amanda

8% In jelly jars I use a cd7. I'm currently testing 12oz status jars right now and with those I'm liking either a cd12 or lx20

I've only recently discovered my love of Aztec FOs, so my list is short (for now!) but I'd like to add some recommendations: -Capri Blue Volcano dupe (GREAT SELLER!) -Kentucky Bourbon (caramelly and sweet with a bit of a rye bite to it) -Cactus and Sea salt -Sea Minerals (a bit salty and super fresh/clean) -Fresh Cut Grass -Cantaloupe and Lily I'm excited about this sale. I'm going to stock the heck up!

Always happy to help!

Puma -- I have used it in wax a bunch! By itself but usually as a blend. It's hard to describe what it smells like. It's woodsy and a little sweet. I've mixed it with Kentucky Bourbon and that's one of my favorite blends. I also mixed it with Pine Cones over the winter and it was a huge seller. IMHO it would mix great with leather! It would be like a savory smell with a touch of sweet. It's really strong though. I usually mix it with a 1:3 ratio.

I heartily endorse Aztec's tobacco.

Thanks Chris! I didn't want to go through all the work if it wouldn't work.

Hello! This is my first post in wickless. I made a bunch of candles with 6006 but I put too much grey dye in them and it's affecting the burn. Please tell me if the following will work to salvage all this wax and (my favorite!!) fragrance oil: Could I melt down the 6006 candles, then whip up some ecosoyaPB with the same scent, mix them together (so that the wax is harder) and pour it all into clamshells? This would be for personal and family use. So it wouldn't have to be in perfect sellable condition. What do you think, wickless? Can I salvage all this pretty grey wax scented with my favorite Crackling Firewood scent?? Thanks in advance!

Seconding^^ Tobacco from Aztec is a wonderful. Sometimes I mix it with Kentucky Bourbon which has caramel notes to it.

It could be anything at any time. That's what's so frustrating. The first time it was wick tabs. So my cart is loaded up with oils and wick tabs and I go to check out and they want to charge me ~$50 shipping for most of my order from NC plus an extra $15 to ship just the wick tabs from NV. But no problem, I needed some stuff from NG so I just got my wick tabs there. Second time really messed me up. It was the 4oz jars. I was making my big order. 2 cases of wax, all my oils, cases and cases of jars. Enough weight to qualify for the hundredweight shipping discount. Then I go to check out and see that the 4iz jars would be coming from NV, which more than doubled my shipping since I lost the shipping discount by splitting up the weight, and now my wax and oils and 8oz jars were coming from one state, but my 4oz jars were coming from another state. Most recently, I have wax and some oils in my cart. I go to check out and one oil (rose) was coming from NV. Would have cost an extra $15 in shipping charges. So I email asking when they expect the rose back in stock in the NC warehouse. Because I can wait for the rose if it's going to be awhile but I can't wait for the wax. She replies it is in stock. I go to check out and now the rose AND the orange chili pepper are coming from NV. I wanted to throw my computer

Lol. That last post I made sure sounds bitter. I was just SO FRUSTRATED because this is the second time in a couple weeks that the split shipping messed up my hundredweight discount. I'd still recommend candlescience to a hobbiest. But if you need a reliable supplier for a small business, CS isn't cutting it. Three hold ups since Christmas is kind of rough for a small business. Time is money. Especially when you're like me and always half a step behind of where you'd like to be!

The opposite.

Well that's a bummer to hear! I guess since I had such luck with palm, I was hoping a soy/palm blend would be better than straight soy wax. I didn't have very good luck (cosmetically) with soy when I tried the ecosoya CB.

Has anyone worked with either of these waxes? How hard would it be to switch from 6006 to C1. I am constantly asked if my candles are soy (soy lobby sure did a great job making people scared of poor ol' paraffin) and I feel really deceptive replying that they are a "soy-blend" and hoping that they don't ask what the "blend" is so that I don't have to say the dirty "P" word. The thought of switching waxes seems so daunting after spending the past years learning and perfecting 6006. Has anyone switched waxes and found it easier the second time around to get it right? Maybe there's a bit of an advantage since I'm not totally starting from the beginning? Does anyone work with c1 soy/palm blend and care to tell me about your experience/wicking/etc? I tried a search but "C1" is too short and doesn't fit the search criteria. Thanks I'm advance for any thoughts on the matter

Her answer was BS. She said it gives an option for people who don't want to wait. And that otherwise, that item would just be listed "out if stock". But being unwilling to pay that double shipping, it makes that item "out of stock" for me. I hate that they just don't care and they have us over a barrel.

I recently discovered how amazing Aztec's oils are. They've been hitting it out of the park. Their dupe of Anthropoligie's Capri Blue Volcano is spot on and throws great in parasoy. Sells like crazy. Tobacco is a wonderful unisex scent. Sultry with brown sugar notes and just the right bit of vanilla. I rename it because people forget that tobacco is a flowering plant. They just think "cigarettes". Since renaming it, it sells much better. Fresh Cut Grass! Amazing. Birthday Cake! So buttery and authentic and throws like CRAZY. Can't wait to try more Aztec oils!

I'm not a complainer. I never complain to businesses about anything because I'm so non-confrontational and always give people the benefit of the doubt. But when I emailed CS asking when a fragrance would be back in stock in the NC warehouse (so I don't have to pay and extra $15 shipping for one fragrance), I received an email saying it was back in stock. I went to check out and not only was the original fragrance BUT NOW A SECOND FRAGRANCE would be shipping from Nevada. So I expressed my frustration. This is the third time my order has been held up in the past 2 months. One of those times, I had to order 10 cases of 4oz jelly jars from filmore to complete a wholesale order in time and the extra costs completely negated my profits. I'm really frustrated. Do you think they'll get it together and fully stock both warehouses, or do I have to find a different supplier? Thank you for letting me vent.

Exactly. OR if one warehouse is out of something, it is up to them to ship it to the other warehouse AT THEIR EXPENSE and then ship to the customer. Because to be charged two shipping fees, especially if it then causes you to lose the hundredweight shipping discount, is unfathomably asinine and horrible customer service.

My recent frustrating experience was loading up my cart with enough wax and different jars to stock up and qualify for the hundredweight shipping discount. Only to go to check out and see that 4oz jars are only available from the Reno warehouse. So I would have not only had to pay double shipping but lost the hundredweight shipping discount. I called and was told that the 4oz jars were due back in a few days so it wasn't a huge problem. But if they would have been due back in a few WEEKS, it would have been a problem The good customer service solution is to ship whatever product completes your order to the warehouse nearest the customer (on their dime), and then shipping it ALL to you at once with one shipping rate. This is the business model other business use and it may take a few more days to get your order, but paying two shipping charges and losing bulk shipping discounts just because they have two warehouses is absolutely ridiculous. I've liked candlescience, but I've been slowly switching over to natures garden for oils and filmore for jars. And hopefully joy wax is close enough to 6006 that switching wax won't be an enormous headache. Because candlescience is no longer consistently reliable.

For either soap or candles. A friend and I have been looking for a good whiskey/rye scent. Everything tried so far smells too caramel-y or even vanilla-y Any recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I have a scent that I paint the jar black. Nonflammable acrylic matte paint. Then I coat it in matter modpodge so the paint doesn't chip. Works well and people love 'em!

Ginger Peach is my all time favorite FO ever. Sandalwood Vanilla (Yankee type) is my best seller year-round and throws like crazy. Blue Hawaiian is a great fruity summer scent. In the fall, Marmalade Spice is beautiful and throws very well. NG has the best Candy Cane hands down I use 6006 and have always had good results with NG oils. The only exceptions is that I can't get a very strong throw with Rosemary Mint (but it's such a beautiful scent!), and I personally didn't like Lemon Pound Cake (it performed well, I just didn't like the buttery cakey smell. I like lemons mixed with other fruits or florals)

Thanks so much for the advice and encouragement! Vicky- I tried reaching out to a local jam/jelly company about going in on an order of jars to save on shipping, but they were pretty uninterested. That was in October. Since then I've switched from Fillmore to candlescience for my 8oz jars, which gets my costs down because I can now get all of my jars and my wax at the same place. I miss the look of fillmore's straight sided jellies, but it saves a good bit of money. For Christmas, my dad build me a basement candle studio. Before everything was in my tiny kitchen. It's almost unbelievable looking back. Lol. But the increased space and organization will help immensely with time efficiency. I cut a good bit of fragrances. I noticed when I had 10-12 scents, more people who stopped would buy. Then in the fall when I felt like I had to have EVERY SCENT IMAGINABLE, people would stop and smell a bunch and then smell the first scents, then back to one they already smelled, and then leave. Paradox of choice. The only new scent I'm going to add in the foreseeable future is going to be Clean Cotton, because I had a huge amount of requests for a "laundry" or "clean" scent this year. I will also add clamshells in a few scents. Maybe 6? I get asked about melts/tarts all the time. People will actually stop at my booth at shows JUST to tell me that they no longer burn candles. Lol. Old Glory- how much time I spend on this is something my husband and I have given a lot of thought to. My daughter is 16 months old and she has a visiting home nurse who asked me to keep track of how many hours a week I was "working", that was the first time it dawned on me that I was actually working. Between making the candles, finishing touches, farmers market, and craft shows, it was about 30 hours a week. Until my daughter is a little older, I'd like to keep my time commitment about the same. I've gotten more efficient though in the past few months. So one goal is to see similar sales but an increase in profit. When she's old enough to start school or go on play dates, at an age where she doesn't require constant interaction/attention, then I feel I'll have more time to dedicate. Plus she's only little once and I'm really enjoying my time as a stay at home mom Do you have any online sources that you like for creating an actual, real business plan?

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful business year and a great holiday season. This was my first year officially in business and I was hoping I could run my numbers/experiences by you seasoned vets and get some feedback or guidance. At the beginning of 2014 I went officially into business. At that point, I was only making mason jar candles but decided to add 4 and 8oz jelly jars. So while I had my mason jars down pat, adding the jelly jars took a good bit of trial and error and testing. Unferstandibly costing materials/money. Another thing that ate up a lot of profit was trying things that didn't work/sell (citronella flower pots, tealights, candles in babyfood jars, trying/testing different and new scents that either didn't jive with my wax or sell, etc...) So my grand total of gross sales was just north of $10K (yay!), but my profit was just south of $3K (boo.) Are these horrible numbers for my first year? How can I break out of the perpetual cycle of breaking even I feel stuck in? I know I need to make bigger orders so I'm not continually paying 50, 70, 90 dollars shipping every month. But it's hard because I don't ever have that big chunk of money all at once to order EVERYTHING and pay one shipping fee. Or better yet, qualify for hundredweight at CS. This is what I want to do for a living. It's my passion and what I love. It's allowed me to stay with my daughter, have a social and creative outlet, and truly enjoy "work". I have a semester left of nursing school, which I WILL finish. But nursing is flexible. I could work one day a month if I choose. I want to grow my business and make it work fulltime. In my area, there has been a growing trend of people shopping and seeking out local and handmade products. There are many successful small business growing in the area, so I feel the timing and the culture is right for me right now. Am I being naive? I have 3 stockists. Two of which reorder fairly often. My goal for 2015 is to add 5 more. I sell primarily at handmade artist markets/craft shows. I have an Etsy, but it exists primarily to be a showcase of my products for the juried shows that I have to apply for and show my work. Does anyone successfully sell on etsy or online? Should that be a goal of mine for 2015? Do people buy candles online where they cant smell them? I feel 2015 should see more profit from sales since I already know what sells and what works and I don't have to test all of my FOs all over again for each season. Again, am I being naive? How else might I grow my little business? What kind of goals should I be setting? Other than ordering bigger orders to get shipping down, how can I reduce my costs. Because my prices are pretty low. I believe my low prices are the reason I feel like I'm constantly breaking even. Thank anyone who had read all of this. I don't have anyone else that might understand or that I could "talk shop" with, and I feel sort of adrift. I feel like I had a good first year? But, heck, those might be terrible numbers! So any guidance/feedback/advice/experience/whatever would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you for reading

You guys are the best! So many awesome ideas that I never would have thought of. I'm going to try "storm watch". Candybee- you always have THE BEST suggestions for me :) My husband said use magnolia and call it "steel magnolias". Lol. But florals don't do well at all with my customers.

OooOoo honeysuckle rose sounds nice. I have CS honeysuckle Jasmine. Do you think that might work? I'm glad to hear that you like CS's rose. I have to make an order from them so I'll pick some up. For some reason, I just feel like there is something really romantic about lavender and rose. <3