stacien

Okay not to start up another fire. But I was looking at custom candle sites because I was thinking of going that route. But I stumbled across this site. Very professional looking ,but I think you will see what I was seeing. www.madisonavenuecandles.com/

I use Peaks Pink Sugar and it turns my bases pink too! That is sort of Ironic. I guess it is better than brown though.

I bought the almond scented body butter from Basin. It smells so good the only problem is you can tell there is a alcohol base because if you had just shaved and rub it on YOOOWWW! Missy, its a good thing you walked on by. Their soaps are so expensive. I don't see why a stick blend wouldn't work. If we could use them to trace soap. Why not for lotions and butters. I have no problem using the KA its all food grade ingredients your using. Its washes off with soap and water. I bake all of the time and mine doesn't splatter. Just put you paddles and wisk in the dishwasher or order another set just for B&B. I copied down Kimberley's lastnight. Her very first recipe in the Archives, it looks so simple I just have to order Mango and Hempseed butter. I remember seeing Bunny's a while back I forgot all about it.

I agree. I personally I love a lot of Peaks FO's but there are so many different varieities. I am a big fan of BCN,BCS,MC, JS and some of NG because they can tell you before you buy it if it throws well in soy. I received a sample of Strawberry FO from Peaks and tossed it because it had such a chemical smell OOB and in a candle. My husband and kids hated it. I can honestly say a lot of their fruit smells didn't do it for me. Their Black Raspberry Vanilla is great though and several others.

No, I actually have pure Shea. I have cocoa butter too. I want to make the Kimberly's. Its just a matter of obtaining all of the ingredients. I went to Walt Disney World just recently. They have a little shop their called Basin in the Disney Marketplace located in Downtown Disney. I bought a tub of body butter and ended up loving it. It was with Shea and several other ingredients. But the nice thing about it is it didn't stay greasy at all. My skin absorbed it all. They have a website called Basin.com. They sell some CP soaps, a lot of decorated glycerin, bath bombs and salts. But they are making a killing there. I know a lot of women who like that kind of stuff that don't want to have to worry about chemicals and allergic reactions to them. I have heard good things about Kimberleys but I need that encouragement to try it out. I am a quick learner I guess its the nerve I am lacking. Well, If anyone can at least give me suppliers that give good prices for the ingredients. Like I said, I have Organic Shea and cocoa butter which I am a firm believer in both. And I have a Kitchen Aid Pro series needing to spread its wings.

I would love to know what is the best shea body butter base. Eventually I would love to make my own. But I want to take baby steps first on that matter. I love body butters and I know a lot of people who would love them as well. Any suggestions which suppliers are the best?

I second this. I made over 100 6oz soy candle tin wedding favors. They wanted Vanilla scented. So I tried almost every Vanilla but MC. Yet I had a sample. It is so good it pales Yank** and Beanpods. I am not a big Vanilla candle lover because my husband burned to many of them. But Extreme Vanilla is an awesome Vanilla and everyone at the wedding couldn't get their noses out of the containers.

Swan Creek sells their candles in Joann fabrics. I found them in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin also. Good scent throw but sloppy presentation.

Peaks candle supply sells 415. They are located in Colorado. Its at least a lot closer than the soycandle.com.

I think its a lot of irresponsible consumers leaving their candles unattended causing a fire then crying to the government because they knew how stupid they were and needed someone to blame other than themselves. All they have to be is literate and read the warning labels on the bottom. It clearly should state "Never leave a burning candle unattended". "Extinquish the candle when 1/4 inch of wax remains".

Then they go through what I do.

I am having the hardest time testing candles right now. My house is big with lots of hard wood flooring so that mean lots of drafts. I cannot get my house to reach over 69 degrees no matter how high I turn up the heat because of the drafts. We own a HVAC business so this house was just poor placement of ductwork. Well, anyway when I test candles the outside of the candle runs so cool that it tunnels. I burn the same candle in 72 degrees or higher and it burns wonderful. This is truly the joy of soy. This is a major variable with soy wax. I cannot change the wicking for fear if I burn it in warmer temps it will burn to hot. I have at least three more months of this weather to deal with. Maybe now is the time to start B&B stuff.

Those are so purty! What wax is that Geek? Which is your favorite wick setter in the picture? I am looking for a change in wick holders.

Not with customers, but I would offer it to the boyfriends mom. I do that with my sisters. As long as they pay for the wax I will do it. They are technically my testers so they can reuse the jars. You can usually tell when the integrity of a jar is starting to change. It feels thinner between your fingers. Think of it this way. A lot of these jars are the same structure as a glass drinking glass. And we dishwash those over and over. A dishwasher reaches higher temps than candle wax so I wouldn't worry about it. Just make it clear that after a while they wear down so it will be time to replace it.

A lot of their Yankee types are real nice. Candy Cane Buttercream Romance Home Sweet Home Chocolate chip cookie Moonlight Path Endless Love Ocean MardiGras I could go on. The best thing is to try out sample sizes and see how you like their throw. I think MacApple and Toasted Marshmallow were the only ones that didn't throw well in soy.

The candle mold sealer is the same substance as the tacky wax. I haven't had any problems so far with it.

I tried that with pillar molds and it melted the clay all over.

I need to use the frosted clear labels for my frosted jars. The only problem is when water hits them it totally smears everything off, including the frosting. Anybody have any suggestions that will keep this from happening?

I just used her Hot cocoa and wow! that stuff threw all over my house.

I just can't bring myself to try it. We all work so hard to give the illusion of the real thing by scents. We are our own worse critics and yet if we were to take one of our candles and hold it up to a commercialized one. We don't really realize how good ours are? People will buy the Glades and the Yankee's because its in front of them. Its all name recognition. I'm an explorer. I like to see whats out there besides whats on the grocery store shelf or in the mall. There ploy is also to burn them faster so you keep coming back for more. Cha-ching$$$ in their eyes!

My goodness! Was everyone having a bad weekend? Don't we all know better than to bring this debate up? Because this is what we end up with 21 pages of disagreement. We all need to put this topic right up there with religion, politics, roe vs wade, circumcision, breastfeeding? Sorry, I had to throw that in there. Its seems to be another hot topic. We all enjoy making candles. That is what matters most. It's not worth the energy to sit and bash over advertisement or which wax is better. Just live and learn and grow from it. I could pull up several large candle makers that bash one or the other and they don't care about virtuous advertisement. Its all about the $$$$$$. Overcome it by making sure you are honest and stand behind your products. Thats all we can do.

Sad enough there is always some ignorant person out there that sees the word "butter" or "tarts" and thinks its edible. A lot of huge manufacturer's put "Not for consumption" for liability reasons. It takes that one person to taste test and go into analphalaxis and then you have a law suit because they were a moron. I do think its out right rude for other crafter's to assume that they get a discount. People always want something for nothing.

Just scents makes a Honeysuckle Lilac that is real pleasant.

Has anyone been noticing lately how glade has been marketing candles a lot more? Sometimes that puts a threat on us because that is name recognition for people that aren't that familiar with candles and want to buy some.

Millcreek has a really nice pillar vege wax. I use it. It is so easy to pour and it throws pretty well. It has a very smooth texture and no frosting what so ever. They won't tell you what is made of but they swear its all botanical.