Candycorn Candles, Pops, Etc.

candycorn_candleWooo Hoooo!

Gothtober applications are closed, Gothtober contributors have been picked and they’re all boiling and toiling in their laboratories with creativity, we will see their works starting Gothtober 1st!

Which brings me to the subject of Halloween candles and candy corn products. Some of you are “blood and guts” type Hallowen people, some of you are “Pumpkin and Fall Leaf” Halloween people. I, myself, am both. I can see merit in a severed hand candle on book case, or a lovely wreath of shiny black feathers adorning  your front door.

I used to really like the store “Illuminations” and felt that, out of all the retail-smelly-candle stores, this was the one that spoke to me. Unfortunately, “Illuminations” didn’t survive the great 700 Billion Dollar debacle of 2008 and was taken over by Yankee Candle. I feel like Yankee Candle is more for people who like baskets or linens, but maybe I’m wrong.

I could be wrong, because despite it all, I do find this Candycorn-scented candle to be intriguing and acceptable.  I was a little freaked out, however, to find that it doesn’t just stop at candles. You can purchase candycorn car vent sticks, air fresheners and wax melty thingers. The 65-95 hour candle will cost you about twenty-five bones, and the votives are $1.99 each.

If you don’t want to smell candy corn, but you want to taste it, and you’re looking for an experience outside of the usual candycorn regimen, might I suggest Charms Candycorn Pops? It’s $3.95 for a bag of 15 edible conversation starters.

candycorn_pops

Strong Emotions About S’Mores Flavored Candy Corn

smore_candycorn There are passionate feelings about traditional candy corn. People either like candy corn, or they vehemently despise it, and getting them to try even weird hybrid candy corn flavors is a bit of a chore.

I’m a candy corn purist, can’t deal with super strange “Easter Corn” or “Valentine’s Corn” I don’t even know what those flavors are, freaks me right out.

S’mores are generally associated with summer and camping, but because of the chocolate and burnt marshmallow factor, they can  overlap into Autumn as an acceptable Halloween candy concept. This means that candy corn offering the facsimile of s’mores is much more decent than, say, Christmas candy corn, which probably tastes like pine needles or gingerbread and… just… no.

The picture of the bag here looks much brighter and delicious than the actual bag I bought at Target, the real bag looks dull and decidedly inedible. The little triangles of brown, cream and orange could almost be rootbeer flavored, and they all look about 2 years old. But I’m all into the hype, so I got ’em, dumped in a bowl at CraftNight and recorded my observations.

pile_o_corny

“Kind of tastes like a Tootsie Roll. Meh.”  Julie (who kept trying them over and over again through the course of the evening)

“That’s the stuff! It tastes like frosting, and marble chocolate cake!” Cynthia

“THIS should be candy corn, I hate candy corn!” Melody

“It’s not horrible. It still has the candy corn consistency.” Thomas

“They’re O.K.” Terry Lee

“YUM” Andy 

“Pretty darn GOOD! I’m gonna have s’more!” Elaine

“Delicious!” Sarah 

“It’s a mature flavor” Grace 

“I tried each segment, and when you eat the segments separately, they don’t taste good. But when you eat the entire candy corn at once, it tastes better. The tip of the candycorn is supposed to be caramel, the middle is supposedly the marshmallow part, and the bottom is chocolate flavored. I don’t like them.” Veronica 

Overall, the reaction was one of positivity, with a couple of “so-so” and one or two absolute disapproval ratings from people who don’t like candy corn in ANY flavor, or just couldn’t handle the taste.

These grow on you, they look rather unremarkable, but then, over time, you just keep going back to investigate the character of this candy again and again. Perhaps this is the mark of a good candy? It’s complex in that it really does have three distinct differently-flavored segments, all artificial, all vying for your attention. The taste is about 1,000 miles away from the combination of actual graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow, but just the fact that a candy corn would have the audacity to believe in itself enough to inform you that it is evocative of s’mores makes  you want to eat it.

Some people are going to get religious about these and seek them out and buy all of them, and some people will just eat them because they are there. The most dangerous aspect about them seems to be that even though many of us felt “so-so” about s’more flavored candy corns … we couldn’t stop eating them.

Thumbs up, get a bag for the party!

Skull-n-Bones on the Shelves at Folklore Salon!

When getting one’s hair did at Folklore Salon, it’s impossible not to check out the wonderful potions and products purveyor, master hair artist and salon owner, Pony-Lee decides to display as a gentle recommendation for how  you might add quality to your life. The shelves change seasonably, with the whim of Pony-Lee, and therefore, it must be inspected often, because you just might just miss something! 

The Autumnal Equinox shall occur on September 26th, and over the summer, (if you were having summer fun) your skin has also taken a bit of a beating from our closest star, the sunscreen that protects us from the closest star, insect repellent, sand, wind and other stuff that can leave your skin feeling drab and dullsville.

Autumn is time for MOISTURIZER because the air is going to continue to get more dry dry dry! Thus, just in time for Gothtober and all the spiders, newt claws and deep-fried kitten hearts of the season is Bare Bones Moisturizer made by “a Girl in Her Kitchen” and there’s nothing in this stuff that is artificial or funky. The inventor was getting bummed out from skin allergies, and decided to make her own line of products that are vegan, 100% animal cruelty free and super-duper great for your epidermis! I spied this stuff on the shelves because of the skull and crossbones (always on alert for anything even remotely Halloweenish) on the jars. Nice gift for someone who loves spooky skincare, or nice gift for you, because your skull will thank you.

So if you want to do something really nice for your head, walk, bike or drive it over to Folklore and arrange an appointment! Pony-Lee, Sparrow Fox and Maddin will coif your noggin into a great-feeling, great-looking do, and you’ll walk through the streets proud and sassy. I’m speaking from experience, by the way…