Neon roses. Neon leopard spots. The formerly white, now neon inside of your parents’ washing machine that time you tried at-home tie dyeing (holy crap, weren’t they pissed?!) I have no idea what this manicure is supposed to be! But I do know this has quickly become one of my favourite non-technique techniques – just grab a whole pile of bright colours and go abstractedly buck wild. Happy weekends, y’all, I hope they’re as delightfully fun and random as this mani.
Merriest of Independence Days to my American friends. 🙂 Now, go celebrate making it through the past five months by blowing up a small piece of your nation, colourfully. Sorry, colORfully. American grammar rules only today.
Because those April showers have to pay off somehow, right? And I’m pretty sure the record flooding my city has seen over the past week (in a condo apartment on high ground, I am thankfully immune) is not what that tired old expression originally contemplated. Strength to my less fortunate neighbours, with the vehement hope that the waters finally begin to recede. Until then, more flowers, fewer showers.
Because we all succumb to the lure of a haul post eventually, particularly when we’ve got loads of fun, pretty and delicious-smelling goodies to share, like this awesome assortment of scented wax I received from Rosegirls a few days before Christmas.
Around about the middle of November of last year Rosegirls opened for pre-orders of a number of terrifically popular holiday scents, the majority of them Super Mario-themed (Rosegirls owner Jenny Oaks is a fan; many of their scent blends bear Mario-inspired names.) I purchased a few of these blends last year when they were first offered, and a couple remain all-time favourites – lovely to see them back and making the rounds again this holiday season. So without further delay, let’s see what yumminess will be scenting my home in the coming months, shall we?
Starting with the big guns, I purchased an entire pie of Peppermint Coconut Mallow, which is not a Mario-inspired scent, but definitely one of Rosegirls’ most popular scent blends. It never ceases to amaze me that peppermint, coconut and marshmallow are compatible scent notes (peppermint and marshmallow, yes, marshmallow and coconut, sure, but peppermint and coconut? Egads, said I, before I knew better.) The coconut in this one is mild, very mild – more fresh coconut than either floral, coconut milk-type scents or buttery suntan lotion. Its presence seems to round off the icier edges of the marshmallow-sweetened peppermint, lending the whole blend a creamy dreaminess lightly tinged with mint. Delicious! And a nifty little sinus-buster, too, if you prefer mints to higher intensity eucalyptus and herb blends. I love it enough that despite the fact that I’ll be years in melting through these eight slices, I purchased an entire pie at a cost of $20.00 (US) per one-pound half. How much my mailman must have loved me that particular delivery day!
Next up we have another half pie in Koopa Troopa Assault (remember those nasty little Koopas?), a tart and creamy blend of Raspberry Sauce, Pomegranate, Sweet Lemon Confection (a candied lemon scent) and Marshmallow Smoothie. I am a complete sucker for Rosegirls’ phenomenal Raspberry Sauce, Pomegranate and Marshmallow Smoothie scents, and with the addition of mouthwateringly tart lemon, this blend is pretty much perfection in a half pie.
In addition to the half pies, Rosegirls also offered a number of scent blends in their traditional chunk and muffin formats.
I snapped up a few favourites from last year, including Up On The Castle Top, a blend of Rice Krispie Treats and Berry Creme Brulee that smells exactly like berry Bubbalicious gum, Christmas Wish Fluff Puffs, a festive cookies-and-pine blend, and Star of Wonder, Star of Night, a blend of Serendipity (itself a blend of cherries, vanilla, citrus, coconut and powdered sugar) and Strawberry Euphoria (all strawberry, all the time.)
I also nabbed bags in my all-time favourite wax blend, Yoshi the Red-Nosed Dino, a combination of Raspberry Sauce, Pistachio and Marshmallow Smoothie (sounds weird, smells delicious), Koopa Klaus is Coming to Town, a “Woah, bakery!” blend of Coconut, Sugar Cookies and Zucchini Bread (please stay with me here, I swear this all smells so much better than these descriptions might otherwise imply) and Birdo’s Magical Cupcake Land, a sweet blend of Raspberry Sauce (are we detecting a pattern here?), Strawberry Jam and Birthday Cake.
Weighing in at just a shade over 8 ounces, the chunk bags were $10.00 each. The muffins, sold in 5.5 ounce two-packs, were $7.00 each. Some customers reported broken and torn bags. I suffered no problems like that, although the wax in my bag of Star of Wonder, Star of Night came in shards, an issue I attribute to getting hoofed in the side whilst sitting on a cold delivery truck in the dead of Canadian winter. Scent-wise, its appearance makes absolutely no appreciable difference, although it did make finding enough pieces to photograph a bit of a challenge. Blogging problems, man.
Rosegirls very rarely has ready-to-ship stock. Instead, they offer a number of ever-changing blends (usually anywhere from 15 to 20) on a once-a-month pre-order basis (January’s pre-order is actually this weekend, starting today, the 7th, and closing the morning of the 9th.) The wax is then made-to-order, typically shipping out around the six-week mark. I really like Rosegirls’ system, as I don’t care to fight someone online in what’s often distastefully called the Wax Hunger Games, but I can also see how antsier types might be put off by the longer turnaround time. But if you’re cool with a bit of a wait and you like the assurance of knowing that your order is in the bag and good to go, no funny business, you’d do well to join Rosegirls’ Facebook group, where Jenny Oaks and Co. announce sale details, host giveaways and post fan pictures of their fabulously scented creations. So what are you waiting for? Go get you some!
Finger Candy 