Feeling Springy!

A little while ago I decided that it was time for a bit of a change...I needed to stop burning and wearing my warm, cozy scents and start getting some more fresh and summer scents. I'm definitely enjoying the change of the season and the scents have brightened my mood!

I will list the things I've picked up more recently. Expect reviews on all of them and a possible YouTube haul video! Everything is Bath & Body Works with the excption being a few of the candles (will specify).

Candles from Bath & Body Works:

1. Strawberry - 3 wick, Mason Jar, & 1.3oz mini
2. Caribbean Escape - 3 wick
3. Beach Cabana - 3 wick & 1.3oz mini
4. Island Margarita (x2) - 3 wick & 1.3oz mini
5. Coconut Leaves - 3 wick
6. Market Peach - 4oz

Candles from Yankee Candle:

1. Lemon Lavendar - Medium Jar
2. Soft Blanket - 7oz Jar
3. Soft Blanket - Large Jar
4. Bunny Cake - Large Jar

Body Care from Bath & Body Works:

1. Sea Island Cotton - Body Lotion, Shower Gel & Fragrance Spray
2. Moonlight Path - Body Lotion, Shower Gel, Fragrance Spray & Body Butter
3. Country Chic - Body Lotion, Shower Gel, Fragrance Spray
4. Beautiful Day - Free Eau De Toillete preview

Cinnamon Sugared Donut Candle

This review is on the Fall 2012 version of the 4oz. Cinnamon Sugared Donut candle from Bath & Body Works. This scent has been released so far in 2011 and 2012...here's to hoping for a 2013 release as well!

Initial Impressions: The first time I smelled this scent in the store I KNEW I would have to purchase it that day. It is my absolute favorite foody-scent candle to date. It definitely smells like a sugared donut, however it reminds me more of the amazing scent that theme parks will pump into the air at their bakery's to make you go in and buy a pastry goody. Unfortunately, I never got around to getting anything more than one of the 4 oz candles and one of the 1.3 oz candles while they were in stores. Thankfully, though, they are still available at Outlet stores. I got two more of the three wick candles this week for $7.99 each (with a coupon though they averaged around $6 each). Fantastic! 

Burn: The burn on this candle has been flawless so far. I've used a little more than half of the 4 oz candle and have had absolutely no problems with it thus far. The flames have been high, it has formed a nice mushroom top and the wax has been melting nice and evenly. It takes usually about thirty minutes for the wax pool to spread out all the way. 

Scent Throw: The scent throw on this little candle is great on the 4 oz and very minimal on the 1.3 oz. I have yet to burn any of my 14.5 oz candles in Cinnamon Sugared Donut but I'm sure the throw will be much stronger on them. With the 4 oz candle lit in my room I can smell it throughout the house and especially when I walk down my hallway. It's nice that it spreads from room to room. It also seems to be a lingering scent. My room will smell bakery-like for the next day, which is awesome. 

Overall I give this little candle a 5/5 for performance AND spectacular scent!

Vanilla Bean Noel Body Lotion

This review is on Vanilla Bean Noel. Vanilla Bean Noel is a Bath & Body Works Holiday Traditions collection, which means it usually comes out some time in late October and is in stores through December. So why am I reviewing this NOW? Well, I actually just recently got it in the mail and I think this scent is a nice one for any of the cold months (I did not pick it up over Christmas). Currently, Bath & Body Works has this scent in the 8 ounce size, along with Frosted Snowberry on their website for $5.50 (50% off)...I'm sure these are both while supplies last, so if you're interested definitely order one soon! This scent is one of the ones that they release every year.

Scent: Smelling the bottle, I was a little off-put by this scent...it smells like a huge mixture of every sickly sweet food in the world, however it warms up once it's on the skin and smells like half-baked sugar cookies (that yummy smelling point where the edges are getting done but the middle is still cooking) with a dab of chocolate whipped icing and caramel. Even though I love foody-type scents like this, it's a bit too sweet for every day wear and is definitely a scent to use as a treat every now and then! The scent is also very strong when it's on the skin, so a little goes a long way with this one!

Top Notes: Natural Vanilla, Sweet and Buttery Cream
Mid Notes: Caramel, Hint of Chocolate
Dry Notes: Soft Musk, Sugar Cookie

I don't think the scent of Vanilla Bean Noel compares at ALL to Warm Vanilla Sugar. They're completely and totally different scents and if you like one you may or may not like the other. I do enjoy them both and will be featuring a review on Warm Vanilla Sugar soon. Overall, Vanilla Bean Noel is much sweeter than Warm Vanilla Sugar.

Performance: As usual, it's the regular Bath & Body Works lotion, nothing too special. It's not a lotion that is great for you if you need insane moisturizing. It definitely does moisturize your skin, but it's a light moisturizing. Most people pick up Bath & Body Works products for their great scents! The lotion itself is a tad runny and surprisingly I found that this one took a little longer than usual to absorb into my skin. It left my skin feeling a little greasy for a tad longer than usual, but once it was fully absorbed this was not a problem.

Packaging: One cool thing about this scent is the packaging and the color of the lotion itself. Most Bath & Body Works lotions are plain white with the scent added, however this lotion is tinted a very, very light minty green color. The bottle itself is clear in the 8 ounce size and it boasts a shiny green pop-top lid with a matching label with a white reindeer. The packaging for all of the 2012 Holiday Tradition's scents are really colorful and fun!

Overall, I would give this scent a 3.5/5...mainly because it's too sweet and strong for daily use. When used as a treat, it's wonderful!

Cashmere Glow Body Lotion

Cashmere Glow is a scent that was released from Bath & Body Works in October of 2012, making it still a very new scent. It is categorized under the "Warm and Cozy" scents of the store's products. It is currently part of the permanent Signature Collection and is available year-round. It's not something I tried until very recently and I'm in love!

Scent: This is definitely a warm and cozy scent...it reminds me of sweaters and cold weather or a candle-lit night. I usually go for foody-type scents (especially straight up sugar cookie vanilla), however this scent is just divine to me. While Bath & Body Works claims it is a very complex scent with some florals thrown in all I can really smell is an amazing vanilla peach with a hint of musk. Perfection. 

Top Notes: Bergamont, Golden Peach, Pink Guava, Exotic Berries, Gilded Apricot

Mid Notes: Glowing Muguet Petals, Mimosa, Fluffy Peony, Fresh Jasmine

Dry Notes: Shimmering Vanilla, Dulce de Leche, Sandalwood, Cashmere Musk

Essentially, most of these scents I smell very little of...I don't get any of the fruity notes (except for the peach), I get almost none of the floral notes (good! I'm not a fan of strong florals) and I definitely can smell most of the dry notes. I'm glad for this. I do not like extremely complex scents!

Performance: The lotion itself is the usual run-of-the-mill Bath & Body Works lotion. It's a bit runny (much more so than the Triple Moisture Body Cream and the Body Butter). On my skin it tends to take a few minutes to completely soak in, but once it does it does not leave my skin greasy or oily. It does not, however, do the best job in the entire world of moisturizing (let's face it, if you want the scent you go to Bath & Body Works, if you NEED extreme moisture, go with Nivea), but for light moisturizing and getting the scent you want I think it does a great job. 

Most of Bath & Body Work's lotions are simply white, however this one does have a slight peach/cream color to it, which is nice...it adds to the warmness of the scent, in my opinion. Very nice touch! 

Packaging: The packaging on Cashmere Glow is definitely warm and inviting...I'm not really entirely sure what it IS, but it reminds me of candles, blankets, and a warm cozy home during the winter. Maybe even a few Christmas lights strung here and there. The regular lotion now comes in two sizes: the standard 8 oz clear bottle and the travel sized 3 oz bottle which has a slight orange/brown tint to it. Both bottles come with the regular pop-top, however with my 8 oz I replaced this with the Bath & Body Works sparkle pump ($3.50 in stores, see full picture below). 

I'll probably do another post on why I loooove these sparkle pumps (and also one reason I hate them). 

Overall, I give this product a 5/5 for scent and Bath & Body Works' usual functionality. Keep in mind if you're wanting this as a total moisturizing lotion, it probably rates more near a 3/5. 

Honeysuckle Candle Bath & Body Works

This review is on the Spring 2013 version of the 4 ounce White Barn candle "Honeysuckle".

Initial impressions:
WOW! I have stated before that I really love foody-type scents, so the fall time is my favorite time to stock up on candles! I had to go to Bath & Body Works to get some more lotions and decided to smell some of the new spring scents! This is the one that really stood out to me! I immediately recalled parts of my childhood riding horses in the early summer on trail rides sprinkled with honeysuckle. Wonderful! So far, this is one of the few spring 2013 candles that I have enjoyed.

Burn:
This candle burns great. It pools out quickly and I have had no problems getting a nice deep, even wax pool out of it. The wick on it is one of the thicker ones. This candle mushroom-tops (carbon deposits) like you wouldn't believe! Never in my life have I seen a B&BW candle form a mushroom top so fast! From my understanding the mushroom tops are usually found on the stronger-scented candles and help the candle form a deeper wax pool faster. It definitely keeps the flames dancing higher!

Scent throw:

The scent throw on this candle is very high for a 4 ounce candle. I can smell honeysuckles throughout the entire house if I light it in my room. That's a fantastic throw for something so small. I tend to get headaches with overpowering and complex scents, however I find this one to be great. Even though it has a powerful throw it isn't all-consuming.

Overall:

This is a fantastic spring scent and really one of the only ones that I like. The burn and throw were practically flawless for me and the scent was great. I'm usually not one for spring/floral scents but I found this to be a great one! 

4.5/5 stars, though probably won't be waiting in line to re-purchase (the scent was great but not an all-time favorite!). 

Favorite Bath & Body Works Products - Winter

I thought it might be fun to start my blog off listing a few of my favorite things from one of my favorite stores: Bath & Body Works! In this list I'll include both body-care products and candles, as well as why I like them. I will do extensive reviews on them later on, if there's a specific one you would like to learn about let me know! These are my favorites for the winter season...expect some or all of them to change sooner or later! :)

Candles:

1. Cinnamon Sugared Donut - This is by far my favorite scent in the entire world (much less favorite candle). I wish I could bottle this scent forever and always have it. Seriously though...it's awesome. It reminds me of that smell that they pump into the air at theme parks (Disney World!) as you walk past a bakery (that's a weird description, right?). It's a scent that describes a food so perfect that it could never be. This is a holiday only scent. So far it has been released in 2011 and 2012. Here's to hoping for a 2013 release as well!
2. Frosted Cupcake - If you can't tell already, I'm really big into foody-scented candles. I love walking into my room and getting a waft of something sweet. Frosted Cupcake is great for this too! It's a very sweet butter cream type scent. Definitely one of my favorites! This is currently a year-round candle.
3. Japanese Cherry Blossom - I'm surprised this made it onto my list, but it really is a great scent. I think that the main reason that I like this scent so much is because it isn't completely overpowering. I usually don't like floral's because they give me a headache! This is currently a year-round candle and is the only Signature Collection candle I've seen lately in-stores.
4. Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin - Quintessential and very necessary fall scent. Pumpkin, spice, what more could a girl want? Great, simple, timeless scent. This candle is available in the fall collections.

Body Care!

1. Cashmere Glow - Oh. My. Goodness! This stuff is absolutely amazing. For a long, long time Secret Wonderland was my absolute number 1 scent, but this might just have it beat. While B&BW notes that there are some florals deep down, all I smell is a wonderful vanilla peach with a hint of musk. It is absolutely divine. Available year-round.
2. Secret Wonderland - One of the few non-cozy scents from B&BW that I love love love! I think it's the strawberry's that pulls me in and the purple packaging is too great! Whatever it is, though, this will always have a spot in my top two scents. Sold year-round.
3. Vanilla Bean Noel - A great wintery mix of vanilla and caramel. I enjoy this scent more than the Warm Vanilla Sugar. Fun for a "I want to feel like a sugar cookie" kind of day! Sold during the holidays!
4. Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin - Lotion form! I use this as a special treat as it's a bit too strong to use all the time (plus I don't want to wear the scent out). It definitely brings back memories! It doesn't smell too pumpkiny but has a lot of spice! Sold during the fall.

Well those are just a FEW of my favorites...expect reviews on these and many more! 

What are your favorite Bath & Body Works scents?

Introductions and such

Hello lovelies,

I love to look at reviews online. In fact, I have a hard time making new purchases in many cases without looking through blogs or YouTube reviews to see what consumers just like myself think of products. I think review blogs and YouTube channels are the best! So, that's why I've decided to try my hand at doing it too. I figured...hey, maybe someone somewhere is interested in this new product I have...maybe it's a dud and maybe it's fantastic, but someone should know!

All of the things that I will be reviewing are simply things that I have purchased for myself. I will most likely not go out and purchase something solely for a review (I like my money).

Most of the products that I will be reviewing consist of the scented kind - Bath & Body Works products, candles and such other smelly-good things. I'll also probably throw in some books, Disney stuff, electronics and whatever I feel the urgent need to review!

Happy readings,
Jessica