AlwaysWondering

Thank you very much!

I'm going to place an order for the first time.

I don't like zucchini bread, not eating it or smelling it but we're getting requests for this scent. I ordered the one from KY and The Candle Source and maybe this is as good as it gets, hard for me to tell since it is a scent that is not for me. Do you prefer KY or TCS or is there another I should test?

Or this one? All are electric

I did this twice and have decided to never do it again. Well, never say never. I have just recently discovered this underground world of giveaways on FB. Along with that, I discovered that it is a definite hobby of posters to enter these giveaways and that is all they do. Enter giveaways, not shop. Reading their walls, I often see them bragging about hitting the max allowed 5000 Likes and had to whittle down the list to continue entering various giveaways. That is my experience. I had no idea there were so many giveaways and sweepstakes and bargains and freebie sites on FB.

This recipe sounds great. I'm a wax tart maker so I know nothing about B&B but would like to try this. I think this would be great for Mother's Day gifts. What does Stearic Acid do or what is its purpose? Also, if I want this to rinse off clean without an oil residue, what would I add? Polysorbate something? Finally, even though this does not have water, using it in the shower could lead to some water splashing in it. Again, maybe I'm wrong, but I thought if there is water in anything (even accidentally which is very possible in this case) it has to have a preservative in it? Or is it an anti-bacterial?

So....are you saying, in your opinion, that your paraffin candles throw scent better than you soy candles?

Can you tell me if you use paraffin, soy or palm? Or a combination of paraffin and soy? Thanks.

Thank you so much. Placed orders this morning. My first order with MMS and tried a few others as well, I've been looking for an excuse. I will try adding Vanilla Bean Noel to some of the Cinnabons and Cinnamon Buns I have.

Suddenly, I'm very worried. I'm noticing my friendly competitors are having sales and offering free shipping every other day (internet or etsy sites). No doubt, to get any type of orders in and cash flow. I also notice this in my own neighborhood with pizza parlors, nails salons, dry cleaning, etc. Everybody is doing sales and discounts to keep cash flow coming in. Signs have popped up everywhere the past week or two announcing "specials." I know it's gas and food prices and our items (tarts) are not necessities. Have you noticed? Any thoughts?

Ravens, I think it was. I remember before I ordered, I did a board search for recommendations, etc., and seemed to find posts that alluded to problems but I never could find what the actual problems were other than waiting long for an oder. I knew it was a long ship time and was fine with that and at 50% off, I wasn't worried. I also have learned that some members simply have different expectations. I placed my order, received a confirmation a few days later (not the same day but I don't care), finally received a shipping notice a bit more than a week later and they arrived about two weeks after the order. I have ordered from them 2 or 3 times and each time has been about the same time cycle and email cycle.

I don't use soy, I use a blend of paraffin and soy. I ordered probably 60 1 ounce oils from Brighter Scents a few months ago during one of their 50% off fragrance sales. I think they do that every other month or so. OOB and tested, most were off the mark. Not horrible or anything, just off the mark. I found a few that I absolutely love but that is maybe 5 or 6 our of 60. I ordered across every category from bakery to laundry to citrus and floral and dupes. On first sniff they seemed fine for the most part but when I compared them to what I had from other suppliers, the other supplier usually was better. For example, their Gain Original dupe is fine but the one from MCS was a smidge better. If I didn't have the one from MCS, the Brighter Scents would have been fine. There are some scent that are unique like Hidden Lake or Secret Waterfall that I do use from Brighter Scents. But each time I could compare apples to apples (or Strawberry Lemonade to another Strawberry Lemonade or Nag Champa to another Nap Champs), the other one won. I know you were asking about Soy but I thought I'd offer this comment in general. Also, shipping is about 2 weeks from date of order to your door which is longer than most suppliers. They really do have their fragrances on sale every 6 weeks or so at 50% off so wait for that sale if you do order.

Vicky, you are right! Each clamshell package is .20! Thanks for correcting my math. Even at .73, still much lower than those in the original first posts, half of their price.

They may have them customer made at either Panic Plastic or Impact Plastic. One of them does custom clamshells, can't remember which.

These seem like very high costs to produce a clamshell. My wax works out to 1.88/pound. My oil works out to about 1.15 per pound. Clamshell itself is .20 (all these prices include the shipping cost to me from my suppliers). My labels are about .01 each and toss in another .01 for the dye. Have no idea how to calculate the cost of ink for the label, I use black toner in my laser jet printer and print everything from labels to term papers to bank statements and one toner cartridge lasts a long, long time. As you said, my yield is 6 clamshells per pound of wax. 1.88 (wax) + 1.15 (oil) + .20 (clamshell) + .01 (label) + .01 (dye) = $3.25 / 6 = .54 per clamshell. As you can see, even if I use more than 1 oz oil per pound of wax, and sometimes I do, my cost is still no where near 1.37 or 1.50. Add in some cost for the electric used for my Presto Pot, paper towels, stir sticks and MAYBE that all adds up to another nickel even a dime, even a quarter and I'm still well under $1 per clamshell (each clamshell about 2.6 oz of wax).

Thanks. I'm not making candles and am thrilled with the quality of my tarts after testing more than I care to admit for the right blend of waxes. I disagree with you. Everything can have generalizations, it's called Mother Nature's law of averages. Everything has exceptions and I know that but I was hoping for the "law of averages" in the questions I asked. I understand and respect that what you do is very complicated. I realize my questions imply it is a simple process. Clearly, you are all very knowledegable which is why I thought these answers would just roll. Kind of like as an experienced parent I can say generally, children walk by the time they are 18 months.

Woodstock 69 and Moon Lake Musk are not the same at all. I'm sorry Moon Lake Musk from CS isn't working out for you. Throws great and lasts a long time in my tarts. Will admit, though, it is not a good seller at all. I'm going to make a bunch to send out as free samples with orders and if sales don't pick up after that, I'm pulling it.

I can tell you it is NOT Alabaster!

I think that is very fair. I can only hope that I am someday busy enough to need hired help. Wow.

Oh, that! Yep, do that all the time.

Where is this "oil reviews" page/website/section? Thanks

I just ordered a bunch of samples from Connie's, haven't arrived yet, but not that one. I like the Chestnuts and Brown Sugar from Just Scents.

Thank you everyone. I was looking for generalizations. I did see the paraffins with lower melt points on several sites but clearly, soy is almost always a lower melting point than MOST paraffins. Just a generalization. Not planning to take this to court and testify with it. I'm pretty sure, for instance, that Scentsy uses a very low melt point paraffin. I'm trying to save money and being judicious about the samples of wax I order and some information about the differences is better than no information as a starting point. P.S. I have not ordered from JKL but I do see others that carries those which means there's a chance my customers have them even though they did not buy them from me. Also seeing a growing interest in the 15W plug in night light types.

Putting more pieces of the puzzle together. Soy is heavier than paraffin.