Afternoon Tea with Lace & Peony Petals

February is the time of year when the winter blues are at their peak.  To help distract myself and my friends form the cold, I usually try to have a get together of some sort during the month.  After binge watching the most recent season of Downton Abbey, I decided that this year my winter blues party would be a tea party!

To give the affair a classic tea party vibe I picked up a china tea cup for each of my guests at a second hand store. 

I asked my mom to borrow a tablecloth and hit the jackpot when she found an old crochet cloth stored away in her basement. To finish it off, I bought a few fresh flowers for the table.   

I think it turned out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself...  BUT I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed when Scentsy's Lace warmer was released only 2 weeks later...

Lace would have been the perfect accent with its vintagey lace pattern imprinted into the porcelain.  I would have used a classic floral Scentsy bar reminiscent of an English garden to compliment the mood. 

Simply Rose or French Lavender would both be perfect choices for a tea party, but if I were having another party tomorrow I'd likely use new, Peony Petals.

Here is Scentsy's description of the fragrance -- "Peony and rose petals dance on a soft breeze."

Peony Petals smells like a mixed bouquet of highly fragrant spring flowers. While still a true floral scent, it's more modern than some of Scentsy's soliflore options (ie. Lush Gardenia, Simply Rose and French Lavender).  It's in the same vein as Chole, fans of that perfume will likely love Peony Petals as well. 

Visit our online store to purchase Lace and Peony Petals, and bring a touch of Downton Abbey to your home as well!

Cheers, 

Beth

Glamorous Gardenias: Lush Gardenia and Tiare Maohi

I love gardenias and their ultra feminine, vintagey appeal...

 

Gardenias symbolize love, harmony and grace

Funnily enough, even though gardenias have a strong fragrance in real life, gardenia scented products and perfumes are not actually made from gardenias.  It is almost impossible to extract their natural essential oils.  Instead, perfumers blend a variety of other oils to mimic their scent.  Unfortunately, while some gardenia fragrances are beautiful many of them are way too loud and cloying.

In my opinion, Chanel’s Gardenia perfume is an example of a very well done, classic, gardenia fragrance…

Knowing how many perfumers have tried and miserably failed to produce a successful gardenia fragrance, I was delighted when I sampled Scentsy’s two perfectly executed gardenia based offerings; Lush Gardenia and Tiare Maohi.

Here is Scentsy's description of Lush Gardenia -  "The creamy, full scent of classic gardenia, with a whisper of tuberose."

Scentsy's fragrance description for this one is spot on.  Of their two gardenia scents, this one really reminds me of Chanel's version.  You can smell the intoxicating gardenia blossom in addition to green undertones, making it feel freshly plucked from your garden. 

In contrast to this, Tiare Maohi explores the more sensual side of gardenias with its balmy, tropical undercurrents -- "Pure white, wild gardenia -- a sumptuously luxurious floral with a sheen of coconut."

Tiare Maohi is a little more user friendly than Lush Gardenia.  The coconut undertones help to temper the loud white floral scent. Overall, this is a bombshell of a scent...

Billie Holiday

While I love both of these Scentsy fragrances I would not recommend buying them untested unless you know for sure that gardenias are for you.  The smell of gardenias are big, perfumey and loud, and because of this, they are not for everyone. 

Visit our online store or email us at TheSafeCandleShoppe@gmail.com to buy your Lush Gardenia and Tiare Maohi Scentsy Fragrance products today!

Cheers, 

Beth