bsones

I have, and I'm not a fan. To be fair, I'm pretty picky about pine scents (or any scent, really). That said, pretty much every pine-type scent I've tried from CS smells very artificial to me. Mistletoe also has too much other stuff mixed in--there's a really strong fruit note in that one, IIRC. I'm looking mainly for outdoors-y pine scents, not holiday ones. Sharp and green, sweet and earthy--like standing in a grove of pine trees. No fruit, no spice. Pine scents that I like include Yankee's Mountain Pine and Thyme's Frasier Fir (it's not a very good thrower, but I like the smell). Most of Yankee's other pine scents are good, too, though less so than they used to be. I bought a jar of Balsam and Cedar in their new wax formulation, and the throw was very light. Paddywax's Woodlands series has a couple of decent pine scents, and Archipelago's Birch (which is actually a pine scent) is okay.

I poured a bunch of pine testers today. It was mostly a parade of disappointment, but I thought I'd share my notes in case anyone else might find them helpful. For comparison, I have a small tester of WSP's Frasier Fir, which is a bit light, but also the most natural-smelling pine FO that I have ever found. I also have a small jar of Yankee's Mountain Pine, which is--by far!--the best pine-scented candle I have ever encountered. Natural, cool, green, and pleasantly sharp without being Pine Sol-y, and it throws like crazy. They claim that they use pine EOs in it, but I have yet to find an EO that smells like this candle. It's the best pine scent they have ever done, so of course being Yankee, they discontinued it. So, my notes. All fragrances poured at 8% in 3 oz. testers using IGI 4627... Mountain Pine (Peak): I've heard people rave about this, but I have no idea why. It smells almost--not quite, but almost--exactly like Silly Putty. I don't get pine or fir or anything remotely natural from this FO. Thumbs down. Douglas Fir (SOS): This is a newer scent that had no reviews on their site, but I thought I'd give it a try. It smells nothing like Douglas fir, but it does smell almost exactly like verbena. So much so that I'm sort of wondering if I might have gotten a mislabeled bottle. The funny thing is that it smells good--just not like fir. At all. Thumbs sort of up, but only if you are looking for a good verbena FO. Forever Pine (SOS): Kind of a woody base with notes of musk and perfume. Where's the pine? Thumbs down. Blue Spruce (Candle Science): This was perhaps the least disappointing pour of the day. It's not great, but I can at least identify it as a pine scent. It's not a green/sweet sort of pine scent--more warm and sharp with maybe a little bit of an apple note. It has a distinctly artificial smell to it, but at least you can tell that it's supposed to be pine. Thumbs down. Pine Cones (Candle Science): Another pine FO that smells nothing like pine. Or pine cones. A little woody with a hint of spice and a weird, sweet undertone. Like the Blue Spruce, it smells very artificial. The sort of scent you might expect to encounter in a hospital gift shop. Thumbs down. Fir Needle Essential Oil (New Directions Aromatics): Just to try something that should smell like pine. And it does, but as with most pine EO's it's really quite heavy on the turpentine notes (what people typically refer to as "the Pine Sol smell"). Not something that would be pleasant on its own, but a small amount might make a nice addition to a pine FO that needs some punch. Thumbs sort of up. Fir Balsam Essential Oil (New Directions Aromatics): Same as the Fir Needle oil, but a bit warmer and sharper. Same conclusion. The search for a good pine FO continues...

Nope, I haven't tried that one. Is it good? How is the throw?

Personally, I've found that the difference between what a FO smells like on a test strip (let alone OOB) and what it smells like in wax is so vast that I stopped using test strips altogether. If you really want to know how an FO is going to smell in a candle, then you have to pour one. I make testers with those little 4 oz. Ball canning jars, which hold exactly 3 oz. of wax. I melt 78 grams of wax right in the jar, and then add 7 grams (roughly 8%) of the FO that I want to test. Then I can check the cold throw, or drop in a wick if I want to test the hot throw. They seal up air-tight so that I can save them for later reference.

There are a lot of different interpretations on sandalwood out there, so picking a "best" really depends on your tastes. That said, my current favorite is WSP's Sandalwood, which is a straight-up sandalwood scent with none of the musk or floral notes that you often find in sandalwood FOs. It's a good thrower, too, at least in paraffin. Cold throw is intense, hot throw is a bit more mellow. Still strong, but not as overpowering as you might expect from smelling the candle cold.

Scent actually enhances the mottling effect of the IGI wax. The more scent you add, the more mottling you get. So you might want to try one with some fragrance in it, just to see how it looks.

It's a mottling wax. Probably their own blend, but IGI 1274 should be a good place to start.

I've never found any that are an exact dupe for the Thymes scent, but WSP's Frasier is indeed the closest. It's not exactly the same, but it's a great FO, and one of the most natural-smelling pine scents I've ever found. It's a little bit "flat" by itself; try mixing in a small amount of Fresh Dirt, which adds that little bit of sharpness that the FO needs.

Nope, just paraffin. I have some 6006 sitting around that I've been meaning to test, but I've never poured soy before. Nope, sorry--that's one that I haven't tried.

I love pine scents. I've tested a lot of pine FOs. I have a box filled with nothing but pine FOs--maybe 25 to 30 of them, from many different suppliers. Most of them aren't very good, IMHO, but I'm pretty picky. I like natural-smelling pine scents. If I catch a whiff of anything artificial, then it's a no-go for me. I hated all the pine FOs from Peaks and Candle Science. They all smell pretty fake, and Peaks' Mountain Pine actually made me feel a bit nauseous. NG has one pine FO that smells pretty authentic, but it's very weak (I can't remember which one--Pine Plantation, maybe? Something like that). Avoid Sweetcakes, too. Both of the pine FOs that I tried from them had a strong floral element, like someone hosed down a fake pine tree with cheap perfume. Yuck. Stuff I like: All of WSP's pine scents are pretty good. Windsong Balsam is a sharp, turpentine-y sort of pine--not a Pine-Sol smell*, but not at all sweet. Frasier Fir is a rich, sweet-green scent that is very reminiscent of Thyme's, but a bit... greener. Santa's Tree Farm falls sort of in-between--warm and green but not quite as sweet as the Frasier, with a bit of a woody component. It's probably my favorite of the three, but it's also the weakest. It doesn't throw strongly, even in paraffin. Lonestar's Pine is a very natural-smelling, sharp pine FO. A bit like Windsong Balsam, but it throws better. It's all pine--no added notes. SOS has a ton of pine FOs, and they are very hit and miss, but their Christmas Pine is a big hit. This is a sweet pine, but not as soft (or weak) as WSP's Frasier Fir. It throws really well (in paraffin, at least). It apparently contains some real Siberian fir EO. BCN's Sagegrass and Pinion leaf is also pretty nice, but it's not very pine-y. Heavy on the sage. *(Pine-Sol, for what it's worth, is made from pine essential oil. People often complain about pine FOs that smell like Pine-Sol, but Pine-Sol is what pine EO actually smells like).

I have an induction cooktop. It is extremely accurate, and can do very high heat (hotter than most home gas cooktops--it can boil water in about half the time that it would take on a high-powered gas burner) and extremely low, controlled heat. Yes, you can melt chocolate without a double boiler. And wax. Lots of professional chefs/pastry chefs do use them--they are pretty common in commercial kitchens. Less so in homes in the US, probably because of the cost, though they are very common in European homes. They are not at all complicated to install--I installed our cooktop myself, and involves exactly the same setup as an electric cooktop. Which is to say, you plug it in. It is true that solid aluminum pans/pots won't work on them; you need something magnetic. Cast iron works great, and most good clad-aluminum cookware (like All-Clad) is also designed to work with induction. I highly recommend induction for cooking; I would never willingly go back to either gas or electric. All that being said, a Presto Pot is probably a simpler (and more affordable) solution for candle making.

So here's a random question that has probably been asked before: When figuring fragrance oil percentages (and dealing with maximum recommended percentages), do you aim for a percentage of the total weight of wax + FO, or for a percentage of the weight of the wax alone? For example, in the chart upthread, it suggests that 10% FO for a pound of wax is 1.6 ounces. But if you were to add 1.6 ounces of FO to 16 ounces of wax, the FO would only make up about 9% of the total weight (which is actually 17.6 ounces once the FO is added). If you wanted 1.6 ounces of FO to be 10% of the total weight, you'd need to add it to 14.4 ounces of wax. So which is the "officially right" way to do it? If you have a wax that maxes out at 10%, which of the above methods (add 1.6 oz. of FO to 14.4 oz. of wax, or add 1.6 oz. of FO to 16 oz. of wax) would you use?

I'm certainly not going to argue that $60 is a reasonable price for a candle, and having high-quality candles in scents that I like without going bankrupt is a large part of the reason I started making candles in the first place. That said, spending too much money on something extravagant is the very definition of "splurge." I look at it this way: I can afford to splurge on a high-end candle every now and again because I don't spend that much on candles on a weekly basis any more.

Okay, it was kind of a splurge, and not something that I would buy regularly. (Though I might, if I could afford it!) Call it an early Christmas present to myself. It's a very pretty candle; I've always loved the Diptyque aesthetic and label design. Some wet spots, but to be perfectly honest, I don't really care about wet spots, especially in a candle that was shipped to me in below-zero weather. People obsess over wet spots too much. Otherwise, a nicely made candle: properly trimmed wick, flat top, no frosting, and oh, the throw! The hot throw is great; burning downstairs in the living room of my 1700 sq. ft. house, even the upstairs got a bit of scent, which is pretty unusual for a candle of this size (6.5 oz.). The cold throw is amazing. The box comes wrapped in Cello, probably to keep it clean. After taking it off, I could very clearly smell the candle, even without opening the box. Unpacked and sitting on the mantle in my living room, it throws throughout the entire room without even being lit. Impressive. The scent is really nice--kind of a smoky, earthy, woodburning stove sort of smell, with just a hint of sweetness. Burns nicely, too. Some mushrooming at the end of a three-hour burn (not Yankee-caliber mushrooming, but some). After my recent frustrations trying out some Thymes candles, it was nice that Diptyque didn't disappoint. Ah, if only these were cheaper. Very nice candle, though.

Yeah, that's one of the few scents for which I have no point of reference (I've never smelled real dragon's blood), so I'm not sure whether I dislike it in general or just dislike CS's version. But I definitely disliked CS's version. Nasty.

As an example, here are my notes from mt latest order of samples from Candle Science: Mistletoe: Strong, sharp, pine-like fragrance with a dry-herbal undertone. Not actually unpleasant, but smells very artificial. Do not use. Rose: Pungent, slightly perfume-y rose petal scent (no green notes) with an unpleasant musty note on drydown. Do not use. Golden Rose: Pleasant, generic floral scent with a sharp green note that becomes more pronounced on the drydown. No discernible rose note. Maybe use as a mixer. Mediterranean Fig: Neither sweet not earthy. More... soapy. Unpleasant. Do not use. Lemon Verbena: Strong lemon smell--more like lemon juice than lemon oil. Verbena is completely lost. Maybe use as a blender, but overall: disappointing. Asian Amber: Strong, damp-herbal base note. To paraphrase Douglas Adams: "Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike amber." Do not use. Christmas Tree: Faint, spicy, and artificial-smelling. Do not use. White Tea and Berries: Warm, rich scent that has an interesting interplay between savory and sweet notes. Nice, but probably wouldn't stand well on its own. Maybe use as a blender. Fig Tree: Ozone and laundry detergent. Ick. Do not use. Dragon's Blood: A dirty blend of sour notes and cloying incense. Makes me feel slightly ill. Do not use. Oakmoss and Amber: Smells completely unlike either oakmoss or amber. Do not use. Pine Cones: A very Christmas-specific warm, spicy, vaguely pine-y smell. Not awful, but since I don't do holiday scents: Do not use. Lavender Chamomile: Mostly chamomile with very little (almost none at all) lavender, but a nice, natural-smelling dry herbal scent. Possibly use. Cypress and Berrries: A surprise in that I wasn't expecting to like this at all, but did. Cool, cypress note that avoids being overly sharp, with a slightly tangy (but not sweet) edge from the berries. Needs a warm/earthy note to balance it out, but overall: nice. Possibly use. I have a bunch of past samples from Candle Science, and my hit rate has been about the same. Like I said, I'm picky.

I'd put my rate at around 10%, and that's before testing how it performs in wax. I'm pretty picky about scents, though. I don't use scents that I don't like.

What about a simple set of swimmer's nose plugs? Has anyone ever tried that?

I'm just curious: does anyone use this? How well does it throw? Is it hard to wick? It looks really similar to the containers that Diptyque uses, which I like rather a lot. Also, how much does it taper down? I know the top is 3" in diameter; what is the diameter at the bottom?

I spent a large amount of time, and a not-inconsiderable amount of money, trying to come up with a good ocean scent a little while back. I had the same complaints about existing "ocean" scented candles and fragrances as the original poster--not a single one that I have ever encountered smells anything like the ocean. They remind me of the tea from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which tasted "Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea"). I started to learn the warning signs. Floral components is a non-starter. The sea doesn't smell like flowers, sorry. The sea doesn't smell like flowers even when there are flowers there. Believe me, I spend a lot of time walking through the salt roses and wildflowers on the beaches of Cape Cod, and you don't really smell them. The other scents in the air are too strong. Citrus: No. Just, no. Cucumber: also no. These things smell nice. They have fresh scents that can be somewhat reminiscent of water. Not in a literal sense, but in a sort of conceptual, "I know that citrus fruits and cucumbers are watery" sense. But they don't smell like ocean water at all, not even conceptually. "Ozone" in a fragrance oil is a code word for "this will smell like laundry detergent." It isn't even vaguely reminiscent of the ocean. "Salt" in a fragrance description can mean a lot of things. Real salt doesn't smell like anything, so this term usually indicates some sort of powdery component. Except in the case of SOS's "Sea Salt" FO, which smells almost exactly like buttered popcorn. (In case you were wondering, buttered popcorn does not smell at all like the ocean. Sea Salt would be a great scent for a carnival-themed candle, though). I learned to be extremely pessimistic about fragrances that people told me to try. "Ahoy Matey/Salty Mariner" is a great ocean scent," one person told me. No, it isn't. "Peak's ocean smells just like being at the beach," another person told me. I can only assume that this person had never been to the beach, because it really, really doesn't. Brambleberry claims that their Sea Moss has a "kelp-y" smell. It doesn't. The reviews for WSP's Bladderwrack swear up and down that it smells exactly like real bladderwrack (aka seaweed). What it actually smells like is my grandmother's perfume cabinet. RE/AH's Salty Sea Air? Nope. Moonworks Celestial Seas? It's actually a somewhat pleasant scent, but it smells nothing at all like the ocean. SOS's Fishing Pier is actually the first exception to the rule that I ever found. It smells exactly like what it claims to smell like, which isn't really a complete ocean smell, but perhaps one component of it, if you happened to be smelling the ocean from the end of a commercial dock. The problem is that it's a fairly unpleasant smell. I don't mind the scent of fish when I'm at the ocean, but pulled out of context like that, it just smells... bad. More on that below. So I decided to go off the reservation a bit, and started looking for scents outside the usually range of fragrance oil vendors. I tracked down an essential oil called "Choya Nahk," which is actually made by roasting oyster shells in a clay oven. It's exotic and smokey and strong, but not really a very convincing ocean smell. I tried making infusions of dried bladderwrack (the real stuff) in oil, but it didn't have much scent. I discovered seaweed absolute, but it's hard to come by in the US (it's made in Spain, I think) and is very expensive. We're talking hundreds of dollars an ounce. Not really a practical candle ingredient. In my research, I eventually ran across this article. Interesting! It actually identifies the specific component that makes the ocean smell unmistakably like the ocean: dimethyl sulfide, which is produced by bacteria when they consume decaying plankton and seaweed. Here's the kicker: you can buy it! I bought some. Even at the 1% dilution that you get from the Perfumer's Apprentice, it's really, really potent stuff. Out of the bottle, it smells like rotting cabbage. But in very, very small amounts, infused into some Fishing Pier FO from SOS, it really does smell like sea brine. Which makes sense, because in a literal sense, it is sea brine. So there has to be a catch, right? Yeah. There are two of them. One: it's highly unstable. Dab some on a sniffie strip and it will make the room stink to high heaven... for a little while. In a few hours the scent fades a lot, though, and after a day it will disappear entirely. I tried fixing it in things like vegetable oil and vetiver EO. No luck. The even bigger problem, however, is that even if you could find a way to fix the scent, it's a lot like the Fishing Pier FO in that it's rather unpleasant, even after you dilute it down enough that it smells like sea brine rather than rotting cabbage. You can mix a scent that smells a lot like standing in the dunes over the surf (I did! DMS plus Cedar EO and a mixture of Vetiver and Peaks' Tall Grass), but once you subtract the experience of standing in the dunes over the surf, it's just not the same. It's a wild, funky, slightly rotten smell that is an honest-to-goodness dupe of that the ocean really smells like, and I guarantee that nobody is ever going to buy it. I wouldn't, and I love the ocean. So, probably not what folks here were looking to hear, but that was my own personal experience with trying to make a true ocean scent. Hopefully there's some helpful info in there, if you aren't deterred from trying. I've set the project aside, personally. If I come back to it, I'll probably try to come up with something a bit less literal (but still not flowery or perfume-y or powdery, because that stuff still doesn't even put my nose in the same ballpark as "ocean"). Maybe starting with cedar (which reminds me of dockwood and wooden shakes on fishing cottages), but leaving out the Fishing Pier and the DMS.

Got the sniffie for Ahoy, Matey--thanks, felixncharlie! It's definitely different than other ocean scents, but sadly it's still not what I'm looking for. A little perfumey, a little powdery, and a little bit of a salt smell. I don't get algae, though, and I definitely wouldn't associate the scent with the ocean in a blind test. Ah, well... the search continues.

I looked at that one, too, but one of the scent components listed is "ocean," which sounds like it probably has an ozone/calone element. (I'm also not entirely sure what "sea moss" is.) The first review (on WSP) says "If you like ocean scents you will like this," which is a problem for me, since I don't like most ocean scents.

Yes, PM sent from me as well. That's very generous of you--thanks!

I considered that one, but the description lists ozone and musk among its scent components, so I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't like it. It does, thanks. I think I may order a sample, just to try it out. The "soapy" part is worrying, since soapy scents are one of the main things that I dislike about most marine fragrances. But this one sounds different enough to warrant a try, at least. Doesn't real Acqua di Sale contain real seaweed absolute? I thought that was one of the reasons it is so expensive...

Shameless bump: Nobody has any impressions of Ahoy, Matey? I'm hesitant to just try it blind, since it's the only thing I really need from Daystar, and it would cost something like $15 just to sample it (with shipping).