Asher

Yeah, thanks a bunch...all of you. I'll have to get my hands on some stearic then.

Hi there... Well, I honestly don't have much to compare them to, since I haven't really branched out and tried other scents. I can tell you that one of those blueberry votives is sitting UNLIT in an office next door and the aroma has filled the entire room. Not all of the scents are this strong, but I use just 1/2 oz. per pound of wax. I'm not unhappy with the scent throw from the lit candles, but I know they could be stronger. I don't know if its a question of quantity or quality...or the type of wax. Other suggestions for strong oils are appreciated, however.

I use a hard wax (MP of 145 degrees) and seem to get pretty good retention with 1/2 oz. per pound. However, I tried 1 full ounce last night and my candles appeared to bleed as they set (in fact, I had used a dark red dye, so it was a grisly scene ). I know there are waxes that can hold more scent, but I've been using the same wax for a while now and know what to expect from it (i.e. setting time, mold release, surface mottling, etc.). Also, I suspect the superior waxes will cost substantially more. I'm not the type who can order a whole crate at a time, so I couldn't take advantage of any bulk discounts. Right now I spend a tad under $1 per pound (which may be quite expensive in comparsion....I just haven't done a lot of research on waxes recently). So, any good votive waxes that will hold LOTS of scent (i.e. more than 1/2 oz. per pound without bleeding to death). Thanks!

I'll have to try mineral oil. Thank you. Those votives were the most "photogenic" of the bunch. Thanks for the comments. I even tried some tri-color votives. The photo below is from the first batch, and I must admit the layers congealed better on the front one than the other two. There were lots of air bubbles between pours and you can see a white line encompassing the candle on the right (I hid this blemish in the shadows ). Also, the tops should be a tad darker in my opinion. At this point I only make votives, so I figured I'd try to be as creative as possible with them. The candles above are scented with blueberry cobbler oil fragrance.....and should be kept away from people with empty stomachs. They smell delicious. (In the first photo with the three different votives the scents are moonlight lace, muscadine and sea breeze, all from Lone Star Candle Supply)

Hi there, I have ordered many fragrances from Lone Star Candle Supply out of, not surprisingly, Texas. Their site is located at http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com. They carry 1oz. "samplers" for each of their scents for $2.00. I generally add 1/2 oz. per pound (i.e. 8 votives) and get a nice scent from the candles.

I may just test it out on a single votive. I guess I'm just looking for ways to decrease my cost per candle, since I don't think I'll pay $3.50 for 8 oz. of snowflake oil again. I love the mottling effect, though. Here are a few votives I made not long ago (using official snowflake oil, NOT vegetable oil ) Sorry...I couldn't resize this image to make it smaller.

Good afternoon, Do you suppose vegetable oil would have the same effect as mottling oil? I find myself with a few containers filled with vegetable oil, and since I'm not using them for any kind of cooking I wondered if it could be used in candles. The golden hue would affect the coloring of lighter candles, but I was just curious. Thank you!