adillenal

On your main page for soap you talk about making it from start to finish and then when I click on a fragrance and go to another page I find out the soap is M&P. I find that misleading. The rhetoric sounded more like CP or HP goat milk soap. M&P soap in my area does not sell for $6.50 for a 4 oz bar. That is on the high side. If you can get that in your area - go for it.

My personal opinion is that Scentsy is so everywhere and it seems like every other person is trying to be a Scentsy rep that it has almost reached the saturation point.

Although the sad part is that I am sure they have put some of the small handcrafters out of business in my rural area because I see very few candle booths at the shows I do now but there is ALWAYS Scentsy.

Sounds like I still have to enter the data so I can't see where it would be any better than what I do now. Think I will pass.

craftyone,

I use propay and have been thinking about trying the Microsecure Card Reader. Do you just run their cards through it at shows and then enter the data to propay when you get home? That part is confusing me.

Thanks for any info you can help me with.

The cardboard risers are simply cardboard that come apart and fold down flat. I have been using a set for 4 years and they aren;'t worn out yet.

I have an upland silicon mold and a woodfields silicon mold and have never had a problem with soap sticking to either one of them. I don't oil them.

I use an HP 3600 laser printer and do not use the transparancy setting and it works beautifully on clear gloss labels from online labels.

I saw a soap cupcake demonstration at a soap convention. The soaper poured CP soap into the paper cupcake holders set into a muffin tin. Then she made the whipped soap and piped it on the regular CP soap. Decorated with sprinkles and they were really realistic clooking and quite pretty.

For a really good patchouli, try Moonworks; I think it's the best. For sandalwood, I've tried only Bert's and was pleased with it. HTH

I agree

lavender

plumeria and honeysuckle

Victorian rose

jasmine

lilac

jasmine orchid

lavender and sage

lavende and honey

lavender and vanilla

I sell a lot of lavender and lavender blends in soap.

In lotions I sell a lot of Victorian Rose, lavender, and lavender and violets in the floral scents.

I see teens all over carrying jean purses so they are either back or never left.

Beautiful job by the way. Love the striped lining.

I rarely make matching scents. The ones I do have are rarely purchased together.

I use Evoo a lot in my goat milk soaps since I buy olive oil whenever I see a bargain. Many times the EVOO is chaper than the light so I use it. Darker green of course but since I make goat milk soaps I never have a white soap anyway.

After a few uses the salt bars become very smooth. No scrubbies in my opinion. Anyway, I make mine with 90% coconut oil and 10% castor oil and with goat milk. I love my salt bars. They are my all time favorite soap. Uniodized oplain salt from Wal-Mart. The cheapest they carry.

I agree with googling Chamber of Commerces in your area. I have found most of my shows like that plus talking to other vendors. I have a couple of people that will point me to shows that have been good for them in the past. I usually drop one show a year and add one new one. I have developed a schedule of cheap booth fees that have a great return plus one big bucks three day show. This is all I can handle and work fulltime. I am in a rural area so I have to drive 40-60 miles for most of my shows.

I mostly avoid festivals with free entertainment since those have not been the most lucrative for me. Montly markets, quarterly markets and Holiday shows are my best venues.

I only make goat milk soap and I have never had a perm smell or any other off smell. I use fresh milk, goat milk kefir and sour goat milk and it all turns out nice. I have no idea why you are having a problem with a bad smell.

I can understand bad smells with canned goat milk. I tried that once.

I personally think some lavender smells awful.

I personally don't care what you sell for but in my experience, selling low is a deadend. Others come and go undercutting my prices but I do not care as I have set my prices and my customers pay it.

I also offer a deal. Two fers and three fers. This allows for a lower price for those willing to buy more than one. I have built in wiggle room for a jump in prices for supplies so my prices stay consistent.

If you are happy with minimum profits, then great.

I think she only sells in 16 oz bottles.

I don't sell air fresheners anymore but I had a tabletop display with the little clamps like potato chips are displayed on in convenience stores. I also had a hanging one. Worked well for me but they sold too slow to keep them around.

I started as a hobby making goat milk soap since I raise dairy goats. It kind of developed into a business although that was not my original intent. I cannot keep up with it at this time but I will be retiring in a couple of years and at least I have something to do after retirement that I enjoy.

I use balsam and citrus in lotion and soap and it is my best selling lotion fragrance year round.

I am planning on ordering the Aspen Forest from Bert to see if it is the same. MUCH cheaper.

I have a mobile home behind our house that is my soap workshop. Big kitchen, living room is where I package, front bedroom is my office, other two bedrooms are storage for packaging and shipping supplies. LOVE not having to work in my house. A dedicated space is awesome.

I leave my liquid soap in a five gallon bucket with a lid until I need to package it.

And I use the LS samples that did not play nice with the FO or EO for home use.

I also do not want to scent the entire 5 gallon bucket of LS. I actually scent each bottle individually since I use foamers. I use a pipette for that purpose. I have 3 EO's and one FO that I use for LS. They work and I don't feel the need to have more than that since those are good seller.

Pink grapefuit, Rose Geranium, Lavender and a Rosemay Mint FO. I still try out a few new ones everytime I make LS in hopes one of them will be good enough to add to my line.

I have this problem also. I have a bunch of 2 oz bottles that I fill with LS and scent them. Then I let them sit to see what they do. They range from turning into a paste, getting cloudy, looking like it separated to no effect at all. I then use the no effect scents. Like this:

Is a tray mold a slab mold? I prefer wooden molds with silicon liners myself. I have an Upland and a Woodfields and love them both.