Wednesday, February 1, 2017

The Bathing Garden: Winter and Valentine's Collections


After I got my Winter/Christmas Collection in from The Bathing Garden and fell in love with a few of them and then realized I never ordered a couple of others, thus I placed a small order. Then a couple of weeks later I placed another small order for some Valentine's Collection goodies. These are all tarts this time, but I am planning a Circus Collection order in a couple weeks that will have some bath and body items.


Top Row: Repurchases from Winter Collection, Chestnuts & Pinecones and two Sleepy tarts. Since I reviewed these already a month ago I will skip them this time.
Middle Row: Ones I missed this year but wanted from the Winter Collection.
Bottom Row: Valentine's Collection tarts that caught my eye.


Plum Ballet- Notes: Dark blackberries, sweet vanilla sugar and sugar plums dancing.
I bought this one and Mr. Cratchit's Cider in huge flowers last year for gift giving to friends and some family. I really enjoy Plum Ballet. It is tart, dark and juicy with just a tiny hit of red currants. 

Raspberry Stockings- Notes: Bottom layer of sweet floral vanilla and strawberries, topped with raspberry vanilla ice cream. 
Shannons' two tone tarts are genuinely double scented. The bottom layer always smells uniquely different than the top layer. Sometimes vendors just mix it all but color it differently, not Shannon. I had a sample of this a couple years ago and liked it quite a bit. The bottom layer reminds me of some Lush fragrance, almost like Rock Star. But the top is what really does it for me. I love Shannon's raspberry. Berry sweet with almost a coconut cream sweetness to it. Sounds crazy but I love it. Makes my mouth water.

Candied Acorn & Fig- Notes: A rich, nutty patisserie highlighted with sweet fig. 
A very unique blending of Bath & Body Works Brown Sugar and Fig and praline pound cake with brown sugar frosting. Deep, decadent and gourmand. A lovely bakery and perfume crossover. 


Mrs. Cratchit's Christmas Pudding- Notes: Carrot cake with raisins, plums, cinnamon and brown sugar, drizzled with vanilla brandy. 
This one I have sampled but never bought a full clamshell of before. This is pure cinnamon bakery bliss. I love the moistness lent by the fruits, the spicy kick of cinnamon and the made from scratch cake holding it all together. I would eat this. I am Mrs. Cratchit's recipe. 


Mr. Cratchit's Cider- Notes: Cinnamon apple cider, winter garland and sweet sugar.
This is one of my favorite cider fragrances out there. It isn't a full on pure apple cider, as you can get a whiff of the balsam behind it but it builds the perfect scenario in which you are sipping a toasty cup of sweetly spiced apple cider. The raw stick of cinnamon, the evergreens outside the window and even a tendril of something sweet baking in the oven to greet you. Saving this one for next Christmas.


Old Fashioned Valentine- Notes: Vanilla, marzipan, dark fruits and spices. 
The sample I was sent of this one sold me. I love it. The sweet creamy almond marzipan base tastefully holds a minute sprinkling of cinnamon and stewed fruits. Maybe some raisins and dates and dark obscure sweetness. I might get another one of these.

Raspberry Hearts- Notes: Strawberry slices, ripe raspberries and white cake bites.
Normally I am not a "white cake" fan in wax. It usually has too much of a cherry or almond lean to it, but here it adds to the dimension of the raspberries. A little candied, and very much like a very sweet cordial. 

Brown Sugar Cream Rose Bouquet- Notes: Whipped buttercream, brown sugar and sprinkled with sugared rose petals. 
Heavy on the vanilla cream with that signature Rose Jam sweetness lurking within. It almost has a sweet tobacco nod when I smell it all together. I just love this blend. So very well done. 



Love & Madness- Notes: Fruity floral blend of juicy berries and lush white flowers.
This smells familiar, but it slips away from me before I can pin it down. It has a slight berries and cream quality. Don't let the white flowers scare you... this is not a jasmine or orange blossom bomb. And really the white flowers come across as violets to my nose. I am not sure if it is because I was recently talking about Lolita Lempicka with Sandra or not, but I swear it has that same fruity floral essence. This has to be a perfume dupe of some type. Either way, this smells like sugared violets with vanilla, strawberry and raspberry musk. It is lovely and will drive me to madness trying to pin it down. If you recognize it off the bat, please do let me know what it is a dupe of. 


Clamshells are $3.75 a piece.


Scarlet Cinnamon- Notes: Cinnamon and sugar.
Yes ma'am. Sometimes candied heart shaped Red Hots is all a gal needs. This gal. All this gal needs. Look how freaking gorgeous. Shannon, please be my Valentine. ($1.75 each)


Free samples! WhoooHooooo!

Victorian Midway (my beloved pumpkin and apple spiced cakes) and Magician's Bonfire (lavender and fireside meet and make beautiful magic, another beloved) in some seriously lovely shapes.


Valentine shapes in:
Kiss Me Silly: the currants and rhubarb in this one are not for me. But overall a tartly powdered red berried scent.
Lemon Curd & Rose Milk: A classic Bathing Garden scent of tart lemons and creamy rose petals. 
Cupid: That same milky rose is replaced with milky carnations. It is a very mellow and pleasing floral. I quite like it. 
Mischievous Lovely: I get SweetTart leaning fruits, maybe pomegranate and citrus with vanilla softness.


Circus samples in:
Circus Cake: Generic berry medley with cake.
Starlight Soda Pop: A favorite, light woods and ginger citrus bubbles.
Fried Candy Donut: Wildberry sugared donuts.
Vintage Circus: Winter Candy Apple meets blue raspberry candy floss. Heavy on the Winter Candy Apple.
Clowning Around (those red, blue, yellow balls!!!! too much cuteness): Candy apple, kettle corn and cotton candy boardwalk shenanigans. Heavy on the candy apple. Sadly, the popcorn. 

Shannon makes everything to order, the wait is about 6 weeks. Shipping is pretty much exact. I am stoked to have these beauties here to melt over the summer and even next winter. I am plotting my Circus order and a few body care items from Valentine's. Her cold process soaps look amazing and the Rose Clay one is calling to me. Did you place a Valentine's or Circus order? What are your must haves? 

6 comments:

  1. Mrs. Cratchit's Christmas Pudding gave my holiday heart a stir. I just love the LOOK of it. The scent sounds nice enough too. hehe

    ~Deb

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    1. Right?! That white glittery snowy layer with the cute little holly berry cluster. I think you would like it. It is very nice and spicy sweet. I think I have a sample of it I will send in your box. Getting one together for you. <3

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  2. This order is FREAKING GORGEOUS! Ugh stunning! My problem with her wax is I would buy it, wait the long wait then never be able to melt it because it was just too beautiful!

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    1. Thank you!! I do suffer from the hoarding tendency with TBG once in a while. I am holding onto Widow's Walk just because it is so beautiful and I love how great it smells. Eventually I break down though and crave the smell so much that I find myself breaking it up.

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  3. You take such lovely pictures, Julie - these all look so darn appealing! Now I'm extra super mega excited for that Circus Collection order. I was going back and forth on whether to get a sugar scrub in Clowning Around, because it's so colourful and topped with sprinkles and how much fun!...but popcorn. Because popcorn. It's kind of awful (although those little wax balls are adorable!...but popcorn.)

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    1. Thank you, Sandra! No matter how hard I try I can never quite capture how pretty Shannon's tarts are though. I am excited about Circus too!!! I keep making my cart and tweaking it. Popcorn is a deal breaker. I will tell you it might be okay since it is pretty subtle but not sure what your popcorn threshold is. Mine is none. If you like BBW Boardwalk or scents like that you may enjoy it!

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