Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #102: Glitterati's Cucumber Mint

Do you ever want your house to feel like a cleaning factory? I do. Is that weird? Sometimes you just need to make it smell clean...like, the cleaner, the better.

The Glitterati Candle Company's Cucumber Mint
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 9/10
Throw Rating: 10/10
Overall Rating: 9/10; One of the most boss cucumber scents I have ever smelled. So fresh, extremely minty, made for a wonderful cleaning day scent. Growing scent preferences as I get older?Keeping up in the little cup even since June 2015. Straight cucumber and mint, no more, no less. Referencing Star Wars prequels makes me hate myself. Green wax makes it looks like I'm melting nothing in my green warmer. Lasted 11+ hours in the bathroom warmer, and I even closed the windows to savor the last vapors of fumes. Loving Glitterati's wax, hating insane waiting periods for wax in the form of custom list sign up only and flash sales along the way. Worth the wait????? Well, not when you're itching to order!!

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #81: Vintage Chic Scents' High & Tight

When was the last time you got a haircut?
Mine was over a year ago.
OVER A YEAR AGO.
I am a rebel. Without a cause. ;)

Vintage Chic Scents' High & Tight
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; smells like a barber shop. Shaving cream, new car leather, a slight sweetness, fresh faces. I can almost hear the stubble being shaved when this is melting! Verrrrry leathery. A bit too masculine for my liking. The shaving cream has a tangy note, like actual shaving cream does. Not for me, but others would like this. Throw was a solid medium, but the tart lasted 7 hours in a pleasant background scent. Gray coloring is not very used in the wax world, but it's a nice color, weirdly enough! One scent shot is the perfect amount not to have to cut. Lovely design aesthetic from this vendor, great packaging, haven't ordered in a while because I am not the biggest fan of stalking sites anymore. A really tremendous vendor!!

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #57: Up The Creek Scents' American Cream

*sung to the tune of "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean.
"American Cream, don't know what that's supposed to mean...But you make my house smell good, like no other wax tart could."
You wish you could flow like me.

Up The Creek Scents' American Cream
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; unsure if I would like this based on its cold sniff scent, but it was really nice, even if it was unlike me to enjoy! Fresh but slightly creamy, perfumey but slightly fruity, what a complex scent with a lot of unidentifiable things! Milky, velvety. What does milk smell like to everyone else? Medium-high strength in the bathroom, lasted 6 hours. Round robins. Generous friends. Smelling clean. Wanting this in shower gel form. L*SH dupe (since apparently you can't say L*SH without problems???). Asterisks. Sucker for stars in wax.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #30: Daphne's Divine Scents and Aromas' Cactus & Sea Salt

Fresh is great and fresh is good and fresh make the house just like it should!

Daphne's Divine Scents and Aromas' Cactus & Sea Salt
Cold Rating: 8.5/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; probably my top favorite fresh blend. Watery, ozone-like, damp in a good way, green, all around fantabulous. Super strong on cold, a tiny bit lighter while warming, but the throw was pretty great! Cute little sun shapes again. Tiny bits of glitter make for a fun waxing experience. Melted 2 tarts one time, 3 tarts the second time, both performed very well! Lasted 5ish hours in the bathroom. COME BACK, LINDSEY/DAPHNE'S!!!

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #26: Streetman Company Store's Fresh Linen

It's the freakin' weekend, baby! WOOHOO! Thursday means laundry day around here, and yesterday was no exception. Usually, I write down my thoughts in a notebook and then write posts days later, but this sucker couldn't wait!

Streetman Company Store's Fresh Linen
Cold Rating: 8.5/10
Lit Rating: 9/10
Throw Rating: 10/10
Overall Rating: 9/10; incredible fresh scent! One of the best, if not THE best laundry scent I have ever melted. Smells just like clean clothes on a line mixed with a small hint of sweetness that breaks up the cloying nature of the fresh smell. So, so wonderful! Not too soapy, as other clean scents sometimes are. Fantastic and perfect throw. Lasted 16 hours in my bathroom warmer. Tarts that last forever make my heart melt. Vendors knowing what their customers love. Vendors changing their names. Vendors expanding and adding things that are non-wax related, LOVE!! 1 ounce scent shots > 2 ounce scent shots (lately). Mountains of laundry. Getting to finally do laundry again since my foot is almost healed! :)

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #23: A Bunch of Yankee Candle Tarts

I have a few Yankee tarts that I have been meaning to use up recently, so I am going to quick-style review them for you now. I remain unimpressed, unfortunately, because I want to like Yankee.

Like delicate keepsakes from the sea...the lovely scent of tuberose, lily and hyacinth blossoms balanced with soft watery notes.

Yankee Candle's Beach Flowers
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10
Throw Rating: 5/10
Overall Rating: 5.5/10; look at this adorable label! Do not be deceived, that's how they suck you in to buy your products. This was just okay, one of the highest rated of the set I melted. Unfortunately, this only had a slight beach-powdery scent and nothing discernibly flowers. Medium throw, and this was crumbly for some reason! Usually, they come out of the wrapper really easy, but this was such a pain. I left this in the warmer because I was too lazy to change it out, but it didn't matter.

Artisanal honey is savored by those in search of flavors that delight on many levels. In that same way, this beautiful blend of flower nectar, honey musk, freesia and woods makes this rich fragrance both full and delicate. Don't be surprised to find its muskily sweet fine fragrance lends itself to delight afternoons of daydreaming.

Yankee Candle's Honey Blossom
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 5.5/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; the best of a very depressing bunch. Sweet floral but didn't leave much to the imagination. It sort of smelled like something LUSH-y, like something I've smelled in the past. Throw still not stellar or above average. Cute packaging again. Still, low throw, had to be in the bathroom to smell this. Lasted 4 hours.

Yankee Candle's Fresh Comfort
Cold Rating: 4/10
Lit Rating: 2/10
Throw Rating: 3/10
Overall Rating: 3.5/10; NOPE. This smelled like some sort of medical cream combined with the aroma of a thousand bathrooms. Nothing about this was towels or comfort or clean, it was just awkward to smell. Lowest throw of the bunch, but the cold sniff was off-putting. When I would lean in to smell this while melting, I got that weird cream scent. UGH, nasty. I only melted this for an hour because I wanted to move on.

Remember those sweet summer days of childhood innocence when the backyard was big enough to hold all your adventures? This nostalgic fragrance, with its warm breeze of soft flowers and fresh green fields will bring you back to those happy days. The fresh, green notes call to mind the outdoors and remind you slow and appreciate life's little moments. This scent, with its sweet, young floral essence, is anything but old-fashioned despite its nostalgic tendencies.

Yankee Candle's Summer Wish
Cold Rating: 4.5/10
Lit Rating: 4.5/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4.5/10; AGHHHHHH, THEIR LABELS ARE SO CUTE. I am such a sad sucker when it comes to cute labels or designs. *blush* Anywho, this was nice, but light. I liked it because it really did smell like a field of greens and flowers with Yankee's really good dewy scent, but again, the lightness contributed to it not being awesome. It's disconcerting when you pay money for a lot of tarts and they just suck, you know? This stayed in the warmer for 5ish hours.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #14: K's Kreations White Nectarine

One thing about going from the hot, dry desert back to hot, humid San Diego is the swollen joints when returning to humidity. And a smelly, shut-up house with NO WAX MELTING. UGH.

K's Kreations White Nectarine
Cold Rating: 7.5/10
Lit Rating: 8.5/10
Throw Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10; spectacular mix of fresh and fruity! Very great throw and delicious scent while warming. Lasted about 12 hours in the bathroom. A little bit of what I can only describe as laundry freshness and ultra citrus zing. Bright in the non-sun, non-light sense of the word. Katch' Ems spelled with a K. NO KARDASHIAN WHO SPELL EVERYTHING WITH A K. Reality TV is the devil. Dia de los muertos. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, milkshakes. Bringing all the boys to the yard. Having nothing to do with the scent at hand.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #7: Pics, Petals & Scents' Cucumber Mint

Do you like cucumber scents? I have realized lately that I am in love with them, if they are fresh and not vegetable smelling.

On another note, I want to wish my wonderful husband a happy, happy birthday! I love you dearly! <3

Pics, Petals & Scents' Cucumber Mint
Cold Rating: 7.5/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; very lovely fresh and spa type scent. Great balance of cucumber and mint. Reminds me of walking into a Bath & Body Works in 1997. Another unexpected pairing that I totally dug! Great throw, too. Cucumber > zucchini. Zucchiniawfulbread. Minty freshness. Toothpaste? Cucumber melon throwback to 7th grade. Meeting lifelong friends in 7th grade. Middle school was awful. Do any of these ever make sense?!

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #6: Candles from the Keeping Room's Cranberry Yuzu

I scream, you scream, we all scream for.......yuzu????

Candles from the Keeping Room's Cranberry Yuzu
Cold Rating: 5/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 6.5/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; fresh yuzu mixed with sweet cranberry for a wonderful, tranquil blend. A really great scent! Loving fresh/fruity blends as of late. A scent I would have never purchased without getting it from a sampler. Changing ideals and scent favs. Wondering, "can my neighbors smell my wax?" Could have done with a bit more throw. Slightly rounding up on this one.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #4: Scentsy's Wishing Well

Hey, hope all is well in your neck of the woods! My foot is healing SLOWLY and I am losing my mind.
"Neighbors" was kind of lame.
My birthday was this past Wednesday and I realized I didn't melt anything I had set aside for that day, LOL. Fail on my part.
I am trying to get through my Scentsy bars from, like, almost 4 years ago, so if you see a lot of that brand, that's why! :)

Scentsy's Wishing Well
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 6.5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; could have been stronger while melting. Nice fresh/spa scent. Bars too expensive for such a low amount of wax. Fear of spas in general. Masseuses touching you. Weird robes and slippers. Scentsy Element warmers cool looking, but wattage too low (12-13 watts, R-U-KIDDING??). Almost done with Scentsy bars. BBMB is like "fetch," it's not going to happen. Needing a better Scentsy rep (other than eBay, LOL).

Review: Front Porch's Pink Laundry Sheets

Do you have one designated day that you do laundry every week, or do you wait until you run out of clothes and have mountains to do?
I ask because my system is broken.
I can never just get my ass in gear to do laundry! Maybe it's because our washer pipe has a leak, maybe it's because the washer and dryer are in the garage and it's ~*s0o0o0o0o0o far away~* or maybe it's because no matter what the stupid basket weighs 49827598042509827 pounds, but I need a new system.

Regardless, when I am in "laundry mode," I am unstoppable. I have to have laundry or clean or fresh scents going...something about the smell of the detergent mixed with the scent of grassy socks (LOL) gets my in the mood to launder!
I reached for Front Porch's Pink Laundry Sheets because pink plus anything is bound to be good, right?
...ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I spoke too soon.
Some of you might like this.
(I've come to find out there's a scent out there for everyone, even if you personally feel like it's horrible and putrid.)
This is neither of those things, but it's most definitely not my favorite laundry scent. Heck, it's not even my favorite laundry scent from Front Porch!
To me, this smells like some sort of topical cream you might find in a Walgreens. Or something from a hospital. Well, the "laundry" part, anyways. Is it weird that it smelled a little yeasty? Despite this description, it's not bad, but it's not that good, either. It was strong, though, so does that count for something? I think the pink sugar is what saves this from being downright awful. I probably let this go on for too long at about 4 hours, but I'm sure it would have thrown like a champ for many more.
Needless to say, I wouldn't repurchase this.

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Front Porch's Pink Laundry Sheets
Cold Rating: 5/10; none of what I smell while warming (medicated cream, yeastiness, Walgreens) are there on cold sniff. It just smells like a stranger laundry scent with small hints of pink sugar.
Lit Rating: 3/10; nope.
Throw Rating: 8/10; strong throw, if only this scent was actually good!
Overall Rating: 5/10; not a fan of this. Needing laundry day revamping. Cannot discount this scent's strength but still slightly rounded down. Stupid leaking pipe connected to washer. Water damage. WASHER TOO FAR. Walgreens smells funky. Go on, girl.

Review: Candles from the Keeping Room's Lime Leaf & Lily

As I get older, I feel as though I grow less and less tolerant of overtly sweet stuff in the air "just because." In wax, it doesn't seem to bother me, but like perfume? Someone else's food? General life situations? Call me Ebeneezer, but dang, something in my nose craves cleanness!

Lime Leaf & Lily from Candles from the Keeping Room is just about perfect.
It's strong, green, fresh, and amazing. It kind of, sort of smells like a non-alcoholic margarita lime, almost.
The sweetness here is from the lime, which is bright and fragrant.
The "leaf" isn't one that you'd smell that's grassy or dirty, it's just...clean!
I really love this scent. I would have never thought about something like this, and to tell you the truth, this specific scent is what opened the "weird clean scent" door for me in wax, truly!
If things, in this instance lime, can be added to green or fresh scents to combine and make something this amazing, I'm all for it.
This single little tart lasted a whopping 12 hours, and it would of kept going, but we needed to go to sleep.
It's clean enough for laundry day, but bright enough on its own to be melted any time. Another home run from Carol!

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Candles from the Keeping Room's Lime Leaf & Lily
Cold Rating: 8/10; super strong on cold sniff, even for paraffin. You get a very green note behind this lime infused tart.
Lit Rating: 9/10; so very, very good! Very strong, fragrant, nice mix of fruit and greenery.
Throw Rating: 8/10; Solid throw, even in a bigger room like the kitchen. Clean and green scents tend to be on the stronger side in the kitchen anyways, but this was welcomed strength!
Overall Rating: 8/10; love this scent, can't wait to buy more. Want and need for a margarita. Clean scent in the morning, pick-me-up scent in the afternoon, refreshing by night!

Review: Yankee Candle's Rainbows End

........Yankee??????????

I know you must be thinking to yourself...
...Lauren?
Is that you?
Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo?
Has your bloggy blog been taken over by corporate overlords?

No, my dear waxy friends, it has not.
I have about 20 Yankee tarts just sitting and collecting dust. I figured, maybe if I used my 12W one-piece Yankee warmer, I might get some performance out of them (as opposed to my 24W hot plate.
AND I DID!
I was so surprised to find I actually: A) got a scent throw from this, and B) enjoyed it a lot!
Rainbow's End is a sort of masculine, fresh, and bright scent. It has hints of freshly rained on Earth, crisp air, and simmering citrus. Lovely, but again, not earth-shattering. It is good to know I will be able to use these tarts!

How do YOU burn your Yankee tarts and votives?

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Yankee Candle's Rainbow's End
Cold Rating: 4/10; there are small hints of crisp air through the plastic, and once you remove it, you do get some smell from this tart, just not a lot.
Lit Rating: 6.5/10; very nice smell! I like this a lot: slightly masculine, slightly citrusy, but mostly airy freshness. Lovely!
Throw Rating: 4.5/10; the throw is here and there, but mostly not
Overall Rating: 5/10; something other than nothing, which I got used to! Good to know I can use a small wattage warmer and get results. Wanting to see a rainbow. Missing the rain. Drizzle. Fog. Coolness. ~*RAINBOW~*

PS: Have a great week!! :)

Review: Rosegirls Pink Sands in the Sun

Pink Sands is one of the most popular Yankee Candle fragrances, and it happens to be one of my favorites from the company, too!

Like the purple wall in the background? That's our bedroom! We were both drawn to a dark purple, and no one should be afraid of painting their house the colors they really want.
Anyways, back on track.
Rosegirls has had their fair share of awesome scents in my book, and this one is no exception. Pink Sands in the Sun from Rosegirls is a fun, bright, summery scent, and it's dead-on for Yankee's Pink Sands! It's supposed to be a mix between that and Sun and Sand, but I don't get much of that. While I did enjoy this scent and I do like Pink Sands, you really need to be in the mood for it, and I wasn't feeling it the day I started melting this; I had to freeze my wax and save it for another day. Overall, this is a really nice scent, I'd even go as far as to say it could be a transitional Spring to Summer scent, too!

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Rosegirls Pink Sands in the Sun
Cold Rating: 7/10; pretty dang strong on cold sniff, but again, almost no traces Sun & Sand.
Lit Rating: 7/10; pretty dead-on dupe for the Yankee scent! I would have liked the "suntan lotion" scent that Sun & Sand has to offer, but it was nowhere to be found. Oh well!
Throw Rating: 6/10; a bit more than an average throw, but nothing super "choke me into a corner" strong, which in this case, wasn't a bad thing.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; overall, a decent scent, but I don't know if I need to have it in a large pie or even a bag. I don't find myself craving Pink Sands like I used to...there are a billion other (better) scents that I want to melt now! ;)

Review: Candles From The Keeping Room's Avocado and Sea Salt

So, with the upcoming move (which is this TUESDAY, 110% sure, yay!), which I feel has been dragging on for long enough, I was looking for a nice, clean scent to sort of....well....clear out the "stench" of things. You know, the smell things get when they sit for 4 years in a closet you never open? Yeah, that "stench."

I definitely found a winner in Candles From The Keeping Room's Avocado and Sea Salt. I liked this so much that I bought another bag of it already. It's soapy, and very interesting. I sort of thought it would smell like guacamole, I mean, it's avocado after all, right? Well, no, not at all, actually! This is a fresh, clean scent with a touch of saltiness, perfect for cleaning days. I prefer fresh LAUNDRY scents as opposed to ones like this, but it'll do in a pinch! Plus, I'm thinking about putting a warmer in the garage at the new place for a while...it's sort of musty and yucky (typical garage...right???), and this scent might be just the thing to make it smell pretty!

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Candles From The Keeping Room's Avocado and Sea Salt
Cold Rating: 6.5/10; super fresh, almost like detergent, but more soapy, if that's even possible. Strong even though it's paraffin wax.
Lit Rating: 9/10; STRONG! Made the house smell less contaminated (and I mean this in the nicest way possible).
Throw Rating: 8/10; immediately fills the air with a clean, sparkling type of aroma, lingered throughout the apartment and back again.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; this is the definition of fresh to death! Werd! I've got 4 or 5 more of these, and will enjoy melting them on cleaning days. Great throw, but very soapy smelling...minus suds, of course. :)

Review: Tiffany Candles Vanilla Sandalwood (NEW SCENT!)

Sandalwood is in a lot of candles and tarts as a background note. I don't think I really like sandalwood; in my opinion, it is often too potent, bordering the line between potpourri/woodsy and old lady's attic ever so slightly...

However, Tiffany Candles blend of vanilla and sandalwood is spectacular. Like I said, I'm usually not a fan, but, yet again, Tiffany has changed my perspective on what I know I hate. WHO AM I??????!!

I received this sample with my order from Tiffany when she reopened her website a couple weeks ago. I was excited to try a few of her new fragrances and push my own personal scent limits, but Vanilla Sandalwood? BLEH, I hate sandalwood, I thought to myself...I am sure glad I tried this one! Her Vanilla Sandalwood is very complex, yet slightly creamy. It has perfumey notes, but it doesn't smell too overwhelming. The vanilla definitely tones down the woodsy notes and made this one a definitely purchasable scent for me! If you think you won't like it, try it, you might surprise yourself!

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Tiffany Candles Vanilla Sandalwood 
Cold Rating: 6/10; muted slightly by the vanilla, you can definitely tell this has sandalwood in it. But, I pressed on...
Lit Rating: 7/10; ...and I am impressed once again! Creamy yet perfumey and woodsy, slightly floral...a great scent for the bathroom or kitchen, I'd imagine!
Throw Rating: 7/10; pretty good throw! I could smell it lingering out towards the living room. It did a fabulous job filling up our bedroom, that's for sure.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; overall, I am impressed in both this tart and myself! I am walking a fine line between pressing my boundaries and knowing my limits when it comes to wax.* If I think something is too adventurous, I find myself trying it anyway...what's life if we hold back and don't try something?!

*If you thought this was a stretch for me (since I'm not a huge fan of florals or woodsy or perfumey scents), wait until you see what I have coming for y'all soon... ;)

Review: Tiffany Candles' Sinus Relief

Josh asked me the other night if I had anything waxy that could help with a stuffed-up nose. He has pretty bad allergies from time to time. I was shocked that he asked me for an aromatic fix! Dare I say he might even be taking an interest in the wax world!?

Tiffany Candles Sinus Relief may not have cured his allergies, but it was a pleasant scent. There was definitely a combination of both peppermint and spearmint, because straight spearmint or straight peppermint can get overwhelming if they aren't blended properly. This scent shot in Tiffany's old wax does a great job of mixing the two. There was also some eucalyptus in the scent as well, but it wasn't overly dominant. Frankly, I would have liked this scent to be a bit stronger, but it was nice and lulling for sleep time. I think I purchased this a while back in their new wax blend, so I will have to dig it out and see if I can tell the difference. If you like herbal, soothing scents, this one's for you!

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Tiffany Candles Sinus Relief
Cold Rating: 4/10; not much of anything except a bit of a minty smell.
Lit Rating: 6/10; you definitely get a little bit of peppermint and spearmint, a hint of eucalyptus, but it's not super strong. I enjoyed this smell, though.
Throw Rating: 4.5/10; it stayed in the bedroom mainly, nothing too powerful; we needed something localized for sleeping, anyway.
Overall Rating: 5/10; a so-so throw and a not-so strong scent makes this an average scent shot. I have a hunch that the new wax will be strong, which is good because I really do enjoy this scent for a nighttime relaxation tool!

Review: Tiffany Candles' Lavender Vanilla

*sigh*

Little, tiny hearts scented like pure bliss.

It's starting to sound like Tiffany Candles* is paying me boatloads of money to talk up their business, right? No folks, they aren't...they really are just that good.

Lavender Vanilla is a creamy, relaxing, yet fragrant blend of these two scents, and does a perfect job of melding them together. On cold sniff, you first get an overpowering but amazing herbal scent that quickly transforms into a smooth, luscious blend of vanilla and soothing lavender. It's great for relaxation, to have melting in the background, or just because  The picture above includes tarts in their old wax blend, and if you can believe it, their new wax blend is even stronger!

This company is stellar. It's freaking ridiculous. They take their time to perfect their craft and don't release new products (in this case, an entirely new blend of wax [now paraffin]) until they have been tested and perfected. If you have any doubt about buying from this company, don't. Sure, I haven't tried everything they have to offer, but everything I have purchased and melted so far has given at least decent...nothing has been under-scented or had poor performance. Their products made me want to keep coming back for more, and Tiffany and Gary's customer service has made a lifetime customer out of me!

*JUST A NOTE: Tiffany Candles is closing the wax portion of their shop tomorrow, December 1st, until the new year. You CAN STILL purchase non-wax products, though! So, get those final orders in, if you're interested!

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Tiffany Candles' Lavender Vanilla
Cold Rating: 10/10; perfect mix of potent lavender, creamy vanilla, and sheer amazingness.
Lit Rating: 9/10; absolutely fabulous! I really don't know how Tiffany Candles manages to produce so many amazing scents with consistently excellent performance and throw. It's like they are magic tarts!!
Throw Rating: 10/10; strong, but not overbearing, plus it is a great sleeping fragrance! Dare I say, sexy??? ;)
Overall Rating: 10/10; like I said before, they have done it again! Fabulous scent, cute shape, astounding performance (these two particular tarts pictured lasted 2 days), I could go on and on...

Review: Tiffany Candles' Rosemary Mint

There are only two words to describe Tiffany Candles' Rosemary Mint: Absolute. Relaxation.

Tiffany Candles has to be my favorite online vendor so far, inching out The Bathing Garden by [__] <-- this much. Tiffany and her husband Gary make such amazing products: their wax is highly scented and their products are sold at a reasonable price; they last a long time, they make unique scents...everything you'd want from a tart/candle vendor. As of right now, you need to let their products "cure," which basically means let them sit, unmelted, for at least a week or more. Curing the tarts makes their scent stronger and gives you a longer lasting fragrance. According to Gary, in the next few weeks, Tiffany Candles will roll out a new type of STRONGER, BETTER wax! THEY ARE KILLING ME with all these amazing changes, Smalls! I have melted quite a few of their products, each fantastic, and Rosemary Mint is no exception when it comes to greatness. :)


Do you see those little heart tarts in the above photo? Take a good, long look at them. They hold some sort of magical, mystical powers. These green hearts had the ability to make our entire house smell amazing; in fact, I'm surprised you can't smell them from here! For 24 hours straight, no joke, Rosemary Mint kept going with fragrance perfection. I forgot to turn the warmer off one night, and I woke up at about 3am and thought, "Oh, it still smells just as powerful as it did when I fell asleep. Cool. Zzzzzzzzzzzz..." I purchased this scent, along with Lavender Vanilla and Stress Relief (two other phenomenal options from Tiffany Candles, which will be reviewed separately), in one of their signature 'jar of heart tarts,' which costs $9.99. You get 12 of their 0.7-0.8 ounce tarts per jar, and I personally like to melt them two at a time. With a 24 hour scent throw (which I'm sure is atypical, results may vary, obviously), I'd say I definitely got my money's worth. Plus, they were too cute to pass up!

Rosemary Mint brings an eclectic mix of softness and in-your-faceness. One minute, the scent is slight and subdued, and just when you think it's time to turn off the warmer, BANG! There's another strong whiff of this brilliant aroma. You might not think these two scents would mesh well together, but boy, do they ever! Really, and honestly, this is one of my top 10 favorite scents. If you get the opportunity to purchase from Tiffany Candles, give Rosemary Mint a try, even if it's just a scent shot. You won't be disappointed if this is something you might find on your scent-o-scale*!

*patent pending

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Tiffany Candles' Rosemary Mint
Cold Rating: 6.5/10; surprisingly minty, refreshingly rosemary-y.
Lit Rating: 9/10; superb, everything you could ever want in a relaxing, fresh scent. So revitalizing, and the scent lasted 24 hours!
Throw Rating: 8/10; absolutely the best tart I've melted, throw-wise. This one made the entire house smell like a spa for an entire day AFTER it had melted for 24 hours!
Overall Rating: 8.5/10; close to perfection, I must visit a day spa soon, strange desire to make focaccia bread, minty madness and a fresh-scented house!

Review: White Barn's Sweater Weather

YouTube is quickly becoming my favorite site for all things scented.

Many, many YouTube users have talked about placing "test store orders" for Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and Slatkin candles. Apparently, these stores get items before they are released nationwide, to test them out on a small population to see how they sell and perform. One of them was somewhere in Ohio..

...and, well, I placed a test store order about two months ago. I know, I know, this thing I have with candles and wax seems to know no bounds. JUST KEEP IN MIND, I never pay full price for anything as a means of thriftiness, and always use one, two, heck, maybe even three coupons in any transaction (if they let you stack coupons, and most places don't anymore). I pride myself on getting the best deals possible. Plus, if you know you can't find a specific fragrance anywhere else, it's justifiable...or so I tell myself. :)

I'm not sure Sweater Weather made it to a nationwide release, so I'm glad I snagged it while I had the chance to do so. The performance of this candle was so-so.The first time I burned it, I got uneven wax pools around each of the thin, white wicks; for those who don't know, B&BW's thin, white wicks are T-R-O-U-B-L-E because they produce shoddy, uneven, off-kilter burns with (sometimes) minuscule wax pools. This, however, is the little candle that could. One a second-day burn, I got better results and an even, deep pool of wax! YIPPEE!!

Let me start by saying: this one is STRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRONG. I took my lil' pup outside, came back in 15 minutes later, and the scent almost knocked me off my feet.  The strength mainly comes from the trio of juniper berries, fresh eucalyptus, and sage, with a tiny bit of woods, sweet spearmint, and dew mixed in. This is what I imagine a damp, dusky forest smelling like: intense, herbal, slightly earthy...these scents work SO well together. It's super fresh without being cheery. It's like pulling your fall and winter clothes out from a dusty, damp attic in a wooden cabin on a rainy morn, in the best possible way. The freshness of this candle is breathtaking, actually, I could breathe it in all day. It makes me want to take a trip to the mountains! If it's not too late, I hope this one gets picked up for nationwide release, though I think most of the general public might not like this. I feel like Josh and I are the only people in the world who don't like sugary, cookie, bakery scents (which EQUAL =/= NOT spicy, nutmegy, cinnamony wonder scents); people tend to lump all these scents in the same category just because spices are used in the kitchen! He's a fruity/fresh kind of guy (HA!) and I am a spicy/fresh/clean kind of gal.

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White Barn's Sweater Weather
Cold Rating: 7/10; damp and earthy smelling, with a hint of subtle spearmint.
Lit Rating: 8/10; this candle has AMAZING performance
Throw Rating: 10/10; HELLOOOOOOOOOOO NURSE! Insane throw (I swear I could smell this outside!)
Overall Rating: 8/10; picturesque mountainside cabin soaked in rain, sage bushes and eucalyptus surrounding the building with juniper berries close by, absolutely brilliant combination!