Sniff My Tarts - Pink Stilletto/Iced Pineapple/Blonde Moment

Scent Description: Sweet sugary crystals, sweet red fruits, raspberry, pure spun cotton candy/fresh cut pineapples with an ozony green top note/iced champagne mixed with rich sweet raspberry and cranberry.

Date Received: December 27, 2016

Weight Melted: 1.0 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5 A deliciously sweet and slightly effervescent blend.

Warm Sniff: 3/5 The scents all melded together into a very generic sweet scent. None of the champagne or pineapples were noticeable.

Scent Strength: 0.5/3 While a light scent strength isn't necessarily a bad thing, here it was. The scent itself was so light I wasn't entirely sure I was melting anything at times. It was only once I left the room and came back that I smelled the very light scent of "sweet."

Scent Throw: 2/3 This filled most of the living room.

Melting Power: 3/5 One tart lasted a little under 5 hours.

Repurchase: No. It's such a pity how much the scents died down once this was warmed. I had high hopes for it.

Vintage Chic Scents - Strawberry Jackie O

Scent Description: Fresh strawberries birthday cake marshmallow noel.

Date Poured: February 8, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.7 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4.5/5 A sweet and delectably berry take on the ever loved Jackie O.

Warm Sniff: 4.5/5 No surprises once melted.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the kitchen/dining area and hallway.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got  a little under 7 hours of scent from half of this tart.

Repurchase: Definitely, if I ever finish melting through the rest of this rose. I have a habit of letting wax sit, so I'm trying not to let that get too much worse this time around.

Olde Primitive Treasures - Lord of Misrule

Scent Description: Patchouli, sandalwood blend with hints of citrus and vetiver.

Date Received: March 1, 2016

Weight Melted: 1.2 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer.

Cold Sniff: 5/5 Delicious LoM, what's not to love?

Warm Sniff: 5/5 No surprises once melted.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the kitchen/dining area and hallway with its scent.

Melting Power: 3/5 I got about 5.5 hours of scent from one tart.

Repurchase: Yes, but time is limited. I think. Lara moved all operations to her website Oh, My Tarts! with the intention of using up all of her supplies before moving to Germany. While writing this post I looked for more information and saw no more mention of their move, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on with the company or if it's actually shutting down. Either way, everything has been rebranded under Oh My Tarts and you should try them out. :)

Lush Shampoo Bars

I've known about Lush and their shampoo bars for over five and a half years. I've tried their makeup, conditioner, bubble bars, bath bombs, body butters, hand oils, hair creams, and jar shampoos. I have gushed thick and thin about some products and given my best "thanks but no thanks" to others. Why, then, has it taken so long for me to try out the very first product of theirs that I discovered in the depths of YouTube?

The answer may never be known, but now I've had some time to play with these three shampoo bars and can give my thoughts.

Sniff My Tarts - Sugared Violets & Blueberry Noel

Excuse me while I try and apply my normal reviewing system to a hand-blended... well, blend.

Scent Description: No scent description available.

Weight Melted: Sugared Violets 0.6 oz, Blueberry Noel 0.7 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 4/5? How do I quantify this blend when the wax doesn't want to smush together enough to let both scents invade my nostrils? From what I could tell this seemed like a promising blend.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 I have a hard time describing florals. I always pick up on something powdery which influences the scent categories I blend my florals with. The most successful I've found is bakery, which contributed to this concoction. In short: a lovely springtime blend. In long? The warmth of late spring climbing in from open windows, promising comfortable warmth and happiness before the heat of summer sets in. Nearby fields of flowers boast of long adventures and games with friends. All the while, home beckons you with the scent of something sweet, something baked, something wonderful. It hints at blueberries, but you can't be sure while you're laying in the field of violets. As you drift off to sleep, these scents cling to you like dew to morning grass.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the living room, bedroom, hallway, office, and part of the kitchen/dining area with its sweet springtime goodness.

Melting Power: 5/5 I got a little under 11 hours of scent from this concoction.

Re-Blend: Definitely! If you plan to order this as a blend from SMT, I highly suggest that you keep the Blueberry Noel at 50% or more of the blend, otherwise it will be drowned out by the Sugared Violets. I initially made this 2/3 violets and was extremely surprised at how much it overpowered the blueberry noel.

Sniff My Tarts - Cotton Candy Frosting/Grape/Pomegranate

Scent Description: Strawberry, Raspberry, Plum, sugary crystals and sweet vanilla/A strong, sweet and sour grape aroma/none available.

Date Received: December 27, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.9 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 2/5 There was an incredibly strong artificial grape note. Almost like a sweet, tart, cheaply scented/flavored children's makeup.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 That weird scent note completely died off, leaving a cavity inducing medley of tart grape, sweet pomegranate, and slightly creamy cotton candy frosting.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the kitchen/dining area, hallway, office, part of the living room, and entryway with its sweet temptations.

Melting Power: 4/5 One chunk got a little over 7 hours of strong scent.

Repurchase: Definitely yes! Yet another prime example of why you cannot judge a blend by its cold sniff.

Sniff My Tarts - Marshmallow Noel/Vanilla Bean Noel/Blueberry Noel

Scent Description: "SMT Blend"/A rich, sweet vanilla sugar cookie with a slightly roasted marshmallow background and a hint of caramel/"SMT Blend"

Date Received: December 27, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.8 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5 My beloved blueberry noel mixed with a healthy heaping of creamy vanilla.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 I expect vanilla scents to really tone down other scents when I blend them, but the blueberry noel stayed incredibly strong. I'm psyched about that. As for the end result - just a super creamy vanilla version of blueberry noel. Same enough to be blueberry noel, but different enough to warrant its own purchase.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 Filled the entire kitchen/dining area, hallway, and office.

Melting Power: 5/5 Half of a pie slice got me 10 hours of scent, and I probably could have pushed for more if I wanted.

Repurchase: Yes! As I stated in the Warm Sniff section, this blend is different enough from SMT's Blueberry Noel blend that I would recommend anyone who is a fan of vanilla and Blueberry Noel give this one a shot. I know I'm going to buy more once this runs out!

Band of Bloggers: March 2017 Volume 15

 

Welcome to the March edition of Band of Bloggers! Hopefully this month begins to bring more temperate weather and the first signs of spring! In my neck of the woods, conditions have been alternating between crazy heavy rain/high winds and beautiful sunshine and blooming flowers. I hope the weather will stabilize a bit this month. Since the month of March usually holds the first signs of spring, that begs the question:

What scent are your favorite scents to melt and wear for spring?

Are you a fan of traditional spring scents such as florals, fresh/clean, earthy, herbal, etc?

Do you consider yourself a seasonal melter (melting scents traditionally associated with a particular season in that season?)

I'm a big lavender lover, but I find that I amp up the lavender during the spring. It all started in 2014 with the release of Bath and Body Work's French Lavender & Honey scent, and I haven't looked back since then. As for scents I melt, I tend to lean more fresh, clean, or floral. Earthy scents have recently made their way into my rotation, but I haven't had the best luck finding earthy scents that work in wax form.

I would say I'm a fan of traditional Spring scents. I love fresh/clean all year round, though. It keeps me in the mood to keep the house clean. I didn't think anything besides floral was considered a traditional Spring scent, though.

As for seasonal melting.... I try to stay seasonal, but when I'm in a particular mood for a scent that fits better in Fall or Winter, I melt it. I can think of a very specific person who cringes every time I post about out of season melts. If only she knew how often I actually melt out of season...

We hope you'll join the fun and leave your own answer in the comments below.

And we hope you'll visit these Band of Blogger blogs and help support the blogger community!

Amanda at Thrifty Polished

Deb at It's Always Something

Jaybird at The Candle Enthusiast

Julie at The Redolent Mermaid

Lauren at LoloLovesScents

Liz at Furianne

Sandra at Finger Candy

If you are a blogger and would like to join the Band of Bloggers for our monthly posts, please contact us.