liljean

Hi, I found this great recipe on MMS and followed it to the tee: Ingredients: 5 grams Germaben II 5 grams Peppermint Essential Oil 15 grams Stearic Acid 20 grams Liquid Glycerin 25 grams Emulsifying Wax 75 grams Regular Cocoa Butter 355 grams Distilled Water My cream came out like frothy foam, but once rubbed in it does leave an awesome smooth, silky feeling on my skin. I am looking for a much thicker cream - how can I tweak this recipe to achieve a super duper thick cream? Less Distilled Water? If I lessen the water by half, would I need to up the amount of any of the other ingredients? Thanks.

Dixie cups. Pour in, pour in wax, toss cup. No mess.

Hi, Currently I use Millcreek's Extreme Vanilla and it is strong in my soy. I am however doing a little 'vanilla challenge' for us here at home as vanilla is our absolute fav. scent and we are in the mood to test several more vanillas for our own personal use. So, can anyone recommend a super strong vanilla FO for soy? Thanks.

Tough one. I would pick: Lavender OMH Vanilla Coffee Scent That would be way hard though, but those are the ones I would choose if I had to.

It's lovely. Great job!!

Thank you all for your replies. I melted it down and added more soap base to it and it was still pretty greasy, but I am enjoying it. Learning,

Hi, I am new to soaping. I am dying to make cold process soap, but I am scared to death to work with lye. So, I started making M&P soap. When I first started making it - I just melted it, added FO, and poured it into molds. Now, I am adding color (still trying to get that down pat) and additives for exfoliation, etc. So, last night I was reading the posts here and I found this recipe for a Butter Bar: Butter Bar 4oz. rectangular soap mold 4oz. white coconut oil soap base 1 Tbsp. shea butter 1Tbsp cocoa butter 10 drops buttery maple fragrance oil (vanilla or cocnut or fragrance of cho 3 drops yellow colorant Ooooooo I couldn't wait to make it!! I made it today and the bottom (top of mold) it wouldn't set up in the mold. It was like really oily and clumpy. There were beads of oil that wouldn't blend in the soap!! I took it out of the mold and it was a mushy, greasy mess. I added more white soap base, and remelted and repoured and skimmed the oil off the top while still in the double boiler...but I didn't get all of the oil out and it is setting up better now but it still looks funky. Why would this happen? Could it be because I didn't use a coconut oil white base and I just used a regular white base? I followed the recipe to the letter. Confused and Learning. Thank You for any help you can offer as to what happened to my batch of soap.

Very nice. I too love the way you have your FO's.

I love the gold lid on the salsa jar. The white lid would look great on the jj.

Thank You both for the great info. I appreciate it.

Hi, I am new to the bath and body world. I make natural wax candles, lotion sticks, and soy whip body cream. I want to make my own bath bombs, lotion, sugar scrub, foot cream, and a few other items. I want to learn how to do this from scratch. Where do I begin to gather info? Is there a web site that helped you that you could share the link? I want to learn about butters/oils/percentages of what and how and why. I don't even know a thing about perservatives - do I have to add them? If so, which one? And what is petro and why should we avoid it? Or, should we avoid it? I see 'petro-free' a lot...so I wonder. Sorry for all the questions - I want to research all of this and learn...and I have read a lot but I am not coming up with much. Thank You.

Hi all, Okay I am in a crisis mode here, lol I got a bunch of new jars and I am using my normal soy blend with HTP and Cotton wicks. Problem is, no matter what wick I use - it seems too big, so, I naturally wick down. Well, when I wick down, if the wick does well - full MP in correct amt. of time - whenever I burn the candles again and trim the wick - I don't achieve the full MP! THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, I wick back up, put up with the too soon full MP, trim the wicks with the consecutive burns, and all seems fine. So, do I keep the original wick that got the full MP in an hour or less ( ) on a 2.5 diameter jar so the subsequent burns burn properly?? If I DON'T trim my wick - it burns perfectly! I always test two ways, I test burn the 'right' way (trimming wicks, etc.) and I test burn the 'wrong' way - power burns with no trimming. We all know there are customers who do both and I want to be certain my wicking/jars can take the 'wrong' burn. lol Or, do I wick down, and the subsequent burns do not achieve the full MP?????? I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!! I may toss this jar and not use it. lol But, even if I don't carry this jar, I STILL want to know WHY this is happening and what can be done about it. Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? I know this post is making no sense here. I am sorry. I am trying to figure out WHY my wicking is all messed up. Thanks,

Well I test burned the 70/30 and I got black smoking wicks/soot on the jars, with every wick we tried - Cotton, HTP, and Eco. The Eco's smoked the most. It makes a gorgeous candle, it is easy to work with, and it throws cold/hot WELL (except GL's Hazelnut Coffee had no throw whatsoever)...but I will not burn a candle that soots, much less sell one that soots. (huge sigh). I really want a good parasoy blend to offer along with my soy blend...but I am not having luck. I didn't care for the adhesion either. It pulled away except for one spot - and I want it to either completely adhere, or completely pull away...I will attach a picture. I still have some of the slab left to play with. I might add 50% soy to the 70/30 to see if that cuts down on the smoking. Take care,

I generally follow the instructions for each particular wax, however, I prefer to add my FO in right before I am ready to pour. I never had a problem with a weaker throw doing this. I have severe allergies so when I pour I wear a mask and the least exposure to the FO's for me, the better, ESP florals and cinnamons. Vanilla's I can add anytime and not wear a mask, and most bakery scents too.

Hi all, I just received my slab of the GL 70/30 yesterday. UPS wasn't even gone a half an hour and I had some poured. I made 2 8 oz Tins and 1 16 oz Balmoral Jar. I will post some pictures. I really like the way this wax comes - the slab is super easy to cut. I also love the way you can pour hot and it will set up so fast. I had perfect tops but I hit my candles with the heat gun anyway. I always make an "x" with my wick "just in case" there are any hidden air pockets and then I hit the tops with the heat gun. I test burned two of the candles I made today. I always test mine 24 hours after it cures. I figure if a scent won't throw well 24 hours later, I don't want to work with it. There are so many FO's that throw beautifully strong the next day. So anyway, my first tester was an 8 oz Tin - made with 8 oz of 70/30, an ECO 10 wick (first time using Eco wicks), and the FO was GL's Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, 3/4 oz. WOW is this one STRONG. LOVE the FO. :) A truly amazing cold and hot throw. We have a big house and when I was coming down the stairs I started to smell this and I had the candle all the way on the other side of the house in our morning room!!!!!! THAT is a strong scent! The ECO 10 is too small as it doesn't have a full MP and I have had this burning for 4.5 hours. It almost made it, but I am going to wick up. I didn't get a mushroom for 3 hours into the burn. Normally I use Cotton and HTP wicks and I get awful mushrooms ( )...so I have been searching for better wicks - I am liking these ECO's. My second tester is in a 16 oz Balmoral Jar, 8 oz 70/30, GL's Hazelnut Coffee FO, 3/4 oz, and a Cotton 62 wick. Cold and Hot throw very weak - but perhaps this particular FO needs a few more days to cure. A big wet spot - melt pool 'fell' down into so I lost some of the MP, but it came back as the candle burned further. My third tester is in a 8 oz Tin, GL 70/30 wax, Cotton 62 wick, and GL's Creme Brulee FO, 3/4 oz. I will burn this one tomorrow. I love the wax so far! I am crossing fingers and toes that it continues to perform well. I will be pouring candles all week in various suppliers FO's that throw perfectly in my regular soy blend (no paraffin in my soy blend). I want to add a parasoy to offer my customers. I am sick and tired of the soy characteristics - ESP at craft shows. I want my candles to be purrtty. I LOVE soy, but until a perfected blend comes out, I am going to stop coloring my soy blend candles and test and test until I find a parasoy that rocks so I can add it to my line. Take care,

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Hi, I wouldn't do that. If it were me, I wouldn't do the show. I would be too afraid my candles wouldn't be right. I am huge on testing, testing and testing more. If I knew my wax was different, I wouldn't be confident enough to sell one candle. I don't judge a candle throw by the way a tart smells - I test burn each scent in each jar with each wick to be 110% certain. I feel for you - it is a shame that happened with your wax. JMO.

Thank You AngelaVA for your reply. I cannot wait to try the 70/30. islandgirl, I sent you a PM so we can compare notes on the 464 wax.

Hi all, Well we were LOVING the 464, but now that we bought a whole 50 pounds and cranked out a load of candles to test - we are NOT loving the hot throw. We love the appearance, the great adhesion, and the super cold throw - but that hot throw is lacking for us. I have been making soy candles for five years and I am not happy anymore. It seems as if something in soy changed over the last two years. My candles are NOT pretty anymore - so I try the 464 and the beauty came back - but the hot throw is not where we want it to be. So, we are going to try to venture into the parasoy world for a spin. I checked out Green Leaf and saw they have a 70/30 blend. I am going to order a sample. How is this wax? Does it have a good hot throw? How is the frosting issue with this wax? Frustrated,

My hubby only "allows" (lol) so much per month on supplies. I just asked for a small increase in my candle supplies 'allowance' and he gave it to me. If he didn't 'control' this, I would probably go too crazy with buying supplies. lol *getdown* What I do is I make a "Wish List" in Word, and I go to my fav. suppliers and 'window shop' and add what I want to my 'Wish List' - and when the 1st of the month comes, I get my 'supply allowance' and I decide what I want most and go from there. Trouble is, I normally spend my 'allowance' by the second week into the month and then for two weeks I go nuts. LOL Buying FO's is my favorite, so, I would probably go for the FO's vs. the mold. Have fun!

I got mine from Gateway and I pay less for the 464 delivered than I did my regular soy wax delivered!! WOO HOO HURRAY!!!!!!! I am in LOVE with this WAX. :) My candles are SO PRETTY NOW. FINALLY a wax that we can pour hotter and not have the frosting issue. :) :)

Hi, Could I please get a copy? luvcandles@att.net Thank You.

Hi, I poured the votives today. Thank you Jason for sending me a sample, I sure appreciate it. Here is what I did: Heated 6.5 oz wax to 180, added my color ~ a few pieces of blue dye flakes, added FO ~ 5/8 oz of Caramel Pecan Mousse from JS, poured at 150. The cold throw is outstanding!! I am not too pleased with the appearance though. I have cracks and frost. The frost I can handle *somewhat* but the cracks have got to go. I want to remelt tomorrow - I am not sure how to proceed. Anyone know what to try next? I will attach a picture.

YEAH, mine just came too. I cannot pour today but tomorrow morning I am on it. :)

Hi, I am going to be ordering through Kris at Gateway http://www.gatewayfoodproducts.com/. I asked them where I could get it in my State and they said it is limited to certain suppliers until the market grows a little more for it. The price they gave me, delivered, is $52.31 ($1.05 a pound)...which is less than I pay now for my soy wax ($37.50 + shipping), delivered! HTH.