Tara's Candle Cottage - Death By Vanilla

Look who got a new warmer! I actually have a warmer that has a little section for tart melts! Before I just had a hot plate from Bed Bath and Beyond and melted the tarts in small glass candle holders, which I'm thinking probably wasn't the best idea. Thus buying one from Michael's for $5. Plus this one is just so pretty! Who wants a plain ol' white one when you have this brownish-bronze shimmery ceramic one?? Nobody, of course!

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Death by Vanilla is, as I'm sure you could guess, just an explosion of vanilla. Vanilla vanilla vanilla all up in this... ahem. I like it, as I'm a vanilla fan like almost everyone else out there. The scent throw is good. It filled my room and part of the stairs, which lead right to my door. It's been melting for a good 5 hours and doesn't smell like it's faded at all.

I started melting this shortly after the Broncos' loss to the Ravens, which I'm slightly (a lot) upset about. I really thought they had a chance this year! My dad and I believe there might've been something up with Peyton's arm, because he opted out of his normal 3rd down passes a lot more than before and his passes were short. Don't even get me started on the referees, Fox's decision to fall back on his defense as the only line of defense between a win and overtime (Peyton could have thrown for a 1st down!!!!), and whoever decided that the Broncos wouldn't even try to make a run down the field deserves a quick kick in the 'nads. Football is the only sport I've watched and/or played where you don't play until the clock hits 0. *mumbles some more*

Tiffany Candles - Cheesecake

This is actually the closest I have come to that sweet bakery scent. And by closest I mean my father smelled it and asked me if I was making cookies. When I told him no, he promptly requested some. I don't really pick up on anything that would identify this as cheesecake, but I do get that sweet cakey smell, which I enjoyed. This scented my parents' entire house, overpowering even the turkey that we had going in the oven! This melted for a good 6 hours before the smell retreated to my room and still had some scent left in it when I decided to go with something else.

Boring Textual Reviews 2

I had saved some of the tarts that I'd cut in half and thought I would take a picture of them before melting them, but I decided to just post my thoughts here and if, when I melt them, I find the need to add more to my initial thoughts, I'll make another post with picture(s) about the tart(s).

Shayz Scentz - Pink Flip Floppers
This was the first tart I ever melted and boy did I love it! I'm a sucker for sweeter scents, though I do like to mix it up. This had a light florally vanilla and coconut scent mixed with Pink Sugar. The throw was dangerously amazing. I had it melting in my boyfriend's dorm and he could smell it from the elevator when he came back from work. Technically, we aren't supposed to have candles going and warmers are on the edge, depending on the dorm building, your Community Adviser, and the official college employee assigned to your building (I forget the 'official' name for them). Anyways, half a scent shot melted strong for well over 9 hours. That's not even counting when I first melted it in my bedroom over Thanksgiving Break.

Shayz Scents - Flip Floppers
I picked up an almost lemony undertone in this one under the lavender and coconut. It enriched the smell, in my opinion. The throw is good. I popped in 1/4 of a scent shot and it still lasted well over six hours. The scent stayed confined to the dorm room, though, and that was exactly what I was looking for.

Bella's Candles and Tarts - Red Velvet Cake
This had a sweet, cakey smell on cold sniff. When I melted it I got a waxy-cakey smell. Throw wasn't too great; the scent never left my bathroom area (my room has a small bathroom area with sink and cabinets that has a door leading to the toilet/shower. For a time I melted my tarts here)

Dutch Candle Company - Vanilla Raspberry
The vanilla tones down the raspberry here for a sweet, berry scent. I actually liked this berry scent. The throw was dangerously amazing (see dangerously amazing explained from Pink Flip Floppers). The scent lasted for 10+ hours from a half tart and when I turned off the melter I decided to store the wax for future use since it had plenty of scent left.

Orchid Lake Candles - Baked Apple Bread
Sour apple combined with a pie crust scent. This scent was okay, but I probably wouldn't buy this on my own as I don't care too much for apple scents. In moderation it's fine, but that was the main attraction for this baby. This smelled strong for over 7 hours before I fell asleep (it was Christmas Eve that I melted this!) When I woke up the scent was lighter, but still consistent. They blended this scent very well so that it didn't lose different notes as the melting went on.

Skye's Soy Candles - Pear Vanilla Sorbetto
Disappointing, in one word. No scent throw. I had this going for 4 hours in the hopes that the throw would get better over time, but that wasn't the case. The scent was only there if I stuck my nose in the wax and when I could smell it it reminded me of Laffy Taffy. I can see why this one was in a destash.

Tiffany Candles - Gingerbread House
Started off promising. It was a cookie and light cinnamon scent. After about 45 minutes, there was an explosion of cinnamon and the cookie died out. I removed this from the warmer at an hour and a half, as my mom and I couldn't stand the super cinnamon smell.

Tiffany Candles - Lavender Vanilla
Oh. My. Goodness. I put this on right after the flubbed Gingerbread House and it was so soothing and sweet... I loved it. The vanilla sweetens the lavender and (for me) made this such a pleasant sleepytime scent. I had it going straight for 24 hours and the scent was still going strong when I finally decided I wanted to move to something else. The throw was awesome. It scented my parents' entire house. I'm glad my family generally likes lavender scents, otherwise I would have made myself take this off the melter early so I didn't impose that scent on them. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I definitely plan on buying this again (speaking of which, as I type this less than 30 minutes until the site opens!)

Front Porch - Lavender Sugar Cookie Dough

This smelled like bread mixed with lavender. I haven't been having much success with cookie or sweet dough/bread blends. All I really pick up on is that pie-crust type smell. Nonetheless, this was pleasant, even if the throw and staying power made me sad. It barely filled my bedroom for about an hour, then the scent died off dramatically and I had to almost stick my nose in the wax to smell it. If I hadn't noticed the light from my melter, I would have forgotten that I was melting something.

Can Do Candles - Plumeria Milk

This is a very, very sweet and flowery scent. Just as the name would imply, it smells like the milk of a Plumeria flower would, or I'm assuming so, as I've never smelled one. The throw is decent. It filled my bedroom. The staying power was amazing. Not only did it melt strong for 12+ hours, after I'd turned the melter off the scent stayed well into the next day, until I melted my next tart.

Can Do Candles: (Aunt Carol's) Cream Puffs

This had a sticky marshmallow scent, however I did expect it to be sweeter. It was like marshmallow without the sugar, which, as we all know, is blasphemous and should never happen! The throw was decent; it filled the entire upstairs. The staying power was... less than average. It scented up nicely for about 2 hours, then the scent receded to the area immediately around the melter.

NOTD - China Glaze Glittering Garland

 

These pictures are actually from over the summer. I haven't been able to wear nail polish since the semester started as my job prohibited it. Right before I left for my Christmas break, however, I started wearing nail polish to work. If the girls from front house are allowed to wear nail polish, then I most certainly can in the back house with gloves in between my fingernails and the food!!! We did get a change in managers, though, so maybe our new set didn't think nail polish was that big of a deal.

Another problem I'm experiencing is my inability to grow my nails out. It's a sad reality of my job due to constant exposure to a variety of conditions. I'm still trying to find something that will let them stay long once I return to work in a few weeks.

Front Porch - Lilac and Lavender

I melted this last night and it was so very pleasant. For my first Front Porch melting, I'd say it was good. It's hard for me to describe how this was besides a pleasant lilac and lavender scent. The lilac slightly overpowered the lavender, but I still enjoyed it.
It threw really well. Anyone who went upstairs could smell this, but it wasn't overpowering by any means. The scent lasted 9 hours.

Boring Textual Reviews: Wax

A little over a month and a half ago I stumbled across the world of wax destashes. Because of that, I have a fairly decent stash now, although I can only give reviews of one vendor's actual ordering process (I'll get to that later) because I still have yet to order from any other vendors. The biggest reason for that was I'm be home from college and I would have overloaded myself even more if I had decided to buy anything more while home, as I have to fly back to my college town. Now some circumstances have changed (anything I leave here will be driven up to college by my parents as I'm moving into an apartment with my boyfriend and we will be in desperate need of furniture) but I just cleaned out my bank to pay down my college tuition and such. So, for now (with the exception of an order I should be getting tomorrow), I will have to make do with the destashed products I have. While I did write down my thoughts on everything I have melted so far, there were a few products I didn't think to take pictures of before I used it up, and I know how much some people, me included, hate picture-less posts. So I'm going to put them all here and try my very very hardest to include purdified pictures from now on.

 Dutch Candle Company - Autumn Forest This was a very spicy, leafy, autumn color. There was something in it that added an almost powdery smell that while helped mute the cinnamon, muted everything else as well. The scent stayed through for the 8 hours I melted it. Throw was awesome and filled the entire upstairs of my parent's house, as well as the front entry. My room's door overlooks the 1st floor entry, so it doesn't have to travel far to be smelled near the front door.
 Shayz Scentz - Pink Nog The obvious Pink Sugar and egg nog blend. When melted, I smelled mostly Pink Sugar with a slight, slight undertone of egg nog. After about 2 hours, all I could pick up on was the Pink Sugar. I kept this melting just because I like pink sugar. Throw was good, filled my room and most of the upstairs. After I turned the hot plate off, the scent lingered for a good while.  
Country Home Scents - Sweet Corn Pudding A sweet cookie scent. The scent itself is light, but it scented most of my parents house, which is impressive considering it was competing with the roast mom had going in her crock pot. The only downside is it smells like when I make my sugar cookies, so the family kept asking me if I was baking. This melted strong for a solid 7 hours.
 Tara's Candle Cottage - Raspberry Noel Cake This I was a pleasant raspberry-cakey smell. I don't usually like berry scents, but this blend was actually really nice. Throw was decent; scent stayed confined to my room. The scent didn't last that long. Maybe 3 hours. Then I poured out the wax.

Wow.. I really haven't melted that much hehe. In my defense I'm technically not supposed to have candles in the dorms, so I've done most of my melting in the past 3 weeks. Also, there are those first many melts that I couldn't imagine using whole in the melter, so I can still take pictures of those to add with reviews in another post. I have that issue with not using items because I don't want to 'waste' them? I know... illogical.