Mei-Mei

TopOfMurrayHill. What is that other line that you are fond of?

By the way, everyone who agrees with Dat. If it were as simple as "go make it and shut up" as Dat has said in not so many words, I wouldn't have even learned about the candle kit that I just bought, that was recommended on here. This is a msg board. If I can't ask opinions on oils and waxes, what good is the board?

Honestly, I don't think that is what Dat was trying to say. Certainly not the 'shut up' part. Honest.

I think what he/she was saying (sorry Dat, don't know if you're a chick or a dude) is that what works for others sometimes, for reasons only the Candle Gods know, won't work for you. For instance, there is one scent company that everyone raves over that just doesn't work for me. Don't know why. I know that their scents are high quality and they work for others. Just. Not. Me.

Dat's saying just jump in with both feet. WYW scents are great for me, but you might find that you don't like them at all. Just a matter of trial and error.

Had a lady come up to my booth at a show last year and she said...."the lady down there selling candles has a 3 for deal if you buy three candles" And I just looked at her and she said "how much are your candles?" I said they are $10 each. She said do you have a 3 for deal...I said, "I do....3 for $30!!!"

LOL....That's funny!

Doesn't the Satin Sheets smell wonderful? I think it's just dreamy.

I am going to ditto on the Candlewic. I do add both stearic and Vybar 343. The stuff just flies out of the mold with no problems at all. I know most people (including my fiance) really love the feathering, but I dig the crystallizing a lot.

I'm a little irritated. My fiance and I went to the mall and lo-and-behold they had a brand new candle store! I could tell by the sign that the chandler was trying to expand a home business, and that it wasn't a big professional outfit. The sign said, 'triple-scented, hand poured candles' but I forgave the triple-scented part because I wanted to talk candles.

The store was very small, about the size of a large booth at a craft show. I dragged my fiance in. There were two ladies behind the counter. The walls were lined with candles in the country prim style. There was one candle for smell testing on a little table towards the front (the inside of the candle was black with soot, btw).

When we walked in the two ladies glanced at us and never said one word. We were about five feet from them. They never said, "Hi," "Can I help you," "What's your favorite scent." Nothing! Another customer came into the shop. The ladies continued to speak to each other, but never greeted the other customer.

Well, both myself and the other customer walked out without making a single purchase. I began to think how many sales have been lost by not giving a friendly nod and smile to a customer. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that's important anymore.

Just wanted to share. Maybe the ladies will read this post and change their sales tactics!

I would love to have that candle! My youngest son is autistic and I started a not-for-profit here in Louisiana to raise awareness of autism and autism spectrum disorders. Kudos to you!!!

p.s. If you wanna sell one to me, just PM!

The ONLY wick I use is bulk LX wick. The bigger ones get LX28 as I go down in size, the wick goes down, 24,22,,, Etc. If my Motherinlaw lights one of my palms in the evening, after supper, I might have to trim it once during the rest of the night. I read in the old board, from the palm makers that LX worked so I tried it and I agree. I also use a wick pin so the wick is not pulled toward the side during drying. I get it at Candlescience because Peak does not have bulk LX, just pre-tabbed.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Soja

I agree. I've been using the LX28 in my palm pillar and it seems to be working really well (except the flame is too high for my tastes, but I guess that's just a small thing considering how well it's doing otherwise). I too use a wick pin and the bulk LX from Candlescience. Gotta love Candlescience!

I like it. My mother has her kitchen all done in rooster and chicken motifs and she would go crazy for a candle like that!

I love, love, love the logo! I don't have an opinion one way or the other about the website on it, but if I had to choose I'd say leave it off. You can put it on your business cards.

As for the labels I think they are all cute (I'm no help, am I?). I guess the ones that really stand out are the girl in green in front of the candle warmer and the spa goddess one.

I'll bet she's burning it somewhere with a slight draft and she's getting a bit of smoking.

I'm curious too. I saw some really beautiful name brand candles yesterday with the name stampled on the lid. They were so sophisticated looking.

Oh, I like that a lot! Sunflowers are so sweet.

Beautiful! I'm glad you've finally gotten them the way you wanted them.

Hey.

Maybe y'all could help me? I'm trying to decide what sort of things I'd like to carry once I start my business. I know there will be great variation depending on all sorts of factors like location and scents, but I'm just trying to get a general idea here. Of these types of candles can you put in order which sell the best for you?

Glass container

Pillar (including votives)

Tins

Melts/Tarts

Specialty (carved, Hurricanes, etc.)

Thank you kindly for any help you can offer in this informal survey.

Thanks Robin, appreciate the move

Meg, thanks for the tips! Good idea, wrapped candy - keep those little hands busy. Hey, the sugar boost might give them enough energy to find their parents & bring them back to spend $ LOL

Opinions: Is it offensive to put a "you break it you bought it" sign up in the booth? I had 2 honey pot jars crack during my last show & both culprits ran off. I haven't put up a sign like that yet but breakage costs me time & money. Thoughts ?

I always hate those 'you break it you bought it' signs because there are times when an honest to gosh accident happens (not like naughty little children zooming around your shop ). When we were little and we went in shops with glass we were not allowed to touch things. I guess nowadays people think it will ruin their little darlings psyche if they aren't allowed to put their hands on every darn thing!

I would try the candy thing first and see if that's distracting enough to keep them from the glassware. I don't sell yet, but I've done retail work in the past and I've noticed that a lot of 'bad' behavior is stopped by just talking to the kid. A lot of children are bored with shopping and they act out. So it might help just to say, "Hi, what's your name?" and engage the child in conversation.

I'm finally starting to think about putting together a candle business now that I've been testing for 7 months. I really like making tins, but I wonder how well they sell for those that carry them.

TIA!

You're right, it must be the mold. You're making those for your daughter's wedding, right? Is she just absolutely set on having that mold shape? Maybe you could do a bunch of 2 inch pillars or something like that.

p.s. I really like that color.

If the favors will be placed in the reception area you may not want to use a floral scent because it might be overwhelming with the large quantity of candles. I did favors for a wedding in the winter and the bride chose Wedding Cake for the scent (I used Alabaster's Birthday Cake and just called it Wedding Cake). Got lots of compliments on the luscious fragrance.

Jane

I'm going to tins and then put them in pretty boxes with a ribbon, so fragrance shouldn't be a problem. The candles I make for decoration willl be unscented.

Thanks for the ideas! Maybe I'll do two different scents.....

For favors, how about a spring scent or a floral scent (since you're getting married in the spring). Do you want to do the favors to match your wedding colors? If so, what are they so we can help match the scent.

Here are some I thought of off the top of my head:

Mimosa Mandarin

Honey Gardenia

Peach, Magnolia Raspberry

Blackberry Freesia

Citrus Linen

Blackberry Tea

Lavender Vanilla

I'm going to do an all white wedding (maybe with some 'spring green' accents). Who makes a nice Honey Gardenia? That sounds like a wonderful scent!

I'm getting married on May 28 and I came up with the remarkably radical idea of making candles as my favors. Does anybody have any ideas of strong, unique scents that are appropriate for a wedding? I'll be using Greenleaf 70/30, so scents that are strong in soy would be great. Thank you.

OK Mei-Mei (hadn't forgotten you),

I finally got these done today because I had a make up class for our palm wax votives and pillars. I used our large crystal palm, 7% votive soy, and 2 tsp of our palm stearic - all to 1 lb of the palm wax. Heated to 190, heated the molds, poured mixture into pouring pot, added dye and 1 oz FO, stirred about 30-45 seconds and poured it into the votive cups (pins were heated along with the cup). Waited about 20-30 minutes for a nice hard top, poked two relief holes and second poured to the top. Waited about an hour or so until they were cool - and they pulled right out of the mold - no problem.

If you bought the stearic from us, just let me know and I will send you more - just in case it got mixed up with something else by someone at our warehouse.

Thanks

Brenda

Thanks! I did get the stearic from you guys, but I honestly think it was my batch of palm. I tried palm from another place and it actually flew out of the molds. You don't have to worry about sending me any more; no problem.

what i am trying to find out is my supplier said that soy wax will hold about 6% of fo and the preblend will hold about 8.5% of fo. I just wanted to know is how much is 8.5% of fo i will use for1 lb.. of pre blend wax.

Dee's formulation was very clear. Just multiply 8.5% times 16 oz (1lb) and you'll get the amount for one pound of wax.

edited to add (just in case you are math impaired like I am, that's .085 times 16)

Did you get many wetspots with the GL all natural?

Hmmm, I poured some today and they came out really lovely with feathering all around. Are you sure that your mold isn't a little cold or sitting somewhere on the cool side? I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but that's the only thing I can think of.