SpaceGirl

I placed a huge order... :embarasse Some men's fragrances that I don't make too much with anyways, should last me awile, and some holiday fragrances - it's not too early to start thinking about the fall and I don't mind rotating holiday scents from year to year. Glad for the price break, sorry to see a well-respected supplier close its doors.

High density, Medium density, Low density. You were close! If you want really squishy then you don't want HDPE, but remember that some of the squishy factor will depend on the shape of the bottle.

ack! So I just got off the phone talking with a gentleman about my candles! He is with the amenities business, essentially, and was given one of my candles by a co-worker. We discussed the possibility of me making candles for them to distribute! I think he might have been testing me out on the phone a little bit, because when I asked what sort of volume he was talking about the first thing he said was that they supply Sandals (as in the Beach Resort places). *faint* I had to tell him that wasn't the sort of product that I make - I'm about handcrafted quality. He seemed okay with that -- said they have some customers who they do custom work for in smaller quantities and that I would probably fit with that. We talked for a bit -- it helped that he was knowledgable about candles, candlemaking AND educating customers about candles. He also said they provide the fragrance and the containers, as they silk screen specifically for their customers. Anywhoo -- I'm meeting with him in person next Thursday and taking some more samples with me. My goal is to leave there with one or two fragrances and some containers to test produce for them. If they like what I can provide, then maybe we're talking contract! OMG!!! Now I'm nervous and excited at the same time! I could be up to my eyeballs testing soon. Aaacccccccckkkkk!!!!

This sounds like a pretty good (read easy) recipe -- I'll try it out this weekend! I did read somewhere to use alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) in a body spray to help make it last. Has anyone tried that? I should search, I know, but I've been working nights and am reading the board (and typing) while still asleep.

I saw those bottles and got really excited because there were pump tops on the 2oz and 4oz bottles, but when I go to the closures section all of the pump tops were 24/410 closures and the smaller bottles need 20/410 closures Am I just being blind?

It's over at the Dish. http://www.soapdishforum.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=82403 I've been eyeing it myself......

Aaron -- I don't think anyone can answer that for you because we're all working in different environments. I know that I canNOT leave my window cracked open in the spring/fall when I have candles cooling because they will crack (circle crack, too!). But in the summertime it is all good. Your blend may react differently in heat/cool weather than mine, but in general you are probably going to have to do some level of temperature control. I think you're just going to have to try it and see.

It's getting close to the time when I have to restock my 4 oz bottles and I'm struggling with what to do with my lotion. I may move towards Malibus/tottles for my shower gels and I'm already migrating my 8oz lotions to a pump, but 4 oz bottles seem to not be compatible with pump tops. Right now I use the Dundee or Cosmo ovals containers with a silver disc top. My lotion tends to run a little thick. Does anyone have something that they really like in a 4oz size (that doesn't come with a treatment pump?). I don't need all the different sizes to be the same style, but I'd like to find something a little more distinctive than what I currently have. I've checked most of my usual suppliers and nothing is catching my eye yet. This is proving to be much more frustrating than I wanted! :rolleyes2

I liked the conditioner. The shampoo might be okay but I don't know because I added more FO than the base wanted and it thinned horribly. I really like their bases in general, but until I test out a FO in a base I've learned to approach the 1% load very carefully.

There may be nothing wrong with them, but I know I haven't personally tested either in bath water. I had a customer ask me about what was in my milk bath, because you do immserse yourself in it, and maybe there are some delicate balances that sugar (definitely), yogurt powder (possibly?) or honey powder (possibly?) could disrupt and leave the customer with...... an unpleasant situation. Then again the amounts may be low enough to not matter. Given how sensitive some people are, I just don't take that risk. Even if I didn't have a reaction someone else could. So I stick with milk, oatmeal, baking soda, citric acid, etc...

I'd suggest leaving anything with sugar out! I'd be wary of the yogurt powder and honey powder.

Too scary! But I'm glad you got the sale, disturbing visual nonetheless.

She sure was blonde, it was quite possibly bleached, but I have to give her props for being quite dedicated to her product. The tealights she was handing out as samples were BUTT UGLY, tho. I didn't eat chocolate -- when I'm at a show I get so focused on what I'm doing that I don't do much else..... must learn to enjoy myself during a show! I didn't really get comments about the foodie candles making people hungry (in a bad way) but then again the chocolate candles were the only food scents I had. PA -- they're doing the Chcolate Festival every year for the next few years at the Denver Merchandise Mart -- same weekend, too. Come by next year There was definitely some high ened chocolate there but plenty of non-food vendors as well. Did I mention free wine tastings, too? Our next show is June 1st so I'm excited to see how that one goes. The good news is that we've purchased out show displays, so I think the only things I need to buy are more labels. The "profit" from the last show is going to pay for show supplies. :rolleyes2

Thanks! Luckily for me (and my customers) my products have gotten tons better since that first swap I joined..... Lots of experimentation should definitely pay off. Oh... I have to add..... there was a Partylite lady right behind me. I played into some marketing gimmick ~ I kept hearing people ask her if her candles were soy.... and she had to say no. So I stuck some little labels out that said mine were hand-poured, soy blend candles. I was quite honest when people asked -- I told them that they were a blend and talked to them about the differences between the two waxes... and that ultimately there was no "better" candle - it was more preference than anything else. So a few hours into selling on Saturday, the Partylite lady comes over and talks to us. She says she's confused.... what company is my stuff from? We told her it was ours.... and that we made everything ourselves. That seemed to throw her a little bit - like, you can do that?. Then she tried to trade some candles for some of my friends jewelry. I'm sure some Partylite reps are fine -- her light bulb ran a little dim anyways. But it was sure amusing listening her tell people that they were the largest homebased something or the other and spend millions of dollars in R&D trying to make perfect candles. I spent thousands in my kitchen -- does that count???

Well my friend and I just did our first show of the year. It was the Colorado Chocolate Festival held in Denver. 3 hours Friday night and 8 hours today. Together we brought in about $800. Not totally fantastic but it's the most in sales volume that either or us have done, so we are pretty excited! She does wonderful unique jewelry and I do the rest (candles, bath and body stuff). This was also the first show where we accepted credit cards -- I signed up with Propay and definitely think that was a good choice -- over half the sales were CC purchases. I had some discussions with a few people about future opportunities.... a dentist who is possibly looking for a custom lip balm, a hotel person for chocolate themed stuff, a massage therapist, a lady looking for wedding favors, etc.... Even if only one of them pans out that will be huge for me! I introduced my Cocoa Butter Hand Lotion that was lightly chocolate scented (to complement the festival theme) and it was a big hit! Had a sample bottle out and everyone who tried it really liked how it made their hands feel and how nice it smelled. I think it will become a staple in my line! All of my chocolate stuff did pretty well -- almost sold out of both the lotion and the shower gel, chocolate candles and raspberry truffle candles. After all of that, man am I tired! I have pics that I'll upload later...... but I am very pleased that the first show went so well! We have a very tiny sale next weekend in support of the AVON Walk and then another actual show on June 1st. Then it's a long break until the fall season. I don't know how you show professionals do this all the time! You have my total respect.

Lip balms, lotions and bath melts. And labels -- LOTS of labels. But probably not a single candle -- if they ain't poured by now they won't be ready for my show next weekend, so on to other things!

Were all your oils, butters and waxes fully melted before you added the water and started to mix together? :confused: You've puzzled me, too, but then again I don't put my emulsified lotion in the freezer.... don't know if that was a factor.

It can, but if you choose to use it, mix it up in solution form... 1%, 10%, whatever you feel more comfortable with. (1% is usually recommended) This gives you more control over how rapidly you are adjusting the pH. A few drops of liquid is MUCH easier than figuring dealing with little crystals.

awesome... no other words for it!

Thanks for those links, Stella. Very interesting reading.

ALL OF IT!!! Mwahahaha! Damn those descriptions -- I could have ordered three sample packs and still missed out on some! I hating it, but I really have to start making some decisions about what FOs to carry for candles and what to carry for B&B and how much I want to be able to carry in sets. Sigh. I'll try it in my wax blend, but any rerviews on how Goddess does in soy? Or best to keep it in B&B only? I already know the Red Currant is going into wax as I have someone who has asked for the dupe.

I broke down and got the sample pack... saw that they have Red Currant and some fig scents so I had to get those, too.

Oooooooh I really like those!

Flower Goddess It's definitely the sultry, spicy one that I'm looking for -- but to tell you the truth I am really scared to order from another supplier -- I have been better (lately) about keeping the FO addiction under control. If I order from Tony's I know I'll end up with more, more, more..... :rolleyes2

Thank you for the replies! I thought I had seen a few FO's named Goddess from other suppliers but I must have been wrong.