Still frosty, still frozen, only now we Canadians have a lot of American company – welcome to continuous sub-zeros, my southern friends. Ain’t she glorious? I seriously haven’t been warm in weeks. I just live in little furry boot slippers and every layer I can get my frostbitten hands on. Looking forward to enjoying some sunnier Florida temps soon.
Until then, another icy-looking mani featuring ILNP’s silver holo, Mega, under a frosted dusting of Enchanted Polish’s Freeze Machine. Brrrr…
That’s me! Or rather, I’m frosty and freezing. To paraphrase Captain Raymond Holt of Brooklyn 9-9, where I live (Eastern Ontario, Canada) it is colder than Cocytus, the frozen lake of Hell. And has been that way – resolutely, aggravatingly so – all. week. long. We’re talking temps that dip into the mid-20s (NEGATIVE 20 DEGREES) but owing to BS metrics like windchill, actually feel like they’re in the -30s. I haven’t been warm all week.
Anyhow, all that to explain how these nails, which started out in a tropical place, wound up looking more like frosted snowflakes. Because everything in my life is frosted in snowflakes these days, so why not also my manicures?! Also because the glittery purple polish I chose, a nameless stocking stuffer I received last year, is itself just frosty enough to make what started out life as floral fronds into ice cold lace daggers. Or sorry, as you may know it, snow. Because there’s also been a ton of that this week as well, inexplicably – it’s really not supposed to snow when it gets this cold, but somehow, it’s managed BOTH at the same time! As have I with these nails. 😉
Still on about Avatar – The World of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, only this time I’m bringing you a couple of nail art looks inspired by the ground in what is colloquially known as Pandora. Yup, the ground, the terrain, the surface on which you walk. Whichever term you’d prefer, Pandora’s vibrantly spattered, glow-in-the-dark walkways are dope!
For this manicure, I used the plastic wrap technique, which I believe my blogging friend Altercontroldelight calls a “smoosh mani.” Basically, you – or at least I – paint a bit of polish onto a wadded up ball of plastic wrap and then dab it onto your nails, creating a marbleized sort of look that’s much more natural and random than using a cosmetic sponge. Easy peasy and simply perfect for the wild walkways of Pandora. For these nails, I used A England’s turquoise Whispering Waves and Enchanted Polish’s grass green Lost Boy over A England’s steel grey Wuthering Heights.
They also glow in the dark! Or they should glow in the dark. The polish, a jelly-based multi-coater I received in my stocking this year, couldn’t quite hold its own against these darker base colours, but damn if it’s not doing just fine on its glowy own.
And then because I can’t ever leave well enough alone, and why am I just going to let an excellent base like this sit unadorned, I free-handed an assortment of flora onto my nails in the lush, almost alien colours that remind me of Pandora – The World of Avatar in the very first place.
These tidy little flowers are perhaps a bit too done in comparison with Pandora’s wild, colourful riot of Imagineered blossoms, but the rave-after-dark spirit is still there. 😉
Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida is in-credible, an absolute marvel of set design, technology, engineering, horticulture, lighting and sound (and foooooooood; oh my gosh, our lunch at Satu’li Canteen, a choose your own adventure bowl-type affair, was one of the best meals of our recent Halloween trip and I’m SO looking forward to going back again.) And this is coming from a person who’s on the record multiple times – and here in this blog, no less! – as absolutely loathing the Avatar…franchise of movies? Are there really going to be multiples? Please don’t let there be multiples.
Only let there be more of them if they inform and somehow better the overall aesthetic of the Avatar land within the Animal Kingdom. And I don’t even know how that would be possible, because as Imagineered (the Disney word for that voodoo their engineers hoodoo) the place is utterly spectacular, particularly after dark when the bio-luminescent plants turn a stroll through the pathways of Pandora into a hippy, trippy rave. When the sun goes down, I love drifting here, there and everywhere, just getting lost in the weird walkways of Pandora.
I was also inspired – some months on, true, but inspiration doesn’t always strike immediately 😉 – to round up a handful of seldom-used Enchanted Polish lacquers that remind me of the vibrant neon hues of Pandora’s lush alien landscape – colour-shifting ultraviolet, electric turquoise and deeeeeeeeep sea green, with a tiny dash of purple-tinged Na’vi blue.
Also it was a big excuse to use a bunch of polishes I somehow always forget I actually own – the perils of keeping your stuff tucked away where it cannot get dusty and damaged, true, but also can’t be seen and is easily forgotten.
First we have Enchanted’s colour-shifting multi-chrome, Magical Mystery Tour. Like the Pandoran inspiration for this manicure, this polish is incredible, morphing from a vibrant aqua, to a regal indigo, and finally, to a plush orchid purple. This polish could practically be called “Pandora in a Bottle” (Pandora’s Bottle?)
Magical Mystery Tour is the biggest chameleon of this lacquered bunch, particularly in shaded lighting conditions where the linear colour shift is the most pronounced.
Next up we have Entwined, another colour-shifter, although this time with both a slight holographic tinge, and a light dusting of holo micro-glitter. Entwined is another one where what you see is definitely not all that you get; this polish morphs from a rich, plummy wine, to a queasy sort of purple shot through with iridescent green shimmer. Here’s an alien colour if ever there was one – so fitting that much of Pandora’s flora blossoms in this unique purple hue.
In the penultimate Pandoran position we have the unimaginatively named March 2017, which bears the distinction of being the only polish in two years of mystery purchases that I would have purchased had it been offered a la carte. What a unique stunner, and nearly the exact shade of the Na’vi (look how respectful I’ve gotten – I no longer refer to them solely as the 11-foot-tall blue kitty people!)
Finally, we have Neptune, the turquoise-to-evergreen-to-navy blue twin of Entwined (En-twinned, perhaps?) This polish reminds me of the unnaturally hued waterways of Pandora (many of which contain bizarre little critters, if you look closely enough. But don’t look too closely, because they’ve got tentacles!
Even if you’re not a fan of Avatar (and truly, I cannot stress enough how much I really dislike that movie) I think you will still fall utterly in love with the place, and I’d implore you to experience the alien world of Pandora at least once. It’s a genuine marvel, and you never know what sort of odd inspirations the beauty of the place will spark in you.
Here’s a fun manicure memorializing the main magical mouse, Mickey, and an even funner video I made for our YouTube channel showcasing one of our favourite related games to play when we’re at Disney, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
I’ve spoken about Sorcerers before – it’s the free-to-play, card-collecting, interactive scavenger hunt you can only play at the Magic Kingdom, and Mr. Finger Candy is completely obsessed. No trip is complete without finishing off at least a couple of games of Sorcerers, and more than a couple of visits to the Firehouse on Main Street USA.
Sorcerers is a cute, not-so-little diversion (no joke, you will walk for MILES completing a single game) that always provides tons of fun while we’re bounding about the Magic Kingdom. If you’d like to join in on the RFID-enabled scavengering and hunting, please watch this video I recently made for our YouTube channel, Park or Perish!, featuring fun tips on making the most of your magical Mickey. Thank you so much for watching, and happy spellcasting!
“Deceased.”
Hey, so check out this awesome Christmas gift I got from Mr. Finger Candy! As the little (removable) sticker in the top right-hand corner states, this is a set of note cards and other stationary-type items (oh, how I love paper products!) housed in a box designed to look like the battered Handbook for the Recently Deceased from my favourite movie, Beetlejuice.
Inside there’s a mess of Beetlejuice-themed goodies, including cards, envelopes, stickers and a cute little notebook with an MC Escher-esque Sandworm on the cover swallowing its own tail. Careful, buddy – I’ve got it on good authority that you’re 100 percent non-natural polymer clay, so you might want to take smaller bites.
And because this is me, I just had to do some inspired-by, matching nail art. I’m not sure how successful I was at capturing the very retro design on the cover of the Handbook; things got quite muddled once I added the matte topcoat. It *did* lend the manicure that sort of undone, shaggy appearance that cloth-bound books begin to take on after a millennium or so of sitting about, but it’s not a look I deliberately set out to create – just one of those random moments of nail art kismet.
I’m so delighted with this present! I actually wasn’t expecting anything this Christmas, because my husband and I decided pretty early on in the season that we’d instead put our earmarked funds towards another trip to Disney in the new year. But if he’s not as big a Beetlejuice nerd as I am (he’s not) then he’s definitely just your garden variety nerd (he is) because I think this awesome gift speaks to him as well – who wouldn’t want this sitting all nonchalantly on an end table?! My man knows me – us – so well. 🙂
The universe works in odd ways sometimes. So the last few days I’ve been tending to the deeply unpleasant task of disposing of my recently departed kitty’s few remaining earthly possessions. After her passing last month, we boxed up and packed away many of her things – most of her toys, which still smell like a savage combination of cat breath and nip – while tossing many others (didn’t feel the need to hold on to the litter box; wasn’t too sorry to see that one go.) But a number of items remained, mostly “our” things that she wantonly appropriated for herself, including a plush, pale turquoise blanket that she loved to nest in and knead.
The blanket’s been not-so MIA in the second bedroom for about a month now while I work up the nerve to confront all of the things in our house that do nothing but remind me of her. Turns out that’s a crap ton of stuff, because she ruled our home with a fuzzy paw, and we let her. This entire grieving process has actually been made so much worse by the realization that just about every aspect of our lives revolved around her, including the actual setup of our house.
Anyhow, I haven’t thought about the pale turquoise squashy blanket in a while – or rather, I’ve been trying very hard not to think about it. But the other day, wanting to do some simple nail art, but at a total loss for what to do, I just grabbed the first polish I saw and thought, “I’m doing a gradient with you.” That polish turned out to be Polished For Day’s iridescent aquamarine Willow, and once I had it sponged onto my nails, well, wouldn’t you know it, but it really reminded me of that blanket.
Which was the deciding factor in biting the bullet, doing the brave, unpleasant thing and pulling the blanket out of the second bedroom. It – and we – can’t stay in hiding from this forever. Healing starts with washing the blanket and re-incorporating it into our lives. Heh, that sounds like the title of a self-published self-help book on Amazon – “Healing Begins with Washing the Blanket.” Or the mantra of the cult I plan on founding. We’ll wear pale turquoise blankets wrapped around our shoulders and no shoes, because Weegie couldn’t wear them and she thought they sucked. We’ll also always sport fantastic manicures.
See, sense of humour beginning to right itself; the Healing Blanket has worked its magic already. 🙂
Last year, most likely noticing that a good deal of their Mouse merch sales were waltzing straight out the front gates and over to Etsy, Disney really began upping their merchandising game, releasing special, limited edition items in THE Disney colour of the moment. In 2018 Disney declared there to be four must-have colours, rose gold, Millennial pink, iridescent blue and, right at the very end of the year, Potion Purple. I’ve no idea how these colours are chosen, but I think I know why, and it has everything to do with social media. And money! I mean, it’s always ultimately money, right? But increasingly – distressingly, I’d say – Disney is becoming a place built for Instagrammers, with sets and backdrops and IG-dedicated walls (“Meet me at the Purple Wall!”) dotting all four parks and resorts. Loading up the shops with exclusive, Instagrammable merchandise in the must-have colour of the moment just makes good financial sense, as does repeating the entire process four times a year once the latest and greatest colour is no longer trendy. Sneaky, Disney, very sneaky.
I actually didn’t buy any merchandise last year in any of the four “approved” Disney hues. I love rose gold – it’s such a flattering shade – but while it was popular, it was nearly impossible to get your hands on anything in this rosy hue. And I positively adore the grape-hued shade of Potion Purple – I think I would look quite lovely in a pair of sparkly, sequined Potion Purple ears – but it was only released on Christmas Day, and will most likely be tragically out of fashion by the time I’m in-park next. By then the hot new colour will be, I don’t know, lime green. It’d kind of be awesome if they were just like, “Yeah, this is the year we’re making rust orange happen. Pantone ain’t got nothin’ on us.”
And Disney ain’t got nothin’ on me, because I’ve got all four of these colour trends at – and on! – my fingertips right now in one last nod to the big Disney trends of 2018, and best of all, I didn’t have to empty my wallet to get the look.
Iridescent Blue
This icy, colour-shifting blue-purple (I refuse to say “blurple” – aw, damnit!) is so pretty; it reminds me of Bachelor’s Buttons. Here I kept things simple with three coats of Mentality’s jellychrome polish in iridescent Gala.
Rose Gold
I think the basic, be-bow’d Minnie ears were my favourite rose gold item – they were very chunky and extra super sparkly. Here I topped KB Shimmer’s ballet pink holographic micro-glitter, Turning Pointe, with Essie’s chunky rose glitter in A Cut Above.
Millennial Pink
Also known as baby bubblegum pink. For this manicure I used an old textured polish, Nicole by OPI’s Rock the Look, that has a lot more life to it than the actual Millennial pink items I saw – it was a curiously flat shade.
Finally, we have the new kid on the block, Potion Purple, here shown as three coats of another older polish of mine, Enchanted Polish’s chromatic Octopus’s Garden.
Hey, so would you look at that – I once again biffed my friends’ annual reading challenge, working through a measly 12 books! I very nearly made it to 13, but Christmas came, and the time for leisurely reading fell by the wayside. So 12 it is. Sorry Julie, sorry Jay, I’ll try, try again in 2019 with your next, just-announced reading challenge. Maybe next year I’ll get to 14!
But it’s not a numbers game, and it’s important to value quality over quantity, and some other trite expression that’s not coming to mind right now, but I did read a number of excellent novels this year, including The Night Circus, which was a beautiful, dreamy revelation; easily one of my favourite books of all time. Too Big to Fail was another bright spot; I was proud to have tackled a book about such a dense, weighty and frequently boring subject matter as the American financial system. I’ll Have What She’s Having was probably the most pointless of all the books I read this year; a humour novel without the humour is a puzzling animal, indeed.
Below you’ll find all of the books I read this year and the matching, inspired-by manicures I did for each one. If you click on the titles, a link will take you to my thoughts and reviews of each book, plus lots of pics of all that nail art. Once again, The Night Circus was the big winner here, its sumptuous, Victorian-esque carnival atmosphere providing ample inspiration for five different manicures, although I’m really quite partial to the gothic lettering of those Petunia (of Stephen King’s Christine fame) nails.
The Burning World by Isaac Marion – Another Warm Bodies novel, this one a sequel to the first Romeo and Juliet zombie romance, this entry suffers from having to act as a bridge between that novel and a third, planned book to be released later on this year. It’s a big exposition dump, and much of the bedrock on which Warm Bodies – a gentle, thoughtful novel about the downfall of humanity – is based is blown viciously asunder (presumably so it can be pieced back together in the final novel, but dang if some of those new revelations don’t smart extra hard; now I know how old school Star Wars fans felt during the overlording of George Lucas.) 😉 I read this book for week 26’s challenge theme of “A book title that sounds like the cool name of a band.”
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling – Hey now, another thing to be proud of in this reading challenge – I FINALLY finished the Harry Potter series! Just 15 or so years off the pace, no big. I read this novel for week three’s theme of “The next one in a series.”
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – I burnt the edge of a page of one of TWO forewords to this novel and applied the singed bits to my nails. I think I might have missed the point of this book. I read Fahrenheit 451 for week 11’s theme of a banned book – it doesn’t get more banned than being torched with gigantic kerosene fascism hoses, now does it?
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – Not the most uplifting of stories, but so beautifully written. I was just in awe of Atwood’s writing. I re-read this novel for week 30’s prompt of “a book picked up in a thrift shop.” I got this copy of The Handmaid’s Tale from the university bookstore in second year, and there’s nothing thriftier than an English student trying to stretch their book budget.
I’ll Have What She’s Having by Rebecca Harrington – I’ve had this little humour novel sitting on my bookshelf for years, and I finally got around to reading it this year for week nine’s theme of a book from your to-be-read pile. I think there’s a lot of good comedy to be mined from mimicking the wacky diets of image-obsessed celebrities, but this slight book was less observational humour and more straight up observation. So Karl Lagerfeld is a (self-described) grumpy bastard. That’s most likely because he starves himself stupid and consumes nothing but Diet Coke. We’d all be grumpy bastards, too – this is practically a given. So wither the funny? Ultimately, there was not much humour here, just tepid commentary on predictable outcomes. Cute cover art, though.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King – Every ’80s kid’s favourite author is getting old, and he’s super worried about the real world things that go bump in the night. I read this zippy anthology of short stories for week eight’s theme of “A collection of short stories.”
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by anonymous, edited by W.S. Merwin – A 14th Century epic poem – both in its original Middle English and translated forms – for week 23’s challenge theme of “An epic tale.” Go medieval or go home, right?
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – Oh my goodness, I adored this book! It was utterly enchanting – appropriate given that it’s a tale about star-crossed magicians plying their trade at a mysterious, after hours Victorian carnival. This was a very gratifying read; I actually sighed with contentment as I closed the back cover for the final time. I read The Night Circus in service of week 28’s theme of “a work by a debuted author.”
Christine by Stephen King – I continued filling in the gaps in my Stephen King education this year by reading Christine, one of his earliest works. It was appropriately unnerving and gory in all the right places, but absent the killer car, I was struck by the simple human heartbreak that formed the core of Christine, which was just your average, emotionally deadlocked family trying – and failing – to grapple with shifting family dynamics. Whilst being hunted down and murdered by a sentient – and very vengeful – 1958 Plymouth Fury. As you do. I read Christine, a book I nabbed from my condo’s community bookshelves, in service of week 15’s theme of “A book from the library.”
Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin – I hate these nails (too heavy-handed, and the lighting is crap) but improbably, I really loved this book, which I read for week 14’s theme of “non-fiction to tickle the brain cells.” More like set my brain cells on fire – I spent a lot of time shouting out various aghast “OMG, did you know”s to Mr. Finger Candy as I stomped about the house, raging at the inequalities of the global financial system.
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith – After the M.C. Escher-esque financial mindf**k that was Too Big to Fail, I was in need of a literary palette cleanser, which I found in Blue Shoes and Happiness. My mom loaned me this gentle little book from the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series, a favourite of hers set in rural Botswana. I read this book for week 27’s theme of “A book that was gifted to you.”
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden – Jay of The Scented Library gave me this spooky little book, ensuring that I’d absolutely hit week four’s theme of “a purple hued tome.” Also that I’d be thoroughly, delightfully creeped out, and also get some great nail art inspiration out of the bargain.
My big custom wax order from Sniff My Tarts – yeah, the one I placed in early August – finally showed itself a few days before Christmas, sub-zero temps and an off/off postal strike notwithstanding. But also thanks to what I’m guessing is a bit of both of the above, my box of fragile scented wax arrived pretty well thrashed to pieces, and I do mean that literally – please note the in-bag, as-delivered condition of one of my decorated sheet cakes. Ouch.
But I’m not going to cry over smashed wax; being in bits like this just makes it easier to share with friends. 😉 However, I’m not sure I can keep buying these random little works of wax creation any more, knowing that at least one of them is going to get damaged beyond all recognition during shipping. This is the third cake I’ve received in pieces. And I know looks aren’t everything, but they kind of are in this case – I would have gotten un-decorated sheet cakes otherwise!
But this is scented wax we’re talking about, and it’s the scent blends I came up with that really matter. And blessedly, with two huge, glaring exceptions – I can’t keep them and I can’t think of a person I dislike enough to bedevil them with – they’re all pretty great; there might even be one or two outstandings in the bunch. As always, I’m mostly pleased with my order. So let’s take a peek at the good – and the two way bad – shall we?
Brittle Blends
These fun little shapes are called Brittle Chunks, and they are so stinkin’ adorable! Each bakery bag contains a nice, large assortment of plain chunks and cute little shapes in your chosen scent blend. So fun; a nice aesthetic change from the usual.
Is that a crueler?! And a giant purple espresso bean? Yup, sure looks like it! This delicious blend is a riff on another favourite of mine you’ll see toward the end of this post that substitutes that blend’s juicy Apple Cider Latte for creamy Blackberry Marshmallow Latte. The Ice Cream Scoop Bread/Vanilla Waffle Cone base I’ve come up with is a solid one, and it pairs so nicely with fruit and coffee scents, and sometimes – like this time – both fruit and coffee scents at once.
C is for cookies on cookies on cookies! This comforting, all-cookie bakery blend (a waffle cone is just a thin, toasted cookie we shove ice cream into) bears a slightly boozy edge that reminds me of the vanilla bean paste I use to make my chocolate chip cookies. This is just a really outstanding vanilla; basic without being “ya basic.” Blending job well done, me!
This strawberry-lemon blend is a little too artificial for my taste. I think it’s that blasted Fresh Picked Strawberries note, which, come customs time, I always forget I do not like. We all have those scent blind spots, and this strawberry is apparently mine. Going way old school here (or maybe just plain old) but it smells like Tinkerbell cosmetics, and the lemon note is practically non-existent. I do love that gigantic Twinkie shape, though.
I was just commenting to a friend the other day that I’m glad I only ordered one blend featuring peppermint during this round of customs, because I’m way off the peppermint scents this season. I think I might have really overdone it last time with TWO peppermint sheet cakes. But this is a nice blend – icy, chill and sweet, like a mint Tic Tac. Also, little baby marshmallows! I’m seriously so charmed by the assortment of adorable food shapes in these blends.
Finally, we have what is maybe my favourite blend of this order, a hopeful (that it would turn out well!) re-working of a beloved fragrance from another vendor (Candied Blackberry Cookie Bread from K’s Kreations, who sadly went out of business last year.) K’s had a number of outstanding blends featuring this scrumptious Cookie Bread oil, and I loved them all, so when I saw that SMT had added it to their master scent list, I jumped at the chance to recreate a nearly forgotten favourite. Okay, so that giant Rice Krispie round is adorable, but how does it smell? Incredible! It’s nearly an exact dupe, and I’m so, so happy with how it turned out. I once made blackberry curd bars with a shortbread crust, and this smells exactly like those yummy treats – sweet-tart berry bakery. If I conveniently forget my earlier promise to myself to never again buy another decorated sheet cake, I’ll have to get one in this outstanding blend.
Frosted Sugar Cookies
I regrettably didn’t have much luck with my choice of scent blends for these large frosted sugar cookies, the smallest blending option you could choose during customs. Of the five, one is lovely, one is nice enough, one is pretty much a non, and two are completely wretched.
Starting off with the very bad, the two blends featuring Salt Water Taffy (blue and red frosting) are terrible. It is so gross and artificial, overwhelming both blends with a nasty, phony scent that can best be described as “chemical pink.” It actually reminds me of that cheap neon soap you occasionally find in mall bathrooms. The very weird part here is I once received a sample from SMT of the Whipped Cream/Salt Water Taffy/Cotton Candy blend; I liked it so much, I decided to recreate it in a slightly larger format during this round of customs. Whatever I received here smells nothing like that tiny sample; they are night and day apart. I’ve also used Salt Water Taffy in two previous blends, and once again, it smelled nothing like this chemical nostril assault. That leads me to believe the oil has either gone off in some fashion, or I’ve got something here other than Salt Water Taffy. So gross.
Sweet Lavender and Shortbread Cookies, dark purple, is the big eh? of this order. Lavender scents come in different varieties – herbal, medicinal, floral, gourmand. Some are quite sweet, while others are steely and astringent, but they all share a fresh, green note that binds them a bit more firmly to the nature from which they’re derived. This lavender has no fresh note to it whatsoever and it only barely smells like lavender. It’s unbelievably light; lavender-oid, but not quite lavender. A real non-starter of a scent.
Black Raspberry Vanilla and Lemon Poppy Seed, pale purple, is a lovely scent, with the Lemon Poppy Seed providing a tart, lemon-glazed backdrop for the slightly fruity, slightly floral Black Raspberry Vanilla. This is a great lemon oil that I will have to remember for the next round of customs – it’s tart and fresh without venturing into that unfortunate urine-or-lemonade? territory occupied by so many lemon scents.
Honey Gingerbread and Apple Cider Latte, orange, is another lovely, comforting scent – a bit buttery and spicy from the Honey Gingerbread, and a lot juicy from the Apple Cider Latte. A cozy autumnal scent, for you seasonal melters out there.
Rose Loaf
Yeah, you heard me; rose loaf. A loaf of roses. And it was definitely Bon Jovi who said he wanted to lay you down on a loaf of roses – I’m never wrong about these things. 😉
So pretty, right? I can’t believe it got here in one piece. That will make taking it apart significantly more difficult come melting time, but I think I’ll manage – this Mango Sorbet/Vanilla Waffle Cone/Coconut Cream Pie blend is a favourite of mine, and I’ve ordered it every time SMT has opened for customs in one iteration or another. I think this blend smells like the inside of a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop, all crunchy, toasted waffle cones and creamy, icy, fruity things. A lovely scent, and such beautiful presentation.
Decorated Sheet Cakes
Saving the big guns (and the big, busted guns) for last, here are the two decorated sheet cakes I ordered.
And hey look, I managed to put Humpty Dumpty back together again! Or at least I did for this photo. We shan’t discuss the state of my hardwood floors, however, after this ultra crumbly photo shoot. Wax smears for DAYS.
Really, though, taking a gander at this gigantic thing, an all time favourite blend of Apple Cider Latte, Ice Cream Scoop Bread and Vanilla Waffle Cone, it’s no wonder it shattered into about a dozen different bits – it is positively loaded with little wax details, and that heart-shaped waffle in the middle (it’s actually double thick!) acts as a major stress point; all of the fractures in this sheet cake radiate out from that doubled up waffle. None of that affects the scent, however, which, as always, is wonderful, like a cakey apple fritter. My husband said after a few hours of burning, it smells like this pipe tobacco he used to smoke in high school (actually in a pipe, because of course he did.) It really does have that fruity tobacco-type lean to it. I’ve turned a couple of friends on to this fast favourite, and I absolutely adore it; like the Mango Sorbet blend, above, it has an all-the-time place in my customs cart.
Finally, we have the sheet cake that made it to me mostly in one piece; a number of the little cupcakes on top sprang loose, but I was able to drop them back into place for this photo. This delightful scent is my attempt at recreating Vintage Chic Scent’s Jackie O blend, a rich, not-too-cloying combination of buttery white cake, fluffy marshmallow cream and musk-tinged caramel. And that’s very nearly what I got; this is an exceptionally close dupe. I’m going to put this one away until my birthday, when I’ll finally sacrifice it to the warmer gods by making my birthday wish off its candlelit, mica-dusted top, as I have the last two years running. That’s a fun little SMT tradition I look forward to every year. 🙂
On the whole, not a bad order, and totally in keeping with the scent success rate I’ve experienced across three other custom orders – it’s mostly all pretty good, if not great, with one or two unfortunate outliers. Hey, sounds like life, not just wax life. 😉 Now to divvy up some of these goodies among friends and get to melting!
Finger Candy 