Casey

Here's my two cents...I saw the ad, and the site is outstanding, I like it alot. $7000 probably seems like a song from the seller's point of view, there is a huge amount of sweat equity there, and a lot of really creative original design work. The amount of supplies offered with the biz does not seem like alot to me. The intellectual property is valueable, but also intangible, and could easily become a huge source of drama that could turn the whole thing sour really fast. Or not, the transfer of knowledge could go smoothly, if you are both excellent communicators. The more previous experience that you already have candlemaking the better. It can still be just as overwhelming as doing it yourself, and possibly not as rewarding.

Having said all that, if it were me, I would not do it. I make candles for the love of it. If someone had just handed me a finished formula book and said, now churn these babies out, slap on these lables, and sell 'em! I would have lost interest. It seems it'd make it just drudgery, I wouldn't be able to stay intellectually and creatively engaged. $7000 bucks down the drain cuz now I hate what I'm doing and I'm unhappy.

Teaching myself and mastering this craft has helped me to grow, taught me discipline, determination and perserverance, as korny as that sounds . Of course, there have been days I mighta killed for a finished formula book! Discovering my own fragrance blends, testing and developing, designing and re-designing my look and inventing an identity for my little candle business has been time consuming, laborious and not cheap. But having done it all myself is what makes the venture completely mine, totally unique, and most of all, rewarding. Just food for thought.

So for each fragrance, it could mean a different wax and/or wick?

I would say choose your wax formula stick with that, and cut Fragrances that don't work and try different wicks!

If only I could have enough self control to limit myself to 3...But if I was physically FORCED:

Candle Cocoon

Candle Soylutions

Peaks

and Nature's Garden

I sent ya a pm!

My Favorites:

Clean Cotton

Blackberry Sage

Honeysuckle

Sweet Pea

Lilac

Warm Apple Pie

Pink Sugar

I poured white votives w/ it as is, nobody noticed

the one time I didn't test burn and went ahead and bought a lb, it was a mistake. Great cold throw, I really just thought that I had test burned my sample, and a co-op came up, so i ordered some. Then I found my tester unburned and lit it up. Smelled like nothing but fuel! Ick! Very reputable supplier, too. So I sample as a rule.

Now I have about 40 FO's in my little "line" :rolleyes2, and I think I won't add too may more. Some I only offer in votives. 50 at 1 time will be the absolute limit for me (LOL, absolute might end up being re-defined). I do 6 container types/sizes, so testing is intensive enough as it is.

But that doesn't mean, of course that I don't have a drawer full of samples and more currently on a brown truck somewhere heading west, waiting to be tested! Always looking for outstanding must haves. It's the part of candle crafting that I like best, finding outstanding FO's!

Hey Ron, sent you a pm

Try kapalua bay from JS. I am in lurv with it and it is so tropical, not what you described but very nice!

Is that an old Missy's FO? If so, it is good!

You've been using a lower percentage than you thought. What you just calculated is a 5.66% FO load.

100% is the 54 oz that you are pouring. That's 6% FO and 94% wax. The calculation is simply .06 x 54 = 3.24 oz FO plus 50.76 oz wax.

Well shit. Me and math never were close friends. Sheesh, at least I've consistently made the same exact mistake .

I was referring to fragrance load. I work in percentages for consisitency.

For example: I am going to pour 6 Pumpkin Pie- 9 ounce jars. Total 54 oz.

Say my fragrance load for this particular FO is 6%. So 1st I guestimate 8.5 (adjusted to account for increased content once the FO is actually added)

8.5 x 6 = 51 oz of wax

51 x .06 = 3.06 oz of FO for this batch.

51 + 3.06= 54.06, just about 54 oz, the perfect amt for six 9oz jars!

Calculators and scales are kewl:D

Vybar, in parrafin increases opacity and helps oils to "bind" with the wax, thus helping to prevent surface defects caused by high fragrance loads and such. Soy wax has very strong natural "binding" properties. This is why some FO's don't work well in soy. I use ecosoya and I get an awesome throw, with compatible fragrance oils. You just have to find them! I use anywhere from 3-10% of FO depending on performance. HTH, Happy testing!

When an HTP or CD of reasonable size doesn't do the trick, I try Eco's or paper core. They burn a bit hotter. HTH

A colapsable hand truck is what I use! Oh, and my boyfriend, LOL

Yay! Your set up looks fantastic! Congrats!

That Caramel is way STRONG! The thing about CC, is that all her oils perform extremely well, whether you like them or not is the only question.

I have a few from Steve's that do very well. Sandalwood, Cinn Brn Sugar, Sweet Yellow Pear to name a few.

1. Fragrance oils are generally synthetic, made for candle and B&B applications and less expensive, also, a lot more variety.

Essential oils are natural oils distilled or pressed or whatev from the actual plants, have many great uses-aromatherapy, medicinal/household/perfume ect... and are MUCH more expensive, for concentration quality.

2. Totally preference. Essentials don't have as long of a shelf life in a candle tho.

3. Yes, there are some soy based fragrance oils out there. Although, I'm not sure what that really means. www.candlesoylutions.com is one source I can think of off the top of my head. Also a co. called Northstar, I think. HTH

I use Eco wicks in my soy with great results. I use them for the heavier/more viscous fragrance oils that need a wick up or two to get a full melt pool, they do the trick every time. For the lighter/less viscous I use HTP's and/or CD's.

Keep it simple. Just say that you've worked long and hard, spent a lot of money and time to find your sources to develop your product and skills. You won't just hand out that hard won information. It's no instant income. Simple, straight forward, honest and that's it.

They don't seem to be selling wax, just candles, but it's an interesting link anyway, thanks!

Soylutions has an excellent Peaches & Cream

The thing is this, so far all the ones from her that I have tested are outstanding performers, so it just comes down to whether or not you like it! I did not like Bunchberry and Moss. Some on your list I have samples of but haven't poured yet. I love Solace, it's a beautiful, fresh minty scent. Rare earth is SUPER strong, start with no more than 3% on that one (I didn't like it though) hth

OMG, I use a lot from her...off the top of my head...

Serendipity, Lavender Lullaby, Solace, Rasberry Cordial, Creme Brulee Cafe

Fairy Dust & TT, Vanilla Voodoo, Cantaloupe & TL

Whew! Ya darn near gave me a heart attack!