In case it’s what you’ve always wanted, here it is:
The irresistible aroma of freshly baked, piping-hot Cinnabon® cinnamon rolls wafting through… your living room? It’s now possible…
Car-Freshner Little Tree air fresheners ~ fragrance review
Last week I stopped by an auto parts store to pick up wiper blades and halted in front of the car air freshener display. I’ve always had a weakness for the scented trees that dangle from a car’s rearview mirror. They’re so trashy, yet so classic, that — in my mind, at least — they pack serious chic. I bought five different Little Trees to review.
First, some Little Tree history: Car-Freshner Little Trees (“the Global Leader in Automotive Air Fresheners”) were developed in 1952 in Watertown, New York, by perfumer and chemist Julius Sämann. In Ireland, a Little Tree is called a Magic Tree. In France, Italy, and Portugal it’s an Arbre Magique, and it’s a Wunder-Baum in Germany. Car-Freshner defends its Little Tree vigorously and has the lawsuits to prove it. Don’t even think of using the Little Tree image as part of the logo for your new hipster carwash / craft cocktail lounge…
Rive Sud Interior Via della basilica candle ~ home fragrance review
Between November and March is the period I call “Scented-Candle Danger Zone.” During these cool/cold months, I yearn for, “research,” and then buy perfumed candles…expen$ive candle$. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that a single, $100 dollar candle usually makes more sense budget-wise (and ambiance-wise) than three $33 candles, or five $20 candles. Inexpensive candles almost always smell cheap; their artificial aromas and blends must have been devised by a computer program or a food-crazed focus group who loves cheap candy. I hate candles that smell like carnival food: Caramel Apple Sundae, anyone? CocoNut-ChocoCone? Pumpkin ‘n’ Spice Latte? Ick. And what’s worse than cheap-smelling floral candles? (I guess you could call me a candle snob…or a “candle idiot” if you must…you won’t hurt my feelings!)
But as my hubby says: “Kevin, you pay more in parking fees in one week than you do on one candle!” How nice to have an enabler at home. He’s right. What do I get from parking fees? A concrete space to occupy. A $100 candle gives me pleasure for months (sixty or more hours of burn-time!) I don’t eat out much because my official enabler is a great cook, so I buy a candle, or two, or three, with that saved restaurant money…
Blackbird Incense ~ home fragrance review
The summer I turned seventeen, I had a new friend who liked to scent her room with incense sticks and cones, which she burned in an assortment of small pottery vessels that she had crafted in a ceramics class. I was impressed by her bohemian style — she also had wonderfully eclectic taste in clothing and music — and I soon adopted the incense-burning ritual for myself, at home and then in my college dorm room.
The incense we used in those days was run-of-the-mill stuff purchased at record stores or from street vendors, either heavy and harsh with synthetic sandalwood or sickly-sweet with fruit scents or soapy lavender fragrance. I later made the switch to candles, and I haven’t used incense cones for longer than I can remember. When I found out about the Blackbird Incense line, I remembered my teen years (and my strongly scented dorm rooms) with fondness, but I wasn’t sure whether I could pick up the incense habit again…
White Castle candle to benefit Autism Speaks
The White Castle (“what you crave”) hamburger-scented candle is back, and this time 100% of the proceeds will go to Autism Speaks…