I always enjoy going to the Farmer's Market. There are always so many new varieties of fruits, vegetables and other items to look at and buy. On my first trip there back in early July I wasn't even looking for any B&B products, but as always, they seemed to fall right in my lap! As I was perusing a stand that carried an array of peppers, kohlrabi and green beans, my nose began to twitch. I looked to the left and sure enough some of the most beautiful soaps I have ever seen in my life were staring back at me. Much to my SO's dismay, I had found bath and body products at the Farmer's Market.
At this time, I didn't even like bar soaps. I never thought they were fragranced enough and they left me feeling too squeaky clean. I like to be moisturized when I leave the shower! At any rate, I could not pass up these brightly colored treasures, so I picked up 3 (priced at 3 bars for ten dollars you can't go wrong!) and went on my merry way. These soaps are huge and wonderful. No matter how dark the color, the lather is a nice foamy white and they smell so good! Even my first bar, a black and red swirled bar, Pomegranate, didn't leave any residue and lathered up white as snow. Needless to say I was hooked! Pictured below are some of the bars I have acquired on subsequent trips to the Farmer's Market.
So I digress, this blog was supposed to be about some of Lynn's new scents so here they are!
I am in love with all three bars, although SO (who you remember was dismayed at my discovery of Olive Branch) insisted that we buy a bar of vanilla bean.
Apple Cinnamon is a bar that is a must have for anyone who loves apples in the fall! This bar is loaded with appley goodness as well as sweet sweet cinnamon! One of the things I love about OBS, is that all the products with cinnamon have real cinnamon in them and not a fragrance oil. She actually uses cinnamon from a local shop called Penzey's, which has been another love of mine for a year or so. (for anyone who likes to bake or cook check them out too! http://www.penzeys.com/) This is by far my favorite of the 3 bars, even though I am a self admitted pumpkin junkie.
Pumpkin is a beautiful scent as well. Since it actually contains a fresh pumpkin puree that is the pumpkin scent you get, very fresh. I really love this bar and I think it will be joining me in the shower tomorrow!
Vanilla Bean is another great fall scent. As I said SO wanted this one and I always comply with his B&B wants. Makes me feel a bit more justified with mine! Vanilla bean is a very smooth and sweet vanilla scent. If you like vanilla, you would like it.
I almost forgot about this little gem! I talked Lynn into letting me have this prototype bar about a month ago. She had told me it was going to be part of her fall line and I absolutely fell in love with it! So she let me adopt it, with a promise I would let it cure. It is very orangey and chocolately, like a terry's chocolate orange. I have had it sitting by my computer and sometimes I just sniff it. Just because it smells so darn good!
So all in all I am absolutely knocked over by Olive Branch's Fall line of soaps. Out of the CP soaps I have tried, I love these the best! Especially Apple Cinnamon!
http://www.olivebranchsoap.com/ (not affiliated just wanted to share the love!)
Also, although I know some people have had issues with OBS in some shape or form, I also know that alot of people have been pleased with their products from this company. So I write this blog as a pleased customer only, not to start any sort of drama. Thanks!
It is Fall at Olive Branch Soaps!
Long Wait? Yes. Hella Good Free Stuff? Oh Yes.
Alexa at Isle of Eden has my favorite Halloween collection. She sucked me into the IOE vortex with Halloween 2006 and I am happy to say that the Halloween 2007 products have exceeded my expectations. In spite of the long wait, I am glad that I have my products and did not miss out on such a great collection and even better freebie offer.
I received all of these scrubs or Halloween Cauldrons [as they are listed on the website] for free thanks to the special promotion where one cauldron is received for every $35.00 worth of products purchased. The customer is able to choose which flavor cauldron they would like to receive.
Let's start with R.I.P.; this is supposed to smell like Lavender and Mint but I am not getting any of those notes. It smells like iodine and vicks vaporub to me; completely medicinal and not very appealing. I am going to let this one rest because there is a good chance that once the scrub has cured a bit, the astringency of the lavender will mellow and more of the mint will round out the scent.
Freshly Bitten is straight up strawberries and cream. The cake note is very slight and the strawberry totally muscled its way to the forefront. This scrub is yummy.
Graveyard Apple is described as being an intoxicating blend of crisp green apples and hot buttered rum. I don't detect any hot buttered rum from the scrub. This smells just like an apple jolly rancher.
Bath of Blood is one of my favorites of the freebies. It is creamy pomegranate and is very reminiscent of Midnight Pomegranate [by Bath and Body Works] but with a softer edge.
It was a given that I would order White Hearse because I love rose scented products. This was predominantly cake scented for me with sugared rose petals floating in the background. It is such a lovely scent.
I am starting my round of Isle of Eden Halloween reviews with the cauldrons because the promo is still running and you may also find some of the cauldron bouncing around the swap sections. In addition to the free scrubs, these were included in my order...
There is a little controversy associate with these cute little toys. The original intention of the Halloween toy promo is that everyone receives special toys with their order. Every toy is good for a unique promotion which could be a free scrub, free shipping or a certain percentage off an order. Naturally, their was some sort of excitement and anticipation over these little toys.
In an attempt to foresee any issues over potential toy envy, it seems that Alexa has decided [maybe, still no "official word"; just a quoted private message] that all toys will be good for the same promotion. So now everyone gets the same promotion and Customer A does not start a thread on her forum demanding answers why she got a spider while Customer B got a cute squishy pumpkin. This is not going over too well and some customers are genuinely sad and are fretting over the promotion being changed.
I am a recovered fan girl who now approaches dealings with Isle of Eden on a strictly business-like basis. I no longer make it personal; I will pay whatever the amount and wait.. and wait and they will make sure that my order is packed correctly and smells as good as it is supposed to. As long as we both hold up our end of the deal, I am an Isle of Eden fan and when they don't; I scream from the rafters.
That being said, I searched deep within myself and discovered that I really don't care if everyone gets the same promotion despite their receipt of different toys. Yeah, I know what is on the site and that she is changing the plan midway but I just don't get so excited over Halloween toys and games and in the end, everyone still gets some kind of a deal. Now, get that TAT at ten to fourteen days and then we will talk about excitement.
Bath Cream Wars
Rain Forest Soap Shack vs. Isle of Eden
I have read on a number of bath and body boards [MUA, Lush, Bpal] that Rain Forst Soap Shack products are comparable to those of Isle of Eden. I did a comparison of their bath creams and here is how it all came out....
to open up the picture to full size, click on the picture and it will open up in a new window. you may be prompted to click again once in the new window.
There are definite differences between the two bath creams and I think the pictures show that despite some claims; Isle of eden and Rain Forest Soap Shacks are not the same.
The Rain Forest Soap Shack bath cream is a lot softer; too soft in my opinion. I think that the super soft bath creams are used up quicker while the harder bath creams last for a long time and give up more lather with less product. The Isle of Eden bath cream was really firm and gave off a thick, dense lather.
Both bath creams were nicely scented on cold sniff and gave a decent bloom of scent upon lathering. Neither left much of a lingering scent on my skin after rinsing and toweling off.
You really can't go wrong with either of these bath creams; they both smell great and even though Isle of Eden did better in the lathering portion of the test, if you are not up for waiting four to eight weeks for an Isle of Eden product, you would not be remiss to give Rain Forest Soap Shack bath creams a try. Personally, I prefer the Isle of Eden product because I have always been partial to the firmer bath creams.
**Please note that despite my reference to the Isle of Eden turnaround time as anywhere between four to eight weeks, it is listed on the site as four to five weeks although there have been recordings of customer waiting up to eight weeks for their products.
Halloween with Rainforest Soap Shack
Halloween and Christmas are my favorite bath and body themes so when e-tailers start dropping their Halloween collections, it is very difficult for me to restrain myself. Oscar Wilde once said; "I can resist anything but temptation". This statement sums me up in a nutshell; I am driven by temptation. It is challenging to reign myself in with all these fabulous sounding Halloween scents and I have to admit, I haven't really been up to that challenge. I cave almost every single time...
I have been reading a lot about how Rain Forest Soap Shack compares to Isle of Eden in quality. Since I was waiting on an Isle of Eden order to process, I figured it couldn't hurt to check out the Soap Shack's Halloween offerings.
These are my choices from the wonderful array of Halloween items offered by The Rain Forest Soap Shack;
The official description of Jack O'Lantern's Revenge is Black Currant and Pumpkin. This combination grabbed me immediately and was number one on my list because I was really curious to see how the tangy and tart notes of black currant would marry with the round, buttered creaminess of pumpkin. Before I get into whether this combination was successful or not, can I please mention that this scrub looks good enough to eat? My goodness, when I was editing this picture, my mouth was watering! Just look at it; it looks like pumpkin mocha frozen yogurt.
Small digression aside, I can't say that I am loving this. To me, a successful scent partnership is defined by one's ability to pick out each scent. Each scent should blend together to make a pleasing fragrance but at the same time, they should also retain their individual characteristics. Sadly, this combination does not achieve this... I don't get a sense of the pumpkin and I certainly don't get a sense of the Black Currant. The two scents overwhelm each other and leave behind a sharp, soapy and somewhat perfumey fragrance.
I am so glad that Candy Corn Cupcakes shook me out of my disappointment over my bad experience with Jack O'Lantern's revenge. The word on Candy Corn Cupcakes is.... Cupcakes and Candy Corn! The bath cream smells exactly like the description. I am really impressed with the cupcake scent; it is dead on cakey goodness. This bath cream reminds me of the vanilla frosted cupcakes topped with candy corns that we used to have at school.
I love Phantom Crush! Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Cherries not only make for a fantastic dessert but a luscious scented bath product as well. I get more cherry than pineapple off the bat but that could change as I make my way down the jar and hit more of the pineapple blend.
I am a big fan of Tiger Bite despite my normal aversion to orange dreamsicle type scents. The licorice provides a needed edge to the sweet and creamy orange but keep in mind, this is a very sweet scent. If you are adverse to overtly sweet and foody type scents, this is not the combination for you.
I told you that I have been drawn to licorice lately, right? So it can't be a surprise that I ordered Witches Shoes. The description of this bath cream is Ruby Red Grapefruit and Licorice. If you are staying away from Tiger Bite because it is too sweet, The Witches Shoes is one to consider. Ruby Red Grapefruit is the predominant note and the licorice lingers in the background, rounding out the sharpness and adding a touch of sweetness to the combination. It is still a sweet scent but not a sticky sweet scent like Tiger Bite. It is a sweet scent while managing to retain the crisp and clean of the grapefruit.
My First Cherriflip Order
Cherriflip is one of those etailers that I had wanted to order from for quite some time, but for whatever reason I didn't. Then finally, this fall, in my quest to find the perfect pumpkin scent, I stumbled across the Cherriflip fall scent list and found several scents that I was interested in. They are also running a contest with their Limited Edition blue meanie bubble bars as well, and since I am a sucker for contests, I couldn't resist placing a small order.
My order consisted of 2 hair mists, (I am always on the quest for the perfect hair mist) a bath fizzie and several bubble bars. I placed my order, I had a few issues submitting it, but the owners of the site were extremely helpful and finally my order was in their queue. There is something about great customer service that makes the products so much better when they arrive! :)
First off, let me say that the actual package is very professional. I opened my box and was delighted to see a smaller box inside containing my goodies. As I opened it up, I was excited to smell the Dew Good Hair and Body Mists.
These are the 4 oz mists, and as you can see, the packaging and labeling are very professional, and waterproof, which is always a plus. Overall the hairmist quality is excellent. A few squirts on my towel dried hair takes out the majority of the tangles that I have. I would definately order these guys again.
The scents I ordered were The Vanishing and Smashing Pumpkin. They are both great scents that I would for sure order again.
The Vanishing
Site Description: A delicious banana blended with ripe, fresh fruit mallow cream. Fresh banana slowly vanishes to reveal light berries, citrus and marshmallow cream. This is one disappearing act you don't want to miss.
My take on The Vanishing: I specifically remember taking my first whiff of this scent. At first I thought I had made a terrible mistake. It didn't smell that great on a cold sniff. Fortunately I didn't give up on this fabulous scent. Fresh banana is a hard scent to pull off, and I can safely assure you that Cheriflip has done a great job with this one. To me it smells like fresh bananas dipped in cool whip. The berries are there, but the banana is forfront in this delicious mix. I am a big fan of BBW Ile de Tahiti Banana Fei and this mist layers perfectly with it.
Smashing Pumpkin
Site Description: Pumpkin smashed with mild coffee, a touch of steamed milk and one wild raspberry. Perfect for Fall or anytime of year.
My take on Smashing Pumpkin: Usually coffee scents scare me in products other than a tart, but on my quest for the perfect pumpkin, I was willing to take some risks. Smashing Pumpkin starts out a bit strong but dries down to a lovely pumpkin scent. It isn't your typical spicy pumpkin either. It is a bit hard to describe but I will do my best. The steamed milk gives the pumpkin a creamier touch and the coffee gives it an interesting dimension as well. The coffee is not strong at all. All in all this blend is a really good pumpkin scent. And my SO loves it!
The other products I ordered were two bubble bars and a bath fizzie.
Unfortunately, I used the Wicked Apple bath fizzie, before I had a chance to photograph it. But it looked identical to the one on the Cherriflip site, and it was a great product. It fizzed in the tub very well and filled my entire bathroom with the delicious scent of golden delicious apples. There need to be more golden delicious apple products!
The bubble bars I purchased (pictured above) are Little Fish and, of course, a Blue Meanie for the contest! The contest is to purchase a Blue Meanie Bubble Bar and if he comes wih two orange eyes, you win your entire order for free! Unfortunately, as you can see, my Blue Meanie only had orange eye, but I won with him anyways. What a wonderful scent of berries! And the Cherriflip bubble bars produce tons of soft white bubbles. Little Fish is another one that I will order again. it is the perfect wake me up bubble bar. It is the perfect 7-up and blueberry blend. Lovely! These bubble bars rival LUSH ones anyday, in my book at least!
So all in all, I am very pleased with my Cherriflip order. I will definately be ordering more bubble bars in a future order. I am looking forward to their holiday scents.
Let's Get the Party Tarted!
*cough cough... nerd alert....
Yeah.. I know.
Let's talk about tarts for a moment. It is a wonderful thing to smell good but if your living area smells like a dank basement it does impede on all the lovely products you used to achieve maximum damn-you-smell-good-ness. If you are taking the time and expense to thoughtfully choose products to scent your skin and convey a mood, it is a natural step to do the same for the atmosphere around you.
There are a myriad of products that one could use to boost the olfactory qualities of your living space; candles, room spray, carpet fresh or my personal favorite; tarts. I prefer tarts because it is a relatively inexpensive way to change up the scents and there are so many fun choices to be had.
I purchase tarts from a number of e-tailers; some were bad, some were good and some were really really good but none are quite like House of Tarts.
House of Tarts became my number one e-tailer for tarts in the span of one small order...
Black Cat's Surprise - Black Licorice, Cookies, Oranges. I don't know what it is but I have been drawn to anything scented with Black Licorice. You might think..why would I want my space to smell like Sambuca? And I don't blame you but please be assured, your room will smell like the inside of a Halloween treat bag if you burn this tart and not like the back of a dusty liquor cabinet.
Party Time - Cake, Cookies, Ice Cream, Candy, Chocolate: I get mostly cake, cookies and ice cream with this tart. If I really inhale deeply, I get a sense for the chocolate. I like that though as I am not a big fan of chocolate scents so having it in the background works for me.
Candy Store - I get more chocolate with this one but thankfully, the chocolate is anchored down by a bubblegum and lollipop note. Good stuff going on with this tart.
Violet Birthday Cake - Birthday Cake with Butter creme Frosting and Violet Icing Flowers:
Sugared violets resting atop a cake note. I love violets and I love cake; win, win proposition on my end.
Frosted Pink Cupcakes with Sprinkles - white Cupcakes, frosted with Pink Butter creme Frosting & sprinkled with pastel Candy Stars: Do sprinkles even have a scent? I never stopped to smell a sprinkle so I can't rightly say but this tart is as good as any pink frosted scented product that I have tried. It is a terrific variation of a classic scent.
Sweet Sixteen - Pink Sugar Cookie, Bubble Gum, Butter creme Frosting & Strawberry: This tart is everything that the description entails. I think that an addition of a soft, musky back note would work well to convey the idea of "not a girl yet not quite a women" theme of this tart but all in all, the tart smells great and you really get a sense of all the listed notes.
House of Tarts has an impressive scent list and the scent lasts for a long time. I am currently on my fourth day of burning Black Cat's Surprise and the scent is as strong as when I first started to use it. Also, and this is so important, even though the scents are strong enough to fill the room; they are not fakey or over perfumey. They strike the perfect balance between subtle and super scented.
Check it out for yourself and perhaps place a try it out order for these sublime tarts at....
http://houseoftarts.com/
Thursday evening, September 28, 2007
Here we are; summer is over and September is well on its way to being a memory which leaves me with the question as October approaches...... why is it still so freaking hot and humid!?!?!
In my desperation for some autumnal goodness, I used the following items for quite a lovely shower experience:
So here is what we have going on; Mad City Sue Whipped Sugar Scrub in Caramel Apple, Bath and Body Works Pecan Passion 3-in-1, Callisto Buttercloud Cream in Autumn Brulee and who is that long, tall handsome stranger in the background? Why it is Vanilla Ice Cream body splash by Bath and Body Works. Big ups to Perfume911 on MUA for piquing my interest for this product. It is something that a few weeks ago, I probably would have passed by but her enthusiasm was completely infectious and led me to a wonderful discovery!
Here is a quick breakdown on everything.
Pecan Passion is quite the little dark horse. When I smelled this last week at Bath and Body Works, I wrinkled my nose and thought.."oh no". I was standing at the register and they had a bowl of the baby bottles just looking at me, calling for me to take one home. What the hell..you can't always trust a cold sniff so I will give it a shot. I just smelled this again in the bottle and I still don't like it, it smells like cinnamon-ey frosting but once it starts to lather, the smell of pecans pushes to the forefront and that little ho-hum shower gel turns into something wonderful.
The Mad City Sue Scrub is [yeah, I know.. I say this all the time]fantastic. I just love the frosting like texture that still manages to give my skin a good scrubbing. The scent is not cloyingly sweet; you really get a sense of a fresh granny smith apple wrapped in buttery caramel.
I came out of that shower smelling like a country kitchen; pecans, caramels and apples. Not too shabby...
Lucky for me, my small Callisto order came in that consisted of body creams in their autumn scents. One of these scents was Autumn Brulee with notes of Pumpkin, coconut vanilla custard and caramelized sugar. It is creamy, spicy, sweet, decadent and super scented so it married beautifully with the other components of my shower.
Even though the climate outside was reminiscent of a rain forest, the atmosphere in my room was all about the crisp spiciness of Autumn....... with the air conditioner on full blast.
Wednesday Evening, September 26, 2007
Today I used a Rainforest Soap Shack body wash in Girls Night Out" and Cremoso Layer Cake Sugared Frosting Shea Scrub in "Confection Extravagance" which consists of three layers.
The bottom layer is Gothic Lolita in Purple-tender violets, juicy blackberries, and plump blueberries with amber.
The middle is Rose Puff - sweet rosewater, flaky pastry, custard...and a handful of red rose petals atop a mound of whipped cream.
And the top layer is Lavender Cotton Candy-Sweet, fluffy pink cotton candy blended with lavender essential oil.
I haven't gotten to the two lower layers but the top layer, Lavender Cotton Candy is clean, refreshing and sugary sweet. The scent is almost exactly like an older Isle of Eden scent called Lavender Pound cake that was a component of a scrub called Pillow Talk. Pillow Talk was part of the Princess collection that was discontinued. Anyway, this post is about Cremoso but I wanted to note that I loved Pillow Talk for that lavender layer so I am pretty psyched to have found a scrub that takes that sweet lavender flavor to another level. Cremoso has managed to create the best lavender scent that I have ever tried. You know how some lavender blends have too much astringency? Lavender Cotton Candy has the clean, freshness of true lavender but the cotton candy layer amps up the fragrant sweetness as well. I didn't think it got better than Lavender Pound Cake until I tried Lavender Cotton Candy. I know.. I need to get to those other layers [especially Gothic Layer which is my nominee for best product name ever!] but the scrub is so so pretty and I am loving the Lavender Cotton Candy so so much that I will just be patient. Alas reader, you must be patient with me as I will be sure to report back my thoughts on the bottom two layers. Something tells me that my findings will be glowing.
The texture of the scrub is one that I am growing increasingly fond of; the non foaming, skin softening shea scrub. After rinsing, my skin is not left oily and once dry, my skin is really soft.
I could go on and on about this scrub and lest I forget that there was another component to my shower, I am going to turn my attention to Girls Night Out!
The official word on this shower gel is fruits and flowers on an intense base of musk & creamy vanilla notes. That pretty much sums it up; great scent in the shower that is very reminiscent of Blackberry Cream Musk by Callisto Bath and Body. The lathering left a little to be desired but in the end, it got the job done. All in all, It is a decent shower gel in an un0original scent but I do like it and will use it.
Flower Peddler
By SerendipityPink (AKA HaileyCosmic on MUA)
There has been talk about Flower Peddler on MUA so thought I'd break out my pics and give it go.
Overall Thoughts: I like the items I got but the scent was not very strong even after letting the cure. The soaps where a bit average but the scrub was one the best salt scrub I've tried.
Soaps:What the soaps lacked in scent they make up for in moisture. I typically just use my soaps to shave. I got a wonderful clean smooth shave and I didn't even lotion afterwards.
Scrub:I expected this to be an oily scrub as most salt scrubs are greasy. I also expected it dry me out. Salt is not known for helping you keep in moisture. The scent was intense and I was not left feeling greasy or dry.
Now on with the pics....(for a larger view click on the pic)
Mail Call!
Sweet anticipation. Once I get that little notice in my inbox, I know that wonderful and glorious things are in store for me. Your package will be shipped by PayPal Shipping with U.S. Postal Service.
What will it be today? Tarts, Scrubs? Both maybe?!?!
If the package is arriving via USPS then it is a blind anticipation. Thanks to the United States Postal Service's lack of step by step tracking info, the only sure thing is that they were electronically notified to expect your package. Perhaps I am waiting for home delivery and although I may look busy cooking or cleaning or even just lazing around and watching tv; my ears are pricked and waiting to hear that familiar rumble of my mail carriers truck. Yes, I can tell the distinct tone of his engine rumble because I am just that far gone.
Maybe I am at work, sitting at my desk and laboring over accounts payable. I look like I am really into what I am doing but I am just waiting. Waiting for Anthony the mail carrier to cry out as he is walking in... "Jude! Ya got more stuff here!"
This is where I jump out of my seat and greedily grab my boxes and proceed to rip them open in a quiet frenzy. This is where my co-workers roll there eyes, question my sanity and remind me that I already own a large amount of bath and body products so why would I need more?
Yeah... well I smell good so fuck em all.
Look at these beautiful jewels.....
courtesy of House of Tarts
The last thing I need in my life is another tart. I already have so many but the quest to find the perfect tart is like the quest to find the perfect foundation or mascara. Even when you are pleased with what you have, there is always the possibility that your skin can look smoother, your lashes can be longer or your living area can smell a litte more heavenly.
These tarts are as close to perfect as one could get. If it were not late and I did not have to get up early in the morning, I could go into an in depth review of each scent. Alas, I am tired and must leave the tart by tart review for tomorrow but for now.. I leave you with the link to House of Tarts so you can check out their incredible scent list.
http://houseoftarts.com/store/Default.asp
Wednesday morning, September 26, 2007
I have been on a sugar coma lately so I wanted something a bit cleaner today. The scrub is a split form Isle of Eden in Blood Orange and Ocean. It is a terrific and bright scent and perfect for when you don't want something too sweet smelling.
The bath cream that I used is actually a scrub that I purchased from and etsy shop called The Bath Cream Shop. This scrub is not very scrubby at all despite the extra coarse sugar crystals that were sprinkled on top. It is pretty sticky and soft and works really well as a bath cream than a scrub.
The scent on this scrub is Guava and to be honest, it smelled like Pomegranate Cocktail from IOE and nothing like Guava. I grew up eating Guava Paste on crackers with Queso Fresco or drinking ice cold Goya Guava Nectar so I was so excited about this. It is more sharp and tangy with a distinct champagne note and Guava is a very mellow and sweet fragrance.
Today's Featured Scrub
Presenting Chokecherry Parfait by Isle of Eden
What the heck is a chokecherry and do I really want to smell like one? Well, if the Prunus virginiana smells anything like Isle of Eden's Chokecherry parfait then yes.. I do want to smell like a chokecherry.
Wouldn't want to eat one though since they are not edible and having one in my back yard would suck since the tree is home to tent caterpillars and those things are just gross.
All that aside, this is a really fun scent and to me, it smells more like a blend of funnel cake and Alexa's fabulous Black Sugar which was a sweet and tart black cherry scent but hey, Chokecherry is a more catchy name than funnel-cake-mixed-with-black-sugar. I haven't gotten to the creamy lemon middle yet but knowing how well Isle of Eden does lemons, it is sure to be fabulous. If it isn't, I will report back and let you all know.
Monday Evening, September 24, 2007
I am in carnation heaven tonight. I haven't busted out the Lush products in a while but what lotion would go better with my just-arrived-today Skindecent scrub in Pink Carnations than Potion.
If you are not familiar with Potion, it is a wonder of a lotion that can only be ordered on a regular basis from the Lush UK site. Every once in a while, Lush NA will have discon rounds where they offer up voted upon discontinued products and Potion always makes the cut. You would think that Lush NA would get the hint and just offer Potion up as part of the regular lineup but a lot of what Lush NA does makes little sense.
What makes Potion so special? Why it's the rose petal infusion, almond oil, rose absolute, fresh tangerine and carnation absolute of course! One thing is a given if you want to try Potion, you have to like that dry, somewhat spicy scent of carnation and I do, so all is right in my world.
So it is established that I have hankering for some Potion and Pink Carnation Scrub. I don't however, have a carnation scented soap or bath cream. I do have Vanilla Chai Bath Butter by Get Whipped and it turned out to be a match made in heaven. Vanilla Chai bath butter smells like vanilla ice cream with a light essence of chai. It is not over the top in it's spiciness and really worked well with the floral notes of the scrub and lotion.
Time to go gonzo here and top it all of with Maiden by Bpal. Yes... I dabble in the dark arts of Bpal. I sold a lot of my collection because there was too much that fought against my chemistry but the few bottles I have are little treasures.
Maiden is white tea, carnations and damask rose. It was the perfect finale to an incredible shower and two hours later; I still smell this amazing combo around me.
So Pretty
I picked up the products from the new Blackberry Amber line by Bath and Body Works. I was pretty excited for t he release since I have been on a big blackberry and amber kick so it is just a huge plus for me two have two great tastes in one!
Click on the picture to open it up in another window and then click on it again to view in full size. Thank you!
Sunday Morning, September 23, 2007
I know.. I know. More Get Whipped love and I don't want this blog to be all about Get Whipped so I am going to use different products for my evening shower. However, this stuff is great and I just had to try these items.
This is the official word on Frosty Snowflakes:
Frosty Snowflake: Top notes of Green and Orange Jasmine; mid-notes of Ginger, Rose, Carnation, and Peach; base notes of Patchouli, Musk, Powder, and Vanilla.
I must admit that I ordered Frosty Snowflake without reading the notes because I assumed it would be an iced vanilla peppermint scent along the lines of Buttermint Baby by Isle of Eden. I am happy to say that I was wrong. If I had read the description, I would never have chosen it. I have a deep adversity to anything Jasmine but Frosty Snowflake has shown me that when Jasmin is done right and blended with the right notes, it is a glorious thing.
I thought that pairing my Lolita Lempicka dupe scrub and body butter would work really well with the scrub. I was right; the anise and violet properties of Lolita Lempicka melded beautifully with the notes of Frosty Snowflake. It was one sexy shower.
Sunday, Sept 23 2007
So today I was staying home the whole day and I was feeling particularly PMSy so I opted to take a sweet Chocolatey shower to go with my nice Bon Bon Voyage scented home (FYI: Alternative Breeding Tart).
So I looked at my modest little stash and picked out my chocolatey smelling stuff. I picked my fave: Double Rich Hot Cocoa 3-in-1 by Philosophy as my cleanser. As you can see (sadly) I am almost out. I also used this as a shampoo since my hair is doing this wierd "I wanna be a bit greasy thing" right now and using this as a shampoo isn't AS moisturizing as my other shampoos, although it doesn't totally dehydrate my hair either. If you don't have this and you like chocolate scents... you need it. It's not overly chocolatey but its a really nice bitter sweet scent.
I followed with Isle of Eden's 5th Avenue Angel scrub. It is described as Madegascar Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate, Exotic Lychee. The scent is actually quite nice. I predict the lychee takes away some of the chocolatey scent because, in all honesty, it doesnt smell too much like chocolate... but it does have a slight bitter scent of the dark chocolate.
After my nice warm shower I used Isle of Eden's Sweet Kisses Body Butter in 6 Feet Under. I actually ADORE this scent and since it's part of Alexa's old stuff, it is on point in every way shape and form. The scent is rich and sweet and a wee bit bitter. Everything you want in a chocolate scent. The texture is moisture-filled and lingers so that 3 hours later, I still smell like it. Unfortunately, last I heard, it was discontinued so I try to be easy with it as to not run out.
Alrighty then, happy bathing!
Nice to meet ya...
Ness took the silly title... DAMNIT!!! Anyways, that right over there (<--) is me... Like, Ness, I hate doing this because I never know what to say. I love baths and showers and anything that has to do with being clean and smelling yummy. I am not as crazy about it as Jude but I do enjoy buying and using all this amazing stuff that is out there.
I do usually buy from Etailers inc Callisto (their lotions are heaven), Skindecent (don't know how I ever lived without their scrubs), Fantasy Bath (the best bath bombs out there). Outside of Etailers I also occationally buy Lush (although I'm slowly falling out of love with them). And I also love Philosophy 3-in-1's since I still have not found a better showergel. I also sometimes use Body Shop or Bath and Body Works things (but only scents that fell in love with a loooong time ago before the discovery of new and smellier things.)
I think that's it about me... happy bathing!!!
Get Whipped v Isle of Eden - Round Two
I am pitting Isle of Eden's Banana Split Cake scrub against Get Whipped's Lolita Lempicka dupe scrub.
This round of comparisons are all about the scrubs. And let's face it; scrubs are the king of the bath and body realm. There were significant differences between the two scrubs and just by looking at the ingredients list, you can gauge what the end results are going to be. The three main ingredients in the Get Whipped scrub are cocoa butter, shea butter and aloe vera while the three main ingredients in the Isle of Eden scrub are Sucrose [sugar], sucrose [raw cane sugar]and evaporated sugar cane juice. This does not mean that the Get Whipped scrub is not as scrubby as the Isle of Eden scrub; the sugar however does melt faster and leaves your skin softer.
I think that the picture comparisons give a good idea of the differences between the two products. Look at the two scrubs side by side and they have very similar textures but the Get Whipped scrub has a noticeable sheen to it and is more moist.
For the scoop test, they both did really well and had great textures. The Isle of Eden scrub held its texture and stayed firm while the Get Whipped scoop started to melt a little; I assume this is owed to the high cocoa and shea butter content.
They both spread nicely without any scrub fall out. The Isle of Eden scrub was drier while the Get Whipped scrub started to melt upon contact.
This is where the scrubs similarities end. Upon scrubbing, there was no foaming action from the Get Whipped scrub. There is no soap base in the Get Whipped product so yeah, how can it foam? I did a Google search on the last ingredient "Liquipar Optima" and learned that it is a preservative for oil based products and keeps bacteria away. Even though the main ingredients are cocoa and shea butter, this is not a greasy scrub at all. It did leave my skin very moisturized.
The Isle of Eden scrub was very scrubby and it foamed once the scrub was worked into the skin. This is a soap based scrub so although it rinsed easily and cleanly and despite the sunflower, macadamia and soybean oil that were added, the final result was clean skin with no sense of softened skin.
The final part of the test can't be photographed and that is how the scents hold up on cold sniff and how the scent lingers on the skin. On cold sniff, they both smell good. There is something about the Get Whipped product though because the scent really blooms and intensifies as it is being used. The Isle of Eden scrub did not intensify as it was being used and after toweling the area, there was no distinct lingering of the scent. The Get Whipped scrub scent stayed on skin for about thirty minutes after my skin was dry.
I greatly preferred the Get Whipped scrub over the Isle of Eden scrub. My skin felt like silk after using the Get Whipped Scrub and the lingering scent was lovely.
