Paintguru

There is an open thread under the "about" section where you can post suppliers to be added.  

https://www.craftserver.com/forum/82-1-about-the-fragrance-review-forum/

Everyone,

We created a subforum for users to post fragrance reviews:  https://www.craftserver.com/forum/79-fragrance-reviews/

Within the subforum, we have different forums for each fragrance supplier.  Under a particular supplier's forum, you can post reviews of fragrance oils that you've tried in your products.  Try to make the reviews as complete as possible; the goal is to educate other users and help when they're research new FOs.  Additional reviews should be posted (if possible) under the same FO thread (for example, we don't need 7 different separate review threads for Lemon Verbena from CS).  Let us know if you have questions or suggestions. 

Need to add:

Indiana Candle Supply

Fragrance Buddy

candlewic

EDITED BY TT: DONE

Candles:

Description:  Nice, clean fragrance.  Slightly floral.  Did not throw well for me.  May be good in bath/body.  

wax used: 4630

fragrance load (%) 6.5%

average cure time: 1 week

Wax additives?  None

container: 4 oz tin

wick:  Zinc core

Cold throw: Average  (6 out of 10)

Hot Throw: Poor to Average (5 out of 10)

Candles:

Description:  Very nice fragrance, reminds me of a soft campfire scent.  

wax used: 4630

fragrance load (%) 6.5%

average cure time: 1 week

Wax additives:  None

container: 8 oz straight sided jar

wicking notes: N/A

Cold throw: Good (6 out of 10)

Hot Throw:   Very good (7.5 out of 10)

Morphing: none.

Tomato leaf did nothing for me.  Nag Champa was awesome (I'm not a NC connoisseur though).  Sweet Strawberry and Lavender Chamomile I just put into wax for testing, and both smell nice in wax.  Mine were all in 4630, so YMMV.

Just so I don't have to start another thread, is there any interest in a shared Google spreadsheet where people can list FOs that they've tried, and their mini-review of them?  People could sort the list as desired to research potentially new fragrances.  I can generate a template if people have an interest in this.  

13 hours ago, Laura C said:

Hi @Paintguru. Why not try a little bit of a scent boosting additive such as one of the Vybars with a paraffin wax or one of the Universal Additives for a soy wax? Have you not tried them or have they not worked for you?  And of course you could always use those weak scents in fire starters, that seems to be a popular option. LOL

I have not ventured into Vybars yet.  Are they worth trying?  I'd hate to add complexity, but if they are easy and help significantly, maybe they're worth a try.

32 minutes ago, Jcandleattic said:

If a scent doesn't throw for me, in the % I use in my candles, no matter how much I love it/like it/want it - I consider it a dud and move on. There are way too many suppliers, and too many other great scents that I can get to throw in my applications at the % I use to keep trying on one that just does not work. 

Yeah that is what I'm leaning toward.  I almost wish we had a database of Suppliers, FOs, waxes, and throw ranking from 1-10 or something.  I know that is VERY subjective, but it would give folks a good idea of the good vs. the bad without having to search through thread after thread and order sample after sample. 

While I'm still just starting, most of the suggestions I've seen is 2x for wholesale and 4x for retail.  This seems to be along the lines of what you're marking your candles.  I guess you need to learn your market and customers to see what they can accept.  

So I'm in the process of testing the seemingly endless supply of FO samples that I have to see how they perform in my candle system.  Some of them I like a great deal, but don't throw as well as others.  If you stumble across a great scent, but its throw is less than stellar, what do you usually do?  Up the FO content, thereby adding cost?  Just bail on it and find other, better throwing FOs?  Just curious if most just give up, if they somehow try to make it better, or if you just produce the candle and accept that the throw may not fill a whole house.  

That's a clever idea!  I was wondering how to package my melts in the future, and this would allow me to use what I have on hand already.  

I get my small 4 oz ones from The Flaming Candle.

Another way to do it is to buy the kraft bags in bulk and order an ink stamp with your logo or other info that you'd like to add.  May end up being cheaper, plus you can use the stamp on other products as well.  

Well I ordered the 129 for my first attempt at melts.  We'll see how it goes!  

I've been using 4630 after starting out with C3.  The 4630 seems to have good HT, but some fragrances are still duds.  I just started a test burn with Bamboo and Coconut (CS I think), and from a 4 oz tin, I can smell it from the second floor of our house.  Not all FOs behave that way, but some definitely do.  I'm looking at grabbing one of CWs custom blends for tarts if I ever start making them, so it will be interesting to hear what you think about their stuff.  My biggest beef with the 4630 is getting it out of the box and the wax paper dividers getting stuck in it.  I need to figure out the trick for that.

In some ways, I understand using the same name for traditional scents like "Clean Cotton" or "Apple Cinnamon", but for the more unique scents, why wouldn't you change things?  Part of the fun of this is coming up with names, designs, stories, etc. to set yourself apart.  

Updated with better camera and more candles.

Backdrop/base is all one piece.  I bought the fake apples and leaves on Amazon as well.  Rest is from Michael's.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DNQDXTQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My first attempt at a "group pic".  May add a few more candles into the mix.  This was taken with my iPhone...may pull out my real camera at some point to increase depth of field since the lettering on the back candles seems a bit out of focus.

I would think the bakery/foodie scents would be good for cold weather/after holiday scents.  Hansel and Gretel's House (CS) is a really nice one.  Indiana Candle has some nice food ones (Cinnamon Buns, Coffee Beans, etc.)  Even the spicy ones like Cinnamon Broom that Gail mentioned should do well.  I don't think many users are ready for fruity or ocean scents quite yet.  

4 hours ago, Sebleo said:

So, after no luck scouring this board, I did an old fashioned google search and found it pretty quickly. Uprinting.com

 

Now I’m not so sure if someone recommended it here or I found it on my own! Lol!

 

Has anyone used them? They seemed to be the cheapest for mass printing of brochures. And I like you can download their template. 

I did check them out for the circular business card idea, but I think to keep costs down, I'm going the postcard route.  

I just got a sample from Flaming Candle.  I have no idea what the original smells like, but to me, I liked this one OOB.

@MilosCandles needs his own thread where he lists everything he uses and does so we can all find it easily.  😂😂😂

8 hours ago, Quentin said:

You're right. I noticed that last night. I'm using a low end Android, the Samsung J3. So when you say "focus on the flame", I'm really not sure what you mean or if this cheap phone even has that capability. I've just never been one to take very many pictures. Either way, I started looking through the manual settings last night and found the metering function that you and some of the  others mentioned. You touch on the screen and the little circle pops up On this cheap phone, it seems to be limited in what it can do. I'm due for a new phone here soon anyway. 

All cell phones are basically the same.  You tap on the screen where you want to focus and meter.  Since it is setting the exposure so the flame is properly exposed, everything else will be dark.  It does this (I assume), by increasing the shutter speed.  The easiest way to fix this would be in post processing by increasing the exposure of the surrounding area and (ideally) leaving the flame as is.