Sarah S

I tested the CBL129 and I loved the throw. It was easy to wick too. I am just way to lazy to deal with a repour. 🤣

For a single pour with consistent great results, I go with CBL125 every time.

I actually just bought a slab of 4630 and a box of 4627 to see how they compare to CW's waxes. 

@lovelyscents, you know what i am going to say... go back to the CW waxes! I am still in love with the CBL125 and I love their Palm1 as well. Their blends are very consistent. My only complaint is that they are often out of stock these days, but who isn't?

I use oils from CW, Flaming Candle, and NG with great success in Palm. Like @Candybee, my CT is almost overpowering before the wick is even lit. I find Palm does best with florals, fruits, earthy blends and ocean type scents. And the typical "clean" types.

CBL125 throws anything. But put a bakery scent from Indiana Candle Supply in it and be ready to die from rapture!

I still have a stash of CSNs to use with the palm. I will cry when it's gone.

I use HTPs with the 125.

On 9/12/2021 at 8:33 AM, Darbla said:

I'm looking particularly for ginger right now, with no other notes (if possible), and hopefully safe for use on skin but I'm also looking for use in candles too.  I have some Orange Ginger from WSP but I want to make it more gingery, but other than that I want to mix some with plain vanilla and see how it goes.

 

Other than ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, what other yummy spice FOs are out there?

Do you ever order from Bitter Creek? It has been at least three years since I ordered from them, but they used to make an amazingly realistic and strong ginger. Just like the slices you get with sushi! Super potent and a great mixer, and I'm pretty sure its skin safe. 

@GailCdid you think of a name?

How about Joy Juice?

Berry Twist

Raspberry Kiss

Juicy Sweet

Sunshine and Berries

Fruit Salad

I love coming up with names!

Try Candlewic! Some of their fragrances are meh, but they have a lot of outstanding ones too. I have not been to visit them post-covid, but they used to have samples to smell at their warehouse.

Depending on where you are in the NJ area, they may be close enough for a drive over. They are located in Doylestown PA, about 30 minutes south of Allentown and Bethlem.

I order from them frequently and am pleased more often than not with their oils. And they are my favorite wax supplier. 

You could go up to 8 or 9% on the FO. I've never seen the need to go higher than that. A good parrafin or parasoy tart will be plenty strong at 8%, and the infrequent times I've gone up to 10% I've never noticed a difference.

On 5/15/2020 at 2:46 PM, Darbla said:

I read of a designer perfume with rooibos tea, orange, and cinnamon.  Does that not sound lovely?

It does! I love rooibos tea. That's actually my favorite blend to drink, rooibos, orange and cinnamon. 😁

On 5/5/2020 at 9:54 PM, Marleigha said:

I’m glad to hear you say that.  I’m ISO a good and strong cinnamon bun FO.  The one I have is just meh at best.  I think the bear claw is a nice bakery scent, but a few of my friends/family members have said it’s a bit too sweet.  So on the hunt I go!  
 

ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC:  WSP IS HAVING A 25% OFF ALL FRAGRANCE OILS LADIES!  Damnit I need more oils like I need a hole in the head!  Grrr... But I am off to go select a few.  Any suggestions from WSP?  

Try the Cinnamon Bun from Aztec. It's one of my favorites, really strong throw and a superb buttery Cinnamon. 

Flaming's Back Tea is incredible. Very similar to BB's black tea, just a little bit more mellow. If you mix it with Bergamot, it is an outstanding Earl Grey blend.

I am also slightly obsessed with their Tea and Cakes. It's a very unusual mix of black tea and sweet cakes with a whisper of lemon. At first I wasn't a fan, but it is so mellow on burning, and it is a refreshing change from the usual bakery scents. I add a little Black Tea to it to cut down on the sweetness a bit.

7 hours ago, Paintguru said:

So I just burned the Bear Claws this weekend.  It is definitely different from Cinnamon Buns.  IMO, it was not as cinnamon-y, but sweeter and less cream cheese-y (if that makes ANY sense).  I wasn't a super big fan of it, but I can see it being a good bakery scent.  

That is exactly how I feel about it too! It is a great bakery scent, but I like the CB more. I also like the Bread Pudding more than Bears CLaws as a similar but different spicy bakery scent.

@Marleigha, their Sweet Bakery Dough is one of my favorite bakery scents ever. Not too sweet, very mellow and it pairs well with other candles if you like to burn multiple fragrances.

The Zucchini Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Ice Cream are outstanding Pumpkin fragrances.

That's a bummer, I just got a slab of 129 a few weeks ago. I haven't made anything with it yet.

Maybe I'll pull it out today and see what it does.

Do you have a softer wax like 125, or a soy wax? Sometimes I add a soft wax at a low percentage, like 5-10% to smooth out my tarts. I don't want to add much, because I like a hard tart, but a little bit can help smooth out some dimples or ripples to an acceptable level.

In my experience, the softer waxes do not have longevity with their throw. A soft wax may have great initial HT as the melt pool will reach a high temperature quickly, but as you have noticed the throw diminishes significantly over the course of several hours.

Are you using a coconut blend? I don't think that coconut wax is a great stand alone wax anyway, for any application.

If you are ok with parrafin, I would suggest adding 40-50% hard paraffin wax, or switching to parrafin entirely. There is a reason why the big manufacturers use parrafin, it makes a fantastic tart!

Also consider the size of the tart, .5oz is not a lot of wax. The fragrance may truly be spent in that tiny amount of wax after 8 hours, depending on the strength and quality of your fragrance oil.

If you are married to the "all natural" concept, try blending palm wax with the coconut, 50/50, or try palm/coconut/soy at 50/30/20.

Finally, what makes your tarts "luxury"? Are you going for visual impact? Unique fragrance? Price? Novel packaging? Marketing something as luxury has many different factors, performance being only part of it. It is very likely that you may need to be flexible with your waxes to create your product line, so don't be afraid to  experiment.

23 hours ago, cbSoapworks said:

GUYS!  y'all were 100% right. I can't believe what I'm about to tell everyone but I messed up.... Big time and its so stupid.  I guess when I was ordering my Lye, I didn't pay attention and I actually ordered Potassium Hydroxide Flakes instead of Sodium Hydroxide Flakes. They come in the exact same containers and I just never took the time to read the container.  I feel like a moron. But you live and you learn. Took me over 384oz of failed soap and this post before it was figured out and Y'all helped massively by making me check all components of my cook. Thank You so much

So glad it was something easily fixable!

Hmmm, ok. I'm not as experienced with HP as I am CP. If that was a CP soap, and you've ruled out improper measurement, I'd say there was something wrong with the lye. Are all the bad batches made with the same lot of lye?

For HP, the only thing I can think of, is if you are adding the super fat after the cook, it might just be too much super fat. 

Hopefully someone with HP experience will chime in. @Sponiebr @TallTayl @Candybee

Oh, one more thought, have you changed fragrance oils? They'd can do some wacky things to soap batter.

Just looking at your recipe, that is a pretty high amount of castor oil. You used that same percentage previously with no problem?

Where do you get your lye? Do you masterbatch it or do you mix it fresh each time?

Barn wood from Aztec smells like a dry sandalwood.

Nantucket Garden is fantastic in CP. No d/c, scent remains strong after the cure. It is a lovely patchouli rose, with a hint of fruitiness.

I really like Paradise Reef too, it smells very tropical but not in a typical pineapple or mango kind of way. Think water, exotic blossoms, with a hint of sweetness.

I know I've used others from them, but those two come to mind first. What kind of fragrances do you usually soap with? I tend to lean toward cologne or perfume dupes, or fragrances that are light fresh.

Candlewic does offer CBL 125 by the 51 pound case for only $112, shipping included. I'm sure that deal doesn't count if you add on other products, but for 51 pounds of wax, that's only $30 in shipping.

I do agree for shipping regular orders, their prices are pretty lousy. Why is the FedEx option like half the cost of the UPS?

I would definitely reach out to them and see if you could work something out for shipping samples. They are very nice people. I'm fortunate that I can drive up there a couple times a year and load up my car. The guys at the warehouse are awesome.

Those are super cute!! I like that idea!

I know Candlewic's shipping isn't good for most people, but I just want to put it out there that their blends are high quality and extremely consistent. I have been using their CBL 125 for several years now. It is very similar to 4630 and just a dream to work with. All the cases I have ordered look, feel, and perform the same over several years. Same with the 141 and the 129.

I don't work for them, or get any kickbacks, I am just a customer who is very impressed with their product. 😁

I always feel a little guilty when I read about the struggle with other waxes. Knock on wood, I have never had a problem.

That being said, I have an entire bag of HTP wick from them that are unusable, because the wick pulls out of the tab. 🙄

I suppose no one can be perfect! 🙃

Ooo, I'll have to try this in soap! It is a fantastic summer scent.

My results in wax:

wax: palm 1 CW

wick: CSN

jar: glass

additives: none

cure time: 2 weeks

CT: super strong

HT: super strong

wax: CBL 125

wick: HTP

jar: 16oz tin

additives: none

cure: 2 days

CT super strong 

HT: super strong

wax: palm 2 CW

wax tarts

no additives

cure: 2 weeks

CT: strong

HT: super strong

*This is strong spring/summer kind of fragrance, really wonderful. It smells like sunshine on the ocean, and fresh green leaves, with tart lemons carrying on a warm breeze.

Good on the NCA!!

Thanks for sharing!

Agree with the posts above. Paraffin will get you brilliant colors, especially a bright white blend like 4630.

I also love the way palm wax holds color, the crystallization is beautiful with some dye to bring it out.

I've only ever used HTPs and CSNs to wick palm pillars. Flat cotton braid can do ok, if you wick way up.

I have not had much success overall with feather palm, that's a tricky wax imo.

Sorry I couldn't be much help!

On 2/16/2020 at 9:40 AM, Candybee said:

People who don't know my candles always ask if they are soy. This tells me soy is still the most popular and readily available candle in my area. I don't mind, I look at it as an opportunity to sell my palm candles to them.

 

As mentioned by Busybee the important thing is to make the candles you want to make. Nothing sells a candle better than someone who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the candles they make. The plus side is working with a wax you love to use and learning all about it. That will be your ticket to success. I know this through my own experience and it shows when I am talking to my customers. They can see and feel my excitement and knowledge of my candles and that is what sells them for me.

 

My experience is exactly the same as Candybee's. I sell both parrafin and palm, and both sell equally well.