njcurley

I received the same notice from Aztec. 

1 hour ago, Belinda said:

@njcurley, I absolutely agree! I don't know how Aztec's has such good reviews on theirs. Terrible scent! I don't know how it's gotten such good reviews on their site.

I know!  I was so disappointed.  It has been one of the few duds I have had from Aztec.

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 9:03 PM, Belinda said:

Aztec's was the worst I tried too. I like Flaming's , Candle Wic's, and Fragrance Buddy's. They are all good.

Aztecs was absolutely awful!  It was the first one I tried.  I also tried Lonestar and it was good but Flaming's is the bomb.

I third Flaming, it is wonderful.

Good luck Shicks!  I hope you like it as much as I do.

I actually just got done testing all of my Christmas scents and poured a batch of them all and sent them to my back up tester.  She just reported that they are all great.  I'm actually really excited.

I test each FO and decide.  I usually start at 8% and go up as needed.  The only fragrance I had an issue with so far is Balsam.  I went up to 12% and still had next to no throw.  Most are good at 9-10%.  Some I've even gone lower than 8%.

I started using this wax recently and so far the Premier wicks work the best and I have excellent hot and cold throw and 90% of the time do not have to do a repour or hit them with the heat gun.  Its not too much more expensive than getting C3 for me, I forget now what the number was but I'm thinking it is only $18 more for a 50 lb box.

This is a tough one!  When I started back I was using Candlescience only, then I branched out to Flaming Candle and again to Aztec.  I have also gotten a few from Natures Garden (dud) and Lonestar.  As much as I wanted to love the Lonestar it was a dud.

Candlesciene - Wonderful, haven't found a bad one yet, every single one of their FOs that I use are best sellers for me, Black Sea, Snickerdoodle, Apple Harvest, Sea Salt & Orchid, Clean Cotton and Beach Linen.

Flaming Candle - Also haven't found a bad one yet here.  Highly recommend.

Aztec - I have had a few duds from them but many more good ones.  I'm not crazy about the bottle they use for their oils so I switch it out to a Candlescience type bottle.

Thanks Moonshine now I have to check out sweetcakes.

Thanks BF, that's my next try if my blend isn't to my liking.

22 hours ago, Moonstar said:

Thanks  This is where I get confused, the low heat to #. I heat my 464 to 180-183 , Im wondering why the Millennium can be heated to 160 ? I was worried the FO 

wouldn't bind to the melted wax.Ive really been wanting to try it. Thanks for reminding me about the 10% off repeat orders  Is it their Balsam that gives you issues or

any suppliers ? The FO samples I really like was their Lemon Cheesecake  - Oatmeal Cookie  & Orange ( smells like a fresh squeezed orange) Fireside was just OK

Eucalyptus Lavender just OK . What I liked is that it doesn't need a very long cure time like 464? Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions  

I've had issues with both Lonestar and Aztec's Balsam, but I am going to try a blend of Mistletoe and Berry and see if I come up with something.  I haven't tried any of American Soy's fragrances yet, but I might try their Lemon Cheesecake, a few people have recommended it.  I was a little surprised by the 160 and honestly I sometimes miss the boat and it goes a little higher, but it seems to be working out great so far.

21 hours ago, moonshine said:

Moonstar I have a crap load of millineum you can have to play with - just let me know 

I will be going next week to visit my grandma and she is in your area 

 

have you put one of the pillar votive melts in the warmer yet?

I have only done 1 Scent so far and cold and hot throw are very very good 

pouring more tonight and while I am at it I'm going to make some dreaded votives with it and see how they do.....I despise making votives 😂

If you ever want to get rid of the Millinnium let me know, would love to give a fellow candle maker money .

ooh!  I have some Mistletoe poured already.  Think I will burn it to get a feeling for its scent and then blend it with a berry scent.  Perfect idea!  And please don't make fun of me, but I have never blended before.

3 hours ago, Moonstar said:

Hows the Millennium wax working out for you ? Its so much more expensive that other soys ? Have you been using it for long ? Would you say most scents throw well

in that wax ? I bought a sample bag of their pillar wax for tarts and I don't get much of a CT  

I have been using it for a few months now and the only scent I am having issues with is the Balsam.  Everything else has had great hot and cold throw.  The price isn't too much of an issue.  I was using C3 before and with shipping it cost roughly $85 for a 50lb box.  The Millennium 50lb with shipping (and American Soy will give you a 10% discount for repeat orders) is roughly $100.  So only $15 more per 50 lb bag.  So it is a bit more but it pours and sets AMAZING!  I melt to 160, add fragrance and let it cool until it is slushy and 99% of my candles come out perfect, no second pours or heat gun action.  And I love working with the little pellets.  It does have a bit of an adhesion issue, but I have learned to embrace the wet spots because I love everything else about the wax.

1 hour ago, Moonstar said:

Which one were you using before ?

Never used one before.  It is a request from a dear friend.

Does anyone have a tried and true Balsalm & Berry?  I have now tried Lonestar and Aztec's versions and neither one are acceptable.  With Lonestar's there was absolutely, positively no HT (CT was awesome).  Aztec's was marginally better with HT, but not enough.  I even tried both at 10%!!

I am using Millennium wax with ECO wicks.

I use the same jars and an Eco 14, but I use Millennium wax.  LOL, I also get my jars from Flaming.

I love Flaming Candle!  Some of their FOs are my best sellers.  I try to use them as much as possible, shipping is lightening fast, if I order first thing in the morning it ships the same day and I have it the next day.  I have found them to be the cheapest for my regular line jars, just wish they would get more of a selection of jars.  Their customer service is absolutely amazing!!  I too started with Candlescience and I still use them for some FOs.  They also ship same day but are much further so it takes 2 days instead of the 1 I get from FC.

Again, I love, love, love them!  Can't say enough good things about them.

I share them with a select few friends/co-workers and get their opinions.  We joke that they are on the payroll, they get to burn candles (instead of getting paid) and I get honest opinions and feedback.  I am really particular about who does this for me and I have given them printouts of what they need to observe other than the scent.  Its great!  It frees me up to burn a few candles a week that I've been doing awhile just to make sure everything is still good with them.

Sorry, meant Balsam + Cedar.  Thanks for the suggestions, I had put Santa Baby on my list already, def getting that one.  I'm also going to try the Chestnuts + Brown Sugar, its a little out of my comfort zone but it sounds interesting.  Think I'll also try the VBM.

I am looking for a perfect balsam and berry fragrance oil and found one I want to try at Just Scent.  Since I'm placing an order, what other fragrances should I try?  You know I can't just get one little bottle of FO!

I hate to say this as I love ordering from them, but my card was hacked, went thru all the hassle, got new card and it was hacked again less than a month later.

I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

Gorgeous as always!

On ‎10‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 2:33 PM, jbradshaw said:

Oooh where do you get frosted black and white jars? (If you don't mind sharing your supplier.) I looked all over for reasonable frosted jars about six months ago with no luck.

We get them from California Candle Supply.  They are pricey with shipping so we use them for our more expensive line.  I was a little afraid pricing them, really wasn't sure people would be will to pay, but we debuted them at the fair this weekend and they sold like hotcakes.

8 hours ago, Jcandleattic said:

I have had people come to my booth, pick up and smell almost every single thing I have and THEN tell me they can't buy because "scents give me a headache" or "I'm allergic to scents" 

One lady told me that, and I immediately took the soap out of her hand and said, "Oh then you probably shouldn't be handling these if you are allergic" She was shocked that I called her on her bluff. She's probably never had that happen before. 

 

I have my first show of my season this Saturday. I'll let you know any weirdo's I encounter. LOL 

People are just nuts!  That was really the only odd ball we had this weekend.  I have a feeling next weekend might be different.  We have a huge show this coming Saturday.

And yep Trap, she was wearing a bra (thank goodness) ROFL.

That really was the only blip all day, so I'm very grateful.  I don't really let negative people like that get to me. I had the most wonderful customers today and the booth next to me was an 80 y/o woman and her husband.  She hand makes everything from recycled products and had the cutest stuff!  She was such a hoot.  My hero.

1 hour ago, Clear Black said:

 

 

What products were you selling and which did great? DETAILS!!! I NEED DETAILS!!

I sell scented, soy blend container candles.  Three different containers and lines.  We have status jars, interlude jars and frosted black and white jars.  The interlude jars are our fall scents and we color those.  The frosted jars have wood wicks and are our "spa" scents.

The best sellers were Salted Caramel (FC), Sea Minerals (Aztec), Apple Harvest (CS), Chocolate Brownie (Aztec) and Sweet Chili Pepper and Citrus (FC).  I was surprised that people were asking for Patchouli and Sandalwood!  I had those for the longest time and they weren't selling so I did not bring them.  I'm going to bring a few back tomorrow.

We had our first 'big' fair of the season today and did great but there was one woman who walked into our area and immediately pulled her t-shirt up over her nose, moaning, groaning and complaining about the "stench".  Thanks to the wonderful people on this board and a thread I recently read I had the perfect come back at her.  I looked her straight in the eye and said "I'm sorry you feel that way, you are missing out on our wonderful products."  The two women across from me immediately gave me a thumbs up and as soon as she huffed away they busted out laughing.

Why even walk into the area?  And why not just keep walking?  Why do people feel the need to moan, groan and complain, just keep going!

(and by the way she smelled like cow poop!).

I Really like No. 2.  You do such great labels.