tsubasahome

My wrist STILL smells like lemon lime (I'm beginning to think the oil got into my Fitbit and is re-applying itself to my wrist every time I put the Fitbit on) so I sprayed the Hoth Chocolate fragrance mist on the insides of my elbows, and...

It's cold? I'm getting a cold-burn feeling like I get from Icy Hot. I'm torn between "is this safe to spray on my skin???" and "actually this might feel nice on a hot sweaty summer's day", but I guess it's a moot point because currently, Hoth Chocolate is only available as a candle, a wax melt, and this 10 mL sample. (Maybe it'll be back as a fragrance spray during the winter season?)

Scent wise, there's definitely a fudgy chocolate note and also a very sweet vanilla mint. One sniff and I immediately thought "I have this scent already!" I'm going to have to do some digging in my multi-tiered perfume oil box to figure out which specific scent this reminds me of, but off the top of my head:

- Possets Luminaria (2007, vanilla mint)(re-tested on 6/20, immediately went plasticky)
- BPAL Tokyo Stomp (2007, stronger vanilla mint)
- Blooddrop's Peppermint Whipped Cream or Peppermint Hot Chocolate or Peppermint Bark (2015, varying degrees of peppermint and chocolate/white chocolate)(re-tested on 6/20, Peppermint Bark initially had the edge in terms of rich creamy almost fudgy white-chocolate and peppermint, but Peppermint Hot Chocolate pulled even at the last moment)

For whatever reason, Hoth Chocolate is dying down to a powdery sweet mint on my right elbow and a stronger medicinal mint on my left elbow. Both elbows are still burning slightly, nearly an hour after application.

Official description from The Nerf Herder Co (taken from the page for the candle):

We love a good pun here at The Nerf Herder Co., so we couldn't resist creating some delicious Hoth Chocolate for you all. And y'all... this is so delicious that we have to keep reminding ourselves to not eat the wax or drink the melted wax.

Peppermint is the star of the show and will make any room feel clear and bright. However, there is a beautiful undercurrent of rich chocolate (believe us that this isn't a cheap smelling chocolate) that grounds the peppermint and reminds us of a delicious cup of peppermint hot chocolate. Hold on while we go make ourselves a cup.

FRAGRANCE INFORMATION

Scent: Peppermint + Cocoa Shavings

Fragrance Notes: Peppermint, Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Nutmeg, Coffee Beans, Whipped Cream

Scent Strength: Strong

I'm not currently getting any nutmeg, but given what I've experienced of The Nerf Herder Co's fragrance-crafting style, I am confident that the nutmeg and coffee beans will help make this scent a little more grown-up and complex, assuming they're present in the fragrance spray and not just the candle. Not that I'm knocking any of my beloved foodie/gourmand perfume oils! Sometimes I feel like surrounding myself with straight-up foodie scents, sometimes I want it to be a little more nuanced.

PS: I love that the label has a little AT-AT walker as the T in Hoth Chocolate.

A bit of an update on the Star Wars Lo-Fi coffee scents...

I don't know if this has to do with the composition of fragrance sprays vs. perfume oils, or if it's a comment on how strong their coffee scent is, but it took me two days to scrub off the coffee scent from the inside of my elbow. Even now, if I get close enough I can faintly smell the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

I deemed the other elbow to be sufficiently un-scented that I could test the Thermal Detonator Cola fragrance spray on it.



It's good!

The first spray is definitely cola-y. I feel like it dies down to a more lemon-lime-y scent pretty quickly. I'll have to check my box o' fragrances and compare this scent to some of my soda-themed perfume oils... I know I had a few effervescent soda-y scents. I want to say a raspberry ginger ale and maybe a straight lemon-lime? Plus the BPAL Tiki scents like Blue Fire, which don't smell fizzy but do have a similar "fruity summer beverage" vibe.

Official description from the Nerf Herder Co:

I had this idea in my head since last year but just didn’t pull the trigger on it. With summer being in full swing, I thought it was the perfect time to introduce the Thermal Detonator Cola (of course inspired by the Aurebesh-labeled sodas in Batuu).

This one was so much fun to make. I tried to get the color of the wax as close as I could to what cola looks like and the smell reminds me of cola so much. I honestly swear it seems like it’s bubbling when I smell it due to the zesty-ness with the lemon/lime.

If you’re addicted to soda but hate the sugar and calories, this may help curb your addiction. 😉

FRAGRANCE INFORMATION

Scent: Cola Accord + Lemon/Lime Zest + Caramel

Fragrance Notes: Cola Accord, Lime Zest, Lemon Juice, Caramel, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cassia Root, Vanilla

Scent Strength: Mild

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Comparisons:

I checked, and it turns out I have a full bottle of Blooddrop's Lemon Lime Soda (2011). I dabbed it on my wrist, and it's a sweet simple fizzy lemon-lime scent. The Nerf Herder's Thermal Detonator Cola is starting to shift to a caramel sort of scent (but not overly sweet).

I also have Black Currant Soda scent from Blooddrop, plus Pixie and Pink Pixie from Mythos Mixtures. Pixie was too sweet, and Black Currant Soda was fairly distinct from the lemon-lime-cola vibes, but I did put on some Pink Pixie for old time's sake.

Mythos Mixture's Pink Pixie (2008!) is sweet sugary cotton-candy raspberry-strawberry soda. According to my review (again, from 2008!) it sounds like Pixie was the original raspberry ginger ale scent, so I dunno why it was hitting my nose as overly sweet this time around. I suppose nearly 20 years of aging may have changed the scent.

All in all: Thermal Detonator Cola is good! I know it's not fair to compare Cola with a straight Lemon Lime Soda, but this is a grown-up scent that starts out like an ice cold Coke and dies down to a complex sweet (but not overly sweet!) spice.

PS: On the Nerf Herder Co site, it's sometimes listed as "Thermo Detonator" and sometimes "Thermal Detonator". I checked on Wookieepedia, and it should be Thermal Detonator... but also, the round soda bottles in Galaxy's Edge are maybe not intended to be Thermal Detonators.