Haul | Sniff My Tarts (1)

Sniff My Tarts is definitely one of the most raved-about companies in the world of wax, and when I opened up my mystery bag, all the raves were definitely justified. This was the fruitiest and most fragrant bag of wax I have ever opened! In fact, when the postman delivered it, I was already smelling something grape-y but I didn't know it was from the SMT bag until I opened it. And even now, when I opened the box holding the SMT chunks, the fragrances are just floating out and scenting my room! If the cold throw is already this strong, I can't begin to imagine how strong the hot throw will be! If and when SMT re-opens, I am definitely going to try and get an order it.

Oh, and I have got to say, I love the thoughtfulness and friendliess that the SMT owners, Donna and Amy, and their FB admins Peggy and Alexandra exhibit on a daily basis. The SMT Facebook page is easily one of the most interactive and happy places around in the FB wax world. For the mystery bag and box sign-up lists, they even decided to allow the buyers to note the scents that they do not like and do not want to be added into their bags. For my bag, Donna and Amy definitely took my preferences into account and I got a wonderfully fruity bag with a few surprises thrown in!

Birthday Cake
A simple, no frills, yummy birthday cake.

Fresh Fruit / Forbidden Fruit / Sex on the Beach
This blend is so fun and tropical!

Mandarin Oranges / Pomegranate / Satsuma
Oh wow, the mandarin oranges and satsuma is so fresh and juicy! Totally right up my alley and I am going to enjoy melting this one. This is also such a big chunk that I think I can probably get 4 smaller chunks out of it.

Mango Sorbet / Tangerine / Strawberry Daiquiri
This is a super fruity, citrusy blend!

Pomegranate / Grape Muscadine / Blue Raspberry Slushee
I got two chunks in this bag. The grape muscadine is so good! I can also smell the pomegranate but no the blue raspberry slushee.

Raspberry Jam / Strawberry Preserves / Grape Jelly
I think the strawberry scent is the strongest in here but really I smell a fruity berry mix.



Serendipity / Marshmallow Noel / Peppermint
I already like Serendipity blended with Peppermint but the Marshmallow Noel sweetens it up a notch. This is also one really big chunk!

Tangerine / Pomegranate / Mango Sorbet
The tangerine is strongest in here, the pomegranate helps to temper the citrus and make the scent more 'full'. It's definitely less fruity than the other Tangerine and Mango Sorbet chunk that I received.

Watermelon / Strawberry Kiwi Sorbet / Raspberry Guava
The watermelon is the strongest of the three but I think it could be really fresh and tropical if all the notes come out when melting.

Willow's Chocolate Bacon Cupcake / Hazelnut Coffee / Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Type
When I saw this blend, I was shocked at the audacity of the buyer who decided to blend this! What were they thinking? And I was really prepared to hate this blend, chocolate + coffee + bakery ain't really my thing. But you know what was more shocking, I liked it! While the coffee is the strongest note neither does it overpower, I can also detect the salty-sweetness of the Chocolate Bacon Cupcake, this will be super interesting to melt.

Zucchini Bread / Serendipity Smoothie / Strawberry Jam
The zucchini bread is really strong and I can't smell much of the rest of the blend. I guess I will have to melt this to find out if the other notes come through.

Oh My Rosegirls!

Oh my, I can't believe I forgot to tell you about my Rosegirls order from the most recent opening. I am still partially in shock that I managed to get my order in before the website closed. All those stories about relentless website stalking, enormous orders, limited spaces, 5-minute openings and people unable to order even after a year, is more than enough to scare anyone off. My strategy going into this opening was to keep everything simple and only select scents from RG's House Blends list rather than trying to custom blend anything. After going through the list of blends, I narrowed it down to 10 blends in bakery bags, which makes this my biggest wax quantity order to date!

I love that Rosegirls has such a great selection of Apple blends and I got a whole bunch of them. Also despite my lack of fondness for bakery blends, I had to try the super popular Monster Cookie Fluffs Puffs and Koopa Troopa Assault. The Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Frosting was my wildcard scent, I can't wait to see how that will be.

Alice in Wonderland Blend of Honeydew and Cotton Candy Frosting

Apple Colada Blend of Green Apple and other tropical fruits

Blueberry Hill Blend of Boo Berry and Frankenberry

Koopa Troopa Assault Blend of Raspberry Sauce, Sweet Lemon Confection, Pomegranate and Smoothie

Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Frosting Blend of Lavender Cuppa Cake and Wild Honey Bee

Macintosh Madness and Rosegirls Garden Blend of Macintosh apples and roses.

Monster Cookie Fluff Puffs Blend of Smoothie and Monster Cookie

Singing in the Rain RG Secret Blend

Summer Daze Blend of Starfruit, Green Apple and Sugared Apple

Sunny Days Blend of Strawberry Jam and Satsuma

OOPS!

I broke my wax ban.

Usually I am better at controlling my online shopping tendencies but this time I crumbled. If I was thinking ahead when I decided to go on the wax ban, I should have known better than to try and do a wax ban during the 4th of July when there are sales aplenty. So I succumbed to two really awesome sales, a 20% off at Ten Digit Creations and a 25% off at Enchanted Candle Co.

The TDC sale is on till tomorrow, 5 July, and it applies to all items on the website. I have been dying to re-order from TDC ever since I got back into wax but wanted to try out other new companies first. This sale was the perfect excuse to order. I got two sets of the Single Tart Special where you get to choose 13 individual tarts for a special price. I was gravitating towards unique fresh and fruity scents that most other vendors don't offer: Aloe & Green Tea, Apple Harvest, Avocado & Sea Salt, Bamboo & Sugar Cane, Bartlett Pear, Berry Verbena, Chamomile Apple, Fruit Loops, Green Tea & Willow, Honey Lemon, Lavender Apple, Lavender Mint, Lemon Marshmallow, Muscadine, Orange Blossom, Peppermint Meringue, Pink Sands, Red Mac Apple, Sea Berry, Sea Salt & Rice Flower, Serendipity, Sugar Milk, Sugared Jasmine, Twisted Lemon, Vanilla Lime and Violet Vixen.

The ECC sale was only live for 4 hours and although I have only melted a clamshell from the company, I felt like I liked the scents enough to warrant a second purchase. It wasn't a particularly big order but it include scents from the new Fathers of Disney line and some of the scents I missed out in my previous order. I got Darth, Marlin, The Sultan's Moroccan Massage Oil, Walt's Lemon Meringue Pie, No.17 Cherry Tree Lane, Lavender and Chamomile, Napa Valley, Wildberry Tea, Something Fruity and Icy Peppermint.

So now that I have broke my wax ban, I have decided I am going to keep on breaking it to order from the Thirty Street Crafts opening in a couple of weeks. Thirty Street Crafts have been getting a good bit of buzz lately and their blends are really complex types which I love. Whether I order will depend on the scents that's going to be available so we will see!

On a more exciting note, I am officially on vacation! Yay! My last vacation was in November 2013 and I have been really looking forward to this even though it doesn't feel quite real yet. I am going to be at home for most of next week before flying to Australia, Gold Coast and Brisbane to be exact, for a holiday with friends and catching up with family. Eek! I can't wait, I need to start packing!

Wax Notes | June 2014 (2)

Wow, I can't quite believe half the year has passed us by, it's been a really hectic six months and I am sooo ready for a break! My summer vacation officially starts next week, sooo close!

Did everyone get their Rosegirls order in? I did! And I can't quite believe that I managed to put in my order between the 2nd and 3rd minute. I have absolutely no idea what number I am on the list of orders but I am more than willing to wait. I intend to use this waiting period as my wax ban period and to use up my stash. It's getting a little out of control for my liking. I barely managed to pack my May orders into my existing storage boxes!

It was a good fortnight of melting!

Love Potion No.9 (Rosegirls)
I am melting my first-ever Rosegirls chunk! This is a mystery blend and scent notes aren't listed beyond that it's a blend between Love Spell and Pomegrate Blizzard. I am getting a warm and creamy note from this scent but for the most, it reminds me of a herbal drink. Medium throw. Unfortunately I had to stop this scent going, my nose did not like it. :(

Clover & Aloe (Front Porch Candle Co.)
A fresh, green and sweet spa scent. I find this really relaxing and it's pretty great for a warm day! This tart has a high throw, it's going right out of my bedroom door! Would definitely re-order.

Winds in the East (Enchanted Candle Co.)
I am loving the fresh aquatic and green scent. I am melting two cubes and it's throwing really well, medium high! But it also doesn't seem to last very long. On the second tealight, the throw is noticeably weaker.

Rattlesnake Grass (Two Timing Tart)
An old tart that I am using up. The scent throw is still pretty good at medium throw but the scent itself seems to have weakened. I smell a hint of sweet leafy greens and it's so pretty and springy! I wouldn't mind re-ordering this to get the full power of this scent.

Repeat Melts
Lavender, Green Tea, Grapefruit (Bit of Bliss)
Tie Dye (Lasting Scent Candles)
Bite Me Serendipity Bubble Gum (Lasting Scent Candles)
Rain Water + Rattlesnake Grass (Ten Digit Creations) - A little attempt at combining two scent blends together. My room is smelling fresh and clean!
Tease (Two Timing Tart) - Yay, another finished clamshell!

Haul | The Bathing Garden (2)

I had originally planned not to order from The Bathing Garden again so soon but this Alice in Wonderland-themed restock was pretty hard to resist! TBG also launched a new website with this restock to facilitate ordering, the shopping experience was really simple and quick but for some reason my paypal payment didn't go through. I realised this only when the order numbers before and after me were announced to be shipped but mine wasn't included! I emailed Shannon immediately to enquire and it was clarified that my payment failed! Shannon sent me a new invoice quickly and shipped out my order the following day. I was so relieved to know that my order would still be honoured and I wasn't bumped to the back of the queue. The wax tarts in my order is seriously the most beautiful I have ever seen, I don't know how Shannon does it. I am so impressed!

Alice in Lavenderland French lavender with vanilla extract and marshmallow cream.
Sometimes simple is best, this is straight up lavender sweetened nicely with vanilla and marshmallow.

Drink Me Luscious strawberry milkshake, cherry tart, and vanilla flowers with a guava cherry drizzle.
The vanilla and cherry are really strong to me but I can smell a hint of the strawberry and guava too.

Knave of Hearts Fresh picked strawberry, cotton candy, brown sugar crystals, and coconut flakes.
I am not sure about this one, the strawberry smells vaguely plasticky. The black wax embed is gorgeous though, really intricate!

Lemon Tea Party The soothing scent of black tea blended with tart juicy lemon.
Mmm, I can't stop sniffing this one. Another simple blend but so so delicious!

Mad Hatters Tea Party White tea is layered under cool Moroccan mint in this refreshing tart.
Oh, I am surprised by white tea note, it's very perfume-y compared to the black tea. I am looking forward to melting this on a warm day. With the Moroccan mint, I think this would be really refreshing.

Orange Marmalade Bright and delicious marmalade
This scent is just spot on! So good! Can't wait to try it!

Sea of Tears This pretty tart begins with fresh air, sea salt, ocean mist and aquatic florals. Green notes and beachy musks round it out. A very creamy floral.
Very lovely, this one. I get everything, fresh air, sea salt and the florals, and the sweetness of the musk.

Tea Party with Alice An unusual tart just in time for Alice's tea party! Bottom layer of black lemon tea, topped with strawberry jam, and drizzled with sweet honey cream.
So many layers of delicious scents, I am looking forward to see how it melts down. The only scent I am not really getting is the strawberry jam. Also, this tart is beautiful!

Tea with the Queen of Hearts Make no mistake...the Queen of Hearts likes her roses and her tea red. This tart is the most amazing of scent of Roobois Red Tea. Very comforting and mild, just like the drink.
I like this one very much, the rose scent is the strongest but like the description says, it's mild scent. Very pretty.

Tweetledee's Dilemma Vanilla extract, tropical bubbles, and a swirl of grape serendipity to really mix things up.
The grape note is sooo good! And the swirl is literal, such a pretty design.

Tweetledum's Epiphany Cream soda, sun-ripened raspberry, and a vanilla peach pudding.
This is my first peach scented tart and it is amazing! I can also smell the raspberry but not so much the cream soda. Definitely the surprise of the order.

Every order had three freebies, an Alice themed playing card (I got the Queen of Hearts!), a little brown one is supposed to be the cake that Alice eats. Smells like caramel cake. And for my block tart freebie, I got the one I was hoping really hard to get.

Duchess' Apple Rose Tart
A beautiful blend of apples and roses! And it is so strong that the box that holds my TBG clamshells smells like it now!

Wax Notes | June 2014 (1)

It's been a little quiet around here lately but it's going to get exciting soon! My Rosegirls sampler pack was shipped out a couple of days ago! Yay! I am so excited that I am finally going to melt the two Rosegirls chunks I have received and been hoarding! (Note the multiple exclamation marks!)

I had been keeping a few of my earlier orders at my PO box as I waited for the Rosegirls sampler. I estimated that I was high enough on the Rosegirls list for my sampler to be shipped within my 60-day limit for my packages to be stored at the PO box, so I kept them there hoping that I would be able to consolidate my orders and save on the shipping. So together with RG, I am going to receive my first-ever Sniff My Tarts mystery bag, Enchanted Candle Co. and a Vintage Chic Scents flash sale winnings. WHOOHOO!

The next big excitement on the wax horizon is the re-opening of Rosegirls on 21 June, 11am CST. The timing works out perfectly for me because I am travelling to Hong Kong for work next week but will be back in time for the opening. I have already worked out my wishlist. Since this is my first potential order, I am terrified of the opening rush and I am not confident of blending, I am limiting myself to 10 bakery bags of Rosegirl blends. Hopefully my fingers will be fast enough to click in those 10 bags!

Onto what I have melted for the first half of June.

Still Not Ginger (Two Timing Tart)
I quite like this blend of orange and ginger, it's not bright and citrusy but more mellow which makes it easy on the nose. Medium-low throw.

Vanilla Lavender (Crabby Candle Co.)
My nose is a bit stuffed so I might not be getting the full picture with this tart but to me the vanilla is stronger than the very herbal lavender. I don't feel like this two scents are blending well together and by that I mean the particular Vanilla and Lavender oil used rather than the choice to blend these two scents. Medium throw.

Strawberry Shortcake (Ten Digit Creations)
I am trying to use up my really old TDC stash so I can justify buying more in future. Note that this tart is really really old, like 2 years old, so anything I say, take it with a huge dose of salt. I am detecting mostly strawberry but it's not a fruity strawberry, more jammy strawberry. TDC's throw is always good though, medium high!

Key Lime Pie (A Bit of Bliss) - Not pictured
This reminds me of a vanilla lime ice cream from my childhood but I am surprised that it's milkier than I expected. I don't get much of the pie. This is throwing really well with my 11w warmer  in the office, right out of the doors!

Fruity Pebbles (Up The Creek)
What an authentic scent this one is. It starts out strong but slowly peters out to medium-high throw. Unfortunately, the scent only lasted one tea light which is really short in my book.

Repeat Melts
Silk Sheets (Two Timing Tart) - My first finished clamshell!
Lemon Juniper (Two Timing Tart)
Tease (Two Timing Tart)

Wax Notes | May 2014 (2)

My wax melting slowed down a little this month because I was overseas for a week in Taipei for a bit of work and a bit of play. Pictures will be up on my other blog soon. I did bring a wallflower plug-in with me but I think the electrical current wasn't enough and there was barely any throw. That was disappointing. I don't have much photos of my wax melts either because I just switched to the iPhone 5s and I am trying to figure out a new process for quick uploading of these pictures.

Lavender, Green Tea, Grapefruit (Bit of Bliss)
I am surprised how well these three scents blend together, there's a tinge of realistic bitterness from the Grapefruit and the Green Tea but the brightness of the Grapefruit and the soothing notes of Lavender balances it out really well. This is my first time trying BOB and I am impressed. The throw is high and lingers for a long time. After coming back to my room after a full day at work, I was surprised to find the scent lingering in the air. This is the first scent that I have noticed do that.

Tie Dye (Lasting Scent Candles)
Yummy, fizzy and fruity! Medium-high throw.

Vanilla Layered Root Beer Float (The Bathing Garden)
I am melting one cube and it started to throw very quickly. Very authentic and has a medium throw.

Princess B (Crabby Candle Co)
This is a really pretty scent, very sweet and floral. It makes me think of sweet honey! Medium throw.

Repeat Melts
Dried Apple Wreath (Ten Digit Creations)
Drunk Tweeting (Two Timing Tart)
Sleepy (The Bathing Garden)
Serendipity Peppermint (I Heart Wax)