GailC

Now that's what I call organized. You even have your fragrances alphabetically arranged! I am impressed.... and envious.

Well everyone's 'smeller' is different and you may not even like it. But my friends and family and I do. It has been so cool here in the evening lately, I'm about ready to break out some fall candles. I'm anxious to try my new FO from Aztec, Sweet Potato and Brown Sugar. I can't imagine what Pumpkin Cornbread smells like. But gingerbread mixed with pumpkin sounds good.

Since I discovered Pumpkin Souffle that's mostly all the pumpkin I use. But I do have some Pumpkin Spice Latte and it's pretty good. I did have Pumpkin Apple but I used it all.

Hands down, it's Pumpkin Souffle from CS for me. People have told me they can smell that fragrance before they even walk through my front door when I make pumpkin souffle candles.

I have found also that no matter how many fragrances I have on hand, someone always requests one I don't have. I ordered some Gardenia recently because someone wanted gardenia candles for her friend who was undergoing chemotherapy treatments and needed that fragrance to smell, I guess while recovering from the chemo.

I guess I should say that I mostly make candles as a hobby. Don't sell many these days. Takes me a while to use up even one 16 oz bottle of FO.

OK, Vicki, I feel better now....I have another 118 bottles to go before I get worried. I forgot to say I have 11 bottles each from Candlescience and Indiana Candle Supply. I guess if I could only order from one supplier for the rest of my days it would be Candlescience. Thank goodness that scenario will never happpen.

Well, I was digging through my cabinet, searching for a bottle of Lavender FO I was sure I had ordered. Started pulling bottle out and one thing led to another and now I have a list of all my fragrance oils listed by supplier; not counting 1 oz sample bottles. I have 82 bottles of FO. Most are 16 oz, with some 8 oz and a few 4 and 2. Is it normal to have 82 different kinds of FO? (only 1 bottle of duplicate fragrance which actually makes 83 bottles. ) My #1 Supplier was Bert's Heaven Scent. I have 15....hope FO's don't get old. #2 was a tie, Candlescience and Indiana Candle Supply. #3 Mill Creek - 9 #4 bluegrass Candle Supply - 6 Can you tell I'm from Indiana? 4 of my top 5 were in Indiana. Alas two have gone out of business. Other suppliers are Aztec, Peak, Rustic Essentials. Then a few other suppliers I just bought one or two from when ordering other candle or soap supplies. Also I bought a few bottles from the classifieds here and from an individual who lives close to me. So does anyone else dare to count your FO's??

Hi Old Glory, I bought a sample of Rain because you said it was a customer favorite. I also went ahead and ordered from Aztec in spite of a few poor reviews because you praised them so highly....and the free shipping didn't hurt either. So I thank you and Aztec should thank you too! Although I really don't know if I should thank you because my cabinet is overflowing with bottles of fragrance oil as it is.

Received my Aztec FO's today. I had never even heard of this company, but was wanting to try a new supplier and got on this forum and lo and behold Aztec was having a sale right when I was in the mood for some new FO's. All because I got some Apple Mango soap from Bath & Body works and wanted to make some Apple Mango candles and soap. I researched the topic of Aztec to see what you all like then went by some of your recommendations and also got some no one had mentioned. The FO that came up the most was Sweet Potato and Brown Sugar, so I ordered some, and oh my, one whiff and I ALMOST was wishing it was fall so I could make some candles with it. Also got the Mango Papaya and some Macintosh Apple. Maybe I'll try mixing those together to see if it's close to B&B's Apple Mango. The others I got are Wonderberry and Bayside Marina. For samples I chose some that some of you liked Cozy Cabin Blueberry Cobbler Apple Jack & Peel Rain Cost revised Mango Paradise I like all the fragrances I got OOB. Probably Rain the least. I bought some Rain from another supplier and didn't care for it much either though. I was torn between the cheap Mango Paradise and the more expensive Mango Papaya. I'm glad I chose the latter and just got a sample of the Mango Paradise. It's OK but smells about the same as Fruit Slices FO to me. I really like Bayside Marina for a summery fragrance. Nice and fresh. Most summer fragrances I try are cloying...too sweet or something for me. I don't care for florals personally. I'm not good at describing fragrances, but just thought I'd share what I got. Now which to make first, candles or soap??

The first time I used a silicone loaf mold for CP soap, I had a dickens of a time getting the soap out. Somewhere, probably on this forum, I read a suggestion to put mineral oil in the mold. Now I do that and the soap comes out of the mold easily.

Thanks! That's about how I usually gel my soap. I have a big ole beach towel I put in the bottom of a box, put the soap containers on the towel, then wrap the towel around the top of the soap and shut the box lid. I keep the box in the oven (unlit of course) for 24 hours and the soap gels perfectly. Hopefully the 12 cavity molds will gel that way also.

I have been using a loaf mold, and a silicone large square mold to make CP soap in, but I am not the world's straightest soap cutter! I got an email from Brambleberry, and they have a 12 cavity silicone mold on sale, so I ordered 2. Each cavity holds 4 oz. Now I'm wondering if the soap will still gel in those small molds. I know that ungelled soap is fine too, but I've only made the gelled kinds so far. Do any of you use the individual molds for your CP soap?

Thanks all! I made some more this week, same recipe; but it's amazing what difference a dye can make. I used some liquid dye from Hobby Lobby on the batch pictured...such a nice see through yellow color. I used liquid oxide yellow dye this time, and the soap was more orangy yellow and not see through, more opaque. The Hobby Lobby dye looked clear, the liquid oxide didn't, so I should have known the soap wouldn't be clear either.

My little 3 year old great niece has always loved to smell my fragrance oils. As she smells them, I tell her the name. No way could I say, "That one is Sex on the Beach!" I wouldn't have even bought it, but someone wanted that fragrance. I called it Fun in the sun for my great niece. By the way, her favorite fragrance has always been COFFEE. Go figure.

I probably didn't stir it well enough or long enough, and I sure didn't use a frother! I just thought it would dissolve in the oil. It was an awful mess that just kept spreading it seemed. But at least my cousin, who was watching me unmold the soap, thought my whole ordeal was immensely funny. So glad I could brighten her day.

Oh yes, it was for soap making. I got it from Bramble Berry. I'm sure it was the soaper's fault and not the dye's.

Thanks, everyone for your advice and tips. I guess I shouldn't have thrown those bars of soap away. But the mess was awful. I think I got most all the dye out of my mold, Candybee, but it took a lot of washing, then I put it in the top rack of the dishwasher. It is one of the molds with the crevices, so that made it harder to clean. (The one that makes 8 bars of soap and says 'Handmade.') As for using powdered dye, it just seems like liquid is so much easier! You don't have to mix it with anything, and it is already dissolved. Is the powdered better for coloring, or what is the advantage of going to the trouble of using powdered dye vs the liquid? I must admit, I threw the powdered dye away too.

I thought about remelting the soap, but I didn't want to have to clean up the dye mess again if it didn't dissolve still. My cousin was here and she was laughing! while I was trying to clean up dye that seemed to spread like an evil ooze over everything. I thought I'd never get my mold cleaned out, plus somehow the dye kept getting on my fingers and the counter and I can't even explain how. I wasn't sure how fragrance oil would react to being reheated either. I should have read up on it more before trying the powder. I just read to mix it with a carrier oil, and I thought that would do the trick. NOPE. It didn't! It really pained me to throw away two pounds of soap though. I'm getting ready to order some liquid red dye from Peak since they have a discount on shipping now. Plus that batch was the last of my soap bases. Must get more. Think I'll try some Aloe Vera base along with the Goat's Milk and Clear Glycerine.

Well, I had to throw away that batch of soap. My first totally wasted batch. What a mess! The dye didn't dissolve right, and I got dark red all over my hands (and even my shirt somehow) when I unmolded and started to cut the soap. I am through with powdered dye. I just bought it because it was on sale at Bramble Berry. It sure turned out to be an expensive bargain.

I googled adding the powdered oxide dye in M&P soap, and per the recommendation I found, mixed the powder with a little sweet almond oil before adding it to the melted white base. But there were still little flecks in the soap. Also, the dye was burgundy, so I was just going to use a little, hoping for pink, so I could make cherry vanilla soap. Well, as I mixed in the dye, the soap turned sort of brownish purple with those little flecks. I was afraid the dye wasn't mixing in good enough. It sure didn't look like cherry vanilla soap, so at the last minute, I used nutmeg and vanilla FO's, since the flecks look like they could be nutmeg. Do any of you use the powdered dye? And if so, how do you do it? I'm going to have to test a bar to make sure the flecks don't turn my hands brownish red or whatever. The soap looks more light purple now in the mold.

Thanks Candybee! Well the packaging is cute I think anyway.

Thanks, Meridith. I didn't put a weight on my label. They're not all exactly the same weight because I just cut them the best I could, but for $3.00 a bar, people can pick out which ever size and shape they want. I'm just selling these in my home for a fundraiser for a friend with breast cancer who doesn't have health insurance. I don't claim to be a professional soaper. Some of my friends and family as well as myself have tried the soap in the past couple of days, and we haven't broken out or anything.

Well, packaging makes a big difference; makes ugly soap look prettier! My brown vanilla chamomile soap lathers wonderfully, feels very silky and smells very nice. 3 out of 4 is not bad!

I love your strawberry pie soaps...as well as the others. Boy, the layered soap looks very complicated, or time consuming. I haven't even attempted anything close to those.