NattyCat

have a look on pet store websites. I got a large plastic scoop that was being sold for scooping dry dog biscuits, but it works perfectly for bath salts, one whole scoop fills the bag in one go.

Aztec do a Tommy Girl which is nice.

When I first started out with candles, I made pure paraffin, but very quickly switched to soy, just because it's easier to clean up. As we all know, some FO's throw in soy and some don't, so you gotta test test test. The question I have is whether ALL FO's throw in paraffin or not? For example, I'm testing a J LO Glow at the moment in soy, and no matter what wick, jar size, tin size, dye or whatever I use, it just doesn't throw from this particular supplier. Would it throw in paraffin? I guess what I'd like to know is whether you're pretty much guaranteed a good, strong throw in every candle you make with straight paraffin, no matter what the FO (as long as you use the right wick and FO%) or do you still get non-throwers, and therefore need to test just as much as you would with soy? Nat

thanks all. I went for Scentifique and designed my new logo today. All I have to do now is peel off every single label from my candles, tarts, soaps, bath salts, simmering granules etc etc etc and replace with the new one....I may be some time!!

I bought some new chewing gum today, it was called Black Mint - I had no clue what it was but when I gave it a chew, it smelt simply divine and I could taste peppermint and licorice. Even my DH, sitting in the passenger seat said he could smell it and that it was lovely. So, am gonna attempt to create a new FO called Black Mint, which will be a peppermint/Licorice mix. However, i've not see a licorice FO on my travels - has anyone else? Am in the UK, so the supplier would need to be an international shipper. Thanks, Nat

last one... sensorality

having read some of the posts and arguments about idea stealing and stuff, I didn't want a whole thread about choosing my name, and then someone thinks "ooh that's nice" and then goes and registers it out from beneath my nose, that's why I registered all of them first, before I did the list. Its a small price to pay really to get the name you want or may want in the future! On another note, I just registered a fifth one, my favorite so far: Aromia I like that one....when people read it they know it's got something to do with things that smell!

just registered the following...now I need to choose! aromius aromattica aromanta scentifique I'm leaning towards scentifique myself...but hubby and dad like aromius, mum likes aromattica, sister likes aromanta. You can tell, I have a family that never agrees. What do you think? I like the scents of arcadia and bedelia blue, but the only thing the family did agree on was that it should be one word that had something to do with fragrance/scent/aroma.!!

oscommerce, is basically a big 'ol bi**ch!! IF you want it to look just the standard way it comes, then you'll be ok, but as soon as you start wanting to center your logo, change the layout, modify the way the cart works - unless you are a PHP coder, you may as well forget it unless you have months and months of spare time and can trawl through the help forums. I was using oscommerce, and I bought and paid for a template - then the template caused me problems because it didn't fit right...so I wanted to install "contributions" to help with my cart, but you can't install contributions easily on an oscommerce site that has a BTS template - unless you want to pay $300 for someone else to install it. I have hit a major, fundamental block on my website now, so I think, after $500 spent on mods, templates and help from consultants, I've got to scrap it for a while and revert back to my old site while I spend every spare minute I can trying to mould oscommerce to my requirements.

I love the name I'm using for my business, but I think I need to change it. I want to own the .com AND the .co.uk but the .com is already owned by a company selling perfume. the .org is owned but yet another company selling perfume, as well as a few candles. I own the .co.uk version but I don't think it's enough, as searches on yahoo won't return my one first. please note, i'm deliberately not stating the name I use now so that it doesn't influence your ideas. I need a new name for my business. I do not in any way want a prim, country, or rustic type name as I am very much a minimalist contemporary fan and that's how my website is laid out and also how my labels are style. Preferably, I'd like one word - perhaps two, but not the word "candle" as I have candles, soap, bath and body products in my range. My slogan is "hand-crafted products for you and your home" I love words like arcadia (which means heaven) elysian, scent, bliss etc and am also a fan of funky names like "purple turtle" and "blue kangaroo" - but these are all gone. Pretty much every thing I come up with is already taken...so I would really appreciate a brain-storming session on a new business name and website name. Thanks oodles!!! Nat

am using ecosoya pb and cb-135 in tins and tarts - not made pillars with it yet. I found it had no scent throw at all cold, and non-existant hot throw. I use 1.5oz per pound usually.

Nope, it can't be plugged right into the socket. Firstly - you have 2 pin plugs and we have 3. We have 240 voltage also so a standard convertor doesnt work. I thought the same as you...until my original presto pot stopped working and when I found it why is was because I completely frazzled the heating element - which is NOT fixable, and even if it was, Presto don't sell or service the UK. So i had to get a brand new one, with a huge transformer. Works great, cost a lot though. nope - no walmart. I saw some slow cookers but for me, the temp wasn't controllable enough but for for the hobby candlemaker i'm sure it would be fine. I need to keep my wax at exact temperatures for longer periods of time so the presto pot is a godsend to me. Nat

yep - you can get cheaper ones but you need one with an absolute minimum step-down outage of 1300 watts but I chose the 1500 just in case. If you want to run TWO presto's in the uk, you need an even bigger one at 3000 watts with two plug outputs and that's about £250.

cool - will have to see if they ship international. Thanks peeps!

I've never made a rustic before....how'd you do that??? Nat

on a different note, i'm glad to see you make just as much mess as I do of my work surfaces. Thank god I'm not alone and I can tell DH that you're SUPPOSED to make a mess...that's what candle-makers do.

yup - i've got both F and M from SOS...is RE Rustic escentuals?

I got some FO from Save on Scents and bought the ultra concentrate but a) it smells weak OOB, it smells even weaker in wax and c) it doesn't really smell like issy miyake - it's sort of similar, but not very true. Does anyone have any experience of a good Issy Miyake dupe? I've got people screaming for the candles but I won't sell any that I don't feel are up to scratch. Thanks, Nat

wick stickums from bittercreek are brilliant in tins and jars. Glue dots are just rubbish. They float every time and they should be removed from sale!

Hi Sabrina, I also have pyramids and cones and the sheet cello works fine too. I don't do balls, but if I did, I guess I would use shrink-wrap, that way the candle wouldn't look like it even had any packaging. If you are a bit wary of shrink wrap, then a cello bag would work too. I just don't like having tons of bunched up plastic covering the surface of the candle, so I would personally use shrink wrap for balls. Nat

If you are going to use cellophane to wrap your pillar candles, then cellophane on a roll and not cello bags gives the neatest and prettiest result. You simply roll your candle in it, tape the sides, cut the base so it fols over easy and then use tape to stick the base down, and then wrap ribbon around the top, like the end of a christmas cracker. That's how I wrap my pillars - it keeps the scent in and also displays them nicely. Here's a photo:

I'm in the UK too and I have my own presto pot, bought on ebay and shipped over here. Be warned - not only do you pay for the presto pot, your shipping will be around $65 dollars (£35) and then you need to get yourself a massive transformer capable of stepping down 1500 watts. This transformer will cost you £120 (for US folks reading this, that's $188). All in all, you're looking at about £180 to get a presto pot into the UK and in working order ($340) I made the mistake of thinking I could just use a plug voltage convertor, and I blew up my first presto pot - so now I'm onto my second. You MUST have a transformer, they are massive and weigh about 35kg - I have mine permanently sat on my kitchen counter as it's too heavy to move all the time. It's expensive - and I wouldn't say it was worth it if you are just making candles as a hobby - the double boiling method works fine, and if you use Soy Wax, then the wax cleans up very easily - paraffin is much harder to clean up and your MIL won't like the mess it makes, not matter how much you try to avoid wax splashes! I took a look in Argos etc to see if I could find an alternative, and perhaps a rice cooker or slow cooker would work - as long as they're non-stick and temperature controlled. Hope this helps, Nat

Has anyone tried this type of solid fragrance in soy before? I've been offered some at a good price but I've no idea if it'll work in soy. Anyone had the experience? Nat

It would be very hard to steal things from the display because, if you stood right in front of it, that's where the cash register is - the shop staff are staring my products in the face alllllll day, so I feel very safe! The Candle Tins, Votives, Soap Slices and Aromatherapy creams/gels are going the fastest. Particularly designer type candle fragrances, and blueberry muffin or chocolate soap. Nat

OK. I don't have any 20's to hand, and I have to order them from the USA so it will be 10 days before they arrive. I've got some RDD55 though...what do you think on that wick...I've never used it before.