By Andrea Haskins
Company: The Soyo Shop & Wolf Dreams
Type: Clamshell melts
Scents:
Bamboo Grass
Cracklin Birch
Indian Summer
Scent Strength: Moderate to strong
Introduction to my review:
Alaska is one destination that’s on my bucket list. I have images in my head of natural beauty, serenity and more sweet smells than you can shake a stick at. All of those images came to mind when I visited the Alaskan Aromatherapy website, which includes The Soyo Shop and Wolf Dreams. From this one website you can find plenty of Alaskan-made bath and body goodies and ”“ of course ”“ candles! There are 4 and 8 oz candles available
as well as tea lights. The candles are 100% soy and the wicks are cotton.
My visit to the website was pleasant enough. The layout is simple and easy to navigate. There are some really stunning photos of the products throughout with vibrant colors. I absolutely love the scent descriptions. Care has been taken to describe most of the scents very thoroughly. I find that so helpful when purchasing scented products from a website without the obvious benefit of sniffing in person.
What did my melts smell like?
Bamboo Grass
I love the scent of fresh bamboo. I have tried bamboo fragrances from other companies that do not seem to capture the essence of true bamboo. That was not the case here!
“This creative fragrance begins with top notes of fresh lime, mint, and ozone; balanced with middle notes of 
French lavender, and well-rounded with a nice base note of white musk. You will be in heaven!”
In Heaven I was! The cold sniff on this scent was incredibly strong ”“ very surprising for an aromatherapy line. I generally consider aromatherapy scents to be lighter in nature and I’m certainly OK with that. What I caught here was super fresh bamboo. I would declare I was nose deep in a bamboo plant! The cold sniff was mostly bamboo and lime ”“ the citrus component was there and gave it a little zing. It was such a fresh smell that I’m assuming ozone was playing a major role there as well. When melting, I noticed the musk notes did not take long to appear. The musk notes did become a bit more prominent than I would have liked, but it was still a very magical scent combination. The mint came out to play every now and then but this is not what I would consider a minty scent. I think the French lavender was lost in the complexity of the more overpowering notes. Still this was a great, refreshing scent that had an awesome scent throw. It filled a large living area with ease and lingered for quite some time. A definite winner!
Cracklin Birch
I was a bit worried with the initial sniff on Cracklin Birch. There was a slight perfumey note and perfumey notes and I just don’t get along. I went immediately to the scent description to see what I was in for:
“Outdoors on a winter day… simply amazing if we may say so ourselves! Cracklin Birch fragrance begins with top notes of bergamot, orange, and lemon; with middle notes of geranium, lily, and rose; and base notes of 
patchouli, vetiver, and tonka beans. This fragrance is one of the most well-rounded fragrances we have ever smelled.”
Wow… that’s a noseful! I decided I must have been catching the floral notes on cold whiff. I melted this scent in my powder room and returned about a half hour later to sniff the results. Interestingly enough, the floral notes decided to take a back seat to the sexier scents of bergamot, patchouli (just a hint) and vetiver. The floral notes continued to wind throughout, reminding you they were there. This was just a beautiful, sensual fragrance. Complex and heavy but not too heavy. I could see this as a perfect scent for a cabin retreat or just on a cold, winter night. Cracklin Birch won me over big time! The scent throw was moderate but appeared stronger because of the heavy notes. I think this was too powerful for my powder room and was deserving of a larger space to let the heavier notes spread out and linger.
Indian Summer
I love, love, LOVE the Indian Summer scent. I have tried it from a few companies and already have my favorites. I must say, Wolf Dreams had a challenge since this nose knows a good Indian Summer scent!
“Strong top notes of strawberries and green apples and pears; middle notes of geranium and basil; bottom notes of oak and fresh greenery. Very Complex!”
My cold sniff was very promising ”“ fruity delightness. The mix of strawberry, apple and pear was intoxicating. The middle and bottom notes were not detectable on cold sniff but I knew we were off to a great start! While melting, I noticed the strawberry scent more than I wanted to. It was the not-so-true strawberry scent that I’m averse to. Unfortunately, that tainted the rest of my thoughts about this scent. I found the scent surprisingly moderate in strength compared to the first two scents I tried. I did not capture any of the other notes while melting this scent. This was a good but not great Indian Summer scent, in my opinion.
Closing to my review:
It’s probably no surprise that I really enjoyed this company. There was great care in the packaging and the products themselves were
outstanding. My favorite of the bunch had to be Bamboo Grass, with Cracklin Birch a close second. This probably wouldn’t be my go-to place for Indian Summer, but that’s ok! Reviewing the list of over 175 available fragrances, there are many more scents I would love to try. So far this is the closest I’ve ever been to Alaska, but what a wonderful smelling first step!
Sweet smelling dreams!
~ Andrea
