Lightning Round Reviews #21: More Bathroom Melts Edition!

It's been a while since I did a lightning round reviews post. Woohoo! Welcome, and hello, friends. Enjoy this post filled with things I have melted in our bathroom!

Ava's Country Cupboard's Fluffy Pink Peppermin
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; WOW, this was quite lovely! It was heavy on the tree smell with a mix of berries and a hint of cinnamon or clove. Very good throw, melted 2 cubes in the bathroom and it threw for a day. Repurchase, but I have more, so I will save it until next Christmas!

Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma)'s Blood Orange Nectar
Cold Rating: 4.5/10
Lit Rating: 5/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4.5/10; not a whole lot to this one, unfortunately. You had to be in the bathroom to smell it. It had a nice orangey scent to it, but nothing beyond that. I don't know the difference between what an orange and a blood orange smells like, but I guess I'd assume this was sweeter. The throw was meh. not a repurchase, lasted 4 hours.

Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma)'s Cherry Limeade
Cold Rating: 4/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; there is no way these OLC tarts are bad...no freaking way. I have had some 1 ouncers that have blown my socks off from OLC, but this was another one that didn't perform so hot. I got a very faint cherry cough syrup scent, and even fainter wisps of lime, but again, nothing you could smell from a distance. I let this melt for 6 hours total, but I didn't really need to because you couldn't really enjoy it. I might repurchase this in a different form.

Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma)'s Citrus Teak
Cold Rating: 5/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 3.5/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; this smelled awesome when I received it, but not, not so much. Another pithy thrower, and another one that didn't have hardly any warm sniff smell. Not a repurchase, this one lasted about 4.5 hours. It's supposed to be a Yankee Candle scent, but it didn't smell like anything I had had before.

Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma)'s Energize
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; this one performed a bit better, but not by much. It was middle of the pack, and it mainly smelled like a bunch of different citrus fruits all thrown together with a background note of musk or woodsiness. It was nice, but not a repurchase. If the name is ENERGIZE, I expect my senses to be awoken. Lasted 5.5 hours!

Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma)'s Lemonhead
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 3.5/10
Overall Rating: 4.5/10; I love Lemonhead candies, so I thought these would be those bright little suckers in wax form. Unfortunately, this was another bad performer! I don't know what is up with these OLC melts, but since they are gone, I might need to put in another order (some time this year) to compare then vs. now. Lasted 4 hours in the bathroom, could have probably been taken out in 2 hours, though. Not a repurchase.

Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma)'s Watermelon
Cold Rating: 3/10
Lit Rating: 2.5/10
Throw Rating: 2.5/10
Overall Rating: 2.5/10; I feel really bad in my soul when things get low ratings. Really, I do. I am all about giving fair chances to vendors, which is why I won't hesitate to order again, but this round of shots was super unimpressive. If this was called something entirely different, it wouldn't have made a difference. This wasn't watermelon, watermelon scents are juicy and delicious and strong. This, was not. Even on cold sniff, this smelled more like watermelon scented chapstick or 75% straight-up wax. Not a repurcase, dumped after 1.5 hours.

Daphne's Divine's Pink & Blue ICEE
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; JUST like Icee's from Target! Or, wherever you can get them. This is sweet, delicious, and syrupy in a good way. It smells like the real thing. YUM! Pretty good throw, nice scent overall. Lasted 6 hours and I would repurchase this (except Daphne's has closed down). :(

Daphne's Divine's Serendipity Sherbet
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; another pretty good scent! I liked the mix of serendipity/cherry goodness and sherbet, but it really could have been stronger overall. Sweet, fruity, and fun. Lasted about 6 hours overall.

Daphne's Divine's Strawberry Vanilla Passion
Cold Rating: 5.5/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; smelled sort of artificial, but wasn't bad. Good mix of strawberry and vanilla, not sure what was passion-y about this, but I didn't get any of it. Nice, but nothing to write home about. I melted the entire chunk and let is marinate in the warmer for about 6-7 hours, but I think it may have been done after about 5 hours. Not a repurchase, but Daphne's did have other really awesome strawberry scents in the past!

Daphne's Divine's Tu-La-Ru-La
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10
Throw Rating: 5.5/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; this smells sort of like Bedtime Bath (which might be a Johnson & Johnson scent?) mixed with a very herbal lavender, but wasn't super strong while warming. I didn't really care for this, but again, it wasn't bad. I melted 4 tarts out of 5 and chucked the last one (AGHHHH). Lasted 5 hours in the bathroom, not a repurchase.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #16: Orchid Lake Candles' Lemon Lavender

As I astutely mentioned in my last post, summer is upon us, rearing its ugly, hot, annoying head like a malfunctioning dryer stuck in a garage. Or a sauna. Minus the smelly feet. (....where do I come up with this crap? LOL)

Orchid Lake Scents' Lemon Lavender
Cold Rating: 5.5/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating: 3/10
Overall Rating: 3/10; one of my favorite scent combinations ever. Unfortunately, this scent shot just couldn't muster any throw. Also, not strong while warming, only bare medium on cold sniff. Lemon smelled sweet on cold sniff, but weak. Some one ounce scent shots perform better than other one ounce scent shots. Not being able to smell anything makes me angry. Buying wax faster than I can melt it. Waste is bad, mmmkay?? Orchid Lake is now Wilma Handmade. The Flinstones. Dirty feet. Smelly feet. Horrible garage smells. Full circle.

Lightning Round Reviews #17, Busted Elbow Edition!

As the title suggests, I have a busted elbow. It's nothing too alarm, just an arthritis flare, and it's just about gone. But I left the title anyways, LOL. I can still type as long as I don't move my arm too much, but for now, I thought I'd catch up on my lightning round reviews! We've been melting fiends lately!

Orchid Lake Candles' Coco Pink
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 5.5/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; almost smells like watermelon. Delicious and juicy. Gorgeous chunks. Amazing throw. Cotton candy machine. Lovely!

Orchid Lake Candles' Raspberry Zinger
Cold Rating: 7.5/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; love this one! Very nice, great combination of scents, pretty decent strength! Definite repurchase, lasted 6 hours.

Orchid Lake Candles' Harvest
Cold Rating: 7.5/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; another winner from OLC! This is a Yankee Candle dupe, and I really liked it. Could have been a bit stronger, but I didn't cure this, so I'd say it's a-okay! Definite repurchase, lasted 5 hours.

Streetman Candle Co.'s Really, Just Lemons
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; not cleaner lemon, not bakery lemon, it really is just fresh, tart, squeezable citrus! One of my favorite scents from Heather. So good! Not overly in your face. Lasted 6 hours. DEFINITE REPURCHASE!

Streetman Candle Co's Honolulu Hula
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 6.5/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; great on cold sniff and warm sniff, but I wish it would have been a tropical barrage of smells! It smelled like Blue Hawaiian, a popular scent nowadays. Decent, not sure if I'd repurchase just because it's not typically my favorite scent. Did last 5 hours.

Streetman Candle Co.'s Lemon Crumb Cake
Cold Rating: 9/10
Lit Rating: 8.5/10
Throw Rating: 8.5/10
Overall Rating: 8.5/10; YUM! Smelled just like fresh lemon cake, sweet, tart, and had a hint of frosting in there. Heather really has her lemon scents down PAT! Delicious. Lasted 7ish hours, I let it go a bit long. So good. Definite repurchase.

Streetman Candle Co.'s Spiced Apples
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 5.5/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; this is your typical spiced apple scent. Unfortunately, it's not much more, which isn't a bad thing because I like spiced apple scents. I would have preferred to have this be a bit stronger, though! Lasted 3 hours, might repurchase.

Tiffany Candles Blueberry Cobbler
Cold Rating: 5/10
Lit Rating: 5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 5/10; ehhhh, blueberry. Not my favorite to begin with. This had a medium throw. I just don't care for blueberry, and I need to stop giving it chances. It's not the vendor, just my nose. Not a repurchase.

Tiffany Candles Pumpkin Crunch Pie
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; I liked this a little bit. I didn't care for the crunch part of the tart. Small pumpkin scent, small amounts of spice, 90% crunch and/or crust. Eh. That being said, it had a solid medium throw, which was good for this scent. Not a repurchase, but I left it on for 4 hours.

Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax's (JLCCW) Aloha Pineapple Strawberry Passion
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6.5/10
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; pineapple and strawberry are a nice mix! Liked this, but didn't love it. It had a good throw, but would have liked a bit more from this in general. It was a freebie, but I wouldn't buy this blend. Lasted 4 hours.

JLCCW's Coconut Bra
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; coconutty, baby! That's about it! Great throw, nice scent, but nothing too fancy. Might repurchase this. Melted it for 4.5 hours.

JLCCW's Marshmallow Carnival Pink Creme Brulee Cupcakes
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; something in this smelled really icky when it was melted, and I suspect it's the creme brulee part of the blend. Not a fan of this. Marshmallow carnival smells good by itself. Not a repurch in the blend.

JLCCW's Wildberry Mousse Lemon Icebox Cupcakes Vanilla Bean Noel
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; liked this! Very nice mix of the scents, especially the wildberry mousse. Yum! The lemon icebox cupcakes is a bit of a showoff in it though, it sort of overpowers everything. Possible repurchase!

Enjoy the weekend, friends! :)

Lightning Round Reviews #13!

I'm almost out of these damn empties. Good golly, they are strewn about the house.

Butterfly Lane Scents' Hillbilly Homebrew
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 5/10
Throw Rating: 5/10
Overall Rating: 5/10; this smelled great cold, but fizzled fast once being warmer. This was about a year old, so maybe that's why, but it smelled better cold.

Butterfly Lane Scents' Pink Cotton Candy

Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; so, so good. Definite repurchase. The cotton candy from BL meshed so well with pink sugar...so lovely and just what I needed!

Butterfly Lane Scents' Pink Cotton Candy

Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 8/10; a fabulous blend of pink sugar and serendipity! STRONG! Huge bundt cakes. Love this scent. Unable to get more since BL is always closed it seems like. :(

K's Kreations Loopy Coconut Cookie Bread
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; good, but not a repurchase for me. The fruit loops and coconut went well together, and the cookie bread is a fan favorite from K's, but too bready for me.

K's Kreations Strawberry Bliss + Orchid Lake Candles Serendipity
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10; AMAZING combo! Loved this! It was like a super sweet, strawberry serendipity. YUM!

Lasting Scent Candles Buttermint Candy
Cold Rating: 4/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; not very strong, and also not very good. Something in this was not right, and it didn't smell overly like buttermint candies. Maybe I just waited too long to melt it? Either way, not a repurchase.

Lasting Scent Candles Serendipity
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 7/10
Throw Rating: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7/10; great serendipity blend! Wish it had more cherry, but overall, medium high scent all around.

Lasting Scent Candles Snow Flurries
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 3/10
Throw Rating: 3/10
Overall Rating: 3/10; the cold sniff scent alone was enough to put this at a 3, math be damned. EW. It smelled like a nice vanilla mint scent on cold sniff, perhaps with wintergreen, but when warming, YUCK. It smelled musty and gross. Not a repurch!

Lasting Scent Candles Spring Mountain Mint
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; very strange and earthy mixed with mint, water, and dirt, in my opinion. It was good and mediumly strong, but weird. Not a repurch.

Lasting Scent Candles Sweet Potato Muffins
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 5.5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; interesting scent, very sweet from the brown sugar note. Decent, but not my favorite. Smelled like butter, too. This was a sample and I'm not sure if I'd buy it on my own.

Orchid Lake Candles Pear Noel
Cold Rating: 6/10
Lit Rating: 6/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6/10; this was decent, had that great pear smell mixed with caramelly and velvety VBN. Very nice. Not a repurchase, though, it was too sweet.

Up The Creek Scents' Hillbilly Brew Noel
Cold Rating: 5/10
Lit Rating: 4/10
Throw Rating: 4/10
Overall Rating: 4/10; I loved UTC's vanilla bean noel straight, but when mixed, it wasn't pleasant to my nose. It wasn't overly strong, though, so there's that. Not a repurchase.

Up The Creek Scents' Vanilla Bean Noel
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10; luscious, caramelly, delicious! Strong, wonderful. Loved this dupe. Definite repurchase!

Weekend Wax Review: June 28-30

This was one hectic and fun weekend, friends! My great aunt and cousin are visiting from Nebraska, so we had a big ol' dinner party at our place on Friday night. It was so much fun! Then on Saturday, we went to my mom's for dinner with almost everyone from the dinner party plus my aunt and uncle! Again, wonderful food, great times...

...but it was hot. There was a heatwave here and it was terrible. Like, 72 degrees at 7am kind of hot (not typical for San Diego). Ugh.

...and there's nothing like hearing strange noises in your backyard at 12:30am, then hearing your street name on the police scanner to make you not be able to sleep until 5:00am. I do it to myself, really, but I proved I was right (and not crazy and hearing noises in my head), so that's worth it to me. :P

Anywhoozle, I melted quite a bit this weekend! Let's get to it!

Streetman Candle Co.'s Fruity Rings was a nice representation of the popular cereal dupe. I like this one, and it was a bit more on the lemony side. Even though the throw was medium, it lasted a long time. On cold sniff, 6/10, while warming 6/10. The throw was 5.5/10, for a total of 6/10. This lasted for 7 hours in the kitchen and I would repurchase it!

I melted two cubes of The Bathing Garden's Cheshire Cat (a huge fan favorite) concurrently in the bedroom. This was not TBG's typical lemon curd scent, but rather a bakery/pie type of lemon mixed with raspberry and buttercream; I would equate the scent of this to K's Kreation's Puckered Bliss. I liked it, even though it was more bakery and curdy. On cold sniff, 6.5/10, while warming, 7/10. The throw was a 6/10, for a total of 6.5/10. I would repurchase this, and I am looking forward to trying it in sugar scrub form eventually. I melted this for 4 hours in the bedroom and would repurchase it.

Next in the bedroom was Pink Serendipity + Serendipity (old photo, 2nd tart) from Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery and Confections in Wax. Jen makes an AWESOME serendipity scent, and her pink sugared one + serendipity is no exception. It was wonderful. It did fizzle after a few hours. On cold sniff, 7.5/10, while warming, 7/10. The throw was a 7/10 also, for a total of 7/10! It lasted 4 hours and I would repurchase it.

In the office at the same time, I melted Plumeria from K's Kreations. This was a nice, sweet floral that I am not familiar with. I melted it at the same time I burned Midnight Jasmine from Yankee Candle. They smelled good together. Once I extinguished the flame, I let this melt for another few hours, for a total of 6. On cold sniff, 6/10, while warming 6.5/10. The throw was a 6.5/10 as well, for a total of 6.5/10! I might repurchase this, but there are other florals I like much better than this.

Puppy Kisses from Cristy's Rescue Creations was a fruity floral mix. I melted this in the bedroom for 2.5 hours and it was decent. I give this a 6/10 across the board. I wish it would have lasted longer...

Unfortunately, Serenity from Cristy's Rescue Creations wasn't the same story. This scent was weirdly spicy and citrusy. I think it was ginger and grapefruit or something along those lines. Very unmemorable. I give this a 5/10 across the board.

As you can see, Cotton Candy from Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps is only about .8oz and yet IT PACKED A HUGE PUNCH! This smelled amazing! I could even smell this in the TV room. On cold sniff, 6/10, but while warming, 8/10, just like cotton candy! The throw was an 8.5/10, for a total of 7.5/10. I would definitely repurchase this, and it lasted 6 hours!

Wildberry Mousse & Toasted Marshmallow from Candles from the Keeping Room is incredible. The scent is amazing and the blend of wildberry mousse and toasted marshmallows is one of my favorites. Carol makes great marshmallow scents and this is no exception! Yum! Always a repurchase, and it lasted 5 hours in the kitchen. On cold sniff, 6/10, while warming, 8/10. The throw was a 7.5/10, for a total of 7/10. Fabulous!

VDC's Elaine's Scensational Serendipity was very hyped and all for naught. The throw wasn't there; I had such high hopes for this scent. It's a mix of pink sugar, serendipity, and peppermint, and it smelled like wax. Just wax. On cold sniff, 4/10. While warming, 3/10. The throw was a 3/10, too, for a total of 3/10. Sad. I wonder if the cup had anything to do with this. Not a repurchase, I only melted this for an hour.

VDC's Pink Sugared Serendipity was a little better, but still, not what I'd hoped it would be. The pink sugar was muted, and this almost smelled like a straight serendipity, but more waxy. On cold sniff, 6/10, but while warming, 4/10. The throw was a 5/10, for a total of 5/10. Not a repurchase for me, lasted 2 hours.

Strawberry Jam Cream Cake from Rosegirls is another scent with a lot of hype around it, and I had high expectations, but they fell short. I love the strawberry part of this chunk, but something about this wasn't what my nose liked. I might repurchase. Maybe it's the cream cake...not sure. On cold sniff, 7/10, while melting, 5.5/10. The throw was a 6/10, for a total of 6/10.

Keeping with the theme, I melted Strawberry Streuselkuchen from Rosegirls. Again, not a fan. It's the cinnamon coffee cake scent mixed with strawberry that throws me off. Most people love this, and I just like it. 5.5/10 across the board.

Orchid Lake's Pretty in Pink was super perfumey in the bedroom, and I didn't love or hate it. It might have been too hot for a perfume type scent. The pink sugar in this was nice, and it lasted over 7 hours. On cold sniff, 6.5/10, but while warming, 6/10. The throw was a 6/10, for a total of 6/10! Maybe a repurchase, maybe not.

Yesterday morning, I melted Monster Cookie Noel from Rosegirls. This was a decent scent, but I prefer Monster Cookie Fluff Puffs, it's much better, in my opinion. On cold sniff, 7/10, while warming, 6/10. The throw was a 5.5/10, for a total of 6/10, but not a repurchase.

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I know this is late and that I've been doing lots of movie posts, but I promise the wax posts are coming this week! Have a fabulous one! :)