daniedb

Yummy! Thanks a whole lot - I'm trying to keep from adding fifty new Christmas scents, it's my favorite time of year for candles, all the delicious new FOs I get to try - so I have you to thank that now I have a new one I have to try, LOL! The nice thing about MC is that they have the 2 oz samples, which is great for testing. Seriously, thanks for the tip, I'll put it on my list.

I made mine wet as well, and I added Germaben II at the normal rate, it kept very well. The only thing that I didn't expect was that making it wet took literally almost 10x the amount of clays, since it soaks up so much moisture, to make a good product that didn't get too hard after a few weeks. It was frustrating, and not to mention - HEAVY as sin which threw shipping to the wind.

Those really are beautiful, I'm impressed. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the testing.

I also use CDs and HTPs.

I carry 5 specialized Christmas FOs and I also market Spiced Cran as a holiday scent during that time, but it's part of my full-time line. I use MC for mine: Balsam & Spice Mint Candy Cane Chestnuts & Brown Sugar Christmas Splendor Warm Cinnamon Buns

Oh my gosh, you guys, I might actually be able to stay in business if I could get insurance at that price.

I think that MC's Christmas Splendor smells EXACTLY like GC's Cozy Christmas. I was floored when I poured it for last season, I think it's dead on, but you know how everyone smells something different...

poohbaby, it's actually not a soap, it's a balm, like a solid lotion-type thing. Do you think he would use it, since he's not into lotion? It's like the Burt's Bees Farmer's Hand Repair stuff, and I package it in a unisex container, so it's not girly at all...if you're still interested, drop me an email at danielle AT purehenry DOT com.

Who ARE all these newbies with a hate-on for Top?

THe stand mixer actually whips at a much faster and stronger pulse than a handheld can. That's why you can whip cream in about 1 minute with a KA vs. 10 minutes for a handheld. You may not have enough power in your handheld to get enough air incorporate quickly enough to achieve a mousse - perhaps you could ask to borrow hers and see if that's the ticket. Sounds interesting, report back if you figure it out, okay?

MC is very good for soy, especially their heavier Christmasy scents. I have also had success with WYW oils, but they are spendy for testing. I don't think there's been even one WYW oil that hasn't thrown like nuts in my soy. I get them through BCN. At what temperature are you adding your FO to your wax? Also, depending on where you live, going over 3% b/w may cause cracks in your candles, and you'll want to lower the b/w amount in the winter. It actually makes the soy much harder, so it's a more attractive animal, LOL! I usually use 6% of any of the FOs, there are a few exceptions, but not many. I'm not a fanatic about it, but I do like to stick to 6%, and most of them work great, with very strong throw. You may think about trying some tried and true FOs like Spiced Cranberry from MC or BCN, and see what you think at 6%.

And the cost for your labeling, as well. The rule of thumb in the industry is to add up all those costs, and then multiply by 3 to get a retail number. I also spent some time doing market research as to what sells in our area and priced my candles according to what the market will bear, and what image I wanted my candles to have, which meant that I can charge more than the 3x rule of thumb. It really just depends on what you want to do.

Yep, that's the stuff.

Duh, I finally posted it in the recipes section. Don't know why I've nver done that before. :rolleyes2 http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?p=251448#post251448

Eczema Balm 30 g unrefined shea butter 10 g avocado butter 15 g wheat germ oil 15 g emu oil 10 g borage oil 10 g evening primrose oil 30 g soy wax flakes 3 g Vitamin E Melt butters and wax together until liquid. Heat oils to approximately 110*. Add oils and butter/wax mixture together between 100-110*. Mix together thoroughly. Add Vitamin E and mix again. I use a mixer to whip it as it cools, as if it were whipped shea, but keep in mind that it's intended to be balm consistency, so it won't whip high. If you prefer b/w, add sub it for the soy by 1/2 amount: 15 g for this amount. I package it in 2 oz containers to sell, but I have it in an 8 ounce container for Henry at home, a little goes a loooooong way.

I've tried a few in 100% soy, and haven't been impressed at all with the throw. I limit their use to my B&B, for which I love MMS's oils. I haven't tried the GC fizzy pop, so I can't help you there, sorry! Thanks for the reviews, firegirl! I have a few of those and I didn't realize that some of mine were GC dupes!

Hey! Henry struggled with eczema for his first two years (just now growing out of it, yippee!) and I came up with a balm that I put on his troubled spots. I used UNrefined shea (so it still has all the good skin nutrients), avocado butter, borage oil, EPO, wheatgerm and emu oils. I can post the exact recipe if you'd like, it cleared him up within a day or two, and during the cooler months, when it got worse, I would just put it on every day right before the jammies, it helped a TON. Let me know if you want it!

So, for a deep treatment, you do it before shampoo? How long does one generally leave it in? I also have very fine, thin hair, but it dries out terribly, esp. when I'm in the pool all summer.

In my experience, while additives like Frostop, b/w, Univ. Soy Additive, can decrease frosting, there's really nothing foolproof that can eliminate it totally. Frost happens, LOL! It's mostly due to rapid changes in temperature, whether during cooling or storage, and it's almost completely unavoidable, unless you pour perfectly and then sell them immediately. Another reason why I don't color my candles.

I like both BCN's and MC's Spiced Cran - they are different from each other, BCN's has a sweet note, while MC's is spicier, but I adore both of them. Egg Nog, I've heard that Peak's Grandma's Swinging Eggnog is TDF, but I don't have personal experience with it.

I think the first thing that you'd want to decide is what products you want to experiment with. A lot of newbies (myself included, when I started out) get spread too thin and get overwhelmed. If you want to focus on, say, lotion and body spray, will you be making your own from scratch, or will you be buying bases? Making it from scratch will require a ton of trial and error, as well as a bunch of reading on those "gibberish" things like preservatives and oils and butters and the like, LOL! If you decide to go with a base, you can start adding small amounts of things like shea butter, that are easily accessible and have well-known appeal. If you could give us an idea about what direction you're headed with your products (which ones you want to try, bases vs. scratch, etc.), then there are tons of ways we can help you. Lots of info here, and we can point you in those directions and answer questions that are not already posted.

Bev! I bet those were the hardest candles ever. Did you get horrible cracks?!

I use them regularly, but not often, if you know what I mean. So far, I've been very pleased with their quality. I don't have any complaints.

I put my eczema cream in the low profile 2 ozers, I love that size. It's a balm-type product, without water, kinda whipped but not like whipped shea.

Adding beeswax at 2-3% works perfectly for me, it keeps the tops nice and smooth.