Holiday-Perfect Fragrances from The Soap and Paper Factory: Pure Soy Candle and Solid Perfume Reviews

Ok, so I have changed the look of the blog yet again. I was having some issues with Wordpress and honestly I just don't have a huge chunk of time to sit down and figure out how to fix everything. Many of the photos from recent posts are not showing up but I will be fixing that in the next couple weeks. 

Back to the post.

Since I was a teenager I have loved candles. Not just collecting or admiring them, but I love to burn them. When I was younger my dad was always paranoid that I would knock one over so he made sure I was super careful, and I am glad he did, since my love for candles has only grown and I burn them quite frequently, so safety is #1. 

Soy candles are all the rage now and I was excited to have the opportunity one of the Pure Soy Candles form The Soap and Paper Factory. 

I love Vanilla fragrances, especially during this time of year, so the scent Burnt Vanilla is perfect for me. Well, it would have been perfect if it actually smelled like vanilla. I burned this candle for 3 hours and my living room only vaguely smelled like vanilla, and that too after I walked out of the room and backed in. When I was just sitting in the room I couldn't smell a thing The fragrance itself is nice when I hold the candle up to my nose, and it supposedly lasts 55 hours, but to justify the $18 price tag I believe the company needs to make the fragrance more powerful.

One product that the company did get right is the Solid Perfume:

This is a typical solid perfume that is great for travel or sticking in your handbag for touch-ups on the go.  The website says you can use this as a typical fragrance on the body's pulse points or even apply a little to the hair as a pomade. I mainly used this as a perfume, because it is quite thick and I don't want to use up half the product on one hair application. 

The fragrance I tried is Amber Absolute and it smells exactly like Amber Romance from Victoria's Secret. This too has a bit of a vanilla-y scent but much for sensual due to the sandalwood and amber combination. 

On the skin this fragrance lasts about 2 hours and then starts to fade, but I can still smell it faintly after 5-6 hours. The solid perfume retails for $18 and I especially like it for travel because of all the restrictions these days on liquids in carry-on luggage. I am anxious to try out the scent called "Close" because it smells of sandalwood, vetiver, oakmoss, a combination that is just up my alley.

Slim Hangers - Get Them!

Have you invested in the new slim, space saving hangers? Ok, they are not that new, they have been out for a couple years now, but they are FABULOUS!!! I recently picked up another box from Costco ($16 for a set of 50...the cheapest I have found so far) so I thought I should see if they have changed anyone else's life closet, like they have changed mine.

Whether you have a small closet, too many clothes, like your clothes to hang neatly, or all of the above (like me), these hangers are magical! My issue with basic plastic hangers are:

1.  The shoulders of my clothes keep slipping off the hanger because of the slippery plastic

2. They stretch out the shoulders of my husband's shirts because the hangers are not the same width as a man's shirt. 

3. Everytime I need more I grab whatever is cheap and I now have 10 different shades of white hangers

I started using hangers that have a rubber on the edge so that my clothes don't fall of the hanger and my husband's shirts don't stretch, but those hangers are soooo wide! In the photo above you can see the hangers with rubber on the left, basic plastic hangers on in the middle, and the new slim hangers on the right. Although the plastic hangers are the same width as the slim hangers, the slim hangers are covered in a velvet-like material so there is no slipping and deformation of clothes. Also, the slim hangers look the same no matter where you buy them from. Problems solved!!

These slim hangers have really saved my closet because when you add up the hangers with rubber on the edge, they start to take up a lot of space. In the photo above, a set of 5 hangers with rubber is approximately twice the width of 5 slim hangers. 

Have you tried slim hangers? 

I Love Shoes and Other Current Faves

If you are like me, in addition to beauty products, you probably love other girly things like shoes and purses. Look what I found at Walmart the other day:

It's a high heel ornament! And it was only $1!! We don't have a tree up yet, so it's part of my end table decor, but I just love how it glitters when the light hits:

You may remember awhile ago I mentioned my fixation for Bath and Body Works candles. Well, I recently got these cute little candle holders that you just drop the candles in:

There are a few different designs but I just love this one for the holiday! And it makes your candles look fancier:

I am also addicted to home fragrance oils! They are just so much stronger than candles and I especially love how they cover up the smell of cooking...and use a lot of onions and spices....so I need these oils in my life!

Have you found any new home decor items?

Fall Home Scents and Where Do You Put Your Pajamas?

I love candles. Candles used for decor, candles used for fragrance, candlelight dinners, and even the little oil-burners (well, there is usually a tea-light candle in there, right?).

So it won't come as a surprise that come fall, I find myself wanting to burn those little wicks buried inside of wax molds infused with the heartwarming scents of pumpkin, cinnamon, cookies, and even mint chocolate chip. Mint chocolate chip, you ask? Yes!

This is one of my recent finds at Bath and Body Works! Oooh I love that store! They have the most amazing selection of candles (and scented oils) including Homemade Cookies, Fireside, Holly Wreath, Vanilla Caramel....and tons more! I HIGHLY recommend checking out the selection before these limited seasonal fragrances disappear. They even have the cutest plug-in air fresheners!

If you have been following me for awhile, you know I recently moved, so naturally I have been a bit obsessed with home decor (another reason I went nuts for the candles). Since the hubby and I live in the city, and like most city apartments (think NYC), our place has no storage. Zip. Zilch. Nada. I have resorted to finding creative home storage solutions and one of my best finds was this over-the-door hook:

I found this at Home Goods....another new favorite store...and it was only $7.99!!! As you can see, there are 10 hooks....yup, 10!! Ok, I know I am overly excited but I saw these types of hooks at a few stores before getting this one, and they all had less than 10 hooks, and cost way more than $7.99! In any case, I really needed a place to store my pajamas, since I usually wear them a couple times before washing, and this was the best solution for me.

What are your fave home storage solutions? Where do you keep your PJs if you wear them more than once?