Long time no post?!

Hi and hello! Firstly I'd like to apologise for my major lack of posts. I seem to have gone on a completely unintended and unannounced hiatus ... my bad! A lot of things have happened this year (loss of a family member, major overseas holiday, etc.) so my shopping and as a result, blogging has been really bloody tame. I DID do SOME shopping at B&BW this year, that didn't make it into my blog obviously. 

I have a few thoughts! Firstly, I'd like to say I fell in love with Peach & Honey Almond and I used it pretty much every day that I was in England so now when I smell it, that's what I think about/remember. I'm also quite impressed with A Thousand Wishes and hoarded it stupidly as I do!

Next I'd like to talk a little bit about candles. I know that on the labels, the burn times decreased quite a while ago. When I first began buying B&BW candles, the burn time was advertised as 30-45 hrs, now it's like 25-45 hrs. That's pretty old news as that was a hot topic way back when it first happened. I have to admit I didn't really notice an actual burn time decrease until Coastal Cool. What reminded me of this was partly those candles being selected to come back for the SAS this winter. When they first came out, I bought a few of Endless Weekend and Sunset Beach. And when I burned them, I noticed that I could only burn them a couple times before they were half gone or more! Now what really made me remember that was when I bought some of the candles during the $8 sale a few weeks ago, I bought Fresh Sparkling Snow (which btw I was thrilled to have as a candle!) and I began burning it. After burning it once for like 4 or 5 hours, it was nearly half gone! Yes, you read that right! Where my 'Tis The Season won't burn for shit and I'm about to exchange it as this is the first time I've ever had a problem with a candle not staying lit - I guess I'm lucky that way. 

I suppose it's fair to say I was a little upset over that. I have a pretty big stockpile of candles so I'm not too bothered for the moment. But we'll see how I feel about it when more candles come out that I actually like and they last like two hours! 

Next topic! This year, I did spend some time selling a bit of excess B&BW stuff (things I bought maybe 5 duplicates too many of, things I thought I might have liked and wondered why I bought it later, etc. y'all know how it goes!) via eBay (fair prices, mind. I don't care if I get less back than I paid honestly!) and I had considered selling stuff via my blog but then my hiatus happened so I doubt many people read this right now! We'll see how that works, I might keep using eBay for the time being. If anyone does happen to see this and would like to offer input, please let me know what you think/if that would be something you'd be interested in or if you want to know if I have a particular scent. I have a very large selection of stuff as I've been shopping there two years now and visited more than once a month religiously until earlier this year. I may share the link to the eBay account once I get stuff posted again.

Speaking of SAS, yes I did go! I sent PIC on day one with a list. He came back with maybe half the things on the list (the candle, the three Vanillatinis and Black Chamomile were his buys) and today, I went myself. 

It's a bigger haul than I figured I'd find! I've been hearing that the selection isn't that good this year and really, if you're looking for candles/old gems ... it's not! Black Chamomile is back but it's so ridiculously limited you might be hard pressed to find it, where when I began shopping B&BW (SAS of Winter 2012/New Year 2013) it seemed like it was stock for AGES! I still have a ridiculous amount of the lotions, so I just bought shower gels. I was kind of happy to see the Three Cheers back. I liked Vanillatini way back when someone had let lotion leak all over the contents of one of the boxes at my very first SAS and got it on my hand and tried to figure out what smelled so good. I kept digging through each lotion until I matched the scent but I only bought one and kicked myself for it! Apple Orchard was an unexpected like of mine. I visited B&BW prior to my trip to England and they had the fall preview stuff going, I tested the lotion on me and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't really dig apple scents in body care but it's nice! The Pink Jasmine Kiss was just super cute and reminded me a little of London Tulips so why not. I've been trying to limit myself to travel sizes in scents like that so I don't end up with big bottles of stuff that I'm trying to use up unless I really love a scent.

ONE lonely ass Sunset Beach candle and NOTHING else. All the leftovers are a major pass from me. I really hoped to get my hands on an Endless Weekend candle but no such luck. They DID have a lot of two packs of Sunset Beach wallflowers that I DO plan on going back for after payday if they are still there. If not, well, I guess I won't be too butthurt about it! Oh and they seem to have the HandiBacs for $3 up by the registers! I am too new a shopper to "remember" those but they are apparently an older concept. It's a spray sanitizer with vitamin e and aloe. I had to get one for kicks but if I like it well enough I might go back and buy some more. There's hardly any variety in scent but Coconut Lime Verbena is nice.

In terms of classics/old favourites/hidden gems, yeah the SAS is a bomb. It's basically all the stuff they had this year leftover which I understand is basically what a clearance is which is basically what SAS is but I miss the magic! I feel only "did well" (in other words, threw my money at them and came home with a lot of loot) because I missed a lot of this year's goodness so it was a good chance for me to catch up on what I missed. Peach & Honey Almond I stupidly only bought one, thinking I could get more when I came back from the UK as it seemed quite new. WRONG! It was OFF the floor when I got back. I was so upset. I really loved the scrub in that fragrance.

Last and final thought this post:

PIC went on opening day of the sale and most of the stuff that you'd usually see for $3-4 was all only 50% and only the holiday traditions stuff was actually 75%. Even though they added a $3 select body care deal today, I was hoping to buy a couple lemon vanilla sprays but I wasn't buying them at only 50% off. I mean, I'm not thrilled that Peach & Honey Almond was only 50% but I love it enough to buy it at friggin' B3G2 (aka reg price!) so I made an exception for that but ... real lackluster deals going on! I'd like to add if anyone is planning on buying any of the holiday body care that has access to a store, DO NOT do it online! It's only 50% off there, but it's 75% in store!

Anyway yes, that concludes today's haul post, random thoughts and hello I'm kind of back? I'm sure I'll post again the next time I visit to potentially get those wallflowers I wanted. I'm hoping the artisan scents will go 75% soon before running out at my local stores. That'll get me back in there in a hurry!

PS - I didn't actually notice this until I looked over at Donovan's blog today but there is a blogger that goes by Musings of a Muse ... I want to just say that "musings of a mouse" wasn't meant to infringe upon any names or anything! People call me mousie so I thought it was a cute name for a blog. I might come up with something else sometime soon! 

Tara for now!

3/$6 Travel Sizes, Loot Post!

I have decided that I finally need to get myself some new clothes, which of course entailed a trip to the mall, so you know what that means! B&BW's were running their 3/$6 DoD today and the email actually featured some of the Hawaiian stuff so I had to go look.

First, I went to pick out one set of Mad About You and some Velvet Sugar, which led me to my hunt for the Hawaiian items, which were on the counter in the back in front of the registers. To my dismay, there was only one Oahu Coconut spray and three shower gels. The manager told me there weren't any more lotions as they only had a dozen or so that got bought out today, however upon looking in the back for me, she found another box, but alas, no other sprays. 

The damage done:

White Citrus is for PIC and the lotion bottle on the left cut out of the photo is another Oahu. The label is so pretty for it. I smelled the Hawaii Passionfruit Kiss too and liked it but I didn't get it as they only had the shower gel. And I got a free Sun lotion via Facebook a while back, so I got myself the spray and shower gel. I didn't feel like gorging the second transaction completely on minis as I've got a lot now so I got some of the fresh picked lip care (specifically Lip Butter and Balm in strawberry) and a Sun gloss.

I tested Oahu during the trip and through Target and I have to say I love it more than I thought I might. I am a big, big fan of coconut but I didn't like it via the bottle when I smelled it, not really. Everytime I went to B&BW, I smelled it again and again and it reminded me more and more of sun tan lotion. Upon trying it however, I am impressed. It doesn't smell a lot different from the bottle to my skin which is a rare thing for me, and it kind of retains the same scent after it's dried, if I had to pick something to compare with it, I'd say it's Vanilla Coconut and Aspen Caramel Woods' love child. I can definitely smell the hint of amber in there, too. All around, I like it. 

I thought I might be passing on the Hawaiian Collection as I am DYING for World Gardens and that London Tulips and Berries scent that will be with it but I changed my mind, as I do! And I'd like to note that the manager on duty today was a very nice lady, she's a newer one (maybe a transfer from another store) as I haven't seen her before but she seems like she has her head on straight and she just adores me, she gave me a coupon today to hang onto which was the free item with $10 purchase and I do tend to use those frequently, so that was nice of her! 

One more 2/$22 haul + Soap Sale + Newness

Hi, hello!

I went out to B&BW last night to get myself a treat and found some candles that my local store had at one time, and stopped carrying for a while, then got back. I'm talking about the Florida candles of course.

After deciding I needed more Velvet Sugar in my life I came across the Florida candles and my store had also restocked the Eucalyptus Spearmint Stress Relief candle, I decided why not? I had smelled The Sunshine State and Palm Beach candles when my store had these in stock and I liked them well enough but not better than other offerings when they were available. I know they weren't in my local store when I went in for my last 2/$22 haul. Anyway, The Sunshine State is basically orange juice but not nauseating, we'll see when it burns. And Palm Beach is kind of a generic coconut smell but I love coconut enough that I'm not particularly bothered by this.

Anyway, Velvet Sugar and Mad About You are limited edition scents (to what extent, I'm not sure) and I don't know when they'll pulled from the shelves but I expect them to either be pulled for the newer scents (maybe not Hawaii, maybe World Gardens or whatever that line is going to be called) or simply dropped straight into the bins for SAS. This is all speculation on my part and not intended to be taken for fact! Well, except the fact that Velvet Sugar and Mad About You were confirmed limited runs by the B&BW Facebook page upon people asking.

Anyway, today marks the start of the 5/$18, 7/$24 handsoaps. I'm kind of glad the body care didn't go B3G3 or I would've been slightly annoyed.

Also, I haven't been keeping track of newness all that well but I'll be highlighting some of the stuff that caught my eye this morning upon perusing the B&BW website.

 
 



Lip stuff basically, Watermelon Jelly Pops made me go kind of bananas, I am expecting a watermelon jolly rancher flavour out of it and watch me get disappointed!

Also of note is the hardworking lip care, I am excited to see this go behind the one lonely cherry balm they introduced during last year's Fresh Picked.    

2/$22 Candles are back!

Hi and hello there! 

It would appear that B&BW have brought back their 2/$22 3 Wick Candles, and thankfully for that too. All the SAs I spoke to over the course of the 2/$25 were telling me the candles simply weren't selling which of course affects the overall sales and performance of the store. It is said that the candles will remain this way until Fall. Now, I'll clarify for anyone who may stumble across my blog that doesn't read regularly, that this means WHEN the candles enter sales promo, it will be 2/$22. Not that they will be 2/$22 the whole way through.

Enjoy and rejoice my friends! I took part in ONE of the 2/$25 candle sales but even I ducked out on one (left the store with something other than candles) and while I wasn't happy with it, I only slowed, not stopped. I for one am quite happy to see the sales price back, so happy that I celebrated with a typical candle haul! I always bring them home in sets of six, so without further ado, here is my loot!

I made it a point to begin burning my mason jar Raspberry Peach Macaron when I first heard the rumours about the sale and that would determine my selections. Spring is not my favourite time of year at all and what makes this totally worth it is my baby, London Calling.

Anyway, I love Raspberry Peach Macaron a lot. I've seen a few people say it reminds them of cotton candy. I can sort of see that, but I really get the bakery thing going on when I smell it. It's just so delicious smelling it hurts. If I had to break it down, I'd definitely say it smells like a raspberry pastry, very sweet. Hoard worthy, completely. This is the only thing that has peach you'll ever see me buy!

I got the Watermelon Lemonade because I liked it a lot last year. I was too blinded by Summertime S'mores to pay attention and missed out. By the time I got back around to it, they were gone! 

Anyway the SAs were completely nice and let my PIC use his mystery offer via grace period, and I got these 40% off. It actually didn't turn out much less than just doing two payments with surveys, it was just nice to not have to do it that way.

Also, they sent out this morning, a free full size hand soap with any purchase. 

Sorry for the glares! We each did 5 pocketbacs with one free soap. We have a lot of both but we are taking some of these to work with us now. My freebie soaps are Coconut Lime Verbena, and Honolulu Sun.

I think what I like most about these soaps is the fact that you can turn the bottle over and read what's in the scent. About darn time if you ask me. I kind of like the bottles, they will actually sit side by side now under my sink and it just feels more compact, yet neat without the tapering. I don't actually mind triclosan so the change there doesn't really affect me as I use soaps without it also. The new sales price is a bit rubbish (4/$18, 6/$24) but I've got enough soap to get me through the zombie apocalypse so I think I'll be fine.

As for the pocketbacs, I just noticed today that Beautiful Day got itself a pocketbac! Another thing I noticed was that Pink Chiffon one no longer has glitter in it! YES! I'm not the biggest shimmer fan (I'll wear it on occasion) but when I pop open a sanitizer at work, then forget it's got glitter in it, I end up washing my hands for five minutes trying to get all of it off because I work with food! I just don't think glitter belongs in them.

Anyway, that's a done trip out. Satisfied as can be! I am not inclined to buy 50 more candles presently, but I will say that Tokyo Petals is surprisingly nice, and if you're a fan of London Calling like I am, now's the time!

Miscellaneous Information

Hello once again!

After parading my hauls, I realised I should go ahead and compile some info here for you.

Currently ongoing specials (end dates listed as according to emails, subject to change):

• Buy 3, Get 3 Free Signature Collection (2/17)
• $7 Mason Jar Candles (2/17)
• $2.50 Anti-Bac Soap (2/16)
• Up To 40% Off Your Entire purchase (2/17) scan barcode in stores, online code is one time use, so be careful about sharing!

The $20 EDT sale SHOULD have still be going per the email until 2/16 but they've since pulled it by the looks of it as it is not featured in today's email or as a sale on the website. That's the first time I've seen that sale run in the year and some odd months that I've shopped there, but I hope we see it again as it encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and buy them!

Speaking of EDTs, the Forever Collection has updated a bit! Their EDP was originally a 2.5oz. deal for $45, but now they've come out with a smaller (1.7oz.), cheaper bottle.

 $35.00

I seem to only be getting emails every other day so any changes that are made to the sales I am not seeing until the last minute lately. I also no longer see the bundle for the Forever Collection (buy EDP, get lotion & shower gel free), the email updated the date to the 23rd but now it's gone. I feel like it's a little hard to be accurate so this is to the best of my knowledge, as accurate as I have it. Unless I stop by for those Sweet Shop towels tomorrow I won't be back there again for a bit so it's hard to say for sure. If you are absolutely set on something, do yourself a favour and call your store before you go to confirm.

Also of note: those who frequent the main Facebook fan page for Bath and Body Works, you may be noticing the "Recent Posts By Others" section disappearing from time to time. People have mentioned it and they have finally commented on why it is happening.

"Sorry for any confusion! We remove the comment option when we are not able to closely monitor our page. We do this to protect our page, our brand, and most importantly - You - our fans! "

So for anyone wondering, there it is. 

Don't forget to check the post, there's some mailers roaming around, I've seen a free pocket bac, 20% off, and a free 3 wick candle. I have not personally received any (I almost never do) but keep your eyes peeled as they are out there!

Valentine's Day Adventures

Hi and hello!

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day. PIC and I went down to Sarasota (we live a couple counties away) to a wonderful sushi bar that offers and all you can eat sushi for $21.50 (if paid in cash, if card it's a dollar or so more) and it's some of the freshest sushi you'll get around. We make it a point to at least go once a year and it's not like there's nothing to do down in Sarasota. Before the trip down we went to my local B&BW to claim the Facebook offer they put up yesterday which was a free Mad About You Diamond Shimmer mist with any purchase so PIC and I claimed the offers, he got a pocketbac holder as he needed change for the toll booth and I got myself a Raspberry Peach Macaron Mason Jar 

After gorging ourselves on sushi upon getting there too late to go to a regular showing of the RoboCop remake, we spent a little more time digesting and went over to the mall to discover there was an IMAX version showing a little later. We got these tickets that allow you to see a movie free or pay a surcharge if you want 3D/IMAX so we decided we would pay the charge but first, we went roaming the mall. I had totally forgotten there was a Body Shop there - I've never been before but I hear good things about them. Sadly I did not have time to check it out before the movie so I beelined straight for B&BW and got a couple more shimmer mists. The idea actually didn't spawn until I was in the mall and went "heyyy".

I also picked up some other stuff both trips as they extended the EDT special until Monday which made me a happy camper. I don't tend to go out of my way to buy the full size EDTs, I generally like the little ones I can carry with me that some of the scents previewing have had lately (like Amber Blush) but at $20 a pop lus $10 off $30 (and more recently the Mystery Offer) I couldn't say no! I only got 20% but PIC, the lucky little bugger, got himself a 40%.

Sorry for the glares. These are the EDTs I ended up with, White Citrus is for PIC. I actually picked up Amber Blush and Mad About You on the original last date of the EDT sale (the 9th) because I thought it was ending and I wanted to get them before it did but then they extended it.

My "freebie" haul. I would've gotten a cheaper item if I didn't love Raspberry Peach Macaron so much. PIC says it smells like cotton candy, I say it smells like a raspberry pastry, it's got that lovely little bakery thing going on with it.

B3G3

I needed more Velvet Sugar in my life to compensate for the 2 EDPs (plus I really just like the scent) so that led to my binging on it and getting some bubble baths because I've actually never tried the signature bubble bath before. I like Mad About You but for the scents heavily V-Day marketed, I am definitely Team Velvet Sugar!  

So that sums up my little B&BW trips in the last week.

Oh, and RoboCop was pretty decent - it could have been a whole lot worse, but I miss Peter Weller!

Errand Day

Hello again lovely readers,

I really do loathe going out in the chilly rain for anything but alas, errands had to be ran and this was my chance to stop by BBWs to see what specials were going. When I got there, I found:

• $6 Fine Fragrance Mists
• $8 Diamond Shimmer Mists
• 2/$25 3 Wick Candles
• $10 Whipped Shimmer Body Creams 
• $20 EDT/P

In other words, stuff listed in emails. I did not see any signs for the Forever Red EDP purchase with free lotion & shower gel. The associate roaming the floor said yes, the manager on shift said she had no idea what I was talking about to which I said I had it in an email and it does say "select" stores but she was nice to honour it and also $10 Whipped Shimmer Body Creams. I don't know if that one was a previous sale as my emails are only showing up every so often lately or if it was a sale to be that someone set out signs for too early but apparently that wasn't a thing either. However because the signs were out she honoured it for me. So here's what I ended up with:

 Not a big haul but I actually didn't buy candles despite them being on sale. Shock! So when I got to the store and I saw the Whipped Shimmers listed as $10, I decided I was either going to get Mad About You or Velvet Sugar, just that paired with an EDP for my coupon so I sprayed both of them onto strips and walked around to smell candles. PIC and I both smelled each one at various stages and we both decided we liked Velvet Sugar better so that's what I got.

My store also has Fresh Picked hand soaps in the new formula out in the front, they are $5 a piece.

Anyways, a few thoughts on some of the candles I smelled. I didn't do an extensive walk 'n' whiff as I was on a schedule but here's what I smelled:

Snap Peas: Smells like grass. PIC likened it to that very candle from last year. As a fan of snap peas, he did not approve.

Garden Strawberry: Same old scent from last year. Not that it's a bad thing. 

Lemon Drops: Smelled like Lemonheads. It's available in a Mason Jar.

My sense of smell was shot by that point and we had to go. I took a brief whiff of Pink Lemonade Pound Cake's mason jar but I haven't got any thoughts as of yet as I was being dragged out the door at that point. LOL!

UPS Man showed up

Hi there, 

I fell asleep shortly after I got the second of two online orders yesterday. I had placed orders over the weekend when they were offering the free hand soap and random popups for free items to be added to orders. The Living Social deal allowed me to get a free candle with $20 purchase and dropped the shipping charge if I spent $25+ so when I got paid, I made a second order and I'll share what I got. 

This was order #1. (And I'd like to add that it wasn't packed this way. LOL) All I paid for were the 8 wallflowers. Why did I get 8 you might ask? Well 'cause I wanted an even number of each Aromatherapy Wallflower so I ended up just doing pairs of each available. I've used all but Eucalyptus Spearmint and had interesting results. Well, I say interesting but really the only one that held up okay was Black Currant Vanilla. But I've decided to give these another shot and see how they do. My thing with online orders is I don't like to place them unless it's something I can't get my hands on in store. It's not so much about the instant gratification as why pay for shipping if I have access to a store? I live a two minutes drive from one and maybe 20 minutes tops from two others, so it's a no brainer that if I can get it in store, I will. So I save online orders for super special deals that are only online or items I can't get in a store.

Anyway, the pop up I got was Japanese Cherry Blossom shower gel which came with a few unique coded coupons for online use only. My free candle was London Calling because let's face it, it doesn't matter how many of these I get my hands on, it's gonna win my heart every single time when it's available. And lastly, I got a new formula hand soap in Kitchen Lemon which was automatically added to my order.

This is online order #2 placed one day later. When I saw the Living Social deal was still going the next day, I decided I'd go ahead and make another purchase if I could find anything else I wanted online. I picked the website over a few times and wasn't sure, then I remembered when I saw a Facebook comment stating that Mad About You was online, so I went ahead and did the B2G1 for it and snagged another London Calling candle for free (seeing the trend here?) and this Kitchen Lemon hand soap was free once again, courtesy of BBW.

I opened the cap of the Mad About You TMC and dabbed a little bit that was stuck to the cap onto my arm to test it out and it smelled a lot like the preview EDT, which was quite floral, but sweet at the same time. When it dried down, it was a lot less in your face and after a couple hours I couldn't smell it anymore. Of course, that's to be expected with the sample test I did. I promised myself I wouldn't use it until I finished off my travel trio of Velvet Sugar 'cause I gotta start emptying some bottles of product.

That sums it up basically. Also, per my email today from B&BW, I'd like to remind anyone looking to shop there soon that there are some nice deals going right now.

2/$25 3 Wick Candles (thru 2/10)
$20 EDT (thru 2/9)
Free Forever Collection Lotion&Shower Gel with EDT Purch @ Full Price (2/9)

Candles 2/$25, Forever Red/Midnight Buy EDT Get Lotion/Shower Gel

Hi, hello!

Things have been pretty quiet lately. B&BW is missing a few emails here and there from what I can see.

Currently they are running 2/$25 3 Wick Candles

$20 EDT/EDPs Select Stores and Online 

Buy Forever Red/Midnight EDT (full price) and get a free lotion and shower gel with your purchase

$8 Diamond Shimmer Mist

BEMINE10 - $10 off $30 Purchase, free shipping when order exceeds $50 AFTER the initial $10 off is applied.

Then the usual suspects for sales, which are the constantly ongoing sales when there are no specials.

I ordered two packages over the weekend with the Living Social free candle/shipping deal. I got one yesterday, and I am waiting on my second one today. I'll post them when the second one comes in.

Candles and more candles.

Hi and hello from Sunny Florida, 

As promised, I am gonna talk about some candles today. My sense of smell didn't return yesterday as I had hoped it would but today, despite working off the last little bit of this cold, I can finally smell again and it's wonderful! Funny how much I miss it when I can't.

So I posted the other day about my candle haul. Here it is.

This is what I walked away with on day one of the candle sale. Again, these are 2/$25, with the new sticker price of $22.50. I want to take a moment to talk about this pricing. Reiterating, I am not happy with the increase, as are folks rarely when prices go up. During my visit, I asked the manager on the shift if she had heard anything about why the prices went up, you know, curiosity getting the better of me and all. She had mentioned to me that the wicks were improved, though how she didn't say, to promote a more even burn and wax pool. She then sort of laughed and told me that I probably won't notice a difference. Well alrighty then.

Anyway, at this price point, picking up 3 candles is no longer the best value for your money. If that's the way you prefer to roll, then I give you more kudos, however each haul I am bringing less home. This particular day, I would have brought home six. Instead, I brought home four for the same price, plus some body care that's essentially make up to get it to $30. SAS leftovers saved me this time. It's much better to get something to bump it up to $30 or just above so you can use a coupon because then you're paying a few dollars less for the same two candles on sale, plus you're getting other product out of it. In my case, I complimented my two sets of candles with two Paris Nights, and two Sweet On Paris lotions at $2.75 each making each total $30.50 before coupons. 

Without further ado, I'd like to talk about what I bought.

Raspberry Peach Macaron: This has a light and fruity scent to it, complimented by a bakery scent that's just utterly delicious. I smell a lot more raspberry than peach. Instead of being in your face, the peach is nestled quietly into the background as an accessory rather than clumsily trying to steal the show. This one is easily my favourite of the bunch. It does give a similar vibe to Gelato, now that I'm able to smell the 3 Wick opposed to the mini candle, however it isn't a straight up repackage. I'll do a proper review once I get around to burning it. 

Cinnamon Sugared Doughnut: I never smelled the original - I imagine it doesn't smell any different though I can't say for sure. It smells just like a doughnut shop, minus the sweet custard fillings and jam. As a fan of old fashioned cake doughnuts, this one's a winner on cold throw so far. I look forward to burning it.

Tokyo Petals: I prefer the old name, Electric Tokyo, and it's packaging a lot more than this new label. They've girlified it. I mean don't get me wrong, it's got florals in it and all but I hate how everything has to be packaged in pretty pink. Anyway, despite the description "Cherry Blossoms", this is not a redo of Japanese Cherry Blossom. I can't stand Japanese Cherry Blossom. It's an overly floral scent with a heavy powdery thing going on with it, hot mess, not attractive. Tokyo Petals, however has a nice balance of sweet fruit and floral that isn't too much for the palate and funnily enough when I read the description, it was the last one I expected to actually pick up once candles went on sale. I have to say it smells like something I've smelled before at B&BW, but I can't say for sure what. Watch me figure it out whilst away and forget when I actually come back to type it up.

There you have it. I passed on Strawberry Sorbet as it's essentially a repackage of Strawberry Picnic, Watermelon Lemonade speaks for itself as it was released last year in the Lakeside collection, Red Velvet Cupcake was just out for Christmas (and a terrible performer so I hear), and Frosted Cupcake is one of the usual suspects.

The Destinations are looking great as usual, despite most of them being returning scents or former tests, I tend to treat it like Holiday candles, I just know there's the staple stuff. Like the core Spring collections for example. 

It is my wish for 2014 to be a much better year for candles. So far not a strong run out of the starting gate, but they've got all year to wow us.

2/$25 3 Wicks, $6 Sun, Air, Sky, $8 Select Body Care

Hey guys! Just back in from a trip out. First I stopped by my local British grocer for some cup a soup, as I have a particular fondness for Oxtail when I'm sick and I got some homemade scones while I was at it. Next I went to Bath and Body Works and here's what I've seen.

75% Bins or towers will be there to clear out what's left. I got 2 more Sweet On Paris and 2 more Paris Nights lotions. I'm drastically cutting down on body care, so I am only buying what I know I love and a lot of it in case it doesn't come back. 

$8 Select Specialty Body Care. Didn't notice if this was in store actually as I got distracted, but you'll see online that almost all of the Aromatherapy and True Blue Spa is on an $8 each special right now. With the candles being 2/$25, add an $8 item and it goes to $33 just like with the old candle sales, so I'm thinking a bit of a compromise maybe. 

$6 Select Body Care - Sun, Air, Sky can be purchased for $6 per item in stores and online. In stores, the signs read "Excludes Diamond Shimmer Mist" however online, they are included.

2/$25 Candles. The dreaded candle sale. I can't say I'm happy with the sale. It beats paying full price but I was barely used to 2/$22. 

I bought four candles whilst out today, but I'll post about them tomorrow. I've smelled them before I got sick so I know I like them but I won't be able to tell you my thoughts about them today as I can barely smell right now. Be looking for that in the next few days when my sense of smell returns proper. I got 2 Raspberry Peach Macaron, 1 Cinnamon Sugared Doughnut, and 1 Tokyo Petals (I liked Electric Tokyo better for a name but oh well.)

Let's talk NEW

Hey guys!

I went to B&BW a couple days ago and hauled away some stuff, getting my last pickin's for the SAS (gotta have enough SoP in case it disappears for a lengthy time, you don't wanna know how many I ended up with really!) and whilst there, claiming the Facebook offer on B&BW Facebook Page for a free travel size Sun, Sky or Air lotion.

Here's what I left with. They didn't have many of the Sweet Shop pocketbacs yet, so I got a couple Destination ones I had been meaning to grab. The little glass bottle in the middle is the Mad About You EDT preview that is presently available for $4, I'll talk about that in a bit. 

Strawberry Parfait: Sickly sweet, artificial strawberry scent with a hint of a whipped cream thing going on. I say sickly like it's a bad thing. It's not awful! I didn't see that this one has glitter in it.

Ice Cream Dream: Generic vanilla scent. That's pretty much all that needs said.

Strawberry Cheesecake: That same sickly sweet Strawberry scent is back, with a hint of cream cheese. Also contains glitter. Feh.

Cherry London: Cherry reused again for a cute little pocketbac. Let's be honest, I'm obsessed with England, London and everything British so I HAD to buy it.

Berry Paris: I think of the blue Kool Aid every time I smell this one. Nice!

Now, for my thoughts on my two freebies.

Sun: By far my favourite of the three, which is funny considering it's the one I least expected. It's got a soft, floral smell in the bottle, and on the skin with a hint of a fruity sweetness that's quite pleasant and not off-putting as I find many florals to be. It keeps a very nice fragrance balance and continues to smell good, though the smell does seem to fade quicker than I'd like. I might evaluate buying this set.

Air: Didn't like it as much I as I thought I might. I love pear to the core but I have bad luck with anything pear scented and not liking it. In the bottle, it's got a crisp, pear mingling with a floral that doesn't really compliment it at all. On my skin, it turns not so pleasant once it's completely dry.

I smelled Sky in store but I hated it. 

Just look at this fracking cute bottle. This is my inner girl coming out. This does not happen often, do not be alarmed. Just throw chocolate at her and she'll go away.

Ahem. It's a very heavy on the floral side scent, but again, the mixture is very nice and continues to be once the perfume has dried and been there for a while. Not something I'd wear all the time but might be a nice once in a while. It's an extremely girly scent in the sense that just the mere fragrance evokes images of pretty pink flowers. I'm curious to smell the lotion and hope I don't hate it as I just don't get along with florals really.

And that wraps it up. Tomorrow starts the candle sale, at the new price of 2/$25, not excessively thrilled but I'll still buy. Just a lot less. Dying for Raspberry Peach Macaron and Cinnamon Sugared Doughnut.

Diamond Shimmer Mist + Sun, Air, Sky

I'm quite forgetful today. A little more information that I meant to unload in my sweet shop post, man I'm slacking!

The Shimmer Mists appeared in the SAS sale bins opening day and were wiped off the shelves (whilst the butters were both in bins and on shelves until a week ago, why I don't know.) because they were to be discontinued to make way for the Diamond Shimmer Mist for the signature collection. My store had them out today. As far as I can tell just appears to be the same old thing but in the current Fine Fragrance Mist bottle, in other words, the one you can't open up. The book lists "real diamond dust" posted here by Tess. The regular Shimmer Mist bottles I noticed had issues with leaking and getting jammed up so we'll see if this is an improvement.

Last item on the list is Sun, Air, and Sky mini lotions are previewing in stores currently (most of the full line is already available online.) for $3 ea. or 3/$6. The only one that I found remotely interesting was Pear Blossom Air but not interesting enough to buy. 3/$6 doesn't happen often so jump on that if you want it!

Pack Rat Instincts Kicking In ... NOW!

Hi and hello once again, 

Upon getting out of the shower today and then looking at B&BW's website, I decided I had to have all the Sweet on Paris I could lug out of there. Well, not really, but with the rising prices and a lack of stuff I'm liking (I smelled the new Sky, Air, Sun line, don't like it.) I might as well grab the stuff I like while it's still there. After using Sweet on Paris for a couple weeks now, I'm pretty much in love with it. I wish it were slightly stronger but oh well.

This was basically my hoarding haul from the SAS. The rest of signatures are 75% off, if you can find any of it. The first store I went to only had SoP in shower gel but they called my local store for me and reserved lotions which turned out to be unnecessary as they still had a massive stockpile of it. The Amber Blush souffle was finally 75% and they only had 3 left, so I got it and wandered around with it whilst smelling the new candles which I posted about in my last entry and then I found the last Amber Blush shimmer mist lumped in a nearly empty box of creamy body washes. This Forever Red Golden Sugar scrub was the last one I could find also, so why not? 

The stores are pretty bare, and online isn't the greatest either. The prices of the shower gels and lotions keep going $4-5, depending on the day you look. I got the ones above in store for their $3 sig returning scents. I kept forgetting to pick up a Paris Nights to go with my shimmer mists from last SAS. Online there's still some seasonal stuff which I haven't seen in store now for some days, oh except the first store had a Winter Candy Apple TMC and the second had a mini spray. It's mostly leftover old packaging now. 

So not even really a treasure hunt today so much as I had a specific intent and found a few goodies along the way. I'm planning to go through my stash some time and organise it further. I'd take a picture of it but I'll admit I might be slightly embarrassed. Lol.

Forever Midnight TMC $8, Sweet Shop Soaps, Candles

Hi, hello,

The Forever Midnight TMC is currently on sale for $8 in stores, I was hoping it'd include Forever Red but no such luck. I picked one up to complete a trio for PIC's sister and along with it, my usual store had put up the Spring St. Sweet Shop hand soaps. 

The "flavours" if you will that they had out were Sugar Berry Shortcake, Plum Berry Sorbet, Fresh Honeydew Lemonade, Orange Creamsicle Swirl, Lemon Chiffon Tart and Pink Vanilla Macaron. 

Notably I saw the whole scentportable section for 75% off, however I suspect it might be the same case as the candles, they haven't got any more in yet is my guess.

So here's what I got for the soaps and my thoughts are as follows.

Pink Vanilla Macaron: To my nose it's a rather plain vanilla scent with a hint of fruity and of course, the alcohol smell that is troubling to disassociate from the scent. 

Sugar Berry Shortcake: A staple sweet and fruity with a hint of sugar scent. Not bad.

Plum Berry Sorbet: Plums and berries, quite tart. Not as great as I hoped but I'll keep it. 

Fresh Honeydew Lemonade: Reminds me a little of the watermelon lemonade candle, actually. I like it a lot more than I figured I would.

Orange Creamsicle Swirl: This one's pretty hard to describe, I definitely smell the orange but it's not a plain orange, it's got a hint of sweetness about it. It reminds me of a candy shop we've got here. 

My store was also setting up some of the new candles. The Destinations scents that were out were all returning scents, so nothing new there other than labeling and price. The store manager did confirm that the new 2 for candle sale price would be 2/$25. Makes me not a happy camper at all. 

Anyway, here's what they had and what I thought of it:

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut: What it says on the tin. I love it, reminds me of Dunkin Donuts or something of the same like. I am a big fan of plain old cake donuts so it's a nice foodie scent for those who adore it.

Pink Lemonade Poundcake: From what I could get out of the mini candle it was kind of a generic lemon smell, didn't smell strong to me at all. I'll have to give the three wick a whiff.

Watermelon Lemonade: What can I say? Same thing! And still love it! Still not sold on the yellow wax though.

Strawberry Sorbet: Worst fear was confirmed with this one. It smells good, but the trouble is, from mini candle whiff all I could think of was Strawberry Picnic.

Lemon Drop: Not Limoncello but not fantastic either. Very strong on the lemon. I'll have to get a 3 wick whiff I think to full pass judgment. 

Raspberry Peach Macaron: This one I forgot to highlight actually in my post yesterday. Apologies! Now, I don't have the notes on hand, but I have to say, as someone that really, really hates Peach, I just adore this candle. Honestly. Peach is on the back burner and this one I am excited for. I can't even describe it, just so wonderful and sweet. I wonder if it's anything like the Paris candle Sweet Macaron. While I personally did not get to smell this one as I missed the Paris run, we know they like reusing scents and this would be welcome to folks like me who missed some of the great stuff.

Candle Rants of a Madwoman

Hi, hello again!

I was reading over Tess's posted (linked in previous entry) and I just got to thinking about some of the candle scents. I'm aggravated about the prices as I hinted previously but being the wax addict I am, I feel the need to speculate and comment. I should note I've not smelled any of these candles yet (or Destinations) so this is purely off the notes, and again, more of a rant than anything.

*I'm only highlighting a few of them.*

Watermelon Lemonade: "Quench your thirst for long summer days with this refreshing mixture of watermelon ice, sparkling water and freshly squeezed meyer lemons" 

Same exact script. Ok, this was a fantastic candle last year (not digging the yellow wax this year, though I guess it makes sense) but I mean, it was a summer candle. This is January for crying out loud. I know B&BW has a heart on (yes pun intended) for recycling or scents and stuff but a Summer scent for Spring? Blimey. I hope they've got something else in mind for Summer then, AGAIN not that I don't adore this candle.

Strawberry Sorbet: "A cool new treat to delight your senses, sorbet made with the sweetest sun ripened strawberries, spun sugar, and a touch of vanilla." 

Am I the only one getting the Gelato vibe off this? Minus the raspberry notes, it's a dead ringer. And while I love raspberry (and Gelato candles in general), I am hoping this will be better.

Lemon Drop: "That magnificent mouth puckering mixture of sweet and tart is captured in this blend of lemon zest, sugar crystals and a hint of vanilla."

Limoncello? I mean we already have Cheers to Capri and the Sugared Lemons from 2013 Winter Market here. I don't care if you feel like bringing scents back, if you're gonna do it, at least be blatant. For a word to the wise: We dig returning scents. We don't dig scents relabeled with the same notes or similar. 

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut: "share the delight of of a freshly baked vanilla cake doughtnut covered in sugar crystals and crushed cinnamon." 

It's my understanding that Cinnamon Sugared Donut was a candle before my time as it were, shopping B&BW I mean, so I'm guessing this a blatant bring backsie. Yes, I like this! Never smelled the candle, dying to. But blatant is good! At least there's the honesty! Like "here you go, we know you like it so instead of trying to fool you, you can have it again!"

Returning scent: Frosted Cupcake which hardly bears the need for rementioning as it's pretty much constantly around and constantly a disappointment. The scentportable is nice though!

I have to say I prefer this over the whole floral, or grassy types. But I feel like half the Sweet Shop line is rehashing and there's no subtly to it. I would be lying if I said I didn't want another Watermelon Lemonade, let's be honest here, I was kicking myself for only buying two of them back in the Summer and I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in smelling Strawberry Sorbet but this is part of what's upsetting me lately with B&BW. 

I suppose I can go wallow in my candle collection. Not that I haven't got enough candles for a couple years.

Information Pending

Hi and hello guys and gals,

Just a small update for what is coming, what will be, whatever you wanna call it.

• Candles: Now priced at $22.50 vs. the old $20.00. Sales will now run as 2/$25 instead of 2/$20. All I can say is I am glad I bought a crapton of candles because I really don't know if I am still going to continue buying them at this price.
• Creamy Body Wash is being discontinued. What's left is all there is, get yours now. I remember someone commenting once that they didn't see the need to make the shower gels richer but I suppose this was the purpose. No more use for the body wash though I have to say I have a preference. Next.
• Body Butter is being discontinued as well. True Blue Spa is still going to have theirs but no more signature. So soon after new artwork and finally a Pink Chiffon! If I had known I would've bought more. 
• Wondered why Shimmer Mists were in the bins, now I know! Thanks to Tess of course, they are discontinuing and being replaced by Diamond Shimmer Mist. Check that out here along with other Spring news (candles and body care!)

With some of these changes, I'm foreseeing shopping a little less. Admittedly the body butters and body washes I didn't use a ton of, I enjoyed them and I feel like they are reducing their collection. With the inflating prices, I dunno. It's a bit off-putting to me! Perhaps I'm talking out of my arse a bit. I know I'll go back but still. Not liking the direction this is going in.

I should add that the candle sale thing isn't completely confirmed (I've seen a few B&BW employees mentioning it) so if I'm wrong, throw a shoe at me and kiss me. The other thing is that the Creamy Body Wash and Body Butters were replies from the reps over at the B&BW Facebook page. 

Forever Red: Vanilla Rum; a quick look.

Hi, hello there. 

I recently purchased some of the discounted Vanilla Rum products that were released by B&BW for the winter season to try them out as I love the original Forever Red. Below are my thoughts!

Out of the bottle, the body cream smells essentially like a thick, creamy vanilla with a deeper hint of rum than the original, however it lacks the fruity notes mixed in. On my skin, before it dries it smells, well, basically like I've spilled a shot of rum on myself. And not in a good way. It's very strong, very alcohol smelling. The point of the Vanilla Rum of course, was the focus on the rum aspect of Forever Red and the fruity is completely gone to my nose, replaced with a thick floral. Quite frankly, I find the scent headache inducing. I had tried the EDT in store one day after work as I smelled horribly of grease and chalked up the alcohol smell as mostly the EDT itself. It sadly wasn't. 

If I had one wish for this scent, it'd be to make it slightly weaker. Perhaps the strength is a plus but I can honestly barely smell much else besides rum. I love rum as much as the next gal but I'm not so sure I want to smell like I've just come from the bar or spilled a drink. 

It takes a while for the scent to die down a little, where it's a bit more bearable and less boozy and I quite like it at that point but it takes some will to make it through the first hour or so of application. 

Bottom line: I don't care for it and I'll stick to the original Forever Red. Just glad I stuck to the mini mist instead of breaking out the full size mist.

SAS: One last go.

You know how it goes when I say last. 

Anyway, I wasn't feeling great yesterday. Hadn't slept well at all, and the nap I got left me feeling rather icky. I decided to get up and go out as I needed odds and ends from Target anyway and of course, B&BW is right by there so why not?

Behold my loot! I was excited to find a Marshmallow Fireside Wallflower hanging out with the bunch of Winter Fig. The Luxe hand soaps went 75% off which was my motivation for buying it, I absolutely love these soaps far more than the standard ones as they don't leave my hands even slightly dry like even the moisturizing ones kind of do. I got the last two mini mists from Vanilla Rum and one more cream for measure. Sweet On Paris is actually a funny story. When I take PIC with me to B&BW, I have him keep tabs on my current total as he's very excellent and fast with maths. He thought I had $30 worth without SoP but the cashier told me my total was $27 so I picked it up and when we got home, we found out the cashier had not scanned the soap as it was not listed on the receipt.

I'm gonna bring it up next time I go and offer to pay for it as I feel kind of bad about it. 

Happened to you? Stories welcome! Did you keep the item and not say anything else or go back and pay for it?

New Year's Day brings a gem my way!

Okay, that was really bloody awful and cheesy. I would apologise if I weren't so excited about my trip to B&BW today. I asked PIC if we could go over to the other one in this county that we've not visited yet, the one we hit up day one as our third stop last SAS just to see. Last SAS, it's the location where I found Campfire Cookout and once again, while browsing and not really intending to buy unless I could find Snow Day wallflowers or candles, I sure spent again!

Can you say Snowed In?! I'm not really sure why but some stores sell these square label candles that I typically see by the wallflowers labeled tester while others don't. This particular store had a lot of them and I almost got a Cinnamon Tea one until I found a second Snowed In candle. I first heard of this candle some time last year, though I came aboard the B&BW wagon a bit late to get my hands on any so imagine my excitement upon finding these! Seeing them reminded me of Donovan over at Real Talk About B&BW Candles as he has in the past written about this particular scent. One of them has got a different lid though and I sniffed all the gold ones I could to try to find which one it was switched with but I suspect it was probably purchased. Oh well! I have to say I am quite fond of the cold throw on this baby and look forward to burning it. 

Champagne Toast however was the only 3 Wick candle they had leftover from the holidays in the 50% section and initially I had bought one for PIC's dad's girlfriend, now there's a doozy to say, but ended up liking it so much I bought myself one and I was struggling to find stuff to buy so I suppose I'll either keep or gift it. I snapped up the last Snow Day wallflower of course, and the last AT ES sugar scrub.

I didn't really care for the golden sugar scrub I've smelled in Forever Red but I'll give this one a shot.

Anyway that pretty much sums up my unexpected purchase today. I hope everyone is having a fantastic first day of the new year! PIC is due home shortly with a sushi plate from our favourite place. Off to work on those resolutions of mine!