lovemylabs

We use to buy from them, but when they changed over to "shipping included" and raised their prices through the roof, we searched other suppliers to find our products. It's a shame because they have some amazing stuff. But to me, there are plenty of suppliers out there that equally have awesome products, but for a fair price.

I just did two mock orders for the same product...I added 10 cases of 8 ounce mason jars from CS (or two five count boxes) and the same number of cases from AH/RE ... shipping from CS was $20.00 LESS! I was hoping that since AH/RE was closer, it would be just a tad cheaper. What's up with that!!!! I'll stick with CS

We soap NG's Frank & Myrrh...huge seller for us. We HP though.

Although we have alot of fragrance and essential oils, I always feel the need to offer new fragrances when we approach a new season in both the Soap and Candle lines. Since Christmas scents are usually "earthy", bakery and spicy, I'm looking to find some "refreshing" but yet winter scents. I keep getting stuck on the same ole' scents. I need to move outside my "comfort zone". What do y'all like for the time between Christmas and Spring?

Bumpin this since we finally got around to doing it. So....we ordered Cinnamon (Bark) EO from New Directions. It's fantastic!! We added 2.2 ounces for a 3 lb loaf. GOOD LORD!!! I went to shower with it and it's fine for a bath and body bar, but holy cow, i washed my face with it and it felt like I had a sunburn! I rinsed my face, looked in the mirror and it looked like I had gone to the tropics on vacation! Next batch we're going to reduce the amount of eo. Maybe around 1.75 ounces per 3 lb loaf. Anyone that soaps this, we have a customer that asked us to put ground cinnamon in it...what do you think? I've never added ground cinnamon to soap. What do you recommend we start with? Thanks for your input.

@Oceangazer...we soaped Blue Spruce, but we HP. We still have three bars from last year and it still smells amazing and didn't discolor. It was not a huge seller for us though. We may soap a small batch again this year to see if it moves any better. One guy bought it and said "I feel like a walking Christmas Tree" LOL

They have set up at some of the same venues as us. They make an amazing product and have a huge following. Their company is growing like crazy. Recently we set up at two different events and in both events, saw two copy-cat companies.

Thanks Karen...I did see where they have one. But I don't buy much from them anymore since they jacked up their prices and say the shipping is free. I think I'll keep looking...

They emailed me back.... "I am very sorry, but we are out of stock of the Nutcracker fragrance oil. Our supplier is out of business and we can no longer get this scent. We are trying to get a duplication of this fragrance, but at this time we have not found a good duplication. If there is anything else we can help you with, please let us know".

I may do that...Love that fragrance...thanks Carol!

I just went to order some Nutcracker from NG and it's gone! I love this fragrance and it did so well for us last year in both candles and soap. When did they do away with it? Any ideas for replacements?

Sorry carsonogx, can't help you on that question, but wanted to do a follow up on the coffee grounds...Well, we made two three pound batches of Coffee Soap using CS Vanilla Hazelnut. It smells amazing. The first batch we used 4 T of coffee grounds. OMG...too much!! The second batch we used 2 T...still too much. My husband told somebody it was like 60 grit sandpaper. So we're going to promote these two batches as strictly handsoap OR if you're a surgeon and can stitch your skin back together after use! We just did a third batch last week and didn't add any grounds at all. Gonna try it out soon.

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Barbara!! I found a couple that sounded great, but didn't want to pay for shipping for just one fragrance oil. One of the suppliers was WSP, I think and shipping... ouch!! ( I don't know why I didn't look at RE!!! We need more Little Black Dress and a couple other oils from them...so this is perfect!) Thanks again!

I know I came across a thread about Cinnamon FO (or possibly EO) in soapmaking. I can't find it anywhere! I've come across Cinnamon (powder) added to the soap, but I'm looking for the thread that talks about a bath/body safe Cinnamon Oil. Anyone know where this thread is? I'm looking for a supplier that has a good Cinnamon Fragrance Oil (or EO) for soapmaking.

We do private labeling for customers that want it. I agree...some of these wholesale accounts will reach customers that we normally wouldn't reach. When they get repeat business, we get repeat business. As her business grows because of your product, your sales will increase as well.

Pumpkin Souffle is our best seller in the Fall and Winter. We absolutely have to wick up on it. Getting ready to test Blueberry Cheesecake, Cinnamon Stick and Pumpkin Pie...not sure if I'll have to up Pumpkin Pie, but sounds like the Blueberry CC and Cinnamon Stick need to go up a notch.

Count us in too!! We would absolutely buy CD wicks from CS!!! I HATE it when we need supplies and have to go to another supplier for just the wicks when our wax, jars and oils are coming from CS. (However, in the past, when we need to order wicks and have to go to the other supplier, I'll go ahead and order the oils from them too just to avoid having to order from both...it saves on shipping)

We HP CS Love Spell and people love it and tell us it smells just like the real thing. It moves for us so we keep it in our lineup. It's a strong fragrance and I'm ok with it...just not one of my favorites

Well I'll wick it a couple of ways and see where it takes me...thanks for your input guys!

When I placed my last order with CS, I thought I ordered Pumpkin Souffle, but when I opened the box...woolah...Pumpkin Pie. (Sure enough, I ordered the "wrong" bottle) We sell tons of Pumpkin Souffle and have never poured the Pumpkin Pie. Anyway, I am getting ready to do some test pours with the PP. We have to wick up with Pumpkin Souffle. Anyone that pours the Pumpkin Pie...do you have to wick up with it or no? We do a soy/paraffin blend. 70/30

We don't do potpourri anymore, but when we did, we got huge glass containers with rustic lids on them and scoops, filled each one with a different scent. We put two size bags (2 cup and 4 cup) next to them in a basket along with some bows. People liked doing it themselves. We phased it out and when we did, decided to pre-package. They sold well, but slowly. But at least it was less messy prepackaged. And even though we offered it by the 2 cup and 4 cup bag, people would always, always, always try to squeeze more in...sometimes they realized "oh, I have to be able to close the bag", and I would watch them pour some back in the container....googy! LOL

We HP Mango Peach Salsa and use Celestial Colors (Orange) and when we pop it out of the mold, it's such a beautiful orange....but it does fade a bit. Customers don't seem to mind, but I sure wish it would stay that color!

@ Candlebuddy...We did a blend with vanilla and leather and was going to call it that...but my biker nephew said "you can't use that name" (leather and lace)...When I asked why he said "because it's a women biker club...go online and check it out". So I did and hence, we now call it Leather and Pearls. But we are still working on blending the leather (I don't care for it by iteself either). But we have found that amber, musk, egyptian musk...anything that has earthy notes to it work well....still working on an additional scent that has a "pop" to it....But just the two alone (leather & musk, leather & oakmoss/amber and leather and egyptian musk actually smells pretty nice.

We do...Our Candle and Soaping business has picked up tremendously this past year. My husband and I do this together. And aside from him working a couple of months during the summer, this is the only thing we do. We started this business while he had a full time job...thank goodness, because last July he became an unemployment statistic. We got into a couple of gift shops, started doing festivals and farmers markets. Then the wholesale accounts started coming in....we just picked up another one today. Also today, the owner of one of the shops we're in, contacted us telling us she wanted to hook us up with someone starting up a high end gift shop and would be interested in our soap and candle line. When we go to the Farmers Markets, people ask "do you wholesale"...and the next thing you know they fill out an online app and place an order. Others will tell us about gift shops we should go to...so we make some cold calls and a few times, we've gotten in. I don't know what I'd do without my husband. He does our website, our label design/layout, our sign design for banners for festivals/events and he's a chemistry major. Even though it's obviously not necessary to have a degree, it's nice having that on board. I feel blessed to have come so far with the business. As it continues to grow, it made me realize that I don't want to open a shop/have a store front. I'd rather wholesale/retail and do a few festivals and farmers markets...and have the rest of the time "free". Sorry to hear you guys have RA...my mother had that. My brother n law has Lupus and he's tired allll the time. He gets very frustrated...but between the illness and meds, I think he's doin' pretty amazing.

We had a request for Leather, so we ordered it in and now it's not moving. I've been trying to figure out if we could blend it with something just to move it. Oh...we want to HP soap it. We did a blend of Leather and Vanilla to call it Leather and Pearls...but the Vanilla discolored (of course). Nobody wants to smell like Leather. Any suggestions?