Fall Fun Series II: A Plethora of Pumpkins

Pumpkin spice update 2017: I’m still basic. However, there has been noticeably less straight-up pumpkin spice in my life this fall. If anything, the combination of pumpkin cake & frosting has taken its place. I found myself adding many scented candles and wax melts into various shopping carts over the summer that went along with that concept. It is the year of the pumpkin cupcake.

Yankee Candle’s Pumpkin Buttercream, Goose Creek’s Frosted Pumpkin Cake, and Bath & Body Works’ Pumpkin Cupcake are some new-to-me candle scents I’ve enjoyed this season. I originally planned to compare and contrast the three candles with one another, but each scent is unique in its own way and is a welcome addition to my fall collection.

I gathered up a few new-to-me pumpkin themed wax melts to use throughout the autumn season as well.

Vintage Chic Scents – Headless Great Pumpkin
Vintage Chic Scents – Loretta’s Haunted Plantation House
Dessa’s Homespun Scents – Pumpkin-Mallow Bake
The Bathing Garden – Pumpkin Pie Spice
The Bathing Garden – Banshee Dreams
Candles From The Keeping Room – Pumpkin Cupcake
Candles From The Keeping Room – Pumpkin Mocha Latte
Scentsy – Very Peary Pumpkin
Goose Creek – Pumpkin Caramel Swirl
Goose Creek – Pumpkin Pie
Goose Creek – Pumpkin Cinnamon Ice Cream
Super Tarts – Psycho
Super Tarts – Elm Street

 

The rest of my recently purchased & used pumpkin favorites so far this fall include decor, hand soaps, body care, and a couple more home fragrance items.

A sparkly gold 3-wick candle holder from Bath & Body Works, a festive Jack-o’-lantern towel for the kitchen, and last year’s mug I completely forgot about until the other day.

Yankee Candle’s Moonbeams on Pumpkins 2-wick tumbler, Bath & Body Works’ Pumpkin Cupcake room perfume, and three Bath & Body Works hand soaps: from last fall, Pumpkin Berry Crumble made with pumpkin butter, and from this fall, Pumpkin Cupcake made with pure honey, and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin (Purrfect Pumpkin) in Halloween packaging.

Bath & Body Works’ Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin 3-wick candle, Kringle Candle’s Pumpkin Sage wax melt, and Sassy Girl Aroma’s Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Sugar Cookies chunk bag, to cover all pumpkin bases.

Bath & Body Works’ Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte body scrub and whipped body butter, made with pure honey. These products are divine!

And finally, a little farm pumpkin with a lot of character, and a random attempt at pumpkin-shaped cookies: Halloween-y gingerbread cookies with orange frosting and green sprinkles. I’ll need to get more creative with these for the next batch, but they were quite tasty.

 

 

Fall Fun Series II: Favorite Fall Scent

There are a few home fragrances that I absolutely must have around during the fall season. Anything and everything pumpkin spice, everything related to toasting marshmallows over the fire, and anything that captures the essence of leaves. If I had to pick just one, though, it has be the aroma of fallen autumn leaves. Bath & Body Work’s 3-wick Leaves candle is my top choice, but I have found a few that are close dupes, some that are similar, and a couple in this scent family that are quite different, but still very well loved.

 

Bath & Body Works – Leaves
– Crisp red apple, golden nectar, and warm clove spice
719 Walnut Avenue – Walk in the Woods
– Maple and birch woods, tangy pomegranate, juniper, and orange

Goose Creek – Crunchy Leaves
– Autumn leaves, cinnamon, black currant, tangerine, cedar wood, oak bark, and amber
Better Homes & Gardens – Crisp Fall Leaves
– Crisp harvest air and warm all spice
Kringle Candle – Leaves
– Leaves, woods, citrus, and spice

Scentsy – Falling Leaves
– Herbal patchouli, sweet and spicy cinnamon, and clove
Colonial Candle – Falling Leaves
– Freshly fallen leaves, ambered spices, and warm harvest grains
Dessa’s Homespun Scents – Fall Foliage
– Earthy autumn leaves after the rain, and crackling logs on the fire

Candles From The Keeping Room – Leaves (Type)
– Cinnamon, dried apple peel, allspice, fresh clove bud, and Vermont maple
Vintage Chic Scents – The Addams Family (Leaves Type)

 

I loved pulling each of these products out and comparing/contrasting all of the scent notes. It’s funny how some fragrances are so similar, but are described so differently… Or they are described similarly, but smell completely different! Dessa’s blend is probably the most unique out of this list, which I sort of expected, followed by the Scentsy wax bar.

I was meant to also share my least favorite fall fragrance, but since I already sorta trashed apple scents, I won’t rain on that parade anymore!

 

Fall Fun Series II: All About Apples

I’ll come right out and say it… for the most part, I do not like apples. I know, I’m weird. Most fruits are hit or miss for me, as far as snacking on ’em goes. However, I have found that I can tolerate the artificial scent of apples, preferably mixed with other yummy smells. For instance, the Warm Apple Pie wax melts & candles by Mainstays took me by surprise a few autumns ago. No recipes or decor for this girl, but, I do have a few new-to-me apple scents that I am excited to use this fall, much to the surprise of those that have ever lived with my love/hate/mostly hate relationship with apples.

 

I lucked out and bought several sugar scrubs from Bath & Body Works when they were on sale for only $6. Champagne Apple & Honey is a returning fall fragrance with notes of pink lady apple, sparkling champagne, and jasmine honey.

 

Caramel Applewood from Goose Creek is pretty much what I expected: green apple, caramel, and wood. I skipped this scent the past two fall seasons, but I made sure I grabbed it this time.

 

The Supernatural Victorian sampler from Vintage Chic Scents included two yummy apple melts. Witch’s Chair is Vermont honey apple and Vanilla Lace (Victoria’s Secret type), and Sanderson Sisters has notes of green apple, caramel, candy corn, and marshmallow.

 

Apple & Oats was one of many free samples I received from Candles From The Keeping Room last month. Its scent description includes crisp apple slices, steel cut oats, Tupelo honey, tart apple peel, vanilla extract, and maple sugar. Yummm. I feel spoiled already.

 

Even though the weather has started to change where I live, this past week+ has felt very un-autumn-like to me. I’ve temporarily slowed down on my pumpkin frenzy. My mother and I celebrated our birthdays along with two others in our family. For these occasions, I’ve gravitated more towards simple vanilla cake type scents, and I’ve enjoyed gazing at fresh flowers more than my pumpkins. I did, however, purchase my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season, and started the first late night fire. I’m curious to see if anyone is in full fall mode yet. I am certainly in full fall semester mode.

 

Goose Creek, Better Homes and Gardens, & ScentSationals Small Haul

Happy Independence Day to those of you that celebrated! I had a great time with my family on the 4th. The holiday inspired me to place an order with Goose Creek a few weeks ago, so I could enjoy their festive Red, White & Blue two-wick tumbler during the day. I missed the candle last year, but was happy to see it in stock this summer.

Along with that candle, I picked some scents for the seasons ahead: 1 Frosted Pumpkin Cake two-wick tumbler, 2 wax melts in the fall scents Carrot Cake and Kentucky Harvest, and 1 Balsam Fir for winter. I kept it as simple as possible since this was a spontaneous purchase.

Carrot Cake is a re-purchase, because I’m in love with this fragrance. Balsam Fir is new to me, since I kept skipping over it and figured this year, I need to have it. Kentucky Harvest is delightful. It includes apple, caramel, clove, vanilla, and cedarwood notes in its description. I also received a free gift with this purchase: 1 Exhilarating Pineapple room spray. I know either my mother or my sister-in-law would love this scent, so I will most likely pass the spray along.

To burn for the current season, I chose a few sweet bakery wax melts from Walmart: 2 Better Homes and Gardens melts in Brownie Pecan Pie and Vanilla Cookie Crunch, and 1 ScentSationals wax melt in Iced Lemon Sugar Cookies. I am stepping out of my comfort zone a bit by trying out lemon and chocolate scented wax. I need some sort of wax fairy to boop me on the head with her wand and dissolve my strange wax-related worries. The worst thing that has ever happened to me when I tried something new was that I had a fierce craving for a cappuccino.

Do any of you have any “out of my comfort zone” scented candle and wax experiences? I am always curious about other people’s scent preferences!

Goose Creek: Blueberry Cheesecake

I received this 24 ounce Blueberry Cheesecake large jar candle from Goose Creek. These large jar candles retail for $27.99, and this fragrance comes in other forms, such as wax melts, plug-ins, room sprays, tea lights, votives, centerpiece candles, folk art jars, and medium jars. This blueberry candle is currently on sale at the time of this post!

My first impression of Blueberry Cheesecake, on cold sniff, was that I picked up on a strong, sweet blueberry note that made me very happy. I love blueberry fragrances and the scent appeal of this candle is 5 out of 5 stars for me. As I continued to smell the candle cold, I did pick up on a cheesecake or cream cheese note. It isn’t overpowering at all, but it is a nice, subtle companion to the blueberry. When the candle is lit, I get about the same ratio of blueberry to cheesecake as I did on cold. I don’t get any bakery or vanilla notes in this fragrance, like many other foodie or dessert candles contain. The scent and throw of the candle is medium-strong, but not so strong that it would kick anyone out of the room. I could smell Blueberry Cheesecake in the other rooms and halls of my home as it was burning, and the scent lingered well after extinguishing the flames.

What I love most about the Blueberry Cheesecake candle is that it performs really well each time I burn it. The two wicks help the melted wax pool out evenly, so I don’t have to deal with issues like tunneling, and I get a clean burn each time I light it with no sooting as well. It is a win-win: the wax pools out quickly enough that I can start smelling the scent soon after the candle is lit, but it does not burn too quickly, so I can keep the candle lit for a while without worrying about burning through too much of the product.

I’m very happy about adding another well done blueberry scent to my collection. I would recommend this candle to anyone that enjoys sweet, fruity scents, especially berry desserts. Although I would mainly burn Blueberry Cheesecake during the spring and summer months, this is also a candle that I would reach for any time of the year.

Blogmas 2016 Day 25: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! To those of you that celebrate other holidays, Happy Holidays to you, and to anyone that doesn’t celebrate at all this time of year, I hope you have a great day and that the season has been kind to you.

I was going to post about some of the beauty & scent-related gifts I received, but I will save that for another post. Today I just wanted to focus my final Blogmas post on wishing everyone a happy holiday.

As a beauty and scent junkie, it’s been wonderful to receive all of my gifts this year, but of course the products themselves aren’t the real gifts. It’s the kindness that I’ve been shown, for this holiday and really the entire year. I’m truly blessed to finish this year and begin another one knowing that I’ve stuck to my goals of being happy and healthy, and that I don’t have bad blood with anyone. Instead I have a lot of kindness to repay.

Again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you. I’m off to eat a big plate of chocolate chip pancakes.

One last time for the final Blogmas post…

Body Care Scent of the Day: Bath & Body Works Gingerbread Latte
Home Fragrance Scent of the Day: Goose Creek Christmas Cakes

Blogmas 2016 Day 23: My Christmas Trees

It’s about time that I posted photos of my Christmas trees! I didn’t end up decorating my large Christmas tree this year, so I’ve been surrounded by mini trees all month. My nieces helped me decorate two of them, which is always a fun activity for us to do when they come over to visit. I’m sure I’ll be sad to put the colorful trees away next month like I usually am when the new year begins. My trees have become my favorite part of my holiday decor. I have some favorite ornaments as well that I will post about tomorrow.

It can be difficult to see it in person, but there is a baby tree next to that Santa.

 

I mentioned a few times that I was away from home for four days for work related stuff. I was so excited to come home, but since I’ve been home I came down with a cold! I’m not so sure I’m going to be cooking my Italian dinner for everyone if I’m still ill, since I don’t want to contaminate others. As of now, my Christmas plans are up in the air.

I’ve been in bed all day, drinking lots of tea and watching all of the holiday episodes from That ’70s Show. It is snowing again, so we’re guaranteed a white Christmas at this point. I’ve had plenty of time to relax and watch the snowflakes drop down all around me through my windows; it’s actually really calming (when I know I’m not going to go out and shovel any of it).

 

Body Care Scent of the Day: Bath & Body Works Lavender Vanilla Aromatherapy
Home Fragrance Scent of the Day: Goose Creek Vanilla Hot Chocolate

Blogmas 2016 Day 7: Christmas Beauty Tag

Well, we made it through the first week of Blogmas! It has been surprisingly easy to keep up with holiday-related posts and I actually like winding down each night with a festive blog post. I’m aware of how much I overuse the word festive, but this blog series is just oozing with festivity. It will be really neat to look back on all of these posts next year, because it is usually only old photos that remind me of what previous holiday seasons were like. I wanted to do a Christmas tag today, so I chose one that focuses on beauty. I found this Christmas Beauty Tag through several blog posts from last year. Here we go!

1. Have you been naughty or nice this year with your skincare routine?
I have been nice to my skin this year, but I think I could do better. I need to invest in a good under-eye cream. Besides that, I’ve gotten better at completely removing all of my makeup every night, and moisturizing, exfoliating, using gentle cleansers, using sunscreen, never touching my face, and so on.

2. What’s the go-to beauty, makeup, or skincare product you would gift to your family and friends?
My family and close friends aren’t big on beauty products, so body care trios from Bath & Body Works in either men’s or women’s scents are my go-to products. They all seem to like a good scented shower gel and loofah every now and then. My boyfriend gets colognes from me a lot, too.

3. Do you mind gifting high-end products or rather gift drug store products to others?
I would love to gift some of my favorite Too Faced or Tarte products to others, but none of my friends or family are very into beauty products at the moment. Many of the women I am close to are mothers to young children and babies now and when the topic comes up, they say they have no interest in wearing makeup anymore. When they are ready, I’ll be there!

4. What are the beauty products you’re hoping to get to see under your Christmas tree this year?
I mentioned to my boyfriend that I am always looking for colorful, gooey lipglosses that hydrate my lips. I also mentioned that I wouldn’t be mad if I received the new Bath & Body Works Gingerbread Latte trio. There are a couple of high-end makeup products that I already ordered for myself and will be sharing on my blog soon!

5. What is the beauty product that you’re dreading to receive for Christmas this year?
At first I thought this question was ridiculous, because I never dread any gifts. If I had to answer, though… I remember in middle school and high school, my friends and I would often gift each other scented products like candles, lotions, and sprays, and sometimes I would receive fruity scents that I hated. Fruity scents are very hit or miss for me, because I generally don’t like most fruits. I received a Sparkling Peach spray one year, and something like a mango candle another time. I dread them because I would never re-gift something I received from a friend or loved one, so I force myself to use them. I still have some of that peach spray left all these years later…

6. Are you participating in Blogmas this year? If so what is the post you’re most proud of so far?
Yes, I am doing Blogmas this year. I don’t think I am proud of any particular post, I’m just happy that it is going so well. I thought it would be a challenge to keep up daily or that I would get tired of posting about Christmas.

7. Do you remember the first beauty product you received as a Christmas gift? What was it and did you enjoy it?
I remember when I was in kindergarten or first grade, I was in love with my mother’s red lipstick and pearls and was always caught playing with them. I was ridiculously girly. I only wanted to wear dresses, fancy jewelry, and was upset when I found out lipstick and blush wasn’t for me yet. I did finally receive my own red lipstick, on the condition that it only went on my face when my parents approved. It came in one of those cheap kid’s makeup sets that I’m sure we all remember wanting.

8. What mini size product would you recommend as a great stocking stuffer?
Too Faced has some adorable holiday items that are packaged as ornaments and would be great gifts for any makeup lover. I personally am a sucker for mini perfumes, and I know Sephora has some great sets of those year-round.

9. Would you rather your friends and family ask you gifts you wanted to receive or have them surprise you?
I would prefer if my friends and family didn’t purchase me anything at all and spent the money on their children or themselves. I hate feeling spoiled. I spend so much time spoiling myself! The coolest gift would be to come over and hang out with me for the holidays. They could also come bake and decorate Christmas cookies with me.

10. What is your favorite way to show Christmas spirit through your look or outfit?
I’m really into festive sweaters – not necessarily ugly Christmas sweaters, but I don’t mind those as long as they are cute! I have to have a comfy new sweater every year to wear for Christmas celebrations. As for my look, I’ll always choose whichever eyeshadow palette I’m in love with at the moment, find a matching lipgloss, and usually curl my hair.

 

Body Care Scent of the Day: PINK Sleigh What?
Home Fragrance Scent of the Day: Goose Creek Peppermint Snowflake

Blogmas 2016 Day 5: Goose Creek Goodies

I placed one online order for Black Friday on the night of Thanksgiving this year and it was for Goose Creek Candle. I can’t say enough positive things about Goose Creek. The staff are wonderful people that are happy to chat with us candle fanatics in their Facebook group every week. Their customer service is excellent, and they have very fair prices and great sales throughout the year. Most importantly, their products perform well. I get a nice, clean burn with each candle so far, and there are plenty of unique scents that stand out in my collection. They are powerful scents that throw throughout my home. This is not a sponsored post! These are just my honest thoughts, and the reasons why I was happy to spend a minute away on Thanksgiving to purchase a couple of new holiday scents to try out.

I was most curious about Christmas Cakes, so I went ahead and ordered it in a large jar despite never sniffing it before. I haven’t lit the candle, so I can’t review it quite yet, but I love the smell of it so far. I get a really yummy bakery, vanilla scent with a bit of brown sugar.

I ordered two wax melts: Christmas Cookies and Peppermint Snowflake. I’ve had my eyes on these two wax melts for over a year now, so I figured it was time to get ’em and beef up my winter holiday collection.

Another new scent I was intrigued by was Italian Winter. I ordered this in a 1.5 ounce firefly (mini-candle) and I am saving it for Christmas dinner, as it will fit in nicely with the large Italian feast that will be served. This is by no means a foodie scent; it is fresh and herbal in a way I have never smelled in a home fragrance before. The scent notes listed online include merlot, ivy leaves, and warm amber.

I also received a free gift for my Black Friday purchase and it was a 1.5 ounce concentrated room spray in the scent Confetti Cake. I was very happy about this gift, because I ordered the scent in wax melt form earlier this year and loved it. It reminds me of the cereal Fruity Pebbles.

As I was putting my scents away (I am saving them to burn on Saint Nicholas Day tomorrow!) it dawned on me that I was so distracted all weekend, I’ve forgotten about my advent calendar! I had 3 days of chocolates to catch up on.

Now the rest of my evening/night will be spent on health & fitness. I’m trying to make more of an effort to be healthy and fit again after getting into a slump over this past summer and fall. I have an hour of cardio planned followed by some light weight lifting. I’ll be fueled by a chicken-topped garden salad.

Body Care Scent of the Day: Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar
Home Fragrance Scent of the Day: Bath & Body Works Vanilla Snowflake

Blogmas 2016 Day 2: Starbucks & Other Goodies

How cute is that snowman cookie and the cup from Starbucks? I’m such a sucker for little details like that. If anything can cheer me up about the fall season being over (and no more PSLs), it’s definitely a peppermint mocha after shopping that hits the spot. The cookie was a last minute bonus.

As I mentioned yesterday, the bulk of my shopping was related to a birthday event this weekend, but I stopped at Walmart for some festive purchases too. I picked up a couple of Better Homes & Gardens wax melts, a throw blanket, and a pair of fuzzy PJ pants so that I am ready for the freezing winter weather. I live in Wisconsin, so I do literally mean freezing. What I forgot to grab were fresh pairs of fuzzy socks. Oh well.

I’ve got a night of laundry ahead of me, plus I need to catch up on The Walking Dead before any spoilers get me. Hopefully I don’t keep myself up too late, because I’m getting up early to head to the mall and shop the Bath & Body Works $8.50 candle sale tomorrow.

This morning I had a biiig chocolate chip muffin for breakfast with a side of advent calendar chocolate. Don’t worry, I don’t always eat this crappy. A red velvet scented candle and body care was an obvious choice for the day after all of the cocoa goodness.

Body Care Scent of the Day: Bath & Body Works Red Velvet Cheer
Home Fragrance Scent of the Day: Goose Creek Red Velvet Cupcake
What are your plans for the weekend? Are you doing Blogmas this year too?