Forrest

That's the only idea I have come up with so far, but I'm open to suggestions.

I want to make some of my inked 8oz tureens to sell in a small shop on the gulf coast and I have a conundrum. Other than a safety label on the bottom I don’t want any label on the glass or lid; however, I have a bit of information that I want/need to pass on to the customer. I need to tell them the fragrance, care instructions for the container, and a little about myself. In this case I am the brand as they will be in the same shop as my photography and I branded that using my name. I don’t plan on selling a lot of these candles, at most a case a month, so if I spend a lot of money on packaging and printing it will take considerable time to recoup my cost. I suppose these will be what you call “high end” candles so the packaging needs to look nice. I’m really a newbie at this aspect of the business so any advice would be appreciated.

An update on my situation with respect to this topic. I am now officially a professional photographer/graphic artist. I was dragged into it half willingly and half against my will. I have lost my hobby, but I have gained something more. There is no longer any “good enough” in my work, t has to be the best I can make it. I’m also driven to learn more about photography and Photoshop. I don’t know if I’ll ever sell another picture, but I know that this time next year I’ll be much better at my craft. Fortunately I still have candle making for a hobby, although I do plan to try and sell a few of my inked tureens. I only want to do this because I want a reason to make more of them, and how many candles can I burn?

Not sure what service it was, but when my wife went to track a package the other day there was a picture of it on the doorstep where they left it.

You are going down the same road I was on when I first started. The best advice I could give you is to put the 464 away for a while and get some 4627 paraffin. The reason I say this is a simple a candle made with 4627 is ready to burn in a week, a candle made with 464 doesn’t reach that same level for a couple of months, or more. Certainly people will tell you that your 464 candle is ready in two weeks, but soy continues to cure for a long time after that and the candle just gets stronger. As a beginner you are going to make mistakes, and the faster you are able to identify those mistakes the faster you will become a maker of quality candles. The other best advice I can give you is ask questions on this board, that is the best way to learn.

I have problems with the HTPs bending and giving me a one sided MP. How do you overcome that issue?

I'm going to be giving these candles a 4+ month cure, so being the procrastinator that I am I'll just put them in bags for storage and label them when they are cured. Of course I could go with the mystery candles approach and let everyone pick their candles based on smell🤣

Thank you, but I'm not there yet, I've got to pick some scents and do wick testing, then there are labels, boxes, and insurance to be purchased. But thanks to this forum I know what I'm getting into.

My current candle project is nearing an end and the next project I have in actually mind is a commercial venture, on a very small scale. I want to try selling some of my inked tureens. The shop that would be selling them gets a lot of traffic from a nearby island, so I’ll need so beach appropriate FOs. I have two good tropical fruit FOs but I need a non-fruity scent or two.

I’ve got my wicking down for most of my FOs in 8oz tins and I plan on pouring a year’s supply of each starting tomorrow. Mostly I use painter’s tape to label my candles, but I’ll be giving some of these as gifts and would like to do something a little nicer for these. So I’m wondering what size label works best on an 8oz tin?

I love CDs in 6006 but most of the time they are either too big or too small, but when they work they are just right.

I burned it last night and both my wife and I really like it, I think I got the right balance on the first try. I used 3g of Vanilla Champagne, 3.4 g of Tropical Blast and 4g of Bamboo and White Grapefruit. My wick may be a little small, but the flame was perfect, no smoking at all. The problem is it doesn't smell like anything I can relate to, so I'm going to have to pick a random name. I guess I'll name it after my granddaughter.

I plan on storing mine under the bed

Primate Flatulence

I read a book recently that advocated having a target market of one person. The concept was that in a crowded if you can give one person exactly what they are looking, but haven't found, there will be others looking for the same thing. The idea was to sit down with one person who uses the products you produce and find out what they want that isn't available. Since you are the process of moving right now it would be a good time to do some market research.

Well this is great, I read this, and thanks to having outstanding teachers, I'm good on all the candle questions, plus I've owned a business and would know what I'm getting into. But thanks to that article you posted I've realized that I don't want to give up my hobby, I don't want it to be a business. Maybe one day, but not now. This is the place where you can learn everything you need to know about starting a candle business, and why you shouldn't.

I just poured it, may test it on Friday:)

I haven't, my other hobby has become a business and has kept me busy. I did burn the candles together and I think to get the right balance I need a little extra Bamboo and White Grapefruit and a little less Vanilla Champagne.

I am not reading this post, I already have too many FOs. Just think of me as the see no evil monkey🙈

Here is my educated opinion based on a reasonable amount of scientific knowledge. I believe that the process of curing continues for a long time, but the rate diminishes over time. So to get from 10% cured to 20% cured only takes a few days, but to get from 80% cured to 90% cured may take years. The point is when we say cured we’re not talking about finished curing, we are talking about being cured enough for our purposes. Let’s suppose this is a half-life situation, which I suspect it is, and that the wax is 40% cured after one month. In this case it will be 70% cured at 3 months, but at 6 months you’ll only be 79% cured, it will take years to reach 90% and centuries to reach 99%. Of course as your wax cures more it need a bigger wick. I know all of that didn’t answer your question, so here is my best guess. I know from testing that if a candle was wicked right after two weeks it will need a bigger wick after two months. My guess is that you are safe after that.

I just applied for a business license and my photography will be for sale in the next few weeks. There were a couple of days last week when I wanted to call the whole thing off. I’m losing something, the simple joy of making art for art’s sake. But I’m also gaining the need to make my art better, a reason to try harder and to learn new things. I hope I’ve made the right choice, but it is too late to turn back now.

I think that is good advice, because the other two candles turned out to be overwicked, but not the Vanilla Champagne. So I was probably getting less of that scent anyway

I used to burn complementary scents in my den, but these days my candles have enough HT that I don't need two candles. I was doings some blending, but I put that aside for now until I get 19 different FOs properly wicked for long cure times. As soon as I get this done I plan on playing with some blends. This blend was an accident, I was just burning 3 candles together to get the wicks right, but now that I have seen the possibilities I'll start using my testing to look for new blending possibilities.

I managed to get over the inpatients by putting too much on my plate. These days if a candle lacks HT I just stick it back in the cabinet and move on. Half of my last batch of test candles won't get tested until three weeks or longer. The other thing I did was get some 4620 paraffin for the things I don't want to wait for, like testing new FOs or blends.

I'm still married to 6006, but I'm having a little fling on the side with 4630 paraffin. Sometimes I just want a short cure time.