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Michdj

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Everything posted by Michdj

  1. My original recipe (listed first) moves nice and slow. It was the new (bottom) recipe that moved. Shea at 15% has never been a problem, so I'm not worried about that. I don't have a problem with HO safflower moving, and it's nearly identical to olive, which is why I switched. For cleansing I'd been using a pko/coco combo, but it would be nice to lose one of those and just use the other. I just really wanted to take my original recipe and remove maybe the rbo and coconut or pko. I'm just not sure what to do. The problem is that I'm running out of masterbatched oils and need to order more in the next day or two. I should've thought to make this change sooner. I usually masterbatch 438lbs at a time. Rats!
  2. I've been using the same CP recipe for years, and it's a little complicated so I wanted to "downsize." It's as follows: 20% palm 20% safflower 15% pko 15% shea 15% rice bran 10% coconut 5% castor I was wanting to lose an oil or two, just so I'm not ordering and tracking so many oils. I tried the following, but it moved a pretty quick on a fragrance that usually reverses trace, and my top selling fragrance actually accelerates (ugh): 30% palm 30% HO safflower 25% pko 10% shea 5% castor Any suggestions on how to lose an oil or two and still be okay? I'd love to lose the coconut oil since it's a pain to try and melt the 50lb pails to masterbatch, but I'm thinking that maybe all that pko was what caused a quick trace. I don't mind the HO safflower to be the only liquid oil (with castor). AGH! I'm going crazy messing with Soapcalc. Any thoughts?
  3. If anyone has French Vanilla and Amber I will buy it from you at more than you paid. Send me a message!
  4. Adding French Vanilla and Amber (::sob::), White Tea & Ginger, Blackberry Sage and Warm Vanilla Sugar. -Almond Pastry - not exactly the same, but try BB Almond Biscotti (possibly look at Candlewic's Anisette Cookies?) (Tri-State has a Baked Goods and a Primitive Pantry maybe to compare) (Fragrance Buddy has an Almond Macaroon that sounded vaguely familiar of Peak's description) -Amish Harvest- Rustic Escentuals has one by the same name (Also look at Celtic Spice from RE) NOTE: Flaming Candle carries one by the same name; Community Candle has one by the name and I think the description. -Banana Nut Bread-The one from Candle Science and Cajun are good replacements in my opinion. Also, Banana Walnut Cake from RE. (FB offers two, but maybe look at the MW type) -Birthday Cake - (Flaming has one, but no idea on comparison) Aztec's has a 5* review, Indiana Candle Supply has a 5* (RE lists two, both with 5* ratings) -Blackberry Sage -Black Canyon - (Flaming Candle lists one, but I do not know how they compare) -Botanical Orchard and Nectar (Note to self to check out RE's Humingbird nectar to compare to this one) -Cedar (it didn't have a lot of wood tones to it, but was refreshing) -Cinnamon Balsam (There isn't a supplier carrying this. RE's Cinnamon Spruce will be the closest to something, but have not tried.) -Cinnamon Buns -Cookie Cottage - smells identical to RE Grandma's Cupboard (KY) -Cookies for Santa - BCN has one with the same name, but not sure if they are similar. If they are not, please delete this rec. -Cranberry Apple Marmalade - CS has a really good one but I think it's not B/B safe -Eucalyptus Leaf - (Note to self: Cierra has one by name) -French Vanilla & Amber -Fresh Baked Pie Crust (RE carries a Pie Crust with a 5* rating off 3 reviews) (Community Candle offers a pie crust) -Freshed Brewed Coffee - Aztec's Coffee is nice (RE has a 5* Coffee House with 11 reviews) -Fruit Slices -Fudge Brownie (Cierra Candles lists a chocolate brownie with 5* off three reviews...read the reviews) -German Chocolate Cake -Green Clover & Aloe (RE has a Clover Fields & Aloe that might be similar) -Holiday Sparkle -Home for the Holidays (Tri-State offers one, but the description says sweet and I don't think Peak's was) -Honeysuckle -Lavender -Leather - Texas Candle Supply, Lonestar were some suggestions (Flaming is carrying a genuine leather ... do not know how they compare.) -Lemon Pound Cake -Candle Science version smells very close OOB. Have not put it in wax. - RE Lemon Sugar Bundt Cake (Flaming has one too) (Aztec's has a 5* review) - Lilac - Candle Cocoon had a nice one that wasn't too floral to someone. (Aztec's has a 5* rating) Fragrance Buddy's Lemon Pound cake is good! -Mountain Lake -Ocean - Cierra Candles has one named this. -Olde Towne Bake Shoppe (Possibly look at Cookie Kitchen at Fragrance Buddy) -Orange Blossoms -Orange Chiffon Cake - RE Orange Chiffon Cake (KY) smells the same to me, both in tarts and OOB (Aztec has one 5* w/ 5 reviews) (ICS has one with a 5* rating) RE carries KY's version -Paris Twilight (Any chance this is Paris Nights type? If so, RE has the PN) -Patchouli -Peach -Pear Spice (Flaming has one but don't know how it would compare. Community Candle offers a spicy pear, but don't know the comparison) -Pumpkin Honey Chai -Purely Peppermint - Flamings "North Pole" -Red Clove -Rose Bouquet - (It isn't the RB, but a nice replacement, though not soap friendly that I recall, is Briar Rose from Candlewic. Also a Fresh Cut Roses from there, Yankee type -- Aztec has a fresh cut rose with a reviewer swearing it's like a rose cut from her garden ... the FO has a 4 1/2* rating) RE has a Rose Petals w/ a 5* rating off 3 reviews maybe take a look at the 4* rustic rose - Sage & Lemongrass - Community Candle carries a lemongrass & sage. Candlewic's Lemongrass & Sage is good. -Sea Salt & Cocoa Bean -Spiced Cranberry (ICS offers one with 5* rating) Community Candle has this on their list. -Spruce Christmas Tree - Flaming's Spruce, Candle Science's Blue Spruce -Sweet Pumpkin Spice -Tuscan Nights -Twilight Woods-samples ordered from Cierra and Lonestar (Flaming and NG both carry this) -Vanilla Bean Nectarine -Vermont Honey Apple BBW type (Aztec has a 5* review) -Warm Vanilla Sugar -Watermelon -White Tea & Ginger -Wild Mountain Honey - TT - I use the one from Brambleberry (Flaming has one by the same name) (RE has one called honey bee) (FB has one) -Wild Raspberry -Wildberry Musk -Winter Wonderland (Has anyone tried Flaming's?) (RE has one that I think description was close to what Peak's had.) Cierra Candle has one by the name also.
  5. I kept hearing "in production, here in two weeks on this day..." and when that day came, nada. Another two weeks, another two weeks. Don't hold your breath.
  6. Oooh I'll have to watch for your coop then!
  7. @Candybee You have to click on a quantity to see that it's out of stock, otherwise it looks at first blush like you can order it. And many, many of them are out of stock. I'm just wondering if something is up, because it wasn't just this time of year - it was all summer that I've been needing several. Since June. If they're going out of business, I wish they'd say. I'd definitely stock up on what they DO have in stock. ETA: From the first page, when you click either 8oz or 16oz, 6 out of 17 (35%) are IN stock. The following are out of stock - just from the first page: Almond Pasteries Amber Romance Amish Harvest Apple Blossom Apple Jack & Peel Aruba Coconut Autumn Walk Bartlett Pear Bayberry Birthday Cake Black Canyon
  8. Every time I go to order more FOs from Peak, they're out of what I need. I'm up to 4 scents that I need that they're out of, so I randomly picked scents from A-H on their web site and came up with 12 out of stock on the first two pages. Are they going out of business? Does anyone know? I'll need to stock up if they are, and avoid another Scent Works situation.
  9. I've had it turn a shade of kind of dark cream for a vanillin reaction, but this was yellow like in the rainbow. I even used full-strength vanilla stabilizer. When I used the pre-reformulation FO from NG along with vanilla stabilizer from WSP, I had pink and white soap. It's *still* pink and white, even 6 months later. But this was 30 minutes after I made it - YELLOW. It's so disappointing. So no one has a Pink Sugar they like?
  10. So apparently Nature's Garden reformulated their Pink Sugar FO and I used it last week for CP soap. It turned my soap YELLOW. When I called about it, they were pretty unconcerned. I'm looking for a new Pink Sugar to try. Does anyone have a favorite? I'm desperate!
  11. Does anyone know of a supplier for Benzophenone-4 or another UV inhibitor for leave-on products? My body cream reacts with sunlight like crazy and it's making me want to scream. I can only find Benzophenone-3 at Bramble Berry, but it's for melt and pour. Help!
  12. I personally love Bramble Berry's Cherry Blossom. That in soap is Spring to me, for sure!
  13. I second the ButterEZ. I never ever have grains from my Shea. Definitely give it a try. And be sure to cool your products very quickly as well.
  14. It looks to me like you've hit it spot on with the one on the left. It's consuming itself with no blowout and no rolling like the one on the right. The one on the right most likely has too big a wick. Nice work! Pillars are tough - I finally gave up.
  15. I too was freakishly afraid of lye but got over it by reading tons of information online and getting the process down BEFORE I actually did the process. Does that make sense? Walking through all the safety precautions and pretending to make a batch so I had everything I needed in front of me. I did want to say though that in case you get lye on your skin you should rinse really, really well with cool water. Water! You don't want to use vinegar on a lye burn. That will add more injury to injury in case you actually have a burn.
  16. I found last year that my customers want the nutmeggiest, cloviest, gingeriest "pumpkin pie" they can find. It's all about the spices. Can anybody recommend an FO like that? Most people are looking to temper the spices, but I need to spice it up!
  17. Last year I used CS Christmas Tree and it smells like... pine. That's it. There's no depth to it. People bought it, but I think there are better scents out there. This year I'm actually switching over to Blue Spruce from CS. I had a sniffie from them last year (AFTER I made my Evergreen candles) and thought - THERE it is! Ugh!
  18. I had a show in January, and my best-sellers were those that reminded people of either the tropics (coconut! mango papaya!) or Spring (florals!). Weird. Wintertime is usually spiced apple and cinnamon for me!
  19. You either used too much FO for the wax (remember that 1oz PP is just a guideline) or you didn't heat the oil. Always heat the oil. When I use Amish Harvest from Peak with 4627 I have to use about .5oz PP or it weeps, even after heating it. When you stir your wax and notice FO blobs, you need to try adding more wax until there's enough wax to absorb the FO.
  20. I'm so not the best person to ask, but I'm all about spreadsheets. I have one for miles driven, one for sales tax collected, one for sales, etc. Someone here shared a craft show spreadsheet that saved my behind all year last year with tracking inventory. I also have a spreadsheet form I use for doing inventory before and after each show. I'm sure it would be better to use QuickBooks but I bought it and haven't a clue how to use it - and this is coming from someone studying for their MBA. Ugh!
  21. I love OnlineLabels and how quick they are. The products are great and I've learned to buy in large quantities (as I kept buying smaller quantities last year and ended up costing myself a fortune reordering all the time). I use Adobe Illustrator for labels so I can't speak to Maestro though.
  22. No, you don't need the wax type, color and fragrance on a warning. You might want to Google ASTM warning labels to get a better idea of what's required. I also perused several large brand candle mfg to see what they included before creating my label.
  23. Well, the attendance never really improved on Monday. Sunday - the first day - had lots of people but I didn't get a lot of interest. I was selling my candles. I did the same show last August and I picked up 3 new retailers. This year I ended up picking up two, but I don't think they'll be worth the $700 investment in the booth space. Not sure I'm going to do it again - I suppose it depends on whether or not I get my b/b line launched, and whether or not reaching out to stores directly proves to be valuable. Wholesale is a tough gig.
  24. ... and holy moly it's slow. I'd been standing outside the booth making eye contact with people and I can't get folks interested. I have several wholesale accounts already, so I know the product/packaging isn't at fault. Has anyone done these types of shows before? (Like gift shows/gift marts etc)? Have you had any luck?
  25. I'm loving CS's Coconut Lime Verbena and Peak's Blackberry Sage. I've been experimenting with a lot of B/B stuff lately, though, so I'm hunting for scents for candles and B/B. Plus I'm sick of winter. Bring the Spring! (Oh, also CS's Jamaican Me Crazy. Cannot go wrong with it!)
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