debscent

I wish the farmer's markets in our area were decent. In our area, there is only repetitive sellers of cheap perfume, shea butter, counterfeit purses/shoes, cheap clothing and various knives (big hunting, switchblades). Not really my clientele.

I started business back up and won't stock Love Spell this time. I agree, it's not the most pleasant OOB scent. It sold well to the 13-21 year old females. I've reintroduced Pink Sugar as a great scent for bridal shower/baby shower favors and it's selling great. I loved Pumpkin Cornbread by Backwoods, couldn't sell ONE! I thought it was a great Fall scent too.

I typically use KY's Apple Pie and have been happy with it, and when I saw AH/RE had the HI type I was super excited. I put it in wax and was totally disappointed, as the HI type used to be my favorite candle of all time! I just finished burning CS Apple Harvest. It has a nice combo of apple, spice and a bit of peach to it, and I think if you mixed it with a pie crust it might do the trick. I was super impressed with the HT in my 50/50 blend of wax with zinc wicks.

That may be the "registered agent" office of that company. In Delaware due to our corporate tax laws many big businesses have an address in DE to claim the tax benefits. So, an address does not mean it's their physical address.

I do think scent is subjective, but at 6% my candles have been great throwers and profitable.

I use a parasoy and add at 180 and pour at 165.

Graham cracker & maple syrup are strong scents typically, so I'm a bit surprised they came out lighter than you thought. When you have oils that are heavy in vanilla, you should make sure you add them at a high enough temperature to blend with the wax, and stir alot! You should have achieved good results with that percentage.

TN's, Vanilla Bean Noel.

I've been using a 50/50 parasoy since 2005 for candles & melts and Peak FOs have always performed well. They are quality oils. I've also had much success with KY (they are with AH/RE) and CS. Good luck.

I'm a fan of CS Pumpkin Souffle. My favorite!

Water won't blend with the wax.

You need to know what the fragrance load is for that wax before you change your percentage, as well as the melting temp, pour temp. I use a 50/50 blend and 6% is perfect.

Good job! Don't feel discouraged if the candles don't sell immediately. They will. Your labeling is nice, and you put a lot of effort into your product. You'll do great. And, with your fundraiser, people may see your candles from the fundraiser at the salon. Great name recognition.

Do they mean candles used in the massage rooms or those soy candles used as the soy lotion candles?

An easy suggestion would be to do chunk votives. Start small and get 4 votive cups, 4 wick pins, and some wicks. I liked doing chunk votives because I didn't worry about repours (which I hate), and coordinating the overpour wax scent with your chunks can come up with some great variations. This wax is probably opaque but you will still see chunks throughout the candle.

Lemon Verbena from CS is awesome. I also like their Lavender Vanilla. Light, but soothing. Cucumber Mint from CS is crisp and clean.

Gorgeous, and I think the color scheme goes perfect with that scent. I miss Solas' scents.

Yes, the additional pour pots will come in handy and reduce cleaning time, etc. When you get your production mode down, you don't want to stop...just keep pouring, etc. I wish you great success! Let us know how you do. And, I did get the dye chips. Thanks!

It sounds like you are on the right track. I always worked in my mind a case at a time, so it seemed less daunting of a task. The other suggestion is to have a pour pot for each scent. The incentive is very generous of you, but probably not necessary, I would think that would be the manager's/school's (of this organization) responsibility. The only other suggestion I would make is to let the organization know that you do have a minimum quality that needs to be met. You are offering $50 in gift cards, but if they only sell 75 candles, you are still putting out $50 in gift cards. In my area, June is a slow time to sell candles, whereas September is an outstanding time. Good luck and I hope to hear about your experience.

Can you show us a picture of your product? I've been to craft shows where the packaging made all the difference in the world. There was a booth that sold soy candles. All of his candles were uneven, and his melts were packaged and smudged, etc. Knowing the process that I do, I knew he put in the effort to make a nice product, but lost it in his packaging.

Years ago, I couldn't sell Butt Naked or Monkey Farts, but now I'm selling about 1 each per week, and I'm not in full swing of business yet. I did not rename them, because the names have piqued people's interest and they love the tropical scent. But if you feel they are too childish/risque, consider Beach Baby (BN) or Tropical Fruit Bowl (MF). I personally would not change it for my demographic, I have plenty of moms who buy candles and the kids can't wait for mom to burn the Butt Naked/Monkey Farts.

I would do the Women's Conference personally. I am like Sliver, I don't care for outdoor shows.

What a great accomplishment and your products are very nice looking. Good luck.

I just restarted my business, so I know where you are coming from, but I did some research on what were scent trends. I've had great success with Downy, Lemon Verbena, Lavender, Sugar Cookie (always a big hit), Cucumber Mint and another favorite now is Jamaica Me Crazy. I decided this time around to limit my fragrances from three suppliers (all on the east coast) and I love CS, Aztec and AH/RE. Mostly CS though. If you only want to offer one scent...something you can't get at the other big name candle companies.

I looked on your FB page. It looks like you are using straight paraffin. Are you weighing the amount of fragrance? Are you using a thermometer to see the temperature in which you add the fragrance? If you are using plain paraffin without any additives your fragrance load will be approximately 3%. More than that and you will get the oily residue. Let us know your process and where your supplies are coming from. There are very talented chandlers on this board who will steer you in the right direction. Do not get discouraged, we all started somewhere!