Silly retail therapy post
So, I tend to buy most of my bath and body stuff during my various favorite etailers' fall and winter updates. I stock up. So I've been testing my way through a buncha stuff.
Villainess
OMG, The Soap Box Company has a Villainess exclusive called Autumn Gala that is amaaaaaaaazing. Like walking through a fresh-air apple orchard. I was only able to snag a bar of the soap before the batch sold out, but next time, I am getting EVERYTHING.
Villainess just put up their Winter Black Labels (LEs). I tried all but Just Desserts last year. I'm not much a fan of oranges, but it's getting good reviews on the BPAL forum, so I might be tempted. It's DEFINITELY getting into GingerSnapped season, though. Love my GingerSnapped.
PS, Brooke is doing the soaps for Black Phoenix now... get your hands on Jack while you can, 'cause it's yummy.
Haunt
I love Haunt's stuffs, but it is SOOOOO hard to get my hands on anything. Luckily,
belladonnastrap was my hero while I was out of town, and she snagged me some goodies. I have a Winter House scrub (bread pudding and apples... seriously delicious), Burying Tree scrub (more of the fresh apple type), and a Winchester soap, which smells a bit weaker than the perfume. I swapped Witch Wife, because it was really close to Rowan from last year, and I have a mostly-full bottle of that still.
Arcana
I tend to buy Arcana's scrubs and soaps more than their perfumes, because Sleepy Hollow is really the only one that I love in perfume form. Julia's taken most of the year off, though, and didn't put out scrubs this year. Therefore, I only grabbed a bar or two of soap, but haven't tested it yet. I think it was Skeleton Key? Anyhow, sniffing it dry didn't make much of an impression on me.
Solstice Scents
They do resin scents REAAAAALLY well, and I was super excited whenlapetiteflower swapped me for a bottle of Conjure in the after shower moisturizing spray (Burnishing Glace). It is ambery heaven. I like their soaps as hand soaps a whole lot-- the scents are very strong and true. BUT it's also a vegetable glycerin soap, which means they melt a whole lot quicker than, say, Villainess's formula. I have a bottle of their Harvest Moon Burnishing Glace up for swap... I really honestly like the scent, and Jason LOVES IT, but the drydown of heavenly pumpkin spice gives way to chestnut and hazelnut... and while that's a scent I enjoy, for some reason I can't wear it on my body or I get a headache. So swaps it is.
They just put up their holiday update. I have my eye on the Bayberry soap as bathroom hand soap. Everything else looks pretty food-alicious, and I can only do super-foody in short bursts.
Haus of Gloi
I bought a bunch of their Samhain stuff, and I was kinda underwhelmed. Hex was strawberries and cream. Samhain was weird moldy herbs, and I barely got through my bar. Pumpkin Queen was nice, but too much peach, not enough pumpkin. Add to that, they have to reformulate the one scent in their catalogue I'm honestly in total love with (Aduwa), so, while I think their bubbling scrub formula is pretty great, I'm not as excited about Gloi as a lot of people are. From their Yule update, I might give Hearth a shot (though... again, nuts), or maybe Snow Wolf.
Lathers & Lights
Still buying their Soft & Shine shampoos and conditioners. Stocked up with their 30% off sale. My hair is really liking the proteins. BUT I think I need to either alternate with something that has silicone in it or try their silicone conditioner, because while my hair is much stronger now, it's also a lot drier and more staticky. Anyhow, Pumpkin Glow is my SHIT right now. It's like Lush's American Cream plus some pumpkin. It's freaking AMAZING. I also tried a boatload of their Autumn stuffs with varying degrees of success. The conditioning cream in Cinnamon Pumpkin actually smells like pumpkiny cream cheese and it is really really effective. The one surprise I got was Quiet Moon. Lathers & Lights sends TONS of samples with each order (which means I never have to buy lotion... I already have a stash of single use lotion packets that appease my scent ADD). Quiet Moon is a really fresh apple and non-medicinal lavender blend that I liked so much that I got a whipped soap in it.
AJ's Country Cottage
My favorite everyday candle seller, outside of Yankee's Autumn Leaves. I got Christmas Tree, Cinnamon & Cedar, and Spiced Cranberry. Very pleased with all. Would also recommend Pumpkin Gingerbread.
Woodcrafts & Candles
BEST TARTS, ever. Wax tarts, that is. These kick Yankee's ASS in terms of scent length. Bayberry and Christmas Thyme are my faaaaaaavorite. I love the look of their palm wax pillars, but sadly, each of the three times I've actually bought them, they developed fissures in the side and wasted most of the wax. Palm wax is just too soft if it's not in a jar, methinks.
Other Stuffs
psychopompous_9 made some NOM-ILICIOUS apple scrub & soap and sent me some in the Care Package Swap. It is making me very happy right now. I am thinking about trying Naiad's Smoked Balsalm soap, as well, as I am all about the smoky outdoorsy scents as soon as the weather gets cold. And maybe trying Cocoa Pink's Shine + shampoo now that crazypants isn't running the show and the CS & TAT seems pretty good. I have still YET to try any MoonaLisa, but I think at this point, I am givin' up that dream.
Other stuff:
-- Working constantly on commissions (almost caught up!) and the Holiday stuffs. Winter's Branch earrings are back for year three, as are the blown glass ornament earrings (year three as well), more blue topaz cranes, lotsa labradorite, etc. It's gonna be really pretty and heavy on the gemstones.
-- The Walking Dead continues to be awesome. I have accepted that I'm just going to have zombie dreams ALL NIGHT LONG on Sunday nights, though.
-- Olivebean bit the shit out of my left thumb while J and I were pilling her two nights ago. It was reflexive and totally not her fault, but shiiiiiiiiiz, that hurt. Keeping it clean and uninfected. So far so good. But also really bad when a lot of my job requires me to use steady and constant pressure in my fingertips. Yeouch.
-- Mim is gonna get put in a crate at night if she doesn't stop tearing up the carpet outside our bedroom door. This is a fairly recent development, and so far nothing we've done as a preventative has worked. We might have to crate her at night until she gets it.
-- Ugh, time change. Killing my motivation to do anything other than be a slug on the sofa.
Villainess
OMG, The Soap Box Company has a Villainess exclusive called Autumn Gala that is amaaaaaaaazing. Like walking through a fresh-air apple orchard. I was only able to snag a bar of the soap before the batch sold out, but next time, I am getting EVERYTHING.
Villainess just put up their Winter Black Labels (LEs). I tried all but Just Desserts last year. I'm not much a fan of oranges, but it's getting good reviews on the BPAL forum, so I might be tempted. It's DEFINITELY getting into GingerSnapped season, though. Love my GingerSnapped.
PS, Brooke is doing the soaps for Black Phoenix now... get your hands on Jack while you can, 'cause it's yummy.
Haunt
I love Haunt's stuffs, but it is SOOOOO hard to get my hands on anything. Luckily,
belladonnastrap was my hero while I was out of town, and she snagged me some goodies. I have a Winter House scrub (bread pudding and apples... seriously delicious), Burying Tree scrub (more of the fresh apple type), and a Winchester soap, which smells a bit weaker than the perfume. I swapped Witch Wife, because it was really close to Rowan from last year, and I have a mostly-full bottle of that still.Arcana
I tend to buy Arcana's scrubs and soaps more than their perfumes, because Sleepy Hollow is really the only one that I love in perfume form. Julia's taken most of the year off, though, and didn't put out scrubs this year. Therefore, I only grabbed a bar or two of soap, but haven't tested it yet. I think it was Skeleton Key? Anyhow, sniffing it dry didn't make much of an impression on me.
Solstice Scents
They do resin scents REAAAAALLY well, and I was super excited when
lapetiteflower swapped me for a bottle of Conjure in the after shower moisturizing spray (Burnishing Glace). It is ambery heaven. I like their soaps as hand soaps a whole lot-- the scents are very strong and true. BUT it's also a vegetable glycerin soap, which means they melt a whole lot quicker than, say, Villainess's formula. I have a bottle of their Harvest Moon Burnishing Glace up for swap... I really honestly like the scent, and Jason LOVES IT, but the drydown of heavenly pumpkin spice gives way to chestnut and hazelnut... and while that's a scent I enjoy, for some reason I can't wear it on my body or I get a headache. So swaps it is.They just put up their holiday update. I have my eye on the Bayberry soap as bathroom hand soap. Everything else looks pretty food-alicious, and I can only do super-foody in short bursts.
Haus of Gloi
I bought a bunch of their Samhain stuff, and I was kinda underwhelmed. Hex was strawberries and cream. Samhain was weird moldy herbs, and I barely got through my bar. Pumpkin Queen was nice, but too much peach, not enough pumpkin. Add to that, they have to reformulate the one scent in their catalogue I'm honestly in total love with (Aduwa), so, while I think their bubbling scrub formula is pretty great, I'm not as excited about Gloi as a lot of people are. From their Yule update, I might give Hearth a shot (though... again, nuts), or maybe Snow Wolf.
Lathers & Lights
Still buying their Soft & Shine shampoos and conditioners. Stocked up with their 30% off sale. My hair is really liking the proteins. BUT I think I need to either alternate with something that has silicone in it or try their silicone conditioner, because while my hair is much stronger now, it's also a lot drier and more staticky. Anyhow, Pumpkin Glow is my SHIT right now. It's like Lush's American Cream plus some pumpkin. It's freaking AMAZING. I also tried a boatload of their Autumn stuffs with varying degrees of success. The conditioning cream in Cinnamon Pumpkin actually smells like pumpkiny cream cheese and it is really really effective. The one surprise I got was Quiet Moon. Lathers & Lights sends TONS of samples with each order (which means I never have to buy lotion... I already have a stash of single use lotion packets that appease my scent ADD). Quiet Moon is a really fresh apple and non-medicinal lavender blend that I liked so much that I got a whipped soap in it.
AJ's Country Cottage
My favorite everyday candle seller, outside of Yankee's Autumn Leaves. I got Christmas Tree, Cinnamon & Cedar, and Spiced Cranberry. Very pleased with all. Would also recommend Pumpkin Gingerbread.
Woodcrafts & Candles
BEST TARTS, ever. Wax tarts, that is. These kick Yankee's ASS in terms of scent length. Bayberry and Christmas Thyme are my faaaaaaavorite. I love the look of their palm wax pillars, but sadly, each of the three times I've actually bought them, they developed fissures in the side and wasted most of the wax. Palm wax is just too soft if it's not in a jar, methinks.
Other Stuffs
psychopompous_9 made some NOM-ILICIOUS apple scrub & soap and sent me some in the Care Package Swap. It is making me very happy right now. I am thinking about trying Naiad's Smoked Balsalm soap, as well, as I am all about the smoky outdoorsy scents as soon as the weather gets cold. And maybe trying Cocoa Pink's Shine + shampoo now that crazypants isn't running the show and the CS & TAT seems pretty good. I have still YET to try any MoonaLisa, but I think at this point, I am givin' up that dream.Other stuff:
-- Working constantly on commissions (almost caught up!) and the Holiday stuffs. Winter's Branch earrings are back for year three, as are the blown glass ornament earrings (year three as well), more blue topaz cranes, lotsa labradorite, etc. It's gonna be really pretty and heavy on the gemstones.
-- The Walking Dead continues to be awesome. I have accepted that I'm just going to have zombie dreams ALL NIGHT LONG on Sunday nights, though.
-- Olivebean bit the shit out of my left thumb while J and I were pilling her two nights ago. It was reflexive and totally not her fault, but shiiiiiiiiiz, that hurt. Keeping it clean and uninfected. So far so good. But also really bad when a lot of my job requires me to use steady and constant pressure in my fingertips. Yeouch.
-- Mim is gonna get put in a crate at night if she doesn't stop tearing up the carpet outside our bedroom door. This is a fairly recent development, and so far nothing we've done as a preventative has worked. We might have to crate her at night until she gets it.
-- Ugh, time change. Killing my motivation to do anything other than be a slug on the sofa.