Weekend Wax Review: January 4-6

Welcome, one and all, to the first Weekend Wax Review for 2013!
...wow, it's even hard to type that on the keyboard, ha!

Are you all ready for some WAX?!? :D

Unfortunately, I started off with a stinker this weekend. I just did not like my sample of Christmas Rum Ball from Ava's Country Cupboard...there was an overly artificial rum smell, and it was fakely sweet, too. Something was off about it, and it lingers long after I turned off the warmer. On cold sniff, 4/10. While warming, 3.5/10. It was strong though, 6/10. Overall, 4.5/10. Not a repurchase for me, but I do like Ava's products!

Cupcake Candles claim to fame in the wax world has to be their sampler boxes. Well, I got my hands on one during the winter box run (I did have a 20ish% off coupon, too)! It's been curing for a few weeks, so I decided to start with my samples. I have no clue what's in Christmas Dreams and I could not find a scent description on their website, but it was overly floral and perfumey. It might should be renamed "sexy lady," ha! It smelled sort of like old lady perfume, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but this one was...off. It was just okay. On cold sniff, 5.5/10. While warming, 4/10. The throw was a 5.5/10, for a total of 5/10.

The second of my samples from Cupcake Candles. This one was nice, but not super strong! It was creamy and you definitely got a vanilla scent right off the bat mixed with nutmeg and cinnamon, a la eggnog, but...there wasn't very much "nog!" I did enjoy it, though! On cold sniff, 4.5/10, not overly strong. While warming, 6.5/10. The throw was a 6.5/10, for a total of 6/10.

This must have been sample weekend! Ollie's Soaps' Peppermint Bark was a decent blend of peppermint and chocolate...so, what is bark? Is it only ever strictly white chocolate, or is it only ever strictly regular chocolate, or can it be a mix of both?! I smelled a creaminess to this mixed in with the chocolate and peppermint. I did enjoy it! On cold sniff, 6/10. While warming, 6/10. The throw was a bit less, only a 5.5/10, because it didn't travel outside the room too terribly much. The total on this sample is 6/10!

Corn is all the rage in the wax world, it seems. Try as I might...I just cannot with the corn scents! Every single time I melt something with the word "corn," the only thing I smell after a while is Fritos! This was no exception. At first, there was a distinctive apple fragrances filling the air, but then.....chip city. BLEH. On cold sniff, 5/10. While warming, 4/10. The throw was 5/10, for a 4.5/10. Not a repurchase, but I'm determined to find a corn scent I like, dang-nabbit!

Trying my first scent shot from Kim's Tarts, this was just alright. Not super strong and the orange was artificial. On cold sniff, 4/10, virtually only a hint of orange. While warming, 4/10. The throw was not strong at all, 3.5/10, for a total of 4/10.

My very first (well, second) Snap Stick from my Streetman Candle box! YAY! Unfortunately, I think I should have waited a week to let these cure, the throw was very light on my pomegranate Snap Stick! On cold sniff, 5.5/10. While warming, just 5/10. The throw was a 4.5/10, for a total of 5/10, and my fault for being impatient. :(

Tiffany Candles, as you know, is one of my favs. Tootsie Roll, however, is not a fav. It's really hard to get into chocolate scents. This was similar to the candy, though. On cold sniff, 5/10. While warming, 4/10. The throw was good with a 6/10, for a total of 5/10.

 That's it for the weekend recap! Have a nice night, everyone! :)

Melt-A-Palooza: Kim's Tarts, Part 2!

Here's part 2 of my Kim's Tarts MAJOR meltdown! Each post contains 4 reviewed fragrances!
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1) Christmas Splendor.......Christmas Splendor......dare I say one of my favorite tarts by Kim!? Christmas Splendor is supposedly a dupe for Yankee's Christmas Eve, which I've never personally smelled. The Kim's version was filled with cinnamon, apples, and even had oak and/or balsam tree notes. I had this going in the bedroom and another spicy scent going in the living room, but these Kim's Tarts were definitely stronger! I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover because on cold sniff, this smelled average, as always! This is the fragrance that I had going while decorating the house for Christmas, and it was the perfect accompaniment!

Kim's Tarts' Christmas Splendor
Cold Rating: 5/10; I should just always mark these with a cold rating of 5 because there's a little something, but not much. I think her tarts are in paraffin (blend?), but I'm not positive about this...if so, I've heard paraffin, on cold sniff, is deceiving as to how powerful a tart will really perform.
Lit Rating: 7/10; strong, but not overwhelmingly so. Great musky, apple/tree combination, perfect for Christmas! It's interesting to note that the apple scent got stronger once I turned off my warmer...weird!
Throw Rating: 7/10; great performance and throw!
Overall Rating: 6/10; decent smelling tart! Kim's is sure redeeming themselves in my book during this melt-a-palooza!

2) Keeping with the Fall/Winter/Christmas/Holiday theme my Project Wax box tried to implore, White Christmas was next. This one was overpowering in a sort of negative way...it was just too garland-y for me. The evergreen notes were waaaaay too much, and I usually like tree/nature scent. There was only a tiny hint of berries as an underlying note, but was almost if not all the way masked by evergreen and garland. it was like being choked by a forest; this is good, however, for the throw rating...it just didn't smell great.

Kim's Tarts' White Christmas
Cold Rating: 5.5/10; I'm tired of saying the cold sniff rating is aveeeeeraaaaaaaaaage.
Lit Rating: 6/10; extremely strong notes of evergreen/garland/trees, very little berry notes.
Throw Rating: 7.5/10; ridiculously strong, choked by a forest, trees haunted my dreams, etc.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; the throw and lit ratings pretty much bumped this up; some people will love this scent, but it just wasn't up my alley.

3) The problem I have with Kim's Tarts is that their bakery scents just smell...off. Almost every bakery scent I have tried from her has either been misnamed or just smells stinky. Praline Pound Cake is no exception. You definitely smell pralines but almost no pound cake. It's straight nuts, folks. This one isn't available online (though they do have a caramel praline scent now) and it was a sample, so I guess it wasn't too popular.

Kim's Tarts' Praline Pound Cake
Cold Rating: 4/10; hardly anything, again.
Lit Rating: 4/10; it just smells like warmed pralines, no pound cake, no bakery, no sweetness to cut the intense, nutty flavor.
Throw Rating: 4/10; not particularly strong.
Overall Rating: 4/10; not my favorite, but not the worst scent I've smelled from Kim's. I don't really have anything more to say about this one.

4) Finally, we have Christmas Eve. You get a lot of hearth smell in this one, which combined nicely with a fresh array of sweet fruits. I don't know if berries were meant to be in this one, but I smelled a lot of berry! It also had a tree/piney note, which is not in the description. A pretty good scent to finish out my melt-a-palooza!

Kim's Tarts' Christmas Eve
Cold Rating: 5/10; yada yada average.
Lit Rating: 7.5/10; strong hearth/fireplace/wood/tree notes intertwined with a sugary berry mixture.
Throw Rating: 6/10; decent!
Overall Rating: 6/10; a pretty good ending to a melting spree with many highs and a few lows.
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I had a lot of fun marathoning these scents over the span of a few days, and I might make this type of melting/blogging a regular occurrence here! :)

Melt-A-Palooza: Kim's Tarts, Part I

As I've stated in past reviews, the tarts by Kim I have tried have been hit or miss. Some were pretty dang great, some were either unscented or just plain smelly. Regardless of MY opinions, for your money, I doubt you're going to find a cheaper vendor around the internet...3 scalloped tarts for $1.50 with free shipping of any order over $35?? That's an amazingly great deal. On the other hand, if you're paying good money, you might want to buy somewhere that is consistent with its products. Agree or disagree, this is the first company I purchased wax from online (besides Yankee and B&BW), so I want them to succeed!

I decided to have a MAJOR Kim's Tarts meltdown today! I kicked my tart warmer into high gear and got to meltin' this afternoon; it's the perfect day for a nice, waxy melt-a-palooza, as it is tad bit gloomy with a little bit of drizzle! Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog entry in the next few days because I melted so many different scents. :)

1) Kim's Tarts Trick or Treats is just average. I meant to melt this during Halloween, but I completely forgot. On cold throw, there was a barely there sweet smell, but I could not distinguish what it was. As it began to melt, the room was flooded by a spicy aroma of cinnamon, which quickly melded with an artificial pumpkin/apple note. It was very sweet, too, but Splenda-sweet, not sugar cane.

Kim's Tarts' Trick or Treats
Cold Rating: 3.5/10; very, very faint sweet smell, yet indistinguishable.
Lit Rating: 5/10; not much more to say...too sweet, too fake smelling, the spice was nice, but it was overpowered by artificial apple and pumpkin.
Throw Rating: 5/10; medium scent throw, nothing else to say about that.
Overall Rating: 4.5/10; artificiality hampers what could have been an otherwise delicious smelling tart.

2) On the positive side, Leaves (type) was pretty dead on compared to the popular Bath & Body Works scent. It had a fabulous dried apple scent coupled with spices and a slightly sweet maple aroma. Festive, bright, and strong while melting! Cold. however, most of Kim's Tarts are middle of the road, at best.

Kim's Tarts' Leaves
Cold Rating: 5/10; still almost nothing, but this scent had the most fragrance out of any of the Kim's Tarts I have smelled.
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7/10

3) Have you ever eaten chestnuts in their original form? I haven't, so I have no idea what to go on, fragrance wise. This one smelled pretty dang great! I'm super excited that this batch of Kim's Tarts have been decent because, like I said, I want their business to succeed. This one, while named Chestnuts and Brown Sugar, should really be named creamy graham crackers. It smelled like honey, brown sugar, a touch of butter, with a little hint of creamy vanilla or marshmallow. It was really pleasant!

Kim's Tarts' Chestnuts and Brown Sugar
Cold Rating: 5/10; average, nothing special, even with extra oils on top of the tart. GRRRRRRR!!
Lit Rating: 6.5/10; decent smell of graham crackers, not overly nutty, sugary yet buttery at the same time.
Throw Rating: 6.5/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; pretty good! I enjoyed this scent, but it smelled like graham crackers more than chestnuts and brown sugar. Definitely a bakery scent without cake or cookie fragrance!

4) What's your favorite type of pie? Mine just happens to be Lemon Meringue Pie. So, what would any logical person do, apart from making one or buying one from a local store or bakery? BUY IT IN TART FORM, OF COURSE! This one was really, really great! You could actually smell each element of a lemon meringue pie individually in different whiffs!

Kim's Tarts' Lemon Meringue Pie
Cold Rating: 5.5/10; average flaky, crusty, lemony scent on cold sniff.
Lit Rating: 7.5/10; pretty strong! Enjoyed this scent, but I always have to use 2 or even all 3 tarts to get this result.
Throw Rating: 7/10; traveled around the entire house, but lingered the farthest away from the bedroom.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; smells like a real lemon meringue pie! Strong, too. Great performance, I am pleased!

Weekend Wax Review: November 17-18

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, folks! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

We're in charge of the turkey this year. Problems?
...neither of us have ever made a turkey.
...our oven is awful.
...I have an aversion to touching poultry.

IT WILL BE FINE. I keep telling myself that we are adults, we can handle this...
...and then I think of giblets. *shiver*
So, mom, if you're reading this, sorry in advance for potentially poisoning your guests. KIDDING!! (heh??? HEH???)

We melted a pretty good amount of wax this weekend. Josh works all day on Saturday and Sunday, so I kept it simple while he was gone and tried to melt things I didn't think he would like. I melted Kim's Tarts' Christmas Wish (review coming soon) and Fruit Loops. Fruit Loops from Kim's Tarts was pretty good, but not the best Fruit Loops scent I've tried. It lasted a good 6 hours during the day, though, which was awesome. I'd say overall a 6/10. Kim's has been really hit or miss, but this one was decent!

Also, I wandered back into the world of Scentsy with Pumpkin Marshmallow, which is a bar I won from a Happy Fall Y'all giveaway online! This scent was pretty good, but not great; we had this going in the plug-in Scentsy warmerabove, also something I won in the giveaway, but it filled up the back section of our condo pretty fast. It really did smell like marshmallows, but it had a hefty amount of artificial sweetness. Overall, I'd say this was a 5/10; would have liked to smell a bit more spicy, or even some pumpkin...it was very muted. Just because something is strong doesn't necessarily mean it's a good scent. Also, who says pumpkins have to go away after Halloween?! I love this plug-in warmer!

Last night we warmed Tinsel from My Candle Box, a vendor featured in the November Simply Sensational box. This fragrance was fabulous! It smelled like pink sugar combined with strawberries and a hint of peppermint. I warmed it before we went to bed and left it on until the middle of the night. This morning, it was still going strong. Gotta give it up to vendors who have perfected the art of longevity in their wax, right? Great nighttime fragrance! Unfortunately, I'd give it a 4/10 on cold sniff (we could hardly smell anything in the plastic baggie), 7/10 while warming, 7/10 for the throw, which means a 6/10 overall.

Right now, I have Pumpkins and Pralines from CFTKR, of Candles From The Keeping Room*, melting in the bedroom. This is another fabulous sweet smell true to its name. It smells like freshly toasted and sugar-coated pralines on top of a pumpkin pie. Crusty, buttery, creamy, sugary...ohhhh so so so so good. Heavy on the sweet pralines, with subtle pumpkin aroma. 6.5/10 on cold sniff, 6/10 while melting, 7/10 for throw, 6.5/10 overall. Decadent, but can get very sweet and one-note pretty fast (again, this is just my opinion). Try it out, though, it's a good one!

*Another note about CFTKR: Carol, the owner, is so super sweet, and really fast with her shipping. She communicates with customers on her Facebook page nearly every single day with updates about not just her shop, but her life as well. She puts so much time and effort into her wax that I would DEFINITELY purchase from her again even though her shipping costs can be high. In an effort to make up for these costs, though, she adds a ton of samples in every order. I got 9, yes, 9 SAMPLES, ranging in size and shape! How cool is that?! Her scents are unique, her shapes are really cute, and her quality is great! What more could you ask for? Her shop is closed right now, but she will be re-opening after Thanksgiving!

**Another note about this: Being the genius that I am, I decided to include photos in my Weekend Wax Reviews from now on. It's too time consuming to review everything I've EVER melted, so I'll do in-depth, longer reviews on the fragrances/vendors I either loved/hated/found so-so, and then add extra pictures and smaller reviews on the weekend! Like I said, GENIUS!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week, y'all!

PS: I just noticed all of the above scents hovered around a 6/10. This is not on purpose, it's just a coincidence I noticed from my notes.

Review: Kim's Tarts' Farmhouse Cider

My husband Josh has come around about my wax fetish..

[is fetish the right word? Habit? Love? Addiction? Problem? Bueller??]

At first, I don't think he saw the point. While we want our house to smell lovely and not like a trash can, I don't know if he exactly got why I like candles and wax. Of course, I'm purely speculating...maybe he's understood the entire time but was simply giving me a hard time! Some people like fine cigars, sports cards, movie memorabilia...I like candles and wax. 

I've started trying to include him more in my scent travels...

[Travels? Is THAT the right word?? Exploits? Cravings? Adventures? BUELLER???]

Instead of me always picking the scent of the day/night based on what we each like, he's been picking what we melt/burn lately! So, last night, when I read the contents from my Project Wax bag (I'll explain this in my next post), he picked Kim's Tarts' Farmhouse Cider. An excellent choice, my fine feathered friend...now I KNOW this is not the right phrase, it's just something I always say. :)

...I really wish I could review this scent better. We wanted to love it...

Per Kim's Tarts website, the notes for this scent are: "Fresh, ground cinnamon, generously sprinkled over tasty hot apple cider. Allspice, fresh clove bud, and drips of Vermont maple complete this flavorful treat. The scent of hot spiced cider warms the soul. SUPER STRONG!" To me, this fragrance pretty much sounded like a dupe for the Bath & Body Works scent with the same name. What we expected to get was an overwhelming spicy apple scent, dripping with fall delight...something that would run us out of the room because it was so strong...

...unfortunately, that was not the case. On cold sniff, the scent was virtually nonexistent. I added one of the 3 scalloped tarts to start into my 24-watt hot plate warmer and figured we'd try our luck anyways. Well, the first one was melted completely and I didn't even know it. If I put my nose almost directly on the wax, I could get a tiny hint of cinnamon, otherwise, nothin'. I added another tart to see if it yielded better results...then had to add the third and final tart when 2 didn't do squat. While the fragrance was fractionally improved with the addition of the remaining 2 tarts, this scent did almost nothing for us. It was really disappointing because the description promised strength where there was none. Onto the next thing!

Happy melting, everyone!

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Kim's Tarts Farmhouse Cider
Cold Rating: 2/10; this one had no fragrance at all. There was a slight hint of something in the middle tart in the bag of 3, but it was not anything included in the Farmhouse Cider description.
Lit Rating: 3/10; one point for each tart, I suppose. Disappointingly light scent after a raving description about strength.
Throw Rating: 2/10; again, you had to be ON TOP of the wax to get any throw.
Overall Rating: 2.5/10; it's hard to review something that basically has no throw, smell, or general use. But, this is 2 out of 3 tarts I've tried from Kim's Tarts that have had a less than average performance. I still have quite a few bags filled with tarts left to melt, and my hunch is I'd better do it fast or else there will be no scent in the wax left to review!

Review: Kim's Tarts Cranberry Spice

This one might need a name change.

Cranberries, in my opinion, are tart, they are tangy, and turkey...wait, scratch that last part (though cranberries do go really well with turkey). Those tiny, delicious berries, red and glistening at the Thanksgiving table, just waiting to be consumed...OK, LAUREN, STOP! What's wrong with you?!

If this Kim's Tarts was called, say, Cherry Slushie, or Cherries Jubilee, or Cherry Tang, or Cherry ANYTHING, I would have been inclined to purchase that anyways given my new-found love of all things cherry scented...

...but Cranberry Spice this is not.

It's just not, folks. To me, this is straight-up cherry and maybe a little bit of alcohol mixed in. There's no spice whatsoever; I maybe smelled it one time in the few hours I was melting this scent. On cold throw, it might have smelled like cranberry, so I let it sit for about a week just to be sure it wasn't just a time/cure thing...

I'm very sorry to say I didn't like this one because I had such high hopes. It is so artificially sweet and fruity that it sort of made me sick. In fact, that's EXACTLY what it smelled like: cherry cough syrup! I really enjoyed the Sinus Relief from Kim's Tarts, but this one was a huge miss for me. In fact, I couldn't wait until it was finished melting so I could air out the house and start something new. I'm sorry, Kim! Don't hate me!

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Kim's Tarts Cranberry Spice
Cold Rating: 4/10, it might be appealing when lit, but it was just average on cold throw.
Lit Rating (for these tart reviews, substitute LIT for WARM): 3/10, artificially sweet, not really cranberry and definitely no spice.
Throw Rating: 6/10, unfortunately strong.
Overall Rating: 4/10, and most of this comes from throw; overabundance of weird (and lingering), fake cherry smell; bitter disappointment; childhood gaggings of Robitussin.

Weekend Wax Review: September 29-30

...okay, maybe I overestimated how much I would want to melt while I was sick.

Because it wasn't that much.

Besides the Sinus Relief by Kim's Tarts (I ended up melting 2 out of the 3 tarts from my bag), the only other item I burned was "Whiteout" from Scentsy. Whiteout is an amazing mix of peppermint and vanilla. It's not the strongest peppermint scent I've smelled (more to come on the winner), but it's a solid fragrance!

I promise to update more this week. I didn't intend on getting sick this week, and hopefully our bad luck is on an up-swing, because we could use a good month!

Have a great week!! :)

Review: Kim's Tarts Sinus Relief

Who says you can't burn candles or melt tarts while you're sick?

Especially when the tart in question is called "Sinus Relief." Can't you just smell the mint from here? Ahhhhh, soothing.

I bought a bunch of tarts from Tart Candles by Kim a while back, but actually haven't gotten around to using any of them; then I remembered (in a moment of genius) that I had a bag of Sinus Relief tarts! WOOT!!

The website description reads: "Ever smell the scent of vick's vapor rub? Our sinus relief fragrance is a cool, crisp blend of camphor, eucalyptus, and mint. Great for snuffed up noses!"

Well, a stuffed up nose is what I've got! It's probably just a head cold, but I'd rather not infect anyone, so I'm kickin' it at home today. The entire bedroom smells like Vick's Vapor Rub, but not in a bad way. It's refreshing, minty, medicinal, perfect for these under-the-weather days. It has actually lifted my spirits a bit, and I'm able to smell a lot better! The throw is strong, and most of that probably has to do with the combination of scents.

Plus, this is SO MUCH NICER than actually using Vick's.

The best part about Kim's Tarts is that each bag (individually sealed with a cute little ribbon) contains 3 tarts and they only cost $1.50! How's THAT for a bargain!? Since this is the first tart I've tried from my order, my impression of this company so far is positive. Some of my tarts were veeeeeeeeery strong upon opening the package, so I am airing them out a bit before I melt them. Give them a try! Kim is really fast at correspondence, too, and you can tell she really cares about her customers. She even included 5 free sample tarts in my order! How sweet was that?! :)

Anyways, my weekend wax review will be up later tomorrow, so expect lots of minty goodness to help combat this cold. Have a good weekend, all, and don't forget to take advantage of the Buy 2 Get 2 free sale at Yankee Candle, if you choose! The code is: 2FREE.

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Kim's Tarts Sinus Relief
Cold Rating: 5.5/10, it doesn't actually smell that strong upon cold throw.
Lit Rating (for these tart reviews, substitute LIT for WARM): 6.5/10, super strong, refreshing, true sinus relief
Throw Rating: 6.5/10, very powerful in one room, but does a good job of not traveling too far outside
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; this one truly lives up to its name. It's enjoyable and helpful, but I'm not sure I'd love it if I wasn't sick...although, that might defeat the purpose, right?! Definitely medicinal, but somehow cooling at the same time.