Spellkast

LOL..and what wax do you use, my dear topofmurrayhill? Ya know, with all this hype about paraffin being horrible, I'm starting to think I should switch to soy...And I've tried IGI6006, and I can't stand that stuff- I feel the scent throw is so much stronger on the comfort blend...Just getting so frustrated right now. I love these new jars- and you're completely right Top, it got me thinking about my old jars- I never SEE them smoke, and there's never soot on the containers, but that doesn't mean there ISN'T any soot! But I'm ready to do my first show next week and I just ordered 5 cases of comfort blend...and I love it, I really do..but now I'm just worried about the hazard these candles might pose to my customer's health. I mean, does anyone else use this stuff? Am I the only horrible person subjecting people to my awful comfort blend? I should start a "people who love comfort blend, but know it's wrong" support group!

I know, I know...I've thought about double wicking, but I have other 4" containers that burn fine with the Low Smoke Zincs!! Weird, huh? These are terraced jars from fairway, so I'm THINKING that maybe because the opening gets smaller at the top, that's why soot is collecting on there. I thought I might try one of the large RRD wicks soon, but regular zincs- I just can't bring myself to do it...I tested regular zincs in this stuff early on in my experimenting and I HATED it...I wouldn't just get a mushroom from them, I would get like whole people growing on the tops of the wicks...it was bad, but as a last resort before double wicking, I will attempt the zincs. I'll try the RRD's this afternoon and see how it goes. Sigh.

The thing that REALLY bothers me is that this scares people! I use paraffin because my customers want really strong candles, yet I have people coming up to me saying, why don't you use soy, it's so much better for us and the economy...and it's really like, pick one- do you want a really strong candle or do you want a candle that's good for the economy? I read about paraffin and soy when I was deciding which one i wanted to delve in and I chose paraffin because it was NOT dangerous- and now there's all this bashing going on everywhere, not just by this one website (but they don't help matters) and it frightens customers away! I have people ask me if my candles are soy and when I say no, they just walk away! So aggravating to see a website basically dedicated to eradicating paraffin candles!

Ok, so I've been playing around with these cute new containers I got- about 4" wide, IGI4627 Comfort Blend and I've tried like every wick in existence- either they don't produce a full melt pool, or they get CLOSE to producing a full melt pool, but turn the tops of the containers almost completely black!!! I'm ready to pull my hair out, I'm so angry! Right now I'm experimenting with the Low Smoke Zincs- most of them don't produce a full melt pool even with the 17's, which are pretty darn big! And then if I use the 15's, they soot and smell burnt after I blow them out. The LX30s were too small even on the lightest scents, HTP's and CD's smoke too much. Uch!!! I love this wax once I figure out the wick problems, but when I'm testing, I wanna throw it out the window. Ok, well, that's enough ranting- thanks for reading, guys!!!

thanks so much for your help guys! I think I MAY have finally gotten them down...they're still not rock hard, if you squish them, they'll crumble, but they're better than they were!!! So, hopefully i'm well on my way to becomnig a bath bomb master! Yay!!! Michelle

LOL, then try candlescience...they have some good FO's, too and the cheapest wicks I've found anywhere...PLUS, cheap wax!!!! I guess I'm just dying to see other people spend all of their money too

Ya know, it's one of the few FO's from Peak's I didn't like, but my husband loved it (and he's the one that likes keylime pie...) I thought it smelled like cleaner, personally...LOL...I guess I wasn't much help...maybe someone else will chime in here and help you a little more than I did!!!

See, I use the comfort blend too (pain in the ass, isn't it?!) and I didn't have a problem at all with the white tea and ginger- I thought it was stronger than Peak's even!!! And that is RARE! ICS is now my second favorite supplier...they have SUPER fast shipping and great oils at fantastic prices! Love em!

I think it looks very pretty- but where is the scent name?

Thanks Robin- I was hoping you'd pop in here! I've used this shower gel base like a thousand times...and I use it in a container where I leave the top off and water gets in it frmo the shower all the time, and nothing has happened to it, but perhaps I'll get it tested. Thanks so much!!! Michelle

Well, she had asked because she said she doesn't want mold in her stuff and that her sister used to make body products until they started growing mold and then she stopped. I do put a preservative in my body butter just in case someone sticks wet hands into it, and I have it in my air spray (since I use distilled water) But I wasn't sure about the shower gel (that was this lady's main concern), the lip balm or the bath salts. I ASSUME people won't be dunking them in water or anything, but the salts, come on....salt IS a preservative...anyway, she was giving me the third degree about everything, and I really felt as though I may have messed up!!! Thanks guys!!!

I use JS's pomegranate...I think it's really good- smells tart almost!

Ok guys- I feel horrible asking this....I spoke to someone in my city a long time ago asking what was required by law when selling cosmetic and bath and body products (meaning what to put on the labels, what need preservatives, etc.) Well, anyway, she directed me to some lab where the woman told me what needed to be listed on the labels and that the only things needing preservatives were things with water in them, such as creams, or things that people may stick their hands in. Soooooo, I put preservatives in my body butter, and in my air freshener spray (which someone said I didn't need). And I just had a customer call me to ask if I use a preservative in my other products- and I don't! I currently carry shower gel, bath bombs (but not for much longer!) lip balm, shea body butter, bath teas, bath salts (in the tubes) air freshener spray & carpet freshener. Do any of these need preservatives? I get my shower gel from WSP and they told me that it already had a preservative- do I need to add more? Please help!!! I feel retarded now! Nothing new...

My god!!! Pam- where in the world are you that you can sell a THOUSAND candles at a craft show...I wanna come!!!

What does everyone use to dye their lotions, shower gels and bath bombs...even though I'm giving up on them, I know when I dye mine using liquid color, it doesn't disperse well and I really would like to switch my colors over to powders...but most of them seem to say they're good for soaps and that's about all the guidance I get. Thanks!!!

Ok- So I officially HATE these things!!! I am giving them ONE last time to prove themselves to me and then I'm getting the buggers wholesale! So, I read somewhere once that it helps the bathbombs harden and form together if you stick them in the oven for a few minutes...has anyone tried this? Does it really work? Because right now, I've tried everything...I try making them dry,and they fall apart if I so much as breathe on them, let alone package them...then I get mad at those and make them with more witch hazel, then they puff up..then someone on this board said leave out the witch hazel, but they were too dry so I added more oil, and then they puffed up again. I can't win...I think I may have gotten a decent bomb put together, but they're not REALLY hard...they will break apart if I poke them really hard, so I was hoping the oven would help...sorry this is so long, but someone, PLEASE HELP ME BEFORE I LOSE ALL OF MY HAIR!!!! Thanks!

I think I must be the only one on this board that uses astorlite! I liked the look of it better...the IGI had this weirdness that I didn't like...when I packaged it up, if it got handled, it almost looked like stuff was flaking off of it. The astorlite held really true to form...Soooo I use the IGI for my bears (since scent throw is a LITTLE better) and it's almost transparent when dried, but for my votives and tarts, I use astorlite. Ok...I'm ready for my stoning now!

Well, I don't think JS is what you're looking for anyway...as much as I love it, it is more of a banana heavy scent- so try Peaks or NG. Both of theirs are really good...lots of people on here love Peaks BNB.

That's a LOT of FO! I only use 1 oz pp usually- and my wax can hold up to 10%, which I'm not sure, but I don't think J50 can hold. But I've had that problem sometimes with really heavy FO's. I just stick it in the oven for a bit, take it out and stir stir stir..it works most of the time, but there are still times that it's just useless and I have to toss it.

You can also try MMS's Mango Mango or whatever it's called. It tastes GREAT! No need to sweeten it either!

I really like the banana smell to BNB, so I use JS's. But NG and Peak both have really good ones that I think smell like a good mix of bananas, bread and nuts.

I have tried all three in paraffin (sorry, can't help you with soy) but the instant karma is great...and I honestly prefer the pink sugar from peak's or ICS. They're much stronger- and since you're using soy I'd say forget it- just because you probably won't get much of a throw at all...I barely did using 1.5 oz. pp! And the orange was very pretty- sort of medium strength, I think, but still worth it. HTH!!

I use LX12 for all of my votives- but I use a LOT of color and FO I tested the LX10's like 100 times because I really wanted to use a small wick that would make the candle last longer, but it kept leaving wax on the side of the holder- so I finally gave in and tried the LX12's and they burn wonderfully for every scent I carry!

How about eggnog for gold? Their pumpkin spice is AWESOME- but I'm not sure that's really a "gold" color, ya know?

I get mine by the thousand at Candlescience- I think it's something like $45...they're the cheapest I've found so far.