"Rich buttercream frosting & candy corn. YUM!"

Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake

"Rich vanilla bean ice cream infused with pumpkin pie chunks!"

Pumpkin pie and vanilla bean ice cream. That sounds good enough to eat! There is lots of pie here. The ice cream is just like a scoop on top to mellow out the pumpkin pie spice. This is another winner from LOL for Autumn and beyond... from Halloween well past Thanksgiving. This scent smells delicious with its spicy cinnamon and nutmeg and it's creamy smooth ice cream. It's plain and simple and yummy as can be.








Broomsticks & Pumpkins

"You'll catch her flying on her broomstick on dark & mysterious full moon nights as she harvests her pumpkins."

From reading the description, I was expecting lots of patchouli or frankincense... something dark and mysterious, maybe even some dry hay. when I thought of Broomsticks and full moons, but this scent was completely different. It couldn't be further from my expectations.

What my nose smelled with Broomsticks & Pumpkins were mulling spices and bittersweet citrus notes. I don't smell much pumpkin in this scent. This smells citrusy but not in a foody way. It's like a fall festival in the country. Homey and fun at the same time. This scent is a great way to welcome Autumn.

Scarecrow Cupcakes

"Dreamy vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream frosting & a touch of buttery cinnamon."

Dreamy is right! Scarecrow Cupcakes is phenomenal! The buttercream frosting is so intense and sweet... it's a huge explosion of sugary, buttery goodness. I immediately thought about licking the frosting beaters before you put the buttercream on the cake. I didn't smell a whole lot of cake... this was like a kid's dream cake that is more icing than actual cake.

I didn't smell much cinnamon until the very end, but the scent was out of this world... most definitely a reorder any time of year. The scent was super strong and I had cut the two ounce tart in half for this trial. It was incredibly sweet and tasty. Quite possibly my favorite cake blend from LOL Candles to date. Yum!


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Apparition

"The Madame of the Manor has decided to make her appearance. A sophisticated, feminine, and haunting blend of a time long forgotten with sweet ginger plums amplified by a strong black tea and soft, fragrant marigolds."

This apparition must have been the Ghost of Aunt Bea, because that's what I got from this scent... a powdery, flowery cloud of a ghost. Despite the Mayberry image that I just couldn't shake, I still liked this scent, partly because I'd been smelling a lot of spicy pumpkins and apples lately and my nose was ready for a change... but I have to say... the men folk around here were not nearly as enthusiastic about sweet little old ladies haunting our living room.

Haunted House

"A spellbinding blend of haunting forest woods, spooky spices and the witch's little dark secret. A dark sensual fragrance with a musky quality."

This melt is very relaxing. It smells like old wood, and powder. I smell the muskiness, but in a good way. I think there may also be a touch of patchouli in there too. I really like this scent. It's got a heavy, mysterious quality to it, and it sits thick in the air. This may be my top choice for October 31 this year. It's odd how a scent can smell like Halloween night, I mean, what does Halloween night smell like exactly, and how can it possibly be duplicated? Dark Candles did it with this scent. It smells like all things Halloween, from the musty costumes pulled from a closet to the leaves crunching underfoot, to the festive smells coming from friendly neighbor's doorways as we trick or treat... all mingled with a dash of spooky fun. The only thing that could add to this scent would be a sweet confection... a chocolate bat perhaps. Chocolate Bat is another scent offered by Dark Candles and would be the perfect companion scent to Haunted House.

Chocolate Bat

"A tantalizing blend of chocolate and a mixture of Halloween candy!

Reminiscent of an orange plastic Jack O' Lantern full of Halloween loot! "

You got it. Chocolate Bat is here to round out the merriment of Halloween Night. After all, Halloween just wouldn't be complete without all of the candy. This description mentions the orange plastic Jack O Lanterns, but my boys each use an old pillowcase to haul their coveted loot. They start out with grand plans of filling the pillowcase entirely, but to date, they have never gotten it more than half way full. They get tired of walking, and anxious to get to the candy sorting, trading, and eating part of the night.

This scent smells like a big pile of candy spread out on the living room floor, being bartered. Kids turn into little candy stockbrokers on Halloween Night. Even kids too young to count money know the value of a good candy trade.

Jack O' Latte

"Pumpkin Spice flavored Latte, the perfect coffee-inspired scent to carry you into the fall season."

I thought I had the wrong scent in the melter. I expected a more sweet fragrance for some reason, but this was most decidedly not sweetened. The spice and pumpkin were good and strong. It smelled like fall, for sure... from across the room I smelled something like leaves and maybe even some wood smoke mixed in the blend, which really threw me. Up close, I could pick out the coffee and the pumpkin clearly over any other scent notes. It was an interesting scent, the way the smell seemed to change depending on how close I was to the melter. I would not consider this to be a bakery type of scent. It's a must try for true pumpkin puree fans and those less inclined towards sweet fare.

Graveyard

"An old forlorn, crumbling cemetery with strong tones of wet earth blended with a hint of Frankincense and a touch of myrrh. "

I was a bit skeptical about this scent. It wasn't the wet earth I was apprehensive about, strangely, but the Frankincense and myrrh. That's what was scaring me, but I had nothing to fear here. This scent was absolutely beautiful in my bedroom. It was calming and tranquil but not a light scent. It had a mystical feel to It, but not so much that I thought I was in an opium den. It was nicely balanced and complex. It seems that many of Dark Candles scents work really well in my more serene bedroom than the chaotic rest of the house, and this was surely one of those steady, quiet scents.


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The Blue Gecko has a solid year round scent list that happens to include one of my personal favorite pumpkin blends ever. So, even though this is not a specially made seasonal scent, I just had to include it in this Halloween review. It's that good.

Spiced Pumpkin Brulee

"Warm, rich pumpkin blended with spicy cinnamon, aromatic nutmeg and a pinch of ginger topped off with a sweet delectable layer of perfectly caramelized sugar."

Every pumpkin starts out good. It's just a question of which path it takes... its either going to stay sweet and become a fancy pie or brulee, or its going to hang out with the bad crowd and become a scary Jack-O-Lantern.

Spiced Pumpkin Brulee is a good pumpkin with just the right balance of sweet creamy sugar, and spices. It always delivers a consistently great fall scent. This is the Great Pumpkin that Linus waits for in the pumpkin patch. Don't doubt it, or the Great Pumpkin may not come this year.







Caramel Corn Crunch

"Creamy, gooey caramel slathered over hot buttery popcorn! Hints of rich maple and a creamy buttery base cooked to a perfect "crunch" make this one scent you don't want to miss!"

Great balls of popcorn! Halloween is popcorn ball season. Didn't know there was a season for popcorn balls, did you? Oh yeah, there are more than just the regular four seasons. Where I live we have hurricane season, and mosquito season. You may have football season, rainy season, or even ice fishing season, so okay, Halloween is popcorn ball season.

What better way to celebrate popcorn ball season then with The Blue Gecko's Caramel corn Crunch? It's got everything one looks for in a popcorn ball. It's super buttery and sticky with caramel, and there's even some popcorn thrown in there like an afterthought just to make it official. After all, the whole point of the popcorn is just to have someplace to put the butter and caramel, right?

This sweet scent did very well in my medium sized room. For a larger space, I might use two melters to really make everyone drool. This is a great scent all by itself or it would blend well with other fall scents too, like apple, or pear, or Spiced Pumpkin Brulee perhaps.

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Werewolf

"Werewolf fragrance is sexy and animalistic. Fresh citrus highlights sparkle around the floral heart of lavender and ylang in this sensuous blend. An earthy signature of patchouli and spiced wood leads to a base of warm animal tones. Leather and musk balance with balsamic undertones as hints of powdery vanilla complete the blend."

You know what made me want to try this? The base of warm animal tones. I mean, what on earth do warm animal tones smell like? I enjoy a good mystery so I had to find out about Werewolf.

This fragrance is sexy and masculine but thankfully stops just short of being too over the top cologne-like. Don't get me wrong... it would be a dreamy scent for the hubby, but it's a dark, sensual scent that was great as a melt on these cooler fall evenings. It has the potential of being too strong, so I used only half a melt each time... besides, I had the windows open to the night air and I didn't want those warm animal notes to attract all the black cats in the neighborhood.

Bite Me

"Dracula would fall in love with this fragrance! Fresh citrus notes of lime and orange sparkle with effervescent highlights as they lead to a luscious blend of berry and cherry in this playful scent. Leafy green accents add intensity as a base of vanilla creates sweet tones for the fragrance."

Yes! Bite Me has so many surprises in it. First off, I wouldn't have thought of a Dracula related scent to be fruity. Garlic, maybe, but not fruity. Thank goodness this scent is the latter... and fruity it is! The citrus comes through right away and then the cherry and greens drifts in like a cool breeze. Here is one of those exceptional scents that work well as a melt or as a body fragrance. I can totally see wearing this scent all day long... so bite me.


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All Hallow's Eve

"A spicy mulled grapefruit type with a fruity citrus orange-grapefruit top-note, cinnamon leaf, spicy middle-notes and a soft musky, sweet vanilla base-note"

I have wanted to try this scent for a long time. I've seen it every time I order at Crosscreek, because it is the first scent listed in the drop down scent menu. If you decide to try All Hallow's Eve from Crosscreek, you will see what I mean. I've put it off, thinking it was strictly a Halloween scent.

Much to my surprise, I didn't get a distinct feeling of Halloween from this scent. This tart citrusy scent was exactly as described... like a citrus cider... but I thought the name was misleading. I should have tried All Hallow's Eve sooner. I like the spices in this blend... that's what carries this fragrance easily into fall, but the citrus makes this a scent for any time of year.

I was happy that the throw was not too strong, because the zingy grapefruit could have been overwhelming. As it was, I thought it filled the room nicely without chasing us all out of the house.

Tricky Treats

"Trick or Treat? I say treat! This sweet treat is a blend of warm taffy apples, candy corn and cider. Perfect for those cool autumn nights! A Crosscreek Exclusive Blend!"

I enjoyed this scent. The taffy apples comes through the strongest, and some mulling spices follow. I didn't smell the candy corn as clearly, but then I'd been sniffing a lot of candy corn for this review so perhaps my nose became immune to it. The sweetness in this scent makes it a good compliment fragrance to something more spooky like Hayride or Patchouli.

It's a nice mild sweet scent... not scary... reminiscent of brightly lit Halloween parties where the little ones dunk for apples and the costumes are more clowns and ballerinas than ghosts and goblins.

Boo Berry Cupcakes

"Vanilla cupcakes blended with blueberries and a hint of spice. A Crosscreek Exclusive Blend!"

Boo!... berry that is. I liked this happy bright scent. I melted this tart first thing in the morning and the smell of blueberries danced around the kitchen waking everyone up. My nose smelled a note of cream cheese which could have been the cupcake part of the scent. I'm not sure... I just know we liked it around here.

The blueberry didn't smell like fresh berries off the vine... it smelled like blueberry fragrance. I have yet to find the true smell of blueberries in a wax scent, but I've come to appreciate the wax version of blueberry... sort of in the same way a cherry lollipop doesn't taste like fresh cherries, but I like it anyway. This scent was strong too, and lasted most of the day.

Candy Corn Cookies

"yummy fresh baked cookies and candy corn... mmm good! A Crosscreek Exclusive Blend!"

Maybe it's because I have school age children, but this scent smelled like classroom Halloween party cookies. Not the party itself... not quite... more like the night before when the cookies are still being baked and decorated with yummy candy corn... but you can't eat them because they must be saved for school the next day. Cookies smell better when you aren't supposed to eat them yet, and candy corn never tasted as good as when you are sneaking a couple out of the bag.

This scent was like sweet torture, because I could only smell it... not taste it. The throw was mercifully medium in my largest room.

Monster Munch

"lets give the monsters some luv for this yummers blend :) we got hot caramel roasted peanuts, candy corn candies and gooey marshmallow, ya gotta grab some of this sweet treat! A Crosscreek Exclusive Blend!"

I hope you don't want to tame the wild beast with Monster Munch, because this is wildly good. All of the monsters in my home were even more fired up than usual. I wonder if one can get a sugar rush just from the smell of something sweet. This scent rocked the house! I wanted to eat this. It was so nutty and buttery and sweet.. Just a big gob of chewy, nougaty goodness. One little tart filled the whole house with this dentist's nightmare of sugary sweet peanuts and candy. My teeth ached, but I still couldn't get enough... Awesome, strong scent.


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<span style="color: #000000;">Continue on to page 2 of Julia's Halloween review</span>

On page two, Julia reviewed scents from Nene's Kitchen Melts, Spotted Hog Candles and Cozy Cottage Scents.