GailC

Aloe & White Lilac was the spring/summer scent I restocked. Probably should have restocked Water Lily & Jasmine too, but I want to use up some of the fragrance oils I didn't even get around to last spring and summer. Apple Dumpling was their monthly special a couple of months ago, but didn't order anything from them that month.

Cinnamon yum yums is on my Christmas list. Really strong cinnamon. That's the Cinnamon Red Hots you're talking about right? One of my best selling Cinnamons is Cinnamon Broom from Fragrance Buddy. I smelled Cracklin Birch because so many on here seem to like it, but it's just not my kind of fragrance.

Sorry it didn't work out for us to meet. Actually I forgot to check on this forum to see if you were coming. Should have gotten your phone number. I smelled all the pumpkins you mentioned ( except Pumpkin Walnut Biscotti) but the one I liked best OOB were Pumpkin Crunch Cake and Pumpkin Cheesecake. I didn't get either because I have so many pumpkins, but I put them on my Christmas list for my daughter to pick from. I did like the Apple Dumpling but also liked Apple Cinnamon Streusel which I bought. Hot Baked Apple Pie is on my Christmas list. I already have the Candy Cane. I did limit myself but it was hard. I only got one spring/summer scent and it was a restock. I have so many FO's for the warmer months and don't sell nearly as many of those. I put Denim on my Christmas list. I like the name and the fragrance OOB Oh, and I really hope I get Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies for Christmas. Once again, I like the name and the scent.

Can't quite remember when we got there, but we went to lunch a little early because my nose needed a break!

This visit was much better than last time. I sniffed and sniffed until my sniffer gave out, then my daughter and I went into Wellington for lunch and had delicious pizza and breadsticks. We had eaten so much Amish Food/Cracker Barrel since Friday we wanted something different. Went back to NG to finalize my decisions and resmell some. So hard to limit myself but I kept reminding me that I didn't NEED any except the ones I needed to restock which were Apple Orchard, Carrot Cake, and Aloe & White Lilac. The new ones I narrowed it down to were Apple Cinnamon Streusel, Hansel & Gretel's House, Madagascar Spice and Frankincense & Myrrh (because 2 customers have requested Frankincense & Myrrh.) I checked several others on my list for future purchases maybe and checked some for my daughter to choose for me for Christmas. Some on her list were Denim, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, Lavender Luxury, Vanilla Silk, and Pumpkin Crunch Cake. I gave her several other suggestions so I could be surprised a little with what I wind up getting. I also picked up 2 cases of wax so saved a bunch on shipping. I had a list to smell but smelled a bunch not on the list since they were right there for the smelling. It was a fun time and it took me awhile to get all sniffed out and able to leave that place.

It would be great to meet you! We will be there Monday sometime in the morning. I saw that they close at 4:00 now but that's OK because we're staying in Ashland and will have the whole day to sniff, sniff, sniff. The lady there last time said that sometimes customers sniff for awhile then take a break and go eat lunch then come back and sniff some more. We may do that. I have a list of what I want to smell, like last time. This time I'll be able to do it justice because I won't be rushed. I will try to stay away from spring/summer scents because I already have so, so many I need to use. May smell some for future reference though. I do need to restock Aloe & White Lilac. I want to smell the apples and pumpkins because I just did a very successful fundraiser and the lady wants to do another one next fall with just fall scents. They sold lots and lots of Pumpkin and Apple and she wants even more candles next year. It's someone I know so I'm pretty sure she'll follow through. I used NG's Apple Cinnamon for one of my apple scents. I may get a couple more of those. Want to smell the different Cinnamons too because those sold well too. Some scents I want to smell to compare with the same scent I have from another supplier. I envy you being only 15 minutes away! But even if I was too, I would still have to buy my favorites online from other suppliers. That's why I should stop adding more suppliers. Like my most recent one, Bitter Creek. But now that I've tried their Pumpkin Cheesecake, I will have to order from them again sometime.

Oh, I have so many fragrance oils that are good with 444, I couldn't list them all. Here are a few: Candlescience: Cinnamon Stick, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Souffle, Pumpkin Caramel Crunch Candlewic: Pumpkin Chai, Apple Cider Donut, Black Tea Orange & Almond, Berry Tangerine Rustic Escentuals: Spiced Pumpkin Latte, Caramel Cafe, Baked Apple, Celtic Moonspice Mill Creek: Grandma's Kitchen, Cozy Home, Backroads Aztec: Black Raspberry & Vanilla, Volcano, Cantaloupe & Lily, Leaves Nature's Garden:Apple Mango Tango, Australian Bamboo Grass, Hot Orange Danish, Coco Mango, Cottage Breeze, Water Lily & Jasmine Cierra: Blueberry Cobbler, Sea Island Cotton Flaming Candle: Chai Fragrance Buddy: Cinnamon Broom, Lemon Pound Cake, Pumpkin Cupcake, Sea Witch, Spiced Apples & Peaches Many other from above suppliers as well as other suppliers.

Good for you to sticking to just a few FO's. I'm just not that disciplined.

Oh man you should go! Only 2 hours. I'm about 2 1/2 hours away from The Candlemaker's store, but I don't like their oils as well and the 'store' is in the warehouse. They have lots of samples to sniff but if I like a scent I have to write it down and order online when I get home. They have wicks and other supplies you can buy on site plus their $9.99 specials. I've bought some of those, then regretted it usually. I went there a few weeks ago, but didn't know the store was closed on Mondays so I couldn't sniff anything. The guy did give me 4 free one ounce samples in sympathy though. Nature's Garden is a bright, clean store in Amish country. I can sniff to my heart's content then buy the 16 oz bottles I decide on.

I haven't tried that one. I'll put it on my list of scents to smell. Thanks! You're right; I had a pretty miserable summer healthwise, but I am better now and should go while I feel good and have the time and money.

You know in my heart, I don't want to be talked down.

I had a potential customer who asked for very specific fragrances similar to some a Candle company sells. One was Cabin Getaway. So I looked on NG's site and found that Christmas Cabin sounded very similar. My new customer loved it, said it is her favorite, and it has sold pretty well. It has the tree smell but not overwhelmingly so. You can also smell the fruit. By calling it Cabin Getaway, I can sell it all year round. By the way, I was so fortunate to find almost all the fragrances she wanted at NG. And she liked them all even though I don't. Brown Sugar & Fig and Lavender Sage. She has become a regular customer and buys several candles at a time.

My daughter and I are going on a little trip and I decided to make a 4 hour drive from where we'll be to Nature's Garden, because I LOVE that place. Some of you may recall, I went there a couple of years ago, but they closed at 5:00 and we got there at 4:15. So I didn't have time to do it justice. So much to smell, so little time. This time we are getting a hotel close to there the night before and I will have the day to go smell to my heart's content. But last night, I pulled out all my Nature's Garden FO's to see what I needed to restock, and realized that I REALLY don't need to go to Nature's Garden. I mean, besides all these, I have a ton of other FO's from Aztec and Candlewic and FB and Rustic Escentuals and Candlescience and Mill Creek and the Candlemaker's Store and the list goes on. I'm trying to think of the pluses: 1.My daughter is buying me some FO's for Christmas (I'm going to give her a list to choose from once I smell to my heart's content). 2. All that mileage will help on business expenses. 3. It will make me happy. That's all I got. Minuses: 1. It's a 4 hour drive from where we'll be. 2. I have more fragrance oil now than I could use up in years probably. So tell me to be reasonable.

For a bakery lemon, Lemon Pound Cake from Fragrance Buddy is awesome. I sell a lot of soy candles made with it. Smells exactly like the Lemon Pound Cake from Starbucks tastes.

I have used a few. I really like Bamboo Rainforest and Snow Cream. Country Berry Hotcakes is good too. Some of their oils seem weak OOB to me, but I should put some more of their scents I have in oil to truly judge. I learned that lesson a few years ago. I had bought one of their specials, Botanical Breeze, and it sat in my cabinet for probably 3 years, because I wasn't that impressed with it OOB. Finally put it in wax and was very pleasantly surprised. It was really good! I know you can't really judge an FO by how it smells OOB. On the other hand, sometimes if an oil does smell weak, that's because it is. I have sniffed a bunch of their samples when I was there picking up an order in the past, and wrote down some I really liked. But when I got home and looked them up, many of their prices per 16 oz were too high for me. $20 a bottle (16 oz) is normally my limit because there are so many suppliers with good FO's at reasonable prices. I'd rather buy from Nature's Garden, Aztec, Fragrance Buddy, Candlewic, Candlescience and even Rustic Escentuals. They are still cheaper usually, even with shipping. Except maybe RE, because their shipping is so high, but they have some really good FO's I like.