RichardLOZ

Hi Steve Yes it is strange how you do forget about things such as that. We typically do some pillars in green, white and red over Christmas which are unscented and they usually sell pretty well. I did think it was strange a while back when I was asked if we had any unscented jar candles. Now that is something that I would not have thought about making.

Here are 2 pics of our display. The first is from the first ever market we did years ago and the second is from about 12 months ago and shows to a degree what our current display looks like. Its amazing how it morphs over time. Both unfortunately were a little cramped. We now generally display over 3 tables, sometimes 4. Also shows the product and packaging changing over time as well. Quite interesting to look back on

And while I think of it When we get busy or have things to do like shrink wrappping we rope the kids in to help. The other week we were putting together about 500 sachets of crystal potpourri. I would weight the salt into the organza bags and place on the table. The kids would put the hang tags on and then place into the cello bags. Anyway our youngest, a boy of 12 was kind of working away as boys do, putting the tags on and placing into the bags. I noticed there were a couple that had the incorrect scent tag on and told him so. He fixed those and then as we watched trying not to roll on the floor in tears we were laughing so much, he then proceded to unpeel the cello bags, take the tag off, put a new tag back on, put back into the cello, reseal and then start another. We watched this for some time, before telling him that he was actually taking the "French Vanilla" tag off, placing a "new" French Vanilla tag on, placing in the bag and then resealing. Talk about double handling..............

Hey there. I called Candlescience this morning and despite everything I tried including pleading my case they said they had no plans to ship internationallly. So how come they can do it for you know who, who I really do not want to buy from anymore. They are so damn unfriendly and unhelpful, but really what choice do we have right now. I currently get oils from NG, Berts and Bitter Creek, so they are loosing business as far as I am concerned. If bloody NCS could actually get their act together and keep up with stock, maybe we would all be a little less impatient with them. In any case even with the shipping most of the oils brought in direct from candlescience would work out between $10 & $15 lb cheaper. Such is life I guess......

Hi all One of our suppliers here in Aus gets their oils direct from Candlescience and this supplier is a total PITA to deal with. (Those Aussies here will know exactly who I am referring to ) I would like to order stuff directly from Candlescience, however despite all my arguments and pleading to them, they still refuse to ship internationally. Their pricing is less than half what we are being charged locally. I only use about 6 or 8 oils from there and was wondering if there was either someone close to them who could pickup for me and then onship via USPS large flat rate which holds 13 lbs or if no one is close whether it could be shipped to you and then you onship it to me here in Australia. Could pay via paypal or other method of your choice. if there is anyone who would be willing that would be awesome. Just PM me and we could discuss the details, or PM me your phone number and I will give you a call to discuss.

Back when we first started (seems like so long ago now), we had made a few tarts, jars and votives. Then it came to try some pillars. Being inexperienced as we were and not having discovered this board or any other like it at the time, off we went making our pillars. No one told us that the wick pin was supposed to be placed through the bottom of the mold, so here we were just putting it inside and wondering why the tops or our pillars looked like crap...LOL. Took us a couple of batched to realize how stupid we were and that the pin had to be placed through the hole in the bottom of the mold.....Doh! On another occasion Tracy was melting wax over a pot as we sometime still do for bits and pieces. This was was on for hours and was just not melting at all and she couldnt work out why this was happening, until finally she discovered that she had 2 bowls together with the wax in and on the pot, making the whole setup double the thinkness and with a small air pocket between the bowls working as insulation. That was about a year ago, and I reckon at the rate that wax (palm) was melting we would have been lucky if it had been melted by now....LOL We all do some crazy things, but at least after the fact we can look back on it and laugh

If you guys are interested and want one, further down in this forum I have one available for download. You may need to go to page 2 or 3 though.

Such is life I guess. Easy come easy go. When it is meant to be it will be. Was the store in Subi or somewhere else, just out of interest. I emaile a few places over the past two weeks with a brochure and a bit about us, heard back from a couple, but no bites unfortunately, however one of the responses I found quite strange and amusing at the same time. "Thank you for your email but at this stage we are not interested. Good luck with your plans and we may re visit this as you grow larger." I guess they prefer that awesome made factory product that can be supplied readily with no fisk of non supply. Lets not consider the fact that ours are hand-made, contain what is stated and actually cheaper wholesale than the Ecoya range that they currently stock. I guess it wasnt meant to be either. Good luck with it and I am sure you will score an account soon enough. If you are looking for something smallish to begin with, you could try contacting "First Avenue" in the Centro shopping centre in Kalamunda. They have some candles in there as well as a bunch of country type stuff, and they also have a second shop in the same centre selling kitchen wares. Might be worth a shot. By the time we had our product sorted we were just about to move back to NSW so we didnt bother. if you go up there, go for dinner at the Blue Ox Steakhouse in Kalamunda as well. A little know restaurant, but awesome one with very reasonable prices by Perth standards. as well as that my eldest daughter is a waitress there

Congratulations. Hard work and testing does indeed pay off by delivering results that you are looking for. Here is Australia there is a large manufacturer of "100% natural Soy Candles", so as you do I also bought one just to see how it would be. Pretty much the exact same experience as you got, black soot, some throw and the claims of being 100% natural, which considering they us FO is untrue in any case. Just do what you believe in, keep experimenting and testing and you will over time develop a great product. Its really just a matter of doing things correctly and having belief in yourself and your product. We see it all the time here. I did a market on Saturday where there is another lady who makes Soy melts and a few jars. Her melts are unpackaged, displayed in take out plastic containers, complete with chips, cracks, mis-shapen etc. Her jars have no labels as such, just a small postage stamp label with the scent. On top of this her tarts are $2.50 each vs our at $1.60. Now ours are all shrink-wrapped, labeled with both scent, logo, business name, short buring instructions and then boxed, 12 to a box, by scent. It is so frustrating. She may have a great product, but when people see our stall and then hers, who do thay buy from Believe in your product, be proud of your product and you will do well. I think my wife and I have spent as much time on the packaging and display of our line as we have developing it. Keep up the good work

Hi Jenn Yes I have looked at Sunshine, however they wont ship to Australia

We use quite a number of NG oils here as well. Yes we have had some that dont throw well in soy and we have had some that we just dont like, or that customers dont seem to like. Such is life I guess. Any that we dont like just get poured into tarts and sold a little cheaper as discontinued scents. Those that dont throw in soy get used in tarts and pillars. Unfortunately as we are located about 12,000 miles from NG is is somewhat difficult to smell what we are buying first....LOL. Thats the risk we take, but overall we have some awewsopme scents from NG and will continue to purchase from them. As other have said as well their customer srevice is awesome. 6 days from ordering to arrival on my door in Australia cannot be beaten I dont think.

Unfortunately frosting is an accepted part of soy candles. You can try to minimize it to some degree, but it is very hard to eliminate. I did find that I tended to get more frosting when using the liquid colours, so moved to the colour blocks. This reduced my frosting issues considerably in some cases. I have also found that the frosting is also affected by the FO that you use and even a combination of FO / colour. For example in my Spiced Cranberry, no matter what I did, I was unable to stop the frosting, so I no longer pour that one in soy, just in palm now. Changes in temperature will also affect what is happening to your candles. At the moment here we are coming into summer which for candles is always hell. I can pour a batch which look absolutely beautiful the night of the pour and the next day, however a few days later depending on what the weather has been doing they can have frosting from mild to extreme. Unless it is really bad I tend not to worry too much, and explain to my customers the properties of natural waxes. What works for one person. however may not work for another, so you are going to have to experiment and test to see what works for you. Others here will also have other ideas and solutions that you can try, so good luck with it.

Hey Stella Personally I have found that using frosted glassware actually increases the visibility of any wet spots that occur. Also I dont know whether it is my supplier of a general thing, but I have also found that the frosted glassware seems to "feel" lower in quality or thinner. Might just be me, who knows With my blend of soy / non crystallizing container palm, I am looking at adding a small percentage of non crystallizing pillar blend to it to see if I cant get it to hold up better in the summer months here. Koalagirl, ACS now stock a non crystallizing pillar palm which we have been playing with a little here for some of our shaped melts as on those we dont want feathering. Just have to get through this busy period of markets and parties and will then start to experiment a little with a small % addition to see how it holds up in the heat, and what it does to the burn overall.

Hi guys, Just wondering if any of you have come across boxes that are either counter displays, or could be used as counter displays that I could package my melts in. Dimensions would be about 5" x 5" x 2.4" which would hold 12 melts in 3 layers of 4. I have had quote on getting them made and they seem to be very expensive, so perhaps there is something already out there on the market that size wise may suit. Many thanks

Welcome from Australia

Thanks guys for the links. I ended up ordering the copper cow bells from Factory Direct as I had to get a bunch of other stuff from there anyway. They will do for now and we will see what happens later down the track.

Definitely an interesting look you have going on there. I have to say that I quite like them

LOL Isnt that what we are looking at. Perhaps we could get 1/2 container of feather and 1/2 glass glow. At least we could also sell the excess to people here on the East Coast as bloody NCS does not seem able to keep anything in stock! You want to go halves in a container of 30,000 jars with me also

He sure does, just look under palm wax and then container, you will see it

Well if you would like another challenge, why don't you try getting glass glow palm burning well, single wicked in 10oz apothecary jars There is one for you. I went through 50 lbs of wax and countless amounts of oils trying to get the burn right in those jars and it still didnt happen. Off you go

Susan You sure are a glutton for punishment. Wood wocks, essential oils....LOL I have no hair due to frustration, but I am sure that you would most likely look much better if you were to keep yours

Congratulations The thrill of victory is awesome, until the next fragrance combination, then it starts all over once again....LOL The great part about that is that for every oil you test you will get this feeling, until you come across one that you love that just wont play for you. Thats all part of the process unfortunately and is why testing is soooooo important. Keep up the good work and the rewards will surely follow.

Hey there, Do any of you guys over there know where I can get some rusty cow bells from? I need them to be sized anywhere from 3/8 to 3/4 inch in size. I have found loads of jingle bells and liberty bells, but cow bells seem to be really scarce. Any ideas or links would be most appreciated.

Hi there, For all of you looking for an excel template for costing, I thought I would just place mine up for download for you all, which is probably easier than requesting it via email. Although mine does contain quantities in grams, this could just as easily be in pounds / ounces, it is up to you. I have highlighted in yellow the fields that need to be filled in, and if you need any help with it, just post here on the forum and I will attempt to answer your questions. Hope you find it helpful. Excel Spreadsheet Costing Template

Hi Susan Did you know that David has been testing some wood wicks and then going back to tne manufacturer with recommendations. If we are lucky ACS may soon have wood wicks in stock that perform better than anything else out there, based on changes and suggestions made.