Also the scented wax coffee blends, but more on those in a second.
In my end-of-the-month spending assessment for March, I indicated that I hadn’t yet worked up the nerve to address the spend-a-thon I enthusiastically undertook in 2017 in any real detail. Frankly, I was scared. It’s difficult to confront hard and unflattering financial truths, isn’t it? But Mr. Finger Candy and I recently made some smarter-than-usual financial decisions, and they have paid off in our ability to hopefully very soon book a second, interim Disney vacation between now and our bought-and-paid-for trip at the end of the year. We’re even looking into becoming annual passholders. This would have been completely incomprehensible this time last year for a wealth of reasons, including our actual wealth – hard to go on lots of fun Disney vacations when every cent you’ve got (and plenty of those you haven’t) goes into wax or nail polish or streamable media or video games.
So I took the plunge, and the total as represented through my PayPal account alone was startling – over $5,000 Canadian. Feel free to let your jaw rest there on the floor for a bit – mine certainly took a while to rejoin the rest of my wide open mouth. Distressingly enough, that $5,000 doesn’t even represent the purchases I made on a credit card, or the almost vulgar amount of shipping and customs fees I paid out of pocket. Those alone could total in the thousands.
So yes, this was a hugely unflattering look into last year’s apparent total abdication of financial responsibility, a state we’re only now emerging from thanks to a lot of “sacrifice” and daily diligence. But it was also a necessary peek behind the curtain, where of course there was a wizard furiously pulling the levers, a nasty little gremlin in dinky short pants who encouraged us to replace life with things. Turns out, neither one of us was particularly enjoying the gremlin’s not-so-sage counsel, which is the moment we decided to really turn things around.
I love my nail polish and my scented wax and Mr. Finger Candy loves his Apple purchases and his GTA DLC, but I think life experiences, as well as the comforting assurance that your finances are not a total clusterbiff, are more important to us now. God, getting old can be such a drag, suddenly you’ve got to be all responsible and shit. 😉
As always, some of that responsibility is manifested in the mantra of “Don’t buy more; just use what you’ve got.” I’ve been following this sage advice for a while now, picking up books that have been sitting on the shelf for years, watching movies that have been sitting on the shelf for even longer and melting through my formerly extensive collection of scented wax. At the beginning of all of this, I estimated that I probably had enough wax on hand to keep me going for eight or nine months. Nine months may have been a bit of a reach, but eight is looking doable. I very much hope the end coincides with a really fantastic Rosegirls sale, or a SMT customs opening. My Mini Melter cupboard is beginning to run bare (not an actual cupboard; I didn’t go that hog wild!)
And the cupboard is running bare because I have been going nuts on the Mini Melter blends, conjuring up all sorts of fun creations in an effort to not deplete any one scent category completely. Which didn’t stop me from going further nutso on the coffee blends this month – apparently I was really feelin’ the java! Here are some of the more successful scent blends I came up with, in case you too feel like getting experimental with your scented caffeine.
Absolute Coffee/Marshmallow Smoothie/Monster Cookie/Raspberry Sauce
Starting with a tried and true favourite, we have the pleasant bitterness of Absolute Coffee as set against warm brown sugar cookies, fluffy marshmallow cream and tangy, ultra fruity raspberry drizzle. Egads, this is a yummy blend! You’ll note that save for one bakery-heavy combination, everything I’ve highlighted here is a fruit-and-coffee combo. Very strange, as I generally loathe flavoured coffee, particularly the ones that are supposed to smell like fruit (my husband used to love the stuff; I still kept him.) 😉
Blackberry/Vanilla Hazelnut Latte
This juicy, fruity treat is equally delicious when paired with scrumptious Marshmallow Smoothie, but I’m down to my last three pieces of my Precious, so I must conserve. But this blend doesn’t suffer from a lack of creaminess; there’s plenty of that provided by the rich Vanilla Hazelnut Latte, which holds its own nicely against the super juicy Blackberry.
Royal Sugar Cookie/Snickerdoodle Latte/Waffle Cone
Next up we have what is probably my least favourite of the four blends, and that’s because I’ve never been fond of Snickerdoodle Latte, the scent that forms the coffee base of this sweet bakery treat. To me, it’s always smelled very sweet, very powdery and very phony – like Swiss Miss instant coffee mix. It fared a little better paired alongside buttery Royal Sugar Cookie and toasty, sugary Waffle Cone, but it’ll never be a favourite.
Absolute Coffee/Apple Clove Butter/Marshmallow Smoothie/Monster Cookie
Finally, saving perhaps the very best for last, we have what should be an incongruous mix of bracingly strong coffee, warm and creamy bakery and spiced apples? Sounds abhorrent, smells positively delicious, like a warm, cakey apple fritter. It’s the closest thing to a total dupe of a favourite Sniff My Tarts custom – very fortunate, as I’m running low on that gem as well. Fruit and coffee – seriously, who knew?!
Next month/this month? More of the same financial goodness and cents sensibility, only this time accompanied by slightly fewer coffee-based blends – I’m in danger of running out! Perhaps an “Anything but Marshmallow” (and Coffee!) challenge would stretch my blending legs, hmm? 🙂
Finger Candy 
I Challenge You TO An Anything But Marshmallow and Coffee Blend!🙌 Now it’s official. It might spark inspo for an undiscovered mini-combo, I could use some.
On a sobering note, that number has made me sit up and take note. Man, do I hope I’m not near that figure. Certainly I’ve pulled the longer straw in regard to shipping cost (where ya at Canadian waxies?), but I’m anxious to calculate it. In fact, I’m positive I posted more wax last year…okay I will run my scary numbers. Not as brave as you even a bit, I won’t post it, but I might die of a panic attack when I see it, so it’s moot anyway.. It’s serious shit, this wax spending-there is no other product I would ever consider buying in excess this way.
I was just chatting about this issue with a follower who’s struggling and it doesn’t matter what each individual’s number, allowance, spending limit is–for each it’s too much.
I’m happy experiences are bringing you the joy that the material stuff was representing and I get it. On to more meaningful times💕
You’re on, sister! And I’ve started already, with a Mango Sorbet, Strawberry Shortcake and Peeps Cake blend. It’s very, very sweet smelling – kind of like Tinkerbell cosmetics for little girls, but that would be that blasted Peeps Cake scent for ya. 😦
But, you know, for all my banging on about how I’ve managed to rein in some of my crappier spending impulses, I hope I’m not coming off like one of those “And you suck because you haven’t reined it in” types. If you otherwise have your life bases covered (are you sheltered, fed and clothed, do you pay your bills, etc.?) and that’s how you’d like to spend your money, by all means, have at it. I just didn’t want to spend ALL my money in that fashion any more; wasn’t getting a whole lot of enjoyment out of it. Rather, it was getting sort of stressful. And yes, everybody does seem to think that no matter their line in the sand, it’s just a little bit too MUCH – seems to be a common thread among waxies this year.
That big ass sub-total up there (the other components – credit card, shipping fees – I’m just going to leave up to my imagination) is not just wax, however – there’s some clothes in there as well (also overspent on those) and a lot of streamable and downloadable media (I must have over 800 songs on my iPod, I swear.) But you’re right, there’s nothing else I’d spend that much on, but somehow, I did!
The one thing I really love about cutting back, though, is I’m wildly excited for the moment I *do* finally go off the chain. It’s going to be such a nice treat for myself, not only because I “earned” it, but because absence really does make the heart grow fonder. When you’ve got wax packages showing up on your door every day of the week, it loses its specialness. I’ve really liked putting some distance between myself and that world, because it’s made it even more specialfull. 😉
So right, my wax orders are special for a few moments between opening the package and sniffing and then they sit in the boxes for weeks. I’m still planning that SMT order, it’s keeping me going through the low-buy, what about you, will you treat yourself with some SMT punishment?
It IS punishment, and I know that going into it. 😦 But yes, I’ve got a nice long list on the go of some custom scents I’d like to try. But figuring that I won’t actually see that wax until perhaps Christmas, I’ll probably sneak a Rosegirls order in there for Mini Melters. But I don’t think that will be for months – I seriously still have so much, it’s going to keep me going until the end of the summer. Have you been plotting a custom order? I really liked that pie slice you gave me with the cream soda and buttercream sprinkles…it was weird, totally not my usual, but I really, really liked it. I also once got a sample chunk from SMT of somebody’s amazing blend; might have to try that one (Salt Water Taffy, Whipped Cream and Cotton Candy) – it’s really light and mild and reminds me of the scent of a smelly sticker I loved as a kid. We should compare lists, it could get ugly.
Heck yes, we should compare lists. I’ll send you an e-mail and we can brainstorm. Have you ever tried the Raspberry mousse? They’re lacking in some rasp/citrus blends. Been trying to stretch my blending muscles and I’d love your opinion. I am also planning a SWT blend, and that one sounds delish, but you know me, I’d add some salty sea air too.
Let me know when you year the word about a date!
I have not tried Raspberry Mousse, but I should get a piped heart or something to suss it out. Raspberries are weird ones, none of them actually smell like a raspberry. Rosegirls’ Raspberry Sauce is a fave because it’s nice and tart – it’s that tartness that’s missing from so many other blends. I’ve really been coming around on Black Raspberry Vanilla, though – Julie gave me a Glitterati chunk that was BRV and Lemon Poppyseed Cake, and it was SO YUM. I wouldn’t have thought citrus would be a good blender with it, but it very much was. Yes, let’s compare lists, and I will absolutely keep you up to date – somebody asked the other day about the next customs opening and they indicated the end of July or August.
I’ve been eyeing the Lemon poppyseed cake scent…sent you an email with my working list, to the fingercandy address. Peruse at your leisure, I already have a couple additions planned.
Dope! I’ll go check it out. 🙂
Thank you! August might be even better!
It does feel nice to use up and play with those previous wax purchases. The Mini Melters do makes lots of sense for those who like to blend, what a great way to experience tons of custom scents without a lot of investment. I am quite sure my number is higher than that if ALL non-essential expenses are counted but, for me, I earn my money to funnel how I see fit and usually that involves travel too. Though I very much still enjoy wax, it has certainly waned a bit for me. I stocked up on my favorites from Carol and a few from TDC once my wax drawers dwindled so I am set again for a good long while. So it will be back to reviewing perfumes I have yet to post about from hauls past. 🙂 And melting what I have. Enjoy melting your MM and let’s see some more blends!
Oh, my number would have been way higher than that, too, were I to factor in other discretionary spending (clothes have been a pain; everything’s so expensive and nothing ever seems to fit my ever-changing bod.) This was just an accounting of my PayPal activities.
And it’s not that it’s wax or nail polish or beauty supplies or any of that other stuff we rather unfairly lump into the “Fun, But Deeply Unnecessary” category. I think those items just get a bad rap because they’re firmly in the discretionary spending category. But it would be no different if I were wildly overspending on, say, after market stuff for my car or books or kitchen supplies…it’s still a spending line I’ve crossed with myself that I’m not comfortable with. It doesn’t matter that it’s “silly old” beauty stuff. Like I said to Jay, I hope I’m not coming off like one of those “Tsk tsk”-ers – if you’re comfortable with your spending, that’s all that matters. But it does seem like the vast majority of us collector types have a line in the spending sand that we feel we’ve crossed – it very much seems to be a common theme among a lot of bloggers this year, I’m noticing. Think we might have all overdone it a bit. Really excited for your wax posts, though – I all but luxuriated over them yesterday, going slowly through all your evocative descriptions! Gots me excited for some pending orders.