Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Wax Notes | April 2014

It's been about two months since I started melting wax and I feel like I am getting into a good melting stride. I have also started melting in the office with my little electric warmer. Since I spend more than half of my day there, I figured I should be melting something yummy to perk up my workday. So far, no complaints from my co-workers! :) Now that I am melting more and more, from May onwards, I am going to split these into fortnightly posts rather than monthly.


(I seem to like to melt same coloured tarts in a row! I melted 3 purple tarts in March and now I have 3 white ones in a row!)

The Olive Lemon Grove (The Bathing Garden)
After sniffing through my The Bathing Garden haul several times, I decided that this scent is my favourite. The minute it goes on sale again, I will be buying hunks and hunks of it. It is such a sweet and subtle citrus scent, no acidic sharp edges to it whatsoever. I could sniff it forever!

Spearmint (Super Tarts)
Melting my first Super Tart! The wax is harder than most and makes cutting them a bit of a mess and I would prefer this kind of wax in a clam shell or a smaller size for lesser fuss. But with that said, the minute I started melting it, the scent started pumping out! I am liking the Spearmint scent straight up by itself, it isn't hard on the nose at all, more like yummy toothpaste. Medium and consistent throw.

Silk Sheets (Two Timing Tart - Old Wax Formula)
This scent really took its own sweet time in wafting out, eventually developing into a faint,  medium-low throw. I had two cubes melting in a tealight warmer. The first time I melted it, I was really disappointed, it had so little throw. But during the second melt, the wax threw faster and better.

Constantine (Crabby Candle Co.)
I feel like I stepped into a garden! I can really smell that fresh, green, flower scent (you know what I mean by that right? :] ). There's also a slight spicy note in there, which is not as out of place as you think, kind of like a carnation. This is a strong scent but with a medium-low throw.


Sugar Cookie (Super Tarts)
I am melting this on a cool night after a rainy day and it called for something sweet and bakery. Since Sugar Cookie is featuring in Super Tarts' May sampler and is their signature scent, I was curious to try it. It is a very authentic cookie scent but I am getting bored of it by itself because it's so one-note. Might try blending it on the next melt! Strong scent with a medium-high throw.

Spring Breeze (L3 Waxy Wonders)
I am loving loving this scent! It is so pretty and delicate. The scent throw takes a while to develop but when it does, it is high. However the scent is never overpowering, just wafting prettily through the air! I definitely need to get boatloads of this at L3 custom opening. By the way, I find this really similar to Bath & Bodyworks' Sweet Pea, it has similar notes of raspberries and florals.

Rain Water (Ten Digit Creations)
Melting a quarter cube in the office (yes, I finally brought a warmer in to work). All I can say is that this is a clean, soapy (in a good way) scent. I would totally bathe myself in this!

Orange Cream & Marshmallow (Candles From The Keeping Room)
The marshmallow scent is really strong and the orange is so authentic it's making my mouth feel like it ate an orange! I find this rather a mellow and relaxing scent. High but not overpowering scent throw. Scent lasted about 1.5 tealights, which is a little short to me.


Drunk Tweeting (Two Timing Tart)
TTT's old formula may not throw very well but I like it very much for my office. It scents my open plan cubicle but isn't strong enough to annoy my colleagues with scents they may not like. Win-win in my book. This is a coconut-mango mojito scent, I really like how subtle the mint is in here. Very tropical and refreshing.

Hawaiian Rainbow Cake (Crabby Candle Co.)
I smell mainly Pineapple in this scent blend, the rest of the fruits are blended quite nicely into a fruity, tropical scent. I am not detecting any bakery. Strong and consistent throw with the 0.75oz scent shot.

Honeydew, Strawberry and Creamsicle (Super Tarts)
This is a Super Pan chunk that I got from Audrey. Check out how the full pan looks here. It was a pretty generous chunk but it was very easy to break with the score underneath. With Super Tarts, the scent pumps out very quickly. The strongest note is a very tart Strawberry but it's mellowed to a sweet, fruity scent when the honeydew comes along. Medium throw but the scent peters out after 3 hours.

Sleepy (The Bathing Garden)
I am beginning to develop scent preferences during different times of day. It just doesn't seem right to melt fruity scents during the night. Sleepy is definitely one for the evening, I am loving that the peppermint and vanilla is more dominant that the pink sugar. Medium high scent throw with only one cube!



Fruit Loops (Front Porch Candle Co.)
An oldie but a goodie. I never get tired of  Fruits Loops. I have only really tried FP's Fruit Loops and I want to try other vendors' interpretation! I am not sure why I have yet to order it in my numerous hauls so far. Anyway, standard medium-high throw from FP.

Drunk Texting (Two Timing Tart - Old Wax Formula)
I am not enjoying this scent on warm as I though I would on cold sniff. The cucumber is the strongest scent and it's a raw, fresh cucumber rather than a spa-like scent that I thought the blend would be with the mojito note. However, on the bright side, one cube of this is throwing a bit better than usual.

Serendipity Peppermint (I Heart Wax)
My first Serendipity scent, I think I like it! Surprisingly, it's slightly stronger than the peppermint, most reviews always have peppermint as the more dominant scent in blends. The cherry and vanilla is pretty strong here. Scent throw developed really quickly and is medium-high with only half a tart. Which means I am very likely to order during I Heart Wax's re-opening this Friday!

Apples & Peaches (Front Porch Candle Co.)
FP's Mac Apple scent is one of my favourite and I am loving this. I can't detect any Peaches at all. But that's totally ok with me. This one has a really strong throw. I am melting it in the office and it's throwing all the way out into the corridor. This is the first tart to be doing that.

// Repeat Melts (Not pictured)
Tease (Two Timing Tart - Old Wax Formula)
Drunk Photography (Two Timing Tart - Old Wax Formula)
Vintage Circus (The Bathing Garden)
Lemon Curd & Rose Milk (The Bathing Garden): This one cube is the strongest throwing so far of my office melts. Before the melt pool was fully formed, it was already throwing right out of the door!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Destash / Act of Kindness from Sunnee


If you are reading my blog, chances are you are also reading Fragrance Obsessed, a wax blog written by a lovely lady Sunnee. When I stepped back into the wax world, Fragrance Obsessed was my bible. I learnt about so many new vendors and ordering methods. Besides the comprehensive posts, Sunnee also takes really beautiful photos of her wax hauls and keeps an interesting mix of anecdotes about her life and inspirations. I am so glad I took the first step in commenting on her blog, after back-and-forth comments on blogs, adding each other on Facebook and chatting occasionally, I really feel like Sunnee and I are now friends!

Sunnee had a destash recently on her blog where everyone could choose what they wanted on a first-come-first-serve basis. I managed to snag a few items during the free for all, I HEART WAX's Serendipty Peppermint 4-pack, Streetman Candle Co's Happy bundt  and Orchid Lake's Peanut Butter Cup. The rest of the items were picked out by Sunnee and they are awesome. I really like everything that she sent!

Beezy Tarts - Madam President Fresh, zesty citrus notes balanced out by feminine florals of jasmine, white rose, and freesia. Nuances of musks and ozonic notes are backed by a hint of sweet vanilla, ending with a warm amber base.
The musks and ozone are the strongest notes for me here, followed by the florals. Pretty!

Beezy Tarts - Icy Peppermint Sweet icy peppermint
Strong and sweet peppermint. I am going to cut this up and melt it by itself and maybe blend it with other stuff.

Beezy Tarts - Starburst Smells like a juicy Starburst!
Wow, this smells really like the sweet, amazing!

Beezy Tarts - Strip and Go Naked Oranges, lemons, limes and sweet berries.
SO GOOD! I can see why Sunnee loves this so much. This is a perfect summer scent, with all that fizzy citrus going around. Can't wait to melt this one.

I HEART WAX - Serendipity Peppermint 
I am not a fan of Hello Kitty but they are rather adorable in wax form. This blend is yummy, the peppermint is strong but I can detect cherries, vanilla and a little coconut. I can see this becoming a night-time fave.

Lasting Scent Candles - Cactus & Sea Salt
I have had this scent from LSC before. Cactus & Sea Salt is my family's favourite scent!

Lasting Scent Candles - Tie Dye Red raspberry, meyer lemon, key lime, navel orange, vanilla bean ice cream and rock candy sprinkles
When I first saw this loaf on Sunnee's blog, I was amazed at how gorgeous it was. I wonder how LSC created this loaf, the colours are gorgeous. I am so happy to be able to try this out because it is one, amazing, fruity blend. Now I have a problem, how am I going to get more  LSC, why are you so difficult to order from!


Orchid Lake Candles & Soaps (now known as Wilma) - Peanut Butter Cup
I feel like I just opened up the peanut butter jar but there's also a slight artificiality to the peanut butter. I think PB and chocolate scents tend to be like that.

Rosegirls - Greased Lightning Strawberry Jam chunks, Strawberry Shortcake chunks and Cuppa Cake overpour
I am so excited to see that Sunnee picked out a Rosegirls chunk for me! Rosegirls chunks are really gorgeous, I intend to put in an order when they next open (must accumulate wax karma)! I am picking up on the strawberry jam and a cake note. Yums!

Streetman Candle Company - Happy Strawberries, pears, sugars and lilac blossom
This is the biggest piece of wax I have ever gotten! It didn't look so very huge on Sunnee's blog. Thank goodness I am loving this scent! The lilac blossoms blends so well with the fruits!

Up The Creek - Fruity Pebbles
I always thought Fruity Pebbles was another way of saying Fruit Loops but I googled for scent descriptions and I found out this is another cereal brand. It's very similar to Fruit Loops though, maybe less on the lemon and lime.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Haul | Bath & Bodyworks (2)


I happened to be in the area of the Bath & Bodyworks store last Thursday for a work appointment and of course I had to drop in check out the new spring scents. After a quick sniff, I picked up 4 scents in wallflower refills, Watermelon Lemonade, Fresh Linen, Cheers to Capri and Island Margarita. All fresh and citrusy scents! I have a couple of work trips coming up and I am thinking of bringing a wallflower with me to scent up my hotel rooms.

In other news, I have three orders out for delivery this week - The Bathing Garden, Two Timing Tart and Sunnee's destash. #happydance. The package just left Ohio and is bound for Hong Kong, if all goes well, I might be able to get it Saturday or Sunday? I can't wait to share them with you!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Haul | Memorial Sale


This is my first non-vendor sale haul, a winning lot from the Memorial Sale for Jessica in March. Audrey shipped it out really quickly and the Regional Rate A box was packed full of goodies! I was really looking forward to this package because there were so many vendors that I have never tried in here.

Candles From The Keeping Room - Coconut Milk & Lavender A sweet blend of coconut milk and lavender. Changes the lavender to almost a tropical flower
Mmm, I like this one. The lavender tends towards soapy (but not detergent). I don't smell coconut milk yet.

Candles From The Keeping Room - Orange Cream & Marshmallow
This is a yummy, bakery citrus!

Candles From The Keeping Room - Pink Sugar Milk A blend of our yummy sugar milk and pink sugar.
I can smell both the sugar milk and pink sugar equally. I am so excited to try a sugar milk blend!

Candles From The Keeping Room - Tropical Sugar A blend of delicious sweet fruit, sugars, whipped cream and a little vanilla.
This reminds me of a citrus powder soft drink. I am intrigued by how it will melt!

Candles From The Keeping Room - Raspberry Cream Filled Twinkies A yummy blend of our sweet twinkie filled with fresh raspberry sauce.
I smell the raspberry sauce and it's yummy but there's that weird plasticky note.

Candles From The Keeping Room - Hot Orange Danish Notes of fresh baked danish, orange zests, and the aroma of drizzled cream frosting.
The orange smells really great in here!

Candles From The Keeping Room - Toasted Marshmallow & Twinkies Twinkies filled with our yummy toasted marshmallow and drizzled with love.
This smells burnt and plasticky, I wonder if it's from the Twinkies because the other Twinkies blend that I have smells the same.



Super Tarts - Honeydew, Strawberry and Creamsicle

A nice, mellow melon blend. It's also a little fizzy! Can't wait to try this one!

Super Tarts - Champagne, Pomegranate, Grapefruit, Rock Candy
This is such a fresh, citrusy, energetic blend! I will enjoy melting this one.

Sassy Girl Aroma - Strawberry Bread
Not a big fan of this one. It smells weird and plastic to me.

Sassy Girl Aroma - Bubblegum Ice Cream Bubblegum blended with rich vanilla ice cream
Smells exactly like a Bazooka gum! Bubblegum is quickly becoming a favourite scent of mine.

Up The Creek - Candy Crush Candy lime, lemon drop and raspberry with juicy notes of orange and red apple sweetened with splashes of pulled sugar and old fashion vanilla.
Such a fun and fruity scent, I am getting lots and lots of citrus!

Up The Creek - Zucchini Noel Surprise
I am getting mostly an almond scent in this chunk, which is unexpected.

Up The Creek - Grape Fluff Blueberry Confetti Cake
The blueberry is the strongest scent note and is so so yummy! It's more of a blueberry jam scent to me. By the way, I now understand why so many people is always in search of a holy grail blueberry scent.


Bit of Bliss - Key Lime Pie
I smell a creamy, zesty lime. I feel energised just sniffing at this!

Bit of Bliss - Lavender, Green Tea, Grapefruit
This was one of my favourites of the haul. I love to drink green tea and this is the first green tea scent that I have seen in wax form. I like how these three scents were blended together, perfect for a mellow night.

Bit of Bliss - Grape, Cotton Candy, Jelly Beans
The Jelly Beans scent is a little too overpowering in here. There's also a plastic note coming through.

Rosegirls - Love Potion No. 9 Mystery blend of Love Spell and pomegranate blizzard.
My first ever Rosegirls! I think I might hoard this until I know when my Assorted Sampler is going to ship! Both the Love Spell and pomegranate blizzard scents I am not familiar with, and I have no idea what I am supposed to smell here except for some creaminess.

Vintage Chic Scents - Jackie O Marshmallow, birthday cake and Vanilla Bean Noel
So sweet!

Sugar & Spice - Banana Funnel Cake & Waffle Cones
I immediately think of Banana Bread when I smell this one, I can actually smell that tart scent  of the cooked Banana flesh. I like it more than I thought I would!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Uh-Oh, Addiction.

So you are probably familiar with this, you have reached a time in your life when you go, uh oh, there is more than enough wax to last for a good long while yet you can't seem to stop yourself from ordering more. I am at that point right now, I just can't resist! Here's some of my recent orders:

Rosegirls | Assorted Sampler
It's a good time to be a Rosegirls newbie. Instead of having to slug it out at one of their super-fast, super-scary openings, the first re-opening of the store since I re-joined the wax community were for 2lb mystery chunk samplers, either in Fruity/Bakery or Assorted. I was on the site promptly during the re-opening and I managed to place my order for 1 Assorted sampler within 2 mins, making me 53 on the list of over 200 orders. The TAT has yet to be announced but I hope my order will ship within April.

Two Timing Tart | Spring Clean Mystery Bag
I recently joined Two Timing Tart's new facebook group, the first thing I saw was $15 mystery bags being offered by Becky in clean, fresh and floral scents. Some of the scents include Rose Red Lemon Jam Snow Taffy, Lemon Juniper, Violet Mojito and Ocean Cotton. How am I to resist that! Plus, I really wanted to try Two Timing Tart's new wax formula. I love their scents and really want them to work for me! Order has already been shipped as I type this!

Sniff My Tarts | Mystery Bag
When SMT announced the smaller 1.5lb Mystery Bag sign-up list a month ago on their facebook group, I put myself on the list as soon as I saw the post. Again, I was about 50-something on the list. After almost a month, I am no.10! I am hoping it gets to my turn within these two weeks.

Fragrance Obsessed's Destash
One of my favourite wax bloggers, Sunnee of the blog Fragrance Obsessed recently decided to offer a pay-for-shipping-only destash on her blog. She released two phases so far and will have more to come in the next week or so. So far, I managed to snag Orchid Lake's Peanut Butter Cup (scent shot), Streetman Candle Co's Happy (large bundt) and I Heart Wax's Serendipity Peppermint. All these are new-to-me vendors and scents. My pile is a little small because I have been rather slow and missed most of the good stuff. Better luck this week!

In addition to all these, my order during The Bathing Garden's Alice in Wonderland themed March restock will be shipping out this week! Obviously I am set for a good long while but L3 will be opening up their custom list on 1 May and I really want to get on that one! Maybe that will be my last order, after that, no more for the summer! I can haz some self-control right?

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Haul | Vintage Chic Scents (1)


If there is any one company to give The Bathing Garden a run for its money in terms of consistency and attractiveness of presentation , I would say that company is Vintage Chic Scents. Their products are so instantly recognisable across various wax groups in hauls and destash posts. What makes it more amazing is how this company has only been opened since January 2014! So far I have yet to see the owner Kirby Welsh make a misstep as a vendor.

I can't wait for her to offer international shipping so that all my fellow international waxies can try her products. Right now her website only accepts US-only billing addresses and credit cards but Kirby intends to offer international shipping once she figures out the logistics. Luckily, there are other ways of getting her stuff. Every so often, she offers flash sales and organises competitions in her group page. I got lucky in one of the flash sales and won this lot!

Ruby Slippers This scent combines ruby red grapefruit, blood orange, sparkling champagne and Vanilla Bean Noel.
Lovely citrus scent, the grapefruit and the blood orange are strong with a fizzy undertone (maybe from the champagne?). I smell a little hint of VBN that helps to round off the citrus.

Cafe Reggio This scent combines cafe mocha and marshmallow.
A mildly sweet mocha coffee scent. Not too bitter like how some other coffee/chocolate scents can be.

Rosie the Riveter A strong but sweet coffee blend of caramel latte and sugar cookie with a dash of cinnamon.
This smells like a Starbucks coffeehouse!

Winstead's Skyscraper Shake This scent blends Vanilla Smoothie, Strawberry and Chocolate Drizzle.
The strawberry is the strongest, hints of chocolate on a smooth vanilla base.

Happy Days This scent blends apple mango tango and clean cotton
Laundry! And a bit of apple mango tango.

Cape Cod This scent, including salty sea spray, sea weathered driftwood and a hint of water lily, is the perfect escape.
This is such a fresh, aquatic floral scent. I must have more!

An Affair To Remember This scent, combining watermelon and cotton candy frosting, promises to produce only the warmest of memories.
Love this! It's quite difficult to go wrong with watermelon and cotton candy!

Shirley Temple This scent combines Fizzy Pop and cherry.
The Fizzy Pop scent is really quite strong, it went up my nose in a wrong way. The cherry is strong too.



Surfer Girl This blend of key lime, coconut cream pie, graham cracker crust and pink sugar (type) will make your heart come all undone.
Wow, the Pink Sugar is overpowering most of the other notes. The only other thing I smell is graham cracker which is quite authentic.

Backwoods Barbie This Satsuma Strawberry Cotton Candy scent is a tribute to the Dolly Parton song.
Love love love this! Satsuma is definitely one of my top scents. I can't wait to try more.

Dinner at Julia's This is a decadent blend of German Chocolate Cake, caramel and marshmallow.
I don't like the chocolate scent in this as much as Smart Cookie. The marshmallow is also evident in the cold sniff.

Smart Cookie This scent, combining double chocolate cookie and butter mint, is an appreciation of all those little ladies who brave the cold to bring us Girl Scout goodies every year.
Smells exactly like the mint chocolate cookies! I am not even kidding! I would totally eat this up if it wasn't wax. And a very strong cold throw.

Ice Palace Cookies This peppermint sugar cookie scent will help you keep the cold at bay.
Mm, I like the sweet peppermint I am getting mostly.

Tally Me Banana Raspberry Guava Banana Daquiri
The Banana is really strong in here. It reminds me of Banana candy sweets but I would totally order this as a drink as well.

Over The Rainbow Ever dreamed of what lies over the rainbow? Melt this scent, blending rainbow sherbet and cotton candy, and you'll find out.
Another lovely, fruity fizzy scent that is right up my alley!

Pin Curls & Finger Waves This scent, mixing pink sugar and marshmallow, is a reminder that some fashion statements are timeless.
A pretty basic blend of pink sugar and marshmallow. I might try blending this with something else.