Lifelace

That's awesome Carol! I use soy as well and was meaning to order from Millcreek at some point. Off to check it out right now. Melany

Hi guys, I'm hoping you can help! I'm wondering if you can tell me who supplies your fav version of these FOs below? - Oatmeal, Milk and Honey (I've only smelled a couple and they were too almondy which I don't like) - Love Spell - Apple Pie - Grandma's Kitchen (Bakery & Spice) - Ocean/Water scent - Lavender (or some kind of lavender blend) I have about 70 scents that I adore from the hundreds I've bought but I'm just not 100% happy with my versions of those above. Just wondering which suppliers I need to hit next! Any help would be great! Thanks. Melany

Hi there! I really like #1 and #2, nice and clean....the last 2 fonts (especially 5th one) I just see in soooo many places so they bug me. As a graphic designer I just wanted to remind you to make sure that any font you choose is approved for commercial use. You can't use most of the fonts you download for free on the net, alot of people don't know that. Alot of the fonts we all get on our computers like Arial, Times etc...are OK as well as those you buy off MyFonts. You CAN get quite a bit of free ones that are OK for commercial use though, like Ray Larabie's fonts. Even if the font says <<freeware>> you can't use it on commercial products unless it comes with a read-me file that says you can do whatever you want with it or you get it from the font designer's site and they say commercial use is ok! Good luck! Melany

Hi guys! I was wondering if anybody has a good massage oil recipe? I'm mostly looking for a good unscented base oil blend that uses several types of oils. I tried to Google but just haven't found anything I liked. I have several oils on hand: Sweet Almond, Golden Jojoba, Apricot Kernel, Kuikui, Grapeseed, Olive, Rice Bran, Sunflower, Canola, Fractionated Coconut, Castor Oil. I really don't know anything about massage oils, a friend asked me to whip up a bottle! I also have Rosemary Extract and Vit. E, I need those to help prevent rancidity right? Any help would be great. Thanks! Melany

LOL! Surprisingly enough, YES! Still glad I asked! I'm debating between Candle Science and Peak both of which are new to me, they both ship to Canada and take Paypal. Leaning towards Peak though since I need some M&P bases and they have the SFIC ones I think, not my fav bases but I like them well enough. Now...which scents to pick! Doing searches now on you guys fav scents from those places! Oh and I do have a 150$ order in my NG cart waiting to be placed....sooooo many yummy ones to try still! Melany

Hi guys, I'm really itching to order some more FOs but there are so many suppliers out there I get dizzy. Funds are limited so I'm really nervous about trying new suppliers but I want to try a new one...so if you could only order from one supplier what would it be? Which one has the more <<hits>> for you? For me it would be Nature's Garden, I have bought tons and not once got one I didn't like at least a little bit. I have a few <<must haves FOs>> from a couple of places but I would love to find another supplier that has lots of <<hits>> for me. Help me please! Let me know what your all-time favorite FO supplier is! Thanks!

Hi there! I hear ya, it's so incredibly frustrating! For me the worst to find are the jars for my creams and scrubs (I can find the plain white ones no problem but I prefer clear jars) and fragrance oils, most other stuff is easily bought from Canadian sites. I buy most of my candle stuff from Village Craft also (they have a large selection of FOs that are of very good quality), as for my bath and body supplies I've been using Scent Sanctuary http://www.scentsanctuary.ca/ but I will be honest and say I think their Fragrance Oils are nothing near the quality I'm used to from other places so I don't buy FOs from there. They are all weak OOB. I love that both VCC and Scent Sanctuary use DHL, those guys are inexpensive and I always get my stuff within a week. Also Scent Sanctuary has great prices on everything. I have just also placed my first order from Soap Craft http://www.soapcraft.ca so we'll see how these guys are. Shipping was very inexpensive from Soap Craft, only 15$ for like 20lbs of oils and butters. New Directions is great also but they are expensive, especially with shipping. http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/ I have also been very tempted to order from Canwax http://www.canwax.com/ and Voyageur Soap http://www.voyageursoapandcandle.com/ but I have to pay via Paypal and those two are a pain, one doesn't Paypal, the other I have ordered from via email and not gotten a reply in several days. As for my Fragrance Oils, I get most of them from US sites, if I had to pick just one it would be Natures Garden, their FOs are of awesome quality, great prices and shipping is very reasonable. http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/ I hope this helps! Melany

Hi! I just wanted to say you can find LOTS of candle/soap/bath & body making books at the library. Just ask the people that work there to find you books on these subjects and if they don't have them locally they can usually order them from other libraries in the region. Melany

Hi guys, I appologize if these are silly questions! Newbie here who is just starting out....and I have a few questions about tealights. First I know the metal cups and meant to be used in enclosed containers such as tart burners and stuff and in such cases you use unscented, uncolored wax. And I know the clear plastic tealight cups are meant to be <<seen>> so you don't use those in burners...but my question is, with the colored/scented tealights in plastic cups, can these be just left burning like this or do they need to be placed in some kind of container? I'm thinking they need to be in holders? I once burned some tealights (store bought) in a holder and the wax spilled outside of the little cups somehow and caught fire...I'm glad they were in a container so the fire was contained.....but I have since developped a bit of a fear of tealights! So I imagine these need to be in holders right? Also I know you should trim candles' wicks to 1/4 inch but do I need to trim tealights wicks before the first burn? I've bought lots and always see them untrimmed and I never bother trimming them myself. I want to make some tealights and give them to my mom and a few people as gifts eventually and just want to be sure they are safe......thanks a bunch! Melany

Hi! Yes I'm pretty sure both are the same, lots of people resell SFIC's bases. If you go to Gourmet Rose's ebay page the description of her bases is word for word the same as on the SFIC page, she just copy pasted the info. Nothing wrong with that, just means it's the same! HTH! Melany

Something like Tahitian Flowers from MMS? Anything with Gardenia and Jasmine I would say! Melany

Hi there, I'm not exactly sure how it works on your end but I do order from the states all the time and see the white forms on the boxes....the post office will make you fill out a form, all you need to put on there is the contents and value I think. When it crosses the border, if it is over a certain amount (like 20$ I think) we pay a % of the value, usually 15% which is our tax here. It's very simple, the Post Office will tell you what to do. Melany

Hi guys, I just feel the need to rave about Labels By The Sheet! It's been so hard for me to find labels here in Canada, can't find anything locally that's waterproof so I've ordered here and there from the net. Most places are a big PITA though when it comes to ordering just a few sheets or they charge you way too much for one sheet. I saw LBTS mentioned here and gave them a try last Thursday, they take Paypal (yay!) and it took less than a WEEK for my labels to make it all the way across the border here to my house! WOW! Now that is impressive! I don't have a business yet so I don't need a gazillion labels...this place is perfect! No, I'm in no way related to LBTS but I love em! http://www.labelsbythesheet.com/ I'm off to make me some round candle labels! Melany

What a sweet beautiful kitty. I'm so sorry for your loss. (( Lovely candle and such a wonderful way to remember him. You did a great job. Melany

Hi Kimmeroo! Well I get most of my candle supplies at Village Craft and then most of my Bath and Body supplies at Scent Sanctuary. Both ship to me via DHL and I LOVE that I can get my orders within the same week usually. As for my packaging will I get my jars at Scent Works and my bottles etc...from different places. FOs I get from many sites including MMS, SC, BB, NG, SW! Why do you ask? Just curious! Melany

Well I'm all out of butters (like shea etc..) and don't have palm which is one I know is used alot. BUT I can buy just about any kind you would find in a big grocery store, ours has a pretty big organic/natural section and I can find more exotic oils there too.....

YES!! That's it, I think it smells like something curdling in there, couldn't find the right words. Melany

Awwwwe man! I just noticed you only ship to the US... I'm in Canada. Do you plan on accepting Canadian orders? Melany

Can I just say I LOVE your originality! You crack me up! You need to open soon so I can go shopping! Melany

Yeah...I tried to play with it and could not get any higher. I'm all out of everything that makes a hard bar (from a list I saw) except lard....maybe I can add a little bit? A soft bar is ok though, I still am between the 36-50 they recommend so it will still be usable I hope!

Hi guys!! Ok, so I'm getting very close to making my first batch of CP soap and I've been playing around at SoapCalc for a bit trying to come up with a good recipe with the ingredients I have on hand. Did I do this right and do these numbers look good??? I read in the help section there that 1 lbs. of oils makes 1.37 lbs. of soap (with the lye and water) so for 3lbs of soap, which should fit in my Mr. Doright mold I figured I need 2.20lbs oils....I played around for a while until I found one that <<seemed>> to have well balanced numbers on the left side...I really don't have many oils now, wanna see if I like this first! I thought I would leave it natural (no color) since it just seems like to much to handle all at once. It will have Calendula Petals and some ground orange peel powder (not granules) for added color. Scent will be Sunflower from MMS. Does this all sound OK with the numbers below? If my FO % ok too? 2 more questions.... I thought I might find some instructions somewhere on how to infuse oil with Calendula petals (which will be strained) for added skin benefits. Is that ok or will that mess up the properties of the oils? Also the numbers at the bottom give me 2 points after the decimal (sorry usually speak french, not sure what to call that!) but my digi scale gives me 1g or one point after decimal for the ounces. Can I round those out making sure I still come up to my even 2.2lbs oils? Ahhhhh any help would be AWESOME!!! )) Melany

Hi guys, I was wondering if you had any ideas on what to scent Oatmeal and Honey soaps except the obvious Oatmeal, Milk and Honey (OMH) FOs? I'm just not crazy about the ones I tried....any suggestions on something light and natural? OR do you know of a killer OMH scent? Any thoughts would be great!

Hi there, yes Lush's soaps are definitely <<melt and pour>>. Here is what it says on their website: Our handmade soaps are made with only 40-60% soap, leaving more room to add other goodies, not as drying and harsh as other commercial brands. Yes they are handmade, all Lush's stuff is, doesn't mean it's not melt and pour! Now this is the ingredient list for their signature Karma soap which is basically just orange semi clear MP: Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Perfume, Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Patchouli Oil (Pogostemon cablin), Orange Oil (Citrus dulcis), Lavendin Oil (Lavendula hybrida), Pine Oil (Pinus), Lemongrass Oil (Cymbopogan flexuosus), Elemi Oil (Canarium commune), Sodium Chloride, Gardenia Extract (Gardenia jasminoides), FD&C Red No. 4. And that is 7.60$US for 3.5oz. Mix half clear half opaque and get a good Karma dupe and you have the same thing (or close!). Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Lush in the least, I actually LOVE Lush and have got tons of soaps and bombs etc. from there but I quickly learned I could do the same thing on my own and not spend so much. You pay for the name really so of course I don't think little guys like us can charge this much but still....Although I do admit their soaps are all unique and fun and the look and exotic ingredients is what makes them sell. You HAVE to change your mind set and learn to appreciate your soaps more, if you don't believe in them, other people won't either. Don't think about what your family would pay, they are not your market, they are not the ones who would buy soap at a farmer's market. They are happy just using the same old detergent bars from the grocery store. People who will buy your soaps know what they are buying and will be more than happy to pay more. And think about the work you put into this? Big companies make how many <<soaps>> per minute in their factories using inferior ingredients? Of course they can sell them for cheap and most people don't care and will keep on buying them just don't confuse those people with your target market! Melany

Thank you!!!

Ohhh I LOVE that Honey and Shea gel. Haven't had it in a while BUT I am on the lookout for a good FO dupe...haven't found anything good yet...oh and the texture of the gel is amazing....nothing else quite like it. I'm so bummed they are discontinuing it! Melany