Platypus Dreams Haul in Pictures!

My entire order, the entire bottom row are samples/freebies.

Cupcake Soaps! From Left to right, Angelica, Temptation #5, and Sweet Sugar. It's a little hard to see unless they are completely unwrapped, but each cupcake has a little rose!

7 pack Bath Bombs! From the top row clockwise, Beyond Karma, Cranberries & Champagne, Lavender & Bergamot, Patchouli & Geranium, Vanilla & Ylang Ylang, Velvet Rose, and in the center Black Raspberry Vanilla.

Gypsy Queen soy wax clamshell. Scent description from Platypus Dreams' website, "A beautiful exotic smell with Citrus, Amber, Woodsy sheer musk." This is the body safe wax that can be used as a moisturizer, so I'm going to have to give that a try.

(Assuming it's not too hot of course!)

Left: Heart's Desire. Extremely Feminine with a bouquet of gardenia, sweet lilac, wild oakmoss, light amber, and white jasmine.

Right: Cotton Candy. Top notes: vanilla, caramel, and cotton candy. Mid notes: citrus, raspberry, fig and strawberry. Base notes of vanilla, caramel, woody musk and light powder.

Handmade soap sampler. Randomly chosen 8 mini soaps. From left to right; Cherry Blossom, Arabian Nights, Incarnation, Cashmere Creme, Desert Rose, Clarify, Four Thieves, and Cotton Candy.

Soap offcuts. Randomly chosen. A great way to try different scents without having to commit to a full bar. 400g worth of soap at an amazing price. Scents received from top to bottom left to right, Aphrodisiac, Dead Sea Mud, Lavender Mint, Cotton Candy, Beyond Karma, Cherry Blossom, Arabian Nights, Vovacia, Cashmere Creme, and the bottom two are Fruit Tingle. (There are a couple duplicates)

The Samples! The first one is my favorite. Boudoir Violet Rose Bubble Bath Cupcake. I love the red rose in the center. So adorable!  On the right is a Vanilla Musk Bubble Bath Cupcake, with a blue flower on top. The last item on the bottom is a sample size soap in the Buttered Popcorn scent. And yes, as odd as it may sound, it really smells like buttered popcorn! I'm not entirely sure if I will actually use it, I don't really wanted to be buttery smelling, but it does have a novelty appeal to it.

So that's everything for this order. So many scents and products to choose from, that's why I have to get the samplers and grab bags. It's so hard to stay within a budget otherwise! Thankfully I have a lot to play with for now, and as I go through each scent I'll be doing a quick blurb about it, either here or on the Facebook page (depending on the amount of content).

 I will definitely have another haul before returning home. Platypus Dreams will ship to the United States, but the cost of postage is so high (in both directions) it may be prohibitive to some. Which I completely understand. I LOVE my wax vendors from home, but the cost of getting it here has caused me to order much less than I used to. But it's not so bad, it has forced me to try new places, like this one!

Platypus Dreams!

There are few things I love as much as scented wax, but soap is one of them! When I found out about Platypus Dreams, I couldn't wait to place an order. They have everything I love, natural goats milk soaps, scrubs, moisturisers, and bath bombs. And since they are located here in Australia, shipping was fairly quick and inexpensive. (My tarts still come from my favorite vendors in America, so by comparison this was a dream!)

For my first order, I thought I would try just a few basic items, two bars of soap and a bath bomb. The bars of goat's milk soap were in Masquerade, and Sandalwood Rose. The bath bomb in one of my favorite scents, Cotton Candy.

Masquerade

The bath bomb was a little smaller than expected (although this was just laziness on my part, the dimensions are given on the website) but the bars of soap were perfect. I also recieved two free samples (YAY Samples!) of soap. Aphrodisiac and Frosted Lime Cake.

Since I have no patience, I used the bath bomb right away. It was strong, sweet, and made the water so soft. This little guy was very impressive considering it's small size in comparison to my oversized tub. It was just as good as other bombs and this one was at least half the price! (They are $2.50 each) Only drawback was the pink ring around the tub. I couldn't get it to rinse off, but a quick wipe down solved the issue.

Sandalwood Rose

             Sandalwood Rose

Scent descriptions for the soaps.
Masquerade - Citrus with Vetiver and floral notes of rose geranium, jasmine, lily of the valley and sweet earthy bottom notes of ambergris, vanilla, and musk. 

Sandalwood Rose- This bar is scented with a unique blend of Asian Sandalwood, Sweet Roses and Wild Jasmine on a soothing background of exotic Musk.

These soaps are amazing. Excellent amounts of scent and lather, not to mention how beautiful they look. These are just as good, if not better than other stores such as Bath and Body Works or LUSH.
I will be stocking up soon. :)

Apologies for my extended absence!

                              Hi everyone!
I realize it's been a long time since my last post. Everything is well! Tyler and I have just had a lot going on, and I've had a bit of trouble dedicating time to my blog.   :(  So here are a few things that have been going on lately....

As most of you already know, I've been living in Australia for the past few months. I have also recently gotten a job here. Similar to what I did at home, but not quite. It's been so stressful, things are so much more different that I had expected! No regrets of course, but that doesn't really make it any easier.

Day to day life consists of a morning Skype to either of my folks (morning here is yesterday evening in the United States) then a walk to the grocery. (Without a car you only buy as much as you can carry!) Once I get home, time to change and catch the train to work. Hours later, back on the train to get home home in time to start dinner.

We've still managed to do some fun things. We went to the Taronga Zoo, saw the Opera house and took our photos on the ferry in front of the Harbour Bridge. I've been meaning to do a blog post about it, lots of pics of Kangaroos, and Koalas!

Tyler and I had our 3rd wedding anniversary last weekend. We saw our very first roller derby and stayed at the Taj Blue in Woolloomooloo (yes, that's the name of a real place. With correct spelling!)

I still melt candles and tarts every day, but I make a few large orders instead of a lot of small orders like I used to. Australia seems to have a lot of awesome soap companies (Which I've also been meaning to write about. ERK!), but as far as wax goes, nothing compares to the vendors from home. Sometimes shipping costs more than the order. And to make it even worse, I only buy what I think I will melt while we're here. I've learned that when moving internationally, that weight limit can be reached VERY quickly. I don't want to have to choose between shipping home my wax or my dishes! So while my orders have gone down significantly, I still do a daily post about what I'm melting on my Facebook page. So swing by, check it out, and say hello!

So all in all, we're having the time of our lives and making memories that will last a lifetime. I will admit however, that I am terribly homesick. I miss my friends, family and country. Being here has given me a new found respect for people who live in foreign countries. The cultural differences are much more significant that I would have thought.  Here, we are the ones that talk funny. We don't know the holidays, the slang, or all the other random odds and ends that people don't think about.
Australia is a GREAT country, but I'm an American girl through and through!

Haley Candles!

My second order has arrived! As weird as it may sound, seeing those boxes with the pink zebra striped tape gave me the urge to do a little happy dance. I had to resist hugging the mail man! I'm kidding of course, but I really do love getting my boxes from Haley Candles.

There are so many things I like about Haley's tarts it's hard to decide which to talk about first. Obviously scent and throw are the most important factors, and this vendor rarely disappoints. I had a Pink Sugar so strong my husband made me open the windows!

There is an abundance of different shapes to choose from, including pies, loaves, donuts, and cupcakes, just to name a few. (Shortly after I placed my order, frosted cookies were added to the website! I was sad I missed them, and will have to add some to my next package). If shapes aren't your thing, there are cups, clamshells and scalloped tarts as well. They even have regular candles, although I have not purchased these personally and cannot attest to how well the burn.

The artistry displayed on some of these shapes is amazing. The cake pieces almost look edible, and the frosting on the cupcake tarts look like real piped icing. The tops of the loaves are beautifully whipped with sprinkles and/or appropriate garnish. The Chocolate Chip Cookie loaf has little wax cookies on top! How cute is that?

Cinnamon Roll tart in Funnel Cake, with Sprinkes!

The scent list isn't the longest I've seen, but at 60+ including blends and such (and constantly expanding), there isn't a shortage of options. It is a bakery lovers dream, with assorted floral or fruity scents tossed in for good measure.  Haley Candles even has my beloved Vanilla Pumpkin Pie, which I haven't seen since a previous vendor went out of business.

While the cost has changed a little bit, this vendor is very reasonable when it comes to pricing. The owner Crystal, is sweet, kind, and easy to talk to. She really cares about her customers, and does just about anything she can to keep them happy.
With new scents and shapes still being added, this order will definitely not be my last. I am a very happy customer.

Daiso Apple Bath Ball!

Even though the first bath ball didn't work out as well as I had hoped, I decided to try the Apple one today. With the exception of the color, scent, and cartoon logo, they are basically identical. Just like before, I could even smell the fragrance through the inner plastic wrapping.

Considering the results from the Rose ball, I figured it would be best to try using it in a different way. So instead of letting it dissolve in the bath tub, I put it on the bottom of the shower. The smell was fantastic, although not any stronger than if you were using a scented shower gel. Watching the ball fizz and change the water green is fun, but doesn't serve much purpose since it all goes straight down the drain.

After a few minutes, the little figure inside was revealed. Just like the animated picture on the front, it is an adorable seal, except this one is pink and has a little apple on his back!

Daiso Rose Bath Ball!

I've been walking past the Daiso Japanese store a few times a week for at least 3 months now. Each time I'd walk by, I'd tell myself that next time I'd go in and look around. I'm not quite sure what took so long, but it wasn't until yesterday that I finally did.

Daiso is like the higher end dollar store of everything Japanese. At $2.80 AUD for any item, they have just about everything under the sun. It was at least half an hour wandering up and down the aisles before I came across shelves of these bath balls. With brightly colored packaging, adorable cartoon characters, and a surprise in each one, I was intrigued. Out of seven scents available, I chose Rose, Fruit, and Apple. The other four were Milk, Orange, Soda, and Chocolate.

I decided to try the Rose bath ball first. It is hard to gauge the size of the product based on the plastic bag, but it was still a little smaller than expected. 

That being said, I loved the scent, and even though it was shrink wrapped in another layer of plastic, I could still smell the sweet floral fragrance within. 

Once dropped in the water, the ball has excellent fizz. But unfortunately, the scent that I so loved before was completely lost. My bath tub is on the large side, and the ball was just too small to have an effect. There were no noticeable difference in water color, scent or feel. 

Surprise!

So even though the practical use of the bath ball didn't work out as I'd hoped, there was still the excitement of what little figure would come out. Each ball's figure is based on the animated character on the package. This particular one is a teddy bear, with the option of either brown, blue or pink. (Childish, I know!) After a minute or so this little guy floated to the top.

 I ended up getting the Pink Bear, with a cute little bow tie. Even though it was fun, I doubt I will be purchasing these again. 

Made My First Meme

                                It's silly, but I made myself laugh :P
Some healthy stuff is okay, but my favorite foods include Bacon, Cheese, and Cadbury Cream Eggs. I'd give massive amounts of money for vegetables that taste like any of them.