NattyCat

hmmm i think i'll go for exotic and sensual. I like comfort zone too but wanted to get the exotic element in there. thanks peeps!!!!

Hi All Am doing an FO inventory and think I need to split my oils out into an additional category. I already have Fruits, Citrus, Floral, Bakery, Beverages, Fresh & Clean, Nature but I have some oils that just don't fit into those categories. The oils are: Asian Amber White Ginger & Amber Jack Frost (i know, vanilla & peppermint but it's not really bakery?) Sandalwood & Bee Blossom Riceflower & Shea Amber Seduction Casablanca Velvet Calm Down Oxygen Black Love Cinnamon & Sandalwood Black Canyon Amber Vanilla The above are all just smooth fragrances that are not foody, not floral, not fresh but not aromatherapy either. If you can think of a name for the category that these oils can sit in I would be grateful. The name is to encompass everything that is warm, soothing, soft, gentle and soft about these oil as there really isn't any "kick" of fruit or bakery or floral in them I was thinking "musks and spices" but these oils are not really spicy either and the definition of "musk" is debatable. I've been racking my brain for other category names and come up with nada. Help please???

I want some! Shame we don't have a Walmart over here!

lol. uh huh.

:shocked2: :shocked2:

Hi All UK Peeps! If you don't already have a courier set up and are paying the extortionate prices of Royal Mail then I have been offered a shared courier service. This means that by having several people use the same account, it gives everyone a lower price for a 24 tracked courier. If you can't get good rates because you don't send enough parcels out each month then this might work for you. If you're interested, let me know. admin: wasn't sure where to put this. technically it's an ongoing co-op, but I'm not selling anything - it's more of a business service that I wanted to share with other peeps.

Anyone know where to get exfoliating gloves wholesale? Thanks Nat

the fumes from a paraffin candle can make you blind dontcha know.

here's a couple of heat guns that don't break the bank on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAND-NEW-1500W-1500-WATT-HEAT-GUN-AIR-1-YEAR-WARRANTY_W0QQitemZ320166921574QQihZ011QQcategoryZ61574QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SILVERLINE-HOT-AIR-HEAT-GUN-2000W-4-NOZZLES_W0QQitemZ330172795688QQihZ014QQcategoryZ632QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ya know, on second thoughts I changed my mind. I do like it. I guess I was just tired having posted at 1am or something. so ignore my earlier post!

I'm probably going to be going against everyone's opinion here but there's something not quite right for me. I love love love your website, it looks so delicious and sophisticated. I realllllly like your logo too, it's lovely. But I don't feel the two work together? The site is so simple and stylish - upper class with a beautiful photo in the header, but the logo is quite clip-arty and cartoony. It also blends into the background a lot. When I look at the site, the photo of the chocs is the first thing that pops into my field of vision, not the name of your company. I know it sounds crazy..but have you tried perhaps some highlights in red or white (white for white chocolate, red for raspberry filling) or something to just make your logo "ker pow". Or perhaps simplify the logo so it wasn't so cartoony and more stylishly simple..... Perhaps nobody else feels this way but I would love to see your logo actually pop out at me rather than blend quietly into the background and perhaps with less of the "clip-art" look? sorry if I've upset you with my comments!.

I will post a final draft if people want me to? I understand about the jar warmers issue, but I didn't mention it as we don't have them here in the UK - they are not available anywhere any nobody really knows about them. I was considering importing them for sale, but they would have to be sold with a voltage convertor and this pushes the price up to over $40 a piece, which a customer is unlikely to pay.

tell him to burn them in tealight holders like most other restaurants. I've never been to a restaurant where a naked tealight is just sitting on the table? If he put them in the cheap votive glasses from Anchor then that's better than nothing?

thanks! You're right, it is different here - soy is still very very new and not many people know much about it.

Hi Annie I understand what you're saying but if you'd read my previous posts you'll know. I spend SO much time on the phone with customers ringing me asking about soy that it's driving me crazy. I had one lady saying that she wanted to buy my soy candles because she didn't want to get cancer from paraffin candles. Another lady said she loved burning 4 or 5 candles in the same small room as her fish tank and the fish kept dying - she was told that they'd be OK if it was a soy candle. Another lady told me she heard paraffin candles get so hot they exploded and another told me etc etc etc etc..... I am spending so much time on the phone or answering emails that its taking up time I don't always have. I expect the reason why a lot of soy candle makers are doing this is due to a domino effect. One stupid idiot publishes a wagon full of crap about soy and paraffin on their websites and then along comes a newbie candlemaker, reads that info and copies it onto THEIR website - then another candlemaker reads that and copies it onto THEIR website. Soon enough, you have a bunch of customers all reading the same false information about paraffin vs soy and they then come running to their usual candle supplier asking questions or seeking confirmation. There could be someone who has been happily burning paraffn candles who stumbles across a website spouting false information about it, and its that sort of person who rings up asking question after question. That's probably why many soy candlemakers put information on their websites. unfortunately most of it is inaccurate and I'm trying to address that.

good idea. It is much less debatable if we say that "we prefer" or "sometimes" or "this could happen" or "some people have found" etc. so I'll look into changing it. Thanks

Thank you. I think it's best I just remove that reference as if there is a debate over it and one cannot be proved over an other then I guess it doesn't need to be included - my customers don't really need to know that do they! Thanks for your input though, I will certainly use it when I'm proof reading and cutting this to size. Nat

yes you're probably right re inventor, that'll probably be removed. I already changed "carbon neutral" as I realise that is a rather grand statement to make. At most I think it is fair to say they have a smaller carbon footprint. Can't change original post tho. with burn time...i did say "our" candles not others. I also did mention that the amount of FO is not an indicator for quality - more doesn't necessarily mean better if you are using good oils.

yes you are right, it is not 40%. I didn't know the actual percentage at the time as I didn't have my notes to hand. I wrote the whole lot in one sitting in the space of about an hour and I know that there are things that will be removed, added, changed etc as this is a work in progress. There are facts I need to check and statements I need to confirm before i'd put this live. When I dig my books out for each style of jar and container i'll add the differences together and run an average calculation to give the correct figure. Unfortunately, I can't edit the original post so I imagine i'll get some more flack from skim readers who don't see this post. oh well ! What I was hoping for here was to see if the general direction I was going in was correct and wether I'd missed anything blatently obvious out. I've no doubt in my mind that when I actually get round to proof reading, a lot will be cut out and any claims or statements I made will be entirely accurate as far as our own candles are concerned. This page is very separate to the rest of the web. people would have to click on a link to get to it and i'm hoping it saves me many hours a week on the phone to people asking such questions. PS...mia who? Thanks Nat

to address copyright concerns, this is my text. Of course, I researched my information on all the main wax manufacturers sites and also information found across the web and reworded quotes I found along the way. We are talking about a very narrow subject matter here so information I have written is bound to be similar to that of other text - there is only so much you can say on the subject. Having been a writer for 7 years on the subject of Industrial Minerals, with 3 books published on the matter, I am fully capable of writing concise text and can assure you I did not lift this word for word from somewhere else. I did of course use information I believe to be valid that I found on Wikipedia or manufacturers sites, but this is perfectly normal as long as it is not vertabim. It's not so hard to believe that someone can actually write is it? With regards to "blinding by science" and comments on the length of the text - I have written this is response purely to questions received from both my retail and wholesale customers, of which some have grilled me relentlessly asking these exact questions. I trust my customers to make the choice if they read it or not. If this information is not of any interest, then they have the option of leaving the page, nobody is forcing them to read to the end. Oh and not having faith in our products? this is simply not true - we are successful enough without this information and do not need it to "sell" our products, we are simply trying to clear up the misconceptions - particularly when a customer says to us that they are interested in buying our soy candles because they don't want to get cancer from paraffin ones!!!! With regard to the issues raised by Flicker, some of his/her comments are circumstantial - am I to write that Richards DIDN'T invent soy wax just because a friend of Flicker's says so? I based my text on evidence I have found and am more than willing to change my text if text mentioning other inventors is unearthed, but I can't base what I write on what a "friend of a friend" says surely? I can only write based on published information and unfortunately, Richard's name is the only one that surfaced time and time again when researching the origins of soy wax. I do have responses for other issues raised but no time so shall revisit later.

Hi all I am in the process of designing a new web page, and I hold my hand up high as being someone who was initially blinded by "facts" that I read across the internet regarding the benefits of soy. I have, thanks to the helpful people on this forum, now seen the light and want to ensure that anything I put on my website is accurate. I didn't know wether to post this in the soy section as it is about soy, or in the business section, as it is about my webpage and the information I am giving my customers! I am NOT by any means a guru, so if I have made any mistakes I would really like to know about them please! I have just (within the last hour so please forgive grammatical or spelling errors) put together the following information on my "about soy" page, and would appreciate anyone pointing out if there are any glaring errors (please, no nit-picking!!!) Please note that I am in the UK so any rules and regulations for the US may not necessarily have any impact over here, and vice versa. Thanks! Natasha 1) What is soy wax Soybean wax, often referred to simply as "soy wax," is hydrogenated soybean oil. It was created by inventor Michael Richards in 1993, who was looking for a cheaper alternative to beeswax. The invention of soy wax has been the first wax innovation in the candle industry for over a hundred years. It can be used as a replacement for paraffin wax in the candle, packaging, and medical fibre industries. Soy wax is often called a natural wax, where the term "natural" implies that the wax is derived from either animal or plant sources. 2) What is Paraffin Wax Paraffin wax is ultimately derived from crude oil, which is the resultant product of the decomposition of tiny aquatic plants and animals that lived in the ancient seas millions of years ago. When crude oil is refined to make lubricating oils, one of the by-products is Slack wax. This wax can then be further refined into a variety of petroleum based products, one of which is Paraffin wax. Paraffin wax is not only used to make candles, it is also classified as a chemical preservative and is widely used on fruits, vegetables, and confectionary to make them shiny as well as to retard moisture loss and spoilage. 3) What's the difference between soy and paraffin? There have been several misconceptions floating around (especially on the internet) regarding paraffin and vegetable-based waxes. Many candle manufacturers who utilise vegetable waxes are making extravagant claims about their superiority to paraffin, yet most of these claims are completely unproven, unsupported and vastly exaggerated. It is important to realize that both paraffin and vegetable waxes are safe, viable natural raw materials with differing chemical compositions offering many varied benefits depending on end user applications. So far no comprehensive and internationally recognised studies have been undertaken regarding the pros and cons of both waxes. In the mean time we will try to address some of the most common misconceptions regarding these waxes below. MYTH - Soy candles burn with less soot than paraffin candles It is not true to say that soy candles do not produce soot, or that they produce less soot than paraffin candles. No candle can be entirely soot free - but the old saying "you get what you pay for" is very much true when purchasing candles. A well made, high quality candle, regardless of wax type, will produce less soot than cheap, mass manufactured ones as long as you keep the wick trimmed sufficiently and follow the candle burning instructions supplied with your candle. In our experience, the main reasons why a candle will produce soot is because the wick has been left untrimmed or the candle has been placed near a draft. MYTH -Paraffin wax is toxic Paraffin wax is non-toxic. In fact, paraffin is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in food, cosmetics, and medical applications. Food-grade paraffin is commonly used for manufacturing candles. MYTH - Paraffin wax is "the sludge from the bottom of an oil barrel" This rather outrageous quote is usually wheeled out by a small minority of soy and other natural wax candle suppliers as a way of promoting their products as being a healthier alternative to paraffin wax. It is undeniably true to say that paraffin wax is a by product of the petrochemical industry, however the actual refining process that paraffin wax is subjected to is remarkably similar to the process used to create most natural or vegetable based waxes. Just remember, the next time you bite into a nice, shiny apple - it is probably coated in food-grade paraffin to give it that shine, which is the same wax that most candles are made from. FACT - Soy candles burn for longer than paraffin candles This is true. Most vegetable waxes burn cooler than paraffin wax, which in turn means you will be buying a longer lasting candle. At Scentifique, we didn't want to believe this until we had conducted our own rigorous tests, so we created candles in both paraffin and soy using the same containers, wax weight and scent ratio and then burned them under the same conditions. In our own tests, the candles we created using soy wax burned, on average, for around 40% longer than the paraffin candles. FACT - Soy candles have a stronger scent than paraffin candles If you look at the bare facts, then this statement is true. Soy wax has the ability to hold much more fragrance than paraffin, and therefore if there is more scent being heated and dispersed into the air, then the scent of your candle will be stronger. However, the quality of the fragrance oil being used is a major factor in the scent throw of a candle, and if a candle is made with cheap, diluted oil then there will be a poor scent throw no matter what wax is being used! Some more unscrupulous chandlers (candle makers) may try to add extra oil to their candles to improve the strength, but wax can only absorb a certain amount of oil. If too much oil is poured into the wax, it will simply sit on the surface of the candle unabsorbed, or in little flammable pockets of oil in the middle of your candle - which is dangerous! You can rest assured, at Scentifique we source only the finest, premium quality fragrance oil, and have many of them made specifically for us by an international fragrance manufacturer. We never need to add too much oil to our candles, as our oils are all premium quality in the first place! FACT - Soy wax is more environmentally friendly than paraffin wax Soy wax comes from a sustainable & renewable resource, Soy beans! Paraffin starts off as crude oil which most people now realise is most definitely not renewable. At Scentifique we have chosen to offer vegetable wax candles as a way of helping to reduce global dependence on crude oil and the effects its harvesting has on the earth. Soy candles are also carbon neutral. The soy we use in our candles was likely to be in the ground less than a year ago and during this time, the soy plants would have been removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere all the time they were growing. This in turn cancels out the small amount of carbon that is released into the atmosphere when the candle is being burnt. UNPROVEN - Burning soy wax is healthier than burning paraffin wax As far as we are aware, there has been no internationally recognised scientific studies comparing what impact the burning of soy candles in comparison to paraffin candles has on a persons health. However, having said this, we do have several customers who swear by our soy candles, saying that they have found them much more tolerable to their sensitive lungs than normal paraffin candles. Those suffering from asthma or have mild breathing problems may find that burning soy candles does not cause as much irritation as a paraffin candle would, but we MUST stress that this statement is based purely upon feedback we have received from our own customers, and not on any factual studies carried out by a recognised scientific institute.

if people who don't even make candles are getting this postcard.....could it possibly be that an online candle/bathbody forum that they had to give their email addresses to in order to register could be the reason?

sssshhhhhhh don't tell everyone!

as far as I am aware, you should be getting 8oz of oil - not including the bottle and cap. They should be putting the bottle on the scales, setting it back to zero and then adding the 8oz of oil. They should add the cap after they've added 8oz of oil. The cost of the product should allow for the cost of the bottle and cap, so they should NOT be included in the weight -and if they are you are being seriously ripped off. I think you SHOULD let us know who is using these practices, as none of us want to pay for oil that we don't get!

cool. do you know what sort of price this will be? I'd like 5 or 10kgs of the granite, and also another 5kgs for Sally please - after the year she's had I'd like to give her a little "something" to cheer her up. I'm not that good with words, so I'll let the wax do the talking :embarasse