jbradshaw

Used my presto pot for the first time last night (love it!) so I'm definitely still working out the workflow with that in the mix. But I was having a lot of trouble keeping the wax warm once it came out of the presto. Basically, I'd ladle out the wax (I use 464) into a pour pot and mix in the fragrance and by the time I did that the wax would often be below 135 already (from 185 in the presto).

Any ideas for how to keep it warmer while I'm stirring in the FO? Or anyone willing to share what their workflow looks like with the presto? 

Jo

@Trappeur I finally ordered some marshmallow FOs and they came in. Last night I poured them, so the below is just based on CT.

1. WSP Crackling Firewood and JS Toasted Marshmallow (2:1) - toasted marshmallow is completely overwhelming the CF in the jar. Haven't lit it, obviously. 

2. WSP Crackling Firewood and JS Vanilla Bean Marshmallow (2:1) - I have high hopes! It seems like a nice blend of the two so far, hoping it doesn't start leaning too much toward the marshmallow as it cures. 

I don't think I can wait two weeks to light them! 

I think with both of these I may end up having to go to a 3:1 to get enough of the CF scent. Which means I need to order more CF! That scent is so amazing, I'm really hoping I can wick it. 

I haven't ordered from Aztec, but I just got a few from Just Scents. I'll list all of them because I bought these based on digging through reviews on this forum and they were recommended

Toasted Marshmallow: Really nice OOB, strong cold throw (just poured it so I don't know about the HT yet)

Vanilla Bean Marshmallow: Hated it OOB, but people raved about it so I poured it anyway and it is SOOOOO nice. Haven't lit it yet (again, just poured) but the cold throw is so much more subtle than I thought it would be. In a good way.

Avocado and Sea Salt: Husband hated OOB, it's pretty soapy and would probably be nice for bath and body products but I doubt I'll put it in wax.

Wood Sage and Sea Salt: OMG this is possibly my favorite FO I've bought so far. Haven't poured it yet, but I'm really hoping it is as good in wax as it is in the bottle. 

Chestnuts and Brown Sugar: Very Christmasy. Haven't poured it yet. Not my typical scent but I know some of my in laws will love it. Pretty heavy. 

I started making candles because I love to burn them   I stay away from the bakery scents, personally, and because I used to work at Anthropologie I burned many MANY Volcano candles and Voluspa (because the discount was great). Now unless it's christmas (when we do christmas scents) I like things that are really light and subtle - eucalyptus mint is a favorite, citrus and beachy scents are always nice as well. 

I love the idea of using 'Sweet Tea' but not sure if that's upscale enough. Maybe something that describes the type of tea it smells like?  

Trappeur, just circling back, I did test burn the CD12 and got stronger and more consistent HT, but decided I don't love this scent enough to spend more time on it.  

I'm by no means an expert but all I use is 464 and I've had great HT and CT on the majority of FOs I've tried (at 6%). As a relative beginner, I'm impressed by the wax if I can get a good throw with little experience.  I pour at 135. I did notice that when I've burned a candle, the melt pool as it cools looks frosted, but I haven't had any frosting yet other than that. 

Sorry I can't suggest a wick, I've been using CD wicks. 

For me, label #5, lid #4 with no twine. BUT, that's just my personal aesthetic and I don't know what your market is like. Ace actually used to be a client of mine (I work in advertising) and they were pretty strict about the way their brand and logo were used...something to keep in mind. I suppose if it's a franchise (as some locations are) you might be fine with deviating. 

I also LOVE that feather label! 

Just wanted to pop in to mention that Font Squirrel is another great resource for fonts and I believe they also have a search function to find similar fonts. 

That's how much I usually have left on the candles I make myself. I'll admit that before learning about how to make candles I would let purchased ones burn down until they went out themselves and the containers would be practically empty. But now I know that's very unsafe. 

22 minutes ago, Moonstar said:

How is vanilla bourbon different from a regular vanilla, is it more masculine? 

So bourbon vanilla as a baking ingredient just comes from a different type of vanilla pod, but the fragrance oil Bourbon Vanilla supposedly has some woody notes as well, I just wasn't getting those in the WSP oil OOB. 

@Moonstar

Oooh I bet I'd love the vanilla hazelnut. I guess with the bourbon vanilla I'm just not getting anything beyond a vanilla scent. I'll definitely still put it in wax to see how I feel about it though - even if it's just vanilla I love that in a candle. I almost bought the tomato FO because I'd love to try that with this Bibb lettuce, but I wasn't sure I'd like the lettuce and I was trying to be somewhat economical in what I tried out. And after hearing the Iced Tea Twist is great I'll definitely be ordering that next time. I'd want to try the Eucalyptus Mint as well - I tried one from Peak and even though husband likes it, I find it to smell a bit too soapy. 

@Trappeur 

I've been trying to find more reviews for each of the marshmallow scents - so I haven't bought any! Paralysis by analysis I suppose. I was hoping Pine Meadow or Mountain Sage might have something as I could go in person to either of those places - but alas, no marshmallow scents. I've never ordered from RE before - only CS, WSP and Peak so far. I'm trying to recreate some scents that bring back good memories and a nice campfire would be amazing. 

@Trappeur

I've been using 8oz tins and just tried out some 8oz straight sided jars for the first time so I'm doing test burns in those now.

I'm excited to hear about the Frasier Fir! I do love pine scents - I'll have to check out the CS since it's cheaper  My MIL bought me CS Blue Spruce and it's really nice out of the bottle but I haven't put it in wax yet. 

Hopefully I'll have some luck with the crackling firewood - it smells amazing! I was hoping to blend it (eventually) with a toasted marshmallow for sort of a camp out type scent. I've got some ECO wicks, maybe I'll try it with those. Have you tried Fireside from Peak? It wasn't my favorite scent but husband and friends loved it and the throw was great. 

I wasn't impressed with the bourbon vanilla OOB but I'll have to see what it's like in wax. Tonka Bean and Saffron I'm really excited about - I don't exactly know how to describe it but I love the scent.

Bibb is described on the site as 'Aromatic Arugula, Blooming Cyclamen, Soothing Bergamot, Fresh Basil, White Lily, Green Leaf Accord, Key Lime'. If you like fresh scents - this one is sooooo nice from the bottle. I don't get any of the key lime when I smell it, but it's like walking through a farmer's market, which is exactly what I was hoping for. 

I don't see many people using WSP scents but I thought I'd give them a try - I'll make sure I report back. 

On 1/29/2017 at 10:31 AM, TallTayl said:

@puma52 so glad I am not alone in those thoughts. 

 

What do do you think about people who take their soap home and wash off the dust and such between shows?

Do people really do that? I don't tend to buy soap bars as a friend of mine makes them - but now I'll be extra wary. 

On the subject of packaging, a friend bought me some shower bombs for xmas and at first I felt they were really overpackaged (they were in a small box and double shrink wrapped) but maybe now I'm glad for that!

Received semi-recently an order of FOs from WSP and I'm just getting around to opening them and hopefully will get some poured next week. Any favorites in the list below I should start with? Or duds I should watch out for? I use 464 and I'm testing CD and ECO wicks.

Sea Glass

Bedtime Bath

Crackling Firewood (I think I heard this was tough to wick?)

Bourbon Vanilla

Shampure

Frasier Fir

Farmer's Market Baby Bibb

Tonka Bean and Saffron

2 hours ago, Trappeur said:

I love that idea KK but unfortunately Zazzle where I get my labels from doesn't offer a floral shape because I would love to do a floral shaped tag. The only odd shapes are a triangle, heart, oval and the standard square or rectangular or round.  Now the lids are a bronzy/gold color with writing in black.  My favorite color I love doing is working with black.  Most all my labels are that color or an accent in black.  I don't know if a floral color would look good.  I'll know tomorrow when the jars get here.  I already started working on some designs which I'll put up and see what everyone thinks.

 

Have you thought about a Cricut? They are pretty pricey but you can quickly die-cut shapes - if you were going to do a lot of hang tags it might be a good option. 

18 hours ago, ehatch1 said:

 

Thank you!  The labels are printed out using my inkjet printer; the scent names are printed using a handwritten font I found online.

I was about to be soooo jealous of your handwriting.  I just love what you did - so natural, definitely packaging that would attract me in a store. 

16 hours ago, infertilemyrtle said:

@Trappeur @jbradshaw Yes, it is an 8 oz square canning jar from the Jar Store I used Eco 14 wicks, but they seem to be mushrooming slightly (otherwise the burn is near perfect). Thinking I should size down??

Definitely not an expert in wicking, but I used an ECO 12 in a similar size container, 464 wax and it even seem a bit large. 

I haven't been looking for non-synthetic (because i'm not sure that's a thing in FO) - but like you I've been looking for some one-note fragrances to try making my own blends. I haven't found anything so far, but have been very happy with the blends I've sampled. 

A friend bought me tiny little candles in tins from Old Navy for xmas - I haven't burned them yet but I'm curious to see how they perform. Would be fun to do tiny little candles as party favors - people sure do love tiny things

5 minutes ago, Trappeur said:

Hi JB....hmmmm.....I use exact everything you use, tins, oils and wicks and cure time....everything.

I'm thinking it sounds to me like the wick. Maybe you need to up it a size to a cd 12.  That is what I use for my 8oz tins.

You said something is smaller?  What?

 

Trappeur

Lol I left out the words 'the flame' which are pretty crucial in that sentence. The flame was smaller. I have a CD 12 with same FO and same tin I can test to see what happens - I'll start that one tonight. I am using 6% for oil. 

I haven't had this happen before, and I'm trying to figure out if it's the wick or the FO (or the combination of the two).

Wax: 464

Wick: CD10

FO: Peak's Birds of Paradise

Container: 8oz tin (the CS ones)

Cure time: two weeks to first test, been testing about a week

The first few test burns went great! Awesome HT, happy with the wick performance. The last couple test burns the wick has started mushrooming a bit and has been much smaller, and the HT is less. As I mentioned, I haven't ever had this happen, all of my test burns have been pretty consistent no matter how far burned down the candle was. 

I haven't used this FO before, and I haven't used the CD wicks in this container before (only in glass so far). I'm also seeing more hang up on the walls of the tin with this batch. I can certainly do different combos of the FO/wick/container to see what the variable is, but I wondered if anyone's had this happen with the container/wick/FO I mentioned above. 

Those labels are gorgeous! Is that your handwriting for the scents? It looks so nice and I love the feel it gives the packaging. I'm going to have to try out the Iced Tea Twist - that sounds nice and summery. 

The candles look great! And so do the cats

On 1/28/2017 at 0:07 PM, TallTayl said:

I just pour directly from the kettle into the pour pots or label if there's only a tiny amount I need. 

They seem so big though? But maybe it's because I'm just looking at photos online I can't really tell the scale of them. 

@ehatch1 Did you modify it yourself? Or purchase it modified with the spout? 

Sorry for all the questions - I'm just really freaked out about double boiling now (husband is too) but want to get some new scents poured and tested