Melting Basket 147: Christmas

From the Thanksgiving basket I wouldn't mind melting the following again: CFTKR Apple N Spice, VCS Cozy Jackie O, any of the LSC but I am pretty sure that is a long shot. I filled my Christmas melting basket to the brim with most of my holiday types of scents and I think it will last me a couple weeks. 

Sea Witch Botanicals- Wold Night (Fir, Peppermint, Citrus and Spice) Been melting this for the past few days and it is amazing. It throws strong and smells like the holidays- full of essential oils and yummy notes.

Ten Digit Creations- Apple Pecan Sage/Gingerbread/Wood Spice

Ten Digit Creations- Mulled Cider & Chestnuts/Orange Clove/Indian Sandalwood Sad that TDC is closed up. I understand Amber needs to blaze her new trail but I will miss melting her goodies.

Vintage Chic Scents- Christmas Time Is Here

Vintage Chic Scents- Smoky Mountain Christmas

CFTKR- Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies

CFTKR- Winter Flannel

CFTKR- Balsam and Citrus

CFTKR- Cedar and Spice

CFTKR- Frosted Pine Noel

CFTKR- Mulled Wine

CFTKR- Blue Spruce

CFTKR- Roasted Pine Cones

These are most of my festive and wintery scents. I might pull our Peppermint and Cypress or a couple others depending on the weather. If you are curious about any of these just holler.

I wanted to do a tiny Christmas decor tour. I don't have a ton put up in the way of decorations but I do have some.

The wall of photos/cross-stitch/book art is not Christmas but I am happy with how it is coming along. It is a little busy but I don't care. Hardly anyone goes in the sunroom except me. And I like looking at it.

This tall skinny fake tree used to go outside by our front door in our old home but we don't really have an entry way at the front door to this house so I brought it inside. It turns out it fits nicely in the corner.

Some festive pillows, Christmas quilts and afghans crocheted by my Mema keep us cozy. I am still working towards getting us some furniture next year (I hope).

We got our tree a little late in the year this time around but we hit the tree lot Monday and we decorated it Tuesday night. I still need to nail in our stocking over the mantel. I am kind of nervous to nail them in but I can't really think of anything else that will hold them up (they are stinking heavy when full). Hard to believe Christmas is in less than two weeks.

I have a Bath & Body Works Fireside candle on the kitchen table and lots of evergreen wax ready to melt. What scents are floating about your home this time of year? Are you ready for the holidays? I still need to finish shopping. Yikes.

Sea With Botanicals: Quoth the Raven Candle

Though this candle would indeed be perfect for a bleak December, its embers are welcome to glow in my home anytime. Do you remember my Sea Witch Botanicals soap in Quoth the Raven? I decided I wanted to make my first candle purchase from them in the same scent too. It arrived packaged carefully with nary a crack or gouge.

Quoth the Raven- Notes: A spicy blend of orange, cinnamon and clove. $25

This all natural wax blend (soy and rice bran oil) comes scented with essential oils and a wooden wick in an apothecary style glass jar with fitted lid. A raven looks quite handsome on the front of this 8 ounce candle. The wood wick lit beautifully and burns smoothly and easily with minimal noise or need for trimming. The scent wafts out beautifully at about a medium-strong throw in a larger area. The scent of pomanders instills a cozy environment in the home. 

The wax pools deep and amber hued which matches the fragrance perfectly. I look forward to continuing my explorations of Sea Witch Botanicals' candle line. 

Do you have any favorite all natural candles?

Sea Witch Botanicals: Facial Collection

This facial collection was provided free form Sea Witch Botanicals. All opinions are my own.

For the past few weeks I have been using this skin care collection from Sea Witch Botanicals. Last year I dabbled in mostly Korean skin care and then moved onto Paula's Choice. I had pretty much run out of my Paula's Choice routine items and then this bad boy arrived. Fortuitous! This kit is a simple, all natural and high quality skin care regimen.  

There is a soap, toner and face oil for $55, which is a savings of $6 if purchased separately. 

Let me tell you right here and now. I traditionally have never used a facial skin cleanser regularly other than whatever bar soap I am using to bathe my body with. I just don't have the time or inclination to make that a part of my skin care routine. Especially since I tend to use really great soap anyway. 

I decided to go ahead and start using this Radiant Pearl Facial Bar ($12) nightly while taking my bath. It is a glycerin based soap that houses shea butter, coconut oil, buckthorn extract, carrot extract, kaolin clay, vitamin e and oat protein among other ingredients. A smooth and softly fragrant lather builds easily for washing. It is a clean yet earthy scent and the soap washes all traces of makeup and dirt from the face without leaving any residue or tightness. I feel like I am finally treating my skin well and it is easy to use now that I have a dedicated dish for it by my bath tub. 

After the night time washing routine I next spray this Soothing Facial Toner ($14) all over my face. I don't use a pad or wipe. It saves trash and keeps me from pulling at my skin too much. This toner smells beautiful. The lavender is the star here and she floats lightly with sprigs of tiny herbs and button sized roses tucked into her buoyant bounty. I give the toner a few minutes to absorb before moving on to the last step. Once it dries it leaves the skin feeling refreshed and cool. The aloe keeps it from feeling tight or drying.

The last step in the skin care routine is applying this Lucidum Reishi Facial Serum ($35). A base of coconut oil, rice bran oil, grapeseed oil and vitamin e carries buckthorn, carrot, reishi, nettle, rosehip and rosemary extracts as well as bergamot and frankincense essential oils. The serum is an earthy, umber and green hue and smells strangely wonderful like walking into a home improvement store with the perfume of lumber and turps mixing with the garden area. I pat a few drops of this into my skin with my fingertips and it soaks in within several minutes. There is no greasy texture, just silken oils. 

After a few weeks of use I am thrilled with it. My skin tone looks less red around my nose and cheeks. My acne (which can sometimes be an issue) has not flared up other than my typical pre-menstrual spots here and there. My skin feels soft and looks dewy. I think this set will last me 2-3 months and I will happily pick it up again. I like that the ingredients are natural, ethically sourced, and vegan. The simpleness of the skin care set is wonderful and something I can stick with happily and at a very affordable price point. 

Do you use serums or oils in your routine for moisturizing?

Sea Witch Botanicals: Wax Tarts and Incense

Sea Witch Botanicals soaps were reviewed not too long ago and since falling in love with their ethics, products and branding I went ahead and placed an order. As many of your know I am on a wax no-buy/low-buy until after we move over the summer. I have done great and not ordered much, if anything, at all since December I believe. When I was loading up my Sea Witch Botanicals cart with a candle and incense I also saw this bag of wax tarts on clearance for $10 and with those scent notes I went ahead and grabbed them too.

Wolf Night- Notes: Wintery and wondrous with notes of fir, peppermint, citrus and spice. 

These wax truffles are made with a soy wax and rice bran oil blend along with organic cocoa butter and scented with essential oils. There are 10 pieces of wax that are about an ounce each in a bakery bag. Five truffles lie twisted in crisp white paper like vintage candies. I put one wax truffle in the kitchen warmer and one in the living room warmer, both large areas. They threw strong and smelled amazing, just like Christmas morning. Oranges spiced with cloves and cinnamon glow brilliantly. The evergreen fir and cool peppermint both add depth and a crispness to the pomander aroma. I find this to be a wonderful rustic cabin type of atmospheric scent. There looks to still be some Wolf Night left in the "Sale" section of the website.

I picked up a 50-pack of incense sticks scented in The White Lodge with are also currently on sale ($20). 

The White Lodge- Notes: Cedarwood Atlas and Siberian fir needles.

The large eco-pack of 50 came in a beautiful package with a stunning label. The artwork is amazing. I appreciate that the incense sticks are all-natural and use essential oils, charcoal, natural resins and bamboo sticks. I burned these in the home and they created an atmosphere like a sun dappled evergreen woods. The conifer trees and cedar woods possess an herbal brightness and lightness. A beautiful experience.

I am very happy with these incense sticks and look forward to trying more. I have some that Jay gifted me that I am loving too.

Knowing that the Sea Witch Botanicals home fragrance line (and everything they produce, actually) is all natural and produced ethically and with minimal waste really gives me comfort and makes using them in my home a pleasure. 

Do you enjoy incense? Are all natural products something you enjoy exploring from indie vendors?

Sea Witch Botanicals: Soaps

Sea Witch Botanicals drifted through the threshold of my home via two separate friends at two different times within a few months of each other last year. One friend Jay sent me some incense and an unscented Hufflepuff bar soap and my other friend Julia gifted me three scented soaps. Everything I have tried has been exquisite. Sea Witch Botanicals utilizes only plant based, all-natural ingredients, their business practices meet high social and environmental standards and 1% of their revenue is donated to environmental conscious charities. Sea Witch products are organic, fair trade sourced and green as possible. 

Each bar soap came wrapped in a hand stamped brown paper bag with a kraft paper label decorated with beautiful artwork. The tops of the soaps were dusted with mica or charcoal and hand stamped with a nautilus in the corresponding color. I enjoy the rustic and organic styling of these soaps. 

The Owls Are Not What They Seem ($12 for a 5 ounce bar) is packed with fir essential oils. I appreciate the Twin Peaks reference and the scent. The fir smells of the forest, bright and crisp with subtle undertones of earth and bark and needle. The aroma is rejuvenating, like bathing outdoors in a mountain stream under a pearl moon surrounded by protective evergreens. This soap lathers bountifully and exfoliates lightly. The texture reminds me of fine volcanic ash or river silt. It feels amazing on the skin. This is my new favorite bar of soap in my shower (and I have about a half dozen soap slivers in there right now that I love).

Hermitage brims with sparkling citrus and orange oils and is grounded with a breath of natural patchouli herb. The citrus really lifts this scent and makes it an invigorating yet comforting blend. This soap is soft with clays and feels like I am lathering with a fat dew covered mushroom cap. Silken. Bubbling. Blissful.

Quoth the Raven is generously scented with orange, clove and cinnamon oils and packed with activated charcoal. I love how deep and rich this one smells. It makes my whole shower bloom with the dreadfully cheerful scent of a spiced pomander. It's perfect. So is the Poe inspiration. You know how I feel about my Poe. This bar soap has a similar velvety smoothness as Hermitage. Plush and cushiony with abundant lather. This one is more intensely scented than Hermitage though if you are comparing the two. 

These soaps are a joy to bathe with. They rinse clean, leave my skin feeling its best and they give me peace of mind knowing they are Earth friendly. The price is worth the quality.

I am already eyeing up the candles and more incense. This won't be my last Sea Witch Botanicals post. 

Do you have any environmentally friendly small business makers you love? What are you bathing with?