Little Update

Why hello there! I've been a bit busy around here and haven't been able to post any reviews lately. This is my first semester doing school full-time (in this graduate program anyway) and it's a lot of work, especially around "mid-terms" time. Although they don't really use that term in this program, the workload definitely increases. But anyway, enough school talk.

I am working on a few reviews! And I got my computer to accept my camera memory card so I've been able to take photos with my camera with plans of actually using them! Upcoming reviews include lip tints, hair/body mists, perfumes, and lotions. Maybe I'll make up a list of some of my favorite shops for holiday shopping as well! It is getting close to that time - have you started shopping yet? I have about half of my list done. Impressive for the last minute everything me! :)

Other stuff... I've been really into perfumes lately. I discovered Darling Clandestine and all of the fragrances sound so unique! Expect a review within the next few weeks! Also, anyone have any suggestions for perfumes/perfume shops?

And in other news, I ordered a tart warmer! I've been meaning to do this for a year or so. My sister-in-law is a Scentsy consultant (check out her shop here) and they were having a great sale earlier in the week. The one I ordered is a super cute turkey. I'd give a link but I don't see it on the site anymore. It's totally my style - a bit tacky, but awesomely so! I also ordered a few scents: Honey Pear Cider and Peppermint Dreams. I didn't get to smell any before I ordered but I FaceTimed with my SIL, having her smell things for me before I picked which ones I wanted. Ah, family. <3

Pretty excited about the tart warmer! Although I won't get to use it until I am back in Alaska (that's where I had it shipped). Anyone have any suggestions for places to order tarts? I know some of you are into tarts (looking at you Deb if you're reading this!). I want to find ones that aren't too strong. As much as I love fragrances, I am a bit sensitive so it'd be great to find a shop with mildly scented tarts with reasonable prices. After I find that, I might go crazy with it.

But anyway, there's my little update on product happenings around here. Excited for the holiday season and all the sales and all the new goodies! And to start with the Christmas music... maybe right now! :)

<3 Alyssa

Long Winter Farm Lip Balms {more flavors}

 
Here's another flavor update post for you all! Today on the list is Long Winter Farm lip balms. You can check out my full review here. I have been loving  LWF balms for this fall time weather. They're ultra creamy and perfect for keeping my lips moisturized with the changing weather! And I have been digging these new flavors I've recently received.

Peppermint Hot Cocoa - This is a perfect blend of peppermint and chocolate. It reminds me of these delicious mint chip brownies my roommate made recently! The chocolate scent is a true chocolately scent that isn't overly sweet. And what I like best about this lip balm is the invigorating minty scent that doesn't make my lips tingle or get irritated. That's what I dislike most about peppermint balms - I love love love peppermint, but when it's on my lips, it's usually too irritating. But not in this case so I am super happy to have a minty balm that I can use as often as I like!

Sea Sprite - The scent of this lip balm is ABSOLUTELY DIVINE! I am 100% completely in love with this! It is a blend of coconut cream and lavender. They meld together perfectly to create a sweet and delicious and pretty scent. It also has a bit of fizziness to the scent that makes it a bit refreshing. It is an intoxicating scent and I hope to see this in a perfume oil! I cannot get enough of this!

White Almond - This scent is a blend of almond and white chocolate. Almond scents can sometimes be super sweet, as almond tends to do. And white chocolate is a decadent scent. I was a bit worried that this balm would be too much with the sweet and decadent combination, but the blend is well balanced. Yes, it is sweetly decadent but not over-the-top. The almond is stronger in the balm, as almond tends to do! It is a delicious balm that reminds me of an almond cake I made once. I kind of want to eat this balm.

I think this is my favorite order of Long Winter Farm lip balms so far! And there's still a few more flavors I want to try. And I hope that Sea Sprite becomes a perfume oil! What I'm saying here is: I need to place another order!

Beautiful Twists Lip Conditioners {more flavors}

I've already done a review of Ella Dean's lip conditioners here, oozing with much love! I am still very much a big fan of these wonderful lip conditioners. They're super smooth and glossy and make my lips all happy-like. And I am always a fan of the flavor combinations Ella comes up with. So, I thought I'd do a quick post of my most recent flavors from Beautiful Twists.

Comfort (blend of vanilla, lavender, and carrot cake) (link) - The scent is definitely very comforting and soothing. The lavender is strongest in the conditioner, but it is sweetened and mellowed out by the vanilla and carrot cake. This is the first lavender balm I've purchased and I don't usually associate lavender with lip products, but I thought I'd give this a chance. I'm really glad I did. The scent is wonderful and pretty and I pretty much love it! I've also been a huge lavender kick lately and this has been one of the balms I've been using constantly.

Forest Berry Jam Root Beer (link) - I got this one as a freebie in my order (because Ella is so awesome with freebies!) and I'm really glad I got to try this flavor. In her description Ella says: "it will make you want to take a stroll through the forest". And I'm surprised it actually does make me think of the forest and outside world. The root beer mixed with the berry jam makes the scent very refreshing - you can really smell the fizziness of the root beer in this! The scent is also sweet and warm. Very interesting flavor and I've really been enjoying it!

Rotten Pistachio Pudding and Bubblegum off the Sidewalk (link) - Ella is always so creative with her descriptions. This one is for a flavor for the character Gloria the Garbage Lady. And just so you know, it doesn't really smell rotten! The scent is amazing! I can definitely smell the bubblegum and it has an interesting nutty element to it. The flavor is definitely sweet, but not over-the-top despite being a bubblegum flavor. The combination is so wonderful, this is one of my new favorites! And the label has gotten a bit beaten up by now (as you might be able to see in the photo) because of all the use it's been getting from me. I always have this one around!

Spearmint Vanilla Candy Ice Cream (link) - I love using this flavor before bed because of the spearmint. It has a really sweet spearmint and vanilla scent. It reminds me of the spearmint gum, but a little bit sweeter than that. It has a mild minty scent that is also creamy and just plain lovely. I fall in love with it all over again every time I open it! The scent is warm and soothing.

Ella Dean has such great flavor ideas! I am definitely going to go back and order some more sometime soon. Every lip conditioner I get from her gets a turn at being one of my favorites. Sometimes I'll get ones that I'm not too sure about at first, but a week later will be completely addicted to the flavor. Ella Dean is a flavor genius!

What are some of your favorite flavors from Beautiful Twists?

For Goodness Grape Lip Balms {review}

I've been buying lip balms from For Goodness Grape for quite awhile now. And I think it's prime time for a lip balm review! I also reviewed her lip tints here - and you should be expecting another one of those reviews soon because I just ordered some more!

{the balm}

The balms have that lovely texture - the kind you'd keep going back for! It goes on smooth and has quite a bit of creaminess. It is a bit on the thicker side of things, but it's not too heavy on the lips. The wear isn't the greatest. Sometimes I feel the need to reapply after an hour or so. But there's so many fun flavors I don't mind doing so. Also, it leaves my lips moisturized enough sometimes I don't even realize all my lip balm has worn off. I love it when balms are able to achieve that!

I've also tried one of the Baby Moose Lips balms which have different formulas than the regular lip balms. They are formulated to be gentle and moisturizing to give you "baby soft lips". The balm feels thinner than the regular balms with a hint more gloss. It feels really nice going on because it's soft and smooth. There's a bit of creaminess as well, but not as much as the regular balms. Overall, great balm and I'd definitely try more flavors but my preference is for the regular balms.

{flavors + ingredients}

For Goodness Grape has a TON of flavors! I bet she has enough flavors for every day of the year. Here are the ones I've tried:

• Apple Crisp - Smells just like the delicious dessert! It's all warm and sweet with the brown sugar and cinnamon combined with the tartness of the apples. I was surprised by how this actually smells like the real thing!
• Banana Colada - Pina Colada with extra banana! It reminds me of being in Hawaii with a sweet, tropical drink. Great for summer!
• Cherry Cola - I love a good cherry cola, and this doesn't disappoint. It's sweet and refreshing and fizzy.
• Chocolate Bailey's - This is a creamy chocolatey scent warmed up by the Irish cream. It's a nice mellow chocolate scent that I enjoy when I'm going through a chocolate phase, which was the case when I purchased this!
• Chocolate Coconut - Every time I open this balm I want to eat it! It is a sweet and delicious chocolatey scent. It reminds me of those Almond Joy candy bars, minus the almonds.
• Cookie Dough - This one doesn't exactly remind me of cookie dough. There is definitely some chocolate in there, but it also smells very boozy. And it's quite potent. Not my favorite.
• Hot Chocolate w/ Marshmallow - This balm is a two-layer. I haven't made it to the hot chocolate part yet, but the marshmallow is a great sweet mallow!
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - Minty, sweet, and chocolatey. Definitely reminds me of mint chip ice cream! And it has a pleasant tingle from the peppermint. (This is the Baby Moose Lips flavor I have.)
• Mocha Marshmallow - I'm not a fan of coffee, but I like the way it smells and I love marshmallow. This balm reminds me of coffee ice cream, but slightly sweeter because of the mallow. It's delicious!
• Spumoni Ice Cream - This is probably one of my favorite FGG flavors. I don't know how quite to describe it and I've never tried the ice cream, but it's supposed to be a combination of chocolate, pistachio, and cherry. I can't pick out any of these scents in the balm, but rather they combine to create a delicious and unique flavor!
• White Chocolate Wonderful - I love peanut butter scents and I love white chocolate, so I just had to try this one! It does not disappoint. It is ultra sweet and nutty and chocolatey wonderfulness! Might be a new favorite flavor!

Ingredients (for the regular balms) include shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, coconut oil, castor oil, vitamin e, and flavor oils.

Ingredients (for the Baby Moose Lips balms) include sweet almond oil, chamomile butter, kokum butter, cocoa butter, candelilla wax, apricot kernel oil, macadamia oil, castor oil, rosehip oil, calendula extract, vitamin e, essential and flavor oils.

{conclusion}

I love For Goodness Grape lip balms. There's a ton of flavors to pick from and the formula is smooth and creamy. Perfect combination to feed my lip balm addiction! The only complaint I have about the shop is that shipping costs are high for lip balms - they charge several dollars more than other shops to ship the same amount of lip balms. However, the balms are so great and there's always new and delicious flavors popping up, I have still placed quite a few orders with For Goodness Grape and will continue to do so! I would definitely recommend these balms to anyone!

Sarawen Perfume Art Perfumes {review}

I don't know if I'm the best girl for doing perfume reviews. Sometimes I can be terrible at explaining things, and trying to describe the complexities of perfumes may lead to some confusion on your part. But I really love these perfumes so I'll give it a shot! And I'll do my best! :)

I was first drawn to Sarawen Perfume Art because of the vintage style presented in the shop. All of the perfumes are beautifully presented and I just wanted to take a whiff of them all! There are cool themes, such as fantasy & sci-fi inspired scents. The shop even offers masculine and unisex fragrances. Something for everyone!

Note on the photos: The bottles and vials used for the shop have changed since I've purchased perfumes. You will notice the difference if you browse the shop!

{the perfume}

These perfumes have no alcohol in them. That is what I like most about handmade perfume oils - there is no alcohol added to help throw the scent. I don't like everyone in the room to be able to smell my perfume. I prefer to only have those who get close enough to me to be able to catch a whiff. I also don't like the headache-inducing scent alcohol adds to perfumes, basically making them all smell the same (to me anyway). These perfumes are not like that. It is just oils and fragrance, and all I smell are the lovely, complex scent notes.

As with all perfumes with no alcohol added, the scent is not long lasting. The fragrance needs to be refreshed every couple of hours or so, if you're to wear it all day. Usually I just use perfume for a night out, so it's not much of an issue to me. But I don't mind reapplying a few times a day because it means I am using quality perfume that I prefer - it doesn't give me headaches and the scent stays close to me.

{the scents}

When I first ordered from Sarawen Perfume Art, I ordered a full size and four samples. Since then, I have ordered full-size bottles of three of those samples I received. (I will not go into Vanilla Vamp as I don't believe it is offered anymore and it was the one that I least cared for, so I no longer have it.)

The Baker's Boy is a scent inspired by The Hunger Games (the character Peeta in this case). It is described as: "A luscious, gourmand fragrance bursting with ripe strawberries (from Katniss of course!) and delicious yellow cake. Underneath the deliciousness drifts soft vetiver, leather, and golden amber. This perfume is a unisex blend that borders towards feminine." To my nose, this is a sweet scent mellowed out by the other components of the perfume. The blend of strawberries and yellow cake is perfectly done. It's not an in-your-face-sickly-sweet-dessert-fragrance, but rather it reminds me of sweet berries left out in the sun or some delicious berry dessert baking in the next room. In the background, I mostly detect leather (although admittedly, I don't know what vetiver smells like on its own!). It blends well with the sweetness, mellowing it out and adding an interesting and almost refreshing element to the perfume. Writing all this makes me want to wear this perfume all the time now!

Girl On Fire is another scent inspired by The Hunger Games (Katniss!). It is described as: "Wild strawberries gathered from the forest blend with the comforting scent of leather hunting boots, and in her hair a very faint hint of sweet forest herbals. A pretty scent, but not to be taken lightly - rebellion lurks beneath the feminine fruit notes! Main notes: leather, strawberry, green herbs." To my nose, this is an interesting scent combination that always intrigues me every time I wear it. At first, I smell the strawberries and the leather. When it settles down, the herbal scents come to the front with a faint sweetness in the background and warmed by the scent of leather. It almost reminds me of walking through the forest on a warm day. It is the perfect scent for an Alaska girl like me!

Georgina is a Victorian era based scent described as: "Spend a lovely summer afternoon with a pot of fresh-brewed mint tea, a bowl of ripe peaches, and a plate of delicious dainty cake! A scent that is fruity, sweet, and refreshing, with just a hint of underlying gloom beneath the sunny sky. Main notes: peach, black tea, mint, incense." To my nose, the combination is so refreshing! At first, the peppermint is a bit strong but it mellows a bit and blends well with the peaches for a sweetly invigorating scent. The black tea and incense add complexity to the blend with an almost spicy background. This has to be one of my all-time favorite fragrances. The peaches and peppermint seemed like such an odd pairing to me at first, but they work extremely well together to create such a beautiful fragrance!

Tea With Watson is a scent inspired by Sherlock Holmes. It is described as: "Take a break from adventuring and stop at 221 Baker Street for awhile. White tea, delicious yellow cake, and a dash of cream caramel with a lingering background of light tobacco and bay rum. It smells just like a tea party at Holmes and Watson's flat! This is a balanced unisex fragrance inspired by the world of Sherlock Holmes." To my nose, this is the one I have most difficulty in trying to describe. The scent is warm and smokey with a sweet background. It is more of a masculine scent, but I really dig it and feel like I can still pull it off. I like to wear it on rainy, chilly days because the fragrance reminds me of being in a warm, cozy cabin with a fire going. I believe this is one of Sarawen's more popular fragrances, so it gets a lot of love!

{ingredients}

 Ingredients include rice bran oil, fractioned coconut oil, fragrance, and vitamin e.

{conclusion}

I definitely recommend giving Sarawen Perfume Art a shot! The perfumes are high quality and the fragrance blends are interesting and beautifully done. All of the perfumes I've tried are very unique and I love having fragrances that are different than the toxic perfumes everyone else wears! The scents are so enchanting, there will for sure be some more testing of new fragrances by me! I'm just itching to try one of the Doctor Who inspired scents as I am a HUGE Doctor Who fan! And I just might do that since there is a sale going on right now! It is 20% off (through Monday 10/14) your order of $10 or more with the coupon code "THANKYOU"! Now there's no excuse to not try out some new perfumes! :)

There is also an Etsy shop if you feel more comfortable purchasing through Etsy!

Mad City Soap Body Scrub & Cream Soap {review}

I know, it's been forever and a day since I've posted a review! There's a million excuses on my end. A lot of traveling, a lot of school, and now in the midst of packing! Also, my computer refuses to take my memory card from my camera so all the pictures I've taken the past few months for reviews are currently stuck on there. Enter the handy dandy iPhone camera! But anyway, I'm here again and I'd say I'll try to keep up this time, but you know how things go. If it happens, it happens. And wouldn't that be wonderful? Maybe it will happen this time! ;)

Now that my excuses are out of the way, onto the review! Today I'm reviewing a couple products from Mad City Soap on Etsy. I've actually ordered from this shop several times for the past year or so. The products are awesome with great prices and it's about time I've gotten a review up here!

{ sugar body scrub }

My favorite product from Mad City Soap are definitely the body scrubs. I've gone through multiple jars of MCS scrubs and they are at the top of my list of best body scrubs ever! The scrub leaves my skin feeling soft and silky and super moisturized! I don't even feel the need to put on lotion afterwards, my skin feels that soft! The scrub is packed with lots of good moisturizing oils so the texture is fantastic - it's definitely not a dry, crumbly scrub! The level of scrubbiness is perfect as well - it does some decent scrubbing but it's not harsh, just soothing.

The last scrub I ordered is an 8oz size that I custom ordered with peppermint essential oil. And OH BOY! if I thought I loved MCS scrubs before, I fell completely head over heals when I got this in the shower. I am a lover of peppermint and this is peppermint perfection. There is enough peppermint eo in this to make the shower filled with the wonderfully invigorating scent. It just smells and feels so damn good, it is totally an orgasmic shower experience. And I have never used that phrase before for any bath & body product! 'Tis perfection.

Oh, and it gets better! Afterwards, my body was all tingly from the peppermint. I could feel the coolness on my arms for almost an hour afterwards. This would be great for summer! I honestly laid in bed in complete bliss for quite awhile after my shower!

As I said before, I've tried a few other scents from this shop. Others that I've liked:
- Chocolate Covered Marshmallows - I got this one a trio sample holiday pack. It was amazing - all chocolatey and sweet with that marshmallow (and I love marshmallow fragrances!). It smelled completely delicious!
- Honey I Washed the Kids (L*SH Dupe) - This one I got as a sample in an order and went back and ordered a full size! If you're familiar with the scent type, you know it's soft and sweet, just like a kiddo after a bath. With a more feminine twist. I don't know what the actual L*SH scent smells like, but I really enjoy this.
- Mint Meringue - Also got this one in that trio pack. It had a little bit of everything I love: coconut, marshmallow, vanilla, and minty things! It had a refreshing minty scent with a lovely sweet and mellow background. I was sorely tempted to order a full size of this scent (and the Chocolate Covered Marshmallows!), but was already well stocked up on scrubs at the time. Once the holiday scents come out though, I'm going for it!
- Vanilla Sky - This one has been one of my favorite MCS scents! I've gotten several jars of the Vanilla Sky scrub. It is a combination of vanilla and white chocolate and is completely heavenly! The white chocolate makes it extra decadent!

Another thing to add about the scents, is that they definitely linger on your skin afterwards making you smell all sorts of delicious. Complete amazingness!

{ cream soap }

I usually don't order cream soaps too often. I prefer to use bar soaps and feel the smooth, creamy bar on my skin when I'm showering. But lately I've been wanting to use something on a loofah. So when I was placing a scrub order, thought I'd go ahead and get a cream soap as well. And I am definitely not disappointed!

The lather is amazing. It really fluffs up with thick, silky lather. And a little bit goes a long ways. I have really been enjoying the generous amounts of bubbles a little bit of cream soap on a loofah creates. It's also nice to get that extra scrubbiness of the loofah while washing up! The soap rinses off well and leaves my skin feeling clean and soft.

I ordered this in the Vanilla Ice Cream scent. It is a sweet vanilla fragrance, almost on the edge of being one of those butter vanillas. It doesn't quite remind me of vanilla ice cream, but it is still a pleasant vanilla. I love all vanillas! The scent doesn't linger as heavily on the skin like with the scrubs, but it may be have been my choice of fragrance. Vanillas don't tend to be lingerers.

{ ingredients }

Sugar Body Scrub: Sugar, Fractionated Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Stearic Acid, Jojoba Oil, Emulsifying Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Vitamin E, Essential Oils/Fragrance, Cosmetic Colorants, Jojoba Beads.

Cream Soap: Glycerin, Distilled Water, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Olive Oil, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Stearic Acid, Vitamin E, Dimethicone, Sodium Chloride, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Fragrance, Cosmetic Colorants (optional), Jojoba Beads (optional).

{ conclusion }

I truly love Mad City Soap. The products are awesome, especially the luxurious sugar body scrubs! I will definitely order again and again from this shop. I'm already planning my next order! I highly recommend this shop! Try it and trust me, you won't be disappointed. You'll have a total fantastical experience!