Jcandleattic

Like Alpha & Omega and also Man of Peace.

For me the spoon swirl works in any thickness of trace. I've had soaps almost solid and still was able to swirl. Here is a video of my soap (it is VERY LONG so) if you skip to the 12:20 mark (otherwise it's just a lot of me blabbering away - especially the very beginning) you can see how thick the soap is, and also how I do my spoon swirl. It was for the soap attached. http://youtu.be/tA98t31t9FM?list=UUH4uBDVo5nw4ualEznOEcsA

You can keep the tab in for pillars, especially if you are just testing. When pouring just use wick pins for the wick hole, and wicking is a snap.

I love that I live so close to Peak. Hub picked up my order on his lunch and dropped it at home. 5 cases of jars, 5 FO's plus the sample they gave (Cookie Cottage - smells like a sugar cookie baked with gingerbread and vanilla - very "heavy" smelling if that makes sense) Wicking Mold sealer and Wick Stickers. I have never used wick stickers before, I always use an industrial silicone my hub gets from his work, so thought I'd try these out just as a simple time saver and the simplicity of it and see if I like them better than the silicone. We'll see... Anyway, all of the other orders are being shipped in. BOO

they look good!!

Oh, no worries. I don't mind at all. I don't really mention my real name very often. It's not a secret, it's just IDK not out there much. Well, yeah, I have a space conundrum also. My hub bought me a cabinet back in early April, but we've yet to install it in the basement. I *think* it's happening this weekend, but I'm not sure. It's a floor to ceiling with several shelves in it, but only about 3 ft wide. There is a perfect corner in the basement for it to go, we just need to clear out that corner to put it in there. It will hold all of my FO's once it's in, and then where my FO's are now, will go my colorants. A lot of shifting will be happening... It's a never-ending battle. LOL

Me? (ps - it's Janel, but close enough!) Yes, the Golden Embargo (thought it was just Embargo) is described like this on their site - Golden Embargo: "A light amber fragrance with undertones of musk and sandalwood. Alluring and seductive. This is definitely a soft amber that gently whispers to your soul" To me it's very exotic. IDK - I don't stray too far from fruity, sweet, typical scents though so that might be why I feel that way. LOL I am always trying to justify getting supplies to myself and my other half. Most of the time my justification is "because I want it!" LOL That doesn't always fly when trying to budget though... LOL

By November they should have even more great products. They add something new just about every week. They are still real small, and new, but are growing. I really can't say enough good things about them. Of course I will review (as best I can anyway! )

Only one of these expenses was medical, and we were promised that we wouldn't have to pay a dime of it, that the "Victim's Advocate Compensation Fund" would handle it. Umm, yeah, they will handle it if I could devote 8-10 hours a day for 5-6 days in a row to it. Which I cannot, so... They make it almost impossible to get compensated. (it's a long story - but the gist of it is, a kid at my son's school went berzerk and my son got hurt) The rest has just been crap around us falling apart - car, car engine, car repairs, stove/oven blowing up (literally), water heater going out, AC unit repair, sprinkler system leak/head repair, carpet, under sink pipes burst, etc, etc., LOL It seemed to never end and luckily (I guess) only 1 thing a week would go out - it didn't all go out all at the same time. Just piece by piece by piece. LOL After one of the second to last things that happened even my son was like "Are we just cursed this year or what??" LOL Certainly seems that way! ANYWAY I digress - YES I will totally give reviews. All of NG's scents were restocks, as were Peaks. Aztec, I got some of their new scents that are on sale, and a few tart warmers for Christmas presents. I gave some last year for Christmas and they were a huge hit but not everyone got one, and the ones that didn't were disappointed so they will get one this year. I could have probably gotten them cheaper somewhere else, but I like their's okay, and they aren't THAT expensive, especially not for gifts. The scents were - Volcano (Cabri Blue type) Cider Lane (BBW type) Rosemary Mint (Aveda Type) Mad Oils, the only new scent from them I got was - Snow Witch along with some restock's. I got 8 full lb bottles, 2 4oz EO bottles, a ton of mica's and some clays, and total shipping for all of that was $8. (Their FO and EO come in the amber glass bottles too) I think their shipping is very decently priced. Candle Science and the others were all the other type equipment supplies I needed. I will let you know how they all are OOB once they arrive in a few weeks.

I was finally able to put in some supply orders today. This is the first payday we have had that we have not had to shell out anywhere from $500-$1k+ in emergency costs since mid-April. I have been having such a Murphy's Law year, it would almost be comical if it didn't hurt the wallet so hard!! :-/ I totaled it up and we have shelled out almost $17k in emergency non-budgeted costs in little over 4 months. That does not include our bills to keep our household going and utilities etc., not getting shut off. I have no idea why I am telling you all this, I'm not (seriously NOT) asking for pity or anything of the sort, because luckily, both my hub and I have decent day jobs and were actually able to pay all of that. I guess I just wanted to iterate what a crappy expensive year it's been. LOL Anyway, I was able to order from Mad Oils, Candle Science, Peak, Natures Garden, Aztec, and a few others. Oh how it feels good to spend money on things I want/need other than emergencies!! I got a lot of necessities, like wicks, jars, dyes/colorants, molds(haha yeah, like molds are a necessity!), additives. I'm pretty set on most of that now. I also got a lot of fragrance oils as well. Now I just have to play the waiting game. ... And of course since it's a long weekend, I don't even expect any of these orders to be processed until Tuesday, so will not be getting any of them until later that week or early the next. Oh well... *sigh*

Peak used to carry my wax so I could drive the 8 miles (sorry for those driving over 100!) away and pick it up. They have since stopped carrying my wax, but I'm going to try to negotiate them getting it from IGI for me and reselling it to me in large quantities. Like 10+ cases at a time if not a pallet. We'll see. Not sure if I'll EVER need that much wax. LOL

Thanks again everyone. I didn't win the contest, but that's okay. I still love these bars. Just as pretty as ever, and still smell nice. My first batch has faded just a touch, but only a tough. However, as much as I love the scent, I don't' think I'll be replacing this scent once I run out of it. Of course Aztec might discontinue it also. Seems they discontinue/rotate scents as much as us retailers do. I try not to get too hooked on anything they carry because of that trend...

Or call it Night before Christmas? I like these suggestions, and all of your candles amanda have very clever names/themes.

I know a lot of people who use Shea in their shave soaps because of the stearic value it brings, but alas, I have never made one, so that's as much of my advice and knowledge on the subject as I can give. Good luck! Hope you find a suitable replacement! BTW - I've never even heard of cupuacu butter, so obvs no experience with that either...

I was just going to say the only ones I know of are like a petroleum jelly type oil or Shea comes close but IMO not close enough... I don't use lanolin. In my tests it always left me with a sticky/tacky feel so I dumped it. Plus we used to raise sheep and the natural lanolin off of their wooley coats was just very very gross feeling. I hated it, and it was really hard to wash off.

Before I started using Square I lost some business due to not accepting CC's. Since I've started using it, I would say probably 75% (at least) of my business is CC based. People love that I'm able to accept CC's, and I've only had a few people question it's security - to which I answer as honestly as I can. It's as secure as the business Square is. After I swipe or punch in the card, I have NO ACCESS to the CC #'s at all (that I'm aware of) which is what I tell them. They seem satisfied with that answer.

Yep, that is a pretty deep melt pool (looks more line an inch than half inch to me, but that could just be the pic) - that glass will just get hotter the further down it burns. I double wick in a 16oz Apotho, but I use the 2 smallest wicks I can get away with for that jar and my wax. I just could never get a single wick to work for me, the way I wanted to see a candle burn. But every chandler's experiences vary. As other's have said, try single wicking and if you don't like the way it burns, try wicking down with the double wicks.

I believe they are in the middle of upgrades to their site and may be experiencing some glitches until it's complete. I find their new wick guide a lot more user friendly, however, that being said, I only looked at their last wick guide a couple times when searching CSN's on Candybee's suggestions. Went to the site last week and saw it had changed and IMO it was much easier to read and try to figure out what they were trying to tell me. LOL If I knew how to upload a PDF file here, I could upload the wick guide I C&P'd from their site (if you can't get to it) It just basic and the actual page goes into more specifics but this guide is a good starting reference point. Like anything else you find on a suppliers site, it's a good starting point and will help guide you, but will not replace proper testing - because I find I almost always have to adjust what I end up using against what a supplier suggests. That holds true for almost everything too, from wicks, to scent, to colorant, etc.,

I've never tempered my paraffin, and don't think there would be a benefit in it. Just an extra unnecessary step IMO. Mostly you temper the natural waxes to get a smoother look with less frosting and bumping (paraffin doesn't typically get frosting or bumping unless too many additives have been added and tempering wouldn't help that anyway) HTH

Do you single wick your 16oz jar with the CSN12? I'll be doing a wick test with the CSN's this weekend. Just curious as to a starting point is all. I typically double wick my 16oz jars in my J50 wax, so was curious. It would be nice if I didn't have to double wick the palm as well.

The first melt is still going strong in my melter. Granted I don't turn it on EVERY day, but almost, and for at least an hour. It still smells amazing 2 weeks later.

Smoke and mirrors is very strong, and so far has stayed true, no morphing or fading. This not MY type of scent, but people rave about it and my son has gone GAGA over it. He loves it. I've heard some people compare it to NG's cracklin' birch but with richer and more exotic base notes. (I've never smelled CB so can't compare) The Orange Valencia 5x fades, but it is an EO and is only 5x, but it smells good when it's there. If I could anchor it, I'd use it more, but will probably not re-use this one. Dragon's Blood I haven't soaped yet, but have put it in Palm Wax. (I have a pic and review in the gallery) I am NOT a DB fan. Have hated it from every supplier I've gotten it from, but this one is the best I have ever smelled ever hands down. It will be the only one I use. I LOVE IT. I only got a little .5oz as a sample which is why I haven't soaped it. It'll probably discolor, but as long as it maintains it's scent, I won't care. Sooo good!! Them Apples - a very nice juicy apple scent. This one also doesn't morph or fade. Embargo is a nice exotic scent. I am terrible at descriptions but I LOVE this scent. Love it. This one is still curing but so far it's great, and it soaped like a dream. No acceleration and so far no discoloring, but I did use a vanilla stabilizer. Those are the only ones I've used in product, but I also have Hedonic Tonic - very lemoney - almost like a pine-sol with no pine scent but very "household cleaner" smell to my nose. Not sure I like it, but it seems to get rave reviews also. If it morphs (in a good way) in CP I may consider keeping it, but if it remains this once cured, nope, will not reuse. And I also have Powder Puff (I think that's the name) and it's like a "grown up baby powder" if that makes any sense. It's a sophisticated baby powder. LOL (See, I told you I am no good with descriptions! HA) I really like this one, but it will be a light scent so I am not expecting it to blow me away, but if it remains this subtle nice scent I know I will love it. I have more but cannot think of them off the top of my head. (I'm at work) Their mica's are very nice and I haven't had any morph on me however the Grape Nehi, you do have to use quite a bit to get a decent purple, so that one I wouldn't recommend, and the lemon cupcake morphs to orange in wet soap, but once saponification occurs it is the most beautiful yellow I've ever used. LOVE it. I love all the different shades/types of blue they have also. The peacock is a very very pretty color. LOVE IT... They sent me some Cornflower petals also. I've never used botanical's in soap, but these are so pretty, I may just end up having to use them. I think that's about it. Oh and I've used their TD as well. Nothing special or different about it than any other I've tried, but it's definitely not a bad one and it is water soluble. HTH I would say that anyone who is on the fence about this vendor, give them a try. It can't hurt, and you will get a goodie bag with random samples, and so far their shipping is very good. I'm in CO, they are in FL and I've never paid more that $7 for shipping and my last order was a pretty decent size with a lot of 4oz glass bottles. Oh and the packaging is top notch as well. Everything was wrapped so well, there was no way anything would get broken. The first order I placed, the mica lids were a bit loose, and I mentioned this to them, and my subsequent orders the have been very secure. I could go on and on, and I know I may sound like a brown-noser (LOL) but I don't care. I like them and their products that much.

Oh sorry. Stainless steel. Nothing fancy - I just have some aluminum flatware that I use when camping, so wanted to let y'all know that I use ones that won't react with the soap batter. Meant to add, that I have a video of me making soap that shows how I do my spoon swirl I think. If I find it, I'll post it. Trust me, if I can do it, ANYBODY can do it and get great swirls. It's the technique I used to make my second Forever Red soap that is posted here in the gallery. Also my Love Spell soap that I posted sometime in January was made using the spoon swirl. I get pretty swirls and pretty consistent swirls using the spoon swirl. It's my favorite swirl for my log molds.

I've seen those. An Etsy seller has them and the dividers. Unless they sold the design? Let me try to find her - LMAO nevermind, I just saw that Nuture's gets them from her. Great soap shop.

That sounds good! Maybe some orange in there? IDK I have no other advice for you. The one and only time I did an EO citrus blend it ended up smelling like Fruit Loops. I mean seriously just like it would if you opened a box of the cereal and stuck your nose in. LOL Not sure that would go over well for a men's shave soap. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.