by Avery, added 12/14/09

Brand: Candle Dippers

Type: Scented Melts

Fragrances: Cinnamon Balsam
 Christmas in the Islands
 Evergreen Potpourri
 Christmas Mulberry
 Hot Toddy
 Christmas Spice
 North Pole Workshop
 Jack Frost
 and Home for the Holidays

Cost:  Varies depending upon melts purchased 

Strength: Strong 

Introduction to my Christmas Scented melt review from Candle Dippers:

Tis the Season! To shop!!　

I know you're itching to do more shopping, so let me help with a review of some of Candle Dippers’ Holiday scents. There is quite a selection, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something you will like!

If you haven't been to the Candle Dippers site, (what???) hustle on over and take a look! This vendor changes graphics with the seasons and it's always a treat to view the current décor.

It's a very easy site to navigate - and the scent descriptions are broken into the old standards and the newbies. Currently there is a Christmas Scents section as well. This site is mainly tarts and Bath and Beauty products, a few wickless candles, chunk pillars and votives. In my experience, their products have been high quality, packaged and labeled well. The customer service is excellent and the shipping is quick! (Great for those last minute presents that you forgot about… if you know what I mean..)

Candle Dippers parasoy tarts come in several forms - the traditional cups, and the “brittle” that allows you to choose how much you want to melt. There are clamshells if you like your tarts “stackable”. The bakery melts are shaped like cupcakes and cookies - way too cute for me to melt! In the novelty area, look for lollipops and popcorn. - I am thinking stocking stuffers here!

So, let the melting begin! I am using the medium shooter cups for this review - they are available in three sizes, the .8oz Mini MeltEz for $1.00 , the 1.6 oz. containers called MeltEz sold for $1.75 and the 2 oz known as Double Shots for $2.25. In case you need it, volume pricing is offered! I don’t personally know about this of course… (wink-wink)

Christmas in the Islands

Tropical fruits (mango, papaya, pomegranate, strawberry) mixed with peppermint and balsam. Very different and complex but very very good!

Hmmm… well…OK, I guess I am a “traditional” Christmas scenting gal. I could smell the fruity blend (very nice) and a wee bit of the balsam. The peppermint was hiding however. That is too bad because I was anxious to pick that out of this blend. It is a very nice, pleasing mixture of scents - that I would burn almost all year long: just not at Christmas! This did not fall into either the red OR the brown cinnamon definition. ( I think it was more of a peachy/rosy color in my mind!) Again - that just does not spell Christmas to me! Do try this scent - (you may be more open minded than I am), because it really is a nice combination of scents… and let me know if you get whiffs of peppermint! 

Evergreen Potpourri

"Deep evergreen spruce with grapefruit and tangerine!"

Sometimes I like to pop in a melt without reading the scent description and see if I can pick out the notes. The name here was a challenge - this could have been an assortment of evergreens (pine, balsam,cedar) - or - evergreen blended with dried fruits and natural ingredients. It did not take long to figure out which direction this scent was headed. It was not a “conifer” blend. What an unusual combination! The pine is clearly present - but with a “twang” - which made sense when I looked at the scent description. The citrus scents (I think it is actually the peel I smell the most) keep it from feeling like you have entered the forest - and add an memorable dimension to the scent that will keep me melting it all winter. This was a fairly strong, long lasting scent.

Christmas Mulberry

"Beautiful blend of woods, spices, and berries."

This tart was the mildest of the group that I tested. It is a lovely, berry-fruity-spicy scent that would be a nice blend for a holiday open house. The woods notes are very subtle, the fruit is pronounced. The berry notes make it one of those universally acceptable scents, the kind you smell when you walk into a winter craft bazaar - it makes you feel happy (and that much happiness makes you want to shop!) Medium strong in throw, this lasted about 4 hours.

Hot Toddy

"Stave off those cold winter nights with this delicious blend of Fuji apple cider infused with sugar and nutmeg then topped off with a cinnamon stick, cloves, a touch of vanilla bean and of course a lemon wedge!"
 
This is not even close to what I was expecting… again I started melting before I read the description. From the name, I pictured  a spirited beverage that had notes of rum, or bourbon, perhaps traces of honey or lemon. This, however, turned out to be the most amazing, the most unbelievable, the most delicious mulled cider I have ever smelled. (Not to be confused with the Apple Cider they also carry that is more spiced.) I can honestly say I have never had a cold sniff on that made my mouth water like this one did. As described, all those notes can be picked out when melting - and the little burst of lemon intensifies the tart, sweet apple - heaven! This is my favorite by a long shot! This had a large room throw, but lasted about 4 hours.

Christmas Spice

"A delightful blend of pine, holiday spices, fruits and candies."

Holiday scents often seem to be complex. I love it when you can pick out the different scents as the tart melts like this - it had nice whiffs of mulling spices on the cold sniff and as it began to melt. Once it had some time to simmer, the sweeter “red” cinnamon made an appearance and while I didn’t smell the fruits and candies specifically, these must combine to make the fragrance evolve into the sugary cinnamon that I found quite pleasant. A little pine sneaks in, but I didn’t find it competing with the cinnamon at all. This is a classic Christmas scent., and it was long lasting.

North Pole Workshop (known also as Elf Sweat)

Bubbly blend of candy canes, candy corn, syrup and then even more sweet candy with a dash of effervescent fizz tossed in!

This is a fun scent! I think it is best described by a imagining a beverage …think about pouring a syrup in “candy cane” flavor (like Toriani or a similar type of syrup.) in your fluted glass that has a sparkly, sugared rim. Swizzle in an effervescent fizz - like a sweet, fruity champagne. Would it taste good? I have no idea! But the scent of this combo in wax is a cheerful and uplifting scent that works nicely to fill your home with Holiday Spirit. No wonder the elves work so hard - if Santa has this wafting through the workshop, the mood is bound to be good, and the elves energized! The scent throw was enough for a large bedroom and it lasted most of the evening.

Cookies for Santa

"Santa has a sweet tooth and we all know it! But how could he ever resist these delicious, buttery shortbread cookies with slivers of milk chocolate, creamy caramel and pecan chips"

One of the best parts of Santa coming is “helping” him with the cookies…after all, with all those houses to visit, just how many cookies will he be able to eat? Unfortunately, if cookies that smelled like this are left out, you’d have a fight on your hands because Santa would not want to share anything that smelled this good! The chocolate notes in this blend are very mild, but there is no lack of yummi-ness in what I do smell. This is a strong tart, and the caramel gives a strong buttery/toasted fragrance while the pecan also adds to the richness of the scent. This scent lasted and lasted…and lasted. It was also one of the strongest I tried.

Jack Frost

"Warm up with this wonderful blend of frosty peppermint and black cherries."

Another surprise! With a name like Jack Frost - I knew what to expect: a minty blend of some sort - maybe a little pine. Wow - was I wrong! First let me say, that if you like strong scents, this is the one for you. The black cherry is the prominent note in this melt. What was really neat was to take a deep breath - the first blast of cherry was followed with a minty finish that gave me a little nose tingle! It caught me off guard because the cherry was so strong - I didn’t think anything else would be able to surface, but the finish is clearly minty! This is a very interesting blend, not necessarily Holiday specific, but a real treat for black cherry lovers.

Home for the Holidays

"Beautiful warm blend of pine, cinnamon, cedar, cloves and fruity cherry, orange and tangerine. (Yank type)"

Here is proof our noses all smell things differently. The description mentions a warm blend - for me, the notes predominant in this blend were the pine and the clove - which gave it almost a cool eucalyptus finish. I found cherry to be the top note so it made a very interesting combination - a Holiday aromatherapy blend! Isn’t that a great idea? Perfect for the Season’s hustle and bustle - just walk in the door, set down all the shopping bags, plug-in your melt…. inhale deeply, and relax…

Closing to my review:

Candle Dippers is a winner in my book! There was no trouble melting the tarts, they lasted for 4-8 hours, depending on scent, and most could fragrance a large room. The customer service it top notch and their scents span a wide variety of tastes.

There are many more scents to choose from, but at this point I will stop typing and recommend that you stop reading and start filling your own shopping cart! The selection of Holiday scents at Candle Dippers is quite large (over 30 scents at last count) - it would be lots of fun and a bit of a challenge to try to test them out and melt them all by the end of December! When you are done melting your way through the seasonal scents, check out the standard scent list. You will find many of your standards and some lovely custom blends as well.

Merry Christmas!

~ Avery

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