White Antibes by Potentilla Home Fragrances

This is going to be my first post on the scents that I use for my oil burner/oil warmer.

White Antibes is Honeydew Melon

Surprisingly, I didn't start off with my go-to brand, Itsom. I find that in selecting the perfect scent for my oil burners, I have to use essential oils that are more potent. Lavender may smell the same regardless of the brand of the essential oil, but some manufacturers create that special potent formula, which has a lingering effect when placed on the burner, vs. the watered-down versions that are easily available. And, it isn't really about the price, because, sometimes, the potent essential oils are quite reasonably priced. I digress, because, I discovered last December another brand of burner fragrance oil, that although at first sniff may not seem to be potent enough to linger in the room, actually resonates the air with vibrant notes.

I chanced upon Potentilla's kiosk in Robinson's Magnolia while waiting for Kim to finish having his  hair rebonded. Their booth was on the topmost level of the mall, and my attention was first caught because there seemed to be a lot of people purchasing bottles.

They sold an array of room scents, from reed diffusers to water soluble fragrances, to oil burner fragrances.

I looked at the names of their scents, and with names like Mint Chai, Tea Party, and Baby Powder, I knew that their little bottles held refreshing new notes compared to the usual scents that are readily available elsewhere.

And then there was White Antibes. It was love at first whiff. The scent was mostly composed of honeydew melon. Milky. Sweet. Fresh. Tinge of fruitiness. Smooth all the way.

Here's the White Antibes bottle with tealight oil burners I seldom use

My theory about ensuring to purchase the potent smelling oils were completely thrown out the window, because here was a scent that didn't seem to have enough punch to fill my room, and yet, I wanted it.

I bought it. It was a tad bit pricey compared to Itsom, which can be had for less than a hundred bucks in Landmark, but it was a scent I knew I couldn't get off my head. I have had no regrets.

Now the reason I'm posting about this, is because I have had a bad day at work. I was in the office at 6AM, and I got home at 1AM the following day. And as soon as I got into my room, I cleaned out the Itsom Green Tea scent on the dishes of my oil burners, and I put in White Antibes, and all of a sudden, I feel at peace. The stress from the day is gone. It smells like an easy Sunday brunch in the lanai, at 2AM in my bedroom.

The scent is not overpowering. It doesn't confuse your senses. It calms you. It slows down your thoughts.

And I love it. If Potentilla were to cancel this scent, I would hoard every last drop of it, just to ensure I would have a good enough supply.

And so I just wanted to share.

Well, and if you're interested and happen to chance by Robinson's Magnolia, or their 2nd branch in Glorietta 2, then do give White Antibes a shot.

Farthest shot for the night!

Potentilla Home Fragrances
L3 Robinsons Magnolia, Aurora Boulevard cor. Dona Hemady
New Manila, Quezon City
0917.528.1294

Essenza Wax Warmer

This is my fabulous discovery. I was able to purchase an Essenza Wax Warmer from a wonderful seller in OLX.

Here are some of the shots I took of the wax warmer after I unboxed it:

Below is a picture of the warmer dish's base bearing the trademark of Essenza:

Essenza is sold exclusively in Costco in  the US. The seller initially had 5, but there were only 2 remaining. I told her after we met that if I dream of the other model that she has, I'll also purchase it.

The only setback was that the warmer's GU10 halogen bulb is 110V. It was a good thing I had a 220V GU10 bulb. That particular bulb is difficult to find nowadays in halogen, as most of the manufacturers are concentrating on LED lights, which is pretty unfair especially if you need to use the bulb as a heating element.

Nonetheless, if I'm unable to find a replacement bulb, then its a matter of converting the electric mechanism to hold an incandescent candle bulb instead.

I tried it as soon as I got home, and placed it in the living room, popped in one of the scents that came with the box, and it smelled wonderful.

Essenza, like Scentsy, makes scented wax bars also. I'll try to post pictures of the wax bars that the seller gave me in another post.

The warmer is a bit smaller and compact compared to my Scentsy warmers, but it is pretty elegant. I also noticed that the dish is shallower than Scentsy's, which limits the number of wax cubes I can melt. Still, I love it!

For good measure, here are some pictures I borrowed online showing the warmer I was able to purchase:

Wonderful Discovery!

I have a wonderful discovery that I am so excited to purchase in a bit. I am just super excited, I can't wait but share before I drive out to buy this beautiful warmer from Costco!

I'll be doing some stocking up of incandescent bulbs later, as well. So that I have a steady supply for my warmers at home.

I'll be posting pictures of my purchase in a bit, although I'm sure by now, you've guessed what exactly I will be purchasing!

Celtic Love Knot Warmer by Scentsy

I have another baby in my growing collection of candle warmers, or as I use them, oil warmers or oil burners. I was able to acquire a Celtic Love Knot Warmer by Scentsy!

It's another one of my fabulous finds from my Scentsy source. As I have said in several posts, I have been collecting oil burners/oil warmers since 2006. There's a dearth of beautiful electric candle warmers/oil burners here in Metro Manila, so having discovered Scentsy here was such a reward for me.

I have several types of warmers. My first electric oil warmer I purchased from the Assumption Bazaar in Intercontinental sometime late 2006. It was made of wood and parchment, made in a Japanese Zen-style. My next purchase was a blue-glass electric warmer, which I found in Greenhills, that was 2007. In 2009, I discovered Red Clay Factory's terracotta oil burners in Legaspi Sunday Market, and I purchased 2 for myself (a medium straight terracotta burner, and a large pyramid terracotta burner). Unfortunately, only the large pyramid burner survived. During that year, I had gifted the Red Clay burner to some friends, and my dear boss. In 2013, I purchased a Mia Maison warmer, which I still believe was quite expensive!

Then in 2014, I had the luck of discovering Candle Warmers, Etc. in True Value, and to end 2014, I discovered a treasure trove of Scentsy warmers! I have one Candle Warmers, Etc. burner, and 6 Scentsy warmers, the Celtic Love Knot warmer being the latest jewel in my collection.

This warmer, being my flavour for the month, sits atop my antique night table.

I'm currently burning Rosemary, and Ylang Ylang alternately in my room. All the other warmers/oil burners are scattered in the house. I think I try to average about 2 electric oil burners in a room for maximum aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy has a lot of benefits. I often get migraines, and to avoid having to pop a pill so often, I would place essential oils and in the burners and turn these on. Eucalyptus, Rosemary, and Mint are the scents that help with my migraine.

If you're interested in acquiring a Scentsy warmer for your home, by all means, do not hesitate to send me a message, and I will hook you up!

The Joys of Blogging - Christmas Gift for A-List Manila Readers

I actually have so much more posts that I needed to upload tonight, however, seeing that I'm already at my 100th post, I decided to devote this post to reflecting on the joys blogging has given me through the years.

A-List Manila started back in 2011, because I had just come out of surgery and was recuperating alone in the condo with nothing better to do. After the first week of watching Grey's Anatomy, and after exhausting myself looking at the Facebook posts of my friends, I decided to upload some pictures that were still stored in my phone.

In uploading the pictures, I wanted to be able to tell the story behind the photo, and that's when I realised Facebook was not going to be enough an avenue for me to share these.

So I started to write.

I am no stranger to writing. When I was in high school in Ateneo, I joined Hilites Magazine. As a freshman, one of my proudest moments was in the first grading period, when the editorial board of Hilites chose my poem to be placed at the back cover of the magazine.

My poem was about a ride from school to the house, and getting stuck in traffic amidst a sudden rain outburst. I heard a tapping on the van's window, and I was face to face with a little girl getting wet in the rain asking for change from me. I was seated, dry and comfortable in the van, and she was soaked to the bone. What made me better than her that fate handed this card that afforded me this comfortable lifestyle?

That's when I wrote Tapping On My Window and it was used as the poem for the launch of Tulong Dunong that year.

I wrote for Hilites for 3 years, and on my 4th year in high school, I became the Editor-in-chief. I still remember my column back then, and it was entitled, Nite Lite.

But then, life took over. And here I thought I would take up Journalism, or Creative Writing, and finish a novel and become a Pulitzer prize winning author.

I did get to finish a novel during the summer break from high school to college, and I was able to share this with some of my friends - never been published though.

Lately, I've been playing with a concept for another novel about a dystopian society - but I haven't gone around establishing the proper ground work for it yet.

The closest I've come to publishing in the past few years is One Serendra's monthly newsletter, but that has ceased as well.

But I continue to write via this platform. Maybe I am able to reach out to people, mostly, I believe I just give basic information - stuff that I would want to see and know about, like where is this shop located, what is the contact number of the restaurant, what's the price-range for this bar. These simple things that I get to do, though, bring me a sense of fulfilment.

Really, I don't know what my audience reach is, and I'm not really aiming to be a well-known blogger - as long as I'm still able to share my thoughts, and my ideas, and my experiences through my words, then I'm good.

It is the Christmas season, and I want to be able to give a random stranger a nice surprise for this holiday season.

It has been a tough and challenging year for me - and whenever I would feel stressed, I would always look forward to going home, lighting up the oil burners and candle warmers, choosing a scent, and putting these on the warming plates.

So to celebrate my 100th post, I will be giving out a Scentsy warmer to a lucky reader who would like to contribute a post to A-List Manila. Email me photos from your favourite restaurant, store, or vacation spot, and tell me your story. The best entry will merit a post here in A-List Manila, and a Scentsy warmer from me! Don't be shy to share, and now is your opportunity to experiment with your writing skills. I'll give you guys until December 21, 2014 to email me your stories and photos. Send these to cruzgold@gmail.com. I'll choose my favourite entry and notify the winner on the 22nd, and post their blurb on my blog - and I'll ensure that you receive the Scentsy warmer for Christmas!

Candle Warmers in True Value

I first purchased an electric oil burner back in 2006, and it was a better alternative to oil burners lit by tealights. They're less of a fire hazard, you can leave them on overnight, and they slowly diffuse the scented oil - you don't run the risk of drying out the water quickly.

I grew to love these and they soon became beautiful accent pieces in my previous condos. In one of my recent trips to True Value in Trinoma, I saw a nice owl-shaped oil burner. 

candlewarmers.com

It was being retailed at PhP 795.75. I did a quick search online and stumbled upon their website - candlewarmers.com. Online, these were retailing at $16.99. They were actually designed to melt scented wax - which are also readily available in Mia Maison stalls. For my purposes, I wanted to use it to diffuse essential oils, my favorite scents being Citronella and Water.

I didn't buy the owl candle warmer right away, instead choosing to wait a good 3 weeks, and lo and behold, my patience was rewarded as it was put on sale at 30% off. I only paid PhP 558.00 for this pretty owl candle warmer/oil burner. 

As usual, my limited photography skills do not do justice to the product at all, hence, let me share more pictures of the owl candle warmer from their website. 

Owl

As soon as I'm able to find a nice spot to place the cute owl in, I'll take a picture and update this post. 

Purchasing the candle warmer wasn't as easy you'd think. Although I had resolved for quite some time already that I'd be getting the owl, when I saw the other options in True Value, I got a bit distracted. Now their website lists about 39 Illumination Fragrance Warmer designs, and True Value carries 5 of these:

Live, Love, Laugh

Vintage Turquoise

Tuscan Cream

Cayenne

I was choosing among Vintage Turquoise, Tuscan Cream, and Owl. However, since there were only 2 pieces left in stock for Owl, I opted to purchase it instead. Anyway, the shape of the fragrance diffuser was unique - I haven't encountered an owl-themed oil burner aside from it.

I was about to buy a 2nd candle warmer, my mom wanted one also, but since I was with Kim, being the economist, he dissuaded me from doing so.

So, I will purchase another candle warmer from True Value perhaps when Kim isn't with me. Who knows, hopefully by that time, they might be on sale at 50% off already!

If you want to know more about Candle Warmers, feel free to visit their website: www.candlewarmers.com

They have an interesting video there of their products. They actually started by warming candles - a safer alternative to burning candles. I'm actually short of convinced to buy their original candle warmer. 

Should you feel the urge to contact True Value in Trinoma to check on the availability of the other candle warmers, because I know I want to purchase the other 4, here is their contact details:

True Value Trinoma

Level 1, Trinoma Mall, Quezon City

0932.629.1658

Honestly, these are quite affordable compared to how much Mia Maison would sell their oil burners. If I were you, I'd buy one while they're on sale.