Husband: "It smells like someone is making cupcakes. Is that one of the tarts?'
Me: "Yep."
Husband: "Tell Karen I said that's evil."
Who is Karen & why is she evil? Because I was burning her Red Velvet Cake tart when Mike said that.
Karen is the proprietor of
Tomslitehouse. A Belmar, NJ based Soy Candle making company. She's evil because her Red Velvet Cake candles and tarts smell exactly like someone is making cupcakes, EXACTLY. Oh and both Mike & I are back doing Atkins and it was creating cravings!
I first found out about Tomslitehouse on
Facebook. I'm not sure how I found out about them, but I'm a big fan of shopping at local businesses so I started following her. I finally got to meet Karen at a Toms River craft fair in early December 2011. I was selling my
beach writings and she had a lovely display of candles. When it grew quiet, I left Mike in charge of my stand and walked over to introduce myself to Karen.
My house would never smell the same again!
Before I get into reviewing all the scents I have (and I have a bunch) I want you to read this I copied from her site, it's written by her husband, Tom.
The story of how this store came to be is a story of perseverance and
renewal. To make a long story short, Karen, my wife and our resident
candle maker, is a breast cancer survivor. Like many people who go
through chemotherapy, Karen sought a daily ritual that relaxed her and
lifted her spirits. During one visit to her oncologist, she mentioned
she burned a lot of candles; that they were helping her get through her
ordeal. Her doctor said “I hope they’re soy!” We had never heard of soy
candles until that very moment, but when he explained about the
chemicals in paraffin candles, our passion and, then, our business
venture began. Karen went to classes to learn how to make soy candles;
we began by giving them as gifts to friends and family members, and then
started selling them at local craft fairs. They were a big hit and
we’ve been at it ever since. That was five years ago and we’d never go
back to paraffin candles…ever!
Learning that paraffin candles have been linked to breast cancer was enough to get me to toss out all my paraffin based candles! I quit smoking for my lungs, might as well as get rid of paraffin for my hooters!
My first purchase was a Honeysuckle candle. Years ago I had purchased a Honeysuckle candle from one of those overpriced shop-at-home candle companies and fell it love with it, but I have never been able to find it again, until that day when I met Karen. The second I opened the jar, I knew I had to have it. As soon as we got home from the craft fair I lit it and it was perfect. Better then I remembered the other one smelling, and better for my health!
A few weeks later Karen & I ended up doing another craft fair together. This time I had my 10 year old son Jared with me. He spend quite a bit of time smelling the scents at Karen's booth. Before we left he asked me to buy him a candle. I figured he'd want chocolate or a candy type smell. Nope, he want Ruby Red Grapefruit. (This kid also asked for a memory foam pillow for Christmas!) I'm not big on grapefruit because I'm not a fan of sour things. This candle won me over. It is a clean fruit smell but not a fruit-Y smell, if that makes any sense. It smells like grapefruit without smelling like something made to smell like grapefruit.
At this same craft fair Karen was burning a tart called Fraiser Fir. I kid you not, it smells exactly like a Christmas tree. Shortly after the show I contacted Karen to buy this from her. I had a fake Christmas tree and wanted the house to smell like I had a real one. This fit the bill. A family member said to me "your tree is so fresh, it smells great!" I had to show her the tart burning on the stove!
I also picked up Macintosh Apple that day. Folks, I kid you not, this smells EXACTLY like an apple, again, without smelling like it was made to smell like an apple. I'm actually burning it as I write this and I'm looking for the plate of apples (and peanut butter, gotta have peanut butter with apple slices). I'm probably going to over use the term "clean smell" but it really is a nice clean crisp apple scent.
Then I entered a contest on their page and won a whole fricken bunch of tarts.
When I opened the package and saw two different lemon flavors I wondered what was the point. Lemon is Lemon.
Yeah, I was wrong. The Lemon Cheesecake is a sweeter creamier lemon smell, where the Lemon Drop smells like I just dusted with Lemon Pledge. And yes, that is a good thing because I LOVE Lemon Pledge. And when your house smells like it's clean, somehow it looks cleaner too. Ok, maybe not, but if you do a surface cleaning and then burn a Lemon Drop tart or candle, your family will think you worked harder then you did!
It looks like melting butter!
The Apple Jack & Peel is a different scent then the Macintosh Apple. Burning it makes it smell like an apple orchard in my house!
Fireside piqued my interest. Is it going to smell like I'm sitting at a fire? It smells homey but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. Then I read the description
A pleasant vanilla and hot embers type with notes of charred woods of
birch, pine and cedar and a musky, balsamic, ambery-vanilla and
sandalwood dry down.
Yeah, that's it, Balsamic, birch, pine, cedar, ambery-vanilla and sandlewood, that's totally what I was thinking. LOL whatever combination she came up with, it's wonderful and smells warm. Great for a snowy cold night if you don't have a fireplace, and I don't.
Gingerbread Brulee, are there gingerbread men dancing around my house? That is what it smells like!
All in all I am very happy with every scent I've gotten from Tomslitehouse whether I bought it or won it.
She sells her scents in different sizes & as both tarts and candles. Her big jar candles can be refilled for a reduced price, which is awesome. I also like that when I'm done burning one scent, I can pour the melted soy back into it's container, wipe out the tart burner & change to a different scent. No big clean up involved.
Oh and for how far from the candle or tart can you smell it, I would have to say it depends on the scent. I feel that certain scents stand out differently then others. The Apple ones, the Lemon , Honeysuckle, Fraiser Fir, Grapefruit and the Red Velvet Cake can be picked out in every room of my 1500 sq ft, 2 story house. The Fireside makes the house smell great without being a specific scent. I'm hoping to pick up a vanilla scent soon so see if it is similar.
So go forth & check out Karen's site and buy some candles or tarts. I recommend it and your boobies will be grateful!
