Well maybe no bells. LOL but definitely books and blog!

It is book day again! This is a great time to pick up a few great titles from me.

First, be sure to sign up for my newsletter here: http://www.weirdstuffinmydesk.com. I will be offering up an awesome giveaway in a few weeks for an Amazon.com gift card and other goodies!

I have been adding a ton of reviews, and several of the e-tailers are offering my WSIMD readers SWEET discounts. Be sure to read the reviews and add your input, I would LOVE to hear from you.

Also, please take a look at my half.com store and purchase hard to find/rare
books from my private collection. PLEASE NOTE half.com does NOT ship
outside the US at this time.

http://shops.half.ebay.com/racoo_W0QQmZbooksQQsellerZQ2aracooQ2a

There are a very few unique titles up for purchase on my amazon store
as well. Be sure to check them out!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/index.html?ie=UTF8&sellerID=A10K1JMIPOWD0I

The more books you buy, the cheaper shipping is. You save a lot if you
buy several from me at a time.

For those who prefer to buy new books, please shop at my great store right here!

HUGS, Blessings and a beautiful week to all!

This is a multi product review so I will not be using my usual format. We don’t eat sugar here at our house and live a pretty regulated low carb way of life. But we are human, and I am always looking for some type of delicious chocolate treats for those chocoholic tenancies. Let me tell you sugar free candies and especially chocolates have come a LONG way over the last 5 years, heck even the last 2 years. They used to be nasty. Plain and simple. I am going to review several chocolate bars / candies of varying brands, that I have selflessly tried out for your benefit. LOL

First is a line called Lean-up by Carbothin. Yum! Oh I suppose you want more than a one word review eh? I picked these bars up at lowcarbu.com. These bars are not made with malitol which is well known to cause gastric distress (this my friends is an understatement) when consumed in large quantities. Instead they use erythritol, and have 1 net carb per bar. They offer several varieties, but I stuck with what I like (go figure) which is dark chocolate and peanut butter! The Dark Chocolate Bar was slightly bland, but still a good bar. It didn’t have a weird after taste which many sugar free chocolates have. I don’t know that I would order this one again because I like a slightly bitter taste to my dark chocolate. The Peanut Butter Cup bar however is a different story. I may buy a case of these delicious little beauties! It is milk chocolate which I typically don’t like, but hey, it DID have the word peanut butter in the title. The center has a lovely peanut butter filling. This one is definitely a winner.

Next up is a line of bars I really enjoyed from Maine Cottage Foods. I didn’t get these directly from them, but through another low carb distributor. Next time, I am ordering from their site because they have a much better selection. But you do have to buy in bulk versus singles when you do it that way! Again these bars are made with erythritol. I purchased Raspberry Dark Chocolate, Dark Orange Zest and Mint Dark Chocolate. These were all amazing, perfectly blended so you could taste the flavors but not SO over done they drowned out the chocolate. My favorite of the three was the Mint Dark Chocolate because my friends it tastes JUST like an Andie’s Thin Mint! I couldn’t believe it when I took the first bite. Don’t tell the husband person, but I have hidden what is left of this bar. he he he

You can purchase singles of these bars at Carb Smart. Though they don’t have some of the more exotic sounding bars like Milk Chocolate Cinnamon or Milk Chocolate Butterscotch that the Maine Cottage site offers. They even have sugar free baking chunks for cookies! They are testing out some spiced chocolate recipes as well as herbal / tea flavors. Up on their drawing board are: apple-cinnamon, orange-cinnamon, chili, ginger, oolong tea, green tea, thyme, rosemary, and yuzu just to name a few! I have great hopes for this company and can’t wait to place my next order.

A bar that I have been treating myself to for about a year is the Dark Chocolate Chocoperfection bar. They come in Milk Chocolate AND recently Raspberry Dark Chocolate. The bars are a whopping 1.8 oz of smooth chocolate goodness and the milk/dark varieties are only 2 net carbs for the ENTIRE bar. The raspberry dark is 2 carbs. Again, no malitol madness in this product line, instead they are made with oligofructose and erythritol are 100% natural sweeteners derived from plant fibers. These sweeteners have a glycemic index of zero. Oligofructose is a prebiotic fiber. I have to say I have never tried the Milk Chocolate just because I don’t care for milk. The dark chocolate is smooth, not too bitter and oh so lovely. I recently picked up a Raspberry Dark Chocolate aka The Livin’ La Vida Low Carb-Bar from Jimmy Moore. My verdict is still out on this bar. It almost has a floral taste to it, not overtly, but the raspberry part isn’t what I expected. I will probably stick with plain dark chocolate after I finish this one.

The next chocolate up for review is something kind of cute called The Chocolate Traveler. They are small wedges of chocolate that come in the cutest little travel tin!

These DO have malitol as the sweetener, but I didn’t experience any issues with these. Though I do limit myself to the 4 piece serving. Of course I opted for the Dark Chocolate Mint. These are really good, there is a good mint flavoring, but not too much. I picked these up at Carb Smart. I will probably not get this brand again, not because it isn’t tasty, but I much preferred the Maine Cottage Dark Chocolate Mint to these. They have 4 different varieties in their sugar free line and they also have regular sugar blends as well on their website that look pretty amazing for the sugar freak in your family.

Winding up here I have Ross Sugar Free Chocolate bars. Ross was the first real chocolate I had on my low carb transition more than 3 years ago. You used to be able to find them just about anywhere. Now I can only find them online. I picked up an assortment box the other day. You can also purchase single bars at Carb Smart. So far I have tried the AWESOME Dark Chocolate Orange. This bar really packs an orangey wallop! Yum. I also took a little bit of the no sugar added Milk Chocolate Almond bar as well. This is pretty tasty even for milk chocolate. These bars can have a few more carbs than the other, just be sure to read the net carb information on the website. They are also made with malitol, so don’t eat more than one bar a day.

Last but not least is Chocolate Dreams and Wishes! These are not a bar, but a HUGE chocolate cup (2 oz) and have about 2 net carbs depending on the flavor/type you choose. There are several delicious flavors to choose from. My favorite are their Dark Chocolate Malt, Dark Chocolate Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Coconut. You can also purchase these directly from the company as well. Oh these are also made with erythritol.

So, the bottom line is that if you are diabetic or just want to have healthier options in your chocolate drawer, there are LOTS of great companies and products to choose from.

Website: http://www.demeterfragrance.com/

Country: USA (soaps made in Italy)

Blog: http://www.demeterfragranceblog.com/blog/

Newsletter: Yes

US Shipping: Yes, flat rate, $6.99

International Shipping: Yes, flat rate Canada $12.99 and flat rate air elsewhere $40.00

Discounts: Currently when you place an order of $25.00 or more, you get a free 1oz Cosmopolitan Cocktail perfume spray. I don’t know how long this will last. There is usually some type of special offer on the home page.

I have only ordered from their online store one time, and it will be the last time. I cannot remember when I have been more disappointed with a purchase than the one from Demeter Fragrance. The service was fast, the packaging is professional and minimal. But the product was an utter bomb in my opinion. Several years ago I ran across their fragrances in a small boutique and picked up a couple of sprays in Tomato Leaf and Dirt, more for the novelty of wearing something wacky than actual love of the scents. They actually smelled completely right on. It was because of this I decided to actually give them a go again. I was surprised to see how BIG their fragrance collection had grown and was very excited. They now offer shower gel, candles and soaps as well as an array of the bath and body products. Of course I had to get several of each.

So, I picked up a Cinnamon Bun Candle. It is a good size tin (5.6oz), and has a pretty decent throw, but nothing to write home about. It smelled more like straight cinnamon. The free gift at the time was a shower gel in Angel Food Cake. This had almost NO scent at all. The consistency was nice, but with no scent, what’s the point?

Next are their Olive Oil Soaps made in Italy. I am a HUGE fan of olive oil soaps, so was excited to see these and held high hopes for these bars. These items were the BIGGEST disappointment to me out of everything in this order. There was virtually no scent. The bars are huge (7 oz), but I wanted to smell good after using them. I picked up more than one (what I was thinking I have NO idea) I bought, Angel Food, Apple Pie, Orange Cream Pop and Sex on the Beach. They are extremely hard bars that began to crack along the sides and split apart as I used them. I finally took them out of the shower and have been using one for hand soap and the others for door stops. To its credit the hand soap has lasted a long time.

I saved the best (if it can be called that) for last. They offer 1/2 oz humongous mini splash colognes for only $5.00 a pop, so of course I got several of these. The first ingredient is alcohol, second is fragrance lastly is water. Pretty basic recipe. And you can definitely smell the alcohol. If you have a sensitivity to it (which I do) be forewarned.

Jelly Belly Sugar and Spice - Thankfully this smells right on, and is pretty darn yummy. I would possibly buy this in a spray if it was on sale somewhere.

Jelly Belly Blueberry muffin - Smells right on and really drys down nice.

Creme Brulee - Sucks, basically smells like vanilla with a strange slightly powdery note.

Cotton Candy - No way this smells like cotton candy, not even close kids, really smells chemically. It is hard to dupe this scent anyways. This one fell flat.

Suntan Lotion - This kind of smells like suntan lotion with a chemical kick. Think dollar store scented. ewww

Marshmallow - Another total let down. there may be a FAINT (and I mean very faint) hint of marshmallow. It did get a little tiny bit stronger after about an hour or so.

Seriously, it pains me to have to share this poor review of this company. I was really hoping for better quality and scent accuracy like the first two sprays I purchased long ago. Maybe I should have purchased all the scents in sprays and from their top 30 scent list (of which the Jelly Belly scents were). Maybe I would have had better luck. The good thing is that they have a 100% no questions asked money back gaurantee. Too bad I threw away my receipt and can’t find my online confirmation. Nor is it stored on their site. I will probably pitch all the soaps, let my friends have dibs on the scents I didn’t like and use the rest.

This was a non sponsored thread, meaning that I used my own money to buy these products for review, and I have received no monetary gain from this post.

I am SO excited!!!

I actually one a few items from the Bloggy Carnival Giveaway last week. So far I have won a bag of Laundry Tree Soap Nuts from , a $20.00 Gift Card to Toys R Us from Hullabalooloo AND a reading from Arwen at Tarot by Arwen!!! I am pretty sure most of the participants have drawn their winners. There were a few that ran through May 5th I think. Not too bad of a haul for going through almost 900 blogs in 3 days or so. LOL

Did you win anything from the Bloggy Carnival Giveaway? If so, post it here with a link to the blog you won from so we can see what we are missing out on! This was so fun, I can’t wait to do it again in July!

A HUGE thank you to everybody who participated this time around. There were a lot of really creative and generous prizes.

Lodi Vineyards

This weekend we picked up a bottle of this interesting wine. The Seven Deadly Zins 2006 from Lodi Vineyards. Admittedly I have never even tasted red zinfandel so had no idea what to expect. As with most wines I purchase based on the label art and the type. In this case the label was hilarious, so it warranted a place in my wine nook. Here’s what the vineyard which produces this blend had to say on their website:

“A sinful blend indeed! Our flagship Zinfandel was devised by the two Phillips brothers in their search for a blended Zin so captivating that no one could refuse. With consistency in mind, the brothers decided to blend the fruit of Lodi’s finest growers to fill the bottles of Michael~David’s new-fangled wine. In the end, seven vineyards were chosen for their superiority. Now, how do you label a wine so unique in style? Looking to their past, the two Phillips brothers quickly related the Seven Sins from their Catholic school upbringing to the seven Old Vine Zinfandels blended in their wine.”

Sooo, let me be the first to say (at least here on my blog) that this wine tasted NOTHING like their descriptive promises of

“Lustful Flavors: A vibrant, sweet bouquet of raspberry jam, molasses and cinnamon toast evoke the senses of carefree youthful nights. Excellent oak integration provides silken tannins and spice to pair with Lodi’s unrestricted wild berry fruit.”

At first smell and taste it was like burnt wood. Not unpleasant mind you, but burnt wood none the less. Maybe that was the “excellent oak integration” coming through for me. Maybe and this is a short maybe I could smell a hint of some kind of spice, but it was more like a tich of tobacco smoke. Very hard to describe. I can tell you that I did not taste any molasses (thank the Gods), raspberry jam or cinnamon toast (come on guys really?). LOL

Their site mentions that it would be good with BBq’d Salmon (back to the burnt wood theme) or prime rib. I paired it with lamb and beef with plenty of garlic, and it offset the meal quite nicely if I do say so myself. It wasn’t too overpowering yet held its own through the life of the bottle.

All this being said, it was a pretty tasty bottle of wine. Not one that
I would probably purchase again, but would give as a gift for the
novelty of the name and premise behind it. Very creative in that
respect. I leave you with this additional poetic excerpt from their site:

“Schulenburg’s vines, grubby with GREED,
Embrace Lodi’s soil, to drink and to feed.
Oh Lord, forgive me my zin.
Secure in it’s strength, weathered with PRIDE,
Standing like soldiers, the forest of Snyde.
Oh Lord, forgive me my zin.
Hearts filled with LUST, ole Maley’s trees.
Court Lodi’s sun, and flirt with it’s breeze.
Oh Lord, forgive me my zin.
Good Bishofberger did raise some GLUTTONOUS beast,
Vines fattened like turkeys before Thanksgiving feast.
Oh Lord, forgive me my zin.
With the tilt of the glass, I commit seven zins,
Oh Lord, with your help… I’ll do it again.
Indulge!“

This was a non sponsored thread, meaning that I used my own money to
buy this product for review, and I have received no monetary gain
from this post.

Hey everybody,

I was just looking at some potential new shopping conquests over at the Wickedly Chic Spring Fling. There are several interesting e-tailers listed and they have some nice discounts. Sadly, there are some that don’t even remotely tempt me with the discount they have offered. The good news is that there are several that DO tempt me. This is a pretty cool gift guide and I recommend you check it out post haste as they are having FREE Drawings each week until the middle of June.

This week it is Flying Needle Gallery who has some STUNNING textiles that are all handmade and very reasonably priced. I love her discount too, so much so I see some new pillows and napkins in my immediate future! And if you are like me and LOVE FREE stuff, be SURE to go to the main Wickedly Chic website and sign up for their newsletter. Every Sunday (and sometimes more than once a week) they have a Sunday Giveaway with awesome prizes. Liz has the most awesome product reviews and interesting new e-tailers around. Check it out, you will be so glad you did.

Let me start out by saying that I think it is great when e-tailers anywhere want to give a discount at all. But, I started thinking about this scenario a few months ago. What is the point where I personally see a discount and it tips me into actually placing a first time order with a NEW company? What does it for me? Well, usually a discount of 20% or more, and frankly the more the better especially if it is my first order. I don’t give a hill of beans about shipping. Typically most retailers now offer flat rate shipping of $8.95. Free shipping almost never sways me to buy. Common sense dictates that if the discount is more than 20% chances are I will save much more than that $8.95 “free” shipping. Maybe if it was international free shipping, I would think about it, but it is doubtful.

If the discount is between 20 and 25% I typically will spend $25.00 or so. If it is 30% or more, I will spend between $60.00 and $100.00 (maybe more if I can sneak it in lol). And these figures are for a FIRST time order, not repeat orders. Give me 40% or 50% off and I might even foam at the mouth for you.

5% discounts chap my hide and make me want to gouge my eyes out with a mixing bowl. 10% discounts annoy me and chances are if I see these two discounts, I won’t go back to look at the site again that is to say if I have even made it there to begin with. ENTICE me people. There are THOUSANDS of places to shop that have competitive prices, excellent products and service. What are you willing to offer to sway me to your business and to become an advocate as well as a repeat spender?

I am a business owner and have been in both service and goods sales, so the age old argument businesses give that “we just can’t afford it” won’t cut it with me. Because you can WRITE off your loss at the end of the year on your taxes. And no I am not saying that you should always offer discounts, but if you are going to do it, do it well. Because at least for this consumer, anything under 20% won’t convince me. No matter how good your products are or word of mouth is about your business.

The other thing that doesn’t do it for me on a first time order are the FREE gift with purchase offers. There is no way I want a free gift of the sellers choice if I don’t know if I like your product. Give me a solid discount and throw some small samples in for free if you really want to make me scream in happiness.

Times are very tight for a lot of people and have been since 9-11. Even for our family has had its fair share of struggles. Given all of the economic factors, I continue to spend and support indie businesses as often as I can, and that is usually several times a week. That being said, I only support the businesses who offer me the best VALUE for my dollar. To me looking for a discount is no different than clipping countless grocery store coupons, just less time consuming and less dangerous. Do I expect a discount every time? No, but chances are I will probably save up my order until there is one and that is the honest truth. Consumers can potentially discount a business to death, I have seen it happen on more than one occasion. As a business owner you have to follow your business plan and do what is best for you.

My question to all of you out there is when it comes to trying a new company, what does it for you? What discount would sway you? Is it free product? Free shipping? Word of mouth and no discount?

Don’t be shy, step right up and tell me how you really feel. I really DO want to know.

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5000132

Country: Australia

Blog: http://www.meringuediary.blogspot.com/

Newsletter: Yes, sign up on the blog

US Shipping: Yes, it is really inexpensive around $4.00

International Shipping: Yes

Discounts: Meringue is offering a 20% off discount for WSIMD readers until June 30th 2008, simply enter this code: WSD20 in the Message to Seller when you order from their Etsy shop, and then wait for them to send you a revised invoice from Paypal.

SQUEEE! (did I really just type that?) Some of you who really know me well, know that I am not overly fashionable at ALL. I just wear my own thing, mostly black or brown en toto. So, when I found these CUTE AS HELL wristlets by Meringue, I knew I had to have some. Yes, some. I bought two, the one listed above which is called Licorice Whip and the other was Persian Fairy Floss.

So what is a Wristlet? This little blurb from their shop really sums it way better than I could. “The only hands free technology a girl needs! Wristlets are the perfect size to hold all the important stuff like your wallet, keys, lippy and other girly essentials. You can hold champagne in one hand and daintily scoff horses doovers with the other. Or you can hold champagne in one hand and sign autographs with the other. Or, you can juggle…whilst drinking champagne.”

It is the perfect little handbag for me. My sister ribs me for carrying around a tiny zipper coin purse STUFFED with everything my non complicated life could need. When I saw these extraordinary wristlets, I knew I had found the perfect fashion solution. I cannot WAIT until my sister sees these and sighs with envy. I of course wanted way more of these bags than I could afford on my budget or reasonably sneak past my spousal unit. I really wanted to get this bag as well:

But held off. When I emailed Jodie the artist and genius behind Meringue for the shipping info and with my selections, I happened to mention that I had a hard time choosing which ones and listed this one as an additional favorite. You could have bowled me over with a feather when I ripped into my international haute couture parcel to find not only the two gorgeous bags I had paid for, but this stunning Aubergine little number as well. Yes, she was extremely generous and added this as a thank you for being her first purchase on the other site I found her on. Let me clarify that she had NO idea I would be reviewing these products, the inclusion of this bag was a completely generous and selfless act. One that I will never forget, because it really made my day and brought tears to my eyes. Jodie, thank you again for this bag, I will always treasure it.

I mentioned the parcel that contained my bags. Let me elaborate on their presentation. I am a big packaging minimalist fan. And there was no disapointment when I opened this lovely package. The bags were tied together with a simple satin ribbon with a small tasteful hand crafted tag thanking me for my purchase and signed by the owner. A classy presentation that is for sure.

Now for the bags! They are a bit bigger than the picture shows which is perfect. They are just a shade smaller than a salad plate (7.5″ wide by 6.5″ high) and extremely well designed. They hold my cell phone, keys lipstick, powder, credit cards and maybe a few other small goodies perfectly! The handles are double stitched where the most wear and tear could occur which is a bonus and just goes to show that this artist really has an eye for detail as well as style.

Each bag is lined with a nice cotton and made with high quality fabric.They can be washed gently and ironed on low. I have one that will be perfect for spring and summer and all of my casual about the town events, and two that are versatile enough for dressing up and going out and would even bend to a slightly more casual look.

When it comes to fashion accessories, you are more likely to find me running and screaming the other way than actively seeking out more to purchase. And you can bet with the lovely discount provided I am seeking more of these cute bags. I have my eye on the Black Forest Cake, Eggplant Parma and the Peppermint Candy Wristlet. Ok, OKAY! I you got me, I also wouldn’t mind having the Smoked Salmon Bagel and this version of the Persian Fairy Floss.

The thing that is tres dangeroux (very dangerous for our English speaking visitors) about these bags as they are VERY limited edition. Yep, Jodie only offers a few of each fabric design. So my friends, if you see something you like, I suggest you snap it up. One of the initial bags I purchased doesn’t appear to be up for sale any longer. The great thing about this is that you are definitely going to have a unique bag. No worries about strutting your stuff down main street and running into your bag on another persons arm.

I have literally been stalking her Etsy shop for new designs each week and am signed up for her newsletter where she gives away free loot once a month. I cannot wait to see the latest designs. She also has some Itty Bitty Totes that I have my eyes on.

Over all my experience with this international retailer was stellar and then some. One of the other great things about these bags is that shipping was INEXPENSIVE. I think it was like $4.00 and my parcel arrived in about a week maybe a few more days. It was FAST. So, don’t let shipping hold you back, that is nothing! For a handcrafted item, these bags are a STEAL.

I hope you will post back here and let everybody know which bags you chose for yourself. Remember there is a hefty discount for WSIMD readers at the beginning of this post. Oh and please let me know what you think of my new bags while you are here. This was a non sponsored thread, meaning that I used my own money to buy these products for review, and I have received no monetary gain from this post.

This was a non sponsored thread, meaning that I used my own money to buy these products for review, and I have received no monetary gain from this post.

Well, I just got back from Barnes & Noble *groans* and got out of there for just under $55.00 bucks this time. The member card saved us five bills (of the one dollar variety) and some change. So I bet you want to know what you have to look forward to seeing here in the coming weeks for review….

I picked up several NEW releases. Rogue (Werecats, Book 2) by Rachel Vincent. Lady & the Vamp (Immortality Bites, Book 3) by Michelle Rowen. The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy. I also found two new (to me) titles that I hadn’t heard of before. Blue Is For Nightmares which is book one of four in the Stacey Brown Series by Laurie Faria Stolarz which I found in the YA (young adult) section. Last but not least, La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock.

These books are now a part of the Weird Stuff In My Desk Bookstore. The bookstore is filled with most of the books I have read over the last two years. So, if you want to see what I have been up to since retiring from my last business and what I like to read, please check it out! My preference is to read books that are in a series. I just hate it when the story ends. LOL You may need to know that I am a bit obsessive about my series, so the store is laid out with the books in ORDER of where they fall in each series. There will definitely be more added over the next few weeks. I have read a TON of books. Who knows, maybe I will even get around to reviewing them all.

I am pretty backlogged right now on book reviews, so just a peak at what will be coming up in the next couple of weeks. These are books I have already read that need to be reviewed.

• The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 6) (4/29/08 release)
• Black Magic Woman (Quincy Morris Supernatural Investigation)
• Happy Hour at Casa Dracula (Casa Dracula Series, Book 1)
• Midnight Brunch (Casa Dracula Series, Book 2)
• One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2) (4/29/08 release)
• The Housewives tarot: A Domestic Divination Kit with Deck and Instruction Book

Thank you so much to everybody who entered the giveaway for a FREE Custom Perfume Blend from Fragrantsoul.com.

The Random Number Generator picked number 31 Mama Zen! She has five days to respond to the email announcement I just sent her. Edited to add that she did contact me and we have an official winner!

Be SURE to subscribe to our newsletter here on the blog as I am planning on doing some more giveaways in the very near future for other things (read Amazon GC ).

For those who didn’t win, I am offering you a 25% off discount to you good towards a purchase of our exclusive Purification and Banishing Negativity Spray on our Fragrantsoul.com. Use coupon code: bloggycarnival expires 5/31/08

You can purchase multiple bottles in your order. HURRY this offer is limited to stock on hand, no rain checks once the stock is gone, the coupon is no longer valid.

Website: http://www.madcitysue.etsy.com

Country: USA

Blog: No

Newsletter: No

US Shipping: Yes, flat rate $8.95 USPS unless you purchase a few smaller items then shipping overage will be refunded.

International Shipping: Yes, but please contact them prior to placing your order.

Discounts: N/A

This has been a long time coming! Sue from Mad City Soap also known as Mad City Sue in some circles from Wisconsin is my bath and body heroine. Let me start by saying that I have purchased so many items from her since finding her in 2007, that I will probably not be able to review them all. It would soon turn into the MCS manual! LOL I know you will be content to hear all about my most recent stash though.

My order from 2 week ago order included several of her new spring/summer scents. I always pick up her scents in her famous Soy Cream. This cream is really thick and wonderful. It soaks right in without a hint of greasiness. I use some of this every single day and have four jars sitting here at my desk with me. When you go shopping on her site, If you see a lot of scents you would like to try, convo her on Etsy and ask her about her sample program. It is a secret so I am not telling here.

The scents I picked for my Soy Creams were:

Apple Martini – SUPER appleicious and bright. I wasn’t sure what I would think of this one as it isn’t a typical scent that I gravitate to. It is a keeper, perfect for spring or summer. Kids and adults alike. The scent lasts a long time, now I wish I had purchased a Dry Oil Spray Perfume or Roll On Perfume to layer with.

Alkmaar Type (this is a LUSH dupe) – This is one of the only scents I really love from LUSH and they only make it in soap. So when MSC came out with an almost identical version, I about wet my pants. I now have this in a Foaming Sugar Scrub, Soy Cream, Smooth as Silk Lotion (this is a special order product), Roll On Perfume AND Dry Oil Spray Perfume. Again this is not a typical Rachel fragrance, it is an extremely heavy floral combination of jasmine and honeysuckle. Very sexy and strong.

Iced Orange Pineapple – Another winner, this is the ultimate in bright citrus tropical goodness. The orange in this is so realistic to me that I can almost smell the actual slight bitter scent of an orange peel when you first break the skin. The pineapple is in perfect balance and really rounds this into an unforgettable fragrance that actually smells like fruit and not like plastic w/a coating of fruit on it like so many other companies offer.. I also got this in Dry Oil Spray Perfume I HOPE she makes this into soap.

Key Lime Pie – Sweet mother of pie this stuff is yummy. It smells JUST like the pie. You can smell the crust too. I will definitely get more products in this scent later on.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows – Okay now for some not so good news. I didn’t really dig this scent. Its not that it isn’t good, it is just that I am not a huge fan of chocolate scents. But I got it because it was paired with fantastic marshmallow (which is my all time favorite MSC scent in case you are keeping track). I personally don’t really smell the marshmallow, but more of a hot chocolate smell that is really pretty light. It doesn’t float my boat, but hey, I took the chance with ordering chocolate.

Moving right along, I want to talk about a new up and coming obsession for me and that is the MSC soap line. I have tons of soap around the house all the time. 99% of it is handmade. Honestly many of the handmade soaps that I have purchased in the past have been hit and miss, and there are only a very few companies that I actively seek out to purchase bar soap from. I can now add Sue to my list. First of all her bars are HUGE as in 4 to 5 oz bars, most of these I got this week weigh at least 5 oz (yep I weighed them, how annoying lol). They are packaged simply and professionally, they are highly scented, lather like a dream and moisturize like the champions they are.

My first MSC soap bar purchase was Satsuma. I was just dipping my little toe into the big pond of soapy goodness. My husband stole the bar from me immediately and tried to make it his own. This scent is so fragrant and good it makes me drool just thinking about it. I can smell that soap while I am in bed and my husband is showering across the hall. That one bar sold me on trying more. So, this last week I did. LOL (you knew that was coming didn’t you). Let me say that these bars are ONLY $4.00 each, which is a steal for the size and quality. I have purchased smaller bars for almost $8.00 that sucked. Needless to say I picked up several. Of course I snagged the last three bars of Satsuma (sorry folks),

The new scents I picked up in soap are:

Magnolia Peach Melba – The verdict is still out on this scent. It is pretty cloying to me, but the peach helps round it off a bit on the finish. It is definitely strong. If you like a floral scent with just hint of fruit, it is definitely the bar for you.

Blue Sugar – This is one of my guilty pleasures. It is a perfect dupe of the Aquolina men’s cologne. And I lurrrvvv it. I have this in all products and was thrilled to find it in soap on the site.

Almond Coconut – I like this scent. Now I was a little hesitant because I had gotten this last fall in a Soy Butter, and it didn’t seem to have much scent. But this bar is really nice. A perfect balance of both the coconut and the almond.

Pineapple Crème Brulee – Sweet and yummy are the best ways to describe this bar. I don’t get a ton of cream smell, but that is A-okay with me. The pineapple is strong, just they way I like it. Fresh crushed right off the islands. I will definitely purchase more product in this scent.

Let me touch on the other products and what I like about them. Roll On Perfumes, you can get these made in either a base of perfumers alcohol or sweet almond oil. They come in the perfumers alcohol by default. So that is what I got this time, more because I was in NO way reading that info because I was too busy convoing my special order over. Normally I steer clear of alcohol based products because they tend to make me extremely nauseated. But these perfumes do not have the effect on me, which tells me they are perfectly formulated. They are long lasting too as you will read about shortly.

Fresh Marshmallow – This is by far probably my favorite scent to date from MSC. I have gone through many a marshmallow wanna be fragrance blends prior to finding the holy marshmallow grail with Sue in Wisconsin (who knew?). It is a pretty light scent but really true to a fresh marshmallow out of the bag. A nice hint of vanilla. Now it may be light, but the perfume has staying power. I put some on around 10:00 am on Saturday morning and roamed all around the area doing various chores. My last stop was the grocery store. By this time it was nearing 10:00 pm. I got in line and the cashier starts looking around, over her shoulder at the person in front of me, smelling her clothes. It was quiet comical. I finally asked her what was wrong. She said “I smell marshmallows”. I told her it was me. It seemed like she didn’t believe me, but oh well. Because I had been wearing it all day my nose adjusted and I couldn’t really smell it. But apparently it was still going strong.

Satsuma – You have already read my bit above on this awesome citrus scent. I cannot BELIEVE I forgot to order lotion and cream in this. I currently have this slathered over my marshmallow. Heaven!

Alkmaar Type – Again this is extremely strong in perfume form and I dig it.

Some of you may have read about me not being to hip on Body Scrubs, but I do like the new Foaming Sugar Scrubs Sue is offering. They aren’t too oily, they are nice and thick and yummy. So far I just have the Alkmaar Type but am plotting a few more in say SATSUMA! Her regular Whipped Sugar Scrubs are really good too. The 8 oz jar is only $9.00 bucks. Let me tell you this is A LOT of scrub, as she fills the jars to the top as you can see in this picture below. I typically get a smaller size scrub or a sample size because I know that I don’t use them enough.

She also makes a product called Shower Parfait Whipped Soap It is really decadent and nice. I have just a few jars of this as cream soap isn’t my favorite form of washing the girly bits. <smirk> If you haven’t tried this type of soap before, check it out. You will want to use it with a bath pouf. I bet kids would love it too. Way easier to handle than a big bar of soap.

Whew this was a long review (see what I meant about a manual?). The long and the short of it is that Mad City Soaps makes a high quality product line, they are completely customer focused and are extremely generous. Included in my order this week was a sample bottle of Alkmaar Lotion and a Soy Creme Body Butter in Blooming Violets. The violet smells really nice. I don’t like many heavy florals, but this I may wear.

I custom order almost everything from Sue via convo on Etsy. Because she offers hundreds of scents, it is much easier for me to do it this way. If you see something on the etsy site but it isn’t in the scent you are looking for, just convo her OR say what scents you do want in the notes when you check out. She makes almost everything to order when she receives payment. And she is FAST. Her turn around time makes my head spin, you just can’t beat that for custom scented products. This page has her scent descriptions, product sizes and prices for each in case they are not currently in her store. Most products have the complete scent list in the description too.

Some of MY other favorite scents are: Caramel Apple, Cherry Divinity, Coconut Pear, Lemon Custard, Lime Margarita, Pink Sugar type, Rootbeer Float and my second all time favorite Sweet Madeline.

Her prices are extremely reasonable I would say from low to medium. Mad City Soaps really proves that just because it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg doesn’t mean it is good. They really mean it when they say “Quality is Key”.