TallTayl

I do non-soap shampoo and conditioners formulated for animals. Sloooow sellers. The vets i work with approved the formulas. I resist making paw balms and products that are likely to be licked or otherwise ingested, including essential oils...

Soap made using formulas high in olive oil are more soluble (wear more quickly with regular use) than soap made with oils like palm, lard, palm kernel oil, cocoa butter, etc. Castor can also make the soap more soluble depending on how much used and the rest of the formula. I would not look at addives as much as the overall formula to harden/make the soap less soluble. Other common tricks: decrease the amount of water used in the lye solution. Most calculators use "full water". They have other settings to decrease the water amounts safely. Gel the soap Allow a long cure Keep the soap dry between uses Use a net pouf to apply the soap (this also generates more lather)

Beautiful!

I also wonder about legal issues if something goes wrong with the candle... If my winery's label is on the candle would i be liable for damage caused by a product made from my used, empty, altered discarded bottle?

Welcome Daisy. :wave:

If you warm the candle on a candle warmer (or a scoop of the wax on a tart warmer) does it throw? I have never had a Nag Champa not blow me away in soy at 1 oz PPO max when properly wicked. I have used all listed above except for BB. Could you have a wicking issue?

Btms seems to help reduce/eliminate any greasy feel in mine. A wee bit of IPM may help too, depending on your choice of oils and butters and emulsifier.

Do you have to worry about copyright infringement when you keep the original labels?

I have always just used the golden.

The only one that can answer that question is you... Your market, marketing, concept, and business model are unique to you. You can always start small and add on as you go as you find your niche and hit your stride.

I do. If the candle is burning unevenly in my product case, it is often because of a draft. Turn the candle, or move it to not be in that draft. Your cluster of candles in the photo would create its own air current if burned together like that.

Freebies of $5-15 in retail or actual dollar cost value? What is the order value? What is the margin on the order? People argue both sides of the samples/freebies coin. If the promotion is not translating into future or larger sales, then maybe it is time to change the practice or tweak the policy. Is the conversion of freebies to sales being measured? I send product samples out with online orders. It results in future full size product orders of the item enough of the time to be very profitable and continue doing it. When someone is buying based on a description of a scent online where they cannot smell it and fall instantly in love, it helps in my case to give them a scent sample of new things to promote the new scent. It made the difference between many scents making the cut or not. At in-person venues the products can sell themselves as they are sniffed, handled, tested, etc. Online samples fit my business model. Look at your own business model and see if it makes sense.

This all depends on your business model. One soaper collegue offers well over 100 scents last count. Her model keeps her extremely profitable because her clientele want loads of choices. She never has to carry finished stock, making all to order. I envy her model. Places like Yankee Candle do quite well having scores of scents to choose from also. Their product line is fairly limited, so it works for them. It is harder for people who offer an entire line of scented products to keep every single scent in every product. i offer 50+ soap scents during the high season, and about 20-25 in other products (candles, hair care, lotions, etc). It works for my venues where people expect a huge variety and want what is new, different and familiar at the same time. Lack of cash flow has more causes than just 'too many scents'. What is her overhead every month? Is she repaying a business loan? Is her pricing model faulty? Does she pull a paycheck? I would not be too hasty to judge another business as a bad business unless i saw the books. The first year is the hardest....

Do you rotate them during the burn? I get oval/rectangular burns on palm when the drafts train them into that pattern.

This is a neat little site : http://www.stillpointaromatics.com/index.php?route=product/search/aromas I find frankincense a little sour. Elemi too, with a citrussy note. Some citruses can be sour or bitter, like a bitter orange. Litsea cubeba is a little sour. Tunisian Rosemary is a less camphorous rosemary that may add a little of the toning down. How about black pepper? Labdanum?

I secretly wanted a cricut for a long while. Knowing myself all too well it would never be used to its potential. I would love to see what you do with it!

Usually i get the other way around. Vanilla is very difficult for me to smell. I would give it time to marry and sniff again. Sometimes those aromachemicals just need to settle back down.

I would ask the vendor if buying a pre-blend. I'm the type that prefers to blend my own. EO's change from year to year, crop to crop. Sometimes you need to tone down one over the other. Sometimes i prefer a different species of the oil than the vendor uses.

Like anything else, it would kind of depend on the packaging, branding and promotion. While Christmas shopping at BB&B i saw some new Yankee molded tarts in their iconic jar shape. The price point was over $2 per little molded jar shape (1 oz maybe) in a plastic baggie with a hang tag. At a Tractor Supply i saw cut up wax that looked like little rustic brownies in a cello bag tied with a gingham ribbon for $8 (maybe 6 oz). In both cases the products seemed to sell well. If you have a cute package, a great concept and the right audience brittle could sell well for you.

I use candelila in combination with beeswax in lip balm. E-wax is nice for a stable, simple lotion. I don't love the feel of it and have moved on to other emulsifiers and conditioners, but still use it in one particular heavy lotion. Never bothered with the other waxes you listed.

Welcome! Can't wait to see pictures of your progress. I don't have the patience for those

I'm not your target market, and never made the connection with DD (had to google actually). As long as you are not violating any trademarks, real or implied, and the name and branding appeal to your target market, then who are we as strangers on a candle forum to say? If YOU love it, then that's all that matters. One thing I learned the hard way is to not share potential names and ideas i was seriously considering on a forum. Good ones get snatched up quickly, leaving my ideas to benefit other people. Brand it, trademark it, buy the domains and then share...

Brambleberry has the best champagne IMo.

The only one i have used is Matricaria Chamomilla. Not because i have a preference, it is just readily available on herbalcom.com and MountainRose where i buy quite a few bulks.

Yuzu would be great. The best one i found (fresh clean scent, no A, no D, sticks, affordable, works in all b& is from TSW. Scented.