The Candle Nook

Thanks @Scented haven’t looked at Wellington in years and have never used Save on Scents but have considered adding them to my list. I am so frustrated with CS’s FO stupidity I am branching out. (They’ve been my #1 supplier for since I started.) Can’t depend on them for decent FO any longer.

Thanks so much for the info — sounds like a good January project!

So many of you are so far beyond me in experience- I’m asking the experts!! My daughter bought yankee melts in England (she’s never seen this fragrance here) and it is her FAV. Yankee calls it “dreamy summer nights”. Following is description. I’ve never seen Heliotrope as a FO for me to even know where to start making her a blend...🤷‍♀️

How did you find a lab in Chicago to dupe for you? I live in the Dallas area and would be willing to spend some time and $$ trying to find someone local to dupe for me. (CS cran marm)

I’ve been MIA from candle making during covid because the store was shut down — but I tried both cranberry marm from AFI and did not think either were a good sub for original CS fragrance. Did you try either one? . And, I too am so irritated with CS.

I find many tobacco scents turn “perfumy” to me. The only one I’ve had any success with is Cuban tobacco from bulk apothecary. (I can’t remember -or list - all the ones I’ve tried. I couldn’t get a decent HT with anything else)

I have now added CS grapefruit and mint to my radar - one of the best CS in spring/summer for me is grapefruit and mangosteen. I love a good orange — but find “single” fruits aren’t as popular (couldn’t give away McIntosh Apple from CS this fall — but it smells Divine!) What’s a good mixer for orange?

Candles mixed @GailC waiting for cure time before I burn them. You’ll have to let me know about redwood and cedar. That Arctic Air sounds nice - i do a mint eucalyptus from CS (can’t remember the oil name 🙄) that I call “waiting for snow” which is all we ever do in TX!

I’m looking for inspiration and I always find it from this group...I’ll start. I’m planning on pouring Daffodil and Fresh Grass — I tried a 50/50 and Daffodil overwhelmed Grass so I’m changing the mix and trying again. Also trying a mix of cedarwood and pinion pine (from AAA) to hopefully get a woodsy, non mens cologne.

I’d use peppermint patty in a heartbeat- if my peppermint scent was stronger...which gives me the idea of adding some straight peppermint to the FO and playing around with that for next year!! Thanks Gail!

@Gsmakinsoap love the “winter by the fire”...wish I liked any of the campfire/smokey scents I’ve been testing -but they all end up smelling like men’s cologne to me. I am still on the hunt and will happily use your suggestion for that illusive fragrance! Thanks! ❤️

I am horrid at naming fragrances - but like to rename most candles. I called chocolate peppermint “Ho Ho Ho” for Christmas and it did well — but I need a non-Christmas wintery name for January/February. And I can’t think of anything else — (all my brain wants to call it is ho ho ho 🙄) Thoughts?

Not sure what “old world wassail” smells like — but I use CS mulled cider and chestnuts for a lovely fall fragrance that smells like wassail to me

Wooden skewers are cheap and then you throw them away...just giving you another option...of course, you may be making larger quantities than I do

You have original CS cranberry marmalade and you should have great HT with that one....I started with soy - and yes - I always give a candle at least 2 weeks. Sometimes a month. And then sometimes a FO doesn’t work for me at all. I give up and move on to another. (Always a little bummed if I bought more than 2 oz tho...like OMGolive...smells like absolutely nothing in my wax. CT or HT. At 10% even). If I was going to branch out, I’d go with @bfroberts recommendations... I think it’s (honestly) just trial and error with whatever wax you wanna use. Biggest problem I find today (vs 2 years ago when I started) is all the companies reformulating the FO without phthalates...🙄🙄🙄. .

Jumping in with my 2 cents for what it’s worth.... The reformulated cranberry apple marmalade from CS is totally different than the original and I wouldn’t be using that to try and restart candle making and figure out HT. I agree with peach nectar. Or the macintosh apple (a strong FO in mho. But I use 464 and always wait 2 weeks for cure)

I’m with you Gail. Have my fingers in my ears and saying La-La-La-La over and over....way too many fo on hand to look at black friday sales....

What a wonderful find!!!

Hmmm. I believe the candle I poured is WAY weaker than I thought it would be. Did you ask Lonestar about phthalates @cjrig? I didn’t look specifically to see if they were commenting on removal in their fo. That can really mess with a fragrance.

Thanks @TallTayl i knew the wax was softening more toward the bottom — guess I just never realized how much once I was 1/2 way thru the burning process...will try your wickectomy method for setting wicks on next testers...it will save me time/effort if I determine a (probable) good wick/fo load and then set a wick once I am 1/2 way thru for the rest of the burn!

I wondered about sink holes as well @CandleRush but dug around pretty good in a couple to see if I could identify a problem and didn’t find sink holes 🤷‍♀️

So to manage the number of test candles I was making, I started pouring my candles (464) with different FO loads without wicks. After my cure time, I’d poke a hole insert a wick and start testing. I could tell fairly quickly when I was over wicked -pull it - start again. Or realize I needed more cure time with a certain FO - and put it away again — everything seemed to be going well. I knew I’d never get a complete burn without a set wick- hoped I’d get down to about 1/4 wax left and suspected I’d probably get to the bottom 1/3. Well, I am only getting about 1/2 way thru the candle and the wick disappears. Melt pool seems to be fine, wick doesn’t appear to be drowning, candle isn’t too hot - just all of a sudden wick disappears. Do you think it’s because of “soft” soy or is it a wick problem? Only thing I can think of is set the wick I *think* is gonna be right (has done the best the first 1/2 of the candle) - at the FO load I *think* is right (for the complete burn), let the damn things cure again and continue testing. Which, in reality, hasn’t reduced/saved me any time or effort at all. And may have added to my time/effort! I might as well pour 6-8 candles with different FO loads and different wicks from the start! Would love all your Thoughts? Opinions? (Can’t believe I still feel this much like a “baby” newbie after 2.5 years)

CT in soy can be strong and lovely and HT non-existant. There’s no rhyme or reason. Stick with a reputable company and try some different oils. 8% is a fairly good % to be using in soy. You may be able to go down to 6%. Just test! Don’t forget to let soy cure for 2 weeks (minimum) before you test. Makes all the difference

There are lots of good fragrance oil companies out there — seems like you’ve started with supplies from bulk apothecary - so you may try some of their FO too. Just search around on this site for FO ideas