Dirt Roads

https://www.rusticescentuals.com/products/Fragrant-Room-and-Body-Spray.aspx I was buying this in the 40 pound jugs, getting a couple at a time. Noticed shipping being put back so I quickly grabbed a large enough order to get through Christmas in the 7 pound containers. It was slightly more expensive. The 40 pounds was about 3.12/lb plus shipping, which I shipped with large order of wax so it ran less than 10% of amount. Now. it's $7.30 for 16 fl ounces and you can only buy 4. Not sure how long the limit of 4 applies. And the price is 2x more plus more shipping. Any suggestions here? I will say that the company was extremely nice and called me to cancel my back order of 4 drums and credited my pay pal immediately. I had this ordered for several months and I was pleased with the way they handled the cancellation. Something about a government change in regulations about shipping this. I do need a replacement in a similar price point if possible. They told me on the phone I could only buy 4 at a time. This won't be worth doing.

Had to remember what we had .. it was a "copyright assignment agreement". This was a very important thing in my t shirt designs. I saw a free form on the internet which would probably work for you. We also registered the design (as most t shirt producers did) with the US Copyright with a simple form letter and attachment for each design.

https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/42462/is-it-inappropriate-to-ask-for-royalties-on-a-logo-design-if-the-client-decides Ad agencies and some designers will often want royalties. And it's even suggested you are "taking advantage" of a designer to transfer complete ownership. I saw this come up last year with a pillow company that was buying designs from an artist. The artist was frustrated and changed their contract to royalties. The pillow company dropped them and went with another artist. I never worked any t shirt deal where we paid royalties. Not saying this is right but it's just what we (and most of the industry) did. Personally, I would ask for ownership of your logo. Too much trouble (and money) for royalty. I think this sums up the client ownership view: https://www.designmantic.com/blog/who-owns-the-logo/

https://www.designhill.com/design-blog/logo-design-owner-designer-client/ I had this issue come up with T shirt designs. I made it very clear that I paid the designer for design and I owned the design. Very clear as it was in a written contract. (a very short one paragraph on the bill) I never wanted to fool with royalties and permissions. I would suggest getting ownership up front.

Thanks for this Shelley! I ordered the Volcano for a replacement for Fruit Slices and it is wonderful! So much stronger. I need to replace 2 more scents from CS and I'm done with that company. I always order enough for 100 pound weight and last order they ran my pay pal and then cancelled it so they could add $20 freight to ship Frazier Fir from Nevada. With NO mention of the added freight for this fragrance. How is this ethical? Done with CS. I've already found new source for soap bases and wax.

Copied this from CS website: REVISION NOTICE: It is our policy to notify customers if any part of a fragrance was changed for any reason. This was on Love Spell. They changed it in 2018. So .... I guess they make a revision notice if they change a fragrance.

I have a bottle of BeScented Monkey Farts and it has more of a banana smell, similar to Rustic Essential's Monkey. RE is slightly stronger OTB ... but close to BeScented in the aromabeadsBulk apothecary Monkey smells more pineapple. I've used it in lotions, aroma beads and a few candles, however, I don't keep this fragrance in my main line (I only have 5 fragrances in main line & 2 holiday candles). I've compared the two smells and customers like the banana smell better. I tried the watermelon BeScented Jolly Ranchers. Smells just like the candy. I only use it in aroma beads. It sells okay.

Do you find the coconut wax gives better CT & HT?

Love the pink. The chandelier is a really nice touch! Even your little pink suits adding to the effect. I can see customers wanting to come in. And definitely making your booth stand out from other booths too.

It's okay to wash melt and pour soap scraps down the drain?

Just from my experience buying a lot of candles in the past for retail stores, I think that 1 inch one wouldn't look just quite right for a candle.

Yes that the exact jar I'm using. I'm staying with this jar and formula. Put out 12 more and they sold. Customers think it has a good hot throw in the store (they don't call it hot throw). I have 8 curing. (omg this pics are huge) Wax looks funny in that 2nd picture but it's the same candle, guess it's the angle. I'm staying with the 6%. Now to get a couple more fragrances. I have lotions and soaps in 5 fragrances and I have a masculine scent I plan on doing tonight. I would like to get 6 fragrances, plus 2 or 3 Christmas scents. Hopefully I can get it done by September/October. So back to testing. N

I'm just staying with the 6%. If customers like it enough to buy based on smell of burning candle, I think that's good enough. My 3 employees all agreed that it should be made as is and put out to sell ... that ht was good. Plus the burn is right, no flames or tunneling. I'm more concerned the candle doesn't catch fire or tunnel. Now to test more fo's. I don't use any dyes. Using same container, wick to start .... how likely is it to have similar results? In other words, how much does the specific FO affect the outcome?

Do you think it's possible that we are desensitized to scents? I know when I got my first FO's, I would smell OTB and think "OMG this is wonderful". The othe rnight after making a round of lotion and soaps in Love Spell, I could barely smell anything OTB. Next morning everything seemed more fragrant.

Just got my first candle tested. 6% FO RE Bird of Paradise, 464 wax, CD 18 wick. 12 ounce jar, 9 ounce wax. Burned exactly right according to what I see recommended. (FO put in at 185 degrees as suggested by manufacturer of wax). Two week cure. I thought CT and HT were decent (not omg wow). But noticed HT a lot more when I would first walk in the store. Customers definitely liked it. They definitely saw the similarity to the national brand (that I used to sell in my retail stores). Tested 2 candles. After testing the 2nd one half way, put out 4 candles for sale, which sold quickly. Could 6% FO be optimal? I've read a higher FO% doesn't necessarily yield a higher HT? This customer that makes candles came in and said "just make a 12% one, don't bother with the 6%. But they said it smelled good and asked for FO, which I gave them. I think they make candles more for fun than to sell. Wondering if I should even try a higher %?

Ok .... I've watched all of those videos. Very very new to candle making. Just sold my first candles this week. (made the normal way of adding FO at 185 degrees) I've tried adding the FO at 110 degrees. I won't come here and refute but I do "question the advice".

LOVE the label! The different colors for fragrances makes your page really stand out imo. The Etsy tag says 16 ounce and you have 14 net weight oz on candle. Is 16 ounce reflective of the container? I looked and it seems some people list on Etsy by size of container. I don't sell on Etsy so I have no idea of how it should be done. Website not active yet? I like the name bitterlion and it's nice you got the .com for it. But looks great!

I cook mine at 225 for 12 to 15 minutes. I use plasticpellets4fun beads too. Don't get too many spikes but no idea if temperature is the reason why.

In Mississippi, you just need a sales tax license. They will let you file quarterly. Note that if you get the sales tax license, you will have to file quarterly even if you don't sell (you can file online and it only takes about 15 minutes to do it). However, if you are only going to do shows, you pay the sales tax at the event. There are no business licenses that I know of in Mississippi. I've had several businesses here, including one at North Park Mall in Ridgeland and was never required to get one. For your income taxes, if you are going to file, you need an EIN. To get credit card processing, I think you need the EIN ... Possibly you might get by with your SS#. But best business set up would be to just use your SS# and get an EIN. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online Keep in mind every credit card sale you make will be on a 1099. The sales tax and EIN are free to get. As for insurance, I use a business policy that covers my business building, contents, etc. plus a $1M liability that will also cover me at shows. Since you are in Mississippi, you can endorse (insurance term) a part time business on your home owner's policy using HO 71. Ask the agent that carries your homeowner's about that. You might want to add some coverage for the nice shop you just built? Just ask your agent about that. My policy is through Alfa but I asked and they should all be similar. This looks pretty good. https://www.actinsurance.com/compare-policies?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrdjnBRDXARIsAEcE5YkEfHyxJRvEmgMW-pbAcyp9QIklBpzuaweMwaxhywf7Y6hHImAgjhwaAhoxEALw_wcB The show only policy might be a decent alternative for some ppl. Note that some shows will make you carry liability. The usually require $1M. If you don't have it, they will tack it on.

Hello I'm new here as well. Lots of good information here. Roll Tide.

Trying to absorb everything I can about FO suppliers. But something like this from Bulk Apothecary's website, makes me question. "Many people ask us what makes our oils so much different from the competition. The little known secret is that many large suppliers of fragrances dilute their oils with cheaper carriers to increase their profit margin." What I hear the most from potential customers is they want a "strong" scent. Biggest complaint is a candle that "didn't smell". Still trying to figure all of this out.

Could you say skin safe fragrances are not usually as strong as candle only fragrances? I noticed in one of the manufacturer's listings, they will have different versions for candles only.

Yes thanks! After reading the following post, my greatest concern has been finding suppliers that do NOT. I'm not sure I can tell when using the products, not enough experience yet. kandlekrazy Supa Star Registered Users Plus 1,436 4,439 posts LocationCentral Coast, CA Report post Posted May 17 Some of suppliers we buy from do cut the oils and some do not.

Tequila Sunrise is what it reminds me of. Beautiful soap.

I only have 1 presto pot and read this before using it. The other night I made candles with 3 different fragrances, using it as a double boiler. Since I only have 1 presto it was convenient to just use 3 different pouring pitchers. I haven't tried using that spout yet but at this stage of the game I would rather pour.