. He'd also be angered by knowing me, a Californian, calls "rain" "sprinkles" because we know nothing else in SoCal. More quote end quote marks.

Subscription Box Corner: February and March 2015 Treatsie Box Review!

There was a mix-up with my February 2015 Treatsie box. It never showed up at my doorstep, even after shipment was delayed because of the bad weather back east. Well, Treatsie was kind enough to send me another February box and included it with my March one. So, now that I have had time to review them both, let's take a look inside!

As always, Treatsie includes a card with what's featured in the box and a valuation of its contents. They usually stick between $20-$25, with the box costing around $20 anyways. Not too terrible, but also, I would like to get a better, heftier box/value every now and then.

Carla Hall's Petite Cookies were AWESOME! The type was Mexican Chocolate Chip, but I found these didn't really have any cinnamon spice to them at all, which was fine. Delicious, crunchy, sweet but not too sweet, I LOVED these. I would totally buy them again from her site, if shipping weren't so dang expensive. 5/5.

I try not to read the cards that come with these boxes because I like to be surprised. Boy oh boy was I surprised when I bit into McFaddy Candy Co.'s valentine's toffee. YIKES. The toffee was good, nice and buttery, but the chocolate was infused with raspberry! Ugh! I did not like this at all. Plus, the chocolate didn't taste very good, it too tasted buttery, but in a cheap chocolate kind of way. 1/5.

Nunu's Chocolates sent a chocolate heart on a stick for February. That's it, just plain chocolate. It was okay, but nothing special. I'm not a huge fan of milk chocolate, so this was just meh for me. 2.5/5.

The Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Bar from Chocolate Twist is UH. MAY. ZING. This thing is HEFTY! Filled with chocolate, peanuts, pretzel pieces and peanut butter, I have found a new favorite chocolate bar. I could buy a billion of these. The pretzel is only in part of the bar, but the caramel is in the entire thing. It's weird, but I like it. 5/5.

As far as the February box goes, 2/4 of the products were really excellent and 2/4 of them were not. Overall, I think I'd give the box a 3/5. The raspberry toffee was bad enough to reduce it by a point, but the chocolate twist bar, wow, off the chain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2015's Treatsie Box

...Maybe I should start filling out these cards to try and win stuff on Instagram! The card, as always.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Co.'s Millionaire Shortbread with Smoked Hickory Sea Salt is one word: phenomenal. This delicious, delicate bar was melt in your mouth good. It had every component I want in a dessert: rich, sweet chocolate, creamy, buttery shourtbread, luscious caramel and salty salt. YEOWZA! What a fantastic treat. 5/5.

Zingerman's Zzang! What the Fudge? Candy Bar has a malted milk fondant that makes it sort of squishy. When mixed with milk chocolate fudge (also squishy) and brown sugar caramel (also squishy), you're in for an ooey, gooey time. This was pretty tasty, but that. filling. The brown sugar caramel was distinctly brown sugar flavored and it even felt sort of like brown sugar feels when compared to white sugar. 3/5.

Though I like macaroons just fine, stay. sweet. macs. were sort of boring. Toasted coconut and chocolate, gee, that's creative. Is this bitter? Sounds like it to me. They are tasty, just bland. 2.5/5.

Quin's lollipops had a weird mouth-feel...is that a thing? Does this sound weird? They look like they would be smooth then you started the eat them, but then there's a bizarre texture and an artificial taste as you go deeper into the lolli, which is weird since they are supposedly real fruit?? Just weird. 2.5/5.

March's box was sort of a miss, unfortunately, apart from that delicious, scrumptious, amazing millionaire shortbread...mmmmmmm. Onto April, soon!

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #68: Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy Candles' Rainbow Bridge

Look at my horse, my horse is amazing! Give it a lick! It tastes just like raisins!

For the love of all things holy, DO NOT google these lyrics and listen to this song. It WILL get stuck in your head and you WILL hate me for it. I cannot have this on my conscience.

This has nothing to do with the scent at hand, I have just had this stuck in my head for a week.

Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy Candles Rainbow Bridge
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 9/10
Throw Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10; tremendous throw! Really superb! Creamy vanilla or marshmallow type of scent mixed with an uber fruity blend that could basically be rainbows in scent form. Smells like Starbursts, or Skittles, or some sort of candy and general creaminess. Sweet, but not too sweet. Bright orange wax, fun to pour out. Not remembering to order more Sugar & Spice wax. Amazing blends, a little high priced, but worth it. Rainbows are my favorite! Rainbow bridge = a sad poem. :( Cute scent names. Simple labels, bitchin' wax. Lasted 10+ hours in the bedroom, throw dissipated after about 6-7 hours, only slightly. Couldn't bear to toss this wonderful concoction!

Order of the Odor: Volume 8

We hope your spring is blooming with beautiful weather and happy circumstance.

Have you been craving any particular scents this month?

This month, I have been really into sherbert-y scents. Anything with a melange of tons of fruit and creaminess have been right up my alley. At night, I find myself wanting marshmallow scents, which is weird since I am exclusively a minty nighttime melter, but anything mixed with marshmallow has been my jam.

Are you a seasonal melter?

This is an interesting question for most wax-heads. I know I'm not, but I still like to mix it up during more appropriate, seasonally 'early' months. I used to think I was the only non-seasonal melter and that I was a wax ~*rebel~* because I could melt anything at any time. Living in Southern California where it's sunny 355 days of the year, I've learned to simply melt what I am craving, regardless of the season! Lately, I can be seen melting tree/pine/Christmas scents through March, while mixed with fruity and tropical scents of course, and I can be seen melting fruitiness throughout the year regardless of the month. Does any of this make any sense?! LOL. I wouldn't, however, melt pine scents in the dead of summer. That ish cray, yo. 

Please share with us your answers to these questions in the comments and see what is going on in the following waxy blogs:

Deb, over at It's Always Something, has found a rich buttery sugar cookie tart that you NEED to try! Best part? It is really affordable and may be only an errand away! 

Pop over to Fragrance Obsessed to see what incredible blends Sunnee ordered from Sniff My Tarts, and find out what scent she is head over heels in love with enough to order a full sheet cake in....

Ready for another fabulous 10 out of 10 high performing tart from Lolo?! This one even smells like the much lauded London Calling candle from Bath & Body Works. Come check out what vendor creates this awesome tart!

As waxies, we are probably all familiar with Scentsy, but what are some of Julie's top Scentsy picks that stand out from the vendor crowd? 

Random Post: March 2015 Favorites (and a Couple of Empties)!

Howdy, friends! March is over, and no, I will not be subjecting you to an April Fools joke, which, by the way, companies have gotten super lazy about in the past few years. Sending out a bajillion "IT'S NOT JOKE! FREE SHIPPING TODAY ONLY!!!' emails are just annoying, not clever.

Instead, I want to recap some of my monthly favs from March! WOOT!

*Empties: These 2 monthly empties also serve as favorites. On the left, Bath & Body Works' Cucumber Melon foaming hand soap. Classic scent, love the new bottles, used this in out spare bathroom and got lots of compliments on it. On the right, Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Body Wash. Refreshing, wonderful, and I already have another bottle in the shower. It is such a great wash, and fun to use because everything feels sooo cool when you use it!

*White Barn No 3. Renew & Refresh: One of my absolute favorite candles from Bath & Body Works, this might have one good burn left and then it's a goner. Fresh with bitchin' throw and some mild, mild green/floral notes, this is a sure winner. I don't know how new versions of this candle work, but this one from 2012ish (or 2013?) is the best.

*K. Hall Designs' Peony travel candle: One word: amazeballs. You'd probably assume like I did that a little candle such as this one might not pack a big punch. You'd be wrong, just like me. This thing is INSANELY strong. Peony is a light, delicate scent, but with a throw like this, you wouldn't know it! Such a brilliant candle reminiscent of my favorite discontinued candle, B&BW's Flower Shop. BRING THAT ONE IMMEDIATELY, BACK, BATH & BODY WORKS.

*Wonka's Randoms gummy candies: I received a package from Smiley360 for free to try these Randoms candies, something I had never heard of. I love anything gummy, and these were no exception. Some of these were just like your usual gummy bears, but others had these creamy white bottoms (eeheheheheheeee) which only served to enhance the yumminess. BTW, how do we feel about the word 'yummy' as a collective? Anyways, even though these were free, they were somethin' else! I didn't know Wonka was still in business and not I cannot wait to track more of these down for immediate consumption! They claim no 2 bags are the same, which is also fun! But, while I have you here...

...maaaaaaaaaybe you might wanna work on your ambiguous shapes a little bit more so they don't resemble, well, you know, this?????????????

*Edoughble Cookie Dough: yes, there IS eggless cookie dough out there! I first heard about Edoughble through Treatsie (which I still receive but haven't posted about in a while because of a mix-up with February's box, more to come later). I ordered the chocolate chip version of their eggless cookie dough on a whim and LOVED it, so I went back for Birthday Bash, which is sugar cookie with sprinkles. So good! It is much better at room temperature because it tastes like the real thing, but it made with apple sauce instead to mimic the texture of eggs without the salmonella.

*Game of Thrones: With 3 free months of HBO from our cable provider, Josh and I have all but caught up on "Game of Thrones." I'm sure we are the last people on earth to either read the books or watch the show, but now, this has changed, and we LOVE IT. It's not one of television's highest rated shows for no reason. It's intriguing, captivating, scandalous, murderous and fantastical all at once. Watch if you haven't already done so!

*The Last Man on Earth: want to watch a show that'll make you laugh your ass off every week? Then you NEED to check out this show! There are only 7 or 8 episodes of "The Last Man on Earth" since the show just started, but I'm already obsessed with it. Starring funny man Will Forte, genius comic actress Kristen Schaal and January Jones, give it a try if you like sitcoms and chances are, you'll love it, too!

*The X-Files Returns: it's not really a favorite, more like favorite news of the month: "The X-Files" (AKA MY FAVORITE SHOW EVER) is making a return for a couple episodes!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!! I have been waiting for this forever!! *dancedancedance*

*KBShimmer's Cuticle Oil Pens in Pink Sugar & Peppermint: Cuticle oil is an important step in doing my nails. My skin is always really dry regardless of how much or how little lotion I use, and I like to make sure my cuticles are moisturized. KBShimmer's cuticle oil pens are really fabulous and easy to use, plus, they smell great! I picked up one in pink sugar many months ago and just bought a new one in peppermint.

*Jolie Polish's Nooks  & Crannies Liquid Latex: Liquid latex is all the rage in the nail world right now. Some brands with the same type of item cost upwards of $20, but Jolie Polish offered a similar product for $8. $8! This stuff is a lifesaver if you're horribly messy with your manicures. The fine, thin brush helps apply around the nails with easy and any polish that gets on the nooks and crannies product can easily be removed once the manicure is done. Really awesome product!

*KBShimmer's Ins and Sprouts nail polish: Green is not typically my color when it comes to polish, but I can't resist a holo, and man, IS THIS HOLO. Ins and Sprouts completely surprised me, but then again, I should know better since KBShimmer puts out consistently excellent products. The bottom photo is from my Instagram (follow me @lololovesscents for random stuff and @lololovesfilms for all things movie related) with the flash from my phone's camera...LOOK AT ITTTTTTT. I am still in love.

*Sally Beauty's ASP Manicure Saver: If you're further like me and impatient when painting your nails, you NEED this manicure claw thingmabobber. It has always saved me twice from screwing up my manis! Who even knew a product like this existed?! I sure didn't! The little claw opens up and you stick a cotton ball in there and rub your mistakes away without messing up your other digits. COOL!

*Airborne's Chewable Citrus Tablets: Repeat after me: I will not. Get sick. Anytime soon. If I feel the slightest little sign of a cold, I pop a couple of these with my OJ and feel better. I gotta tell you, Josh hates that I buy these because he swears they don't work, but I have yet to be sick since I have started taking them!
~~~~~~~~~~

Happy April, everyone! Do you have any favorite products this month?