Carol Of The Smells

I know I'm 2 months late but here is a Christmas scent review!

        I know that Christmas was so long ago, but I have a few extra Christmas themed scents to share with you all. I was going to post this closer to Christmas but snow and moving took my internet away so it is just now getting it's chance to be published. Still it is never too early to consider your options for next year though. Sadly once again I wont have the pictures of the actual scent shots, but I will have my descriptions and holiday gifs for you all. So I hope you guys enjoy it even though it is late.

Hollyberry: 
Color: Christmas Tree Green
Cold Throw: The site description is pretty spot on, on this one. I smell the clove along with a tiny hint of sweet bakery cinnamon mixed with a nice light citrusy orange fragrance with a touch of vanilla added to act as a base to round the whole scent out. I'm not sure why it is called Hollyberry since there is absolutely no hint of berries that I can smell but that is a minor thing. This scent fits in with the holiday fragrances and is a nice and different take on some of them.

Warm Throw: To be honest I didn't mind this one so much but it wasn't a favorite and I ended up swapping it in a round robin. However that isn't to say there was anything wrong or bad with this scent. I actually had no problems with it really I just didn't feel it was one I needed to keep in reserve in my personal stash. That being said this one was okay. I didn't really get any berry scent with it though which was kind of strange. I got more of the cinnamon/orange mixture with just a touch of vanilla that kept the cinnamon at bay. The scent throw if I remember correctly was pretty average. I would say though if you don't like cinnamon scents then pass on this one. Still don't let my description scare you away. Like I said I actually had no problems with this scent in general.

Hollyberry doesn't smell anything like holly or berries lol

Snowberry: 
Color: Cranberry Sauce Burgundy
Cold Throw: I will just say I'm not the biggest berry fan unless it is blueberry or strawberry. Luckily strawberry is in this scent and is very noticeable. I don't exactly know what loganberry smells like by itself, but I can pick it out in this scent. In fact so far on cold throw I only smell loganberry and strawberry. There is no hint of cinnamon or peppermint in it that I can smell just yet. I kind of like it like this though. I love peppermint and cinnamon but I think it smells great with just the berries. Will be interesting to see if it changes once warmed.

Warm Throw: If you were a little turned off by the mint or cinnamon description let me put your fears to rest and say that I didn't get any cinnamon at all in this scent and only a minuscule amount of mint was to be found. Really the mint only served to make the berries smell more like chilled berries. This was pretty much a mixture of loganberry and strawberry. To me this is like a fruity sweet but not candy or tart sweet berry fragrance. I personally liked this one and feel like it could be an any season kind of scent. I would recommend this scent to those who like berry scents along the line of Berry Me Alive. The scent throw though wasn't very strong. It wasn't super weak either like it was noticeable but it dissipated quickly and 1/4 didn't exactly fill the room.

Christmas Kitchen: 
Color: Cranberry Sauce Burgundy
Cold Throw: I get all the scents in this one wrapped up to make an entirely new complete scent. It is a nice subdued Christmas scent so it isn't overly heavy or spiced up as some tend to be. The orange is the predominant note but only by a little bit. The cinnamon isn't a sharp or abrasive kind and it kind of sits in the undercurrents. The pumpkin kind of acts like a base to round out the overall scent and give it a nice depth. I think all the scents are nicely balanced and each fragrance compliments the others.

Warm Throw: This was a very festive scent. Let me tell you if you are a little put off by the cold throw that the scents blend together better was all warmed up. It smells decidedly like Christmas time. The cinnamon stayed subdued but noticeable, the pumpkin didn't come out in force and kind of acted like the glue that held the scent together, and the orange wasn't too citrusy or thick smelling. Overall I liked it. I liked Christmas Lane better but this one is still really nice. The scent throw was pretty average.

Christmas By The Fire: 
Color: Chimney Brick Red
Cold Throw: I can immediately smell the cedar and sage in this one. I think I get a little bit of myrrh and nutmeg in this one too, but not much cinnamon or frankincense on cold throw. I'm not a big fan of the sage and cedar mixture in this one so far. It is kind of too earthy for me at the moment so I'm hoping the spices will come out more once warmed. I can see a lot of others really liking it as it is right now because of it's slight earthiness but I'm just not an earthy/woody fan myself.

Warm Throw: I ended up liking this one more than I initially thought I would. The fragrance came together better was warmed up and the frankincense peaked out a bit more than before. The cedar and sage is still apparent but they are tampered down by the other scents so it isn't overly earthy or woodsy. It had a really nice touch. Not sure it reminded me of a Christmas fire so to speak but it was still very nice and close to one. This would be a good one to have in a wood wick candle so you could get the smell and the nice little crackle of the wick. The scent throw was decently strong but not overwhelming or too powerful.

These really help you get into the Christmas spirit.

Star Of Bethlehem: 
Color: Snow White
Cold Throw: This is a nice example of soft spices with a nice light citrus done right. Honestly I find this one a very nice mixture where the spices are soft and not "spicy" the clove and frankincense cloak the cinnamon and go hand in hand with a nice light orange fragrance. I am really liking this one for the holidays. This is kind of like what I was hoping Orange Clove would smell like only better. I like that the scent throw so far is very noticeable but it is an overall light type of fragrance.

Warm Throw: I really loved this one. I melted it on Christmas actually and it just set the mood so well. The spices were all as I said very much on the soft side and not the strong abrasive sharp kind. There is just this hint of citrus in the edges but it blends so well with the spices. The scent throw on this one was medium average the throw was just a little bit over normal.  I really would recommend this one to those who like clove or frankincense type of scents. I personally really love this one.  

Christmas Lane: 
Color: Cranberry Sauce Burgundy
Cold Throw: This smells like Christmas to me. Like all the things I love about Christmas rolled into one just minus a mint smell that is my personal favorite for winter lol. I get the slight crisp apples, the airy oak, the lightly earthy essence of fir and balsam, along with a nice soft subdued spice of clove. The pine and cinnamon which I am sure are probably in here aren't really noticeable to me just yet on cold. To me this is a nice mixture of some classic Christmas scents and I really like how the mixture of all these fragrances makes one new scent that isn't thick or cloying. It is actually a nice slightly earthy, slightly sweet, and light scent.

Warm Throw: This and Rocky Mountain Christmas and Star Of Bethlehem were the highlights of my order. This one I think took first place just by a little bit. It stayed pretty much the same as it did on cold throw which was perfectly alright with me. The scent throw was pretty moderate. I don't think I can describe it any better than I did on cold throw but just know I love this scent. It just smells to me of all the things Christmas should smell like for me personally. This will probably be a permanent staple of mine for Christmas times to come.

Rocky Mountain Christmas: 
Color: Christmas Tree Green
Cold Throw: This is a combination of two favorite scents of mine, Sugared Spruce and Leaves Type. I love both those scents on their own and combined they smell terrific. The Sugared Spruce gives this crisp fresh evergreen tree smell and the Leaves Type adds this richer depth that adds the tiniest bit of cider spice that rounds out the scent. The Leaves Type takes away some of the sweetness from Sugared Spruce and gives it more earthiness so it smells more outdoorsy and real.

Warm Throw: I stick with my initial scent description. It stays pretty much the same once warmed up. It mainly smells like Sugared Spruce but it is made more real and authentic outdoors smelling thanks to the Leaves Type. I think the name captures this scent pretty well. It is a wonderful winter scent. The scent throw was super strong and filled the entire house and made it smells like evergreen trees covered in snow. Truly it creates a winter wonderland atmosphere. I really loved this one. Definitely have to have it in my winter scent arsenal.

These scents all make me so happy!

     That's it for this belated Christmas review. I hope you guys will remember some of these scents when you are ready to start plotting for next year. I know a few of you have planners probably with many pages lol. I will be uploading my Valentine's Day Review for you guys very very soon if all goes according to plan. Then after that I should be back onto my normal monthly review track. I still have a round robin review for next month for you guys as well so I hope you all come back for that. Anyways stay safe you guys I know half of the US has been pounded with winter storms while the other half has suffered from sever droughts so wherever you guys all are in the US or otherwise I hope you all take care and stay safe. See you next time guys!

50 Hallowen Songs Part 2

I see you came back for more.

        Welcome back everyone! Only six days until Halloween! I hope most of you are ready for it. So let's get down to business and finish up the last twenty five Halloween songs I have for you. Remember these aren't in any specific order. I am not a music critic nor do I pretend to be so hopefully there will be some in here that you know and some that you didn't. Now on to the music.  

 

Sheb Wooley- Purple People Eater

     This classic novelty song reached all the way to number one on the pop charts in 1958. The origins of this song came from a joke told by the child of a friend of Wooley's. After hearing it Wooley composed this song within an hour. This 50's jewel has endured the test of time with it's silly lyrics, toy saxophone melody, and it's chipmunk vocals. People from kids to adults still recognize this hit to this day. 

 

The Decemberists- Culling Of The Fold

     Most of you probably haven't heard this twisted little pop song, but for those who have you can easily see how it can be turned into a Halloween song. This catchy little ditty was originally written for the show The Crane Wife, but not it was later not included "because it offended Jenny." The narrartor of the song tells a girl to cut up a man she doesn't even know who lives by himself and also tells a boy to murder his lover. "Bash her on the paving stones, it may break your heart to break her bones, but somebody's gotta do the culling...the culling of the fold."

 

Blue Oyster Cult- Don't Fear The Reaper

      This 1976 rock hit made it all the way to the number 12 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 list. It has endured the test of time with it's amazing guitar riff and infamous cowbell background beat. The use of the cowbell actually became a popular Saturday Night Live parody starring Christopher Walken as a music producer who craves "more cowbell" from his band. The phrase went on to become a popular joke in SNL history. Lead singer Dharma wrote this song of eternal love and the inevitability of death while picturing an early demise for himself. This song was even featured in 1978's classic horror film Halloween.

 

Jace Everett- Bad Things

      True Blood fans around the world probably need no introduction to this sexy swamp rock country song. Most famous for being the hit HBO series True Blood theme this, song has been nominated by The Scream Awards for "The Best Scream Song of the Year". Though it did not win this song still strikes a naughty rockabilly chord for fans of the fangtastic show. "I wanna do bad things with you. I wanna do real bad things with you." 

 

The X-Files Theme Song

      The science fiction drama television series took the world by storm in the 90's and up until 2007 had held the title for the longest running science fiction series in U.S. history. The show earned three Golden Globe Awards for Best Drama Television Series. However the eerie theme song gained much notoriety the world over. Even people who have never seen the X-Files television show can recognize it's tune. The theme even made it all the way to the number two spot on the UK Singles Charts in 1996 and managed to hold its position for three whole weeks.

 

Oingo Boingo- Dead Man's Party

      Danny Elfman's new age band makes yet another appearance on our list for this horror themed pop number. The lyrics "I hear the chauffeur coming to my door; Says there's room for maybe just one more" is a reference to the "The Bus-Conductor," a short story involving a hearse driver by E. F. Benson. The story spawned an urban legend, with each version using the catchphrase, "Room for one more." Despite it's rather dark undertones the song itself has an upbeat party feel to it making it infectiously catchy.

 

Blind Guardian- Dream A Little Dream Of Me

     This heavy metal cover of one of the most covered love songs in history makes our list because despite the newfound hard edge given to the melody the lead singer sings the lyrics to make it sound much more menacing then most. In fact when he sings "Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you" it sounds more like "sweet dreams till ZOMBIES find you." The darker quality of this cover makes it sounds less like a dreamy love song and more like a horror stalker song.

 

Alvin & The Chipmunks- Everything's Gonna Be Alright

    A "spooky" duet between The Chipmunks and The Chipettes featured at the end in the animated 2000 movie Alvin & The Chipmunks Meet The Wolfman. This fun children's song captures childhood frights while at the same time soothing them with the words, "Everything's gonna be alright. Don't you be afraid when things go bump in the night." This is sure to be a favorite for the little ones this Halloween. 

 

The Doors- People Are Strange

     Released in 1967 this hypnotic classic by The Doors peaked at number 12 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart. The song is about alienation and being an outsider and the slow even lyrics give the listener an impression of being surrounded by strangers with the vulnerability of feeling depressed and alone. "People are strange when you're a stranger. Faces look ugly when you're alone. Women seem wicked when you're unwanted."

 

Voltaire- The Vampire Club

    This fun dark cabaret tune pokes fun at the underground cosplay clubs where young people who dress up and pretend to be famous vampires in history get into a "fight" when "Pirates" enter The Vampire Club. The "fight" is started when the leader of the pirates recognizes a vampire from his school and reveals his real name to everyone in the club. Voltaire even took it a step further and made a "Twilight" version of the song where the werewolves take the place of the pirates and get into a fight with the Cullen family while legendary vampires such as Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee wonder who let them in The Vampire Club. "Christopher Lee orders a blood and says "You better not sparkle in my vampire club!"

 

Rob Zombie- Living Dead Girl

   Another hit single from Rob Zombie this song features several horror referances. The opening line, "Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?" is from the trailer of the film, Lady Frankenstein. The music in the beginning of the song is taken from the trailer of the original Last House On The Left. The spoken words "What are you thinking about?/The same thing you are" at the beginning of the verses is taken from the 1971 film Daughters Of Darkness. There are a few other hidden references in the lyrics as well. Chucky fans probably recognize this as the title song that plays when Tiffany appears in Bride Of Chucky.   

 

Kid Cudi- No One Believes Me

     Much different from his usual song style this track was made and released for the 2011 remake of the 1985 vampire movie Fright Night. The song embodies the feeling of knowing when something wrong is going on and yet having no one believe you. The video for the song has Cudi himself walking the streets only to see various horror scenes casually unfolding before his eyes. It is finally revealed that he himself is a vampire and tired of the wrongness around him he walks out into the sunlight and burns up into a nasty crisp. The song's overall eerieness and horror relatability earn it's way on my Halloween list. 

 

AllSTARS- Things That Go Bump In The Night

      This 2001 British pop hit was released for the Scooby Doo 3D animated film starring Freddie Prince Jr, Sarah Michelle Geller, and Matthew Lillard. The song reached number 12 on the British Charts and was one of four of the band's hits to make it to the Top 20 Singles in only a year. Despite it's pop beats the lyrics of the song turn to the more spookier side of things. "You cannot run and you cannot hide. Yeah you gotta face it baby things go bump, bump, bump in the night." 

 

Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs

    Originally sung by Johnny Fuller, then became popular when covered by Jumpin Gene Simmons. While equally great this version happens to be my person favorite. This mock horror novelty song is about a man who moves into a new house only to find out it's haunted by a ghost. The narrarator refuses to be scared away from the ghost who only tries harder to drive him away. 

 

The Twilight Zone Theme

    Everybody has probably heard this opening theme once in their life even if you haven't seen the show I'm sure you've heard of it. This infamous science fiction anthology has managed to last throughout the ages and decades after it's original ending has been turned into movies, comics, spin-off series, and even revival series. It holds a special place in my heart as well.

 

David Seville- Witch Doctor

     Okay so technically not a Halloween song at all, but for those of you with children this can be considered as good as one considering it's title. Kids probably wont know the difference. This song was originally released in 1958 where it peaked at number one on The Billboard Hot 100. The single was considered a major surprise hit on the chart, where it stayed at number one for two weeks and became Seville's first number-one single. The single also peaked at number one on the R&B Singles Chart. The single sold over one million copies in the United States alone.

 

Stevie Wonder- Superstition

     The ever talented Stevie Wonder wrote, produced, and arranged this song in 1972 when he was only 22 years old. It reached number on in the U.S. and even went on to be number 74 on Rolling Stones's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list. The song deals with superstitions and even mentions several popular superstitious fables in its lyrics. Most people can pick out this funky tune immediately because of its opening drum beat and iconic bass synthesizer.

 

Oingo Boingo- No One Lives Forever

    Yet again Oingo Boingo makes my list. Ths one makes it for its upbeat catchy rythmn and of course its lyrics about living life up while you can and of course temporarily cheating death. This song was also used in Texas Chainsaw Masacre 2 (the newer version). The lyrics alone should show you why this makes a fantastic Halloween party song. "Let's have a party there's a full moon in the sky. It's the hour of the wolf and I don't want to die. I'm so happy dancing while the grim reaper cuts, cuts, cuts, but he can't get me. I'm as clever as can be, and I'm very quick, but don't forget no one lives forever!"

 

White Zombie- I'm Your Boogie Man

   Originally performed by K.C. & The Sunshine Band bak in 1976. This song is about the boogieman that hides in your closet, but the original was just a bit too disco for me. Instead I prefer White Zombie's heavy metal infused disco cover. this song was recorded for the film The Crow: City Of Angels soundtrack. The audio samples in the song where children are heard saying, "He's gonna get you! The Boogieman is coming!" are taken from the 1978 calassic horror film Halloween.  Although the song failed to chart, it earned White Zombie their third and final Grammy nomination for Best Heavy Metal Performance in 1997.

 

Bernard Herrmann- The Psycho Theme

      Who could forget Alfred Hitchcock's iconic 1960 horror film Psycho. It is often ranked among the greatest films of all time and is famous for bringing in a new level of acceptable violence and sexuality in films. To get to the best part of the song skip ahead to 4:23 for the famous screeching violins that invoked terror in audiences all around the world for so long. The music for the shower scene is probably the most famous (and most imitated) cue in film music history.

 

Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs-Li'l Red Riding Hood

  This song was the group's second top-10 hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1966. Built around the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, this song is a play on words between the animal "wolf" and the euphemism of a man with concealed sexual intentions "wolf". The singer remarks on "what big eyes" and "what full lips" Red has and even states that he "will keep his sheep suit on" basically admitting that he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. What makes this song worthy of my list is the overall dark nature of the original Little Red Riding Hood and the almost hinted at dark nature of the song itself.

 

The Classic IV-Spooky

     While many confuse this song as being sung by the hit band The Zombies, it is in all actuality sung by The Classic IV. (Wikipedia is your friend). In 1968, it reached number three in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 46 in the UK. This groovy tune makes the list because of it's slow hip feel and the lyrics of course. "Just like a ghost, you've been a-hauntin' my dreams so I´ll propose... on Halloween. Baby, love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you."

 

Roison Murphy- Ramalama Bang Bang

  Although this is not a Halloween song in general and even though it does not have any horror related lyrics this song makes my list because of the So You Think You Can Dance group performance where it's freaky beat matched with dancing victorian aged zombies. Ramalama Bang Bang contains a chorus of onomatopoetic lyrics delivered over a tribal rhythm match that with the eerie seynthesizer beat and you've got one great performance.

 

Fever Ray- The Wolf

    Though the actual movie Red Riding Hood wasn't anything too scary or memorable there was a song featured during the dance celebration that did stick out to me. Fever Ray's tribal chanting mixed with rather dark lyrics make for a great old world werewolf feel. The lyrics and primitive sounding beat make me think of old Indiginous legends. And with lyrics like these who couldn't? "Eyes black, big big paws,And it's poison, and it's blood." and "We took you right from your mother's womb. Our temple, your tomb." 

 

The Halloween Theme

    And last, but certainly not least we have the chilling theme from John Carpenter's legendary film Halloween. I mean what kind of list of Halloween songs would this be if I didn't have THE Halloween theme on it somewhere? This 1978 horror film made babysitters everywhere quit there jobs in fear of Michael Meyers and his terrifying William Shatner mask.

      So that concludes all of my 50 Halloween songs. I hope there were at least a few of them on here that put you in the holiday spirit. If you have a certain song that you like to listen to on Halloween that I haven't mentioned on here then please tell me in the comments. I'm always on the look out for music.Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope you all have a happy (and safe) Halloween this year! Until next time guys!

Insert Witty Self-Introduction Here...



I'm actually a blogger now....

       Well hello internet! If you couldn't tell already this is my first time blogging and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, but that's okay because complete ignorance has never stopped me from doing something before. So I'm just gonna wing it from here on in. So first things first I guess and that would be an introduction I suppose...

     My name is Cayla. I'm from a small midwestern country town and I decided to start this blog so I could chronicle and obsess over my ever increasing addictions on various things which will probably vary randomly from candles, to make-up, books, my favorite shows atm, music, etc...to probably just incoherrant fangirl rants. Most likely it will all be incoherrant fangirl rants... I don't really have any spiffy plans for this blog other than just some fun to pass the time and a little bit of shameless narcissism. I do love to interact with others so any comments I get I will greatly appreciate! That includes hate comments because that means that I stole some of your precious time and enough so you felt you had to tell me about it. MWHAHA!

Seriously I take IDGAF to a whole new level.

        Anyways I hope you guys enjoy some of my upcoming posts or at the very least I hope my random gif bombs amuse you. Much love and many blessings to you all!