Incendia

I give a lot of my candles away, but am still concerned about liability. I've been using 6 mm wick tabs and assembling them myself. I really like the idea of the 10mm ones. I just saw some after a quick search.. so they are out there.

Handmade as opposed to machine/mass produced. Touched by human hands. What most people here make in their own kitchens/craftrooms/workshops/garage/basements. Although they look good to me, mine are probably far less polished than most of what you-all make. Years ago when I used to sell a lot of artsy things (not candles), buyers preferred things made by real people. When I used to do calligraphy, one of my teachers told me that an occasional tiny slip of the pen or very, very minor ink spot proved it was hand written as opposed to computer generated. A good thing. Fractured mythology: Arachna was a weaver who was extremely proud of her weaving skills. She prided herself on being perfect, the best in the land, and that no one ever would be able to find a flaw in what she produced. To punish her for her pride (only the gods could be perfect), the gods turned her into a spider and decreed that she spend eternity weaving webs and intentionally making at least one mistake. To this day, if you look closely, you can find a flaw in every spider web she still weaves. (edit.. that's how the story was told to me many years ago. There are other versions, some more cruel, and sometimes the name is spelled 'Arachne'. )

I got one of their 10 sample deals, plus another free sample. These are what I got, in no particular order. I underlined the three I'd consider buying more of. -ginger peach... still not good -Georgia peach ... haven't tried yet -Love spell, vs type ... haven't tried yet, but do like the one from CS. Will make some votives of it today. -Orange blossom... I just love this one, but it's not strong. Sort of medium strength I guess. Definitely will consider buying more. Smells like the real deal, and I have orange trees. -Wild Mountain Honey... Nice, but not outstanding to me. Does smell like honey. -Sweet pea... nice, close to real sweet peas, but not quite. 'another pleasant floral' -Vanilla bean nectarine ... really nice. I want more. Several of the positive reviewers got this as a free sample. Maybe it's not selling... Great scent, wrong name. More orange than nectarine. -Cinnamon apple cider... Not bad, but not great. Another spicey apple. -Coconut milk... not very strong. Not very coconutty either. 3 out of 5 -Birds of paradise... surprisingly nice. I had no idea what to expect since real Bird of Paradise flowers, while visually striking, have virtually no scent. But I do like it and would consider getting more. Think I'll rename it 'Surf's up' in aqua/blue wax. I don't sell my candles, so I won't have to explain it, lol. -Amish Harvest ... nice scent. Smells more like raw cookie dough than what I would think of as 'harvest'. Might rename this 'Mrs Fields does candles'... Just joking. But the scent itself is pleasing. Worth a try if you like mild bakery scents. -

I don't sell my candles/votives. I want them to look nice, but not necessarily perfect. I want them to look like they are handmade. I consider that a feature not a flaw.

Of the three peach family scents I ordered from Peak's, I've tried two thus far. One, Ginger Peach, just seems horrible to me. I love fresh ginger, but this is some chemical concoction that just doesn't work. Not very peachy either. If it improves with more than its 15 minutes of curing (lol), I'll update this. But it would have a loooooong way to come. Another, Vanilla Bean Nectarine (peaches and nectarines are both Prunus persica) is divine. I can't detect much nectarine in it, but rather orange (fruit not blossom), which I like very much. This scent is a lovely confection worth trying, ...but to my nose, the name is off. I'm going to call it Orange Crème.

Perhaps you should trim your wicks.

I have found myself there a couple times when searching for specific terms... and thought I should go back and do some more reading. Lots of good stuff here.

Even though it's January, I'm looking for a good Christmas tree scent. @Trappeur , you mentioned both blue spruce and Frasier fir. I've seen good mention of both here and there. Which of those two do you think is more fresh Christmas-tree-y?

Thanks for that pearl of wisdom.

The peach nectar from CS arrived today, and it most likely is the peach scent I was looking for. It's very pleasing both OOB, and in a couple quickly made votives. It may not be 'the perfect peach', but it's good enough to stop looking. Thanks for the suggestions.

My most pleasing peach scent (to my nose) thus far was a 1:1 mix of FC 'Peach' and CS 'Cranberry Marmalade'. Go figure. If Ocean Spray can mix their berries with other fruits, why not candle makers?

Besides Peach Nectar and Peach from Flaming Candle, I've ordered 3 non bakery from Peak's - two peach types and one nectarine (mutant hairless peach). Plus the Peach Nectar from CS.

Four more scents tried from Flaming candle: - lemon lavender. Lovely. Will probably reorder it. One of my favorites thus far -cedar saffron. Lots of cedar scent. (Saffron?) Strong, clear conifer wood scent. I really like this one. I think it will make a good mixer. -almond/honey.. or was it honey/almond. Nice, low key. Pleasantly nutty. Reminds me of my first almond hand lotion. Maybe good to accompany a relaxing bath. -woodside garden. If I had been wearing a blindfold, I would have said 'Lily of the Valley'/'Muguet'. Another pleasant floral in the lilac/plumaria tradition.

I was not going to order till another batch of samples came with a couple more peach scents to try... but decided to just pull the trigger and order the CS peach nectar. So now I wait... Thank you all for the input. Hopefully in a week or so I'll be able to report.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give that a try.

These are scents I recently got from FC. I tend to prefer earthy fruity scents. -Blueberry cobbler - nice scent, but I would have preferred more blueberry and less cobbler. -Bartlett Pear - OOB, more of an under-ripe pear impression, but I think it has potential -Lemon verbena - wow. Nice and strong and very pleasant. Comparable to off-the-tree lemons. A keeper. My favorite of this order. -Stonefruit - disappointing. Cheap coughdrop scent -Black cherry - very strong. Fills the room. Settles down in a day or so. Reminds me of cough medicine. -Pumpkin Pecan Waffles (free sample) - very strong and persistent and fills the house. No off notes. Worth a try if you like 'bakery' scents. I'll be making an actual pumpkin pie today because of this, lol. (Note to self - no more dessert FOs.) -Georgia peach - quite nice but has a slight grapefruit undertone. The search continues. (CS is next try) -Peach nectar - pretty accurate for a real peach, but not a full fruity fragrance. (edit - hope this post comes through OK - something weird happened.)

I know it's out there. A friend gave me the end of a peach-scented candle that was divine. It was full fruity goodness, ...and I want more. I've tried Flaming Candle's Georgia Peach. It's good, but to my nose has a slight tinge of grapefruit in it, and not as robust peachy as I want. I've also tried their Peach Nectar, and while nice, was more pit than peach. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I want either. I've ordered a couple 'peach' and 'nectarine' scents from Peak's that I haven't tried yet, so hopefully one of those will come through. But in the meantime, if anyone has a suggestion of where to look next for a real peachy, fruity, almost perfume-y, but not bakery nor jello scent, I'd be grateful.

Thanks, Trappeur. One of the benefits of getting older is losing the worry about being embarrassed about much of anything. It is very freeing. Years ago I belonged to another candle board that did not have the same friendly tone (nor level of expertise) as here so I am very pleased to have found you all.

Thanks for the welcome. You remind me that as a kid my mom made a candle using a milk carton as a mold. Then decorated it with some fluffed up white wax simulating snow. She probably got the idea from the old Parade magazine that came with the Sunday paper. Every Christmas, unlit, it was part of the decorations. I doubt it burned very well. I had forgotten.

Hi. I've been bit by the candle bug again. I've been making candles on but mostly off for several decades. (Yes, I am old) I started in my first apartment when still in school and used canning parawax, crayons for color, and string for wick. Needless to say, they didn't burn very well. But it was fun. Over the years I've revisited making candles numerous times, but have never tried to sell any, and have no aim to do so. When I was younger, I did supplement income doing craft shows, stores, etc , selling mainly paper products - cards, calendars etc. I've done a lot of calligraphy, and also make paper and do paper marbling. I've dabbled in stained glass and mosaics. Even made soap a few times. I first studied art in college, but ended up in biology. They seem very different, but beauty is beauty. Back to candles - I'm one of those poor souls who buys used candles at yard sales and re-melts them. Fortunately I do not need to have reproducible results. My aim is to make pretty, creative candles that burn well, and smell good. I do buy wicks, scents, and occasionally wax. But mostly I wing it and am generally pleased with the results. If not... double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble ... they get re-melted to live again. I'm currently greatly enjoying myself with this hobby, and am very pleased to have found this forum with so many knowledgeable people who are willing to share. I've already spent several days reading threads and making candles with new information. Glad to be here.