Candybee

I just now tried to get on their site and its only partially running. Looks like they are revamping the entire site. So I will have to wait to try the wick guide later. Right now you can't click on anything and go to any of the pages and only part of the home page is up.

Well their wick guide had been off as far as CSN wicks. I will have to check and see if its been improved. To answer all your questions you would have to call and ask.

How are their oils in CP? Any you would recommend?

I sometimes use Backwoods. I absolutely adore her Honey Gingerbread for soap and candles. I also love her Black Irish. Its better than any Green Irish Tweed I have found.

I was thinking of cutting out the lemon anyway. I think I will play around with the grapefruit before I decide to keep or toss out of the blend. Litsea is strong but I find I need more of it when I use several parts of other EOs plus I like the scent and its strength as long as it doesn't overpower. So if I am using an 8 part blend I know I will want to have at least 1-2 parts litsea. If I stick close to my other recipe I could do: 3x lime 2x lemongrass 1x litsea Hmmm... I still want something else in there and I keep thinking of grapefruit. Grapefruit smells awesome in CP. I have a grapefruit and lemongrass combo that smells heavenly, and I love my lemongrass and lime.. so why not lime, lemongrass, grapefruit, and litsea? 3x lime 1x lemongrass 1x grapefruit 1 x litsea That would make it a nice lime with a citrus combo. Dang... wish I wasn't out of grapefruit and lime EO. I could test it out now.

Clay does help anchor a scent and is great in shaving soaps. But I won't be using it in this particular soap. I use a lot of clay in many other soaps that I make.

I know. Same thing here. But I have found that litsea cubeba really helps to anchor my citrus EOs in my CP soap. Right now I have lemon 5x and orange 5x and they both fade after a while. The litsea cubeba helps. But next time I replace them I noticed that Brambleberry? has the 10x EOs. I've heard from other soapers that the ones that stick are the 10x and the 15x.

I have ginger lime from Elements. I holds really well in CP but I add a touch of lime EO to make the lime pop. I thought about adding orange but one; I already have a honey citrus castile with orange, lemon, tangerine so I am looking more for a lime and lemon and grapefruit type for this. Also, I have a lemongrass and lime castile that is awesome. I thought about just using the EO blend for that in my shave soap but I really want something unique for it. This is off topic but last Saturday at the market a friend of mine has her mister going and in it was a combo of cinnamon and grapefruit EOs. I was surprized at what a good combo it was. But it got me to thinking about using grapefruit more.

If I remember correctly when I did use CD wicks in my soy containers I got some of the best hot throw but didn't like the flicker or the lopsided melt pool created from the curl. Another wick I used but in my parasoy candles was a zinc. Those smoked and mushroom a lot but the flame was calm and the throw was the best out of any other wick I tried. Unfotunately with wicks its can be a compromise. You can get great HC but at the cost of something like a 'shroom, or curl, or too much flicker, etc. I always end up testing several series, sometimes more than once, until I would decide on which was best for me. Like Chuck has posted you can't depend on what your customers will do with the candle once its purchased. So safety is always a top concern in my testing.

I suck at spoon swirls. But then I haven't tried them much. BTW-- what is an SS spoon? I forgot I use my wood piece from my soap stamper to put in the center of my slab mold for a column swirl. Then I do the same thing you do and swirl with a bamboo skewer or one of those free chop sticks I always save from the Chinese restaurant. LOL Its insane the lovely swirl work you can do with the simplest tools. You know how soapers look at containers and think "I can soap with that" I do that with tools I see thinking "I wonder what kind of a swirl I can make with that."

Where did you get the ribbed drinking straw? Has anyone seen the swirling tools at Nurture Soap Supplies? http://www.nurturesoapsupplies.com/silicone-soap-molds/ For my hanger I use electrical tape and bamboo skewers. I wrap the tape around the skewer onto the hanger wire. When I finish swirling with my hanger I just wipe off the soap batter with paper towels to clean it off for next time. But I would like to try the ribbed straw if I can find one.

Looking for ideas for a nice citrus EO blend for my shave soap line. I'm thinking; lime, lemon, lemongrass, grapefruit, litsea cubeba... I want the lime to be the stand out note and still have a nice citrus combo that tames it a bit without losing its lime edge. Also, I want it to be a little intense rather than soft if you know what I mean. Here is what I am thinking: 4x lime 1x lemon 1x lemongrass 1x grapefruit 2x litsea cubeba How would you make it? Any changes? Should I add bergamot? Is the lemon overkill? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Those are beautiful Vicki. Would it be possible to see the backside of the stud earrings. I kind of got lost in the instructions when it came to gluing the ear studs on. Also, do all ear studs have that little loop on them?

I am still working on mastering the mantra and using my homemade hanger tool for swirling. I have found the hanger tool can do quite a few swirls if your batter is just right. But the majority of my soaps are pretty one dimensional. I just wish I had more time to play. Just wondering what others like to do.

Some candle making suppliers hardly ever mentioned here that I know of are: Cierra Candles Farmhouse Supplies (NJ) Early American Candle Supplies (PA) General Wax (west coast) Raven's Nest Tri-State Here is a new one Scented found: http://www.craftserver.com/topic/105091-mad-oils/

I feel the same Noodle. I really miss their fabulous oils. They had some of the best. The only ones I know of that are out there are of course the Hawaiian Sandalwood with AH is now carrying and then there is Christmas Tree which Fillmore Containers is carrying. I haven't found the exact FOs for their Lavender Flowers and Cucumber Melon but I did find close duplicates. SGS or Pure Fragrance Oils has a pretty close Lavender and Cucumber Melon. Not as good as TW but the closest I could find so far.

I make container palm candles and the wicks I use CSN, are self trimming. Not sure they will work in your wax but I suggest you can start by finding self trimming type wicks. Maybe someone who uses your wax will pipe up and tell you what they use. If not, try reading up on wicks at www.wicksunlimited.com. Also, when you shop for wicks look for suppliers that carry self trimming wicks. There is also a CDN wick. Not sure its self trimming but if you remember Stella she swore by them.

Today I've got to get back to making soap. I am so low on stock and the craft shows start up next month and I'm not ready!! The good news is that the reason I am so low is because my wholesale accounts have picked up and wiped me out.

JCandleattic you beat me to the punch-- I was just going to post that I love and use C&S Candy Corn. I don't know how it compares to others. When I made my first test candle and burned it it smelled just like the real thing to me so I didn't look for another. This was in my parasoy candle. BTW-- Candy Corn is a combo of vanilla + honey. That's why it smells so vanilla-y

I love J-50. Well actually I love the throw from J-223 much better but hated repours on the large jars. But found if I stuck to smaller jars I could use it without the dreaded repour. Paraffin wax just got too expensive for me. I can get palm for much less and still have the great throw I miss from my beloved J-waxes. But you know, some FOs just don't smell the same in soy or palm the way they do in a great paraffin.

I agree with what others have said. I make both candles and CP soap and believe me I have to buy many FOs that do double duty in both. If you think wax is finicky try CP soapmaking using FOs. If a FO can survive the lye process and curing process and still go strong chances are it will be awesome in my wax. I use crystal container palm wax. Wanted to add I hope you are using skin safe/soap safe FOs at 3% in M&P and not using at 6%. If you already are just ignore this.

Right now I am using SGS/Pure Fragrance Oils Lavender. Its the closest I can find to the old Tradewinds which quit selling oils a while back. Sigh. I really, really, miss their Lavender Flowers and can't find the replacement. SGS Lavender is the closest. Unfortunately it is not phthalate free as far as I know.

Soapalooza's Tassi Lavender is phthalate free. It different than other lavenders I have smelled. It comes from and is unique to Tasmania. It smells like a fresh and herbal lavender. My customers adore it.

My go to FOs for pine/forest type scents are: Candles: Fillmore's Christmas Tree and CS Mistletoe (for that lovely sinus relief and fresh cut wreath scent) CP & M&P soap: Elements Rocky Mountain (formerly Flickers Christmas Pines) I have yet to find a Christmas Tree scent I like better than Fillmores.

Those are beautiful. I love the shine. I wanted to ask what you use for the acrylic layer?