Friday, July 24, 2020

Candles From The Keeping Room: July Opening


Heeeeeey there good lookin'. I know I said I was trying to cut back on the whole summer wax buying thing and well, I do think I did ok overall. But you know when Carol opens up for some orders it is mighty hard to resist. I scanned her scent list and saw all those apples and felt kinda swoony. With all the afternoon thunderstorms we have been getting here lately it has brought a fall feeling to my soul. I find myself daydreaming of tiny orange pumpkins and goofy ghosts and cinnamon sprinkled into everything. I ordered. Wanna see?

Here is my most recent Candles From the Keeping Room order:

Fresh Blackberry Salt Water Marshmallow Taffy- I have tried and enjoyed Carol's Salt Water Taffy in a blend or two so when I saw this I thought I would pop it in for some last minute summer melting. The blackberry here is tart and zingy, which does bring freshness to mind. No syrups or jams here. No florals either. A nice robust blackberry with a tinge of redness still lingering on some of the druplets. The blackberries are softly sweetened with the taffy and marshmallow but on cold this lingers gently in the background. Looking forward to melting this!

Bayberry Black Forest- This one is new to me as well and will be wonderful to scent the house in winter. This smells like a classic bayberry scent: green, Christmasy, with a touch of eucalyptus and pine. 

Strawberry Salt Water Marshmallow Taffy- Like I would let this slip by? Juicy pink strawberries and melty sweet marshmallow taffy, a candied indulgence indeed.


Golden Spongecake- Another newbie that popped into my cart. This one is going to melt beautifully. A wonderful vanilla bakery scent that is heavy on the vanilla sugar with the depth of caramel all atop a dense cake. This does have a fresh baked moistness to it. No crunchy cookies here. No bready thickness. Just a beautifully rendered vanilla spongecake. 

Lavender Marshmallow- I recently burned a Bath & Body Works Lavender Marshmallow candle and quite enjoyed it. This tart is similar but more along the lines of their lavender vanilla scent. 

Ultimate Vanilla- I feel head over heels in love with this scent earlier in the year. I absolutely refused to melt any until I managed to grab another bag. This is vanilla to the 10th power. Vanilla extract, vanilla creme, vanilla bean pods and vanilla syrup gracing vanilla sugar cookies. 


Sweet Cinnamon Cake- I love these adorable cinnamon roll shapes! They look so real. This one I already melted a chunk of out of curiosity and well, it was dark and rainy and cinnamon always beckons to me then. This did not disappoint. It melted strong in the kitchen with the aroma of sugared cinnamon sweet bread. This read more like a homemade French toast rather than cake but was delicious nonetheless. 

Powdered Donuts- I am not sure why I have not tried this before. It is yummy! These remind me of the "hot now" sugar glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts my mouth waters for. There is a definite sugar note here along with the fluffy cake goodness. 

Sugar Cookie Latte- An old favorite and hands-down the best coffee scent out there for me in home fragrance. Every other coffee is puppy toes and Doritos to my nose. But this.... this is magic. There is still a faint roasted coffee bitterness but it is tempered by the robust sugar cookie and I love it. And that coffee bean?! Check him out!


I know... you heard about these apples and are giving me the side-eye... they are coming. I promise...

Cinnamon Pumpkin Coffee Cake- I think this was a sample I had. I needed more. Cinnamon strudel studded vanilla coffee cake with pumpkin puree mixed in the batter? I need to make this at home. To eat. But until then I will be melting this instead. It is heavenly if you like your pumpkins spiced and with cake. 

Primitive Wishes-  This is a throwback for me. I used to melt this all the time in fall and winter. I missed having it around. It's a funny little slice of nostalgia and very unique among scents. It is like eating vanilla frosted Christmas cookies while on a sleigh ride through the pine and spruce woods of Narnia. Well ok, maybe nostalgic in my head. I always felt like Mrs. Beaver probably made some mean vanilla Christmas cookies.

Coffee Cake and Spice- I think this might be new to me as well, but I try to pick up any scent with "spice" or "coffee cake" or "cinnamon" in the name so who knows at this point? This is perfect. It reminds me of Amish Quilt but with vanilla cake in it too. Mmmm. Simple comfort.


APPLES!!!

Home Made Apple Pie- This is heavier on the spice than the next apple pie, it is also sweeter too. You can smell the syrup of the apple glaze filling and it is quite frankly, divine. The apples are prominent, plump and toothsome when one of those pale cinnamon speckled crescents is plucked from under the lattice. Holy moly this is causing quite the late night craving.

Toffee Apple Crunch- This is a classic old school scent that I missed having on hand. It used to get blended with everything back in the day. This is a deceptively simple caramel apple. Not too much sugary caramel and not too much mac apple, but a wonderful mixture that balances each other wonderfully. 

Hot Apple Pie- This apple pie is yummy too, The spice is more dry and the sweetness is tamed. I feel like a get a little crust and perhaps some a la mode action too. The apples are still there but not in the forefront as much as in Home Made Apple Pie. This is more about the pie. It is still dang good too. 


Apple Cobbler Delight- This is a forever favorite along with the one below. Apple Cobbler Delight is a sweet candied apple treat. Quiet on the spice and more about being a tasty sugary apple treat. 

Apple Dumpling- Apple Dumpling is all about those cinnamon marinated apples. And will you check out those adorable dumplings?!?! How am I going to melt these? Apple Dumpling is more spicer than the Home Made Apple Pie, but still sweet along those lines. 

Apple Fritter- This is the one if you like a heavier bakery with your softly spiced apple. Definitely some flakey pastry layers with this one, perhaps even a touch of corn meal. This would be a nice Thanksgiving melt. 

Ok so in order of heaviest cinnamon to none: Apple Dumpling, Home Made Apple Pie, Hot Apple Pie (some crust), Apple Cobbler Delight, Apple Fritter (lots of crust), Toffee Apple Crunch (no spice/no crust). And now all I want to do is melt apple cinnamon scents. I should try to do a run down of all the apple cinnamon scents I have on hand. My nostrils would be singed by the end probably. Paralyzed like cilia. But I would have my aromatherapy for the day.


Free samples!

I am excited about the autumnal scents creeping into the samples. As usual, Carol was very generous in the gifting. 

Cherry Vanilla Birthday Cake is a soft airy cake with light cherry tones.

Unicorn Sprinkles is a tart fruity musk. I get currants from this.

Huckleberry Pizzelle reminds em of how much I miss the pizzelle blends. A creamy vanilla cookie with bits of sweet blueberry and grape-like fruits embedded. 

Cookie Snacks is delish. Vanilla and caramel cookies with the faintest hint of tonka.

Strawberry Pound Cake type is a great match for the Bath & Body Works version. I recently burned this candle while on vacation and this tart aligns with the sweet and creamy strawberry vanilla of the candle.


Gooseberry Pie smells of tangy grapes and perhaps a touch of citrus or peach. I would drink this up.

Welcome Home is lovely. Vanilla and honeyed apples and soft spice. There is an element of Leaves and a hint of sweet musk in this one that sets it apart. 

Honey Apple is a bowl of Honeycrisp apples thinly sliced and drizzled with honey and lemon juice and garnished with one apple blossom.

Apple Brown Sugar is similar to Toffee Apple Crunch but sweeter and less gooey.

Autumn Leaves type is a fragrant blend of fall foliage, cool breezes and amber musk. Looking forward to melting this one in my bedroom. 

Pumpkin Ginger and Apple is a wonderfully perky fall scent. The pumpkins and apples are field fresh and shinning with that morning's dew. There are also bundles of cinnamon brooms being sold on the cart and the crunch of fall leaves beneath boots of the market goers. 


Spearmint Cake is heaven. Crisp and refreshing spearmint with mellow vanilla tones to make it dreamy.

Tricks for Treats is fun! Normally the whole generic bag of Halloween candy hits my nose wrong, like one too many Tootsie Rolls. But here is it perfect. It is like recalling from memory the feeling of looking into that clean pillow case at your sweet wax paper wrapped treats. There is a touch of the linen, a hint of paper wrappings and underneath that candy bag mix but in just the right measure. Impressed.

Campfire Treats is a wonderful smoky sweet delight. The dessert aspect is kept in the distance while the focus is more on the charred wood fire and the gentle haze of smoke that surrounds the gathering.

Apple Vanilla Clove Butter is a beautiful blend. The sweet strength of the Apple Clove Butter is lifted by the vanilla into a lush dessert.

Pumpkin Souffle is a rich pumpkin and spice dish. If you had covered the label and had me sniff I would have guessed it was pumpkin zucchini bread with a dash of salt.

Pumpkin and Pine is right up my alley. Sweet mellow pumpkins and plush pine needles. Like visiting a pumpkin patch in the Smoky mountains.


Blueberry Maple Pancakes is a robust blueberry scent. I like it.

Grape Airheads type surprised me. I must have missed this one from Bath & Body Works. Well, this does smell just like grape Airheads. It is sour and tart and sweet with purple grape candy essence.

Spiced Autumn Wreath is one I would gravitate towards. It smells like a twined grapevine wreath, there is a soft hay and straw scent that reminds me of those naked curling vines. The wreath is studded with tiny cinnamon pinecones and dried apple slices. 

Spiced Autumn Wreath, Cookie Snacks, Pumpkin and Pine, Apple Clove Vanilla Butter, Pumpkin and Apple Ginger, Campfire Teats,  Spearmint Cake, Tricks for Treats, and Welcome Home are all ones I would happily hunt down next opening if I can. I think Carol mentioned a September opening yesterday morning. I will probably try to collect a few more autumn scents. 

Are you ready for fall? What are you most looking forward to?

4 comments:

  1. Love this review! I'm so ready to melt Fall scents! Give me all the apple and smokey scents!! I ordered Powdered Donuts last opening and got a faint cinnamon note in it. I'm going to melt it and see if it comes out strong but I thought that was....different. Sounds like I need to try Cookie Snacks!

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    1. Thanks, Renee!! How are you doing? I am ready to melt those fall scents too. Mmm... apples... mmmm... smoke. Oo, a cinnamon notes in the donut scent? I don't think I would mind that at all. I should probably melt it soon. See what it unfolds into. I need to melt that Cookie Snacks sample too. I always fall for Carol's cookies. She is a master.

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  2. Great review, Julie! Guess who overslept for the opening? My dumb butt. I fell asleep the night before without setting my alarm. I'll make the September one though (at least I hope I do).
    If we had actual fall weather I would probably be ready for it and excited for autumn scents. I think I wear shorts and flip flops year round here. It's usually Feb. before we get any real cold weather.
    I do enjoy apple scents though. I requested Apple Cream Lavender and Bayberry Black Forest (and a few more) just now on her post in the group. I ordered a few fall scents from Southbound's most recent pre-order. Hopefully I can place an order with Dessa's for some good fall scents when she opens again. I know she just finished up the last opening and is about to start shipping.

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    1. Thanks, Paula! I am sorry you overslept. I made your box today and threw a bunch of CFTKR in there to hopefully hold you over until the September opening. Sorry I did not get to the post office to mail it out today, but I will tomorrow. <3

      I hear you about fall weather. We don't really have distinct seasons here either but I pretend. I plan on getting my fall decorations out of the shed this weekend. Apple Cream Lavender sounds like a fabulous scent. Oh Southbound?! I have not ordered form there in ages. Like you I would love to get a few more Dessa scents from her next restock. I am dying for more October blends.

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