daniedb

Wow, that is such exciting news! CONGRATS!

Ack! So many good choices to select from! You guys are good at this. I think I'm going to have to try a few of these out on the site and see which one wears best on me...thank you SO MUCH!

Here are my reviews: Ylang Ginger - not what I expected, but very good. It's a little fruity than I thought it would be, I imagined an earthy, sexy fragrance. It's got a little earthiness, but it's pretty sweet. Good, but a surprise. Black Currant - very very very berry. Yummy, but not as earthy and complex as the red currant dupes on the market. I was hoping for a less sweet berry and more tart, ripe berry with other fall-ish undertones. Gourmet Dark Chocolate - Oh. Mah. Gah. FABULOUS. The most incredible chocolate I've tried. I'm planning to put it in my bath melts, so I can't testify to wax performance. Christmas Splendor - Good OOB, but I'm expecting more from it in wax based on your reviews. I'm withholding judgment until then. Right now, it's kind of meh, but again, that's just OOB and we all know how they change. Precious Gifts - very happy with this one! It's earthy, and is exactly like it's described - I'm very excited about selling this one. Hot Baked Apple Pie - I hate all apple pies OOB, and this one's no different. Somehow they morph into a real smelling dessert, but right now, it's plastic and not yummy. Again, withholding judgment. Chai Tea - WOW! Faboo! You can really smell the sweetened milk, but it's still only an undertone, it's a great mix. Very complex and wonderful! Big fan! Acorn Harvest - nothing special on its own, but it's a fabulous mixer, very handy to have on hand to add a nutty note to some too-sweet holiday FOs. Apple Jack & Peel - dead-on dupe. Great. Fresh Sq Oranges - Great. Very fresh and orangey, and not too sickly sweet, just a nice orangey fruity smell. There you go!

I've used it, not from NG but it's the same. I liked it a lot. It's very easy to work with, and it sinks into the skin like nothing else.

OMG, I love Caroline's Choice. I love it! Does this work? "This scent is a Caro Choice" YES! I lerve it! You are too good at this, yes you are!

Y'know how Cold Stone Creamery has "Founder's Favorites" and everyone has "Best Sellers"? I'm trying to come up with a phrase that will be unique to my company that denotes that same idea, but an original phrase that uses my company name. I want to be able to have a page that lists all of the favorites together, like the FO companies do when they showcase that month's best selling FO. I also want to be able to offer sales every so often on these special best selling items. I want it to roll off the tongue, and to be catchy, but not cutesy. I'm going for alliteration, but if it's simply not possible, then I'll give that part up. The name of my candle biz is Caroline Candle Co., and I want to do something like, "this scent is a Caro _____!" Or "one of our Caroline's _________!" Does that make sense? I'm beating my head against a brick wall. I suck at this part. TIA so much!

Yep, the keepsake jars are perfect. I get mine at BCS or BCN. THere are a zillion places that have them - if you have a supplier near you, check them out, obviously. But i know that Lone Star has them, as well as does www.specialtybottle.com under candle jars.

I looked high and low for this scent about a year ago - literally spent days combing the Internet for it - and no dice. I don't think anyone had it at that point. I'd love to see if anyone has found one!

Excellent idea! I did notice that my .bmps were HUGE! I just have a problem getting gifs to be legible enough - if I get them small enough that the font doesn't take over Manhattan, I've got blurry city! I actually found an awesome article, http://www.wpdfd.com/editorial/wpd0704news.htm Talks about common fonts - I was able to find a font I am thrilled with that's common to almost all machines! It also talks about how to specifiy alternative text selections in case your chosen font isn't installed on that user's machine, very helpful! So, I guess it's a moo point...HEE! (hope you watch Friends, or you'll think I'm an idiot) Oh, and I did know that about meta tags - they're pretty much passe by now, right? It's been a challenge trying to work the phrase "soy candles" or "natural cleaning products" into every other sentence without sounding like an idiot. I'm still learning the tricks of the trade, but so far, the pages I've optimized are doing well in MSN and Google searches.

I am developing a new site (have optimized my current one, so I know the basics of SEO). I'm doing a lot of images on my new one, and need to know if engines read the ALT text. I'm sick of everyone's machines not having the same fonts on them, and want my fonts to be consistent, but don't want to use Arial or Verdana, LOL. So, if I do a .bmp for my text, and include ALT text, will the crawlers read that, or should I just hoist the white flag and surrender to Arial? This is my homepage for the new site: www.carolinecandleco.com - no links yet, but almost all text images will be linked.

I like the idea of saying "Blood orange" as well. I don't care for the original name, either. I'm thinking Blood Orange & Pink Petals Sweet Petals & Orange Nectar Blood Orange Bouquet Sweet Orange & Petals Blood Orange & Sugared Petals

As long as you don't go over 3%, I doubt you'll have to change wicking. I never have, as long as I stay at 3% and not more.

Here's what I did - I heated approx 1/2 lb of flakes to 180, added dye and FO. In a separate pot, I put another 1/2 of flakes, and heated for approx 30-45 secs in the microwave. Some flakes were melted, some weren't. I stirred the heck out of it, and came out with a creamy, frosting look. I let the dyed and fragranced wax cool to about 110-120, then added the two waxes together. Viola! However, I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of the air bubble problem, they're terrible. I'm back to pouring slushy, LOL!

I just thought of another reason to cite only the benefits of soy, and not the negatives of paraffin in order to sell... I remember learning in an economics class in college that the leading seller in a market never referenced its competitors. However, any seller that wasn't the top seller always references its competitors. I.e., in McDonald's ads, you will never hear a mention of Burger King, but in Burger King's ads, you hear that "4 out of 5 customers prefer BK's fries over McDonald's". Even if I'm not the biggest retailer of soy candles, I certainly want people to associate me with that idea, and if for no other reason that giving a good impression, I'm going to follow the marketing techniques of the top sellers. Just another thought.

I saw that you did state it was inconclusive, and that's great, I think that's smart. I think what I mean to say is that there wasn't any substance in the document that I read through the link you provided. It was more of an outline, and a summary, that didn't provide any facts itself. Is there another document that you could possibly use that has more info, or did I miss some vital information?

In your scent descriptions, I am concerned for you that you are making claims that open you up to HUGE liability. You have in your description, "will lift feelings of lethargy and depression" - not only is that a drug claim, it's also highly dangerous ground on which to tread...I would hate for you to have an unsatisfied customer that blames you for not having her depression lifted after burning your candle, KWIM? Something many of us do who use EOs and other aromatherapeutic and herbal "healing" items is to say things like, "is reputed to..." "is reported to have..." "is believed to..." That way, you avoid liability and being treated as a drug manufacturer, which you are considered if you claim to treat or cure illnesses. Other observations: Home page- "armoatherapeutic effects" - aromatherapeutic In your "Statement regarding natural-ness of our candles" 1. naturalness doesn't need a hyphen. 2. in "The scent", aromatherapeutic is missing the "e" 3. in "The dye", I don't think it's in your best interest to name Gelly Candles as marketing something that isn't what they said it was. It doesn't look professional, IMO, and it opens you up to a lawsuit or some other retribution by the Gelly Candle company. In your "What color will my candle be?" -candle colors are made according to scent, not sent. -available not availible As for the paraffin vs. soy thing, as a pure soy candle maker, I would also recommend taking out any reference to paraffin at all. I have found that I am able to communicate my opinion and other peoples' beliefs about the benefits of soy wax without naming paraffin at all. I simply state that it cleans up with soap and water, that it's a renewable resource and that it's 100% vegetable derived. All facts, no opinion. And while I understand that the EPA is doing studies, there's just no conclusive evidence at this time that soy is any healthier than paraffin. Even the article you linked on your site doesn't say anything negative about paraffin. That's not an ideal article to use as proof, IMO, of any anti-paraffin claims. Just my $.02. I do really like the look of the site, it's very nicely done. Beautiful, calming colors and I LOVE the bottles that name your scents. Very unique and interesting!

MMS has a really good scrub base. It's a very thick pearlized bath gel type wash, and it looks very nice and professional and stays thick when you add sugar and FO. http://www.thesage.com/catalog/Cleansers.html Second one down.

Try this: http://www.candlesupply.com/WYWfragrances.htm

I can answer the Cit & Sage question! WYW carries an AMAZING dupe, that has awesome throw, both hot and cold. BCN sells it, but make sure it's the WYW C&S, not the CO or anything else.

Thanks, everyone! It's so fun to be sooooo excited about something and then have other people rejoice with you! I really appreciate all the encouragement and pats on the back, this community ROCKS!

www.theproductjunkie.com The writer emailed me the link, and said, I'm very pleased with the written review. The stars thing is a little disheartening, but I'm very happy with what she wrote. Plus, it's hilarious.

I have an emailing newsletter list, it's the same idea. I send out special notices for sales (which happen very rarely) or new product launches. For instance, when I started selling my candles. I don't do it for new fragrances or anything, and over the last 2 years, I think I've sent out 4 newsletters. I just try to keep it rare, since it's email...if it were snail mail, I would definitely do it more often.

I found, back when Henry was just a teeny weeny little guy, and I made all his cereal at home, that the blender is the best way to get finely ground grains. That puppy will give you oat flour from rolled oats - you can't get a finer grind than that. So, moral of this story, is...use your blender instead!

That is wonderful news! Congrats!

Ditto Carmen - I sell mine for $19 in an 8 oz low profile jar. A little spendy, but not for the customer base I'm cultivating.