The long-awaited sequel to my May 20th custom wax order from Sniff My Tarts. Why so long, received 6 months and 12 days after placing? I don’t know, exactly. Since I’m not a member of Facebook, I’m not a member of the Facebook group. I lost track of the custom line-up lists that SMT’s team posts, informing customers which orders they’re fulfilling next. Last summer, a friend sent a few lists so I could see where my order stood. My first order, placed within 4 minutes, landed me on the initial custom list and I received my wax within 2 months.
After that exceptional timing and experience, I thought I was golden and I’d get my second order, placed 11 minutes after opening, within the next couple months. Those months came and went with no shipping payment request. Totally unaware that SMT posted the final custom order list months ago until a friend mentioned she’d never received hers either.
Long story short, I realized in late November, my custom wasn’t coming. I contacted SMT, via an email from my first order shipping confirmation and ultimately reached them through Instagram. They responded same day, created and shipped it within the following two weeks. I learned cure time is key with these recipes, but now I can finally share how the blends I envisioned ten months ago turned out:
8 oz. Chunky pies: $10.25 ea.
Buttercream sprinkles overpour, Peppermint swizzle sticks, Cream soda.
Went out of my comfort zone with this recipe and found a new favorite. Buttercream sprinkles is a gourmand blend of ‘sweet’ that instantly boosts the mood of the room. The scent equivalent of spooning a dollop of sugared frosting onto your tongue and letting it melt away. Light and silky meringue, not too heavy textured, carrying the minty vanilla cream of peppermint swizzle sticks to the next level of awesome. Bakery lovers might add it to a cake blend, there are subtle cinnamon sticks present adding a hint of spice, but to me, it’s cool perfection with mint and a touch of richness brought out by the cream soda. Everyone needs to try this combo!
Marshmallow Fireside overpour, Sweet lavender, Peppermint swizzle sticks.
I crave marshmallow fireside blends in Winter. This particular mixture gives me all the cozy vibes. Frosty peppermint-vanilla candies sparkle underneath the layer of comforting toasted mallow. A slow developer, eventually the marshmallow sweetness winds it’s way around with feathery wisps of smoke, streaked with lavender. Relaxing, but exceptionally mild. Hoping for improved performance after a longer cure time.
The layered strata pies look fun and festive, but my favorite format is definitely the ease of the no-fuss chunks, no cutting or crumbling provides more immediate gratification.
10 oz. No-fuss chunks: $10.52 ea.
Barbershop 1920s overpour, Dragon’s Blood
I planned to create punny names for these customs but it had been so long since I composed them, I mostly forgot what I’d requested. I did remember this simple yet satisfying blend I refer to as, How To Shave Your Dragon😉
Intense notes of patchouli and musky rose of Dragon’s Blood balanced by crisp clean shave cream is intoxicating. The juxtaposition of deep, sensual fragrance cut through with crystalline polish, warmth offset by coolness, is exactly what I hoped for. As far as performance, the barber masters the dragon. I wish the DB’s spice was bolder, despite that, it’s a winner.
Pie crust overpour, Fallen leaves, Marshmallow noel.
Aiming to recreate another scent similar to The Bathing Garden’s Sugared Pie Crust., but I missed the mark though it’s toasty, the oil has a nutty, bready component that morphed into a banana bread scent. Unappealing on its own, even worse with the metallic floral tinge of these leaves. Imagine a homemade banana bread/perfumey fresh soap. I failed with this combination, but actually don’t hate it. With extra added marshmallow wax from my stash, it’s not too bad. Bizarre, but not horrible.
9 oz. Muffins: $11.51
Lord of Misrule overpour, Sugared violets, Pink sugar, Vanilla smoothie.
Simply beautiful. Powdery patchouli and woods of the Lush LOM dupe unite with the clean sweetness of pink sugar forming a sheer veil of musk. Humble violets surround the edges with wildflower patches while pillowy vanilla clouds roll by. Here, the vanilla smoothie, a note which often gets lost, is rich and distinct. Sweet, creamy, warm and fresh with a soft floral heart isn’t simple at all, but intricately woven creating a highly successful blend. Love it.
Custom 5oz. Cookies: $5.12 ea.
Cranberry spice, Apple cinnamon, Whipped cream.
Utterly surprised by this, nothing like typical craft store spiced fruits. The effervescent tartness of the cranberry spice reminds me of Sierra Mist Cranberry soda, clean and bright. The apple spice doubles the dose of cinnamon and I could be crazy but I smell two distinct types, one light and sweet, one woody and pungent. All of this heat might overwhelm if not for the bed of creamy coolness the pink frosting is slathered upon, that airy-soft and gooey whipped cream. A potent scent, although the apple was a bit hidden.
Toasted pistachio, Vanilla sugar
My second failed combination, though I haven’t yet melted. A sticky tootsie roll type dominates with weak chocolate and molasses presumably from the pistachio. Hints of cherry add to the feel of a chocolate covered confection, royally clashing with the caramelized brown sugar, amber and musk from the Vanilla Sugar. Moderately improved after a month-long cure, but there might be no saving this custom for me.
Single scent oil piped hearts: $3.84 ea.
Eggnog Bread- I look forward to eggnog during the holidays. Something about sipping the creamy, egg-custard drink evokes stepping into a bygone era, catering to my already high holiday nostalgia. This is an SMT house blend of Eggnog and Zucchini Bread and I enjoy it.
Concentrated spices of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger aroma wafting from crispy baked zucchini bread. Zesty and rustic, the warmth and dry heat of the spices overwhelm the cool richness from the milky cream. I might prefer the single Eggnog oil for quenching that particular thirst, but this delivers on the sugar ‘n spice.
Serendipity- Doubtful about this classic blend of cherries and tropical coconut, especially on cold, a troubling sharpness initially appeared. However, once cured and warmed, it opened up to a juicy fruit cocktail. The vibrancy of the sweet cherry orange ambrosia uplifts while a dusting of vanilla sugar tones it down to a pleasing softness. The coconut note wasn’t my favorite, still a little sharp, but I’m happy I gave this blend a chance. Still undecided on using for future creations.
Samples and ‘extras’. Two single scent tarts in Sweet Lavender and Sugared Corn Pudding. Muffins in Rose Jam Lemon Curd Sweet Cream, the strong lemonade sends me right to headacheville, I’ll be passing these on. The other blend is Ocean, Barbershop, Marshmallow and doesn’t sound offensive, but something is truly off; smells of wet mulch and (how should I put it?) stomach bile, won’t be passing those on.
After all is said and done I’m pretty pleased with my order. To be honest, I was a little cheesed off about having to track it down. I understand that mistakes happen and I’m not intending to raise the devil over it, just relating my experience. Could some of this been avoided if I joined FB and followed the group? Yes. However, I don’t think the obligation is required when ordering from a website. Also, the same thing happened to at least one other person, who IS in the group.
I’m chalking it up to a learning experience, enjoying my creations and sitting out for today’s opening. I respect Donna and Amy’s business and blending skills, their custom options are second to none. Sniff My Tarts reopens for custom wax today at 11 am and again 7 pm EST. Who’s ordering and what are you looking forward to getting? I’ll be dreaming up lists for a summer opening soon.
The Scented Library 
Hate to hear about your ordering misfortune. That stinks. Glad that you were able to solve everything though.
Just to be honest I have tried several melts from this vendor and when I first get them they smell good or alright but than I’m never ‘wowed’ when I’m melting it or get the performance I’m wanting. Same thing about your blending. I’ve never personally blended anything on my own with them but I’ve ordered samplers that had scents that I expected to smell one way but they come in and smell COMPLETELY different. Not even in the same scent category. It’s just odd. So I don’t reach for this vendor very often in my stash and I haven’t ordered in awhile.
I will add that I enjoy their pink peppermint blend and think that their pies and shapes are cute
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It was a bummer, mostly because I was in the dark just expecting it to come any day until I heard from Sandra that the last custom list was posted months ago:{ Oh well, I’m still enjoying them and because I just received them, I didn’t feel I needed to order more this week, lol!
I know what you mean about performance, but I think it comes down to particular oils just like anywhere else. I know that SMT’s LOM, peppermint swizzle and pink sugar are my favorites, also the eggnog zucchini bread was a real winner, although it wouldn’t be your thing. I can’t help but get excited as a mad scientist when it comes to making my own blends, so I know I’ll be reordering in the future, just not so much next time.
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I’d just about be clueless on what all to blend. Sure start with your favorites and go from there but it just all seems overwhelming at times to me. I’ll get there eventually. If I had a few scents I knew that I absolutely adored from them then I would give it a whirl. So maybe some day. For now I’ll leave the blending to the professionals.
Funny you mention the zucchini bread. The one blend that I LOVED with zucchini was of Front Porch’ s. I’ve blogged about it many times first starting out actually. It was a blend of her Amish Friendship Bread Zucchini Bread & Angies Famous Cupcakes. Uuuggh even better when it was blended with just a hint of banana. Sometimes I would get it and it would be spot on to what I last ordered. Other times it would have too much banana or zucchini. I may have to go see if they have more now that I mention it.
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I swear there’s some sneaky Banana bread in my Piecrust blend. I am no fannah the bananah, but I am of zucchini bread if it isn’t nose-clearingly spicy. I don’t hear much about Front Porch these days, good to know they’re still around. 🙂
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This makes me…grumpy. Lessons apparently NOT learned here, but of the three orders I placed with them last year, all three required my intervention to actually get it to my door. When I received a giant shipping charge (that I had to ask them to send me) after my order had gone MIA for five months, I snottily joked to my husband that I should have just bought a plane ticket and gone there to physically usher my wax home.
I love many of their scents, and like you, I LOVE the fun of custom blending (especially now that I’ve done it a couple of times and have a better sense of what I like and what I don’t.) But this customer non-service thing really chaps my hide. It’s why I wasn’t TOO broken up about missing the customs pre-order at the beginning of January – “Well, at the very least I won’t be sitting here in six months’ time wondering where the heck my $200 worth of wax is.” Oof. I’m sorry you got caught up in this mess, too.
Okay, down to the very serious business of smelly stuff. Your blends are cute, cute, cute – love that pink one with the Buttercream Sprinkles (is it a very buttery, or “yellow cake” kind of smell?) How about the cream soda note? Is it particularly zippy? Because that sounds super duper yum; nice blending! The layered pie is also so cute. I find Marshmallow Fireside scents are always a bit light – hopefully it beefs up for you soon.
You were really feeling the cherry-ish scents, huh? Pistachios are a difficult one – they can smell quite artificial (as you discovered) or way, way too nutty. I like Rosegirls’ pistachio – bit of nut, bit of fruit, bit of smoothie; it’s a good one. I like Serendipity, too, but wow, it’s been forever since I’ve had a Serendipity blend. It’s so strong. Actually reminds me of this fruitcake my aunt used to make – it was basically bits of dried fruit (the good stuff, not horrible old peel!) held together by butter, sugar and flour. It was really good!
I need to hook you up with a slice of my Apple Cider Latte custom pie – it’s such a great apple bakery scent (bit spicy, bit cozy, a little juicy…ooh, it’s a gooder.) I think you’d probably like it, given that cranberry spice/apple cinnamon blend you’ve got up there. It smells just like a real apple fritter! Ugh, now I want a fritter!
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Thanks for the support (and the heads up) or else I might still be earnestly waiting on my order today. But your experience makes me even grumpier. I only had to pay a normal, rather reasonable, shipping amount and received my first order last summer without a hitch.
I truly enjoy custom creating, partly the thrill of finding out if your blend is ‘THE bomb’ or just bombs big time. BUT we are paying customers, and shouldn’t be responsible for order chasing or completion. I think perhaps there was an overwhelming amount of orders and several balls were dropped.
Enjoying my blends thoroughly at the moment with no firm plans on reordering soon. I may reconsider if I get the itch around the summer opening.
I have already set aside a piece of my Buttercream blend for you! It’s more sugared frosting than cake and all the cream soda brings to the party is soft creaminess, no fizz or zip present in the piece I melted. I think you’ll like it.
Your aunt’s fruitcake sounds deelish, I’m not opposed, but I really don’t like Serendipity or cherry. I had tried it in a blend from Julie but wanted to experience on its own to know what other notes it might compliment, I doubt I’d use it in anything, although, my husband enjoyed it. ACL sounds lovely, I’ll look forward to it, especially as my wax wells will run dry in a few months.
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I hear you, sister, on all of the above – thinking twice, and then three times, about my orders right now, and if you’ve cheesed me off in the last little while, well, I’m extra disinclined to place an order.
Thank you so much for sharing your loot! I’ve got a slice of my yummy apple pie set aside for you, too. 🙂
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Sing it in solidarity, sister!
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