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!

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!

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.

Fall hauls! Yankee Candle, Target, B&BW

Long time no haul right?! Well I say no haul but what I mean is more than three items. Hehe. Technicalities win. 

So I went out shopping because I just got paid and I haven't felt up to shopping lately and let's face it, when life gets stressful, a little retail pick-me-up is nice! I hit up Target, B&BW and for the first time, Yankee Candle.

Got my hands on some Pumpkin Spice M&Ms (delish btw!), Pumpkin Spice Waffles which I partook in last year and found utterly delicious and some "ground goblin" candy. It's just apple licorice rope with sugar crystals. Pretty good stuff!

This particular haul we paid only $4 for because I had some items collecting dust that I needed to exchange. I had to have another Pumpkin Carving. Roasted Pumpkin Butter is beautiful and delicious smelling. It literally smells of Peanut Butter and a hint of Pumpkin. Cider Line was an unexpected like actually. During the June SAS, PIC kept picking up the mini candles of last year's Cider Lane which I found too apple-y but in debating on what else to get, I smelled Cider Line out of curiosity to see if it smelled different and to me, it did. I get a nice rich caramel note out of the cold sniff. Wonderful! I look forward to burning it. For the repackage, aren't those minis adorable? There IS in fact a shower gel in travel size also for those wondering. 

Lastly, Yankee Candle. I've always passed up even setting foot in Yankee Candle because of the price tags mostly. I see some of their products at grocery or department stores and honestly, I was aghast at their prices but I found a coupon over at B&BW Sistas page that got me to set foot in there just to see what I was missing. $5 small jar candles. When I walked in, I was greeted by a rather exuberant employee who looked pretty darn bored until I came in. She was rather nice but quite eager to put candles under my nose. I saw a lot of interesting things such as a candle called North Pole and Peppermint Bark. They don't appear to come in small jars, so here's what I got: Campfire Treat which is a nice and light marshmallowy vanilla with a very slight hint of smoke, Red Velvet which smells exactly like you'd expect, and Salted Caramel which smells to me exactly like the Salted Caramel Glade products at Target. All winners! I also smelled some others that I liked called Golden Sand and Black Coconut. I'm not in a summer mood despite the blazing Florida sun. So anyway, I am gonna burn some of these and see how they do. I got some coupons from the lady and she signed me up for emails and such so we'll see if I like it! I look at it this way, if I don't, PIC's mother DOES so I can pass the savings to her.

And in case anyone wants it, here's the coupon.

And that concludes my fun filled day!

Amber Blush Sheer Mist + PC Body Butter Has landed + Candle Fiasco

Hey guys!

First and foremost, the Pink Chiffon Body Butter has LANDED in stores! At least, the ones I've been to. It's kind of ambiguous since they didn't put it out in the center with the other Pink Chiffon stuff but what can ya do?

Also saw a new product today (going to a diff store so maybe pictures?!) called Sheer Mist or maybe it was Sheer Perfume Mist. The manager was talking to another customer about it, describing it is a middle ground between FFM and EDT. She said it's something of a mixture, designed to last longer than the FFM. It's in a FFM bottle with a golden ring with leaves going down the side (think Forever Red's bow) and prices at $19.50. It's apparently a let's see how well this does type thing.

And once again, the candle fiasco kicks back up. Before, it was the holiday/test scents/phone orders thing. Now today, when I got up, I went to check the website and found that the 2/$22 deal was gone but there was $6 Fall Traditions online only and 25% off your entire purchase + $1 shipping on orders over $25 after the discount is applied. 

happyfall25 if you're interested.

At any rate, when DOD went on, decorated wallflower bulbs were pulled and put back out when over, FFM in MH and PP were pulled during FFM sales and now the 2/$22 is suspended online presumably due to the coupon code. I understand they're here to push product and make money, but I gotta say, I am prettyannoyed with this. I don't even order online but once in a blue moon and it just burns my behind up because let's face it, shipping is ridiculous and when there's a $10/$30 it's still not a great deal because you're saving usually only $2-4 so you might as well just bring it in store and buy your stuff there. Understandable from a business standpoint. Customer friendly? Not so much. There's a disclaimer that says B&BW can change their promotions at any time - we've seen it in action before, sales that should've gone until x time suddenly over three days early, or sales that were extended. Sadly, it is what it is.

So, long short, 2/$22 IS AVAILABLE IN STORE. Just not online.

Labor Day Adventures!

Originally had a shift today but was told I wasn't needed and that's perfectly okay with me. I was tired and quite frankly, I don't feel too good.

PIC surprised me coming home early, so off we went to the mall, the no so usual store. The amount of associates in there today was a bit overwhelming. It felt like every time I turned around, someone was asking me if I needed help finding anything. I could've used help making up my mind, that's for sure! I took back Pumpkin Pecan Waffles after being sickened by the smell of the oil burning at another store and my two spare burns-like-crap Apple Crumbles. Also bought three candles, so here's what I got.

Applewood Bonfire and Marshmallow Fireside were simply hoarding habit. Autumn I burned this afternoon and fell in love so that inspired me purchasing another today. Harvest Coffee smells almost like Espresso Bar. PIC says it is less sweet, more coffee. And Pumpkin Carving because I was dying for it. Smells strongly of fresh pumpkin, a slight bit of spices and brown sugar. Lovely! 

I considered getting some Sexy Dahlia Rush off clearance but I was good and left! We then hit Target for stuff for Labor Day dinner, but I did want to share this find when I went to get hamburger buns.

Say what? I mean I see the Cinnamon Swirl roaming around all the time but I never pick them up. My grandpa used to get us cinnamon swirl raisin bread when I was a kid and I don't think I've had anything like it since. So I mean, I had to! Toast it up and butter. Mm. Maybe some vanilla ice cream? Man, decisions, decisions. 

I love Fall. Have I said that lately? I do. I also love Winter. So if you think I'm a nutter now, wait until Christmas. PIC is going to be driven mad!

Just one more time?

Hey guys! Major apologies for disappearances. Just when you think your internet problem is resolved, another modem bites the dust. 

Two modems, one router, one dynex ethernet port, and two ethernet cables later, I'm pretty sure we're covered. FINALLY. 

Before work yesterday, I hit my not usual B&BW for an exchange, because let's face it - I'm tired as hell of waiting on a candle sale! 

Here's what I got!

Excusing the mess in the background, I've barely been home and my Malibu Heat decided to hit the floor. Anyway, I got:

Vermont Sugar Maple - I can't get past the alcohol smell of what would otherwise be the scent of maple sugar candies, or sugar cookies.

Seattle Hazelnut Latte - PIC picked this one. I personally am NOT a fan of hazelnut. I will say the hazelnut scent isn't overly powerful here which is good. It's sort of sweet and creamy smelling.

Keep Calm And Carve On - Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin.

Spice Kissed Pumpkin - I got this in Pocketbac a while back from the same store. Very great scent, a lot like pumpkin pie with labelled spice going on in there. I love it.

Sweet Orange Pumpkin - Also got this guy in Pocketbac. It honestly reminds me of something. what, I don't know yet. I can't put my finger on it but it's a sugary, orange-y smell with a slightly buttery undertone? I don't know if that makes sense.

I didn't find the last two in my usual store tonight. The SA at the store I bought them from told me that their store is a "mini" anti-bac test store and my usual store confirmed this when I mentioned I saw something different that they didn't have. On that same note, the SA who told me they were a test also told me that all stores should have the Spice Kissed and Sweet Orange Pumpkins. Not true. I don't know if all stores will get them but if you want them, check the test stores. 

Candles

Blueberry Pumpkin Patch - Blueberry Pancakes. That's. All. I. Smell. And it's friggin' amazing!

Marshmallow Fireside -  My love, my darling. I won't even say anything else about it.

Pumpkin Caramel Latte - Sweet and Spicy with a hint of coffee. I can smell the pumpkin faintly but this one packs a heck of a sweet punch.

Pumpkin Cupcake - Cupcakes, Pumpkin Pie, Buttercream frosting. Mix it together, that's what I smell. 

I also smelled the new Fall traditions ... as you can see in my picture above, I resisted! More like, I bought handsoap because I honestly wasn't interested. Here's what I thought:

Aspen Caramel Woods - So dang light it's hard to say. I smelled the caramel and vanilla, it's quite sweet. But doesn't wow me.

Napa Autumn Blackberry - Smelled like SBW to me all over again, and since THIS Fall is the first time I'm experiencing SBW thanks to SAS, I see no need for a near dupe. I think the only difference I could find was again, this scent was light, SBW packs a bigger wallop.

Vermont Honey Apple - I don't like Apple scents. Smell it and decide for yourself. 

Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin - Again, I'm noticing the trend of lighter scent. I wonder if the spice was toned down on purpose because last year's IS a little on the loud side for smell. I MIGHT get this one in minis since I actually do like SCP but it's just a headache to smell it sometimes.

I'm not sure what they did here, but it feels like the strengths on these scents were toned down a lot. I MIGHT get minis of the ACW and SCP. But that's only a maybe. I'm not liking the no shower gel available, it feels like being forced to buy full size if I want the whole ritual.

Now let me take a moment to go into the current up to date sales we have going right now.

• B3G2
• 5/$15, 7/$20 Hand Soap
• Fresh Picked Hardworking Cream $6
• Fresh Picked Body Care 2/$12
• Mason Jar Hand Soap 2/$15
• Mason Jar Candles 2/$15
• $6 Aromatherapy Body Wash

3 wick candles. When oh when? It's looking more and more like it might happen for Labor Day weekend. Possibly starting a week or so beforehand.  It feels like we are overdue for sure and I'll let you guys know when I know. Make sure you are checking out the other fabulous bloggers in my "Reading" tab up top.

Spotlight on Coconut Lime Verbena

Perfect candle for a holiday right? I took a week of work just because, plus my birthday's Saturday so I just need some me time and I'll be going somewhere (undecided yet) midweek. 

This was my little treat to me today, good way to kick off right?

So onto the candle ...

Lovely, light and fragrant citrus with a hint of coconut. A very clean and sheer smell. Relaxing. It's lovely! The throw isn't spectacular so in my opinion, it works well in a smaller area. It burns quite well though and made for quite a relaxing day if I say so myself. I picked this beauty up when I exchanged the Pure Paradise stuff since I had extra store credit and I gotta say that I am disappointed in myself for only getting one.

Dat wax pool. 

Even the wax is really pretty. Both the pool and the colour. Normally I find summer scents to be a bit overdone and repetitive. I noticed a coconut explosion this year at B&BW (I don't know if that's a normal thing or not.) and while it can get tiresome, this candle seems to stand out to me. I don't know how long ago it came out though I'd guess a few years. Glad to see that it's still around and honestly, it's making me wish I would've gotten into B&BW when this scent was still in body care too! Great stuff!

DOD: $9 Three Wick Candles

Yippee! Finally an old school Deal of the Day. Per my lovely manager working yesterday we wouldn't need a coupon. And that is true, at least if you're shopping in store. Sadly, if a store isn't near you and online ordering is your only option, you'll need the code SHINEON to redeem your candles. On the bright side, it does include all of them! 

If you're heading out to the store today, don't forget that handy little $10 off $30 

I got paid this morning, so I'll be trying to stop by for at least a set of 3. Trying not to spend too much, got lots to look forward to this month with my vacation from work (tentative plans for either Orlando or Gainesville) and of course, the Pumpkin Preview! So excited.

4oz candle study continued

I'm full of posts today, aren't I? While I prepared my little 4th of July feast for the partner in crime and myself, I decided to light some of the Lakeside collection candles up, which included my almost gone 3 wick Summertime S'mores (#2 of 8) and my two little 4 oz babies. After only an hour an a half burning, the results are in:

Look at those gorgeous wax pools! Sigh. These candles have one hell of a slow start but with a litle TLC, I managed to burn through them and enjoy a little peek at what I have to look forward to when I fire up these in 3 wick form!

I put them out because I'm honestly paranoid about the glass breaking if I leave it burning with no more solid wax underneath the pool. The throw would be better in a smaller area, but these smelled great when I was cooking! Watermelon Lemonade is a potent little powerhouse! And no complaints. As generic a smell as it is to me, I LOVE the smell of watermelon so much. And don't count out that Strawberry Picnic, on cold throw, my eyes widened, I knew I had to have it. It's like strawberries smothered in buttercream frosting. Guuuuh.

Oh, and I should add that after the maintenance I performed on these babies near the start did the trick - I didn't have to do anything else for them any other time I lit them. Great! 

Overall, I will focus on 3 Wicks, more value for my money, better burn, longer life, better throw, but for those candles that weren't carried in bigger than 4 oz. locally (Summertime Soda!), sure, why not?

DOD: $9 3-wick

This is the coupon required in store to redeem your $9 3 wick candles. Not a good deal at all. $8 without a coupon required would have been much better. To boot it only applies to certain candles. Online, you don't need a code to redeem it but it would appear that things like 20% off won't reduce your total. Might as well have required a code then.

• Market Peach
• Mahogany Teakwood
• Ice Cream Shop
• Homemade Cookies
• Lemon Mint Leaf
• First Bloom
• Kitchen Spice
• Garden Bouquet 

Others included Bahama Fizz and Fresh Bamboo which are sold out. Not one of their better sales ideas in my opinion. If you buy 3 candles at $11 and use a survey they come out to a little under $8 each. If you want just ONE candle (which you'd have to do per transaction anyway in store with no addition coupon), this might be the deal for you. This isn't my idea of "stocking up" however.

Anyway, enjoy the coupon!

White Barn Summer

White Barn Summer ... little, lighter cousin of Eucalyptus Mint. Already on clearance. I can't say I'm all that surprised though. While this candle has a nice scent, it'd be great if you could smell it better, or you know, if it'd burn better.

I was excited to get this one home to burn it but it was problem from first burn. The flames usually sit sort of low. If I move the candle slightly, the flames heighten but then they'll go back down after a few minutes. I had to keep dumping wax out of this over and over. It takes absolutely forever to pool completely and sometimes won't at all. And it's got virtually no throw unless you're right next to it.

Admittedly I've seen much worse as far as bad burning candles go, just look at Facebook and you'll see plenty of it! But it might as well be unscented

Sadly, this isn't a repurchase. I don't have very good luck out of White Barn candles thus far with the exception of Eucalyptus Mint.

Small Candle, a study briefly continued.

This evening I decided to light the Strawberry Picnic 4 oz. I featured as part of a first timer with this size in candle. I chose this one because it gave me more trouble and I burned it less. It gave a nice, even wax pool tonight, no maintenance necessary but the throw wasn't that good this time! Shame. Perhaps a smaller room is in order for the scent. 

Two hours in. I realised after taking the photo AND putting it out that I should've gotten a normal side shot of it but oh well. It's burning nicely in this photo and didn't take the initial four hours that the start up did. Nice! I'll pick it back up tomorrow I think.

In not small candle news, my 3 wick White Barn Summer candle is disappointing me and has since first burn. It'll give me an even wax pool but the flames are tiny and the wax is turning slightly funky. I have to keep draining out some of the wax to keep it going. I have another one but I'm thinking of exchanging the both of them honestly. The throw isn't that great either. Oh well. First world wax addict problems, I tell ya.

4 oz. candles, an early study

Recently I posted about buying a few of the 4 oz. size candles which have been on sale for $5. I've heard they burn badly and I got to experience it first hand in the last few days. My first victims ahem, candidates, were Strawberry Picnic and Watermelon Lemonade. I chose Strawberry Picnic because I wanted to see how it smells when burned, and Watermelon Lemonade to compliment the wallflower in my bedroom. 

The results have been interesting. As of roughly 10 hours put into WL and 6 into SP here were my findings.

Side by side.

SP has a thicker wick which is shorter and perhaps this is the biggest downfall to burning this one. Once the wax pool forms (or tries to) the wick very nearly drowned. The candle showed signs of tunneling. When the wax pool wouldn't extend any further, I snuffed it out and used a papertowel to sop up some of the wax to give me a longer wick almost. The results have been promising. I was able to achieve a full wax pool with no tunneling after this. The jar is kind of messy because I almost knocked it off the counter after putting it out. Oops.

WL has a thinner, taller wick and formed a near complete wax pool but also tried to tunnel. Once again, I used the paper towel technique and avoided utter catastrophe. What maintenance these little guys are. They take so long to form a wax pool too. WL took roughly 4 hours burn time today to finally reach the edges. No wonder they burn forever it seems! On the bright side, the throw for WL isn't bad for such a little guy and the SP was also nice, though not as strong which is perhaps good considering the smell could be sickening if too strong given how sweet it is.

I'll see if these guys will burn completely down and reuse the jars as I finish them. I'll perhaps light another one up before these finish to compare further. So far I am concluding that I won't be purchasing anymore of these guys. 

No tunneling! Heavy maintenance required....

$5 Candles

I only actually owned 2 small candles before this: Market Peach due to the leftover gift event online. I don't like Peach at all actually, but I figured I could gift them if nothing else plus it got me $1 shipping if memory serves me right. I don't recall if there's been a $5 small candle sale since I started shopping B&BW until now honestly.

Anyway, I thought these would be a cute little option for the kitchen when I cook, or in the bath when I soak my feet as I tried a 3-wick candle in there and almost got choked out. Haha! I've heard these burn poorly (not from anyone at the store though.) but I figured why not give it a try. The variety was not so great though! I ended up cleaning out a few of the scents out of the store in this size with this relatively small buy. If burning fails, I have a wax warmer I can probably throw these on. I did a total of 3 transactions, one survey, two of the spend $10 get a free sig item. I find that accumulating these lotions and shower gels are great for adding on to gifts for people so I'm pretty much already set for Christmas as far as the women in my life are concerned.

2/$22 Memorial Day weekend

There is a candle sale slated for Memorial Day weekend per one of my lovelies at my local store. It isn't 100% confirmed but we are looking at a 5/24-5/27-ish window of candle goodness! I'm sure we'll be hearing something more once the $5 small candle sale ends. We'll see.

London Calling!

This was actually the first haul of the new stuff and my first try of Malibu Heat. This one however, I was dying to get my hands on London Calling. As a fiend of all things British I knew from seeing the candle when I was in store one of the first times shopping for Christmas that I'd love it. Not $20 love it though! I new next to nothing about B&BW then. By the time I figured it out, it was too late, the candle was gone. However I was able to secure two nicely executed phone orders from Johnson City, TN. Those gals are great by the way. If you want test candles, I hear Easton doesn't accept any coupons at all. Johnson City DOES. The only thing they don't take is survey coupons. Also because I placed my two orders close together, they remembered me from the first order and gave me free shipping when I originally only wanted 2 candles but they talked me into taking the last one to make it 3! How could I say no?

I was afraid to burn any of them though! What if it never came back? Gasp! Well luckily it did. I swapped some candles I had picked up and wondered why I got them or were gifted them for these babies and stocked up on the wallflowers. I fell in love with the scent via wallflower from the first time around when I ordered several different ones looking to try them out. I knew it was gonna be fun when I opened the thing, oil got on my hands and it smelled really good. Of course I went to wash them off quite quickly though! The wallflower also fell out of the wall which is a story for another day but no worries - nothing was damaged. How, I don't know. I burned the candle for the first time a few nights ago. Just like the wallflower. Tea and lemon about sums it up. 

Next 2/$22  I am going to clean my store out of them, I wish I was kidding. It's crazy how much I love this scent. It was hinted to me that one might come for Memorial Day. I am thinking May 22nd-26th/27th. It may begin on or near the weekend but we'll see.

Bonus: The watermelon lemonade wallflower is in my spacey second bedroom an it's strong! Thumbs up.

May 13th couldn't have come sooner!

So here is my first post thing. This haul is from a few days ago. I had ordered Wild Citrus Sunflower marking the second time I've ordered a scent that was an online exclusive and HATED it! I learned my lesson from the experience, though I can find things about fragrances I like pretty easily, I don't do well if I can't go product/candle sniffing. LOL! Wild Citrus Sunflower was traded for some of the Malibu Heat pictured above.

I had a Pineapple Orchid candle that had a wick break off mid-burn and the wax turned nasty and smoky and ugh. The SA was grossed out when she saw the candle but not necessarily surprised. So I swapped it for Meet Me In Tahiti. I figured by the description on this candle I'd like it but I wanted to smell it cold first. It kind of reminds me of the beach with a touch of vanilla. It's a good one so far! I can't say much else for it other than I haven't had any wicks breaking on me and it burns even so...

As for the body care, being as I am relatively new to B&BW (think December 2012), I have NEVER tried Malibu Heat at all before this. The fragrance notes sounded like something I'd absolutely love so I was counting down the days til it came to stores and bought it and loved it. Not without trying it first though! None of my stores would sell any of the May 13th floorset stuff early which marks a first for me since I've been able to pick up or at least smell stuff a few days before they hit the floor so I was itching to smell all these new things come last Monday!

It's got all these fruits and tropical scents going for it but a hint of a powdery something, I don't know. Whatever it is, it reminds me of a body spray (probably Avon something) from the nineties that I might've sprayed around in my sister's room. It's familiar. I love it. A lot. The hair mist was something I decided I'd try out - being that I have average thickness in hair but unmanageability (that's not a word but now it is!) that is out of this world with a big splash of frizz, hair products that aren't (and sometimes are!) shampoo and conditioner don't agree with me. However I have had very nice results out of this mist. It is similar to a light hold hair spray that fluffs up my hair a little and gives the otherwise dull appearance of my hair some semblance of style. I picked one up in Pure Paradise too since I liked it so much.

Pure Paradise, now this one is interesting. I find it a very light scent that fades down to my skin smelling like a boat trip I took where we went to all these beaches and looked for sandollars, seashells and the like, made a day of it, got sunburned to the high heavens and had a lot of fun. Not an every day scent for me but it's a nice little once in a while since it isn't a very "loud" scent. I don't really know how to describe it other than it kind of smells like sea water. Not dirty seawater, but just water. Well that sounds weird, what does water smell like, right? I live in Florida so I guess it makes sense to me. Anyway, that's my take on my long anticipated body care haul.