I love a good gift as much as the next person. However, I really prefer functional gifts. Not that I don’t appreciate the thought, but how many basket-fulls of perfumed lotion can one person stand?! Well, Ooh La La Candy is the answer to gift giving. A sweet sentiment (pun intended) AND a tasty treat makes for a good gift. How can you go wrong with popular candy mixed with some good design/packaging?
Given my predilection for useful gifts, it is needless to say that I was looking forward to seeing if Ooh La La Candy could meet my gift-giving needs. I quickly noticed the dual purpose of the “cupcakes”. Gift + sustenance! The cupcakes are crafted from candy which means one of my favorite things is being made from one of my other favorite things! The Sweet Stripes cupcake consists of black and white Sixlets (who doesn’t like Sixlets??) and is topped with a giant pink gumball. (Be forewarned, the anticipation will surely build because the packaging of the little cupcake is a bear to get into! They are securely attached to their individual, plastic cubes.) The other cupcake I tried was a PB&J Cupcake made with, yep, you guessed it, peanut butter chips and grape jellybeans. In lieu of a gumball topping the cupcake, this one had a peanut butter cup adornment.
My first impression of the cupcakes was that I was intrigued. They definitely got my attention with their design and packaging, but how will they taste? Not bad! The Sweet Stripes was my favorite- again, Sixlets, what else do I need to say? I think I *may* have eaten a few too many Sixlets, but I am thankful I had friends for sharing. They ultimately saved me from myself! I appreciate how long the cupcake lasted as we snacked on it throughout the evening. I had the thought that it would be great to have one of these to help pass the time during a long, arduous day of work.
So the Sweet Stripes cupcake I enjoyed. However, I was a bit disappointed with the PB&J cupcake because I LOVE peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and was hoping the flavor combination would more closely resemble the lunch-time staple. The chips were fantastic, but I wasn’t crazy about the grape flavor of the jellybean. It had a very artificially-flavored grape taste. I tried several variations of bean-to-chip ratios, but realized that I just wasn’t really a fan of eating them both at the same time. The flavors that mingling in my mouth were not so good together. Since I loved the chips, I ate a disproportionate amount of those and pushed the jellybeans to the side. I occasionally shook up the monotony of “all-peanut-butter-chips-all-the-time” with a random jellybean or two, though. I found this method more pleasing and thus the PB&J cupcake was saved, just in the nick of time.
In addition to the cupcakes, I also had a really fun gift box of retro candy called “Blast from the Past”. I hadn’t eaten a Bit-O-Honey in what seemed like forever and had forgotten how much I liked them. Big thumbs up to Ooh La La Candy for the nostalgia factor! Oh, and there were gumballs! So many Smiley Gumballs that we couldn’t even finish them all. I ended up taking them to work and I think I might have been a hero that day. Nothing like good old-fashioned, sugared gumballs! After a life of sugar-free-only gum, I truly felt like a kid again savoring the sweet, granulated, sugary goodness.
Not quite complete with their candy offerings, Ooh La La Candy also has Chic Candy Cards. Greeting card with yummy candy. Now that’s what I call “sweet nothings”! One of the cards came in handy as I realized I was, as usual, ill-prepared for a social gathering and needed a card for a a recent graduate and friend of mine. I decided to give her the “Cute as a Button card” (monetary gift enclosed) because it’s just rude to hand someone a check, right? It’s hard to say if it was the money or the candy, but she seemed pleased with my choices. I mean, she did look cute as a button, beaming with pride from her hard-earned and well-deserved accomplishments. I think she appreciated the pun, too, so I felt good about it. I’m calling that one a job well done. Besides, isn’t gift-giving a lot about how it makes both people feel?
So, to wrap it up (another pun intended), I love functional gifts and anything from Ooh La La Candy would be a gift I’d be glad to have received and would likely give. Yeah, I probably wouldn’t buy the PB&J cupcake because I don’t like the candy in it and would have opted for something more my style: a Sweet Spots cupcake made with chocolate and latte jellybeans. But, I don’t the so-so PB&J cupcake is enough to alter an overall good experience. All in all, I’d have to say, “Ooh la la Candy, you wooed me with both popular and retro candies. You must have known I am a sucker for clever packaging and good design. You were bound to appeal to me. I know it’s shallow, but I do think I like you purely for your ‘good looks’.”
UPDATE
A Candy Addict reader exclusive: Get 20% off your Ooh La La Candy order with the code “ADDICT”! Ooh La La Candy is offering this promotion through the summer, so get crackin’!
Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.
