Website: http://www.villainess.net

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Discounts: 5% off a single order use coupon code: W31RD. Offer expires 6/30/08

Today I am reviewing a great product from a very hip company called Villainess based out of Tennessee. Brooke has recently re-vamped her website and product line. Let me tell you this site is slick. It is probably one of the coolest, most creative easy to navigate bath and body sites out there. Great job!

I picked up a jar of their Jai Mahal Whipped body cream a few weeks ago. WOW this stuff smells and feels great. It has a fairly thick texture and sinks right in the minute you rub it in. A little bit goes a long way. You can get a large 6 oz jar for only $10.00! For the product, packaging and quantity, I think this is a great value.

The Jai Mahal scent is stunningly gorgeous. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read this description from the site; “4 rich vanillas and tonka, Mysore sandalwood, bourbon and coconut. Expensive woods, incense and imported spices – cedar, amber, myrrh, cardamom and nutmeg.” It is all this and a bag of chips. Seriously, my next order will contain every product they carry in this scent. It is almost like a chai tea but with lots of cream and vanilla. I don’t know how I lived this long without it.

My next order is looking like it will definitely contain more whipped, soaps, smooch which is their version of a decadent sugar scrub, and at least one of these amazing soap dishes.

Bottom line? Run don’t walk to get your Villainess goodies, you will be so glad you did. And be sure to sign up for our newsletter to read follow up product reviews of this great company.

This was a non sponsored post, meaning that I used my own money to buy this product for review.

Website: http://www.wyldeivy.com/

Country: USA

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International Shipping: Yes, you will want to read this page and understand the policies before ordering.

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I have been ordering products from Wylde Ivy for a few years now and have really grown to love a few select products and scents. This is a small family owned business in the wilds of Pennsylvania. Ashlee is a total gem, and has recently given birth to a set of amazing twin girls. While her pregnancy took her away from her business for a little bit, she is back in full swing. She had a nice little sale going on, of course I had to place an order! So I am not sure if all of the items I purchased will be in stock now or not. Be sure to comment here and tell us what your favorite Wylde Ivy products are, we love to hear from you!

A note on packaging and presentation. All the labels are professional grade and well presented. The soaps come in re-usable muslin bags which scores Wylde Ivy big points for trying to be eco friendly. They use minimal packaging which I really like.

I picked up a lovely scent that is new to me called Amber Chai. I purchased a bottle of silken body oil, soap and an all olive hand lotion. Both of these products are currently on clearance, so rush over and get yours. I HOPE that these products will be coming back. The Silken Body Oil is one of my favorite dry oil type formulations. It has calendula, rosemary and raspberry seed oils for an extra anti-oxidant boost. It is not oily at all and really helps the scent go further. You can use it in your hair and skin. I haven’t used my soap yet, but it smelled yummy out of the re-usable bag it came in. The scent is pretty strong, I really don’t smell any chai type spice, but the amber is divine. It isn’t over powering like some amber scents can be. This is a real winner.

I also picked up Lemon Cream Danish in the same combo of products as above. WOW, I am a big lemon curd fragrance fan, but this is a new favorite for me. I only see the perfume oil for sale on the site right now. I pray she brings this back. It really smells like the lemon filling they put in danish and lemon filled donuts. Fresh and sweet, it really doesn’t have any of the bready pastry scent, which is fine with me. This would make awesome hair products!

My absolute favorite new scent is the Black Tea Jasmine. I only got it in the all olive lotion. I don’t know what I was thinking, I really should have nabbed some perfume too. This smells exactly like jasmine tea. And you know I know my teas. *smiles* You can currently get this scent in several products including silken body oil, soap, spritzer and perfume oil. This is on my wish list now. Oh yeah, they have a convenient wish list feature that you can send to your friends. *hint hint*

Next up is the White Cashmere Silken Body Oil. This is an interesting scent of vanilla pods, orchid and sandalwood with a few other notes. It is really pretty and exotic. Not an overpowering floral, just unique and sexy. I am going to pick it up next time in perfume and all olive lotion.

Wylde Ivy almost always includes samples with each order which I really appreciate. This time was no exception. Included in my box were a sample of Ice Princess Perfume and Chocolate Mint Truffle Lotion. Admittedly, I am not a big mint fan. The perfume is a mint blend that has a great vanilla dry down. Creamy and good. The lotion smells just like an Ande’s dinner mint. Neither are scents for me, but if you like vanilla mint or mint scents both of these products would be right up your alley.

A note on Wylde Ivy Soaps. There is one scent that my husband and I really like and it is actually his favorite, Tuscan Garden. It is currently out of stock and should be coming back this spring / summer season. So far of the 15 or more scents I have tried over the years, this is the only scented one I like. We also use a bar of Sweet Oat Soap from the Classics Line on our face that is really nice and gentle. Now, that being said, and in all fairness, the soaps lather really nicely and don’t dry my skin out. My challenge is that they don’t have enough scent. I am a fragrance ho (as you may know), and like them strong. Their soaps get rave reviews from others, so don’t just take my word for it, try some out ourself, then come back and let us know what you think!

Over all the value of the products versus the price is excellent. Quality is top notch as far as ingredients. It is my opinion that their lotions and perfumes are their strongest products. If the soaps were stronger, I would shop here more often. Ashlee is extremely creative and provides excellent service and fast shipping times. Right at the moment she is gearing up for some new summer scents and is re-formulating some products. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

Shopping Tips: Be sure to sign up for the Wylde Ivy Newsletter, this is where you will hear about some of the great specials and new products before anybody else. Also, they have a bonus points program, so for every dollar you spend, you accrue points that you can redeem towards your future purchases. Also, if you don’t see a product or scent that I have mentioned be sure to contact Wylde Ivy to see if they have some or when it will be back in stock.

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

Hey everybody,

I went to the book store again last week and picked up a few more new releases to ease the bulge in my wish list. LOL

First up is Playing with Fire (Silver Dragons, Book 1). Katie MacAlister has got to be one of my favorite paranormal and regular chic lit authors. She is hilarious! The second book I had to grab is Gone with the Witch (Triplet Witch Trilogy, Book 2). Anette Blair is yet another very funny author to be sure.

These next two books are ones that I have not read anything by the authors, so am really looking forward to getting to know their style. Both books look really entertaining. Which is a plus in my book (no pun intended). First is 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom. This next book, is completely new to me, it wasn’t even on one of my many wishlists! The Brass Bed by Jennifer Stevenson.

Check these titles out and pick up your copy today so we can read and review them together!

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

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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”.

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5511463

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Welcome to my review du jour. That is review of the day for all you English speaking visitors. LOL

A note about my review style: My reviews are honest, yet hopefully not too brutal. I can’t rave about everything and everyone I come across (well I could but damned if I will). Companies can’t change and grow if their clients never tell them how they feel, good OR bad. That being said these are my own personal opinions, not the holy grail of information (though that would be nice now wouldn’t it?). I haven’t been paid for this review (and if I have I will tell you).

If you would like me to review your products, service, books, videos, art etc. feel free to contact me for details. Now on to the real reason you are here…..this is what you came for right?

I shop a lot….I shop ONLINE for most of my non-essentials. This is a review of a new Etsy shop (new to me anyways) called You Little Tart by jessmss.

I rarely burn candles anymore because of the soot factor in our little hobbit hole, so my next best favorite thing are wax tarts or wax melts. I LOVE love love them. And the bonus of no flame is good too. So, back to You Little Tart by jessmss!

My first order was for 1 each of the stepping stone shape in these scents:

Spiced Jellie bean
Sandalwood Vanilla
creamsickle
Toasted Almond
Cherry Almond
Spiced Pear
Red Velvet Cake
Vanilla Lei-Tropical vanilla scent
Vanilla Pear
Big Sage
Cherry Pie
Virgin Forest-berries & pine needles
Apple pie
Blueberry pie

She also included two free gifts for mentioning that I am a LUSH forum member. They were wax tarts in a button shape of Peach Cobbler and Blackberry. Very cute. (thanks Jess!). I purchased my order on 3/30/08 and they arrived today via priority mail. That was really fast TAT. I am in WA state and they are in RI. So, she must have started my order immediately.

The tart packaging presentation leaves a little to be desired, at least in my opinion. They are shrink wrapped in a wrap that is too big for the items (about 1.5″ long by 1/2″ wide). I don’t usually care much about packaging, because it normally gets ripped off and thrown away. But I can’t really SMELL the tart goodness through all the hard shrink wrap. (I know cry me a river). But it is important for me to be able to smell them before unwrapping them and tossing them in the burner. What if I don’t like it just out of the wrap, then my wrap is gone (cause you have to cut these babies to get them out) and I have to use another plastic baggie to re-store it. The scents are hand written on little labels. I don’t really care about that. These are homemade with love. Having owned my own personal care and tea business, I know a LOT about packaging. The first thing I know is that it is a PAIN in the arse when you are a small indie business. It can take time and lots of efforts to get it just right….and then you have to change again. LOL

So, enough about the packaging. I popped in the Apple Pie Tart first, it didn’t have a lot of scent as far as cold throw out of the package, and it is heating up now on the burner. More on this later.

I have to amend my statement earlier (at least slightly) about not being able to smell them through the shrink wrap. I can smell these a little bit:

Cherry Pie, Spiced Jellie Bean, Virgin Forest, Spiced Pear, Big Sage, Toasted Almond and Blueberry Pie. They smell good.

My box included a very nice hand written note from Jess herself, which is a nice touch. Jess is really nice, was fast in replying to my Convo on Etsy when I first contacted her. The price on these tarts is fair, you can’t beat $1.25. The only thing I would change is the packaging, but hey, that is just my opinion. It wouldn’t stop me from ordering again.

I just went and sniffed the Apple Pie, it is only about half way burned. There is no out of the bowl throw yet. But it smells DIVINE standing by the bowl. I may do a follow up review in a few weeks once I have had a chance to burn through some more of these.

In a nutshell, inexpensive, fast courteous service, if the rest of the tarts smell this good in the bowl, I will probably order again. I encourage you to give You Little Tart by jessmss a try today! You do have to sign up for an Etsy account, but it is fast, FREE and easy. And you will be so very glad you did, because it is a unique shopping oasis.

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.