Monday, August 11, 2014

Alamo Candelaria: Wax Tarts & Soap




In a wax group on Facebook I spied a post about Alamo Candelaria, and after browsing the well curated fragrance list, watching YouTube hauls brimming with gorgeous packaging and scrolling through photographs capturing artistic soap creations, it did not take me long to order.


Beauty thrives in details. Lovely senoritas on "fragile" stickers, coordinating packaging in browns and black, thin crackling wax paper, gossamer strands of cheesecloth, dripping wax seals, it is all cohesive and appealing. Not to mention the beautiful scents wafting up from the box.


Four rolls of wax and a soap were purchased and three samples and a lollipop were included.


One roll of wax houses four medallions. The medallions weigh 1.6oz each in the one I opened, at $7.50 per package. The scents, along with their descriptions and my thoughts:

Raven's Myst- blend of precious woods, spices, and resins, then enhanced with a splash of mandarin, musk and cashmere vanilla. Gorgeous, woodsy sweet vanilla. I want to roll in it.. bathe in it... spray it on my sheets and pillows. Spices and resins provide a slight bite of sharpness.

Bella Bohemienne- means "beautiful gypsy girl" exotic notes of saffron, amber and frankincense with fig, sage, and tobacco rose. Incredibly feminine, exotic and unique. Sweet, golden tobacco and pink tender rose petals bloom first. This gypsy girl exudes feminine wiles. Brings to mind expensive soaps carved by hand in luxury hotels. It melted with a medium-strong throw that fit this scent nicely. The amber pulled through the most as it grew warm and pooled in the warmer. The scent had a long duration of about 10-12 hours spread over 2 days.

Candelaria- fresh and clean... full of salty air, bergamot, geranium, brair rose, violet leaves, white musk, vetiver, sandalwood, Florentine iris, clover, French verbena, and ambergris. Normally fresh and clean are not words that draw me in for fragrance, but as the signature scent for the vendor I knew it must be good. And it is good... and fresh... and clean. But not in a Downy or Gain or even Sea Island Cotton sense. Violets shine in this scent, supported by spicy geranium and grassy vetiver. Verbena bursts forth as well. Very much a beautiful floral with a touch of herbs.

Mermaid- an intoxicating blend of fresh coconut, plumeria, lotus, driftwood, ylang ylang, freesia, fresh rain, lily of the valley, night blooming jasmine. Coconut... yes please. A slight bit of floral and greenery float about but this is a sweet coconut through and through. Not bakery sweet, but rum sweet.






Of course I had to get the Mermaid one. :-)




The soap ($5.00) is in Fairy Tale- sugared fruit, lemon drops, vanilla, and lavender. Sweet and pretty. Oh. So. Pretty. The lavender is candied, tiny purple buds glistening with sugar sprinkled on lemon glaze dotted with vanilla beans. All this drizzled on juicy sliced fruits infused with more lavender set in cut crystal glass. Garnished with a sprig of lavender. Lavender is the star here.


The soap is wrapped in fine, thin wax paper, draped in delicate cheesecloth and sealed with wax. This is then wrapped in black tissue paper and brown accordion type paper. My heart broke to unwrap it! But I did, to uncover the aromatic beauty inside.


Work of art. Truly.


Samples!

Soap in Citron et Fig- aroma of essential oils of lemon and orange, warm fig, spice, amber, and white musk. The fig hangs from the tree still, firm, green and slightly coconutty, nearby there are lemon and orange groves, their fruits heavy on the branches. Great composition.


Wax tart in Red Poppy- intoxicating orange blossoms, brightened with sparkling citrus notes for a very lovely, feminine and uplifting aroma. Beautiful floral. I cannot say I would have pinpointed it to be orange blossoms or citrus but it does smell of sweetened dainty white flowers.

Wax tart in Santiago Blackberry- no scent description. Oh my! Smells like spiced blackberry sangria. Rich, dark, sticky juices spiked with toasted cinnamon and a thick paste of vanilla beans. Oh my. Oh. My. I seriously just ordered this in the candle. A unique take on a fall scent that I must smell more of.... besides... how am I ever going to melt that crown?!



The Britophile in me is digging this crown. Hoarding.


"Salt Lique Lolli" Salty and Sweet Confectionary Treat the tag reads... The black bits are sea salt.... salty and sweet combos are my weakness. I will gladly pay extra shipping to break up orders and get one of these guys in my box each time. By the by, shipping is a tad high but I was refunded overage. A very nice surprise, given the exquisite packaging. Also, from watching Kyme's (the owner) soap cutting videos, she mostly hand blends her scents, only occasionally using straight FO (such as Bite Me). >BIG sigh< Guys. She does something else that blows my mind... she creates scents based off of book characters too. And houses them in paper mache' handmade boxes in the shape of said books. And Outlander will be featured soon. Yeah. >Nodding and biting lip< Yeah.

I have already placed a second small order (Blackberry Santiago candle and My Chai wax roll) and it is winging its way here. Her turn around time is quick. If you enjoy unique, sophisticated scents Alamo Candelaria will provide. Have a great Monday y'all. My last week until school is back in session.

13 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh.. look at the gorgeous presentation!! I went to the site in hopes of finding Santiago Blackberry in the wax melts.. but no luck. I hope she offers this scent in them soon.. it sounds divine! I would be all over this company if only she offered single tart samples :/ I don't think I could put out $7.50 for a roll of melts before sampling the scent first. Maybe I should take the plunge and stop being a tight wad :))

    Enjoy your last week with the girls before school starts back up!

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    1. Good morning Lynda! Yes, I wanted more blackberry Santiago in wax tarts too, but a candle works for me as well do I scooped one up. Singles or a sampler would be really sweet. I hope you decide to try her out. She refunds shipping overage. Thank you! This week is already going by entirely too fast. I hope you have a good week as well. :-)

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  2. Oh wow, how gorgeous! I'm going to have to peruse their website!

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    1. Julie! Hello :-) I hope you do poke around a bit. She us working on restocking soon. There are treasures to be found on her site for sure. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Absolutely speechless. I've never heard of this company and I've NEVER seen packaging this beautiful.
    I almost feel like it's too sophisticated for me.
    But the fact that Bella Bohemienne performed so well makes it an easy decision to go ahead and place an order!
    ........still in awe!

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    1. It is not a turkey leg company but it is substantial! I am going to melt Mermaid today. It never hurts to try just a little something from a new company. :-) The Vanilla Dulce and Frosted Pink Cupcake keep asking to come home with me (I don't think the Pink is Pink sugar).

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  4. That. Packaging. Those. Colors. HOW BRILLIANT!! Santiago Blackberry and Red Poppy sounds absolutely exquisite. The Fairy Tale soap...wow. Wow is all I can say. This place is definitely on my radar now!

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    1. Blackberry Santiago is the bees knees. The candle is so rustic and lovely! I am going to light it and review it soon. I also got another lollipop. They are dern good!!

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  5. I tried out Fairy Tale today and the scent is lightly lingering a few hours later. The scent, creamy lather and design are a bathing trifecta.

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    1. Oooo! Glad you liked it Jean!! Can I tell you something? I have not used it yet!!! It is so beautiful and smells like such a spring scent that I hold off. I just stare at it on my shelf looking all gorgeous. I ordered two more soaps from her so I can MAYBE use them at some point lol!

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    2. I hope you tried the citron fig sample before someone else got to it! :)

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    3. I did get to use the fig soap! And it was a refreshing and sunny experience. <3

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