Friday, December 28, 2007

Small CH and BI orders

I was so pleased with Lena's new holiday scents I got myself a couple of gift packs, including an EdP in Who Likes Marshmallow, butters in Pineapple Buttercream Cupcake, Gingerbread Marshmallow Man, Lemon Meringue (gift for one of my mom's friends who loves lemon scents), Santa's Sugar Mug, and a scrub in Caramel Chews. I also ordered some gifts from Bathed and Infused for the lovely Lipglossina as part of her Christmas present, but of course needed to throw in a few goodies for myself! So here are some reviews.

CH:

Caramel Chews - This is so divine in the scrub I'm tempted to throw caution to the wind and get full sizes in a butter and EdP. It reminds me a bit of caramel popcorn (it has just the tiniest hint of saltiness) but not artificial or off, and no weird maple syrup notes that I get with so many caramel scents. Loving this.

Santa's Sugar Mug - very heavy on the rum but yummy. You can definitely smell the coconut-vanilla cream, but not the caramel so much. On me it was just musty rum so I ended up smelling like a very old alcoholic. :P

Bathed and Infused:

Caramel - Sadly this isn't working for me. It sort of resembles caramel, but definitely has that weird maple thing going on, and not as rich or sweet as I would expect a caramel scent to be. It's awful on me so I will not be ordering this again, even in a scrub, especially now that I've found CH's Caramel Chews.

Cinnamon Buns - This is lovely in the body mist. Finally, a not-too-spicy Cinnamon Buns scent! I think Philosophy's Cinnamon Buns 3 in 1/souffle is the best cinnamon bun scent I've ever tried, but the souffle really isn't all that moisturizing. So next year I will get BI's in the fluff and a perfume. :)

Saturday, December 01, 2007

CH Holiday scents!

I was so excited to see all of Lena's new scents for the holidays! I ordered in mid-November and got a couple sample packs in the body butters and a perfume sample pack, all of which arrived less than a week after I placed my order. Most of them are really excellent, not to mention unique. Lena has outdone herself!

Butters:
Caramel Gingerbread Cupcake - Mmmm! I don't really get much of a cupcake note from this, but the caramel balances out the spiciness of the gingerbread perfectly. It's so sweet and yummy! On my skin though it dried down to a vague sweet scent, so I won't be purchasing in a full size, but I still highly recommend it.

Eggnog Marshmallow Fluff - Again, an equal blend of eggnog and marshmallow, but the eggnog seemed a bit off to me as it did with Eggnog Float and Eggnog Cupcake (from last season's holiday scents.) I smell mostly spicy and no creamy notes. Even though the marshmallow component is terrific, it's not enough to salvage the weird eggnog. On my skin, as with Caramel Gingerbread Cupcake, it just turned to a generic sweet scent.

Gingerbread Caramello Latte - Really yummy. I love how you can smell all three notes with none overpowering another. Unfortunately my chemistry only picked up the gingerbread, not the caramel or coffee. Oh well.

Gingerbread Marshmallow Man - My fave of the new holiday scents. It's equal parts gingerbread and marshmallow and amazingly, it doesn't turn on me. I would prefer more marshmallow but I'm planning on layering it with Who Likes Marshmallow? EdP so that'll take care of my craving.

Gingerbread Sugar Cookie - This was a little too spicy for me in the container - I didn't really get any sugar cookie - and on my skin it was all spice. Oh well. I think CH's Gingerbread Man is the best gingerbread cookie scent on the menu.

Pineapple Buttercream Cupcake - Not a holiday scent but I've been wanting to try this for a while. Totally delicious. On my skin it's identical to my beloved CSP Vanille Pineapple perfume, so now I've found the perfect scent to layer with it!

Perfumes:
House of Gingerbread - I think this is surpassing Gingerbread Man as my go-to gingerbread scent on CH's scent list. It really is like soft gingerbread and not a gingerbread cookie. It's spicy but definitely tempered with something else - maybe the honey note? In any case, it's an amazing gingerbread scent and not overly spicy, which is always an issue with me and my chemistry!

Marshmallow Stuffing - To my nose this was very similar to Gingerbread Marshmallow Man, so I don't think anyone would need both. On my skin this was actually more gingerbread than marshmallow. Overall it's not a remarkable scent - good, but not all that unique.

Who Likes Marshmallow? - A delicious and true marshmallow scent without the toasted note. It's very light on my skin but so good. I've already ordered a full size!

A word about all the scents with gingerbread notes - these need time to cure! I sniffed everything the day my order arrived and everything just smelled like gingerbread. Within a few days, however, all of the other notes appeared, and a few weeks later I think the scents were fully developed. So don't be upset if you get your order and all you smell is gingerbread. ;)