Fortune Cookie Soap: OCD Hand Sanitizer

These hand sanitizers were purchased for Savanna's Lord of the Rings birthday party but I had a few left over that I decided to chat about. This was my first ever purchase from Fortune Cookie Soap, which I have perused for many years but never bought from, until now. This particular collection has only a few odds and ends available but I wanted to talk a bit about the hand sanitizer itself and the fragrances. The smaller one ounce travel sizes are $2.89 and the larger 7.4 ounce pump versions are $6.49. The hand sanitizers are called OCD Hand Sanitizers and a portion of the proceeds go to the International OCD Foundation.

Mellon- Notes: Mirkwood myrrh, neroli, burning incense of Moria, elderberry herbal tea, ginger and fresh morning dew on the hills of Hobbiton. 

An easy fragrance to love! The elderberry tea portion speaks the loudest to my senses. It smells sweet, fruity and fresh. The hand sanitizer itself goes on smoothly and leaves no slimy or sticky residue. The hands are left soft and dry after the gel soaks in.

Middle Earth- Notes: Warmed Longbottom leaf, frosted silver birch atop the Misty Mountains, blue juniper bushes of Pelennor fields and subtle hints of citrus. 

Good gobbling Gollums this smells magical. Silky woods, leaves, sweet musk and is that tobacco? Must be the Longbottom weed. I love how beautiful Middle Earth smells, but I fear I will look like Mary Katherine Gallagher sniffing her hands and I will have to explain that it is just my hand sanitizer that take all my attention.

Second Breakfast- Notes: Maple butter, tonka bean, spiced eggnog French toast with berries and cream beneath the party tree of the Shire.

Creamy berries and cakes and a touch of booziness greets the nose and hands. The berries melt away and a vanilla whiskey cake is left behind. This one sits on my husband's nightstand. It is a touch too foodie for my hands but would be a brilliant wax tart.

Kingsfoil- Notes: Lemon zest, iced raspberry blossoms, wild Numenor mint, moss and watered grass.

Sweet and tart fruits and greenery brighten the air, then gently become more aquatic and watery. A wonderfully light and summery scent to grace the hands.

You Shall Not Pass- Notes: Cashmere musk, French pear, tarragon, caramel, Old Toby smoke clinging to an old grey cloak and firewood doused in magic. 

Smooth and silky, this smells like a velvety cleanness. A high end soap. Freshly laundered sheets, sun warmed and light with skin musk. This is actually a brilliant hand sanitizer scent. 

I have been wanting to try Fortune Cookie Soap's wax tarts and bath goodies. Do you have any Fortune Cookie Favorites? Their Polyjuice Potion comes and goes fairly often and I am always tempted by it. Have you tried it?

Nautical Nerd: Redbubble Hagrid's Hut Phone Case

Redbubble is much like Society6 in that people submit artwork and it can be placed on anything from shirts to phone cases, pillows to mugs. I usually buy Adam's Top Gear shirts from Redbubble each year but I did see that they were having a phone case sale and I was desperately in need of a new one. 

I have a thing for Hagrid's hut. I imagine sipping a cup of too strong Earl Grey perched on a too tall knotty pine chair backed with a thread bare quilt, sitting at Hagrid's table while he enthralls me with tales of his wild magical beast encounters. There is a smoking peat fire in the hearth and rustic candles and lanterns flickering about the room like oversized fire flies. Pumpkins lie like fat boulders around his garden. I want to be there. I want to visit my birthday twin. 

This rainy day portrait of Hagrid's hut fit the bill. This tough version of the case is $30 and includes a rubberized inner core. It does not have a screen protector which concerns me and my clumsy ways... but I will give it a go. It is a simple case with no flaps for the charging port, volume or ear bud port like my last tough case from Society6. I hope they add a slightly "tougher" version at Redbubble. I have had this case for about two weeks now and no scuffing or nicks so far. 

What kind of phone cases do you go for?

Poesie Perfume: Thornfield Collection

Poesie Perfume starting coming to my attention more and more the past few months and a teaser about a Thornfield Collection that felt moody and autumnal, not to mention devilishly bookish, had me setting my phone alarm for the release date. That is when I know I am about to dive in. When the phone alarm gets set. With a five minute alert. The day came, the release commenced and a few fragrant offerings migrated to my dwelling.

 Shipping is free for domestic orders. The items arrived quickly and came wrapped in this lovely tissue paper and ribboned bundle. Full sized perfumes come in a frosted bottle with a roll-on applicator for $16 for 5ml, smaller 2 ml version are available in a tiny wee green bottle for $6.50. Orders come with free samples as well. 

Bewitched- Notes: Yellow apple, clove, apricot, black pepper, vetiver, anise and cauldron smoke.

Wet on the skin, a sharp edge of black pepper slices out to hook the senses yet the juicy crunch of a small wild apple echoes just behind. This witch sits at her small rough wooden kitchen table, dressed in a simple worn calico shift, one hand propping her chin the other indifferently cradling a half eaten apple as she contemplates the woodland scene outside her window and the woodland landscape within her heart. The tinctures and elixirs manifesting in tiny copper and iron pots on her stove begin to warm and bubble over the gas flames. The peppery spices settle and the gooey sweetness of apricots lift to fragrant her cozy kitchen. She opens the window and sets the remains of the apple on the windowsill for her forest friends to enjoy at their leisure while she turns her attention to the string of hanging herbs that dry along the wall. She plucks a thin bundle of sweetgrass, vetiver and alfalfa to smudge about her home, hearth and heart. Satisfied, she turns to the pots and simmering liquids that chatter and sputter, begging for her ministrations.

This one ends on a skin note that still whispers about the apple flesh. A lovely scent to experience. The sillage is low and close while the longevity is about 3-4 hours on my skin.

Thornfield- Notes: Burned wood and lingering smoke, new Vanille accord (sweet and non-foody), the barest hint of pumpkin pie spices.

Woodsmoke opens up this scent, heralding the arrival of fall and the ritual of burning piles of leaves and fallen twigs and branches, victims of those blustery days that hint at the winter woes to come. A wisp of wooden vanilla threads it way like a specter through the woodsmoke to sweeten and warm the air during the brisk stroll about the countryside. The pumpkin spices never tingle the nose or emerge as the traditional fiery spices but rather they deepen the scent and shade it with ligneous shadows. 

The sillage is moderate and the longevity about 4-6 hours.

Tiny Phantom- Notes: Innocent pink roses, marshmallow buttercream, pale white musk and antique mahogany. 

Ah! The roses... the delicate cabbage roses that tumble and cascade over and down stone garden walls, whose small and open faces blush with exquisite pink hues. These petals are plucked from the bush and carried home to be candied and drizzled with cream. Tiny Phantom dries down into soft pillows of creamy rose petals and airy clouds of musk. A pretty rose fragrance.

Free samples:

PNW (Pumpkin Nutmeg Woods)- Notes: Fresh pumpkin, spicy nutmeg, clean woods, creamy coconut candy and juicy red grapefruit.

Wet on the skin the grapefruit rises up tart and electric then drifts down in a pool of orange flavored macaroons. A unique beginning for a pumpkin spice woods scent. After some time the tartness vanishes and the oranges become the glow of the pumpkins in the sunset light. The nutmeg and woods blend into a seamless note and the creamy coconut stays for the duration. I need to wear this a bit more and outdoors to get a better feel for it.

A Thousand Warriors- Notes: Juicy ume plum, bitter yuzu, divine hinoki wood and fluffy vanilla.

The opening pulls a little candied violets on my skin, I think it is the transparent plum skin and the cypress that combine to make that accord. It is a delicate beauty that I enjoyed wearing. 

The was a lovely first introduction to Poesie Perfume and I will be back for more in the future. In fact, technically I have already revisited them as they did a collaboration with Indie Beautique recently and created some mermaid inspired bath salts with mini bath bombs tucked within that I simply had to try out. Those have since arrived and I plan on taking photos and getting those goodies in my bath tub here pretty quick like. 

My sister picked up a Thornfield sampler and she is cooing over some of her scents so I am excited to pop over to her place and experience those soon. Have you tried Poesie Perfume? How do you feel about bookish collections? Which of these sound like a scent you might enjoy?

Melting Basket 108 and Maggie Stiefvater Geek Out

Another quick and dirty melting basket photo. But I make up for it with the pretty book set up later on, I promise. 

Wax tarts I melted last basket that I loved enough to want to buy again: Glitterati Monkey Bread, VCS Autumn in Salem, Bohemienne Life Third Eye and Saturnus (SO GOOD), CFTKR Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow (picked up another bag this past weekend) and Merlin's Forest.

Lasting Scent Candles- Spooky Apparitions

Dessa's Homespun Scents- Cinnamon Garland

Dessa's Homespun Scents- Apples & Cinnamon

CFTKR- Baked Apple

CFTKR- Pumpkin Peppercorn

Bohemienne Life- Pumpkin Forest

The Bathing Garden- Pumpkin Pie Spice

Sniff My Tarts- Dragon's Blood and Apple Cinnamon

Better Homes & Gardens- Fall Into Autumn <3 gift

If you would like any of these scents reviewed in depth, please let me know which ones in the comments. 

Helllooooooooo, Nurse! The beauty of Maggie Stiefvater's newest release, All the Crooked Saints arrived in all its polished and shining glory this past weekend. I pre-ordered this book from Fountain Book Store in Virginia where Maggie will autograph and doodle books for their customers who order from them. I ordered this back in April and paid $19.99 plus a few bucks for shipping.

You may recall my sister and close friend drove up to Jacksonville to listen to Maggie give a brief lecture and do a meet and greet over the summer. It was a great day. 

She not only writes books, but also is an artist and musician. She sketched out the owl in the front cover and then painted this intricate owl portrait which was made into a bookplate and signed by her. 

She also signed the inside title page. I just finished up a book a friend of hers wrote, Blood Magic, but now I am ready to dive into this tome. Other Maggie Stiefvater books I recommend: The Raven Cycle starting with The Raven Boys, The Scorpio Races, The Wolves of Mercy Falls series starting with Shiver and hopefully this one too. She has a faerie series as well but I have not started it. 

What are you currently reading? Have you visited any pumpkin patches or engaged in any fall time fun? I am so ready to melt that Apples & Cinnamon and crack open this book. THOSE OWLS!!!!

NovelTeas: Pride & Peppermint

My friend Jay at The Candle Enthusiast tagged me in an IG giveaway from Novel Teas a short while ago, Lady Luck smiled down on me and I won. <3 They shipped me a paperback tea tin refill in Pride & Peppermint ($14), an additional refill pack (not sure on the value but it is appreciated!), a Mr. Darcy bookmark with artwork by Lily Seika Jones, rivuletpaper on IG ($3) and a vintage bookplate sticker. 

Pride & Peppermint is a blend of rooibos, chamomile and peppermint, a caffeine free blend that is perfect for any time of day. I love the blending of flavors. It has more depth and dimension than a plain peppermint blend. I added a touch of honey and it made a perfect cup of hot tea.

I look forward to becoming a Novel Tea customer and wish to add every tin they create to my home, especially Matcha Do About Nothing and The Picture of Early Grey. <3

I also picked up some teas from Wick & Fable. Do you have any indie handcrafted tea vendors that you enjoy? Please share! Especially if they are geeky. 

Shiro Cosmetics: Harry Potter Lip Glosses

My friend Jean is an excellent enabler. She tagged me in a post that featured these Harry Potter lip balms from Shiro Cosmetics and I simply could not resist their siren song. I did not use any color altering filters so the actual colors could be featured. These were $10 each and shipped lightening fast for a mere $2.95, wrapped in a brown paper bag with a cool black and grey dragon sticker sealing it, tucked snuggly in a padded bubble mailer. Three eyeshadow powders were offered as samples as well. 

Butterbeer showcases a sheer caramel gloss with a golden pearlescent frothy foam at the top of the tube. The scent and flavor is a slightly smoky version of maple and Butterbeer. I love it. It has a nice thick consistency and glassy finish. Very plush and plump. It doesn't dry out the lips after wear. A daily wearer.

Pumpkin Juice houses much more pigment, though can still be sheer if applied lightly. Building the color reveals a coppery burnt caramel shade that shimmers. There is a bit of golden foamy head on this Pumpkin Juice much like the Butterbeer. It imparts the slight scent and flavor of soft pumpkin spice, enjoyable and not distracting. I can see myself wearing this often come fall. 

Fire Whiskey holds a bit more pigment too. This one, applied in one thin layer, imparts the most flattering purply brown shade of soft red I have ever worn. There is a slightly warming cinnamon flavor and sensation, sweetened with caramel tones. Pleasing and a joy to wear.  

I wanted to show the slight tip of a flame that peeks through the tube when the light is allowed to filter in. How fun is that?! 

Giggle Water is a lovely silvery periwinkle sheer lipgloss that gives the lips a wonderful sheen. You can almost see the sky blue shimmer peeping out the bottom of the tube. Blue toned shades make for whiter teeth so that is always a plus. This is very sheer though and won't gift you with death lips. It has a sweet herbal scent of light anise and perhaps absinth. I love it. 

See that plume of shimmer? Pure magic. I will always think of Jacob Kowalski when I apply it to my lips. HA!

Polyjuice was $9 instead of $10 and houses a sheer green, lightly shimmered gloss with a pumpkin and pine scent and no flavor that I can detect. It feels more slippery than the tube glosses but not greasy or sticky. The shade is very sheer and ultra wearable. No zombified lips here. Just glossy goodness. Another great staple. 

These are the glosses swatched: Polyjuice, Fire Whiskey, Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice and Giggle Water. I didn't pick up the deep purple Every Flavor Beans, golden Felix Felicis or the fuchsia Amortentia. But I am probably going to go back for the Every Flavor Beans, they change the flavor randomly. There are other lip glosses I am eyeing as well, like the Nick Cage collection and a few others. 

Do you have any Shiro Cosmetics favorites? Do you wear glosses? Which of these would you pocket?

Grimoire Tea: Hogwarts Sampler

My friend Valerie tagged me in a post on Grimoire Tea's IG about a Hogwarts tea sampler. I set my clock for the release and then headed over to Etsy to pick mine up at the scheduled time. Four house loose leaf teas cost $24 plus $5 shipping. Each bottle will make 10-15 cups of tea depending on how much you use/preference for strength. This was a pre-order and took a couple weeks to ship. There was a minor issue with the shipping. Grimoire sent it in a regular envelope mailer instead of a flat rate, so I owed a little over $3 in shipping upon arrival but they refunded me the difference. Samantha was right on it and even messaged me before it arrived to tell me about the situation and that she would refund the extra postage due. 

Slytherin- Holy basil, peppermint and stevia. 

Glorious. Peppermint woods. Steeped and steaming, the peppermint inevitably brings to mind my beloved peppermint and Sleepy Time teas. This version however, does have a bite. There is a touch of woods and star anise in there and the stevia contributes a natural sweetness. No additional honey or sugar for this cuppa wicked relaxation. Holy basil belongs to the mint family and is a cousin to sweet basil. It is one of the most cherished of India's sacred healing plants. 

Ravenclaw- Earl Grey black, blue cornflower, elderberry.

A bergamot and lavender leaning Earl Grey with soft floral tones and peppercorn sized dried elderberries. The aromatic flavor mimics the same. I don't pick up on any outright fruity tones from the elderberry but they do support healthy immune system functioning. I prefer this black tea with a touch of sugar and cream. It is a wonderful morning staple. 

Gryffindor- Lemon balm, lemon peel and hibiscus flower.

And herbal lemony dream. Bold and slightly sweet. Once steeped, it reveals a lovely red tinted liquid that tastes lemony bright and herbal with a touch of fruity sweetness from the hibiscus. The lemon balm is said to calm the heart and body. 

Hufflepuff- Chamomile, lavender and yerba mate.

Smells like chamomile green tea, a little sweet and very deep. The lavender buds are a beautiful and aromatic touch. It tastes like a mellow green tea with a touch of the chamomile and sleepy type teas without the mint. Yerba mate has been used to treat mental and physical fatigue, as it does contain caffeine. 

Please excuse my very awful out of focus shot of the the tea leaves, but I did want to give you some semblance of what the tea looked like.  From left to right: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw.

Are you a tea nut? I have been off coffee since Monday, June 5th. I not only need to drink the tea I have sitting around but I am trying to get on track to better health. Now don't get me wrong... I am not giving up my coffee forever, just for now. Do you have any teas you are loving hard right now? I did pick up a Mother's Day Sampler from Grimoire I will share soon.

Storybook Cosmetics: Wizardry and Witchcraft Eyeshadow Palette

Storybook Cosmetics gained popular momentum when they debuted their Harry Potter inspired wizarding wand makeup brushes. I saw back in February they were releasing a Wizardry and Witchcraft eyeshadow palette and I simply could not contain my strong desire to own it. Accio eyeshadow palette!! I pre-ordered this on February 24th for $52 plus $7 shipping. It arrived on May 27th in this box. They are still available in their webstore, linked above.

I will admit I got very nervous when I saw the bottom of the box looked like this... thankfully I think it was someone else's box that leaked on mine as there was no damage to be seen in my box. Or I would have gone all Reducto on the post office. 

The palette came tucked inside this soft suede textured bag and a hand dandy bookmark. I have since used said bookmark and it works charmingly. 

The eyeshadow palette book was also held within a sleeve that looks exactly like the cover of the book. You can tell by looking at the side, it looks like leather, but on the photo two below you can see the "pages."

Spine view. So much detail! Color me enchanted.

And now the actual book!

It opens to reveal the shadows and a good sized mirror. There is a hidden magnet embedded that keeps it closed. Or maybe it is a secret spell?

"Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen."

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (German author in the late 1700-early 1800's who wrote the poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice")

Now for the meat and potatoes, the eyeshadows!

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

Broomstick- A red toned matte sienna brown, excellent pigmentation.

Sorcerer- A shimmering brick red that has a pink and orange duochrome finish. Great pigmentation.

Cloak- A matte grey, almost mushroomy taupe with wonderful pigmentation. Velvety.

Potions- A deep evergreen shimmer with great pigmentation. No black undertones on this one when blended out. 

Prophecy- An ivory cream satin finish with good pigmentation.

Salem- Looks like a deep chocolate shimmer but wears as a purple leaning brown with a golden duochrome sheen. Excellent pigmentation.

Merlin- A TARDIS blue shimmer that blends out to a fine periwinkle if wanted or holds its deep navy heart when applied densely. Great pigmentation.

Bewitched- An ultra soft, ultra metallic apricot gold with insane pigmentation.

Cauldron- A black shimmer with silvery grey highlights. Great pigmentation. I will probably use this as an eyeliner.

Spellbound- A deep reddish purple sable brown with a satin finish. Awesome pigmentation.

Charms- An apricot putty shade that is a satin matte finish. Great pigmentation.

Jinx- A hyper metallic taupe leaning silver, almost a light pewter. Brilliant pigmentation.

Each shade is 0.043 oz, compared to Urban Decay's Naked palettes at 0.05 oz for reference. Both palettes have 12 shades, as previously mentioned this one runs $52 while the Urban Decay one is $54. So pretty much on par with each other as far as cost. I will say this one has the packaging and branding game on point with the wizard-foolery. Although the extreme bookish coolness does make it bulky and not ideal for travel or storage. 

Below are swatches on my skin in natural light and very little editing, in the order they were listed above. 

I am very happy with this palette. It has been ages since I splurged on a nice palette and the variety of colors is nice to have on hand. I think Salem, Jinx and Bewitched are my favorite shades at the moment.

Do you have any eyeshadow palette holy grails? Would you/have you bought fandom inspired makeup? And how about those wand brushes? I kinda want them but I imagine they won't do well in my makeup brush cup.