Bath and Body Works Bridgerton Collection

 Does anyone remember when Urban Decay did a release of Game of Thrones makeup? I do. The only thing that I was interested in was the lipstick part of that line up. There were a couple shades of lipstick that I really wanted but everything with that lineup was sold out at Sephora but I managed to nab the last White Walker lipstick. Sadly, I wasn't able to score more of the lipsticks from that line. In the past 5 years, it seems like makeup companies are hopping on the whole whatever is hot at the moment and let's do a collaboration type of thing.

I don't ever recall Bath and Body Works doing something like this. Granted, I started getting back into Bath and Body Works in 2019 and their Candle Day was going on. I would have thought that they would have tried some of that a little earlier. Say when Downton Abbey was going on or maybe Lord of the Rings or even Star Wars. It looks like the first foray into this whole thing is Bridgerton. When I went to Bath and Body Works on Sunday, there wasn't any kind of hint of this lineup at my store. I have heard that other stores having some of the collection. I think that they were focusing on the 40% off promo that they had going on. Yes, I did partake in the sale but only bought 1 candle. I hardly ever set foot in a Bath and Body Works brick and mortar store and I was a little disappointed that there wasn't even 1 candle of the Bridgerton line for me to smell. Diamond of the Season was already online and being sold. When I came home on Sunday, I realized that I had a free reward that I wanted to use. So I used that reward today to at least try the Diamond of the Season single wick candle. Even though I did the but 2 for $24, I didn't get the Diamond candle for free. Probably because the candle without the deal is almost $20 per candle.

But the biggest shock for me with the whole Bridgerton lineup is the price. Bath and Body Works candles are expensive enough as it is but in a lot of ways, this is pretty telling. If Bath and Body Works is going to keep doing collaborations, it's going to be pretty pricey, even for one thing. A 3 wick will run you a little over $30 and I refuse to pay anything over $14 for a single candle. With how many Bath and Body Works candles get released in a season, some of the pricing for a little extra decoration on the label is a little out there. I am already down and out financially and using up my gift card stash for gifts or to replace things that I use on the regular.

The Hard Decision

Today, I had to make a very hard decision to declare bankruptcy. I am meeting with a lawyer to discuss the next few steps tomorrow morning. 

This step was probably a year in the making but for a good year, I pretty much stuck my head in the stand but with some things being as they are, I can't afford to put off this next step any longer. My mental health has really been struggling these past few months. I've been agonizing over this decision for a couple months. I can't take the constant phone calls and all kinds of threats anymore. I am still trying to make this a better year for myself and it's still questionable at this point. This means that I am probably won't be buying much of anything outside of bare bones basics for at least 4 months. Any full bottle purchases are on hold.

I have always struggled with autism and mental health and one of my biggest downfalls is overspending and executive functioning. Most of the time, I can only think a week ahead of time, two if I am lucky. If something is a month away and I need to save $200, it never happens. Ulta or Bath and Body Works is having a fabulous sale, I'm spending money. I will spend money on things that I don't need but yet don't have the money for the things that I need, like paying my cellphone bill or groceries. I am trying to make some changes now but for the next few months, there will be more drastic changes but I don't know what they will be. Quite frankly, at this point, I'm scared. The only things I own that people might be interested in would be my candles, perfume and maybe some jewelry. Okay, the only thing people might be interested in is the jewelry but I don't have much of that. I don't have anything in terms of assets but the fact remains is that filing bankruptcy scares the shit out of me. I am wondering on what I will be able to do and not do during the whole process.

I still intend to blog about perfume and many things but I might not be blogging a whole lot. Or my blog might take a different direction.

 

Shalimar

 Today seemed to be a day where many people, myself included, wore Shalimar. This is due to the fact that on Now Smell This, the Friday community project is to wear something vanilla in perfume. It looks like a few were starting out the week with Shalimar. But I did get into some thinking about Shalimar.

It seems like in the past year, Guerlain has released flanker after flanker of Shalimar. There were a couple times that I did have the means to get a bottle but something else demanded my financial attention. So the last time I managed to try and really like a Shalimar flanker is when the Ode a la Vanilles came out. At that time, I had managed to get my grubby hands on the Mexican version and not the Madagascar version. So off and on throughout the years, I have looked around to see if I could get a sighting of the Madagascar but whenever I did see a bottle, it was major money. For some reason the Mexican version seems to be the easier to procure one and it might be that more people might have liked the Madagascar one. I know that I appreciated the Madagascar one more. I found it to be richer, a little more smokey and just enjoyed it more. It's not to say that the Mexican version isn't great, it is but I prefer what I prefer. And I am kicking myself for discovering the Parfum Initial version of Shalimar long after it was discontinued.

But I am not exactly thrilled with all the limited edition flankers. It seems like if I manage to get one and either really like it or love it, it's gone before I can get a backup bottle. Then I scout E-Bay and see that it's more than a car payment and the bottle might be half empty. Paying upwards of $150 for a half used bottle of anything isn't happening, those days are long gone. This means that I must make a better effort to enjoy what I have and start using up what I have. But that is easier said than done.

Bath and Body Works Lavender Iris Review

Way back when, I was a huge Bath and Body Works fan girl. This is back when minimum wage was only $4.95 an hour. And this is when I was 14 and was starting out in the working world. So 18 hours a week at $4.95 per hour isn't a whole lot of cash today but at 14, it was a lot of money. Granted, even then, I knew that I couldn't buy a whole lot. So Bath and Body Works was my go to in terms of anything perfume for the most part. For $25, I could get matching soap, lotion and body spray and this was in the mid to late 90's and that was a bargain. Now Bath and Body Works has gotten pretty pricey and maybe a little too big for it's britches. The quality has gradually gone down and the prices has gone up. Eventually, I had to start paying for college and my expenses had gone up. When that happened, I didn't have the extra cash for Bath and Body Works and I eventually forgot about Bath and Body Works and perfume in general.

Candles did reignite my Bath and Body Works interest and have started to explore the bath stuff again. I became fixated on the aromatherapy line and saw the Lavender Iris line up and had to try it. I haven't broken into the body wash and lotion yet but decided to give the essential oil stuff a go.

This essential oil mist is sold as a multi purpose type of thing. You can spray it on clothes, bedding and on skin and I decided to wear it as perfume. I will say that the biggest note from start to finish was lavender and it was especially huge in the beginning. I kept waiting and waiting for the iris to show up and the faintest whisper of iris did show up. The iris that I am used to is what is in Infusion d'Iris, no 19 and Iris Silver Mist. No 19 and Iris Silver Mist is a carroty, root like type of iris and Infusion d'Iris is more of the higher class type of iris. There was a review somewhere that said that Lavender Iris was like Prada's Infusion d'Iris and truth be told, I am not smelling any resemblance to it. I almost got a Jicky type of vibe to Lavender Iris. I know that it is something from Bath and Body Works is not exactly high end stuff but for the price point and brand, I kind of do expect something a little better put together. This is pretty much a glorified room spray trying to masquerade as a perfume. Until they bring back Milk and Honey, Gardenia Lily or Night Blooming Jasmine, I will stick to the candles.