daniedb

What does that even mean? People are so weird.

Oh my gosh, Google is almost impossible to crack. Check out Matt Cutt's site: www.mattcutts.com/blog - he's a bigwig at Google and blogs the latest changes in their ranking engines. I also subscribe to a few SEO newsletters that give good tips, that's if you have time to do research. The only surefire way I know of is to get linked. A lot, and not randomly. Don't just trade links with random people, or put your banner on link sites - you have to have relevant information that people link to for research purposes, or products where people recommend your products and link online. Sorry I couldn't be more help - Yahoo, MSN are not that hard, I've done consistently well with my search terms, but Google? It's a beast.

THe only thing I came away with after reading at the Whisk was that Master Batching is really easy to make into a risque word.....

Never heard of her, but I just wanted to say that it's a good idea to ask for her resale # and tell her you have a min. opening order of $10,000 . Kidding on the $$, but I usually name a high, but reasonable number that a reputable person wouldn't blink at, or would come back with, "What about $5,000 for an opening order?" You're smart to be wary.

Huh. Larious.

So far, I'm SO impressed with Brenda's wax! It's beautiful and smooth and gorgeous! I haven't burned it yet, but initial impression is excellent, and we all know that's how people choose to buy anyway - what your candles look like!

OMg, that's HILARIOUS. Loves long walks through FO suppliers' warehouses, testing thirteen scents during a candlelit dinner, owns no property besides forty-seven pour pots, sixteen hundred and twelve pounds of fragrance oil and eight tons of glassware.

I didn't have an ounce of patience, so I went ahead and did it without waiting for an answer - I used liquid dyes - 3 drops red, one smidge black in 4 oz wax and it's looking really good, no frosting so far.

What wonderful news! I think that's a terrific number, I'm so impressed!

IFT's min is 10 pounds FO for non-designer FOs (including custom blended FOs) and 25 lbs for designer dupes. The nice thing is that they usually charge ~$10 per pound, so you really are going to save some money in the long run if you can use that much FO.

The Ambra di Nepal is on sale?! I just bought a pound of it for V-Day. I used this as my v-Day scent this year, it's really incredible. Very sexy, but understated. I think it's a subtly beautiful, rich scent. I also put it in wax, but had to add a little Butternut Crunch from WYW to make it throw at all.

Okay, I've only ever worked with straight soy, and I got the 1 lb. 70/30 blend from greenleaf. I want to try to dye this, and I have three choices: dye blocks, liquid or Pryme. What would you recommend? Do I need to worry about frosting?

The Fata Morgana is delish! I am dying over here, wanting the LLC so bad I can taste it!

I use about 2%, or right at 1.6 oz per 5 lbs. The percentages can be confusing, but what works for me is that amount. That breaks down to about .3 oz per lb of soy wax. During warm weather, I have to bump it up to about .5 oz per lb - the humidity just wreaks havoc on the soy!

Who you callin' moron, moron?! <- inserting this smiley to ensure that you are aware that I am typing in a lighthearted manner and in no way mean offense.

Not a huge fan. They are most definitely not anywhere near the top of my list. I have to pour them at normal 6% strength to get a nice-throwing candle, and I've just never been impressed. I prefer BCN's regular line (okay, I actually prefer WYW over the regular line over the FCC).

Most of my FOs wick great with HTP 1312s in my 3" exactly apoth jars. Interestingly enough, it does tend to burn down a little deeper than out first, but it evens out to a beautiful, full, 1/4" MP within 3 - 4 hours. I always, always get nervous the first time I test a new FO because I think it's going to tunnel, but it keeps spreading and doesn't get too deep.

Can I hijack for a sec? Can you use the name of a condition in the title, i.e., "Eczema Balm" or is that a drug claim?

A kitty litter pan? You can buy one for under $2 at Walmart.

I hear you! I know exactly what you mean. I have a 2-year-old, and while some people can manage their time and seem to have a clean house on top of it all, I certainly haven't found the ability to do that. I'm learning that what helps me is to make sure that every time I start to get stressed, I take as much time as it is necessary to recenter myself. For me, that means prayer and spending time with my family, until I can tackle the problem or order without anxiety. Also, I do my very best to say NO when I have to - and the more I set proper boundaries and only accept what I can do, the more people respect my business and will wait for however long it takes, as long as I'm growing in a deliberate way. I'm so excited for you, and I hope you find much continued success with your candle business!

www.sweetcakes.com

1. I think you'll find it boils down to opinion and personal experience. I like CDs and HTPs, but heard great things about ECOs in soy. 2. Beeswax, if anything. 3. I'm going to guess ~3 inches. You're Welcome, Mrs D

I'm fairly certain SC has a Arden Grn Tea dupe.

Here's what I do: for my non-emuls, I only offer it in one fragrance - it's too much trouble to do it the other way. For my emuls scrub, they have their choice, and I make a gallon or so at a time and then scoop and fragrance as ordered.

Is the base just a simple oil/sugar base? As in, the sugar tends to settle to the bottom, and there's a thin layer of oil on top without any sugar in it, or is it equally dispered throughout? If it's non-emulsified, I can see it being difficult to get the right ratio of oils to sugar for individual batches. And seriously, if it's just the oils/sugar, it's so easy to make it's not funny- it's literally sugar, your choice of oils (even just one straight oil without mixing works great), preservative and FO or EO. That's it. It's almost like highway robbery that people sell bases of it...but then again, I think it's highway robbery that people buy my non-emulsified sugar scrub (I do both emuls and non-emuls). Man, I just ramble lately....