RichardLOZ

We used to use the NCS clams, however due to them always being out of stick of just about everything, we have switched to ACS clams. The ACS clams are somewhat larger but still basically hold the same amout of wax (approx 75 grams) in my case. We have had a few of them spring leaks in the bottom, however the failure rate has been pretty low. We will continue buying from ACS, along with just about everything else that we use from suppliers here in Oz.

We also usually get comments about the way the house smells, even if nothing is being tested. My 15 yr old doughter always gets told at school that she smells nice...LOL, so I guess the scents do get into clothes and such. I am sure people think me strange when I go to the supermarket after pouring smelling like whatever I have poured that day also.

We also use palm for our clams. I heat my wax to around 200, add scent and colour and then pretty much pour straight away. I have not measured the pouring temp for the clams, but I would guess it would be around 170 - 180. We have not had any issues with our clams melting at all, and always get a nice feather pattern. HTH

Susan Well done. Its great whe it happens like that. One of the shops we supply just tells me that she needs more stock. She doesnt really care what scents as long as there is plenty of Rose and Lavender, the rest is totally up to me

Ok for all of you Aussies on here. I have just spoken to both David over at ACS as well as NCS and the Palm wax status is as follows. NCS do have some feathering palm in stock (they call it feather #1). It is not on their website, however if you call them they will set your account up so that you can order it. They say that it is the same as the normal palm, but that some customers have reported a slightly different feather pattern. They are doing it for $60 / box if you want it, but as I have just done, request a sample first to see if it suits. David on the other hand, does have quite a bit of palm and has already placed another order due to the smount of business he is getting from us over here on the East Coast because of lack of supply from NCS. NCS is not expecting their palm order to hit Australia until late December, so for now we will just have to wear the shipping, although Davids shipping is very reasonable, given that I have just ordered over 200kg wax, some oild, wicks and other bits and pieces and the shipping came to about $160. Anyway, just an update for you all

I reckon that NCS has indeed lost the plot. They have been OOS of most of their glassware for the last 3 - 4 months now. I dont know how they plan to stay in business with service like that. As far as soap supplies goes, I reckon the best place to buy is from Aussie Soap Supplies over in Perth. Great people, great service and carry Brambleberry oils which are believed to be the best for B&B products. It may be the right time for a group of us to get together to import direct from the manufactures or other suppliers in the States. Palm was seems to be the big issue right now and it is very frustrating when we are paying almost $80 / bag +shipping when we could get direct out of Indonesia for something like $10 / bag. Anyone interested in splitting a tonne of feather palm

I have had a quote from the Jar Store in CT to have a full pallet of Libby Lucida 10oz jars shipped over. If I recall it was something like $1.07 / jar and about $1200 to ship door to door, inclusive of all customs charges, duty etc etc. Still quite expensive although not too much different to actually buying the palin apothecary jars locally.

Yes, well I would like to be doing some pouring, if only there was wax available to actually pour. Maybe it is time for some of us here to ship a pallet or two from the states while the $ is so good.

Hi Susan We use OSCommerce and yes I have the Aus post chipping module installed. For me it is generallly easier to do flat rate shipping or else to get people to order and then email for the shipping charges. There is a paid Aus post module which I believe works bettter, but costs to use it. We dont use the BPay module, but do use Paypal, Direct deposit and we can also now doe mail and phone orders with Visa, Mastercard, AMEX and JCB cards. I just havent got round to adding that bit to the site as yet as I have been too damn busy with work, having spent 4 weeks out of the last 5 in the Philippines and then off to New Zealand this coming Monday. Hopefully that will then be all the travel until after Christmas as I have some candles to pour

We have the Bosch heat gun here. Not cheap at almost $100 or so I think, however the quality is excellent. High and low fan speeds as well as temperature control from 50c through to 600c in about 6 increments. As they say buy good and buy once, buy cheap and buy many times

And lets not even mention glassware supply from this side of the country!!! Jars are our biggest issue. Yes they can be sourced from David, but then I have to deal with the shipping charges. Gala in Adelaide has them, but I wouldnt recommend them either as the quality and consistancy is very poor. Now with the $ so high it may just be time to bring a pallet in from the States I think.

They all do the job, some just better or differently than others. I have tried Zen and Os Commerce, and have found that Os Commerce gives me a lot more flexibility and add on scripts than Zen, so better suited for my situation. No one product is going to give you everything that you are looking for and I have found that I have still had to either modify or write additional code to make my site work the way that I want it to, and I am still not finished with it. Sometimes creating your site can be more work than making your products, and can also be very time consuming.

We do individual 1 oz tarts as well as mini tarts in a tin tiw bag, I guess about 8 oz in total and clams. The individual sell the best followed by the tin tie bags and then clams, for us at least.

Personally I found that adding steric actually decreased my HT in 464. I test & test & test & then test some more and if I cant get a good throw at 6% the oil gets relegated to the discontinued scents list. Way too much time and effort being put into making a great candle, so I would like to ensure that I get a suitable reward when it comes to selling it. Considering that the FO is probably the most costly ingredient of any candle for us going past 6% is really not an option. I even have a couple of oils that throw so well I have cut them to 5%. JMHO

All of our melts are made form feather palm. We do both tarts and clams and have not had any issues pouring into the clamshells at all, and we do pour very hot. we have the odd clam that leaks, but I dont think its due to the heat, but rather a faulty shell.

I have this scent from both Berts and NG. I do not find the NG to be medicinal at all, just very very heavy on passionfruit. People love it, and I have not seen anyone else in Australia making this scent, at least not in the areas I have been in. At one of our recent parties, we had some tarts in both the Berts and NG varieties and all of the people there preferred NG over Berts, so I guess that is one that I wont be changing out. Tracy absolutely hates the scent, but the kids and I, as well as a large nnumber of our customers love it

I pour to somewhere between the top of the cavities and the top of the clam, giving a net weight of about 75g or 2 and a bit oz

Your site looks great and the pictures look just fine to me, although I am running a very high resolution. Also have to agree on your cheap prices. It does not cost me much less that what you are selling for to produce a 10 oz apothecary jar, so I am also glad that I am on the other side of the world to you

I definitely have to agree on her prices and excellent customer service as well as super fast shipping. I ordered 26 lb of oils from her and it arrived here in Australia in 6 days!! Cannot complain about that level of service at all, and will definitely be purchasing more from her in the future. As for her prices, even with shipping from the States to Sydney included she is still 50% cheaper than the local suppliers we have here. I wonder why I now get over 90% of my oils out of the US rather than local

Hey there, It sure is me who uses a soy / palm blend. ACS is Perth is the only place I have seen the non crystalizing container palm. I started using it in a blend about 12 months ago and have not looked back at all. I have also experimented with using it on its own, and yes it is very nice, has a great throw, however the melt point is quite low so there are issues with hot weather. The same supplier also now has a non crystalizing pillar palm which I will be trying soon for some of our shaped melts where we do not want the feathering. If you have the glass glow, no matter what temp you pour it you are still going to get crystalization, I have already tried that We only use glass glow now for one of our lines in limited scents as I have found at least here is Australia that most people dont go the that look. Dont know why as it throws really well, once you have finished pulling your hair out getting the damn wicking right. I am sure that David would ship internationally, however it would not be cheap I dont think. From what I have gathered so far it seems to be way cheaper for us to ship stuff from the States as opposed to shipping to the States. Go figure......

As some of the others have said, I also only single wick. I use 4" Apothecary jars with a soy / palm blend and if I do come across a scent that needs to be double wicked I will drop that scent, or just make it in tarts rather than jars. Double wicking to me is a right PITA and I would rather not carry the scent then have to doube wick. Currently all of my Apothecary jars are only single wicked and they all burn beautifully.

You could try Fresh Outdoors from NG. It is not a blow you out of the room scent, more a subtle background scent, but it does smell like freshly turned soil as if you were out in the garden.

Hi Johnna, While everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon, may I also please request a copy. rflundgren@desertrosemusic.com Many Thanks

Hi there, we use a local scent here is Australia that is pretty loaded with cinnamon. We use it in soy, feather palm melts and glass glow with no issues at all.

Here in Aus it is costing me approximately $1.20 AUD to produce a clamshell melt of 2.5 - 3oz. Yes the costs are a little higher as where we are everything has to be shipped, and now 90% of our oils are shipped from the States. We wholesale @ $3.50 and sell at markets @ $5.00. We are pretty happy with that as they are much easier to do than tarts which have to be shrinkwrapped, labeled etc.