Camay

This note was on their last email: Free Fragrance Sample We always send a free 1oz. sample fragrance of your choice with every order. Request it in the notes box on the bottom of the Shopping Cart before you click "Continue to Checkout". I placed two orders with them in the last month and both came with the free sample that I requested.

Ooh, I am intrigued... never thought of mixing those two together, but it does sound good! Thanks!

There was a thread about Pink Sugar a little while ago. It seemed that most people liked ICS the best, followed by Peaks. There are some FOs that give me wicked headaches. I try not to hang around in the pouring room too long when I am using those FOs, but it is hard to do when you want to get a lot of candles made. Taking a step outside and getting fresh air helps me. HTH

Awesome job! I've been making candles since 1991, but I have never made a container candle, and never used soy wax. So you are ahead of me! I should edit to say that I have never succesfully made a container candle. Many years ago I tried to refill an empty Yankee Candle apothecary jar. Bad idea, it smashed! Your first is waaaaaaaaaaay better than my first container! I am very glad to hear that you are taking good notes. To me, it is one of the most important steps in making candles (well, anything really). By this time next week I bet you'll have a dozen poured! Congratulations! PS thanks for the heads up on the upcoming snowstorm, I had no idea.

Really NICE!

Now I am wishing that I had ordered some Goddess... I received my order on Friday, and it arrived completely crushed. I mean the box was really squashed. No bottles were broken and no leaks. Amazing!

Poking things is fun...

Ah yes, the surface tension of the wax must be relieved. I knew there was another reason to poke.

"And for what it's worth--I got air pockets only when I poked relief holes. Maybe it's just me:tongue2:" I am going to try not poking a hole on the next pillar I pour. I have always poked the hole because I thought it let heat escape, as you said, but also to release any air bubbles that were incorporated while pouring. I now use the seamless aluminum molds with wick pins, but for years I used the traditional tin seamed ones from Pourette with unprimed wick. Maybe I need to pour slowly down the wick also to decrease air incorporation. Question: does anyone use a water bath to cool with the seamless molds?

Why do wick pins make a difference? I use pins and poke relief holes. Sometimes I see the holes and sometimes I don't.

Sounds like I'll have to go to Ikea! Thanks Mauimom.

I have seen the tins at Michael's, a four-pack I think. But they were expensive, compared to buying online, so I would check with Natural Artisan, as Vio said.

Does the Natural Artisan have a store yet? I talked to Laura in October and she said they had plans to open a store around Thanksgiving time. I live only 6 miles from this place (the warehouse) but I never can get there! I rarely go north, so I am never going by. I agree that Laura is very nice.

mauimom, do they have any other cool things at Ikea for soap or candles? I've never been to a store, but I have looked in their catalogue.

You can't buy them online though, see the upper right corner (on the web page). I love those. Vio, the closest Ikea to us is in Stoughton, Mass. I might be going down that way sometime in the next few weeks for Christmas shopping.

The Scent Works

The Flickers sale is 20% off everything but sampler packs, pre-buys and 64 oz size. It is listed on their Yahoo Group page.

The $5 per pound sale seems to be over. They did it around Halloween and again at Thanksgiving. Maybe they will do it at Christmas or New Year's??

"In my humble opinion, The Candle Source and ICS carry the same Pink Sugar. I use them interchangeably, and can't tell the difference ... interesting. " That is interesting, Candlebuddy. I am trying to decide which to try. With Peak, I know I'll get a great qualtity FO, but they are more $$ and I'm on the East Coast, so shipping is a bit much. Plus I just placed two orders with them. I need some more Pumpkin Vanilla from Candle Source, so maybe I'll try theirs. Gotta love CandleSource's price! ICS is little more, but I don't think I need anything else from them right now. Thanks to Gingerinarkansas for starting this thread, and to all that replied.

I ordered a ton. I just couldn't pass on this deal. I got the rhubarb apple one too, and I agree, it smells great OOB. I probably won't have time to get many of these into wax before Christmas, but hopefully I'll get a few. My favorite so far is "Black Gnger and Bamboo."

Anyone try Pink Sugar from Peak? How about candlesource?

I think DENSITY is the basic underlying concept that people are misunderstanding. It relates mass to volume. Everything we add to our candle making pot has its own density (mass/volume). This includes the FO. The density of one FO compared to another can be different. If you compare 1 fluid ounce of FO #1 to FO #2 they will be the same volume, but because they have different densities, you will not be adding the same amount (mass) of FO to your pot. However, if you weigh 1 ounce of both FOs, you have the same amount. That's why using a scale is more accurate (which we are in total agreement about). The differences in 1 ounce mass vs, 1 ounce liquid measure is probably not much, but when you scale up you could run into trouble.

We were lucky that you left them so low for so long. Thanks Bert. And even with the increase, you still have the best deal going.

"4. Wax weighs LESS than water (it floats on the surface of water); therefore a pound of wax will have a greater VOLUME than water (more fluid ounces) even though both weigh the same amount." I'd like to make a correction to this: The DENSITY of wax is less than the density of water (that is why it floats). Weight is an extensive property (depends on how much you have) while density is an intensive property (doesn't matter how much you have, the density of a item is the same, assuming the pressure and temperature is constant). Chemistry lesson over. Yep, I'm a chemist.

Last year, CS did their 99 cent sample sales in March and August. I love their clean cotton, very clean and fresh.