Old Factory Scented Soy Wax Candle Review

Happy Saturday! This post has unfortunately been a LONG time coming. It took me a long time to even respond to Rachel when she reached out to me in an email to do a review of her product - Old Factory Scented Soy Wax Candles. I of course wanted to do it, but I was feeling the pressure of school and volleyball and I just couldn’t find it in me to respond. Really great business tactics, I know.

Anyway, I finally responded to her saying that I would absolutely love to do the review if it was still open. Rachel promptly replied with instructions on how to receive my free candles, and I remember sitting in a classroom during my off period being torn in about three different directions over which package to select. I asked Dylan his opinion, and because we were just beginning to experience some fall weather, he told me that I should get “Fall Harvest.” I ended up agreeing with him, telling myself that if I liked them that much, I could always order more.

 

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And it looks like I’ll be doing just that. I love candles, and I was excited for an excuse to try something different from my typical Volcano scent. So, I lit these candles during one of my many essay-grading sessions, and the combination of Cranberry, Pumpkin Spice, and Autumn Leaves made the process much less haunting. The smell permeated not only all throughout my room and the entire upstairs, but it wafted downstairs as well, causing my curious mom to wander upstairs to check out the cause of the holiday-esque smell.

 

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Interestingly enough, I don’t love the smell of each of these scents on their own. But they all come together so nicely, and really make it feel like fall. Not that we were really struggling with that last week, but still. None of the scents, in my opinion, overpower another, and they all complement one another very well.

In addition to smelling wonderful, the presentation they make is just precious. From the box they come in, complete with a cute piece of cardstock listing off the scents, to the petite little candles themselves. Who knew something so small could produce such a powerful scent?

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They would make the perfect gift, and really, there are scent themes that anyone can appreciate. For all of my coffee lovers, enter into your own personal Coffee Shop. For those of you who want to feel like you’re in a Spa without actually forking over the money to do so, treat yourself to some candles to help with that process. Winter is fast approaching, so harbor your own Winter Wonderland within your very own home. And even for the men who might be reading this, and feel that these themes are more on the feminine side, there’s even a theme for you: Man Cave.

 

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What’s more is that these little candles claim to give you over 20 hours of burn time. And they are soy candles, meaning they burn clean. They’re easy to extinguish – you can either blow them out as you probably do with most candles, or you can simply screw the lid back onto the candles to extinguish the flame, and to keep your room free of any excess smoke from blowing out the candles. In my experience, however, because these candles are so small, I didn’t notice any smoke at all. Totally up to you!

And finally, as I mentioned on Friday, how can you turn down something so punny? Old Factory is such a play on words – the olfactory sense of smell – and for someone like myself who loves words, that’s another check in the yes column. So, if you haven’t concluded this by now, I would absolutely recommend these candles, and with the holiday season so quickly approaching, you might consider giving them as a gift to someone (or someones) on your list. You can follow this link to check out all of the different themes, and decide which one would make the perfect gift. And don’t feel bad about treating yourself to a set – we all deserve to be pampered every now and then, right? 

Things I'm Loving Friday XV

And here I am, yet again, after another long hiatus from this blog. I thought I was going to have some extra time, but school picked up the pace big time (is my to-do list ever going to end?), I was not feeling well for about a week, so any extra time I had I was made to just rest (though I did run almost 9 miles with a fever, and I really wouldn’t recommend it), and then a trip to Austin, combined with our volleyball banquet (at which I had to give a speech, eek!), blogging was, once again, put on the back-burner. I’m hoping to get really ahead on all things school related this weekend so that I can put a little bit more time into the blog this upcoming week. And hallelujah for Thanksgiving break because this work thing is no joke. And while I’m loving it so much more than I did just a month ago, this little break is going to be very much appreciated.

ExposiTORY is going to help you pass the STAAR test!

So, let’s pick back up with some Things I’m Loving Friday. I meant to post some of these in an earlier Things I’m Loving Friday post, and then obviously never quite got around to it. Whoops!

Teacher as Student

As someone who just stepped out of the student role, I absolutely empathize with this article. I do spend so much of my time telling students to be quiet or pay attention, that I have no doubt they are tired of hearing it. Take it from someone who is a professional development leader's worst nightmare - sitting still all day is hard, boring, and exhausting. I still remember (as if it was that long ago) my freshman English teacher's implementation of the "break." Each six weeks, one member of the class was elected the break person. Every day (or every other day, because we were on a block schedule), that person could call "break" at any time during the class period, and we stopped what we were doing, got up to stretch, go to the bathroom, get water, etc., and I'm wondering why I haven't implemented that same procedure yet.

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Alphabet Aerobics

This one was a long time coming, but many, many weeks ago Dylan sent me a link to this song being rapped by Daniel Radcliffe on Saturday Night Live, claiming that it would be perfect to show my students. Though I have already gone over alliteration with them, and it’s not a very difficult concept, I will definitely try to find a few extra minutes one day so that I can show them this video. Not all of what you learn in school has to be boring, right? Shout out to Daniel for keeping the magic alive!

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Old Factory Candles

A more formal and comprehensive review of these delightful little candles will be coming this weekend (this has also been a long time coming), but when Rachel reached out to me about trying a set of these candles in exchange for a review of them on fitnessandfroyo, how could I say no? I love candles, and I had a hard time deciding between all of the different “themes.” Long story short, these candles are made with natural soy wax, and claim to burn for 20 hours. I was surprised to hear that when I saw their small size, but so far, so good. While I don’t love every scent individually, all three of them burning together created a wonderful aroma in my bedroom, which is exactly the way they were meant to be used. Plus, I love the play on words (Old Factory – olfactory), because I’m all about a good pun! You can read my Amazon review here to hold you over until the post goes live.

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#TOMSforTarget

I saw this on Twitter just last week and I could not help but screen shot it. You are probably familiar with the TOMS one-for-one deal, in that for every pair of TOMS shoes that you purchase, a pair is sent to a child in need, but Target has introduced a limited-edition #TomsforTarget line, in which every Target+Toms limited-edition gift that you buy, Target and Toms will be giving back a pair of shoes, a blanket, or meal to those who are in need. Plus, I really like these cute cards that ask you to reflect on things that make you happy, and also people or things for which you are thankful. Though Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it’s always the right day to give thanks, even for the seemingly small things.

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And on that note, I’m off to go squeeze in a workout. I’m hoping that this Friday will be spent relaxing, maybe doing a little bit of grading, and maybe even some shopping if I feel as though I’ve been productive enough to earn that (and if the rain settles down a bit). I have to reward myself for the hours spent sitting at my dining room table grading essays and creating PowerPoints that will engage my reluctant students, and a trip to Anthropologie is  the best way to do just that. Let’s just hope the rain holds off for a little while!