Scentsy Buddy vs Baby Scentsy Buddy: a comparison

During the Jolly Holiday sale, I was lucky enough to snag Ollie the Elephant and baby Ollie the elephant. How cute are these guys?!?!

I had never seen a "baby" buddy in person, and since I happen to now have two of the same animal, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison for you guys!

Scentsy Recipe: Winterfell

Winterfell

(1 Winter Pine + 1 Whiteout)

Not bad! I mostly smelled the Whiteout at first, but then depending on where I was in the room, I'd be hit with some Winter Pine scent. My grandma's words: "It smells like Christmas up here!" I think this mix would be good for someone who like Winter Pine in theory, but thinks it's too strong on its own!

Very Snowy Spruce

Very Snowy Spruce

(Scent of the Month)

"Breathe in fresh forest air: balsam, spruce, and cedar branches embrace the warmth of amber and woody pinecones."

I wanted to love this one; I was expecting to love this one! Everyone said it smells JUST like a Christmas tree and I was so excited. It definitely does remind me Christmas tree, but for some reason, it also makes me nauseous! So disappointing. For that reason, I prefer Winter Pine or Iced Pine over this scent. 

Unfortunately, this one is a thumbs down for me.

Aussie Plum

Aussie Plum

(Spring & Summer)

"Mélange of juicy plum, pink grapefruit, and tart pomegranate with smooth vanilla"

Mmmm this one is yummy! I definitely smell the plum, among other things. To me, the mix of fruits almost has a floral quality to it. I hope this scent comes back this summer! For now, you might try Pomegranate Pear, as both have pomegranate notes in them with a slight floral feel (and they both make me feel happy!).

Thumbs up for this one!

German Chocolate

German Chocolate

(Bring Back My Bar)

"Decadent, moist chocolate cake, icing, and coconut."

Why oh why oh WHY would they *ever* retire this scent?!!? It smells just like chocolate - real chocolate, not fake candle chocolate, or yucky syrupy chocolate. This thing smells like the real deal! The coconut aspect of it is very faint, so faint you could almost miss it. I bet this would also mix well with sooooo many things, but I'm afraid to use up my last few cubes!

I give this scent a million stars. Super thumbs up! 

Just Breathe

Just Breathe

(Spa)

"Breathe deeply as soothing eucalyptus, zesty lemon, and a medley of mints comfort and rejuvenate."

Minty, but with a little citrus tang. Kind of reminds me of a Lifesaver candy, in a weird way? I'm not sure that this would be my go-to for "comfort" or "rejuvenation," but it is a nice scent. Upon first impression (sniffing the tester), I didn't think I'd like this fragrance, but I'm glad I gave it a chance anyway, as it was better than I expected!

I give this scent three stars! Pleasant, but not one of my favorites.

Cinnamon Vanilla

Cinnamon Vanilla

(Favorites)

"Inviting blend of vanilla beans, cinnamon, coconut and cassia."

THIS IS THE CINNAMON CANDLE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!

Sorry for the dramatics. If you read my last review (Very Merry Cranberry), you'll see that I've been searching for the "right" cinnamon fragrance -- I absolutely love cinnamon, but it can very easily be too overpowering. This scent, however, is perfect for my tastes: it reminds me of creamy vanilla bean ice cream with some sweet cinnamon mixed in. I love it :)

Big ups!! This scent is the bomb.

Very Merry Cranberry

Very Merry Cranberry

(Holiday)

"Lush, red winter berries pop against a backdrop of snow-covered cedar, creating a lovely winter landscape."

I can definitely detect the berries, but I don't quite smell the cedar... I actually thought this scent had a hint of cinnamon in it, until I checked the description and realized what I was smelling must have been the "cedar" note. I guess you could say this scent is mainly berries, with a somewhat earthy, holiday feel to it. I've been avoiding some of the other holiday scents in fear that they are going to be too strong and overwhelming, so I was really glad that this one wasn't!! If you're looking for that warm, fuzzy, holiday feeling without getting a headache from what I like to call the "generic holiday candle" scent (You all know what I'm talking about, right? That overpowering smell of spice, cinnamon, and plastic.... no? Okay... maybe it's just me!), then this seems like your best bet -- from what I've tested thus far, anyway. In fact, Very Merry Cranberry almost comes across as too faint for my taste.

I'm a bit on the fence with this one. 

I really enjoy the fragrance, but I wish it was a little stronger!

Quiver

Quiver

(Layers-only Scent)

"Innocent vanilla flower, warm sandalwood, and sultry night-blooming tuberose in a seductive scent, meant to cause a shiver of delight."

I REALLY enjoy this one!! I've been warming this scent in my bedroom every night before I go to sleep. It's been over a week and I still haven't grown tired of it! To me, this scent is relaxing; I definitely smell the notes mentioned in the description, but I'd also describe it as having a slightly powdery scent, which I love! 

I am reviewing this scent based on a retired wax tester, so I haven't personally tried any of the layers products yet, but I bet they'd be nice as well -- especially the bath tablets. I'm putting them on my wish list!

SUPER thumbs up!!

What's in the kit?

I instantly fell in love with Scentsy after my first purchase, and knew right away that I wanted to join the company -- at the very least, I really wanted a discount on all my future purchases! However, I didn't find the website to be very clear about what exactly I'd be getting in my starter kit. If I wasn't already dead set on joining, this might have deterred me.

That's why I decided to do an "unboxing" of my kit to show you alllll the cool stuff it came with! Hopefully this paints a clearer picture than the website does -- if anyone is interested in joining my team, give me a shout! I'd be more than happy to answer any other questions you might have.

Lush Gardenia: guest review

I recently received a box of various testers in the mail, so of course my sister and I proceeded to smell them all immediately. As usual, Bella had to be involved in this process. As we're going through the scents, my sister goes "OMG this one smells like dog shampoo!!" and I was like.... "What do you mean it smells like dog shampoo??" I asked her to hand it over, and guess what? She was not wrong; Lush Gardenia smells almost EXACTLY like the scented shampoo we use when we give our dogs a bath.

I'm not one to pass up a good opportunity to tease my dogs, so we decided to see what Bella thought of Lush Gardenia (which we had started calling "the dog shampoo smell" by this point). Sure enough, she would wag her tail and intently sniff the other scents, but would ALWAYS turn her face away whenever we presented this one to her, as if to say, "Oh no, not this one." We were all cracking up; it was so amusing. We also tried presenting the tester to our other dog, Honey, who responded by running away and not coming back.

Bella gives this scent a thumbs down, because it reminds her of taking a bath, one of her least favorite activities. I can't give this one an honest review either, because giving the dogs a bath also happens to be one of MY least favorite activities, and this fragrance definitely reminds me of that! I don't think I'll ever be warming this one!

Simply Lemon + Sugar Cookie: a failed experiment

When I first sniffed the Simply Lemon tester, I thought "Hmm... this almost reminds me of a lemon drop cookie! What could make it smell more like a lemon drop cookie?" My initial thought was Vanilla Bean Buttercream, but I don't have any of that yet, so I decided on Sugar Cookie.

Big Mistake. 

My sister, with her currently clogged-up sinuses, was like "Oh. It does smell like a lemon drop cookie." and "Oh, I don't think it's that bad." But I was literally becoming nauseous because of the sickly-sweet smell. It almost reminded me of bubblegum, if that makes sense? I dunno it was just way too artificially sweet. That wax went right into the garbage! LOL

So, my first foray into scent-mixing was a bit of a disaster. 

I'm hoping for better luck next time!!

UPDATE: my sister still insists that this mix smelled "really good." I'm not buyin' it!

Worry Free Warming!

As someone who has two dogs, this is one thing I love about Scentsy!!
God forbid they knock it over, at least I know it won't burn them or start a fire.

Meet Bella the Guest Blogger!

This is Bella.

She's one of my dogs, and for whatever reason, she loves Scentsy! Seriously. Whenever she sees us sniffing wax bars and testers to decide on our next scent, she needs to be involved. She cranes her head and stares at us like, "I smell the smells too?" and wags her tail when we offer it to her and ask her opinion. As such, Bella may be popping in here and there to guest review some scents and products. Keep your eye out! 

SO MANY ORANGES! First Impressions

There are MANY similar citrus-y orange fragrances in Scenty's current Fall/Winter 2014 catalog, so I'm going to give you my concise, very unscientific first impressions from sniffing the Scentsy wax testers. Of course, sometimes a fragrance smells different warmed than it does in solid form (ahem, Very Peary Pumpkin!), but there are many others that smell pretty true to the tester! Anyways, here we go:

• Sunkissed Citrus: this one reminds me of Starburst!! 
• Mandarin Moon: reminds me of a Charms Sweet Pop!
• Orange You Glad: this one seems less sugary and less sweet than the other two. It reminds me of orange scented cleaner. 
• Orange Amber: this one honestly reminds me of PEZ candy. In terms of the website description, I think this one is supposed to be spicier and more bitter than the others. 

Have you tried any of these? How would you describe the difference between them?

Eskimo Kiss

Eskimo Kiss

(Holiday)

"Blackberry jam, caramelized brown sugar, vanilla, and amber in a softly romantic scent."

To be honest, this scent smells a lot like Huckleberry Sage to me. Of course, they are slightly different, but it's hard to describe. (My little sister said that Huckleberry Sage smells "more feminine" but I have NO idea what that means! LOL). I like this scent; it has a soft, romantic, berry feel to it. I bet the Scent Pak in this fragrance would be really nice. 

I give this scent a thumbs up!

Simply Apricot

Simply Apricot

(Simply Scentsy)

The name of this one pretty much says it all -- it smells just like apricots!! It's very nice. It reminds me a bit of a fruity shampoo... I bet this would mix well with other scents (imagine apricots with some other fruit like pineapple -- very tropical!). This scent bar is currently on closeout... I know I'll be stocking up before it's GONE!!

(However, this scent got faint very quickly. Might not be the best for those who prefer a strong long-lasting scent. Probably good to mix to tone down an overpowering scent!)

I give this scent a thumbs up!

Scentsy Recipe: Thin Mints

Scentsy Recipe: Thin Mints

(1 Mochadoodle + 1 Peppermint Dreams)

My feelings: Peppermint Dreams > "Thin Mints" > Mochadoodle. That is to say, I like this better than Mochadoodle by itself, but not as much as I like Peppermint Dreams by itself. Basically, this mix "mutes" both scents a little bit. It makes Mochadoodle less syrup-y sweet, and it makes Pepperimint Dreams less wham-pow in-your-face minty. It wasn't a bad mix, but it wasn't OMG awesome either. I might try it again sometime....

Thumbs up for this one, I guess.

Very Peary Pumpkin

Very Peary Pumpkin

(Scent of the Month - October 2014)

"Sweet nashi pear, freshly picked pumpkin, tart green apple and toasted spices are carried on a breeze of crisp autumn air."

This was one of the very first scents I tried with Scentsy! My then-consultant put a scratch & sniff sticker on my envelope and I thought, "Holy crap! this is NICE!!" And this is coming from a girl who HATES anything pumpkin! ....However, when my delivery came and I smelled the bar, I was super disappointed - it smelled strongly of nasty canned pumpkin. So what did I do? I passed the bar off to my boyfriend, of course! Haha. He had the same reaction to it that I did, but he was braver (or perhaps just more curious) than me, and tried it anyway. Once it was warmed up, the yucky artificial pumpkin smell disappeared, to be replaced by the very appealing scent that initially drew me in. It smells more pear-y than pumpkin-y, which is what I love about it, but the hint of pumpkin is definitely there.

TL;DR -- this scent is awesome when warmed, but the bar is deceivingly unpleasant!

I give this scent a somewhat unenthusiastic thumbs up, but a thumbs up nonetheless!

 

Huckleberry Sage

Huckleberry Sage

(Fall & Winter Collection)

"Like finding an unexpected winter berry patch -- tart ruby cranberries and sweet purple huckleberries dusted with silver sage."

I'll admit, I wasn't so keen on this one when smelling the tester, but my sister picked it out and wanted to try it. I popped it in the warming, thinking to myself, "Oh, we're not even gonna smell this! It's so faint & our living room is so big (open concept style)" ....but I was totally wrong! The smell wasn't too faint (but also wasn't punch-you-in-the-nose strong, which I consider to be a very good thing, haha!) and the scent was very pleasant. It kind of reminds me of berries and dew drops; it's a bit hard to describe... My sister and I both originally thought this was more of a springtime scent, but as I smell it more, I can understand why it's in the Fall & Winter Collection - it does have an overall cold, icy feeling to it.

I give this scent a thumbs up!

Peppermint Dreams

Peppermint Dreams 

(Holiday Collection)

"A warm rush of chocolate cupcake sweetness cooled by a blast of fresh mint."

I love love LOVE this one!! It reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream! Definitely more mint than chocolate though, not more chocolate than mint, as the website description seems to imply. This scent is also very strong. It's so refreshing - I think this may be one of my go-to favorites! 

SUPER thumbs up for this one!