NaughtyNancy

And see, I've never even been in the practice of doing that much. If I spilled I bit on the counter or kitchen table, I'd just wipe it with a kitchen rag and call it a day. But these past few years I've been making candles, so always using FO at 10% at most in my items. So I had never seen anything like this before in my life until this past week. Trying to make these incense sticks again I was using FO at 50% with that DPG. I had no idea how powerful these fragrance oils can actually be as chemicals. I am SHOOK, Y'ALL. Like I am still in a little shock that it straight up chemically melted plastic.

Soooo I'm just sharing my story here, to serve as an example and maybe help some other newby out there avoid the same terrible mistake. The short version is that I was careless with and totally underestimated some chemicals, and the result was a mini disaster. Decided to try to make my own incense sticks, because I wanted certain scent types that I was having a hard time finding on the market. Bought blank sticks and some fragrance oils. At the last minute, I discovered some discussions online (including some here) about DPG, so I ordered some of that to cut the fragrance oils with. Also ordered aluminum baking pans with plastic lids to use for soaking my sticks in the oil. So I mixed by FO and DPG 50/50 to test that ratio first, knowing I might need to up the DPG in later tests, but wanted to see what I could get away with first, if anything. Filled my aluminum baking pans with the blank sticks, then added my FO/DPG mix, then covered them with the plastic lids to contain the scent, and then set them all up on a shelving unit to soak for 24 hours. About 5 hours later I come back to check on them, which I don't even know what I would have been "checking" but I guess my intuition was giving me a red alert, because the plastic lids were MELTING into the oil!!! Like straight up melting into a plastic goo! In a panic I put on some latex gloves and started removing the half-melted plastic lids and putting them into a garbage bag, the whole time just cursing at myself for wasting SO MUCH FO ($$$) on this botched experiment (since I am assuming the sticks are a complete lost, can't burn then since they probably have melted plastic in them now). Couple hours went by of me just simmering down, telling myself that mistakes happen and that I can try again next week. But I also went outside and checked the trash out of curiosity, and yes, the oil mixture was MELTING THE GARBAGE BAG. Holy hell. And to think I used to shrug it off as "no big deal" when accidentally getting undiluted FO on my SKIN. So that's my dunce story lol. Don't be like me, newbies. Do your research and be safe!

Wondering if anyone here has done this with success, before I order some molds. So this sounds legit in theory, but again just want to ask first lol.. If I make little flat wax pieces using silicone molds, and then dip the flat-smooth backs of the pieces in very hot wax, can I sort of "glue" them (using the hot wax) to a pillar candle? Will they actually stick and not fall off, if I do it well? (Such as not trying to use pieces that are too large, using enough hot wax as adhesive, holding them in place long enough, etc) I'm making candles for everyone for Christmas this year, I imagine everyone has about had enough lotion bars for a while haha. I have a very basic plain pillar mold and want to spiff up the pillars a bit, so was contemplating this idea of trying to wax-glue some flattish leaves, flowers, snowflakes, etc onto them. Another idea I had for an aunt who loves cinnamon scents, was to do a cinnamon scented pillar candle, and then try to "wax glue" some wax cinnamon sticks around it, after I found this silicone cinnamon sticks embed mold. Would this actually work, does anyone know?

Initially I couldn't choose, honestly, and ordered so much from several different companies, and wound up with a big FO stash but half of which I didn't like. I honestly had to learn through several stages of trial and error what the "signs" were that I wasn't really going to like something. If the word "ozonic" is mentioned anywhere in the description, I'm going to swear it just smells like laundry detergent when it arrives and be very disappointed. Pass. Wood "notes" just about never mean that a FO smells woody. Even the word "woody" means nothing. There needs to be a chunk of wood in the name, itself. Fire WOOD. CEDAR and saffron. Crackling BIRCH. LUMBERjack. And even then I still need to check the notes to make sure there isn't any citrus in it. Citrus. My second nemesis after ozone notes. "This is an invigorating citrus blend with teakwood, jasmine and-" NOPE NOPE NOPE "Well then how about this Twilight Pine FO, that starts with top notes of balsam, black pepper and lavender, and middle notes of eucalyptus, orange- "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Fruit notes in general are questionable when sacrifices must be made. I always look to see if there are reviews from weirdos who talk and describe things like myself. "This cedar vanilla tastes like moth balls you want to eat!" - Awesome. "This cedar vanilla slightly discolored my soaps and seized after 10 seconds." - An actually-useful review for 90% of customers, but not me lol The daring or unorthodox use of spices is a win for me at least 50% of the time. Also a prominent tea note makes everything potentially appealing. Yes, even citrus. Looking at you, Bergamot Black Tea. There is no such thing as a truly amazing sandalwood FO, all of them have to be blended with other things to help them along, so I will never pay super high prices for one. Try our lavender FO or patchouli FO, $7 for 2 ounces, or consider this sandalwood FO, just half a million dollars for the same 2 ounce size, even though there is no real sandalwood in it, and it's as weak and weird as always! Or how about no. I still read the negative reviews, because sometimes the underdog was made for me. "This witches brew smells too strongly of patchouli and can barely smell the other notes, 2 stars!" Out of my way, earthy-haters, dirty hippie coming through.

I love actual smokey aromas lol! I have a "Fireplace" FO from natures garden I think, and I have blended a wee bit of it with several other FO's to give them a slightly smokey quality. I will add a wee bit of birch tar to a body product's blend to get a smokey effect, too. The smokiness is very, very subtle after a couple hours post-application, though strong (sometimes too strong) initially. Somewhere in the middle it smells wonderful, and then the birch tar seems to work as an amazing natural fixative for the other notes as the day/evening goes on.

What sort of vetiver interpretation are you seeking? Like what I mean is, vetiver is one of those aromas where the FO is typically nothing like actual vetiver, such as vetiver essential oil. To me vetiver EO smells extremely earthy and damp, yet paradoxically a bit fresh, think like cool and damp potting soil, or freshly turned up dirt in Autumn after it rains. So to get close to the real deal using FO's, I would more so recommend something like one of those "potting soil" or "dirt" FO's, and adding a tiny touch of something camphoraceous, such as just a wee bit of tea tree EO and rosemary EO (both very affordable) to the "dirt" FO. All of the "vetiver" interpretation (blend or simple) FO's I have tried, don't smell like vetiver EO, though. Some of them are closer than others, though, but they tend to smell uh.. "greener"? I guess, in a more so.. "fresh" kind of way, like generically "herbal" or they smell more like a smooth cologne. Now to me some of these FO's smell good, but would disappoint someone looking for a more authentic vetiver scent. It's sort of like how there are a hundred and one slightly different interpretations of Sandalwood out there... more woody, more powdery, more perfumey, more earthy, etc. None of them are inherently good or bad, but like for example if someone wants me to make them a "sandalwood" lotion, I have to ask them more questions to figure out what exactly they have in mind, personally. Vetiver strikes me as that sort of scent, too.

Same here! As far as being pretty happy so far with the cold and hot throw from wholesale supplies plus FO's. Some of the FO's I am hooked on from them have better pricing, too, and get the job done.

I think it is hit or miss, like with most companies. I use a handful of different FO's from bulk apothecary for my own use in body products, occasionally some for close friends or family. In my own experience, most of the FO's are indeed very strong when used in items like this (solid lotion, solid perfume, body butter, etc). Some are extremely strong, while others are simply decent. However, I recommended this company to someone making candles on here not super long ago, and they reported being less than thrilled with the hot throw. So with some of their FO's might be a difference based on what sorts of items you are making, too. The main reason I will pay a little extra for some of their FO's in addition to being decently strong, is that their interpretations tend to lean earthy and woody, which I personally really like. A lot their patchouli/saffron/wood stuff is to my liking, and their blends like tobacco vanilla or cardamon cedar blossom have some serious oomph. I put those in some potpourri and it's like goodness gracious lol. I tried their oatmeal stout one for a foodie in my social circle, and that FO about blew my eyebrows off when I opened the bottle. But again that is cold throw / OOB strength.

Cera bellina has been a little miracle worker so far for pretty much all of the types of balms and bars I make (lotion, perfume, body butters, etc) ever since you recommended it to me (when I was getting the creepy texture patterns on the solid perfumes lol). I add a small % of it to basically everything now. Keeps everything pretty smooth and with a nice seal of sorts prior to use.

Christmas Bliss hands down best Christmas/holiday theme fragrance I have ever smelled in my entire life. It reminds me a bit of a head shop incense rack smell, but in a really, really good way, with a slight festive twist to it. It's flippin amazing. Cuban Tobacco smells nothing like tobacco but it smells hella good none the less. Warm, a bit masculine, mildly sweet, a bit of spice. Lots of versatility in naming something you use it in, but smells great. Their "just peachy" peach FO also impressed me, since I usually don't like synthetic fruit smells at all. It smelled like genuine ripe peaches and was strong. I can't personally gauge the neroli FO because it's not my cup of tea, but I ordered the sample size for someone else who loves bergamot/neroli type smells, and she really liked it. Purple Sandalwood is THE BOMB, hard to describe it but it's super nice. They somehow managed to balance that sort of earth/wood+flower thing without it coming out like some cheap baby powder incense smell. I add a drop of cedar EO to it for a little extra depth and it's awesome.

That's pretty flippin cool! What FO's do you have in your current stash, that you want to use? I've noticed that a lot of people seem to draw correlations primarily between color and scent. So for fantasy blends, it can usually be as easy as starting with the color(s) you want, and then just using whatever FO/s correlate to those colors. Like, Red - apple, cinnamon, cranberry, clove Yellow - lemon, honey Orange - oranges, dragon's blood, pumpkin etc etc etc So then pretty much any comic character can have their color/s on a candle, with a scent that "makes sense" to someone just happy to have a gift basket lol. But can get fun with it, too.. like one of those "new car" FO's could be the Batmobile, or a Thor thunderbolt candle could be ozonic (clouds) with a touch of lemon (yellow-lightning) and maybe a little masculine-themed FO blend undertone. Dragon's Blood works with pretty much anything space/cosmic-related for whatever subconscious reasons. Something herbal and generally green-correlated could be used in a Poison Ivy candle, and could add a splash of something "red" for her hair.. like raspberry, apple, cranberry, whatever.

I made solid perfume for one grandmother using rustic escentuals' lilac FO, and she really loved it. Made a solid lotion bar for a different grandmother using bramble berry's lilac FO, and she really liked hers, too. Best I can subjectively describe the OOB scent differences, rustic escentuals' lilac FO smelled more flowery, softer, while bramble berry's smells a little more like the actual plant flowers so it has a mild earthy and rainy aspect to it (best I can word it) like smelling the real thing but distinctly lilac. While again rustic escentuals' was a bit more mellow and soft, not soft as in weak scent, but just soft as opposed to a very distinct scent. In the items I made, the rustic escentuals' lilac FO was good for the perfume since again it was softer in its nature and more mellow, just a soft floral with some lilac character. The bramble berry lilac FO worked well in the solid lotion since it was very distinct, crisp and a bit strong, and that grandmother has a very weak sense of smell, so it turned out well even at the lower dilution % for lotion. Personally I like bramble berry's because I tend to favor earthy scents, like authentic earthy, so I liked that their lilac FO really smelled like being outside with my nose in the flowers. Rustic escentuals' lilac FO was more of a lady-like floral scent, lilac but again just mellowed out.

I have no experience using Brambleberry FO in candles, specifically, but have tried their bergamot black tea in wax melts. I don't know hardly enough about the science behind candle making to know what differences that makes. However, I can say that in the wax melts I tried with it, the throw was decent. I just have a basic wax warmer that plugs into the wall, ceramic and shaped like an owl. Used it with the bergamot black tea wax melts in a bedroom, and about an hour later the aroma was noticeable in the room. That is the only one from brambleberry that I have tried in wax, though. Double checked and the other ones were from different companies.

Well dang. I was honestly a little excited to try some new formulas without the citral, as I am a woody-earthy-incense-musk fan, and not much into citrus at all. But now some of my favorite FO's are probably taking a hit! 😬

Really like the look of that candle, reminds me of amethyst.