Mybeautywaxstash

Tag: home decor

  • Secret Scents Home Fragrance Sage & Sea Salt Wax Clam

    Wax melts are very popular. They have been for a good number of years now, which I can’t see disappearing anytime soon. Why are they so popular? They provide fragrance for the home, they tend to be affordable and come in a variety of shapes, colours and scents. Some you can grab from the high street or local shop, others available online. Most of my waxy purchases are bought from businesses who hand make and sell their own wax melts. One wax vendor which I have been lucky enough to be sent samples of different wax melts from is Secret Scents Home Fragrance. I loved them so much I bought my own, including Sage & Sea Salt Wax Clam Shell.

    Secret Scents Home Fragrance Sage & Sea Salt Wax Clam

    Why did I buy this one?

    My scent choices tend to be very predictable. This one I actually chose as a gift for someone but cheekily kept it for myself (don’t tell, shush!). Total opposite to what I would normally go for, but I do like clean scents and thought this could fall into that category.

    Packaging.

    This wax is housed in a plastic container. Lidded, but one piece so top and bottom is connected. Clear, and from the bottom you can see the wax and it’s shaped the same as the underside of the container. Labelling is black and gold which gives this an elegant look. Finished off with a matching gold bow on the lid. Perfection!

    Appearance.

    It’s a very chunky segmented bar which is made up of 6 squares that snap off when you need to use them. Opening up the packaging, you can see the top of it is flat and white in colour. Turn it around, and not only can you see the segmented sections but also the fact there is an added sparkle. A beautiful mix of gold and black glitter is drizzled on these pieces. This makes it pop against the white background of the wax. Understated yet eye catching.

    Fragrance.

    This has a herbal, slightly earthy and fresh base to it. Having a soft salty addition in the fragrance makes a very clean and refreshing scent. This isn’t heady, but does have a powdery edge to it along with a little sweetness. It’s a treat for the nose!

    In melt.

    You only need 1 square of this in a wax warmer. While melting, the wax pool became clear with small amounts of glitter swimming on the top. I used this in both my kitchen and my living room. It melted evenly, and the fragrance was released steadily into each room.

    Strength & Longevity.

    Strength wise I would say this is light close to being a medium, based on using one square. In fact, I will say medium! It’s a hard one to put a label on it because the fragrances this is made up of I don’t think are designed to overwhelm, but are meant to be quite natural in smell but with a twist. If this was lavender and sea salt as an example, I would be surprised if it was anything other than strong because lavender is that type of scent. But what I would say, is when this is melting, it’s there. It makes the room feel cosy, clean, while bringing inside a bit of the outdoors.

    Longevity wise I’ve had the same square melting in each wax warmer for around 3 days for at least 10 hours and the scent is still there with a good strength.

    Recommended?

    Totally! If you love your wax melts in fresh and clean fragrances but want something a little more earthy, grab this one! It’s very different to your usual clean, laundry style fragrances but gives the same sort of feel but more natural and less harsh. And did I mention Secret Scents products are packaged so beautifully? Great value for the amount of wax you get with lots of hours of melting time. Cost? £5.00 each, or 6 for £25.00. A wide variety of fragrances available, so visit their Facebook page to stock up on your home fragrancing items!

  • Primark Bergamot & Amber Reed Diffuser

    I’ve become a little obsessed with reed diffusers lately. Don’t ask me why I just have. It’s another form of getting my home fragrance fix and I’m enjoying it. About 2 months ago I bought 2 Primark Mini Reed Diffusers. Unfortunately, I found them to be very disappointing. So while buying a birthday gift for a friend more recently, I decided to pick up a full size of Bergamot & Amber hoping this would give me a better experience than my last. This costs £2.50 for 100ml and came in a variety of different fragrances.

    Primark Bergamot & Amber Reed Diffuser

    Why did I go for this one?

    I smelt the candle form of this and really liked the fragrance. So when I went to look at the reed diffuser version I have to say the packaging caught my eye, along with the price, so thought I would give it a go and prayed this would be half decent.

    Packaging.

    The reed diffuser comes boxed. Quite a sizeable, rectangular, cardboard box which is pretty standard for this type of thing. But it’s the colours of this box that spoke to me! An ombre of off white from the bottom heading towards the top into an almost golden burnt orange colour. Text sets it off as its in black and gold. Striking yet simple.

    The diffuser itself is glass, cylinder shape but short and chunky with the labelling a similar colour and effect as the box. The diffuser itself looks beautiful and well presented in and out of box.

    What do you get?

    The glass jar with the fragranced oil in it, 6 long reeds and an instruction leaflet.

    How to use.

    Unscrew the cap around the top of the jar. Remove the little plug out of the middle of the jar. Put the cap back on and slot the reeds in the middle. Turn the reeds around every week or so to fully immerse in oil and enjoy. Is designed to last 6-8 weeks.

    Fragrance.

    This is quite warming yet refreshing all at the same time. There’s a slightly spicy citrus element in this. It’s not sharp and acidic but energising and uplifting. A little musk gives it depth and with a slight sweet edge to it, makes me think this could easily be a perfume.

    In use. Strength & Longevity?

    So, it took me about an hour to get the scent of this. Originally I put this in the downstairs toilet and as I walked in I smelt something faint but very comforting. It just gave this small but perfectly formed room a lift that wasn’t obvious. I then moved it in my bedroom which is much more sizable, just to see if the fragrance could still be detected and it was. The look of this in this space was super stylish and fitted in perfectly with my gold/bronze accents.

    Strength I would say is light to a near medium at rare times. There are times this would be in my bedroom and the scent is quite prominent. Then it’s faint. Sat on a window it could be both. You really do have to play with positions for placement. But consistently it is light but I can smell the scent. I haven’t been using this for 8 weeks less than 2. So how long this will throw a fragrance I can’t tell you yet but so far it’s been ok.

    If you want something not heavy and intense this would be it. Personally, I think it’s better suited to smaller rooms as bigger ones it will struggle. But sometimes a scent doesn’t have to pack a punch to be noticed or nice but it does need to be there which this was. I would have LOVED this to be a little more stronger! It’s such a gorgeous scent it deserves it. And if it was I would be buying this in multiples I promise you! But considering how much you pay for this, and the look, it evens itself out in my opinion.

    Recommended?

    Tough to answer! I stress, if you want the HULK of reed diffusers in regards to power this isn’t it. Are you happy for this to go in small spaces such as a toilet, spare room, cupboard or even a caravan then yes. The fragrance is glorious I love it. The look is perfect and the price is low. But I guess you have to take into account the low cost may influence the strength and quality of this.

    So think carefully if you pick this reed diffuser up when you are out buying a t-shirt, leggings or sunglasses in Primani. I’m still not sure.

  • Primark Mini Reed Diffusers

    Primark is one of those places I tend to visit when I need to pick up affordable and basic items, such as leggings, kids t -shirts and underwear. In all honesty it’s not my go to place for the majority of my shopping needs, never has been. Well, until recently, when my daughter decided to develop an all consuming addiction to Harry Potter then multiple trips were needed (their HP range is impressive and cheap!). While stalking their home section for wizardry items, Primark’s home fragrance products caught my attention. Since I now enjoy reed diffusers, I thought I would give a couple a whirl. I opted for 2 scents Fresh Linen and Oriental Orchard. Both the 30ml size at a cost of 80p each!

    Primark Mini Reed Diffusers in Linen and Oriental Orchid fragrances

    Why did I buy these?

    I thought I would go for these because the size and the price was a great way of trying them out to see what the quality was like. The scent selection was varied, with most being fragrances I like. If these minis performed well, I could easily buy the bigger versions as they were available too.

    Packaging.

    These are presented very well. Placed in long, thin cardboard boxes, each one has illustrations matching their scent on them e.g Oriental Orchid has images of flowers covering it. Both beautiful in look, both have a homely appeal to them and quite classic without being old fashioned.

    The diffusers themselves, because of the size, are absolutely adorable! Made of glass and cylinder in shape, roughly 11cm in height and 3cm in depth. Both have the fragrance name on the bottles. Oriental Orchid is lettered in gold, which matches the gold coloured lid on the top of it. Fresh Linen is in silver with their lid a matching silver tone to. Simple but very sophisticated in appearance.

    What do you get?

    You get a bottle containing the fragranced oil, a pack of 5 reeds and an instruction leaflet.

    Scent.

    Fresh Linen. Think of a clean, crisp, laundry type scent. Slightly powdery in notes and a hidden floral in there and this is what you get! Not dissimilar to the type of scents you get in wax melt and candle forms in the laundry scent family of a similar name. Really lovely scent which most people will like.

    Oriental Orchid. This one is a little more particular compared to Fresh Linen. This is obviously a floral. Floral, has a sweetness to it, but has an almost perfume style to how it smells. Doesn’t smell old fashioned. Very pretty and very pleasant in scent.

    How to use.

    On the bottle is a screw top lid you need to remove. Once it comes off their is a plastic stopper that you need to pull out which leaves the hole that you place the reeds in. Before you do that pop the top back on to finish and place the diffuser in your chosen place to enjoy the fragrance!

    Strength & Longevity.

    The only time I’ve noticed the scent of these is when I’ve placed them inside a cupboard (underneath the kitchen sink), and on a window sill in my children’s bedroom when the window was open. Other than that, scent strength wise has pretty much been non existent. In regards to longevity, you can’t have that if there is barely a scent at all! The packaging says these should last up to 4 weeks. By the end of a week most of the oil had evaporated, but got no scent as a benefit.

    I’ve turned the reeds around to see if the scent would improve and for a split second it did in that moment when I was close by, but it wasn’t long lasting. The position of these have been moved and even the rooms they’ve been placed in changed. This hasn’t made a massive effect on the fragrance these give off. So overall disappointing.

    Final thoughts?

    I love the idea of these mini diffusers for so many reasons. They look cute, could make great little gifts or part of a bigger gift. But they still need to delivery fragrance, which I think means they have to be bigger. Or the oil stronger and possible tweaking of the reeds themselves e.g thickness, length etc.

    Recommended?

    No. For 80p a go it was worth a try but besides looking nice these were useless. Such a shame as the fragrances when you get a good whiff of them from the top of the bottle are really nice and appealing. But that’s it!I am curious though to try out the more standard in size versions, to see if size really does matter in the reed diffuser arena. As for these? I will give them a miss on my next Primark shopping trip.

  • Snap Wax Melts Party Time! Wax Snap Bar

    Oh to breathe again! Such an essential everyday thing which I take for granted during the seasons of Autumn, Winter and part of Spring. It doesn’t seem that long ago when I wanted to sleep all the time (no change there!), headaches, constant sneezing and unable to breathe. Thank goodness, for now, hay fever has loosened it’s grip on me and now I can enjoy my love of wax melts properly. Since it pretty much is Summer, I thought I would melt Party Time! wax snap bar from Snap Wax Melt, who kindly gifted this to me earlier this year.

    Party Time! Snap Wax Melt Wax Bar

    Why this one?

    Although I can’t say I’m party ready, I was hoping for this scent to be uplifting and energising in someway. It may not be very sunny or even warm at the moment in the UK ( while writing this post), it doesn’t mean inside should feel and be so drab.

    Packaging.

    A simple clear plastic sleeve with the company logo on front and ingredients list on the back.

    The look.

    Snap Wax Melt’s wax all come in wax snap bars. Long, rectangular and segmented in a bar of 10 squares. This bar is a beautifully pink berry colour with a gorgeous addition of different sized glitter on the top of the bar. Some are circular, some hexagon, tiny, a little bigger. Purple coloured, turquoise, teal. All such an eye catching mix of sparkles making this wax snap bar a stunner!

    Scent Description ( from Snap Wax Melt’s website).

    Fill the room with fresh fluffy vanilla sponge, lashings of sweet pink icing and sprinkles of sugar.

    How this smells to me.

    The first thing I thought about when I smelt this was how much it reminded me of rhubarb and custard! Why? I got the creamy vanilla for sure. That was what I smelt underneath a sweet and fruity strawberry/rhubard-esq style element which was at the forefront. A beautiful, mouthwatering, Summery scent which makes me think of sipping cocktails on a sun drenched balcony while being child and work free.

    In melt.

    I’ve found snapping off three squares with all the wax bars from Snap Wax Melt is the perfect amount for my warmers. They melt beautifully and even, leaving a lovely deep pink,almost purple wax pool. The glitter gave it a subtle sparkle which made it super pretty!

    Fragrance was released straight away. Warming, fruity, uplifting and very welcoming.

    Strength & Longevity. Strength for this scent was a medium. Ideal for this type of fragrance, and great for this time of year too! Longevity was very good. At one point I had two warmers on in separate rooms with Party Time! in them for over 3 days. Both on for a good number of hours at a time.

    Snap Wax Melt Snap Bars

    Recommended?

    Definitely! This scent is gorgeous! If you love your fruity fragrances, especially your fruit or rhubarb based ones, you will love this one. It’s not too strong, great quality of scent and as I’ve mentioned before an ideal one to melt during Summer!

    Do you want to have your own Party Time! wax snap bar to add to your home fragrance collection? You can order from Snap Wax Melt’s website here. Each bar is £3.00 which will provide you with many hours of fragrance time. I defy you NOT to order more than one of these beauties, their scent selection is impressive!