Day 367 - Cranberry Banana Flip

Currently Burning: Cranberry Banana Flip

Happy 2013 everyone! Post #1 of the New Year :)

Now onto the daily review!

Cranberry Banana Flip (2): Again...not a fan of cranberry. This one does have Victoria's banana scent in it so it is somewhat redeemed, but the cranberry really kills it for me.

Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason

Day 305 - Candy Corn

Currently Burning: Candy Corn

Now onto the daily review!

Candy Corn (4): In honor of Halloween I decided to go with Candy Corn! However, this doesn't really smell like actual candy corn. It reminds me more of brittle. It's just a very sweet hard sugar candy. I do like it though!

Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason

Day 126 - Black Label Jars

Currently Burning: Banana Nut Bread

Finally get to resume my Jar series! The Black Label jar is 14 oz of wax. It's a pretty heavy jar because the glass on it is rather thick. It isn't really tapered at all and makes a really nice container for the top shelf fragrances. The lid isn't a screw top like her normal candles, but rather has some plastic around the edges to help it make a seal you pop on. 

To give you a sense of scale, the mouth on the jar is about 1/4 of an inch wider than the 16 oz jars and they're about the same height. The Black Label jars have about an inch or so of glass at the bottom of the jar whereas the 16oz jars do not (hence the extra 2 oz of wax).

While it isn't my favorite jar to burn, I have found a pretty good way to get an even wax pool. I tend to leave my wicks pretty long on these jars, because I have found that if I trim them super short, it can be almost impossible to get a full even melt pool. It seems like the wax in these candles is a little harder than Victoria's normal wax as well (may not be the case...just seems that way). They will correct themselves even if you do get some tunneling though. Longer wicks can tend to smoke with CBV candles so it's a trade off for a faster full melt pool vs smoking wicks. I'll take the smoking wicks personally.

With longer wicks it took probably about 2-3 hours to get a full melt pool. Shorter wicks and it was 8+ hours (hence why I quit trimming them super short). Essentially now I just trim off the mushroom at the top and it's good to go. If the wick is over 1/2 an inch then I'll trim it down, but I tend to leave them longer. I do not trim them when I first get them anymore either because the first burn will set the tone for how the candle will go (unless you want to spend some time correcting it).

Like I said, not my favorite jar, but it does fit the Black Label line nicely. Plus the label and lid are really nice touches.

Happy Cinco de Mayo ;)

Now onto the daily review!

Banana Nut Bread (4): This one isn't dead on for banana nut bread to me. It is a really sweet banana bakery, but there's just something about it that doesn't scream banana nut bread. Part of it might be that the banana in it is that banana runts smell. Also I don't really get much of a nut smell...smells like Banana runts bread lol. The throw is decent though. I don't think I'll repurchase this candle, but it is nice every once in awhile.

Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason

Day 099 - 100 Days and Happy Easter!!!!

Currently Burning: Spearmint

OK so technically tomorrow is 100 days, but I thought I would post it here since tomorrow is Movie Monday. I can't believe that I've been doing this blog for 100 days!!!! That's crazy to me that we're already that far into 2012! I've been having a ton of fun with this blog and I'm really glad that I started it. If I didn't have this blog then I wouldn't have been involved on the CBV message board or facebook page at all. Thus I would not have virtually met all the amazing people there! I'm so thankful they welcomed me into the candle family in February because they're all so wonderful :-)

Of course, I would still be ordering from CBV, but I definitely would not have the stash I have now. This blog does necessitate new orders since by the end I will have reviewed 365 different scents. Right now, I have enough new fragrances to last me until the beginning of July. I'm planning on placing a small CBV order later today and then a massive scent shot order in May. I'm really excited for my July order because I'm going to be getting a lot of Fall scents (not that I've planned 4 months out or anything). 

Here's to 100 more days!!!

In other news, today is Easter so I hope all of you have a very Happy Easter :) I'm heading to go hang out with my family today so that will be fun!

Now onto the daily review!

Spearmint (3): This one is really nice warmed up. It smells like spearmint gum. The throw is pretty strong. I probably won't be ordering this one in a candle just because it is so strong. I also like other fragrances that have spearmint in them rather than this one by itself. 

Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason

Day 045 - Valentine's Day Breakfast

Currently Burning: Country Bumpkin

Since today was Valentine's Day, I decided to get up early and make Roman breakfast in bed. I went with pancakes and bacon.

Start with 2 cups of Pioneer pancake mix and 1 1/2 cups of water.

Stir until mixed well. If some lumps are left that's ok because it will make the pancakes fluffier.

I tried using my heart shape mold to make the pancakes. The first was a disaster because I forgot to grease the mold.

Attempt #2 was much better.

For the bacon, I put brown sugar on it to give it a nice glaze. I baked it (rather than frying it) at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Final product! I was really happy with the result :) It also tasted really good and it's great to wake up to breakfast :)

Now onto the daily review!

Country Bumpkin (4): This is a spicy, bakery scent. It has cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. It also has candied yams, marshmallow, apples, butter, and brown sugar. I mostly just smell the spice. Not really my favorite, but definitely good for the fall/winter. I think this would be the perfect November scent since it has the spice but isn't heavy on pumpkin. I might order this in a candle once fall rolls around.

Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason

Day 036 - Super Bowl Sunday

Currently Burning: Momma's Peach Cobbler

I can't believe we're already almost a week into February. 2012 is flying by quick! I'm really excited to see what happens with the Super Bowl because Victoria is having a surprise sale today! She's giving whatever the combined point total for the 1st half of the Super Bowl off as a discount percentage. It will be a minimum of 12% and a maximum of 50%. I'm thinking that if it's 25% or higher I'm going to place an order, but if not then I can probably hold out. I just placed an order on Wednesday so I don't want to be too crazy with my obsession :)

At the end of the 2nd Quarter - New York: 9, New England: 10 - so the discount is only 19%. I think I am going to go ahead and give in since it's more than 15%. However it will definitely be a small order. I'm putting a $50 max cap on myself.

Now onto the daily review!

Momma's Peach Cobbler (5): I was SO excited to finally get to burn this one. I wanted to wait until the weekend to be sure I had enough time to get a full melt pool. It took about 5 hours to completely melt across, which is pretty decent for a candle this size. This candle smells AMAZING and scents up even when it's not lit. The scents in here are Maple Butter Crunch and Cajun Cornbread (a mix of peach preserves and Kim's country cornbread). This is one of Victoria's comfort candles and they are 16 oz. I definitely want to try more of her comfort candles because if they're even half as good as this one they're worth it.

Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason

Day 001 - Project 365

Currently Burning: Shamrock Kiss

The real reason I started this blog is that I wanted to try blogging everyday for a year. Since today is January 1st, I figured that would be a good start. I've also been looking for an outlet to chronicle my CBV experience, so I thought I would combine Project 365 with the candle blog.

Something that I plan on doing for every post is putting what scent I'm currently burning at the top of the post. I also plan on doing a mini review everyday for that scent (or if I've already covered it, then some other scent that I have not reviewed yet. So far, I've tried 114 scents, so hopefully by year's end I'll have at least 365 :) I also have a rating system that I use which helps me to determine if I'll buy it in candle form. I use a 5-scale, with 1 being never burn again, and 5 being a must-have.

Shamrock Kiss (5): I have half a scent shot of this going right now. To me, it smells like the original Herbal Essences shampoo. I really like this smell, and I think it goes great for a bathroom. The scent throw for me is medium, because I cannot smell it all throughout my apartment, but I can smell it when I open the door so it fills the living room nicely. I'm probably going to order a 4 oz candle of this sometime within the coming months.

That's all for today! Remember to keep those wicks trimmed!

Jason