Recent Wax Reviews

BHG Iced Lemon Poundcake candle: This candle has a fairly strong and sweet lemon note mixed with rich, buttery poundcake on cold sniff. When melting I felt the throw was only light to moderate, so I would not use this candle by itself if I wanted a highly scented room. It does make a great complimentary scent to highly scented wax melts though, which is mostly what I use my candles for anyway. It was a strong burner that developed a shallow but even wax pool after a couple hours. The wicks on these need to be trimmed, otherwise the throw off a terrible amount of soot. Overall grade: B. Might repurchase.

Candy Panda Fizzy Soda: I was so happy to receive my first Candy Panda melt! This fizzy soda scent is to die for! It's such a realistic lemon lime soda type scent, and I swear I could almost feel the carbonation bubbles tickle my nose on cold sniff. When melting the sent was moderate; I only used half the tart in two warmers. I think in the future I will try using the whole tart to see if the throw is stronger. I look forward to trying more Candy Panda wax in the future! Overall grade: A-. Might repurchase.

Can-Do Candles Hay Day:

This scent came highly recommend and it certainly is pleasant and unique! It smells wonderfully of fresh slightly sweet green grass to me. A very nice scent for a bright spring day. The thow was fairly strong to moderate throughout the day. Overall grade: A. Might repurchase.

Lasting Scent Candles Pumpkin Brûlée Frappe: this is a glorious scent! It smells strongly of coffee for the first hour or two, then mellows into a moderate pumpkin spice scent with a hint of sweet whipped cream for the rest of the day. It smells just like fall at Starbucks to me; a fabulous blend. Overall grade: A+. Would purchase.

Today's Product Reviews

Today in the shower I used Haus of Gloi's whipped soap in First Blush scent. When sniffing it in the jar it was a light but lovely and sophisticated spring floral with top notes of peach and lavender, a mild middle note of sweet vanilla bean, and a round bottom note of fresh and exotic white tea. I was a bit worried that the scent might be too light to enjoy as a soap, but as I lathered with it, it grew to be a moderately strong and wonderful aromatic experience. The texture of the soap is absolutely divine; thick but fluffy and easy to scoop out. I used about a quarter sized amount on a loofah, and let me tell you, the suds just kept on coming! It had a wonderfully rich and bubbly lather that felt like liquid silk on the skin. After I toweled off I noticed my skin was very soft and hydrated and the lovely aroma lingered ever so slightly on my skin. I would venture to say this is the best whipped soap I've ever tried! Overall grade: A. Would love to repurchase in many other scents. Would also love to try the First Blush scent as a perfume oil.

After my wonderful shower experience I immediately applied HoG Pumpkin Butter in Twice as Nice to my arms and legs. In the jar this scent was not quite what I was expecting; it is a moderately and pleasantly scented butter with coconut, vanilla and a hint of nuttiness. I thought it was going to be a super strong and decadent foodie gourmand scent. For example, HoG's Satyr pumpkin butter is so unique, strong and intoxicating; it lingers for hours and could stand alone to scent the body without a perfume. The same could be said for Cocoa Pink's Marshmallow Cake On Mondays body butter which is extremely long lasting and I've been absolutely in love with it from first sniff.

So I thought Twice is Nice would be a similar love at first sniff experience. But actually, Twice is Nice turned out to be an even more unique experience; the longer I wore it, the more I loved it and wouldn't change a thing. It was like suddenly looking at your best friend in a different way and falling in love. (Haha.) I now like that is is a less in your face but still yummy scent that is perfect for layering with perfumes. It is still lingering a couple hours later, so the staying power is excellent. As far a its moisturizing qualities; HoG pumpkin butter is definitely in my top 3 favorite body butters along with Cocoa Pink and Trader Joe's. It feels wonderfully luxurious and sinks into the skin almost immediately with no greasy residue, leaving it feeling like it was naturally hydrated. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase the body butter in a wide variety of scents, and would love to try Twice is Nice in a perfume oil.

After all my skin moisturizing products, my lips needed some love too, so I applied HoG Chocolate Orange lip balm. In the tube it smells light but yummy; a realistic candied orange/rich chocolate blend. It smelled nice when I first put it on but after a couple minutes I could no longer notice the scent. I wish it were flavored, as chocolate orange would be a yummy flavor. As a lip moisturizer it is very effective. The texture is similar to that of Chapstick: very moist and slick, but not overly greasy or heavy. My lips feel soft and it seems to have good staying power. I've taken a few sips of water and it hasn't worn off. Overall this is a nice and functional balm, but I would prefer it to be more highly scented and flavored. For the price of $3.50 I probably wouldn't repurchase it since I can get balms for.99¢ that are just as effective. I do like that it uses more natural, high quality ingredients though. Overall grade B+.

I wanted to make this an all HoG review, but since my HoG perfume oils were missing from my order, I wore a Cocoa Pink Perfume in Spun Sugar instead. I have to take a moment to thank the lovely person that sent this to me, because it is absolutely amazing! Spun Sugar smells EXACTLY like cotton candy! It's so realistic and yummy that I was instantly transported to eating cotton candy at the county fair as a kid. I love fragraces that have happy memories associated with them. :) If you are looking for a cotton candy scent that is hyper realistic and strong without being sickly sweet or cloying, CP Spun Sugar is a sure winner! It's a couple hours after I applied it and I'm still catching wonderful whiffs of it, so the longevity seems to be on point. Overall grade: A+. Would purchase.

Overall I am extremely impressed with my HoG order and the products I received are high quality and uniquely scented. As long as my missing perfumes issue is resolved satisfactorily, I would be happy to order from HoG again. I emailed them yesterday; no response yet, but will keep you all updated.

NOTD: Galaxy Nails

This was my first attempt at galaxy nails and I'm quite happy with how they turned out! I used a few untrieds too. The background is one coat of OPI Russian Navy, which is so beautiful on and a perfect formula. I didn't think I would love it as much as I do; you never steer me wrong, NB! Then I used a makeup sponge to dab on layers of Kiss French Tip white, Pure Ice Precious Jewel and Tales Untold. Then a tiny of Revlon Holographic Pearls for extra sparkle, some little stars with a dotting tool, and et voíla!

I think I will do a couple more variations of galaxy nails later this week; what a fun theme!

Recent Wax Reviews

CFTKR Coconut Strawberry Cake:

Unfortunately the coconut and strawberry became indistinguishable when melting and it just became a sickly sweet, artificial, cough syrup type scent. The throw was moderate but I had to turn it off after a couple hours because I was finding it unpleasant. This is the first such experience I've had from a CFTKR tart; most are wonderful. I guess this one just wasn't for me. Overall grade: C-. Wouldn't purchase.

Can-Do Candles Rose Beans:

This lovely scent was from my first Can-Do order and it was one of the freebies that was generously included. I liked it so much upon cold sniff that I had to melt it first! It's a gorgeous fresh rose petal scent mingled with the green sweetness of sugar snap peas. I've been describing it as a rose garden meets vegetable garden; absolute heaven! Very impressive and unique blend with fairly strong throw for 6-8 hours. Overall grade: A. Would repurchase.

Beezy Apple Clove Butter: I might get frowned upon for this, but I have to say this tart was good but not great for me. It's a huge favorite among wax lovers so I was super excited to have one gifted to me, but it seems to have fallen just a little shy of the hype for me. It is a very pleasant rich apple cinnamon aroma, and the throw has been fairly strong for a few hours, but it is not super unique compared to many other apple spice scents I've tried, and the throw is not quite as strong as all the other Beezy tarts I currently have which are known for their enormous throw. I'm enjoying it, but not blown away. I still have half the tart left, so I will come back to it in a couple weeks and see if more curing changes anything. It's been curing about 2 weeks already. Overall grade: B+. Might repurchase.

OOTD: Dots With Hints of Mint

Cardigan: JCP

Dress: thrifted 

Leggings, necklace: flea market 

Boots: Walmart 

Bag: F21

NOTD: Dots and Poppies

Here we have a nude and metallic gradient dotticure mattified! 1 coat Zoya Amanda with Zoya Aggie, Essie Leggy Legend, Cult Nails Swanbourne and SH Big Matte TC.

Took a walk down the driveway to photograph some gorgeous California Poppies.

Can-Do Candles & Waxy Goodness

I do not recall receiving a CSN, so I was so excited when it arrived unexpectedly today. I am so thrilled with my first Can-Do order experience. Donna is the sweetest.

Cold sniff thoughts:

Midnight Pomegranate: A very good BBW dupe! Juicy blackberries and pomegranate mixed with sensual musk. Lovely and strong.

Vanilla Amber: This one smells more like pachouli insense to me, and a bit artificial. I hope the creaminess of the vanilla amber combo comes out more when melting. Fairly strong.

Hay Day: More grassy, green, and fresh than hay-like to me, but I find it pleasant. Strong.

Cup A' Chai Tea: To me this is very nutty with a hint of chai spices. Interested to see how it will be when melting. Strong.

Starbucks: really great coffee cappuccino scent with perhaps just a hint of caramel. Smells like a Starbucks to me! Yummy and strong.

Mom's Homemade Brownies: super strong fudgy chocolate scent. This one may lean artificial when melting.

Cookie Butter Crack: Totally smells like cookie dough and butterscotch! Amazing and strong.

Creme Brûlée Cupcake: Creamy and sugary sweet, but a tad artificial. Fairly strong.

Orange Blossom Magnolia: Smells like a floral laundry detergent to me. Not my usual type of scent, but it's fairly pleasant and strong. Hope it will not be overwhelming when melting.

Pink Coconut: Dead on pink sugar perfume dupe with a slight hint of creamy coconut. Love it! Strong.

Coconut Lime Vebena: Fairly similar coconut lime fragrance but not a dead on dupe for the BBW scent IMO. Strong and pleasant; will be interested to see how it smells when melting.

Coconut Milk & Lavender: mainly a strong herbal lavender. I find that lavender tends to overpower most creamy scents in these types of blends for me.

Rose Jam Type: Right now I'm just getting super strong, fresh roses and not much sweet lemon like I do with other rose jam scents. A great authentic rose, but I'm not sure if it's a rose jam dupe.

Strawberry Roses: Wow, this smells like a strawberry rosè type wine; it's amazing! Equal parts sweet candied strawberry with strong rose; an excellent blend.

Extras:

Rose Beans: Very realistic with the perfume of a rose garden and green freshness of a vegetable garden combined; amazing!

Lavender Twinkies: Although lavender is still the prominent note, this blend does a better job of adding the fluffy sweetness of Twinkies. Very nice and strong; glad she included it!

Bedtime Bath: baby powder and soap. Not exactly my forte, but more pleasant than other similar scents I've smelled. Fairly strong.

I also received some other waxy scents I had been coveting in the mail today.

Beezy Apple Clove Butter (yaaass!): Rich, smooth cinnamon spiced apple pies, super strong! Very excited to melt this.

Candy Panda Fizzy Soda: Super realistic and strong lemon lime soda. I can almost feel the carbonation! Impressive.

SGA Hello Lavender Pink Coconut: Perfect equal blend with top notes of sweet creamy coconut, middle notes of pink sugar, and bottom notes of mellow lavender. Amazing!

Rose Girls Scoopable Wax in Pink Lavender Peppermint: Sweet peppermint with hints of spicy sweet pink sugar and calming lavender. Very nice and fairly strong.

Whew, my sniffer is worn out. Thanks for reading!