Category Archives: tarts
REVIEW: ScenSei Wax Tarts
Although I have been in the wax world for several years and definitely have my tried and true favorites, I still like to give newer vendors a try, especially when I have heard many good things about their products. I was super thrilled to get the chance to try a vendor that has been a hit since early this year: ScenSei, Master of Scents.
I’ll be honest, one of the most important things that drew me to want to try ScenSei is the turn around time. In the last couple of years, the wax tart world has absolutely blown up, and there are more customers and vendors than ever. This often means that ordering from popular vendors will leave you with a very long wait time to get your products, often two or more months. However, with ScenSei, TAT is fast and you can have your tarts in your hands in less than two weeks.
The company is owned by Elizabeth Jewel, a very sweet lady from Virginia. In every dealing I’ve had with here, she’s been an absolute doll and I’ve never heard a bad word about her customer service from anyone else, either. This is also a very important quality I look for when ordering tarts.
ScenSei’s bread and butter is the clamshell tart, and I love that for it’s simplicity. I’m not one who orders a lot of fancy shapes, and these fit the bill just fine for me.
When I first received my clamshells, I had to marvel first at just how beautiful the labels were! They are printed in bright, vibrant colors that have designs that reflect the scent of the tart. Here are a couple of my favorite labels.
Among a jumble of other tarts from my wax stash, these stand out and there is no mistaking that they are from ScenSei.
My only issue with ScenSei tarts at all is that they are the softest tarts I have ever used. I know pure soy is naturally a softer wax, but some of these gave me some difficulty with popping the cubes out of the clamshell at all, even after putting them in the freezer. Elizabeth does recommend storing the tarts in the fridge, which is probably OK with some, but to me it’s a little inconvenient–I like to have all my wax in one place, and if some if in my fridge or freezer I will not have it in front of me to remember to use. This was not the case with every scent though, and I think only one or two out of ten gave me this trouble.
So, getting down to the meat of the review, here are my thoughts about the scents I tested. All tarts were melted in a bulb warmer with a 40 watt bulb. I’ll put the ScenSei description in italics first, then my notes.
Winter Mint: Vivid and spicy blend of peppermint, spearmint with a touch of eucalyptus. This was very strong and long lasting. It’s not a straight up peppermint, but a blend of winter mints and you get menthol notes.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake: Pineapple, vanilla, and caramelized goodness are the keynotes of this amazing baked scent. Your friends and family will think you are baking them up something special! One of the softer waxes. I can pick out both the cake and pineapple scents, which hardly ever happens in this scent from other vendors. Moderate throw.
Cotton Candy Spin: Just like fairy floss: This scent is an airy and sweet cotton candy fragrance with fruity notes of strawberry and raspberry,with hints of roasted almond and sweet vanilla. A medium to strong, true cotton candy scent. You get the sweetness of the vanilla and strawberry but a bit of tartness too.
Sugar Cube: Unusually complex, yet subtle, mix of aromas to include a rich, warm vanilla base, combined with top notes of strawberry and bergamot. Perfect for when you have spring on the brain!! A strong throw, I found this a soft, feminine scent. I think this would be perfect for bedrooms, and relaxing. A bit perfumey, but no floral notes.
Pony Kisses: Vibrant green floral notes of fresh clover with crisp clean apple. Earthy and fresh. Very strong, fresh scent that really brings in the spring and summer. Equal notes of clover and apple. Very unique!
Lemon Meringue: Smooth and creamy with the perfect amount of lemon, crumbly crust and warm vanilla peaks of meringue. The softest of all the tarts I received, I had to put this in the freezer to be able to get the cubes out. However, this did not affect the scent, which had a medium to strong throw. Very, very sweet lemon, with bakery notes that round this scent out nicely.
Fruitsy Loopsy: This child hood memory of a fragrance begins with top notes of lemon rinds, lime, and grapefruit; middle notes of lemongrass, lily, and verbena; and base notes of vanilla sugar. We swear…if it doesn’t take you back to being a kid, no other scent in our line will! Super strong. This was one of my favorites. A lot of vendors have this scent, which is a copycat of Fruit Loops cereal. This is a great version which is good for blending.
Gooey Caramelized Pears: Juicy, ripe crimson pears baked and sprinkled in caramelized brown sugar with maple butter and then drizzled with gooey honey and vanilla caramel to create this decadent bakery blend. My absolute fave out of all the ones I tried. I love to melt this scent in the fall and winter, because it makes the house feel so warm! The pear scent and maple scents are the main notes, with a honey sweetness in the background. Knockout strong, and lasted for a long time.
With over 100 scents, you’re sure to find something you like from ScenSei. Elizabeth is now also offering jewelry tarts, which I’ve not tried but have heard good things about! I would definitely order again from ScenSei, and recommend you give them a try as well.
UPDATE: Elizabeth shared this info with me last night.
“I also wanted to throw in the ring here that a short time ago I decided to change the ratios of the 3 100% paraffin waxes I blend to make my SUPER DUPER SECRET wax base (LOL!!). I did this after customer feedback pointed to the inconvenience of keeping tarts in a cold place like the freeezer and also just the difficulty people had with getting an ENTIRE cube out without getting all messy. I wanted to make the wax a TAD bit more rigid, so we don’t have to recommend keeping SMOS wax in the fridge or freezer anymore.”
REVIEW: Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax
So, I know it’s been FOREVER since I posted a review on a wax company, but I do still melt! I’m excited to share my thoughts on this amazing vendor with you today.
Here is some information about the company, in the owner Jenn’s own words:
“Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax is named after my youngest daughter, Jaimie Lauren. Jaimie is near and dear to our hearts, as she is on the Autism Spectrum. So, it was only fitting that we name my business after her. The business was founded in October of 2012. We specialize in making wonderful scented wax melts also known as tarts in an array of scents to please your senses. We do this by only using the finest materials such as wax, fragrance oils, coloring and molds. We offer our wax melts on Ebay where you can bid or buy it now. The choice is yours. By giving a choice we feel it serves our customers well. We have a small line of fragrances, but that grows every day. We like to keep things small to ensure quality control and better customer service. Customer service is very important to us so we strive to give our best. Making wax melts is a passion of mine. I’ve been making them for a few years now and enjoy the total creative experience from beginning to end. I think you will find that when you try one of our wax melts. We at Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections thank you for stopping by and we would love to be able to serve YOU!”
For the purposes of this review, I’m going to call the company JLCC for short (the full name’s a lot to type out every time, LOL).
Jenn was sweet enough to send me a selection of her melts to test out!
Please forgive my horrific camera.
JLCC offers melts in a variety of shapes: mini muffins, scallops, loaves, and adorable little puzzle pieces that symbolize Autism Awareness.
My fave is the tiny muffins!
Here are some of the other shapes I received, side by side.
Now that you’ve seen the shapes, what about the scents? Well, I was definitely not disappointed.
Serendipity Jaimie: Very sweet, lots of cotton candy. Strong.
Vanilla Bean Noel: A Bath &Body Works dupe that’s spot on. Usually I don’t melt this scent by itself, because it’s not very strong on its’ own. But I was pleasantly surprised by this version! I could smell it from a couple of rooms away!
Ultimate Creme Brulee: Creme Brulee is not one of my fave scents…I never would have ordered this on my own. But I was amazed that this Creme Brulee had a strong throw! You can smell the burnt sugar/caramel type notes.
Apple Butterscotch Cake: Lots of apple and buttery caramel. Not so much cake. But this scent is super strong and I love it…it threw for hours!
Gourmet Sugar Cookie: Really strong, sweet scent. Reminds me of my fave cookies (Lofthouse) with the frosting on top 🙂
Vanilla Hazelnut Coffee: I love this because in most coffee blends, the coffee portion is overwhelming. This one is a great blend that lets the hazelnut shine too.
Hot Apple Pie: Very spicy apple pie scent! In addition to cinnamon, which is the first thing that hits you, there is also some nutmeg and clove.
Coco Mango: I love this fruity, summery blend 🙂 It is a perfect balance of both coconut and mango notes, and strong.
Pink Sugar Zucchini Bread: At first I could really only smell the pink sugar, but as a few hours passed, the Zucchini Bread came out. The further I moved from the warmer, the better I could smell it.
Vanilla Frosted Grahams: Medium-strong throw. I smell a honey graham note, but it’s not as strong as it would have been because of the addition of the vanilla. Warm and spicy.
Maple Walnut Fudge: Really authentic maple scent! It’s creamy and lasted for a long time.
I am more than pleased with the tarts I received from Jaimie Lauren, and would definitely love to try more! You can buy your own tarts on the JLCC ebay store.
I’ll leave you with some more photos of Jenn’s wax works!
Jaimie Lauren Cupcakery & Confections in Wax Facebook Page
*DISCLAIMER: I was sent these items to test and give my honest review from the owner of the company. I was not compensated in any way for this post, besides the free product I received. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
BuggyTown Candle Company Review
BuggyTown Candle Company is a tart and soy wax product vendor located in Georgia. The owner, Chele, started out making wax products as a hobby, but this hobby quickly grew into a successful business. I recently had the olfactory pleasure of experiencing BuggyTown products for the first time, and I wanted to share my thoughts on these awesome tarts with you!
My products were very carefully and beautifully packaged.
I think the labels are just adorable, and I like that the labels are on the cup lid instead of the side. It makes it easier to tell which tarts are which when you’re trying to choose one from your stash 🙂
As you can see, there were quite a lot of scents I got! Let me tell you about some of my favorites from Buggytown.
Caramel Apple Pecan–So strong! This tart had a great balance of sweet apple and buttery caramel notes. One tart threw scent all day in my open plan living room and kitchen.
Mint Chocolate Chip–I surprised myself in liking this tart. To me, chocolate scents are usually very overbearing and don’t smell anywhere close to real chocolate. But this scent is mellow, and you can actually smell the mint notes more than the chocolate.
Cinnamon Dolce Latte–This is a very nice, room filling coffee scent. I actually smelled it as soon as I put it in my warmer, before it was fully melted. I didn’t get many strong cinnamon notes but I think that cinnamon and coffee by themselves are such strong scents, that they balanced each other out in this tart.
Christmas Hearth— Nice throw. The top note I got was a woody smokiness, with some pine, and a slight indiscriminate fruit in the background.
Jack Frost–This is one of my favorite scents from any vendor. BuggyTown’s version had a good throw, and it was mostly mint and menthol I could smell. I love this any time of year.
Sleigh Bells–This was one of my top 2 tarts from the package. It’s so strong, and lasted forever! This scent is very unique and I’ve never smelled anything like it. I couldn’t even really tell you the notes I got, though the scent description says it has cardamom, nutmeg, and orange. I didn’t pick out any of those notes definitively, but let me tell you, it’s a great blend.
Apple Maple Bourbon–This scent is quite similar to Caramel Apple Pecan, but the apple notes take over more here.
Cherries in the Snow–I had been hearing so much about this scent that I was ready to try it, even though I mostly hate cherry scents. I found this actually bearable! There’s cherry but it’s sweet, and really smells more like a berry!
Spiced Cranberry–I enjoyed this scent a lot. The color was very bright on the pot once melted. The cinnamon was not too strong but I could detect it a lot more than the cranberry.
Sugar Plum Fairies–This was my other favorite! I really can’t decide which I love more out of this or Sleigh Bells. This is so strong–fruity and unique with a bit of spice in the background. I know these two are holiday scents but I’d love to melt them year round 🙂
The one and only caveat I had with BuggyTown tarts is that some of them were quite hard to pop out of their cups. I know that means they were made fresh!
You can really tell Chele is a woman who has a passion for her craft, and it shows in her exceptional wax products.
BuggyTown Candle Company Website
BuggyTown Candle Company Facebook Page
Moneypenny’s Soysations Review
Moneypenny’s Soysations is a tart and candle shop based out of Illinois…but of course you can buy their products online too! It is run by one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever talked to, Angie.
I had tried some of Moneypenny’s tarts several months ago, and while the fragrances were OK, the wax was really soft and crumbly. I recently found out that Angie had started using an entirely new blend of wax and had a new and improved line of tarts! I couldn’t wait to try them again, and in really cute shapes too!
My awesome goodies!
I got a wide variety of scents to try! Angie puts a sticker on the package of each and every tart, so you know when it has reached its’ full curing time. I really appreciate this, because sometimes with soy and soy blend tarts, you are never really sure when to use them…you want them to give off the best throw they can, but you don’t want to let them sit for too long!
Moneypenny’s main line of tarts is their soy wax cube melts, but they now offer melts in a few other shapes too.
Jack o lantern, ghost, and pumpkin tarts
The jack o lantern and pumpkin tarts are the perfect shape for a melter bowl! The ghost is quite large and should probably be broken up or cut before you use it…unless you have a really large bowl!
Since there were SO many tarts for me to review, I’m not gonna list each and every one. I am gonna give you the details on my favorite scents from this package!
Apple Mango Tango–This is one of my top scents from any vendor, so I really liked this one. It was quite strong without being overwhelming, as some clean scents can be. This Apple Mango Tango seemed a bit different than others I had tried before, but in a good way. The apple seemed to really stand out to me in this blend.
Frosted Lime Cupcake–I really, really, really love lime bakery scents, and this one did not disappoint. You can definitely smell the zesty lime, on a vanilla cake background. No trace of “floor cleaner” notes that some limes and lemons can have.
Blueberry Muffin–Wow, this is a STRONG fragrance. A very classic blueberry muffin scent-sweet blueberries with a bakery background. Pretty much anything blueberry is alright with me, and this was great.
Caramelized Pear–I believe this is one of Moneypenny’s top sellers, and I can see why. It’s a very cozy scent for fall. I liked that the caramel and pear notes were equal in this scent–sometimes when you have any caramelized scent, the caramel notes are very hard to detect. This is somewhat like a caramel apple scent, but a bit more earthy.
Basil Sage Mint–This scent reminded me of a man’s cologne or body wash. The top note I get is the sage, the mint is very slightly there in the background. I think this would be great in a body product…for my husband! Actually, I’d like that very much 😉
Pumpkin Pie Spice–I liked this scent not because it was knockout strong, but because it was so different than what I was expecting it to be. Usually when you melt a pumpkin pie fragrance, you expect it to be overwhelmingly cinnamon-y. In this blend I detected clove as the top note, and I really love that about it. It’s still a great fall fragrance, and it’s not in your face with the cinnamon.
Toasted Marshmallow–Well, one ounce of this tart was not just a room filler, it was a whole HOUSE filler. I honestly put this in the melter in my bedroom at one end of the house, and before long I could smell it from 3 rooms away. Very powerful and delicious. This is a very sweet, mouthwatering fragrance. It will make you want to bake something or eat something sweet!
Lemonberry Crumble–This is a sweet, not tart, bakery lemon with a background of berries…not sure what berry, it may be strawberry or raspberry or something in between. But this is one of my favorite scents from Moneypenny’s, and it’s definitely very original.
Pink Sugar–Yall all know how I like pink sugar, but I so rarely ever melt it just plain! I’m not sure why, but I know now I want to more often. This PS was true to the real thing, and my husband claimed it almost knocked him out when he walked in the door while I was melting it!
Citrus Sunburst–I’m not usually into orange type scents too much, but this one was different. My husband is in love with this scent. I think it’s because of the tangerine and kumquat notes in it…his grandmother had a kumquat tree in her yard and he ate and picked many. This lasted all day for me!
I am so glad that Moneypenny’s Soysations has been changed for the better. Some vendors are so offended when they hear bad things about their products, but others take it upon themselves to make their products better. Angie has done this beautifully. The wax in the clamshells is much harder now, and not at all crumbly! It pops right out. If you haven’t tried Moneypenny’s yet, or if it’s been a while since you have, I highly recommend giving them another go! Angie ALWAYS offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more!
Moneypenny’s Soysations Website
Moneypenny’s Soysations Facebook Page
OhSoySweet Review
OhSoySweet is a darling little Etsy shop that makes handmade, handpainted sachets, potpourri, and of course tarts. But where the owner’s (a sweet lady named Jennifer) creativity really shines is in the scent combinations she comes up with and puts into wax form. Sweet Cherry Mint Zinger, Honey Spearmint Tea, and Tomato Leaf Herb Garden are just a few of the unique scents OhSoySweet has to offer. The tops of the little tarts are adorably decorated to correspond with their scents.
Jennifer has been making tarts for about a year, so she’s still pretty new compared to some other tried and true tart vendors. But she is full of ideas and inspiration! I was very pleased to be able to get the chance to review of some OhSoySweet’s tarts.
The generous package I received!
Jennifer is so nice, she even sent me a bag of her potpourri and a one-of-a-kind fragrance sachet. The potpourri was scented in Eucalyptus Sweet Mint. Eucalyptus just happens to be one of my favorite scents–it is soothing to me. I decided to put it in a glass bowl in my bathroom, so I could smell it while I showered. It scented my bathroom, and then some! The sachet was large, and scented in Orange Cream Cupcake. I put it in my walk in closet!
Look at how gorgeous these tarts are!
Now, normally I am very wary of melting any tarts with “stuff” on them–sugar, sprinkles, glitter, etc. I use a higher wattage bulb in my warmers, and sugar sprinkles have caramelized in the bottom of my bowl before. Luckily that did not happen with any of these tarts! I always pour my wax out of the bowl while it’s still liquid, and everything these tarts were topped with came sliding right out with the melted wax.
Closeup of the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Tart
As the name implies, OhSoySweet’s tarts are 100% soy. Here’s the details on the tarts themselves!
Crisp Cucumber Mint–This was a light, spa type scent. I mostly smelled the mint but there were some green watery notes there too, from the cucumber.
Blueberry Butterscotch Brulee–For being such a small tart, this was pretty strong! Blueberry is the top note, which is usually the case with any blueberry blend, but under that you get a caramelized butter scent too. I really liked this.
Christmas Candy Cane–Peppermint or candy cane is always one of my top fragrances any time of year. The cold throw on this tart was promising, but when I melted it, I got mostly menthol notes. Maybe a little more cure time would have done this one good?
Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake–This was not a knockout strong scent, but I could still smell it from across the room. This is a very sweet caramel with a milky background.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie–I wasn’t really expecting to like this tart too much, but I did! This was a weird tart in that I could barely smell it when I was close to it, but from the next room it was stronger. This is a fresh, not too sweet strawberry. The combination of the rhubarb gives this tart an earthy note, which I surprisingly liked.
Jennifer has let me know that she does plan to open a non-Etsy, independent storefront sometime in the future. Also, keep your eyes peeled for upcoming holiday items and sales from her shop!
OhSoySweet Etsy Shop
OhSoySweet Facebook Page
Sweet Light Candle Co. Review
Sweet Light Candle Co. is a company based out of Florida that makes unbelievably realistic dessert candles and melts. The shop also offers dessert shaped soaps, tealight candles, and tart burners.
When I first visited the site, I saw these unique, looks too real to be wax, cannoli shaped tarts!
Yummy!
In addition to making me hungry, they made me want to give Sweet Light Candle Co. a try. The owner, Dina, sent me a selection of products to review.
I received a Cinnamon Bun candle, a Pumpkin Spice Muffin Candle, Gumdrop Mini Cupcake Melts, and Wild Strawberry Melts.
The first thing I noticed about these items was that the attention to detail in these products is second to none. These are beautiful wax pieces.
Cinnamon Bun Candle
Pumpkin Spice Muffin Candle
Gumdrop Mini Cupcake Melt
Wild Strawberry Melts
This is another one of those vendors whose products are so gorgeous, you don’t want to use them! But the cold sniff was pretty good on each item, and I knew I had to go ahead and melt all this lovely wax for review purposes 😉
Pumpkin Spice Muffin Candle–Looks just like a huge pumpkin muffins still in its’ wrapper. You can clearly see the ruffles of the cupcake liner and everything 🙂
This candle was lovely and had a good cold throw, but its’ throw when melting was quite light. I could smell it when I got within about 3 feet of it. I melted this on the plate all day, about 10 hours, and it still had some wax left to burn the next day.
Gumdrop Mini Cupcake Melts–These are so adorable, and the “frosting” on them is hand sculpted. They are a nice size, over an ounce each. It seemed one melt took a little longer than usual to fully liquefy in my melter. Sweet Light Candle Co. wax is a blend of paraffin and vegetable waxes, so I’m not sure why that was so. To me, this gumdrop melt smelled like sweet grape candy. The throw was not knockout strong, it was more light to medium. But the scent lasted for hours.
Cinnamon Bun Candle–There’s not many foods I love more than a warm from the oven cinnamon roll covered in dripping frosting. This candle definitely smelled and looked like the real thing. The cinnamon bun candle was quite a bit smaller than the muffin candle, so it melted for a shorter time. But I got a bit more throw out of this one than I did the larger candle. Not a room filling scent, but pleasant nonetheless.
Wild Strawberry Melts–These are teeny tiny enough that I put 6 into my melter.
These were my favorite item out of all that I tested. The throw was medium, not overwhelming but I could smell it from quite a distance. The fragrance is sweet, sugary fresh strawberry. I let these melt for about 6 hours before I threw out the wax. I think adding more strawberries to the dish would give a better, longer lasting throw!
Sweet Light Candle Co. is worth a try if you are someone who likes your candles to look as realistic as possible! I know some people like to purchase candles as decor, and these would be perfect for that. If you want something that smells as good as it looks, go for the melts they offer. SLCC has an affiliate program, and also loves to do wholesale orders!
Sweet Light Candle Co. Website
Shayz Scentz New Fall & Holiday Items…and Giveaway! CLOSED
If you guys were reading the blog earlier in the month, then you’ll remember that Shayz Scentz is the October featured vendor. Shannette sent me some of her newest Fall and holiday tart shapes and fragrances to share with my readers!
HUGE pumpkin, Christmas tree, and gingerbread man tarts
Just another shot to show how thick they are!
Adorable little twisted bread loaves and gourds 🙂
Some of the Fall and Winter fragrances at Shayz Scentz are Dickens Christmas, Pumpkin Zucchini Bread, Cornbread, and Minty Mints. A couple of great Fall scents I have tried are Gingersnap and Spicy Cornbread.
Gingersnap is a very strong gingery, spicy scent. If you’re looking for a sweet cookie fragrance, this is not for you! I’d recommend it for true Gingersnap lovers who want to be reminded of their favorite snack.
Spicy Cornbread is so very unique. I’m really not even sure how to describe it. It was buttery but not sweet, spicy but not cinnamon-y at all. It threw strongly for more than 12 hours! I really loved it.
I want you guys to love Shayz Scentz as much as I do! That’s why I’m giving away some of these awesome Fall goodies to one of my lucky readers! This is what you’ll get:
A huge football tart and Jack o’ Lantern tart both in Pumpkin Pie Spice, a big leaf tart in Pomegranate, and 2 little gingerbread guys in Cinnamon Raisin Bread! You’ll also get a Shayz Scentz magnet to remind you who your favorite vendor is 🙂
Here’s how to enter:
1. Comment on this post and tell me which shape you like best. (Mandatory)
2. Like the Shayz Scentz Facebook page and make a post saying I sent you.
3. Like the Sweet Southern Home Facebook page and post that you’re entering the contest!
4. Follow this blog through Networked Blogs or email. Both links are located on the left sidebar.
And that’s it! Please leave a comment for each separate entry, with your email. Giveaway ends on 10/31/11, winner will be picked November 1! Good luck 🙂
Crosscreek Country Candles Review
Crosscreek Country Candles has been in business for ten years, and is based out of Ohio. The owner, Deana, is such a sweet and funny lady and she just makes you love talking with her!
Crosscreek offers wax tarts in hundreds of awesome fragrances, with some of the most delicious original scent creations I’ve seen from a vendor. You can tell Deana really loves mixing fragrances and coming up with something new. The tarts come in cups, scallops, and adorable prim and bakery shapes.
Prim Gingerbread Men
Cake Bites
Prim Cats and Pumpkins
I had been hearing so much about this company and couldn’t wait to try some tarts. Deana was pleased to send me some for review 🙂
The Goodies.
I knew I had to try one of the cute Halloween shapes! The jack o’ lanterns are quite large, just a bit larger than the bottom of my melting bowl. Crosscreek tarts are made of a paraffin blend. The colors were muted and not too bright. The boldest color was in the red tart I received, and happily it did not leave residue or a stain when I wiped it out of my bowl, as some red wax can do. The tarts were neatly packaged and the labels are simple and neat.
Lemme tell you guys how difficult it was to choose only six scents to review!!! Crosscreek has some of the yummiest bakery combinations I’ve ever heard of. Apple Buttered Zucchini Bread, Frosted Pumpkin Cupcakes, and Lemon Noel Cookies are some I’m gonna have to go back for. These are what I chose to review:
Citrus Cream–So when I started melting this tart, I was in my living room doing something or other. I didn’t really notice the scent. But I walked out of the room and came back in–WOW! It hit me pretty good. LOL. This tart made it smell like my whole house had been freshly mopped. It is a nice, clean, lemon with a zesty hint of lime.
Rainforest–This was on the lighter side for me. I smelled something powdery in this, which I don’t love, but it wasn’t a strong baby powder type note. I think it came from the floral note. There was also a combination of water and musk I detected.
Zucchini Cupcake–My FAVORITE from this selection of tarts. I wish I could tell you guys how yummy this was…I feel my description won’t do it justice. The main fragrance is a STRONG zucchini bread, but it’s the buttery, sweet ZB that I love…it’s not spicy at all. Under the zucchini bread you can pick up the sweet, vanilla, cupcake notes. This was delicious and threw forever. I need more!!!
Christmas Kitchen–A unique holiday scent! Many of my faves are rolled up into this tart. The top note is sweet sugar cookie, then you smell this subtle pine, and hints of peppermint. I wish the peppermint was a little stronger in this one, but I enjoyed this scent. The sugar cookie part was one of the best I’ve smelled…and sugar cookie is a hard scent to get right. It made me want to try her other sugar cookie blends.
Happy Halloween Cake–Another great bakery combo! This scent is a perfect mix of candy corn, marshmallow, and vanilla pound cake. You can really smell all three fragrances almost equally! This is actually one of the first candy corn scents I’ve tried where I could actually smell the candy corn.
Jack’s Gone Cranberry–A blend of Jack Frost and cranberry. The cranberry is the stronger scent, and it’s a good one–it’s not overly spicy or overly tart. The main note I pick up from the Jack Frost side is menthol, it’s light there under the cranberry. Strong throw, and lasted a while too.
I will definitely go back to Crosscreek Country Candles to get some more bakery blends–I think that’s what Deana’s best at! In my opinion, the tarts are a good value too–$8.50 for a 10 scallop sampler pack is nice. Go on over to Crosscreek and check out her awesome tarts, if you haven’t already!!
Crosscreek Country Candles Website
Crosscreek Country Candles Facebook Page
LoLe’s Giggles Review
LoLe’s Giggles is a new tart vendor that I was recently intrigued to come across. I had seen Lisa Marie’s page around Facebook before–but I thought she made cute girl items like tutus and bows. Well it turns out, she does–and now she’s making tarts too!
Lisa Marie is a work at home stepmom of 2, and has recently discovered her passion for making tarts. Lisa Marie’s products are all paraffin, which I love. I was more than happy to give my thoughts on a selection of her items. 🙂
The goodies I got.
First of all, I love the presentation of the individual tarts like this. As a buyer, a pet peeve of mine is getting a cello package that is tied tightly with ribbon that has to be cut off and then cannot be replaced. It is a hassle when you just want to open the tarts to sniff them! These tarts were tied with pieces of dual toned, sturdy cloth string. The strings were not tied in a knot and this made it very easy to open a bag, sniff, and retie the string.
Owls!
I also think the labels are adorable and girly. The label design is colorful, clean and modern.
Shapes I got.
My tarts came in a few different shapes, but my fave was the large cube. It’s about one and a half times larger than a Scentsy cube. The pumpkin was cute too.
If you look closely at the blue sun in the left of the photo, you can see pink sprinkles in it. The colors were vibrant without being too bright–have you ever gotten a neon tart that left a stain in your melting bowl after it was poured out? It’s a pain.
One unique thing about these tarts is that they are almost translucent looking. I had never seen this before. I think most tarts now are a parasoy blend, which makes for creamy wax. This effect in these tarts was very cool…it made the cubes kinda look like ice cubes.
My thoughts on the scents I tried:
Apple Cider Latte–Mmm, this was yummy. Good throw. Top note of spicy fall apples with a strong cinnamon. The coffee was very, very light in the background.
Blue Watermelon–This was unusual…it was definitely a fruity melon mix, but I’m not sure I smelled something I definitely recognized as watermelon in there. I’m not sure what the fragrance oil description is, so maybe it’s a blend of melons. Medium throw.
Coconut Lime Verbena–Wow, this scent was soooooo authentic. Coconut Lime Verbena is a Bath & Body Works scent, if you didn’t know that, and this tart smelled JUST LIKE the B&BW real thing. Gave a great throw for hours. Top note is lime, with a creamy coconut background and fresh verbena.
Pink Sugar–I am a pink sugar lover, so I was loving the cold throw on this tart. But when I melted it, it was very very light. Not sure what happened, but I wish this was stronger..the cold sniff had so much promise! 🙂
Country Berry Hotcakes–O.M.G. I need A LOT MORE of this scent ASAP!! This was definitely the best, strongest pancake scent I have ever tried. It may me one of my new fave scents, period! One cube of this was whole house strong. This scent is a sweet, buttery pancake, with blueberries and maybe strawberry? I’m not sure, but it is AWESOME.
Warm Vanilla Sugar–Another B&BW dupe, but this tart was not as good as the Coconut Lime Verbena. I got very little throw out of it–but that seems to happen to me with almost every vanilla scent.
Pumpkin Ice Cream–Very nice scent for fall if you don’t like getting hit in the face with all kinds of strong cinnamon. This is a cinnamon pumpkin scent, but it is smoothed out by creamy vanilla. It was strong, though!
So, overall I liked 5 out of 7 tarts I tried from LoLe’s Giggles. That’s a pretty good ratio! I would not hesitate to try Lisa Marie’s tarts again. I will DEFINITELY be getting some more of that Country Berry Hotcakes! The scent list at LoLe’s Giggles is not huge, but she is working on adding more, and what she does have so far is pretty good! You can buy tarts directly from her on the Facebook page, or her etsy shop. If I were you, I’d go check her out 🙂
LoLe’s Giggles Facebook Page
LoLe’s Giggles Etsy Page
Southern Lights Candles Review
Southern Lights Candles is a candle shop based out of Tennessee. Luckily, in addition to the store front, you can also buy SLC products online! You can find melts, candles, oils, and adorable warmers for sale on the site.
This is my favorite one!
SLC has been in business for over 10 years, and is run by an awesome lady named Lisa. She is so nice and has great customer service–she answers emails so quickly! I was glad to review a few Southern Lights Soy Melts for her. 🙂
Southern Lights goodies
Since all of SLC’s wax products are soy, I was a little concerned that the throw would be very light, as I’m more used to paraffin and parasoy melts. This was not the case at all!! The soy melts come in two different sizes–there are the mini melts, and the regular soy melts.
Mini and regular
There’s a side by side comparison with mini on the left, regular on the right. I just LOVE the shape of these melts. They are basically the exact size and shape of mini and regular Reese’s peanut butter cups. They peeled very easily from the paper cups, with no residue left on the paper at all. I also like the packaging the individual tarts come in. The labels are clean, simple, and tell you everything you need to know. Now for the good part. On to the scents!
Caramel Apple–Very delicious blend of fresh apples and buttery caramel. This was a lot more apple than caramel for me, but I didn’t mind. The apple was a real, juicy one. Notes of sweet vanilla caramel are in the background. A medium throw.
Thanksgiving–A great fall scent! Main note is spicy cinnamon, but there is a buttery pumpkin there as well. This fragrance was very long lasting, it lingered even after I had dumped the tart. I imagine this tart being knockout strong with a little cure time!
Lemondrop Cookie–Wow, this is such a yummy fragrance! A bakery lemon, with a sugar cookie note. It’s near equal on the lemondrop and cookie parts, with the lemon being a little more prominent. Definitely the favorite out of the scents I tested. STRONG throw!
Spiced Cider–Just what its’ name implies. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices on a base of apples and maybe the slightest hint of plums, or berries. A very warm Autumn scent. One mini melt in my warmer lasted for hours.
Hummingbird Cake–A unique SLC blend! Hummingbird cake is a very popular dessert in the South. The SLC tart smelled like a sweet, citrus cake. The top note was a bakery orange, with notes of creamy cake and coconut behind it. It made me hungry!
I could definitely see myself going back for a big bag of that Lemondrop Cookie! It is probably one of the best lemon blends I’ve ever tried. Couple that with Lisa’s great customer service, and SLC is a winner! Right now, the soy melts are on sale for $1. Give Southern Lights Candles a visit and check them out for yourself!
Southern Lights Candles Website
Southern Lights Candles Facebook Page
Sweet Southern Home 