Pink Apple Punch from Bath and Body Works

Another candle review. I’m burning Pink Apple Punch as I’m writing its review. It’s from Bath and body Works.

Halfway done with it. These Bath and Body Works candles burn out so fast, I try to rotate my candles so that I don’t run out of my favourites. >_<

The scent description is as follows:
Pretty and pink, this irrepressible blend of crisp Pink Lady apples and citrus leaves packs a fabulously fragrant punch.

Again, there’s a scent description because my friend, Pearlyn, got this candle for me from New York.

I’m not sure what Pink Lady apples smells like. This candle does not have an authentic apple scent. I don’t like it as it gets cloyingly sweet after burning for awhile. It could be the citrus leaves, but I think the scent has this disgusting oily after scent.

I don’t like this candle at all and as I’m typing this now, the smell of the candle is making me gag. No problem with the throw but I almost wished there was.

I don’t recommend this candle at all. It’s from the Summer Sips collection.

It’s a pity really because I’ve a new favourite candle which is also from the Summer Sips collection and I got it from the store in Singapore. It’s so much better but that’s for another review another day.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading. ^_^

Peach Bellini from Bath and Body Works

Another candle review.

Before I start though, I’d like to say that I’ve updated some of my previous candle reviews as I find them performing differently than before. It’s partly because I didn’t get halfway into the candle before doing a review.

Being a newbie at candles, I thought candles will be more or less the same from beginning to the end, so I did reviews after the first few burns and they turned out different.

From now onwards, I’ll try to at least get to the halfway mark before doing a review of a candle. If you’re interested to read the updates, here they are; Candy Cane Lane from Yankee Candle and Banana Nutmeg Bread Pudding from Bath and Body Works.

Okay, so today I’m going to review the Peach Bellini from Bath and Body Works.

The scent description is as follows:
A shimmering holiday twist on a classic blend of white peach, tart blackcurrant and a splash of juicy orange.

When I was burning it, I didn’t smell the orange but now that I’d read the description, it does smell a little of orange to me. Not very strong, I mainly get the peach and a little blackcurrant. Well, to me, I think this is an okay scent, but again, unspectacular. I’m not sure what I want but this is just generic and boring. The throw is just nice, not overpowering. For people who love fruity scents though, I recommend this to you. I won’t be repurchasing it because I want to try more other scents and it didn’t wow me enough for me to shell out S$25 (USD 20) for another one.

I’m completely done with mine and you can see that one of the wicks burnt completely to the base.

It’s not supposed to because the metal wick holder is there to prevent it from burning all the way down. From what I’ve read online, it’s a safety feature to prevent the glass from overheating and shatter, so I guess mine was a dud? Luckily it didn’t shatter, but it’ll be a good idea to keep an eye on your burning candles just in case.

That’s all for this post. (^O^)／

Cranberry Pear Bellini from Bath and Body Works

I’d just finished two of my Bath and Body Works candle and so I’m doing a review of them before removing the residue wax to reuse the tumblers.

Empties.

Today’s review is of the Cranberry Pear Bellini.

The scent description is as follows:
Bubbly and delicious – a bright blend of sparkling cranberry, sweet pear nectar and luscious black currant – Cheers!

I do not smell anything bubbly or sparkling. It’s a very generic cranberry scent. The sweet scent of the pear sort of covers the tartiness of the cranberry. In short, it’s just nice but nothing spectacular. Very guest friendly though because it’s safe (unspectacular really). The scent covers the whole room and then some when lit, outstanding performance in this area but too bad the scent is just normal. There are so many such scents out there, I can’t justify spending so much for another one.

P.s. There’s a scent description because Pearlyn, she was an air stewardess, got me this candle all the way from New York and so I didn’t get this from the Bath and Body Works in Singapore.

Having a scent description is so much more convenient for shoppers, but now that I think of it, I kinda like that there’s no scent description on the tumblers in Singapore. This way, I won’t be influenced by what I read and it’s more fun to try to guess the scent anyway.

That’s it for this post, I’ll be drafting up another post on the other candle for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading. ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Pure Radiance Crackling Café by Yankee Candle

Candle review of Crackling Café from Pure Radiance by Yankee Candle.

Had to dig through my photo album for this old photo of the candle before it was used.

Bought the large jar. It has a wooden wick and cost about S$10 more than the usual large jars. This candle is supposed to crackle like a fireplace when burning and so I bought it for the novelty (it was my first wooden wick candle) and also for the cappuccino scent that I picked up on cold sniff.

I’ve to say, it’s a complete waste of money. The first few times I burnt it, the damn candle didn’t crackle. I thought I had a dud, but a kind soul on Instagram commented and told me that it would only crackle after the third or fourth burn. In case you don’t know, by the third or fourth burn, that’s about 4 to 6 hours into the candle because each wax pool takes about an hour (or more).

Dafug?! I got about a quarter into the candle before it started crackling and it was dismal. The crackling sound was so subtle, I can’t imagine anyone can hear it unless the candle is placed beside them.

The scent is different when burning. The rich creamy coffee cocoa smell is gone. It smells like cheap coffee and the scent is very faint. It disgusts me. You have no idea how sad it was to fork out more for something so much less. This is bloody robbery.

FYI, I’ve low expectations for candles. I generally don’t mind candle with a weak throw (unless I can’t smell anything then it’s another matter) and I’m in no way a candle expert. But this is not how a coffee candle should be. I do not recommend this to anyone, and because of this candle, I’ll definitely be thinking twice before purchasing anything from the Pure Radiance line.

If you guys have any recommendation of a good coffee candle, let me know in the comment. I want something that smells of grounded coffee and warmth.

P.s. I’ve burnt about a third of the candle and it’s just not me to exchange something I’ve used so much of. The anticipation of the stupid crackling made me burn so much of it. Argh.. I just haven’t had the best of luck with candles lately, even a few of my Bath and Body Works candles were duds. It’s annoying.

Merry Christmas 2014

Just popping in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!

I am thankful and grateful to everyone that took the time to read my blog. I’ll continue writing here even if no one reads them, but it’s nice to know that there are people who reads my ramblings. ^_^

I do want to end the post with a photo of the candle I’m burning right now in my bedroom, but I couldn’t decide which photo to use simply because they both look kinda shitty. =_=

When it came to lighting candle earlier on, I was so fickle minded. (╥﹏╥)

If you do follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that I posted a photo of my Fluffy Towels (which I snuffed off after a few hours because it didn’t feel Christmassy to me, and lit Mistletoe in the living room) and then I got bored and am now burning Tis The Season in my bedroom. It’s just so hard to make up my mind what to burn but I think I’m set with Tis The Season for the rest of tonight. It’s so Christmassy, it’s awesome.

Thank you for reading so far, and have a jolly good time, everyone!

Yankee Candle Votives as Tarts with the Scroll Lantern

About two weeks ago, I bought three votives from Yankee Candle Singapore as they were going for 3 for $9.90. Got them in Pink Sands, Mandrian Cranberry and Good Air which I gave to Harmony.

I wanted to get an illuma-lid for my large jars and it was 20% off with any candle purchase. Hence, I bought the votives to try out some of the scents I’ve been thinking of getting in the large jars.

I tried burning my Pink Sands but it was dismal at best. Not much scent but then I wasn’t really expecting much. I mean the votives are only so small, they can’t scent the whole room right?

Then, I came across a video from Jdazzler15 that showed how to use a votive as a tart on YouTube. Click here for her video. And here I was thinking why Yankee Candle Singapore don’t carry tarts when all along, I could simply use a votive as a tart!

I don’t want to go into the specifics here on how to make a votive into a tart, you can click on the link and watch the video to learn more.

Once I had my “tart” ready, I realised that I had no hot plate or crock warmer and I wondered if my light warmer could work the same. Tried it and work it did. (I did a review on my Scroll Lantern candle warmer yesterday so scroll down to read more in the previous entry.)

All you need is a cup to hold the wax and put it into the warmer.

I’ve this beautiful cup bought ages ago from Ikea.

And also this cute cup from my student, Megan.

Both perfect for use and right then, I thought to myself, “I don’t want to wash the cup every single time I use a different scent.” Can you imagine the scrubbing I’ve to do to get the wax out of the cup? No thanks.

So, I got myself these aluminium cups for baking muffins/cupcakes.

They’re only $2.40 for 10. I got mine from SKP but I’m sure you can get them for cheaper elsewhere.

I’ve to say, this was inspired by Jdazzler15 again. In her video (which I linked above), she had this metal cupcake holder. Well, hers can’t bend but it dawned on me to get the aluminium ones, so all I have to do is to lightly tap the base after use and the solidified wax will pop right out because aluminium can bend.

I tried it with Pink Sands and it worked.

After it melted and cooled.

See, the wax popped right out and the aluminium cup is not even out of shape.

When it’s no longer scented, discard the unscented wax and put in another tart to melt.

Even if I decided to change a scent, there’s no need to waste paper tissues to wipe the container, no need to wait for the wax to harden before removing it from the holder. All I’ve to do is to use another aluminium cupcake holder and remove this one to cool.

What wax was left from my candles are also scrapped off and put into plastic bags to use as tarts too.

Top left is Coconut Lime Verbena from Bath and Body Works and bottom right is Fluffy Towels from Yankee Candle.

I’ve filed all my little tips under the section “Tips” so that they’re easier to find. That’s all for this post. I hope this is helpful to you. Until next time.
ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Yankee Candle Scroll Lantern Candle Warmer

A review of my candle warmer from Yankee Candle. It’s their Scroll Lantern in the colour black.

This is what it looks like.

It’s a badly taken photo, but it shows that the warmer has a standard two pin plug which is awesome because I’ve a plug on that can hold up to six two pin plug appliance. They just take up less space.

A candle warmer, as the name suggests, warms up candle either by a hot plate at the base (kinda like a cup warmer), or by a light at the top that emits heat. The heat melts the wax in the candle and so releases fragrance from the oil in the wax and it’s safer than burning the candle in the night time because falling asleep with a candle burning is a potential fire hazard.

This candle warmer cost S$59.90 (USD48) before discount. I bought it after 20% discount at the Yankee store in JEM.

What prompted me to get a warmer in the first place was not one but TWO Bath and Body Works candles with drowning wicks. I was fed up with how they snuffed themselves out and they were tunnelling like crazy. I couldn’t exchange them and so a warmer would do just nicely to still use the candles without having to deal with their weak wicks.

At first, I’ve been looking for a crock plate kind of candle warmer that can be used for warming a candle and also for wax melts/tarts like the ones shown below.

Both images were taken from Candle Warmers.

But I couldn’t seem to find any in the stores and I didn’t want to pay so much for shipping so I just picked what Yankee Candle Singapore had. It is worth every cent I paid.

Look at how gorgeous it is.

It works on both Yankee and Bath and Body Works candles.

Just to show that both of them fits.

A candle warmer does not burn the wax so after a few uses, you’ll have to pour away the top part of melted wax so that it can get to the scented oil at the bottom of the candle. It’s a waste of perfectly fine wax so I don’t do that unless it’s a candle with a wick problem.

I’ve found a way to use this candle warmer to prolong the life of exceptionally strong scented candles.

For example, I’ve a very strongly scented Bath and Body Works candle that I simply cannot tolerate. It’s so strong, it’s pungent. So, all I did was to pop it into my candle warmer, use it for a few times to release the fragrance oil and then after it’s no longer as scented as before, I’ll remove it from the warmer and burn it like usual so that the scent won’t be as strong and overpowering. In this way, a candle can last me twice or even thrice as long as usual.

FYI, with the warmer, I no longer have to worry about extinguishing the flame too soon which can lead to tunnelling if the wax pool is not level. If I find it too strong after 5 mins, all I’ve to do is to switch off the warmer and the wax will level out after it cools.

Again, this is a nifty tip I thought of on my own. If you learnt it from someone else first, then good for you but I didn’t lift it from anybody. All I can say is great minds think alike.

Yankee Candle Singapore has 20% off all candle warmers with any candle purchase (even a votive count as a candle). I think this is a great gift for anyone that likes to scent up their house without the soot and flame.

This may seem like an advertisement but it’s not. I just like my warmer a lot. I’ll be happy to share more in the next post tomorrow on another way that I use this candle warmer.

That’s all for now. ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Christmas Cookie Yankee Candle

Another Christmas candle review. I got Christmas Cookie and Mistletoe together with Candy Cane Lane on the same day. My sister bought me the Candy Cane Lane while I paid for the rest. I don’t know how some people do it, but I had to buy a candle when I’m in the store. It’s impossible not to. σ(^_^;)

The candle I’ll be reviewing today is Christmas Cookie.

I’ve burnt it thrice and it’s amazing. Although it’s not as strong as a Bath and Body Works candle, it can scent up the living room perfectly. I love how I can leave it burning for hours and it still smells nice, not the slightest bit overpowering at all.

It pooled perfectly well as you can see.

The jar doesn’t have a scent description so I lifted it from The Yankee Candle UK website.

Buttery rich, vanilla scented, holiday sugar cookies.

Strangely enough, it’s not sold online in Singapore but it’s available in stores.

Anyways, I get the butter, the vanilla and the smell of a delicious cookie dough. To me, it smells like a Marks and Spencer store. I don’t know about the stores in other countries but in Singapore, they smell like butter cookies and it’s kinda nice but weird at the same time because they sell clothes too and I wouldn’t want my clothes to smell like food.

I highly recommend this candle as a gift. I know I said it’s tricky to gift food scented candles but this one smells so delicious, it’ll be perfect in the kitchen. (=￣ ρ￣=) I’ve yet to hear anybody say that they hate the smell of cookies.

Even the label is cute. I think it looks good just standing there in the kitchen but that’s just me.

I paid $31.90 (USD25.52) for this candle after a 20% discount. If you’re getting this in Singapore, then buy it this month because they have 20% discount on all festive candles, else you’ll have to pay $39.90 (USD31.92) and it might not even be available after Christmas.

This is my favourite candle this year, I love it even more than Fluffy Towels so I’ll definitely repurchase once I run out. That’s all for this post. Bye~~~
ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Candy Cane Lane Yankee Candle

UPDATE: Now that I’m down to the last quarter of the candle, it’s starting to smell stronger when I’m burning it. It’s a little too little too late though because I paid for the whole candle, not just the last quarter of the candle.

This is probably my 2nd last candle review for a while. I have already written both reviews (this one and the one to be up tomorrow) and doing some tweaks here and there before posting them up. Boy, am I glad I wrote them already because right now, I’ve got this nasty flu and sore throat, I can’t smell anything. I’m trying out Leftose, medicine recommended by the pharmacist and keeping my fingers crossed.

I digress. Today, I’m reviewing Candy Cane Lane, a candle from Yankee Candle. My sister gave me this candle for my birthday. It’s a new scent for the Christmas season so I was excited to try it out as Shawn (Hearth and Soul), my favourite candle YouTuber, gave it a thumbs up.

In case you’re wondering, this is what the candle looks like.

As you can see, I’ve already burnt it. I’m not going to lie and say that I know all about candles because I don’t. I only started burning candles this year so a lot of things I simply learn from YouTubers. They’ve done reviews on this candle so I’m not going to regurgitate to you all the stuff that I learnt from them. This will be entirely my opinion.

Yankee Candle is pretty new to me. I’ve only finished a large jar of Fluffy Towels and the rest I’m still burning so I can’t compare the quality of the candle to how it was used to be.

I’ve no subtle way to say this so I’m going to straight out state that this candle sucks.

I cannot smell a thing unless I put my nose near the candle. So my sister paid $31.90 (USD25.52) for an unscented candle. Lol. Better her than me. (￣(工)￣)

There is a 20% discount because it’s a festive candle on sale. Original price was $39.90 (USD31.92) and still is for most non-Christmas scents. Candles are selling for way too expensive here.

After leaving it burning in more than 5 hours in an enclosed room, (I left for work but mum was at home so not really a fire hazard) and when I opened the door, I could finally smell the peppermint candy cane smell. Blew out the candle and within half an hour, the scent was gone. Can’t believe I bothered with it at all.

The scent itself is just like a candy cane. I remember when I was a child, my sister and I pestered our mum to buy us a candy cane each and it tasted disgusting.

I’m Asian so it could be due that we have different preference for candy. It’s weird because before I ate that candy cane, I imagined them to taste like sweet vanilla and bubblegum. I know. I’m weird like that.

Anyways, from then onwards, I realized that I hated the taste of peppermint. So this candle brought back memories of my first candy cane. Laughs.

It smells alright, I don’t mind the scent of peppermint, just didn’t like the taste of it. I didn’t smell any chocolate unlike what some of the other reviewers were saying. Just some peppermint and vanilla.

I don’t recommend getting this candle at all. The label is festive and beautiful so the jar will look good in the house, but even for someone who don’t mind a mild scented candle like me, this candle is too weak. I will finish burning it and never buy it again.

End of this post and the candle review tomorrow will be a good one so it’s not all bad. ^_^

Banana Nutmeg Bread Pudding from Bath and Body Works

UPDATE: I can smell the candle now that I’m burning it for the second time. Just to let you know, the scent is everything that Shawn from Hearth and Soul described.

Yet another candle review. =)

Before I start I’ve to recommend a YouTuber. His name is Shawn, and his Youtube name is Hearth and Soul. He does candle reviews and I like how he describes the scent and notes in each candle to explain how it smells like. Another YouTuber that I follow for candle related videos is Drew Yauch. He has a very informative video in which he teaches very thoroughly on the proper care and usage of candles. The link to the video is here and it is very useful for anyone who uses scented candles.

Today’s review is on my Banana Nutmeg Bread Pudding candle from Bath and Body Works.

Before burning..

It smells very artificial and I hated it on cold sniff. I got this candle because Shawn reviewed it in one of his videos and gave his stamp of approval. He said that the scent changes to a wonderful creamy banana pudding smell when burning so I bought one to try.

After burning for a few hours, regrettably, I could not smell it at all. Its throw is terrible, especially since it’s a Bath and Body Works candle, I expected it to perform well quickly but it didn’t. I must have gotten a dud. =(

Huge mushroom tops.

We all hate getting duds, but those of us who lives in Singapore especially so. In case you’re wondering why I didn’t exchange it for another one, it’s because I can’t. The exchange policy is very different and difficult here. I asked the staff at BBW before and they say no exchange at all.

If the wick drowns, or the candle doesn’t burn properly, tough luck. Furthermore, Bath and Body Works candles are atrociously expensive in Singapore. Normal price of each three wick cost S$32 (USD25.60), and sale price is 2 candles for S$50 (USD40). Yes, 40 fricking dollars for 2 candles and it’s the discounted price. So you can see why I’m extra angry when I get a dud.

Sad to say, I can’t recommend this candle as a gift to anyone because the scent of banana is artificial on cold sniff and many people new to scented candles may not even light it up to try. Not everyone like food scents, so gifting food scented candles can be tricky.

I can’t even advice you on how the candle smells like because I can’t smell a darn thing. I also can’t give you the scent description because the labels in Singapore does not carry scent description.

On the left is the Banana Nutmeg Bread Pudding I got from Singapore, on the right is London Calling which my friend got for me from New York.

I know, FML. That’s all for this post.