Starr

This is on my wishlist of stuff to learn to do. They're REALLY stunning! Great Job!

This pretty much cements what my thoughts were, but I always like getting outside opinions. Thanks so much!

So I started with candles. Tons and tons of candles. Then moved to B&B, mostly soaps, lotions are a relatively recent addition. Needless to say not all of my scents are B&B safe. So I'm wondering if I should think about nixxing the non B&B scents? If not, should I think about pairing down my candle only scents? Right now I'm working with 20 "core" scents (not necessarily seasonal, not stuff I want to change) and out of those 20, 15 of them are soap safe. The entire scent stock is made up of 31 scents, 23 of them are soap safe. Something about this seems questionable. I know there's a few of my "core" scents that I ABSOLUTELY do NOT want to remove because I love them, my testers love them, they sell pretty well, I can't see a reason to remove them. Though I am curious about the possibility of changing some of them and getting the candle/B&B ratio closer to 1:1.

It's probably a good idea to start somewhat basic. Make a batch or two of "plain" bars so that you get an idea of the consistancy and have a grasp of what you're working with before you go for something harder. Shortly after I started making soap I wanted NOTHING more then to make exfoliating soap. I was told "stir it until it's thick" well I didn't have enough of a grasp on what I was working with to get it done right. Then someone suggested using fruit Pectin, that was a TOTAL mess. Finally, after I had worked with the soap a while, it just "dawned" on me what I was doing wrong and then I tried one last time and pulled it off with the first batch. I had wasted about 5lbs of soap trying to do this because I jumped the gun. I still can't get layers down right very often. Usually they pull apart on me. So here's what I would suggest, get a few plainer batches made. Then try playing with some marbling, that's a relatively easy but very pretty technique. Dig around after that and pick something that you might like to play with.

Unfortunately, candle making is not necessarily a super-cheap hobby. Depending on how in depth you get, it can be quite expensive. A candle making kit can be bought inexpensively if you're willing to shop for it. If you're looking for a super quick, super cheap fix, I'm not sure that anyone here can give you that with the materials that you're using. I do wish you the best of luck and hope that you enjoy the crafting that you're doing. Saving money is always very rewarding! Starr

Ok, I think you might win on that one. Though I'll tell you, an oral inhale of a very musky/perfumey scent will stick with you for HOURS! That's it, we need masks!

Half the depth or half the width?

Suntower, you could theoretically add anything you want to that wax, but I can't promise you what it will do without knowing exactly what's in the wax already. You could certainly give it a try, but Vicky_CO is right in that messing around with additives could ultimately get very expensive.

Hmm. I would think that your standard 2 inch diameter candle shouldn't give you too many problems. Unfortunately, I can't say with any certainty what's IN the wax or the specific characteristics of the wicks to give you any useful information. You may want to see if there's a candle supplier in your area and get a few supplies from them. Also, I know that Michael's does sell some candle making kits (or they did a while back) that you might enjoy playing around with. If you can snag one of those nice 40-50% off coupons they put out frequently, you may not even have to spend much to do it. That's how I started with my MP soap addiction. I thought it might be kinda fun, so I bought a little $20 kit to play around with for myself, it was a good kit. You might make out well with something like that for candles instead. Don't throw out your bits of extra wax though. If you take some wood dust/shavings or shredded newspaper, and melt it into that, you can make some firestarters for summer BBQ's. Don't worry about the scent, it burns off long before you put food on the grill.

I agree, the name Foreplay would kind of stop me in my tracks, I'd at least be tempted to smell it if not buy it based on that. I liked Prelude, Temptation, and Seduction. Additional suggestions: Eros, Lust, or Lustful.

Are you taking old tea lights to make new tea lights or something else/larger? What kinds of wicks are you using? It's going to be kind of hard to say what you can use in the wax without knowing what's already in it. Since you're recycling someone else's wax, I'm assuming you don't know what additives might've already been used. I would say try a smaller diameter and/or another wick. Are you selling these or are they just for you?

If you've already got a supplier that sells soap stuff that you're comfortable with, go with them to start. You can usually buy small quantities as you start. I get my base and most of my dyes from Candle & Supplies here in PA because they're close enough to drive to, so no shipping costs/wait time. I really do LOVE their FD&C dyes, they're very strong and give me good color. Admittedly, I'm less then enthused with their clear base right now as I keep getting bits of hard crystalization/clumps in it that won't melt. I'm going to talk to them about it when I go down there later this week and see what they recommend. If I don't get a good answer, I'll try someone else's. The only dyes I've tried thus far that I haven't liked are from Oregon Trail. They're not overly consistant. I had Sapphire Blue and Wineberry Liquid Crystals that worked GREAT, but the violet/purple and Forrest Green that I bought, I found that I had to use tons and tons of it to get a good color.

Scented, you found the HOLY GRAIL of labels and can't remember where??? *faint*

Scented, I agree wholeheartedly. That jar it very modern/contemporary looking and I don't think a rustic label fits it very well. What about something like this??? (I just fussed around and whipped it up quick to get an idea going) This got made up on DH's laptop, so precise/fine stuff can be easily refined with a REAL mouse, but it's just a general idea. Take something like that, give it a shot or two of glitter to make it shiney and have a blast. The graphic can be done in just about any color to match scents even so you keep a colorful appeal in an elegant way.

I did that recently with FO. Oh it was awful.

Depending on how well your wax takes color, just using a smaller amount of your regular/medium brown should accomplish a light brown. Now if I misunderstood and you're out of brown altogether, you just may be out of luck. Making brown is difficult at best. Maybe this would be a time to grab some Yaley blocks from the local craft store just to get through this order? With FD&C dyes, I once mixed red and purple (equal parts I believe) trying to get a wine'ish color and came out with brown, not sure how that would work with wax dyes, but if you're desperate, you can give it a whirl.

Well, I have to admit that I didn't think I was quite the chemist enough to feel comfortable messing around with Coal Tar the more I read about it. I've got a few idea's buzzing around my head for doing this. Definitely going to throw some cucumber, tea tree, and aloe in. Still working out what oils I'm going to bring to the party, emu seems likely. I picked up a small bit of seaweed powder, and I'll more then most likely toss some of that in too. If I were making this for a woman, lavender wouldn't even be a question, but I love my step-dad too much to make him flowery. I know his condition is worse in the summer months, in this corner of the world, that means a combo of humidity and heat.

You might want to consider trying Candles & Supplies again. The last spool of wick I bought from them had twice the amount of wax that the spool prior to that had. I don't know if this is something they've done universally or just with the zinc core wicks (which is what I've got). It might be worth calling and asking.

This has been on my mind for a while now, so let me throw it out there and see if anyone has any suggestions. I use clear M&P from Candles & Supplies and I've noticed since I've been buying the bigger blocks (which they pour) that my clear soap has what I can only describe as crystals in it. They're usually little (the size of a pencil point, give or take a bit) and full of little bubbles, so full they almost look white. I've tried to melt them into the soap, they don't melt, I've tried to break them up, they don't break easily (I'd say their very firm, not exactly hard). I don't notice this in my white base, but maybe it's white so I just don't see it? I've tried different temperatures and that seems to only have a little bit of effect even when I've made exfoliating soaps which aren't as hot on account of creating suspension, I still have these stupid things. Anyone else have this problem or know what it is?

Let it cure, walk away from it for a while and come back. Candle nose can be terrible. It's very possible that you've got a good throw and just don't know it yet.

That's really hard to say since they burn so differently. I would think if you tried to wick for the parafin that the soy would get too hot and you'd lose burn time. I think you might be best trying to wick for the soy, it might even slow down your burn time. Or at least that sounds right in my head. Good luck with it!

Budget... What budget?! Yeah, it's gone now, just accept it. I use the zinc too, it mushrooms, unfortunately, there's not too much that can be done about it. Pretty much, this is me agreeing with everyone else. They are a good wick though, I'm going to try a few others, maybe, hopefully I'll find something to replace it, but if I don't, it's still a good wick.

Hm. Don't have any beeswax on hand, but I can get some in the next week or two. Thanks!

Hmm. I found 4 x 6.5 but that's the closest I can find. Sorry.

coco - We're talking butters and oils right? A good mix of those and then throw a little lotion into it for extra creaminess? ah-soy - That is a most appreciated offer. PM coming your way! Also will be checking out green tea extract/powder stuff from New Directions. Thank you!