blazerina

I would do an oval frosted label or a hang tang. It's a very nice, clean lined jar. Shame to do anything too different to make it look disjointed with it's self.

I recently experimented with a blend and came up with something super nice... Fresh Sage FO and straight Clove FO... nice nice nice!

Every state, county, and local govt. body will have their own regs- but GENERALLY- you can make and sell whatever you want how ever you want AS LONG AS you make NO CLAIMS about what it does for the skin or body medicinally. You can say 'moisturizing' but I don't think you can say 'healing'. I know people do but I don't think it's a good idea unless you are ready to show lab results proving such.

HTH. Good luck with your business.

dcroome... you are absolutely right. I failed to differentiate in my mind the difference in how we do it if we do...'having a booth' and taking orders....and actually having products there to sell- how this person appears to be doing it.

Just to clarify for anyone still wondering here are a few excerpts from the Legal Ease on my support site:

who sells in accordance with our marketing plan.

And in regards to the original point of this post...

one."

I tried to look into the Q of using propay for other merchandise and personal sales but could not find anything. You will probably have the most definative answer by contacting their live support that is available til 7pm mountain time. What I did find is that there ARE general public accounts -you don't have to be affiliated with MK... but I beleive your Q is if you already have a propay acct with MK can you cross sell. Good luck on that.

Here is one more excerpt that might put you at ease if you decide to do it either way...

"How does Mary Kay respond to complaints about independent sales force activities that violate the terms of Independent Beauty Consultant, Independent Sales Director and/or Independent National Sales Director agreements?"When it comes to situations regarding contractual violations, we strive to give each independent sales force member an opportunity to learn and become better and stronger. Therefore, if a contractual violation comes to our attention, we work with each sales force member to educate her, ensure she understands, and then offer her opportunities to correct the situation. Naturally, however, if the activities in question continue despite all our efforts, we sometimes are left with no choice but to terminate our contractual relationship with that independent sales force member.

My personal take is that I would rather attend a multi-faceted type of 'party'. It would take the pressure off me as a customer worrying that I had to buy something to either support the hostess in her endeavor and or not be the only one not buying something, lol.

It's like people always say... if a customer is looking for cheap substandard product, it's no kind of customer that I want. And that's the beauty of owning your own biz. You don't have to do any with them.

Selling at flea markets is totally allowed. It just doesn't usually go over very well for the same reason people buy the old stuff from the lady you speak of... they want a bargain. MK's stance is that it does in fact lower the perception of value for your product, but they don't tell you that you can't do it. You bought the product wholesale, it's yours to retail however you choose.

I wonder if this seller honors the guarantee at all? That would be interesting to know.

Damn fine swirls ya got there... and WITH OUT any color. Such definition!!!! I'm truly, truly impressed.:highfive:

Maybe I shouldn't butt in cuz maybe I don't really know as I don't use either, lol...:lipsrseal

But- just from reading this thread, if I was to look to buy something similar I think I would need to steer away from 'candy foils' and make sure i'm getting 'mini muffin' foils- as far as size and being sure they are not too small or too big.

Also, once you find the right size, you can use your tins as trays just to hold up the paper cup and not worry as much or at all about them not supporting the liquid wax. This will also make it possible to move them aside if you need to and or even stack them for mass production:grin2: And when you peel the papers / foils off, i'm guessing you should only do this when they are completely cool and hard. Like days later, lol, to prevent knicks and fingernail nips. Especially if you use paper ones, seems this would give the oils in the wax a chance to set into the paper and no longer have a dry surface that wants to 'stick' to your melt. Isn't that one of the reasons decals on pillars eventually come off? Just thinking out loud, though.

I plan to try it someday but have not dove in as of yet. But I do make my fire starters in the mini muffin paper cups and use the minimuffin baking pan as a tray. I just have not run out of my original supply yet, lol. Good luck finding the size that is right for your perfect melts!

I would agree with Clementine and Chris.

What is the definition of Essential anyways- neccessary? (It's an open term, unlike 'tart' which is owned by Yankee, Lol.) Yeah they put in their neccessary oils... they just happen to be synthetic fragrance oils.:rolleyes2 I don't doubt that there is SOME perhaps. Their FO's might be some that use both kinds of oils- MANY suppliers sell them, you probably already use them, and you might not even know it. Except that the price might be just a tad more (or a lot more) than a fully synthetic oil. They can say 'pure' as long as the EO wasn't diluted before it went into the blend. But that could mean 2% PURE Lavender EO was blended with 98% synthetic. Therefore they use 'Pure Essential Oils'.

On the flip side, i'm sure there are some great candles made with truly pure eo's. But they won't be cheap, they probably don't throw like wildfire, except for a select few, and they sure as heck are not made by Glade.

EO's are usually used for Aromatherapy type lines and true aromatherapy does not have anything to do with 'throw' or intensity. If it was real, you wouldn't even really HAVE to smell it at all. It's supposed to be about the benefits to your system, (wheather you could smell it working or not) not pleasure to your nose. It has become a very watered down marketing term.

All colorful soapies look good to me...but I love to play the name game.

I don't know what they smell like, but, if it helps all at all they all look tropical.

If the pink stays in the first one- the pink and green makes me think of Flamingo Fields. The last one looks like rainbow Sherbet Ice Cream or like a Coral Reef. But I have no idea what it smells like- I'm guessing it's not fruity or salty, lol

The second reminds me of Grumpy's fave thing... Angry Clowns. But I think that ones been taken. So i'm thinking something else in costume, something Mardi Gras- like, or maybe call it 'Jester' ? Orr.... something to do with a parade. ??

Lmaoo... glad someone brought that up. That always threw me. Cuz the whole point of differentiating ''oob' is to stress that it smells different once it's used...yanno... 'OUT of the bottle'. Lol. I get what it really means, but seems to only make sense if it were 'Roob' as in RIGHT out of bottle.

Right, they only REALLY care if Directors try to promote other companies. A favorite saying among MK peeps is, 'you can't chase 3 rabbits and expect to catch a one!'. They expect professional focus & loyalty from leaders. I honestly don't know how so many get around the Ebay thing. It's absolutely frowned upon for consultants to buy off ebay, and states in your contract that you must only purchase your product from the company. This ensures quality and warranty. This is WHY sellers always state they ARE NOT reps nor endorsed by MK. But selling is a different thing I guess. It's a retail sale like anything else.

Mk DOES NOT sell their outdated product EVER. There is a lot of it in the market. Usually, as stated, from ex consultants who sell their stock when they decide to quit. You can send it back to the company for a 90% return, but you better be sure you never want to be an MK rep in the future- if you do this they won't accept your future application. And most just don't want to deal with it. So they sell it at Garage sales, ebay etc. And there are those... LOTS of those, who scout out for old products and sell them for less than a normal consultants cost because ANY thing over the pidly price paid for it is a profit. And if they do enough in volume, it can be quite profitable. There are a few items that are still quite usable past their date, but I can almost guarantee you she does not have many repeat customers. The first time someone gets a dry eyeliner or lip stick- it really gives the Brand a bad rep. No wonder people won't pay full price, lol. They have no idea how good fresh, reformulated, updated products can be. What everyone has to realize is that each consultant is a business owner unto herself. How she operates her business (and team) does not always portray how Mary Kay herself would have done it.

MOST reps do keep stock. But if they have minimal orders/sales they will sometimes wait until they have a certain amount of sales before they even PLACE the order(in order to meet the minimum wholesale price to get the 50% discount). This causes many customers to have to wait way too long. But as far as doing a group party- it's very commonly done. But there is usually a rep for each company, rather than one person representing all these companies herself.

I see no reason why you can do it your way. MK is a very generous company and it's not like they are going to swoop in and slap you with a law suit. They will just let you know that their propay service is a service they provide for the use of MK only. - if that's even true, I dont know. I do not think propay is owned by Mk at all. You might have to pay a bit extra for a dif type of account; but really - they don't generally keep tabs on incoming and outgoing.

Sorry if a bit off topic at times. Party on:rockon: :party:

Ditto that here too. I've been an MK consultant for about 7 yrs now. I'm not an active seller/salesman type and have not done a lot of home parties... some but not a lot. We moved out of town a few years ago and I'm not exactly central to my customers, lol. So now it's mainly friends and fam and sometimes I pay for an MK website to sell that way. So I don't know if I can help you or not, BUT- I work directly under and with my Sales Manager as her secretary and once in a while I help HER set up and do her bigger parties and such. Hopefully i've learned through osmosis, lol.

Publisher has some clip art in it similar. But I believe they are attatched to a boarder or other line element.

Still not sure what they are called though. I would associate them with victorian and something called Fleur De Lis (sp?)

I think you should. Just remember to keep it in the interest of safety not a grudge, lol. But I agree that you should becuase you don't know WHOSE house might burn down from it. Could be your neighbors or someone you love's neighbors and it could catch the next door house on fire too.

I had another idea while reading your post....

Maybe try to steer the convo to insurance. Talk about how expensive it is, or what a decent deal you got, etc. Ask how much she needs to cover her business and somewhere in there mention how much yours is JUST for selling candles.

I think, like you said, she just doesn't realize the importance of it all. I know I never did. And sometimes, not knowing, it all just seems like government blah blah blah based on a 1% chance of something happening kind of thing. And it's not taken seriously. Even many very good, very smart chandlers here admit to doing things at home with their own candles that they shouldn't. Like leaving them burning overnight, etc.

But it's a fine line. You don't want to appear a busy body, or to begrudge that company any amount of success. Maybe send someone else in to comment on how they look unsafe, lol.

Yanno what would be funny? Go into another store that sells them and if they are the same, say to the store keeper 'Oh my goodness, these are the same candles I use to compare how a candle should look and how an unsafe one looks... how funny'. And smile big and innocently.

Good luck.

The lady you spoke with may have thought this was the professional way to handle it, knowing she probably has no clue if what you say is right or not, but fully intends on taking it to the company. Rather than bashing one of her wholesalers products to another wholesaler. You might ask next time you go in if that company was willing to work with her on replacing those for her.... like you naturally assume she would have dealt with this because it's a serious issue, kind of thing. And she'll either have again no concerne and nothing to offer about it or she might have something to offer such as a blow off comment from the company or maybe now a personal opinion as she develops interest in the issue herself. At the very least it will imprint on her just a bit more to notice the difference in a good candle and a shoddy one.

Or..they may be older stock that maybe was in the heat and this happened to them?? Whatever the reason, maybe she is fully aware of the issue but kind of shady and thinking only of her immediate bottom line and hopes to pawn them off. (you don't know what kind of agreement she has with this other company and if she is stuck with them or not- but doesn't make it right either)

The next time you go in, I would stay really professional and say things like 'Aw, that's too bad those came out like that. I feel for you having to take on that risk.'

Watch to see if NEW ones from that company continue to come in like this. If they do, maybe suggest she melt them down on a candle warmer to correct it. You know, be a pest about it but descretely and innocently.

Good luck.

I did sort of try this.... but I wasn't going for the coloring effect. Just a non fizzy tablet that might offer different things to the bathwater.

And well... it didnt' work. Lol. But I have only tried once and they just didn't stick together. Not sure why. I used things like Wheat Flour and different starches, and you would think they would have binded with water. But maybe the oil I added kept that from happening. I just didn't want them to turn out like the scent rocks/dough stuff.

I'm still trying though and I really do think that whatever i'm doing wrong is something simple that im not getting around to discovering, lol. I'm thinking I used a starch that is anhydrous (?) and that might be hindering the binding???

It seems so simple doesn't it? Maybe we can keep eachother posted, lol.

Here Here!:highfive:

Lol.. I'm not so sure I was shocked exactly but just one of those moments that remind you to be wary, yanno? I mean, if they didn't show the text of the review, and I didn't know why they gave it 3 out of 5, i'd probably avoid that fo. Which would be too bad kwim? 90% of the time I'm sure they are honest and informed reviews and it's great to have that info available, don't me wrong, not saying that at all.

On other shopping sites I've seen people give reviews for something they don't personally have or used, but they give reviews based on what 'others' have said, or how their Sister reacted when given the item as a gift. (Of course they gonna 'rave' about it.) And THAT makes me :rolleyes2 - because we all know how hard it can be to get HONEST feedback from someone we give things to.

So I guess I should just be happy they show the full review as much as they do and shut up and be happy - but not naieve.

I was just looking at scent descriptions on a suplier site when I noticed a review for one that was 3 stars out of five...

The scent was Baby Powder. The complaint ?????

It smelled JUST LIKE the real thing.

We can't have scents smelling like their names now can we:rolleyes2

Just drove home the concept that reviews are so often based on personal preference - which really should have no bearing on your review of the overall product. Unless of course one is making concrete comparisons. I suppose it's a fine line. But it also reminds me how much I appreciate the honest reviews that are offered up here. Many say 'It wasn't my favorite, but throw was excellent.' Or the contrary, 'Too bad this one didn't throw well at all, I sure wanted it to as it is my fave Lotion scent.'

It really is helpful, and as i've seen amongst other's here, much much appreciated!

Just one of my musings... cary on.

I'm afraid so, lol.

I'm no expert, but as far as I've always read it- or maybe just assumed it- the benefit of sugar is in it's gentle exfoliation. Thus revealing new skin, which is then going to be naturally softer/fresher = moisturized? than the old skin. I've read that it has antibacterial type properties, healing properties, etc. Which i'm sure is true. But as far as sugar = moist. I don't think it's that simple. The end result may be or seem to be 'moisturized' skin. But if you melted it down so that it did not exfoliate, add it to a product, it would not be the same. BUT having said that, I know there is an ingredient that is a form of sugar or sugar derivative that has the same kind of properties associated with retin- A type stuff in that it sloughs off dead skin, reveals new, etc. But in a mild way. Personally I view it as a 'help' rather than the active ingredient.

Brown sugar is not as processed at white sugar and maybe in that way it retains more of it's natural inherent moisture- but I don't think that translates all that much to a product in which it's used. Any oil in that same product is going to far outshine what little bit of extra moisture might be in the brown sugar. And far as melanin???? That sounds very fishy. Maybe technically our bodies do use sugar to produce melanin but that does not mean putting it on our skin is helpful, nor does it mean that even if it is, it's necessary, or any different than any other kind of sugar. But they don't have to tell you that, & if they did tell you that about their regular sugar scrub, they couldn't charge more or get you to also buy the brown sugar scrub. Maybe I would rather just eat a donut, lol. Just about everything they claim is open ended. So that it can be 'true' but so are a lot of OTHER things.

The other side of that coin is that people will often shop to fulfil a specific need. And if they choose not to research how to fulfil this need, & would rather be told how to do so, they gratefully shell out the money. There is nothing wrong with touting your scrub as 'moisturizing', even if you and I know we can rub ourselves with salt and olive oil and get just as moisturized, lol. You fulfil a need and make the source for that fulfilment available and pleasureable to use. No harm there.

And I know some of those ingredients in those fancy scrubs are expensive. They are usually well tested, proven and in high demand. But there is no way you will ever convince me that there is anything short of gold that you can put in a 4oz jar and say it's REALLY worth $45. And, granted-it may work. But that doesn't mean that there aren't other affordable ingredients and products that won't work nearly or just as well.

I absolutely love my ingredient label, and anyone elses who keeps it basic and as natural as possible. Some feel better spending more... i feel better being able to read a label. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

ommigosh...Gloworm just made me think of something. I might have access to that vinyl stuff! I clean house for the lady who makes signs for her DH's business. It's what they use to put on the side of the trucks. Not magnets. It's the same stuff car decals are made of. Thick vinyl. How big of peices would you HAVE to have? I might be able to get some scrap for you and if nothing else you can make small feet, lol or arrows out of some i'm sure!

I'll inquire into it for ya.

I would do as some have suggested and rack your brain for the perfect add on word to make it different.

For instance, if you were SuzyQLane.com then you might chage that to SuzyQLaneProducts.com or SuzyQLaneStore.com. Or maybe add 'bySusie' or 'mystore', etc.

I know that doesn't help entirely with how to keep searches from finding the other guy, but there may not be anything you can do about that if you can't change the business name. There will always be mispellings and confusions and getting names crossed. But you can do everything you CAN to have a memorable name, logo, gimmick, etc that will help the searcher know if has found the right place or not. Best of luck.

Well, for the record- I'd say it works fine to leave them in overnight. (as I did) but I have to admit it wasn't the best test as it was an experimental recipie. So the few that I made out of the batch of bigger bombs that (sorta) worked, they held and dried just fine being left in the mold overnight. They even did well with the decorative details/scallops etc. But I packed REALLY tight. PIA if you ask me though, lol. I'd say they are fine, but just like my second batch of bombs, not fine enough to live through shipping. Hardish- not rock hard.

The experimental recipie just crumbled- but that has nothing to do with anything here.

I just wanted to ask on here because none of them seemed to be wanting to come out at all right after I packed them. And I wondered how most do it and if it was 'normal' to just leave them in, and would they dry just the same. Seems they did just fine. Now if only I hadn't deviated from the recipie:rolleyes2

Your local Kinkos or any other Printing/photo store should be able to do that for you with out a problem. Probably cheaper than paying shipping for some in the end too.

For those of you who use the silicone or any other mini type mold for bombs- do you leave them in overnight or anything like that or do you try to unmold them right away?

I did some experimenting with some left over stuff and it didn't seem to want to come out so I've left them in. These are silicone btw. After a few hours I tried to take one out and it kind of split in the layers I packed it in with. So i'm going to try again tomorrow.

I was juuust cuuurious:) Thanks ya'll!