BenderSF

I like Lonestar quite a bit.  Hits and misses, as with any supplier, but they do have some of my favorites.  Pumpkin Seeds & Oud is in my top 10, but I also like these:

Autumn Pear
Black Cypress & Cassis
Blueberry Cobbler
Burberry Brit
Butternut Pumpkin
Cannabis & Exotic Hemp
Cashmere
Coconut Bourbon
Cornucopia
Dickens Christmas
Drunken Punkin
Grey Dawn
Icicles
Mahogany Woods
Pineapple Cilantro
Pumpkin Pickin
Sugared Cronut
Tuscan Herb
Vanilla Cardamom
Welcome Home
Winter Hideaway

I haven't tried it, but several people in this forum have said that their Patchouli is excellent.

......and I see they just introduced 5 new oils, their "Outlaw Collection."  Guess I'll be placing another order soon....  

Naturally, right after I order a bunch from Aztec, there's a big sale.   

$1 for one ounce bottles during July, and $1.50 off other sizes.

https://email.candlemaking.com/4TCL-HPO5-0F7709DE5A9394AB2B94RBD04C8366E44398DD/cr.aspx

Just FYI, in case you can't get it working, I find Pure's Sensual Vanilla to be very similar to Just Scent's Wild Madagascar Vanilla and Aspen Caramel Woods.  (I haven't purchased any of those since 2019-2020, so any of them may have changed by now.)

Thanks for the heads-up!  I don't order from them often so I had forgotten that they have free shipping for orders over $25.  (Well...."free".  They have a $5.95 handling fee.  Still, not bad, especially since I only need two oils right now.)

Sorry I can't help, but I can sympathize.  That's so frustrating!

I wonder if something just got mis-labeled at the warehouse.  I haven't dealt with their customer service since they were purchased by WSP.  It's great that they sent replacements, but since those were the same, I hope they'll be more inclined to investigate now.  Or at least give an explanation.

Let us know if you find the original.  The description sounds interesting.  I'd probably pick some up in my next order if they get it sorted out.

3 hours ago, Jcake90 said:

Do you remember if Rustics campfire marshmallow entailed all the notes they describe? Is there a nice hint of cocoa?

Personally, I don't pick up any cocoa, but I'm terrible at picking out individual notes, so I'm not the best person to answer that.    But I can say that it's an accurate dupe of B&BW's Marshmallow Fireside, if that helps.

Yup, I agree with Gail and Belinda, Rustic's Toasted Marshmallow is excellent, and I don't get a toasted note either, just a very rich vanilla/marshmallow.

Aztec's Toasted Marshmallow is along the same line.  Like Rustic, I don't get a "toasted" note.  It's less rich than Rustic though, so to my nose it smells more like an actual marshmallow, but I wouldn't call it "super sweet and gooey".

The only other marshmallows I've tried are Marshmallow Fluff and Toasted Marshmallows, both from Indiana Candle Supplies.  Jury is still out on whether or not I like Toasted Marshmallows, but it doesn't smell anything like marshmallow to me.  Marshmallow Fluff is fine but smells like a Vanilla Bean Noel dupe to me.

For B&BW Marshmallow Fireside dupes, I've tried Aztec and Rustic (which they call Campfire Marshmallow).  Both are good dupes, but from this forum I think a bunch of places have good versions.

9 hours ago, Enotionaldebt said:

I just can’t believe how much of a struggle it is!

Heh, yeah, if it makes you feel any better, we've all been there.  (I feel like I'm still there most of the time.  😆)

From your previous post it sounds like you would prefer to be using soy anyway but your tester came out too brittle.  That's probably a solvable problem, too.  Might just have been the wrong type of soy for a mold, or (especially if you got it on Amazon) just not great wax.  Post some more info about your experience with soy, if that's really the route you'd prefer to go.

8 minutes ago, SRez said:

I was wondering at what point does the oil seep into the plastic or plastic break down into the oil.

Yeah, I tried to find a definitive answer to that question but couldn't.  I suspect that the answer is "immediately" regardless of the type of plastic, but really what we care about is "how long before it actually makes a measurable difference?"  Darn, now that I think of it, I probably did have two bottles of the same oil, around the same age, one in HDPE and one in PET.  I wish I had thought to compare them to see if I could notice any difference before I rebottled. ☹️

Very cool mold, BTW!

If you've already tried TallTayl's and NightLight's advice and haven't seen an improvement, is there anything you can take out of the equation to try to isolate the problem?  Just some general things that come to mind:

• I think you said in your other post that you're not using fragrance yet, right?
• I assume you're not adding anything to wax (dyes, additives, etc?)
• Have you used that same mold with a different wax just to see if you get similar results?
• Is the mold homemade?  I know ZERO about molds, but I wonder if it could be the material that the mold is made from?
• Do you have a different mold you can try with the same wax using the same technique (same temps, etc.)?
• Have you used that same wax before?  (Specifically that same batch, since every batch can be different.)

Good luck, and keep us posted.  I don't use beeswax OR molds but it's a really interesting problem.

editing post to add this:
Another thing that might be interesting would be to turn one half of the mold on its side and make half a candle like that.  It should cool a lot faster that way, and I'd be curious if the faster cooling has any effect on the pockmarks.  (I assume TallTayl's advice to pour at a lower temp would also affect the cooling speed.)

Yeah, I just finished a rebottling project for my aging FO stash.  I moved anything that was in HDPE bottles, which tend to collapse (and stink) into PET bottles.  I started with glass but I have too many oils and glass gets really heavy really quickly, so I went with PET for most of them.

My oldest oils had been sitting in HDPE bottles for 3.5 years.  I assume they must have lost some strength during that time.  I put a couple in wax recently and it wasn't really noticeable but I feel better knowing they're in PET bottles now.  And my closet stinks slightly less now.  😆

edit: I'm rewriting my post because I see that several people already identified this as the Fragrance Finder above.  Oops.  😆

You can still see an archived page of the Fragrance Finder on archive.org.  Here's what it looked like on 4/25/2011:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110425212002/http://www.fragranceoilfinder.com/catalog/index.php

Interestingly, as late as 2021, it was redirecting to Rustic Escentuals.  Was it owned by Rustic??

Yeah, I agree about Studio.  I placed my first order with them last year.  For some reason I wasn't expecting much, maybe because I don't see them mentioned here very often, but I was very happy with them.  I really like Cocoa Butter Cashmere, Iced Vanilla Woods, Mahogany Apple and Radiant Red Maple, and especially Fall Festival.

Which reminds me, I need to stock up on those. 🙂

11 hours ago, tmach said:

They also said I should “try to add a little paraffin” after I told them I was using 100% paraffin.

Sorry I can't help with your original question, but I just had to say, that quote is hysterical!  Great suggestion, WWC!  😆  

Just got an email about Aztec's 40th anniversary sale coming up on Wednesday:

Quote

March 2 at Noon EST - 5th EST Only

40% Off FOUR Fragrance Oil

10% Off All Other Fragrance Oils

464 Cases - 40 Cents above cost ($78.40/cs)

5% Off Everything Else

Here's a link to the email: https://email.candlemaking.com/4TCL-GPTX-0F7709DE5A9394AB2B94RBD04C8366E44398DD/cr.aspx

I think I already voted but I think I voted wrong.  😆  I would need Indiana Candle Supplies to be on the list.  (And to think, when I started making candles I didn't even think I liked bakery or food scents.  A lot has changed since then...)

Heads-up, Aztec just sent out this email about upcoming fragrance reformulations ("...we have around 100 fragrances that will be impacted in their formulation slightly...") and bottling size changes ("...tomorrow we will only be offering 1oz and 1lb sizes with discounts on larger volumes...")

Full email: https://email.candlemaking.com/4TCL-GMIA-0F7709DE5A9394AB2B94RBD04C8366E44398DD/cr.aspx 

On a happier note, they introduced four new fragrances earlier this week.

The bottling size changes are rough for me, as a hobbyist only making candles for myself.  For me, "stocking up" means 4oz or 8oz, but I never need a full pound or more.  But I understand how it makes it easier for them to streamline their operations.  And hey, at least they didn't announce that they were being sold to WSP!  😆

As soon as I see the first tips of green poking out of the ground, I start burning WSP's Blooming Tulips.  No desire to burn it at any other time of the year, but it's perfect for spring.

(Also yeah, Aztec's Cantaloupe & Lily is excellent.  I'm 90% sure I bought that after reading you talking about it in another post, so thank you!  🙂 )

1 hour ago, GailC said:

Oh no! I see more names on your posts I haven't ordered from yet.

Well hop to it!  😆

(Unless it's The Candlemaker's Store....I had really bad luck with all of those...)

I've ordered from 23...way more than just a hobbyist like me should. 😆

American Candle Supplies
Aztec
Bitter Creek
BrambleBerry

Candle Cocoon
CandleScience
Candlewic
Community Candles
Flaming Candle
Fragrance Buddy
Indiana Candle Supplies
Just Scent
Keystone
Lone Star
Nature's Garden
Pure
Rustic Escentuals
Save on Scents
Studio Fragrance
The Candlemaker's Store
Wholesale Supplies Plus

The good news is I'm slowing down.  (I think...)  (I hope....)

Yeah, ICS has some great scents.  I've tried about 40.  These are my favorites: 
Amish Cinnamon Bread - very close to Zucchini Pumpkin Bread
Cafe con leche - recently renamed, used to be "Cafe C-u-b-a-n-o", but AFIK it wasn't reformulated
Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Country Cream
Flap Jacks - excellent, it's more of a pancake scent than maple syrup
Hansel & Gretel's House - I like this much better than CS's original H&G which people seemed to love.  It's currently out of stock, but they just told me this morning that it should be back soon.
Lemon Ice Box Cookies - needs a longer-than-usual cure, but smells exactly like a lemon sandwich cookie
Pizzelle - not the anise-type cookie, smells more like a waffle cone
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Strawberry Cheesecake
Sweet Bakery Dough
Vanilla Bean Noel - honestly smells kind of off OOTB but after a long cure it's one of the better VBNs I've tried
Zucchini Bread
Zucchini Pumpkin Bread - very close to Amish Cinnamon Bread

re: the rippled surface, this post from 2019 talks about similar issues with CBL-129 and 4794:

Good luck.  That's really frustrating!

@Belinda, I stumbled across a test candle of Rustic's Toasted Marshmallow yesterday that I had forgotten I even had. 😆

It's pretty similar to Aztec's Toasted Marshmallow.  Rustic's might be richer, but it's hard to say for sure because my two test candles are both different and 2-3 years old, but the scent is definitely in the same ballpark.

I tried Peak's a few months ago and thought it was almost identical to CandleScience's Fresh Coffee.  My CS sample is from March 2019.  The page doesn't say it's been reformulated since then but recent reviews sure have dropped off...

https://www.candlescience.com/fragrance/fresh-coffee-fragrance-oil

This is the post that came to mind.  Is this the one you're thinking of?

I recently ordered from Community and now I'm kicking myself for not trying the patchouli.  😆