Band of Bloggers: Vol. 21 / September 2017

Welcome back to the September Band of Bloggers! It's that time of year again. School is starting back up. Trees are starting to turn. North America is recovering from the apocalypse brought on by the eclipse. Wait, what?

The eclipse that visited most of the United States on August 21st has been described as a once in a lifetime experience. The next eclipse to cover the US from coast to coast will not come until 2045.

That brings us to our question this month. What is your once in a lifetime experience?

My once in a lifetime experience was meeting MMA fighter Frank Mir. We used to go to live MMA shows all the time because the smaller shows were cheaper and not yet monopolized by the UFC. After a WEC fight in San Diego, we were waiting for traffic to die down before we left. On our way out of the venue, we noticed FRANK EFFING MIR walking to the parking lot with his wife. I was *totally* one of those people who freaked the heck out and followed him for a while before asking if we could take a picture together. Sadly, this photo resides on the now perished hard drive of my laptop one laptop ago, but the memory is emblazoned in my mind forever!

If you'd like to play along at home, please feel free to answer this question in the comment section below, and we hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 20 / August 2017

Pop quiz, hotshot: How well do you know your favourite Band of Bloggerette? Sure, we're all reasonably up to date on each other's interests, hobbies and the pretty, glittery things that make our hearts go pitter pat, but when it comes to the vitally important markers of a person's character - favourite band, desert island scent, fight stance in the zombie apocalypse - how well do we truly know our virtual neighbours? :) Let's delve into 10 deeply random questions and find out, shall we?

1. No really, zombie apocalypse survival strategy: Fight or flight?

Flight, but I ain't makin' it far. I am definitely the fat kid who gets bitten and devoured first.

2. You've been a bad, bad kitty and you have just one final meal coming your way. What's on your plate?

Chicken fried steak with seasoned fries from Mama Kat's. Gravy on the side, obvs. I'm watching my figure before I meet my maker. ;)

3. Aside from wax (or nail polish, or crafting supplies, or beauty products) what item do you have major multiples of?

MOVIES! We have over 800 DVDs and Blu-rays in our collection!

4. You've just won the lottery. Before best friends you didn't even know you had begin to show up on your doorstep, what's the first thing you buy without even thinking twice?

A brand new bed, the kind that allows you to adjust your firmness, king size, brand new bed frame, new plush sheets, new fluffy pillows, and n a partridge in a pear tree.

5. Biggest celebrity crush? This can be anybody - an actress, a musician, a fictional character from a favourite movie, book or television show, or maybe even an historical figure.

It was Alan Rickman, may he rest in peace. Now that he has passed on, it's probably Michael Shannon. No judging!

6. Flats or heels? Or are you running barefoot through life like some sort of hippie?

F-L-A-T-S. I cannot do heels.

7. Whether it was created through a customs order or simple pick-and-mix blending at home, what's the greatest scent blend you've ever stumbled upon?

Pink peppermint all the things.

Wildberry mousse vanilla bean noel from Candles from the Keeping Room.

Vanilla bean noel, sweet lavender, peppermint from Rosegirls.

Watermelon, cotton candy, melon.

8. It's snack time! Are you reaching for the sweet or the salty?

Usually salty.

9. What's a personal style moment you'd never care to re-live?

My fourth-grade frizz-fro. My mom spent hours braiding my hair into individual little strands, and it looked so cool, but my hair in my fourth-grade photo looks like someone put me in a dryer, LOL.

10. You are going to live in a biodome beneath the sea for the next three years and have been allotted space for just ONE book (tiny dome!) What cherished book will keep you entertained for the next 1095 days?

1001 Movies to See Before You Die, because if I'm stuck at sea and don't have movies, at least I can read about the ones I haven't seen!

If you'd like to play along at home, please feel free to answer these questions in the comment section below, and we hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 19 / July 2017

As mid-summer approaches, my mind drifts to vacation times, getaways or mini excursions out and about. One tank trips. Parks to explore. 

Do you take a summer vacation or do small getaways? What do you have planned? If not, what would be your ideal vacation or retreat? What are your favorite local haunts? Give us some places to check out!

We don't have any fun plans this summer. It has been quite a while since we've taken a vacation, we just don't have the fund to go anywhere right now. Maybe we need to book a hotel room and spend an entire day doing nothing in town. STAYCATION!!! Locally, there are tons of things to do in town! We have the zoo, the Wild Animal Park (I REFUSE to call it the Safari Park), Lego Land, tons of food places, Liberty Station, beaches, Balboa Park, Old Town...there's something for everyone in America's Finest City! My ideal retreat? I would love to go to some place where it doesn't get up to 90+ degrees on the daily! I'd love to travel to Australia on vacation. That would be incredible. 

I am not going to lie.... as summer starts revving up... I am catching myself not only daydreaming about vacation but also fall scents. I am sure it may be too early for some and others melt fall scents year 'round, but I must ask... where are you planning to order your fall smell goods from? It can be vendor wax, candles, bath and body or perfumes. <3 Just spill!

I think I will make an order from Sugar & Spice before fall actually starts so I am well prepared for the season. I might hit up a couple of vendors, actually, but I find myself so out of the loop with newbie vendors, I don't know where to start! PLEASE recommend me some new, awesome wax people to buy from!! I will probably pick up 2 more pumpkin apple candles from B&BW, only because we loved our last one from 2 years ago SO much!

Please, feel free to answer these questions in the comments section below.

We hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Happy Piranha Geeky Candles Review!

We've got another awesome post to share with you today, movie lovers! It's full of geekdom wonderment, but it doesn't have anything to do with film reviews. No no, today, we have a set of candle reviews to share! We were sent a package from Happy Piranha for smelling and review purposes. (this is cross-posted to lololovesfilms.com)

This is a candle company who knows its way to the heart of any nerd! Do you like Harry Potter? There are candles for you! Pokemon Go more your style? Look no further than Happy Piranha! Just looking for some aromatherapy stuff to help you chill after a long week? You've come to the right place. Now, let's get into what we were sent in our package!

First, we had to share their absolutely adorable business card! We've never seen anything like it. It's so cute, and you definitely need to see both sides. It's unique, quirky, and colorful. Love it!

Here's a close-up of the three candles we were sent to review. Each candle costs about $11.05 USD and has an average burn time of 35 hours. The scents we were sent are named and described as follows:

• Ogden's Olde cinnamon flavoured Fire Whiskey ("Warming scent of apple and cinnamon like someone has just popped the cork on an aged bottle at the inn!") (website link | etsy link)
• Jigglypuff's Lullaby ("plump marsh mellows and cotton candy,") (website link | etsy link)
• Hunger Games inspired Mockingjay candle ("juicy clementine ginger and orange") (website link | etsy link)

The first thing we noticed upon opening this parcel is the insane amount of detail Happy Piranha puts into their labeling. Dear god, it's truly A+ packaging. Let's get a closer look at those lids in all their glory (same order as the scents listed above, left to right).

Love these little details. The lids and labeling really take these candles to their ultimate geekiness and set them apart from other brands. Each candle is also a different color, each has a single wick, and each is in its own metal tin.

So, how did they all smell? Our favorite was Ogden's Olde cinnamon flavoured Fire Whiskey, and not just because we are huge Harry Potter fans. The throw on this candle was pretty darn good! Whenever we walked into the room, we were greeted by the inviting, alluring blend of cinnamon and apple, which is a personal favorite combination of ours. We burned this bad boy for a few hours at a time, and every time, it was awesome.

Next we tried Jigglypuff's Lullaby. While we love the look and smell of this candle before it's lit, it was also the weakest of the three by a wide margin. In fact, we had a hard time smelling it in a larger room. Our kitchen/living room/TV room are all on an open floor plan, and we could only smell faint wisps here and there of this gooey marshmallow cotton candy confection (both of which can definitely be lighter scents in general). When I brought into a smaller space, the spare bathroom, which is much more enclosed, the throw was a little better, but still pretty weak. We are bummed to say that as pretty as this one looks and as much as we love Pokemon, this candle was a miss for us.

Finally, we tried the Hunger Games inspired Mockingjay candle. This one looks the coolest out of the three we tried. Absolutely adore the Hunger Games details! This candle had a low-medium throw in the big room, but once we moved it to our bathroom (which is bigger than the spare bathroom, but not by much), it had a bit more success. This one is fruity and a little bit complex because of the ginger element. The clementine is sweet, but not too sweet, though I think the mixture interacts with one another before it's burning. It smelled strange when we huffed it before lighting the candle, but when it was burning, it was a lot more straightforward. I wish this had been a teensy bit stronger, though! Provided you burn this in an smaller/more enclosed space, you'll most likely enjoy it if you like warm/citrus blends.

We want to say a huge THANK YOU to Happy Piranha for letting us try these candles and sending them all the way to the states from Cornwall, England! We really appreciate you taking the time to do this for us, and we even have our eye on some other candles to order when we're finished with these three!

Please visit Happy Piranha all over the internet for your geeky/nerdy candle needs!

HappyPiranha.com | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

*these candles were sent to us free of change for review, but we were not further compensated and all thoughts are our own.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 18 / June 2017

Toes in the water, sunshine on the skin, evenings spent watching blinking fireflies or brilliant fireworks, all the little indulgences that only summer can bring. As it's arriving soon (in the northern hemisphere), for June, we want to know the special ways you indulge during the summer months. Any activities you look forward to? For some, it involves dodging bugs to searching for respite from soaring temps. But for everyone it means longer daylight hours. What is your summer indulgence?

My summer indulgence is more alcoholic beverages! I love summery citrus-y cocktails, and we find ourselves drinking more when the summer months come around. *pours everyone a margarita*

Continuing with gratification, what's the most indulgent fragrance purchase you have ever made or been gifted? A special bottle of perfume, exclusive wax opening, or pricey, fancy pants candle?

The most indulgent fragrant purchase I've ever made has been a bottle of Bvlgari Mon Jasmin perfume. It was too luscious to pass up. I *still* have some of it, and I purchased it over 5 years ago! In terms of wax, I think the most I ever spent at one place at one time has to be $200+, but those days are long gone for me.

Lastly, how would you indulge if $ was no object? It could be a luxe fragrance you desire, a pampering spa package, a legendary retired scent, etc. What is your dream way to treat yo' self?

If money was no object, I would treat myself to some Sugar & Spice Gourmet Soy goodies. Shanna has *the best* pink peppermint, and I am dying for some bags of her stuff. I'd also try her new room sprays, which just came out!

Please, feel free to answer these questions in the comments section below!

We hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Jessica at The Meltdown Blog

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 17 / May 2017

May, May, May. Welcome back, ol' friend! May is a turning point in the year for a lot of people. The school year is almost over, summer is coming soon, and those mild months will soon become scorchers. The birthstone of May is the emerald, which symbolizes love and success. This month, we're focusing on those two things!

We all love something with all our hearts, so tell us what you love the most. It could be the story of how you met your spouse/significant other, where you got your pet, or a nod to your parental units.

My husband Josh. We met online many moons ago. I surprised him by visiting his work one night, and we have been in love ever since. And we still manage to make each other laugh and be silly together, even almost 12 years later!

My dogs, Freddo and Sonny. Both of them were Christmas presents, and these two are such a funny pair. They make me laugh and smile every day!

And though I don't have pictures readily available, but also my mom, stepdad, and brother, and extended family. I couldn't ask for a better family. Finally, I also love my friends, who have been with me through this and thin, many since elementary and middle school.

Finally, I love reviewing movies! It's the coolest, most rewarding thing and I hope we are able to get paid doing it!

Other various things I love: the smell of rain on the road; shiny things; the color gold; unicorns; Mama Kat's in San Marcos; COFFEE, LOTS OF COFFEE; wax and candles (of course!); Netflix; creative writing; livestreaming movies on Instagram; Trader Joe's; a bitchin' sunset; compassion.

In terms of success, and keeping it blog related, have you ever participated in and/or completed a successful "project wax" or spring wax/perfume/makeup/scented product purge? Have you ever had so much product you felt the need to use it all up before your bought again?
I have done a few rounds of Project Wax in the past, successfully and unsuccessfully. I have bins in the bathroom and bedroom of stuff to melt, with particular scents that we like in each area. I need to purge some of my perfumes, but I've dwindled my wax stash by a lot. Had to throw some stuff away because it didn't smell at all anymore, and it was a sad, tearful day. :P I am at the point where I am not financially okay to buy more wax, so I've been using what I've got, and also burning through lots of my candles as well!

Please, feel free to answer these questions in the comments section below!

We hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Wax Tart Review: Supertarts Donatello

I know what you're thinking. HOLY CRAPOLA, LOLO IS BLOGGING.
For those of you in the back saying "Lolo who?" I forgive you.

Yes, I am here. I know. I know. I KNOW. I've made far too many excuses, so I'll just go with the typical "we've had so many things going on" and "I suck" answers.

I have really been trying to get back into/finding the want and desire to blog about wax, but I'll tell you the truth, it just hasn't been there. I melt occasionally, whenever the mood strikes, but my stash has dwindled so low and has gotten so old that what I have left is often too "meh" to produce a good scent. Add this on top of my non-existent wax purchasing and zero extra dollars you've got a recipe for "no new posts since XYZ."

There are so many other more efficient, better written bloggers out there now for all of your wax, candle, and scents needs, that even before mine fell into a deep, dark hole of virtual nothingness, I've sort of wondered "why bother?" Too much? Shoot, that's what you get for being honest!

Well, here I am! I'm trying to simplify things by going back to basics. Here's a wax tart review for you all.

Donatello: Lavender cream and honeydew melons

Supertarts' Donatello
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; Something about this combination does it for me. Lavender and honeydew go insanely well together. Fresh meets juicy fruit for an ultimate springtime gem. ore honeydew than lavender. Strong, but not too strong. Lasted 12 hours in the bathroom 24W hot plate. Yes, I still have a 24W hot plate. I like to live dangerously. Geeky/nerdy tart names. Dope embedded stamp on the wax. Now craving pizza.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 16 / April 2017

It's that time of year again! As the warmer weather soothes stiff joints and brushes off the last vestiges of winter, homes beg for the same fresh start everyone promised themselves at the beginning of the year. Clothes are donated, rooms are scrubbed, and yards are tended. While the fauna leave their winter dens or return from long migrations, the world blooms with new growth in vibrant splashes of color.

For April's Band of Bloggers post, we will answer a few questions about Spring and the ever-loved Spring Cleaning. Feel free to join in and answer these questions in the comments below!

Do you decorate for Spring? 
We don't hardcore decorate for Spring, no. I put out my owl decorations and a floral garland for the fireplace, that's about it.

Are there any products you find yourself reaching for as the weather warms? This can be anything; food, clothing, bath and body, wax, you name it!
I always want berries as the weather turns warmer. Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, anything! I usually switch from peppermint soap to almond soap because it reminds me of spring. In terms of wax, not really, I melt a little more floral scented stuff. Clothing, I wish I could wear cute sandals, but I have terrible feet because of my arthritis, so nothing but tennis shoes for me. 

Do you participate in the Spring Cleaning craze?
I've participated twice. I usually get a general cleaning bug a couple of times a year, but rarely in spring. It's usually in fall and winter because of the holidays!

(I know this is late, and I apologize)

Don't forget to visit these fellow participants in the Band of Bloggers and help support the blogging community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at Lolo Loves Scents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy 

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us. 

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 15 / March 2017

Welcome to the March edition of Band of Bloggers! Hopefully this month begins to bring more temperate weather and the first signs of spring! In my neck of the woods, conditions have been alternating between crazy heavy rain/high winds and beautiful sunshine and blooming flowers. I hope the weather will stabilize a bit this month. Since the month of March usually holds the first signs of spring, that begs the question:

What scent are your favorite scents to melt and wear for spring?

To wear, I *love* Daisy by Marc Jacobs. It's so springy, floral, and youthful. Love it! For wax, I have to have my watermelon scents, my pistachios, my wildberries, always jasmine flower scents, root beer, poppy, and tropical fruit blends! In terms of floral, I really only like jasmine and one floral candle (flower shop from B&BW, which has been rebranded to Amsterdam). Love me some fresh scents though, especially on cleaning days. I don't consider myself a seasonal melted. I have always reached for cinnamon blends in April, and I will always crave watermelon ones in December.

We hope you'll join the fun and leave your own answer in the comments below.

And we hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 14 / February 2017

Welcome to the February edition of Band of Bloggers!  You're probably getting tired of winter already as we start this new month.  Maybe your thoughts are already turning towards spring, or maybe your all about Valentine's at the moment.  Hearts and roses, chocolates and cards, and special someones making you smile . . .   With all that love floating around, our question this month is quite simple.

What scent are you *loving* at the moment?

It can be anything from wax to perfume to body care to . . . whatever!

I am loving watermelon punch from Butterfly Lane Scents! I have dwindled down my "vendors to order from" list A LOT in the last few years, but Butterfly Lane has always been at the top of this list. I am also currently obsessing over coconut scented body products, my shampoo and my body wash are coconut scented madness!

We hope you'll join the fun and leave your own answer in the comments below.

And we hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.

Band of Bloggers: Vol. 13 / January 2017

Hello, dear friends! We all here at the Band of Bloggers would like to welcome you to a brand new year. We hope it will be full of good health and much happiness, and of course a plethora of fragrance. 

Let's kick off the new year but asking what your fragrant plans are for 2017. Are you trying new vendors, going on a low-buy or no-buy, or planning on burning more candles? Do you dream of new wax blends, trying out incense or something entirely different? Are perfumes, indie bath and body or artisan body care on your list? Or do you plan on making your own home made brews?

Look, I'm not going to lie to you, dear readers. I've had some money problems this last year. Between medical bills and work expenses, I haven't bought a whole lot of wax. I know I've talked about this before, successfully and unsuccessfully, but I want to melt what I have in a sort of Project Wax. My wax stash, as it were, is not incredibly large, but I want to make sure I'm using what I've got and only buy the staples I run out of. My days of experimentation are over. So, long story short, I'll *try* a low-buy this year. I plan on buying maybe two or three times next year, but not over that. I've got candles up the wazoo, so I'll continue to burn those as well ans get my stash down to a reasonable size. As far as indie vendors for bath and body products, I've not found one I'm overly fond of, to be honest. I had high hopes for some of the biggest names in indie B&B, but nothing has lived up to my expectations. Goals for aromatic related things include BLOGGING MORE. My god, I suck. I've dropped off the face of this planet on this blog and I don't want to be that person anymore, but sometimes, when I get in a rut, I only melt pink peppermint. That is my solace. <3

And do tell us what your aromatic plans and goals for 2017 include!

We, sadly, have had a few bloggers lay down their pens. And they will be deeply missed. However, we are welcoming some new bloggers to this motley and aromatic group. 

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Please visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.