ckelley116

I just read that girl's review and have to completely disagree with her! I think it smells great OOB. I plan to make tarts with it this weekend. It doesn't smell like a frou-frou umbrella drink, but it is a nice, light, fruity fragrance that I personally thought smelled awesome! Definitely no "celery" notes detected here

ETA: I posted this in the wrong section! I'm sorry! Can't delete I don't think... I had a very good friend who died of Cystic Fibrosis in January 2009. This May, which is Cystic Fibrosis month, I'd like to sell candles made in his honor (they're scented with an Ocean scent, because he loved the beach, and I've designed a label with his picture to go on them). My plan is to charge $10 per candle and then donate it all to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. But I've never done anything like this, so I was wondering - I assume I still have to charge sales tax for these even though none of the money is actually coming back to me, correct?

I'm starting to consider fragrances for 2010's winter and holiday season (I know it's barely April, but I have a really boring day job with no limits on my internet use that lets me plan really, really far ahead) and I have a small list from Backwoods that I'm thinking about. I've never ordered anything from them, but I see a lot of people on here talking about them, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Any reviews on these scents? Bay Leaf & Pepper Gingerbread Latte Honey Gingerbread Pistachio Dream Cake Sugar Plum Fairy Thanks!

Their Whipped Cream is not that good :embarasse Sorry you had that experience! I've never had a bad one with BCN or BCS, but i just don't like their oils enough to order much from them. Their Strawberries-n-Cream is a huge seller for me, and I like their Pineapple Blossom, but other than that nothing I've gotten from them has really knocked me over with its awesomeness.

I actually don't smell citrus OR spice at all with this one - I smell woods more than anything, and some musk. I call it "Autumn Sunset", but since you said it doesn't feel autumn-y to you, maybe call it just "Sunset" or something like that?

Violet Lime White Tea & Berries Sunwashed Linen Blueberry Cheesecake Fig Tree Christmas Tree Lavender Vanilla Palm Tree Chocolate Fudge (I don't carry this but make it specially for my mommy - she loves it ) I do carry Chocolate Biscotti and Hydrangea, although they're not personal favorites of mine. Customers like them though.

I started making candles 2 1/2 years ago and my products have gone through about 6 makeovers. I'm still not happy and have new labels coming Monday so I can try them out So you're not alone! I also have a ton of fun with designing the packaging, maybe even more fun than actually making my products, so that might have something to do with it too!

CS's Lavender Vanilla is gorgeous, light and powdery. I just used it to make favors for a baby shower and it almost does have a baby-powder kind of scent to it. Aveeno has a body wash that's Lavender and Ylang Ylang, so that might be a mix to try! It smells awesome too.

I ordered the labels yesterday - they should be here Monday, so I'll print off a few and stick them on the jars when I make my testers for the summer scents I plan to try out. I'll post a pic when they're ready to go. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I don't use soy but Peak's Cantaloupe was a big hit with my customers...it might be worth thinking about

I agree - seeing it on the candle is so different than looking on a computer screen! But I think you might be onto something. There's no reason I have to have a label that wraps halfway around - I can use a smallish rectangular label just on the front. I found one that's 2.5" x 1.563" and cropped off all that extra space on the sides. How's this? (last time, I promise!)

Thank you, Sabrina and Rebecca How about this?

I use QuickBooks Simple Start. I'm neither mathematically talented nor terribly organized, so I find it helps a lot. And it's easy to use with Paypal. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the feedback The "home fragrance" is off-center on purpose - I tried it centered and believe me, it was one of those instances where continuation and flow won out over symmetry (my college design instructors would be so proud!) As for my price, I do appreciate the concern. I've done my research and found my prices to be comparable to those in my area and yes, I do make a profit! I'm not setting the world on fire - yet - but another part of my business involves graphic design and the business I get from that helps negate any loss in profit on the candle side. Thank you everyone! I think I have a pretty good idea now of how my label should look. You've been a great help PS. Trapp, no soy for me. I'm a paraffin girl!

I have been using clear labels on my candles up until now, but somewhere along the way Online Labels seems to have changed the labels I get - I used to get a beautiful adhesion and you could barely tell there was even a label on the jar, but now I get air pockets and white lines and no matter what I do they will not go on smoothly! So I'm making the switch to white labels. I came up with an idea and would like some feedback on it if you don't mind :smiley2: They are 4" x 1.75", which will fit both my 7.75 oz and 12 oz straight-sided jars (that have the black lug lids). I'm going for simple clean lines with sort of an elegant, upscale look. On the first one, the fragrance name is colored to match the color of the candle (which, of course, I would change up depending on the fragrance). I wasn't sure how I liked that so I did a second one with the fragrance in black. Also, I've always kept my labels very basic but thought adding the "hand-poured, highly fragranced, premium candles" might be a nice touch. Not sure how I feel about that either but I trust the people here to give me honest feedback. Thanks a lot in advance!

The White Tea & Berries has been my biggest seller of the last 6 months and I only introduced it in the beginning of February! So you might have a winner there I actually like the Sunwashed Linen, although I don't sell it, just made it to fulfill a request by my mom. CS has a ton of good scents; I've loved everything I've gotten from them. They have the best price I've found on 4627 so I'm always ordering from there. I love how you can get a free sample FO every time. Sorry to hear about your leaking bottle though!

Nature's Garden does have it. I haven't put it in wax yet but the reviews on the site are good.

Fillmore has tumblers that come with lids. Looks like their smallest size is 6 oz. http://fillmorecontainer.com/Candles/6-oz-Tumbler.htm HTH!

What size/style are you looking for? I use Papermart for most of my gift bags: http://www.papermart.com/Product%20Pages/Product.aspx?GroupID=14802&SubGroupID=14803&ParentGroupID=18881#14803 And when I can't find what I want at Papermart I can usually find something at Nashville Wraps: http://www.nashvillewraps.com/cello-bags/mc-019.html Not sure if either of these are what you have in mind, but both places have a huge selection of bags and other packaging materials so maybe you'll find something you like!

Good point - I had forgotten that not everyone knows that right off the bat!

Hey Trap Peak has an awesome Vanilla Hazelnut FO. If you can find a good basic coffee scent (I second Kyme's "buttered popcorn" reaction to NG's World's Best Coffee, but some of my customers absolutely love it so it might be worth looking into) they might work as a good mix for your coffee with hazelnut and vanilla. Same goes for Candles and Supplies' Snickerdoodle fragrance. I used it at Christmas and loved it. The idea of a Snickerdoodle coffee is making my mouth water! Unfortunately I don't use C-3, I use 4627, but maybe you could just use this as a jumping off point

Someone mentioned in your other post that you can't use container wax for pillars and vice versa. They were right. Container blends are specially formulated for burning in containers - meaning they contain additives that allow them to adhere better to the jar's walls, etc. If you want to make a container candle that burns properly, you need to use a wax that is specially formulated for containers. On the other hand, if you want to make pillars, you need to use a wax that is specially formulated for making stand-alone candles. This wax is formulated to be much harder than container wax so it is able to slide out of a mold and be able to burn without something holding it. Using 2 different types of wax will also require different wicks. You most likely won't be able to use the same wicks in your containers as you do in your pillars. And if your containers are tunneling, your wicks aren't big enough. But you want your pillars to tunnel - a pillar that gets a full melt pool across the diameter will end up being a huge mess (and a huge fire hazard) as it burns down. Candlewic has several pre-blended waxes for both containers and pillars. It might be easier just to buy pre-blended than to buy a wax that requires you to add things. Pre-blended pretty much equals foolproof, as long as you follow the instructions the supplier provides. Later on down the road, once you get the hang of it, you can buy basic wax and add stuff to it to have more control over your candles. But when you're just starting out, pre-blended waxes are my recommendation.

These may not be what you're looking for with spring and summer right around the corner, but these are my favorites: Pumpkin Crunch Cake Autumn Magic Indian Summer Hot Orange Danish Chocolate Chip Cookie Chai Tea Cracklin Birch (this is an acquired taste; OOB and even the cold throw remind me of my dad's aftershave. But when it burns it's a beautiful spicy, woodsy, outdoorsy scent).

That's why I don't order from Candlechem...I'm sorry, am I supposed to know what "Buck Lure" smells like? I guess maybe I would if I were an avid deer hunter, but I'm a city girl, so that one's lost on me I even gave them a shot - when I first came across their website, I was impressed by their list of fragrances and e-mailed customer service to ask if they had scent descriptions available. They wrote back "only for our holiday scents" and sent me a PDF file with those descriptions. I ordered 4 samples and they all smelled like poo. So I won't be giving "Buck Lure" a sniff anytime soon - lol! Although, "Beer" and "Bacon" and "Pizza" are pretty self-explanatory...

They are one of my favorites, and I actually just got a shipment today! Kyme - I hear you about the World's Best Coffee, it made me nauseous OOB. But once in wax it mellowed out and became tolerable. Not one of my favorites, but I have customers who like it, so there you go Today I received Sweet Orange Chili Pepper, Blue Agave, and Beach Daisies. The SOCP smells more like orange than anything OOB, and some people have told me you have to put it in wax and let it cure before the pepper comes out, so I'm going to see how it works in my 4627 before I pass judgement. Blue Agave smells AWESOME - almost like shampoo, fresh and clean and sweet. It'll be great for summer. And Beach Daisies is definitely beachy. I can't wait to put all of these in wax! The only one I've ordered from there and haven't been happy with was Flowering Dogwood. I put it in CBL-129 and could barely smell it.