Walmart Scented Wax Melts Winter/Holiday/Christmas 2016 - Better Homes & Gardens & Mainstays Review

Walmart Scented Wax Melts Winter/Holiday/Christmas 2016 - Better Homes & Gardens & Mainstays Review

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Better Homes & Gardens Winter's Sleigh Ride

"Seasonal blend of orange zest, cool winter spices, smoky woods, incense and mountain fir, with a warming base of oakmoss, blue cedar and vanilla bean"

This is a cozy smoky scent with a slight pine note I think. I thought I smelled a hint of mint, but I don't think so; maybe it's the orange zest or the "cool winter spices" (whatever those are). I don't smell orange at all. On cold sniff there's a hint of sweetness which is probably the vanilla, but I don't smell any sweetness when melted. This is similar to Better Homes & Gardens Winter Ski Resort from 2014, and Better Homes & Gardens Wooded Mountain Trails, but with slightly different notes. And it's a scent monster that took over the entire house, a throw of 5 out of 5, and it smells great!

Better Homes & Gardens First Winter Blizzard

"Crushed peppermint leaf, smoked birch wood, fragrant pine and emerald holly leaf glisten with an icy, ozone freshness touched by mistletoe greens"

I barely smell anything other than maybe a slightly sweet woodsy soapy scent. I didn't detect any mint. Throw was maybe a 2 out of 5.

Better Homes & Gardens Cranberry Cookie Crumble

"Sweet cranberry, cinnamon sugar, caramel swirl and buttered pecan in a heart of sugar cookie and crumb cake"

There's a reason why everyone is raving over this one... It's fantastic, a super rich buttery cookie with a pecan note (like snowball cookies) and a hint of brown sugar, and maybe a slight berry note (although I don't smell cranberry per se). I don't smell cinnamon at all, which is good. Throw is excellent, at least 4 out of 5.

Better Homes & Gardens Bubbly Peach Cocktail

"Peach prosecco, sparkling bubbles and pink champagne blend together to create this effervescent fragrance. Fruity infusion of mango, peach nectar and blush wine swirl in the heart and lead into a sweet, refreshing base of icy vanilla and sugarcane"

I thought I would hate this one because generally anything with "wine" or "cocktail" or "champagne" in the scent name tends to have that sour wine fermentation note. And this scent does have that note, but it's slight. I smell peach and a little bit of creaminess which is probably the vanilla, and just a smidgeon of that sour wine fermentation note. I don't detect any effervescence notes that you sometimes get with fizzy alcohol type scents. It's a nice scent but not my favorite. Throw is pretty good, around a 3 or 3.5 out of 5.

Better Homes & Gardens Warm Up Winter

"Warm cedar and oriental clove bud with notes of black myrrh touched by shimmering aldehydes, swirls of fragrant wood smoke, spiced amber and herbaceous greens"

I smell the cloves, cedar, and smokiness. It's a cozy scent with almost has a slight foodie quality, maybe because of the cloves. But it's not sweet enough to be yummy. It smells a little like Dr. Pepper soda, and other people have said the same thing. The picture on the label shows a mug of hot chocolate or coffee, but this scent smells nothing like that. I don't care for this one. Throw is very good, around a 3.5 out of 5.

Better Homes & Gardens Sugared Maple and Evergreens

"Fusion of autumn accords including sugared maple, orchard woods, autumn apple and clementine with holiday notes of roasted chestnuts, nutmeg, fresh evergreen, holiday pine and buttered rum"

This smells fantastic, like a mixture of caramel and pine with a hint of nut. It sounds like a weird combination, but it really works. I guess the caramel I smell is the maple and buttered rum. I don't smell apple or any kind of fruit. Throw is excellent, a 4 out of 5.

Better Homes & Gardens Season of Joy

"Balsam and fir adorned with festive red berries join notes of warm woods and oriental amber accented by vanilla caramel and shimmering spice"

This is not a Christmas scent, but a fantastic warm perfumey scent with both an amber and a caramel note. I don't smell any balsam/pine or spices, but maybe there's a smidgeon of berries that I barely detect. It smells a tiny bit like ScentSationals Love Letters. Throw is maybe a 2.5 out of 5, but it might do well in a small room. But when I melted a different one months later, the throw was better, good to very good, 3 or 3.5 out of 5.

Mainstays Apples & Evergreen

This is a nice even blend of sweet apples and pine, with maybe just a smidgeon of caramel. I'm not sure which I smell more, the apples or pine. It's a combination that wouldn't seem to make sense, but it works. Throw is excellent, 3.5 or 4 out of 5.

Mainstays Spiced Cranberry

This is a nice cranberry sauce scent, sweet with a little bit of that bitterness, making it an authentic cranberry rather than a "candy" type cranberry. I think there's some kind of spice in the background but I'm not sure what. This is definitely a fall type scent. Throw is good, around a 3 or 3.5 out of 5.

Mainstays Pine

This is an authentic woodsy spruce scent. Mainstays came out with an "Evergreen Spruce" scent last year or the year before, and although it smells very similar to the "Pine" scent, the Evergreen Spruce scent is more of that biting artificial pine scent with a smidgeon of sweetness. This new Pine scent smells much nicer. And throw is fantastic, at least a 4 out of 5.

Mainstays Winter Mittens

This smells like Better Homes & Gardens Pure White Woods or ScentSationals Vanilla Wood, and on cold sniff there's just a hint of mint which I smell from close up but not in the room. It's a nice classy light woodsy scent with a hint of sweetness but no smokiness. Throw is very good, around a 3 or 3.5 out of 5.

Mainstays Spiced Orange

This smells like orange pomander, which is orange plus spices. I think cloves is one of the spices, but I don't smell cinnamon. This is a strong, rich, almost savory orange scent. I'm not a fan of this one, or pomander scents in general, as it's a bit nauseating to me. Throw is excellent, 3.5 or 4 out of 5.

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