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LauraAndrews

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Posts posted by LauraAndrews

    Olive Oil Candles?

    in Vegetable Wax & Beeswax Candle Making

    Posted

    Well, actually I found this at Swanscandles.com, and the coconut wax too. Has anyone used either one of these??

    Olive Oil Container Candle Wax

    Accu-Blend Olive Oil Container Blend MP128 made of all natural organic virgin Olive Oil & other quality ingredients. Olive Oil wax is a olive greenish/yellowish blend with good jar adhesion, hot & cold scent throw and is very clean burning. No additives are required. Olive Oil wax is blended to eliminate frosting of colored candles and is a one pour blend. Olive Oil wax has a smooth surface & burns coolor to burn longer. As with all natural products, it can vary slightly from batch to batch. This product meets FDA requirements for use in non-food articles in contact with food as per 21 CFR 172.880 Heat to 160-180

    Olive Oil Wax 11lb Slab

    $19.95

    Coconut Blend Container Candle Wax

    Accu-Blend Coconut Container Blend MP126 made of all natural organic coconut wax & other quality ingredients. Coconut wax has excellent color retention, jar adhesion, hot & cold scent throw and is very clean burning. No additives are required. Coconut wax is blended to eliminate frosting of colored candles and is a one pour blend. Coconut wax has a smooth surface & burns coolor to burn longer. As with all natural products, it can vary slightly from batch to batch. This product meets FDA requirements for use in non-food articles in contact with food as per 21 CFR 172.880 Suggested usage: Heat to 160-180, add color, remove form heat, add fragrance and pour at desired temp.

    Coconut Wax 11lb Slab

    $13.95

    Greenleaf FO reviews-pls add yours

    in Fragrance Discussion

    Posted

    Holy smokes! 500 to 700 to go??? That is a TON of samples to send to people...I sure hope Greenleaf gets a lot of new business from this! They deserve it! My gosh, how many companies do you know of who would do something like this? (besides maybe Golden Brands, which I'm sure will also have a ton of new business from what they did with their samples!)

    Laura :wink2:

    Mulberry FO

    in Fragrance Discussion

    Posted

    I have read that BCS's Mulberry is unbelievably strong. I have not tried it yet, but it's on my list! I'm always on the lookout for the strongest fragrances! Bittercreek South's oils are not the same as Bittercreek North's BTW.

    Laura :)

    How did you come to start making soy candles

    in Vegetable Wax & Beeswax Candle Making

    Posted

    Well believe it or not, my first soy candle was actually one of the "Insta-Candles" <cringe> from CandleWealth. I was exchaning links for my gift basket website and met someone who had an ad on their site about making candles. I thought it sounded like something really interesting and fun so he sent me one for free.

    I got my package a few days later after anxiously waiting for it, got out the ingredients, followed the instructions, and voila! I made a little 5 or 6 oz. Jasmine-scented candle for my bathroom and mmmmmm, did it smell wonderful, and it burned better than any other candle I had ever tried. My thought at that time was, "I am NEVER buying another candle again!" I was really proud of that little puppy.

    It must have been beginner's luck, but I have been hooked ever since.

    Laura :)

    Need opinions badly!!!!

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    You know, when I posted this, I tried to make it very general and anonymous; I should have known someone would figure out what I was talking about. :embarasse

    I think Bev has been completely up front and honest and I think what she has described in her listing is accurate; nowhere did she state she had a huge customer base or anything of the sort. She clearly stated much of what a person would be bidding on.

    For me, my thought was that something like this would be perfect. I already have a full time job, I deal with the challenge of having MS, I have 4 kids that keep me more than busy, and I have another website I put a lot of work into but would like to expand (particularly with candles!), so the idea of "picking up the ball and running with it" and time saving aspects of starting with something that is already so well thought out seems to make good sense to me.

    But I wanted to get some other opinions, because in terms of making or selling candles I am a relative newbie, and it would be a lot of money for me and a very big commitment. This business just totally tugs on my heartstrings, and I do not want to make a foolish decision out of emotion. There is too much at stake.

    So thank you for all the helpful advice and I'm really sorry if anyone was offended. Maybe I am the one with the communication problem!

    Laura :)

    Need opinions badly!!!!

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    Well if you read the description I think she is completely honest and up front about all that. She basically poured all her heart and soul into getting her business started, now it will be time for someone to pick it up where she is leaving off.

    Personally, I think having a unique image, a well ranked site, gorgeous graphics and custom labels, very good candles, is worth more than just a truckload of supplies and then having to come up with all those things on your own, but I can see from all the different answers there are a lot of different perspectives to it.

    But I have appreciated all the helpful advice...a lot to think about!!!

    Laura :)

    Sending gifts...

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    Well, if you have upscale products it can get you some good publicity I think. An example that came to my mind is www.babygiftbasketco.com. These are baby gifts, not candles, but someone I happen to know. I have seen other sites too where their products are mentioned as either being a favorite of a "celebrity" or featured in a prominent magazine because they took the initiative to get the word out about their product.

    Laura :)

    Need opinions badly!!!!

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    She has made approximately 6,000 a year but has only spent a few hours a week on it. About 2,500 was website sales for the first year (which I think is great). She will give me all records of earnings and customer base which includes 5 wholesale accounts. Right now the shopping cart is disabled but for my gift basket site I use PayPal and am happy with that for now.

    I have not burned any of her candles; they are on their way to me shortly for me to try out. Everything would depend on that! If they are awesome as they are supposed to be, then great...but if not, then just forget it.

    For wax it is her own blend for the jars, soy for another line (not such which soy), and proprietary blend for bakery candles. Logo would be owned by me and also website.

    I have been looking for a more unique identity and tighter focus for my gift basket website, and this particular theme could go along with that just perfectly. So the awesome logo and labels, well designed site ranked #1 in Google for certain terms, I think would be a great addition. But it is a lot of money...so I'm not completely sure what to think...

    Maybe a more specific question I might ask is, How much money and time do you think someone would have to spend to come up with a line of candles of 3 different types with 60+ scents before they would be ready to sell them?

    I know a Google ranking of #1 for any keyword, in and of itself is hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of work, have been working on that for my gift basket site...it's still not in Google, but it is #1 at MSN for romantic gift baskets. Not easy to get there!

    Thanks for all the thoughts...please send more....

    Laura :)

    Need opinions badly!!!!

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    I am fairly new to candle making, LOVE THIS!, have done this as a hobby only, but definitely want to move towards doing this as a business or incorporating candles into my gift basket business.

    I recently found a local candlemaker who is selling her established candle business, 5 years old. She has custom designed labels for each scent, over 60 of them, which are just gorgeous, and matching logo and website which is ranked very well. Her website has been up for about a year and it had 5,000 dollars in sales last year.

    It also includes all her candlemaking supplies - Presto pots, about 75 pounds of wax, wicks, containers, all fragrances, instructions how to do each candle she has extensively tested. It also includes inventory of quite a few candles too.

    It has a very unique image that I think really sets it apart, which in and of itself I think is worth a lot, because candles are a competitive business (just like gift baskets), especially online.

    Considering all the trial and error I would have to go through to start something like this, the design work, the website, all the testing, everything....it is quite overwhelming.

    She is asking about 7,000 for her business. Would you consider this a good deal?

    Cedar request

    in Fragrance Discussion

    Posted

    I made Christmas candles with a scent called Christmas Cedarwood from Candlescience. It's very nice! They describe it as "fresh fruit and berries on a soothing background of cedarwood." I really cannot smell the fruit or berries, just the cedarwood, but it's a very pleasant scent. People really liked it and wanted more, so I am going to keep it and rename it "Sweet Cedarwood." I was so pleased with Candlescience's customer service, their prices, their quality--everything!-- so would definitely recommend this one.

    Laura :)

    Phytowax

    in Vegetable Wax & Beeswax Candle Making

    Posted

    Yes, and it's not Candlewealth either. Anyways, these people claim to be the original creators of soy wax. From what I've read that appears to be true. Does anyone else know differently?

    Originally he started out with Candlewealth (like as one of the founders) and split up for some reason. From all that I've read it seems like it might really be a decent wax.

    Laura :)

    Liquid Dye: Odor Concerns

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    The Eco Dyes that you can get through Northstar are supposed to not smell bad and also have less harmful ingredients in them, quote from their site:

    "Highly concentrated, environmentally friendly and virtually Odorless Liquid Dyes for candle making. These Eco Dyes were designed for Soy, Natural waxes and will work for paraffin waxes too. The process used to make these dyes helps to ensure that they won’t separate from the wax, ensuring complete solubility in your candle wax blend. These dyes are about 50% stronger than most standard liquid dyes. Also they are formulated with environmentally friendly ingredients. The dyes don’t contain any hazardous solvents, with no hazardous fumes and air pollutants. You can achieve sharp, bright and clean looking colors. This dye is slightly thicker than most liquid dyes which makes the dye easier to handle. The flash point is greater than 300 °F. Each size comes in an amber bottle with dropper."

    Any opinions about those?

    Laura :)

    wicking square jars

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    I am thinking about trying these jars, think they look really neat, but the fact that they are square worries me a little bit. Do you think they would burn well if double wicked? I would use J223 and zinc wicks.

    The medium size is 8 oz and is 3" wide. The largest is 16 oz. and is 3-3/4" wide. The small is 4 oz and is 2" wide, would not double wick for that.

    Thanks!

    Laura :)

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