Order of the Odor | Volume 10

Welcome to the Order! We are so excited to bring you two new members to the Order: Michelle from Waxing About and Liz from Furianne! These ladies write awesome blog posts about smelly stuff and we are honored to have them join us. Please chime in on our question this month:

Have you had any wax ordering frustrations?

I am so excited to join the Order of the Odor and to be able to interact with everybody as we indulge in this waxy hobby of ours! So with this very first post, I am going to share my experiences in wax ordering, I hope you do too!

By and large, ordering wax has been a smooth process for me. I have rarely had any frustrations because I try my best to understand the wax ordering process of each company before I plunge in and I keep expectations low for TAT. So what I am going to say next, it may rankle with some but I would like to be honest about it.

Recently, I found myself frustrated with Sniff My Tarts. I ordered during the October 2014 opening and I knew it would take awhile to get to me because I ordered during the second opening. The list began moving at a regular pace (which surprised me because of the holidays) but in February of the year, it suddenly stagnated and it took two months before any new updates. I understand there were several huge orders and it takes awhile to get through those orders. But what really frustrated me was the lack of communication from the owners, leaving the remaining customers wondering what had happened. If I had some inkling that there was a problem and the process is going longer than expected, a quick message would have helped me adjust my expectations and patience level to the new situation. But without it, I was just stewing at my computer wondering what had happened, it's no fun being kept in the dark. Added to the frustration of lack of communication was also watching the Dream Boxes fly out and flash sales being conducted in the group, that really made me feel like my order was being neglected, even if it may not have been the case, but that's how I felt. :(

Now, let's find out what the other members of the Order have been up to this past month:

Deb hauled from a newer wax vendor and is quite impressed with their TAT, scents, throw and pricing. What new vendor has snared Deb's hard to capture attention? Come and find out, you will want to order too!

There is a vendor that Sunnee tries to never miss a sale from. Check out her most recent post showcasing just such a sale haul. Her gorgeous photos and blend picks are sure to create a lemming. 

Jamie Lauren Cupcakery and Confection in Wax (JLCCW), a old popular vendor who closed and is now slated to re-open (for the second time- fingers crossed!) has a reputation for cute and strong throwing wax creations. Liz was one of the lucky old crew that hauled a nice order before JLCCW closed and is reviewing some. Check out how JLCCW wax is faring years later.

Mystery tarts, custom brittle and scent shots that have lightening fast TAT are all great things but when the brittle is Pink Peppermint you KNOW that is the cherry on top. And you probably know who hauled it.... Lauren! Haul posts are rare gems from her, so make sure not to miss this one!

Lasting Scent Candles announced they are closing, but will still be selling off their stock on their website with announcements on Facebook, until they run out. Julie shares her recent LSC haul with wishes we can all grab some last stragglers before they are gone forever.

Plum Wine Sandalwood, Jasmine Vanilla Green Tea Peach, and M'Lady's Boudoir fragrances... can you guess what vendor these unusual and innovative blends hails from? Michelle shares her recent haul that includes these cool scents, great photos and ordering information.  

Wax Notes | May 2015

I had a lot going on this past month, racing around to get things done, travelling to Manila for a conference, a huge presentation & report that I just completed and trying to have a semblance of a social life. Some nights, I came home so late that I didn't have time to freeze out my wax to put in new ones which means I melted really really little this month.

In other wax news, my name was finally tagged by SMT, it has been shipped out and it's now sitting pretty in my US mailbox and I can't wait to get it! I am also waiting for a Tiffany's order that I made on Saturday during her restock. I think I am done for a little while, or so I say...

Barbie Girl (Tiffany Candles)
I bought this scent because I was curious about how kiwi would blend. I am happy to report that this is absolutely beautiful floral-fruity blend with an airy, aquatic quality to it, rounded off by a base of tropical notes of pineapples and pears. I don't think I have melted anything quite like this. Medium scent throw, medium high scent impact.

Lemon Slices (Ten Digit Creations)
A clean and fresh lemon bordering on soap-like. High throw, medium high scent impact.

Marilyn's Margarita (Rosegirls)
I was searching for a fresh and citrusy scent among my stash (it gets so hard nowadays) and I decided I need to melt through my RG sampler from April 2014. I found this one and I love it! The lemon & lime isn't as sharp as I feared. But it's the exact blend of sweet and citrus that I wanted on a hot hot Sunday! And it even has a tinge of salt!

Moscato (Ten Digit Creations)
A sweet, full-bodied, candy grape scent. Nothing like a moscato in my opinion but very pleasant. Medium high throw, medium scent impact.

Raspberry Streuselkuchen (Rosegirls)
It's a cool, rainy day and I wanted a comforting fruity-bakery scent to accompany me today. The raspberry scent is strongest for me, fruity and sprightly, with only a hint of soft bakery. Medium high scent throw, medium scent impact.

Zucchini Bread, Serendipity Smoothie, Strawberry Jam (Sniff My Tarts)
A sweet, comforting scent. I find that the smoothie note is the strongest. Occasionally, the strawberry jam sneaks through and it's really good! I am really beginning to really like jam-type scents. Medium high scent throw, medium scent impact.

Boo Berry, Zucchini Bread, VBN (L3WW)
This scent is surprisingly quiet, I was expecting it to hit me a little harder, what with the zucchini and the VBN. Could it be the age of the wax, it's about a year old? It's sweet and bread-y from what I can smell. :( Medium-high, medium-low scent impact.

Lady Tremaine (Enchanted Candle Co.)
I think this might be my favourite Lavender scent from Enchanted, the rest are a bit too laundry!Lavender whereas this one is significantly softer and greener, tamed by the tea and berry scent notes.

Champagne, Pomegranate, Grapefruit, Rock Candy (Super Tarts) - Not pictured
I found this chunk lurking in one my wax stash boxes and I decided to melt it because it's on the older side. Weirdly, I keep thinking of sweet cookies when I melt this one.

Repeat Melts
Tea with The Queen of Hearts (The Bathing Garden)
Pomegranate Wildberry Mousse (L3WW)
Sultan (Enchanted)
Bodacious Bowser (Rosegirls)
Mandarin Oranges, Pomegranate, Satsuma (SMT)

Haul | Two Timing Tart (4)

Finally, a haul post rather than my usual wax notes! I have a few in the works from some of my recent hauls and I am going to be posting them up slowly but surely! This is the first of my two Two Timing Tart hauls, in fact this is the second of the lot but it was smaller and a lot easier to do my initial impressions. So you will get the Two Timing Tart (3) post a little later. I haven't ordered from Two Timing Tart since early 2014 and I thought it was high time I replenished my stash with them, especially since her new formulation throws great for me.

To order from Two Timing Tart, you have to be part of Becky's Facebook group, during a restock she will post what's available and reload the website on the promised day. You go on the website and select what you want, check out, easy peasy! TTT isn't as popular as some of the other vendors so you rarely have to worry about items going out of stock unless Becky is making only a few items in popular scent. Also if you can be patient enough, you could also wait till she marks down items left from the restock, I find that's a really good deal but the downside is you might not get what you want, which is risk I haven't dared to take!

For this restock, she was taking requests and made virtually everything that was requested. I put in a request for Silk Sheets and I managed to nab a bag of it! Yay! All in all, this was a great order!

Date Night Sensual sandalwood dripping with deep, sweet honey

As advertised, sandalwood and honey comes in equal measure in this scent.

Plum Wine Sandalwood A deep, resinous sandalwood mixed with the decadent freshness of plum wine

I really like this one, a fruity scent that is all grown up and mysterious. I like how the plum is sweetened and rounded up by the wine-grape scent.

M' Lady's Boudoir White musk, soft ebony, a hint of vanilla orchid, sandalwood, and a breath of citrus

An elegant scent that would not be out of place in a perfume bottle, I mostly smell the white musk, ebony and sandalwood.

Jasmine Vanilla Green Tea Peach Flora, tea, and lightly fruitly

This bag is bittersweet, Becky mentioned that this will be the last bags of this scent because she doesn't intend to re-order this fragrance oil. I rather like this one on cold, I smell a mix of jasmine, vanilla and peach.

Silk Sheets Musk, vanilla, cherry blossoms

I requested for this one because I so rarely come across a Cherry Blossom scents that I need to get them while I can. I really enjoyed the clamshell I got in my first order that I know I needed more!

Walk of Shame Bite Me (berries, cherries & lim), lotus blossoms, sea salt
The dominant scent in this blend is Bite Me and as I sniff harder, I begin to discern the floral note of the lotus blossoms. I don't smell the sea salt.

Forever Red BBW Type
I am not sure what's in here but it's floral, sweet and has a dark, mysterious feel to this.

Tobacco Cedar
I was a little afraid when I first opened this up to sniff but thankfully the tobacco is the less dominant note. I imagine this is what a log cabin would smell like.

Wax Notes | April 2015 (2)

Happy Labour Day! Phew, it's been a long and tiring two weeks but I finally get a bit of a break this weekend. It's a three-day weekend for me. I don't have much plans but I am going to cobble some stuff up because I need to get out of my room and get some fresh air!

There seems to be a lot of sales and openings this weekend, I hope everyone is going to get in on the action! I am planning to try my luck again for the Candles From The Keeping Room opening, going to start on my list after this. My Super Tarts Lavender Sampler was just delivered and I am looking forwards to sniffing that! I also got in my hauls from Enchanted Candle Co. and Two Timing Tart, they are amazing and I am going to start working on blog posts for them. Any new waxy goodies for you too?

Lemon Marshmallow (Ten Digit Creations)
Ohmygosh, why have I not melted this scent before, it is so good. That zesty, fresh, ooey, gooey lemon melds so well with marshmallow. I was afraid that marshmallow would be too sweet but it isn't. Medium high throw, medium high impact.

Raspberry Jam, Strawberry Preserves, Grape Jelly (Sniff My Tarts)
This scent is so ridiculously fruity, it just makes me smile! One of the strongest scents on cold sniff but it was just alright heated up. Medium high throw, medium impact.

Lemon + Birthday Bash (Tiffany Candles)
This tiny sample from Tiffany's threw like a beast. I had the door to my office closed and I was out for a meeting when I started melting it. I came back, opened the door and the scent just hit me with a blast! It also started pumping out to the rest of the lounge and scented up the entire space. High throw, medium high impact. The scent itself is really good, very reminiscent of fruit loops!

Frosty Pine / Peppermint / Pink Sugar (SMT)
This is a chunk gifted to me by the lovely Julie J. I had admired her sheet cake of this scent blend when she posted about her SMT haul on her blog and I was so happy to find a chunk in her RAOK to me, among other awesome stuff!

Bodacious Bowser (Rosegirls)
A non-traditional take on a green apple scent. I like to sniff it because it's so unique and I want to figure it out. Probably not one I would order in a bag. Medium high throw, medium impact.

Mandarin Oranges, Pomegranate, Satsuma (Sniff My Tarts)
With this scent, I was hoping for energetic citrus, it was more of mild, soothing citrus due to the mellowness and sweetness of the pomegranate. Medium throw, medium impact.

Champagne Pomegranate, Grapefruit, Rock Candy (Super Tarts)
Sweet and candy-ish. This scent didn't make much of an impression on me though, the throw was medium to light and didn't last very long. :(

Lavender Apple (Ten Digit Creations)
Even though TDC advertises this as a blend of lavender and apple, it's stronger on the apple with a underlying bed of lavender. Perfect for a mellow day. Medium throw, medium impact.

Repeat Melts
Pink Sugar Peach Smoothie Strawberry (L3WW)
Sultan (Enchanted)

Wax Notes | April 2015 (1)

I am stealing a few moments to type this out. These last two weeks have been busy busy busy, and it's about to get worse. Ack! But at least I have a shipment of wax hauls to look forwards to. I click SHIP for my latest Two Timing Tart hauls and my mega Enchanted Candle Co. custom order. I am so looking forward to the custom blends I made.

Two more outstanding orders to go: Sniff My Tarts (October'14 custom opening) and Super Tarts Lavender Sampler! I am contemplating a third order to round out the next shipment. Ten Digit Creations, Tiffany's or Candles From The Keeping Room? Help me decide!

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Madame President (Beezy Tarts)
A mostly sweet and spicy floral scent and a base of ozone and vanilla. Medium scent throw, medium scent impact. I melted the second half in my 11w warmer and it threw like a BEAST! I am pretty impressed! High-high scent throw, medium high scent impact.

Ruby Slippers (Vintage Chic Scents)
After one year, I have finally decided to melt my VCS scents. Yes, one year, I checked! I have been hoarding them because I don't know when will I ever be able to buy them outright from the website. The VCS shopping cart unfortunately does not allow for non-American credit cards (I think I should check in with Kirby about this). The two hauls have been from flash sales from her Facebook page in which I was very very lucky. So anyway, I love this scent, it's that perfect combination of sweet, citrusy and fizzy. Medium-high scent throw and medium-high scent impact.

Pistachio Gelato (Crabby Candle Co.)
I have never tried a pistachio scent before, it's interesting but I am not sure if I would order this willingly again. High-high throw, medium high scent impact. It's really such a pity that Crabby doesn't seem to be in operation any more. Their tarts throw so well in my warmers, this one went right out of my house again!

Prince Humperdink (Thirty Street Crafts)
Maraschino cherry scent is strongest, with the full sweetness of pineapple and coconuts. Not much citrus scent, occasionally a whiff here and there. Medidum high throw, medium high scent impact.

Honey Lemon (Ten Digit Creations)
Honey, honey! This is great scent, comforting and relaxing, it also lingers for awhile after it's done. However, I don't detect very much lemon, if at all. This would be a great blending scent too. Medium high throw, medium high scent impact.

Pink Sugar, Rose Red (Two Timing Tart)
I am not a big Pink Sugar lover but surprisingly, when mixed with Rose Red, with its hints of sea salt, this is quite nice. The floral sweetness of rose and pomegranate also helps to tone down the sickly sweetness of Pink Sugar. High throw, medium high scent impact.

Apple Harvest (Ten Digit Creations)
I am a big fan of apple scents and I have yet to find one that I don't like. I even like them in bakery blends! Apple Harvest isn't your typical juicy apple fruit scent but rather the apple scent you encounter in the apple orchards in autumn. It tends towards the apple scent you would find in apple pie as well. I love it! Medium high scent throw, medium high scent impact.

Orange Blossoms (Ten Digit Creations)
This is a lovely floral scent, it's not cloying or overly sweet. There is a faint, orange-citrus hint that I wish was more apparent and I really want to blend this with a stronger citrus note! Medium high scent throw, medium high scent impact.

Repeat Melts
The Sultan's Morrocan Massage Oil (Enchanted)

Wax Notes | March 2015

What a long month, March was. So many things has happened in the span of these few weeks that I am slightly reeling from it all. Last week, Singapore entered into a week of national mourning as our first Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away. It was a pretty emotional week for the entire country as we mourned in our own ways, followed all the news reports of the funeral service and waited in long lines (up to 10 hours!) to pay our last respects as Mr Lee lay in state.

Before that, I also had a little weekend getaway with friends to Bangkok! We had so much fun, exploring the city, eating all those yummy Thai food, finding new cafes and shopping at night markets! You can follow along my instagram (@greenteafields) for pictures!

So with all these things, I haven't been melting as much as I should, that's why I combined my usual fortnightly melts post into one. I am also still working on my Wax Favourites post so look out for that!

Lavender Rosemary Vanilla Mint (Glitterati Candle Co.)
I really like this scent combination, the vanilla really smoothens and sweetens the edges of the rosemary and the mint. However, there is an undertone that I associate with Glitterati, I find that it does interfere with the scent. But I am going to reserve judgement until I melt more from her. Very high throw for half a chunk and medium scent impact which is what you want from a scent like that.

Raspberry Lilac (Rosegirls)
Sweet, fruity scent with a tad of floral sweetness. Lovely!

Fresh Fruit / Forbidden Fruit / Sex on the Beach (Sniff My Tarts)
This scent combo just reminds me a fruit jelly! It's just so wholesome (despite the suggestive sounding individual scents, heehee!). Scent throw and impact are decent, both medium-high.

Long Winter's Nap (Enchanted Candle Co.)
This will be my go-to bedtime scent, it is a very equal blend of vanilla, lavender, peppermint and pink sugar. So glad I bought a 4oz bag at the recent Enchanted opening but really I should have gotten it in an 8oz bag! High throw and medium high  scent impact.

Tweetledum's Epiphany (The Bathing Garden)
Isn't this such a pretty piece of wax, I love how the pretty peach colour and the psychedelic glitter. The scent itself is really sweet and fruity, sometimes I think I am sniffing a soft drink, sometimes raspberry and peach. I like this one!

Bartlett Pear (Ten Digit Creations)
Bartlett Pear was one of my first scents that I melted 6-7 years ago. I love the combination of elegant and fruity with this one and I need to get heaps more of this. Sadly, it seems to be on TDC's clearance list, I am hoping it will be saved otherwise I have got to go in and order a few more soon. Medium-high scent and impact.

Tea with the Queen of Hearts (The Bathing Garden)
I was hoping for the rose scent note to come out more but this scent is a bit too similar to Tea Party with Alice for me. I still love that sweet black tea note though. Medium scent and impact. On second melt, I detect more rose notes.

Heads Up Sevens Up (Enchanted Candle Co.)
More cleaner lemon, rather than seven up. But it is fizzy and uplifting, a scent that I really needed today because it's been raining and I needed some energy! Scent throw is medium high and impact is medium.

Repeat Melts
Walt's Lemon Meringue Pie (Enchanted) - So I melted this in my 11w warmer at work and it's a little better but not much. But at least I can discern that the lemon note is more clean than bakery.
Lemon Tea Party (The Bathing Garden)
Gardenia Coconut Cream (The Bathing Garden)
Tea Party with Alice (The Bathing Garden)
Violet Mojito (Two Timing Tart)
Lavender Rosemary Vanilla Mint (Glitterati)
Duchess Apple Rose Tarte (The Bathing Garden)

Wax Notes | February 2015 (2)

And just like that, February is gone! I feel like it barely got started. March has all the signs of being a crazy month but I managed to eke out a few days of personal time and I am heading up to Bangkok next weekend with two friends for a quick get-away! How's March going to be for you?

So in wax news, I am back on the ordering bandwagon! I put in a custom order at Enchanted during their Anniversary Sale because you don't often get the chance to do that and a sampler order with Two Timing Tart because who can say no to a fruit loops sampler! I am hoping that I am able to consolidate these orders with my (still) pending Sniff My Tarts custom order from October 2014. I am supposed to be in the next batch of orders so if all goes well, I might be able to do so. The thing is now that I am so close and I already have these two pending orders, I am really tempted to put in orders at speedier vendors like Tiffany's and maybe Ten Digit Creations when my SMT eventually ships. MUST RESIST!

Green Tea & Lemongrass (K's Kreations)
I am so disappointed with this tart, I am getting barely any throw out of it and I was really excited because the cold sniff was strong and I really liked this scent. I melted this again the next day and I find that it's more of a medium high throw but very low scent impact. Very unusual and I hope that this isn't representative of K's Kreations for me. :(

Aloe & Green Tea (Ten Digit Creations)
This scent is insanely strong and very sweet in a green-plants way. I have had to turn this down a couple of times to tone down the strength of it. Because it's so strong, I am not sure if I like it, it's too in your face right now. High throw and high scent impact.

Tea Party with Alice (The Bathing Garden)
You know, how with some scent blends, you can discern each note very individually rather than a mix of everything all together. This is how I feel about Tea Party with Alice, the scents are layered rather than blended together. Not to say that this isn't a good scent, it's fantastic and I like it a lot! The strawberry jam is sweet and tart and mellows the heaviness of the honey cream. And like I have said before, I am a fan of TBG's tea scent! Medium high scent throw, medium scent impact.

Fields of Summer (Enchanted Candle Co.)
This is the most unusual floral scent I have, mostly because I have no idea what sunflowers are supposed to smell like. I also want to say that there is a slight touch of laundry blended it in as well? High throw, medium high scent impact. I shifted my melter out into our landing and it's scenting up our entire second floor!

Happy (Streetman Candle Company)
This is such a classy, lady-like, spring scent! More fruity (like melons) than floral, and not too sweet. Medium throw, medium scent impact.

Lavender Fields (K's Kreations)
I was putting this scent off a little while because on cold sniff it reminds me of baby powder, which I am not particularly fond of. But on melting, it's pretty true to scent description, a combination of lavender, ozone and a little woodsiness. I am also glad to report that this melt is doing extremely well in terms of throw! I was so worried from my previous experience. Super high throw, medium high throw scent impact.

Cup of Earl (Enchanted Candle Co.)
Somedays you just want a simple, uncomplicated scent to while the day away, Cup of Earl is that kind of scent. I did say before I like lemon tea scents right? Definitely getting put this down on my Enchanted customs list! Medium high throw, medium scent impact.

Pink Sugar Peach Smoothie Strawberry (L3WW)
I am beginning to work through the remaining chunks of my L3WW mystery sampler from last year. I melted this in an 11w warmer and it didn't do that well. It was really strong on cold, but probably only about about a medium-low throw, medium-low scent impact. It's a very sweet scent but I kept thinking of cookies when I was melting this, which is like none of the advertised scents, haha!

Walt's Lemon Meringue Pie (Enchanted Candle Co.)

I really loved this scent on cold, so much so that I bought another bag before even melting any of it. I finally put some in my warmers and to my disappointment, there is barely any throw and scent. :( This is probably the first dud I got from Enchanted, well, you win some, you lose some. I will try this out in my low-wattage warmer at work to see if it performs any better!

Wildberry Pomegranate

I am getting that cookie scent from this L3 chunk too! This is so weird! Medium low throw and scent impact.

Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane (Enchanted)

A new favourite from Enchanted! I always think that this scent is made up cherries based on the name but it's really blend of English scones and a cup of tea. However I don't smell anything overtly bakery rather it's a subtle and sweet, maybe playing off on the strawberry jam and cream that always comes with scones? It's just really, really nice! High scent throw, medium scent impact.

Grape, Cotton Candy & Jelly Beans (Bit of Bliss)

My nose is pretty congested so I am not sure if I am getting the full blast of this. But I do smell a very sweet grape scent and it's nice, mellow scent to unwind by. Scent throw is high, scent impact is medium.

Repeated Melts

Lemon Tea Party (The Bathing Garden)

Mad Hatters' Tea Party (The Bathing Garden)