L3 Waxy Wonders: Custom bakery bag haul

Another year, another attempt at a wax heart to express my vendor love. Tbh, this was laborious, but I couldn’t resist on Valentine’s week. Anyone a party to Valentine’s Day festivities or gift exchanges? My husband and I rid ourselves of that tradition after our first wedded year, but I did find some small trinkets I forgot to put in his Christmas stocking that I will belatedly give today, and I found a sardonic J.D. Salinger card which expresses our mockery of the holiday just so.

These tarts represent the last wax gift I’m bestowing myself for quite a while, due to my current wax no-buy, but they make a satisfying haul. In my end-of-2017 wax recap, I threw a request out to the blogosphere asking anyone to let me know if L3WW was opening for custom orders, not expecting to actually hear back. When an IG friend and reader, Mari, informed me they would be opening in just a few days, I was surprised. Woohoo! Ask and you shall receive, thanks Mari:)

Custom bakery bags, or doggie bags, are 10 oz. of up to 3 single-scent oils or 1 single-scent +1 house blend for $10.50 ea. Shipping was $10.99 for customs ordered Jan. 2nd and impressively arrived on Jan. 27th.

I’ve mentioned my favorite L3 combo is Snooze button/Aftershave, but it’s not offered in the regular scent list. Getting a full bag of this blend was the motivation behind my order and I can endure my wax ban a little easier having this baggie within reach.

Creamy buttermints, sweet lavender, vanilla bean noel paired with a classic clean aftershave delivers an icy fresh cocktail I can’t get enough of. Boasting four major wax families: fresh, herbal, bakery, and mint, makes it extremely satisfying to my palate. The mint is heartier in this rendition than I remembered, accentuating the keen-edged snap of chilly air on a dazzling winter morning. A single shape of approx .5 oz. produces medium throw.

Once I got my favorite locked in, I felt like experimentin’. Placing this custom order was a bit of a leap of faith because I’m not in the Facebook group to read a probable posted scent list. I scrolled through the scent blends listed on the site and devised combinations from those. (No simple task, there must be 5,102 scents!) *During the ordering process, the scents are requested through a note to seller naming the blends. I’d imagine this becomes an arduous task with tons of bags per order, but was easy for my short 4 bag list. Don’t know how they keep it all straight, but they do.

Cabin in the Woods/Fir trees: Mallo fireside, earl grey tea, vanilla buttercream/Fraser fir. Putting this bag to my nose, I couldn’t tell you what the scent notes are, but it’s not what I was expecting. A tang jumps out, citrus? A bite of smoke? It sounds incongruous and it is, but I do actually like it. That’s the gamble one takes with custom orders, they don’t always turn out as expected. What emerges most is a thick layer of smoke, a crisp citrus battling through which is dulled by a piquant tangy cream. I wish the evergreen fir was present, others said they could smell it, but perhaps I’m nose blind to it, except there’s a distinct refreshing note there. The only image coming to mind is sipping citrus tea with clotted cream, while a forest fire burns around you, ha! it is a curious combo. Light-medium throw with two pieces.

Sweet 16/Vanilla buttercream: Very heavy creamy bakery cake with buttercream frosting. Not my typical choice because it’s a gift for a vanilla-bakery loving teen I know, but with 20 pieces in every bag, I think I can coax her into sharing…perhaps. On cold throw, it’s every teen’s dream; gleaming tiers of pink cupcakes still warm and heavenly smelling, all piped with mountains of thick buttery cream frosting. Rich and decadent, I think I’m beginning to understand what bakery scent lovers find appealing.
Salty Sea Air/Coconut Coast/Vanilla Oak: Frrresh! Salty marine notes, buoyed by a delicate beachy floral. Strewn petals and drifting wood carried on that salty ocean current before a wave of coconut overtakes you. The coconut is lush and salty while the sea air is tart, zesty and mouthwatering, one of the best SSA oils I’ve experienced. I’m adoring the crisp air and watery vibes, but if I re-create this blend, I’d choose driftwood, or something stronger than Vanilla Oak. I’ve tried VO in L3’s pre-made blends before, it pairs well with apples, but gets drowned out here. The lightest throwing of the blends, I recommend 2 shapes of around 1.5 oz for a nice throw. I’ll let it cure for another month before remelting, if I can. Update: After another month’s curing, two pieces threw much better, medium to strong!

Samples:

Ravenclaw- recently reviewed here. I’m not mad about getting a little more of this unique scent.

Season of the Witch- a blend of Apples and Leaves. All the fresh goodness of B&BW’s Leaves with added tart apples. The more I try L3 Waxy Wonders’ apple blends, the more I become a convert.

Stardust- Lunar Eclipse, Fairy Dust, Cotton Candy Frosting- lemon orange, bergamont, raspberry, oak moss and vanilla with pomegranate, citrus, berry sugar and vanilla. There’s a lot going on with this scent. It’s that smell one gets when removing the glass lid of a big hard candy jar, mixed fruit and sugar crystals with powdery white sugar dust from the bottom of the bowl.

L3WW only opens for custom bags a few times a year, I’m grateful to take advantage of them when I did and plan to again, if possible, for some Fall blends. Loving the majority, I’d rate this a successful custom blending experience. What fragrance are you showing the love to today?