evesorto

Peach Habiscus has been one of my most popular this spring. Lavender and Lemongrass has also been well recieved. I happen to like the Grapefruit and Tea, as well as the Eucalyptus Rosemary, but they had NO COLD THROW so no one is willing to give them a try. I never understood the hype about cold throw, but when selling this is extremely important. All of the $5 oils threw for me, but about 1/3 had no cold throw, so this may be a problem. Eve

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I understand...I think I will take your advice. Just weather the storm. On a positive note, one of my worst shows last year introduced me to a customer who owns a spa and she burns my candle exclusively (1-2 a week); she has already purchased 72 candles from me in the past year....so I guess you never know. Eve

For the summer, hg would be a salty ocean scent - AH Atlantic Sea Kelp a coconut peach - AH Almost Paradise or BS Coco Peach a strawberry rhubarb - Formerly Flickers now Elements B&B My HG changes up every few months. Eve

Did two craft fairs so far this year. Attendence was WAY DOWN. One was new, so I have no comparison to last year. One I did last year. Sales were down by 50%. I did the same at both shows. (5x table fee). People are not coming out and when they do they are spending less. Only one person bought more than one candle. A third of my sales were from known customers. I did much better than the table mates around me, as many were jewelry and are competing with one another. There was another candlemaker there; she did 4x table fee and seemed ok with that. It is a bit disheartening as I have never done less than 7.5x table and normally am over 10x. When sales are low, it's almost as if I am giving my candles away. I may hold off for awhile. I don't think that I want to do any expensive shows (for me this is a $50-60 table). Sometimes I feel that I do the same number whether my table is $30 or $50. I was so gung ho this year to keep really good records, even try to record hours worked vs. sales vs. expenses, etc. This may not be the environment to do such an analysis. Eve

My experience with WSP oils has been positive but they are toooo expensive. I only use one Mango Sorbetto and am still trying to find a substitute for it. They did have a sale in Jan (25% off) and I purchased oils, but will not buy until another sale comes around. They also have bargain oils, the one's I have tried and have had sucess (amazing hot throw and people liked the cold throw) with are: Apple Caramel Crunch Cucumber Mint Pink Grapefruit Peony Victorian Rose hth, Eve

Honeysuckle Jasmine Moon Lake Musk Clean Cotton Lavender Holiday Scents - Mistletoe, Cranberry Marmalade, Hansel and Gretel. hth, Eve

My instinct would be Grapefruit....I usually like Rosemary GF combos. Eve

It reminded me of Robitussen and I didn't care for it. My godmother who really likes the Black Cherry from Yankee didn't care for it either. I havent' showed it to anyone else. Eve

It reminded me of Octagon dish detergent and I didnt care for it. Some people have liked it - I guess it smells clean. Eve

I use to do it by supplier, but then I found that this wasn't that helpful. Now, I do it by type. For instance, I have a box for "fruity" scents, "fresh" scents, florals, foods, etc. I tend to make them this way. One day I will work on florals, another day fresh, etc. that's me, Eve

Thanks for feedback everyone! Scented- is that 1/4 tsp per lb wax? tia, Eve

Hi, Wax is igi 4627 for container and igi 4786 for tarts, fo load was 8% (usually use 10%). FO added at 185 degrees. I have had problems with the following oils, oil seeps out of candle and oil seperates in tarts: AH Little Black Dress (black dye chip) AH Celtic Moonspice (yellow dye chip) ICS Wildberry Crisp (Blue Dye Chip) Flickers Marshmallow (no dye chip). I guess my next option would be to try 6-7%, but seeing as other oils aren't giving me the same results, I imagine it is the nature of these specific oils. Would love to hear feedback on these oils from those who have had success incorporating with waxes 4627 and 4786. I noticed on the Flickers website under the Marshmallow oil, it said something about adding a few grains of UA. I don't really understand UA and the site didn't reference why one should add UA. I just looked up the site and Marshmallow is sold out, so I could not cut/paste info. Any info, greatly appreciated. tia, Eve

Mt Annie- I've noticed an alcohol smell in a couple of oils that I bought off classys - one was a pumpkin - NG's Pumpkin Crunch Cake (the other was Solas Vanilla Plum)- I wasn't sure if this was cause oil was old and stored in plastic or if this was just the way the oil smelled oob. I'm curious if this is one of the oils you are referrring to? thanks, Eve

Wow. DPS Jingleberry. Never heard of this company. Never heard of this scent. I recieved this from someone here as a freebie (thank you). I think this is the nicest holiday, fruit smell and it is a powerhouse to the tenth degree. I've got to see if this company exists/ as well as this oil. Eve

CS Blackberry Marmalade throws well, too. It's not a powerhouse, but a 6 oz tumbler, 2.75" diameter, 10% fo, igi 4627, with eco 6, did my basement (20'x30'). Scent was very noticeable but doesn't knock you over. My godmother who likes blackberry really liked it. I'm not a fan of blackberry, so it was just ok for me. Eve

Gotta say I really liked the Bert's Blackberry Musk oob and in wax (ct). I haven't burned it yet, but will post results when I do. Eve

Update, Ed Hardy is still kickin' *ss and Moonlight Path is still holding on. That Ed Hardy has a real light ct but really comes to life when lit. The Moonlight Path, as I said before has always been problematic for me when it is an exact dup....the oil doesn't throw extremely well. Even the original candle from BBW was never a killer candle....guess it's the nature of the oil? I will not re-review every oil, but suffice it to say that they are all still 10's, even in my huge open basement. Within a half hour, I am able to smell the candle upstairs (when I open door). Eve

AH Sea Kelp. Love it. It's salty, kelpy, Eve

Update......I've decided to test in my basement....open floor plan...atleast 20'x30'. I noticed a little soot/ghosting in my bedroom. I painted just 3 months ago. I was curious to know if more soot develops with tins vs. glass? I don't see soot on jars or tins but I do see it on walls above baseboard heaters, as well as the baseboards themselves. I do have a gas fireplace in bedroom as well, but my instincts say it's the candles....I do ALOT of testing in there. I'm going to leave the fireplace off for next couple of weeks to see if any dust/soot develops on or above baseboards. Then I will use fireplace again and see what happens. Back to the Bert's fo candles......The candles are still throwing phenomenally.......I've already tried the apple dumpling, vanilla latte and the cuc melon. I was able to smell the candles upstairs within a half hour. Please note that the candle tins are two ounce (I erroneously wrote 1 oz in original post)....I've been using two ounce for the last 100 or so oils that I've tested but forgot to change it in my template. I imagine that they will all do well, I am curious to see if the moonlight path and ed hardy will do as well in my basement. I will post results. Eve

Wax is igi 4627, fo is 10%, wick is eco 2 and container is a one oz. tin, appx 2" diameter. I am using a new testing method. I am now allowing the candle to burn for 2 hours before I rate it. I am using my master bedroom which is appx 15'x20' with 8 ft ceilings. A rating of "10" means that the scent filled the room and was an extremely powerful scent. A rating of "9" means that the scent filled the room. A rating of "8" means that the scent filled the room but was a "barely there" type of scent. Anything lower than an "8", I rated as "0". I would only reccomend oils with a rating of 9 or 10. Many have attested to the fact that these low priced oils offer quite a bang for the buck and I found that to be the case. Apple Dumpling - I gave this a 10. Filled the room in less than 15 minutes. Reminded me of KY Apple Pie. Aspen Forrest - I gave this a 10. Filled the room in under an hour. It is a twin of Flickers Balsam Citrus. Christmas Pine - Awesome. Gave it a 10. Filled room in 5 minutes. Christmas Pear - Another 10. This reminded me of CS Brandied Pear....maybe I smelled a hint of cocoa? Could probably wick up. Coconut - This did throw. I gave it over an hour to marinate. I would rate it a ten. Reccomend wicking up. Sweet coconut. Cucumber Melon - Wow. Some throw. 10! Filled room in 15 minutes and lingers long. It reminded me of the ICS version...heavier on melon than cuke. Still prefer BNL, but if money is an issue, this is by far the best that I've found (at 9.99/lb). Ed Hardy - This was a suprise. Another 10 and truthfully, cold throw was somewhat light so I wasn't expecting it. Although, description says fruity, my nose smelled floral - sweet pea, in fact? Moonlight Path - This one I gave a nine. It was a bbw dupe, exact and it gave me the same problem that other exact dupes have given me. The only Moonlight Paths that have worked for me are the ICS version and Tony's but they aren't exact. Peanut Butter Crunch - Very nice. A 10. Peanut butter, cookie, maybe some chocolate? Sweet Pea- gorgeous. not bbw dupe. A 10. Reminded me of Jill Sanders perfume...a floral. Tranquil Sleep - A wonderful bbw dup....a perfect 10! Tropical Vanilla - Another 10. Very fruity....maybe akin to sex on beach? Vanilla Latte - Strongest of the bunch. Lingers forever. Another 10....starbucks vanilla frap. Not a candle scent to me but people will love it. Great oils, great prices, quick delivery.....I will try more from here. Eve

I add 10% fo, the resultant candle is a 9% w/w (fo weight/ total weight) candle. Eve

In my 7.5 oz tumbler, which is 2.75" diameter, I used an Eco 8 with the CS Wildberry Mousse, when I normally use an Eco 6 with most fo. My general formula is igi 4627 with fo @ 9.1% (finished product w/w). Eve

Tuscan Lace from Flickers is a dupe. Eve

I have ordered my 4627 from Candle Science and it was the soft vaseline/fingerprint type. However, I haven't ordered it again since 12/07. My last two batches came from an ebay seller and a friend who is no longer using this wax...they were also soft type. I am bummed to hear it is less soft than usual. Eve