Thinking of buying FO Stateside

[Ian H]

We have a comparatively poor selection of FO in the UK. I'm seriously looking to order from the US.

The website I've looked at is Just Scents. I'm looking for a floral/musky/spicy fragrance that will throw well in a 50/50 paraffin and soy mix. I make mainly votive and container candles.

The Just Scents Santirini looks to match my needs. But I am open to suggestions.......Advice please.

I get the impression that JS are good on customer care and their products look to be of good quality. I am open minded on suppliers though and as long as the product is good and they ship to the UK, I'm cool.

To make shipment viable I will be ordering a reasonable quantity, so I prefer not to get it wrong.

Any advice would be so helpful.

Ian

[ubure]

if you pm or mail Natasha (NattyCat) then she will certainly give you a list of fo' available with her. I think her business is about to be set up but she will sell to you now, I'm pretty sure.

In don't have much experience with JS because too many of her oils don't throw in my wax. It's always better to test some samplers...

[Ian H]

Thanks for the response Inez. I think that the UK is like a 3rd world country when it comes to candle making supplies. I hope it's better for you in Germany.

I've tried various UK suppliers FO without any real success. The range of fragrances is very limited and my experiences to date suggest that most are of poor quality.

Ian

[ubure]

Thanks for the response Inez. I think that the UK is like a 3rd world country when it comes to candle making supplies. I hope it's better for you in Germany.

Nope! I get all my oils from the US, but I use a mal forwarder who collects my parcels and sends them over to me at quite reasonable quotes.

[sugarysweet95]

What UK suppliers have you tried. I know some great ones, with quite an extensive range. I've recently been looking into getting FOs from US though, as I want to sample even more FOs and because buying larger quantities does work out cheaper, even with shipping. Not tried many so far, but am slowly working my way through them! Not seen the specific FO ur after tho.

[Ian H]

What UK suppliers have you tried. I know some great ones, with quite an extensive range. I've recently been looking into getting FOs from US though, as I want to sample even more FOs and because buying larger quantities does work out cheaper, even with shipping. Not tried many so far, but am slowly working my way through them! Not seen the specific FO ur after tho.

I've tried oils from the following suppliers :-

Candlecious

Candlemakers

Dale Mills

Fullmoons Cauldron

4candles UK

If you know of a UK supplier with a good product and good service please let me know.

Ian

[girlyracer]

Hi Ian

Jo from Sensory Perfections is quite good. She gets all her oils from the US and she's quite helpful. She has an eBay store but if you order from her regular website all her oils are free of p&p.

Ruby

[Ian H]

Hi Ian

Jo from Sensory Perfections is quite good. She gets all her oils from the US and she's quite helpful. She has an eBay store but if you order from her regular website all her oils are free of p&p.

Ruby

Thanks Ruby. Do you have her website address? I can't find it on ebay or Google.

Ian

[sugarysweet95]

Sensory perfection is awesome and she's such a friendly lady. Her web address is http://www.sensoryperfection.co.uk/store/Default.aspIf you go to ebay shops and select crafts/candle and soap making you'll find her shop. I find if you want to buy a few, it's actually cheaper to buy them from her ebay shop than website.Soap sudz is another good FO supplier on ebay (on the shop list too). They're a little more expensive, but quite strong. The scents i've tried from 4 candles have been good, i like their solid scents! Wasn't too impressed with candlelicious and not tried candlemakers FOs, tho i find them a great site otherwise. Candlelights is quite a new one. Their address is http://www.candelights.co.uk/ Their customer service is excellent and they have lots of good bits and bobs. Only tried a few of their scents, all of which have been good. At the mo their FO list isn't that extensive, but they plan on extending it a lot in the next few weeks.As for good US FO sites? I'm still working that one out for myself!!!!HTH

[Ian H]

Thanks for that wealth of information Sugar, most helpful.

I have some of the solid wax fragrance on order from 4candles. I did post a question regarding solid fragrance but to date not a single reply. I've found 4candles to suit my needs for most things, decent prices and quick delivery. best range of wicks that I've found in the UK also. I've tried their sweet pea FO and it's OK, but again far too few fragrances to chose from.

Ian

[katinka]

Thanks for that wealth of information Sugar, most helpful.

I have some of the solid wax fragrance on order from 4candles. I did post a question regarding solid fragrance but to date not a single reply. I've found 4candles to suit my needs for most things, decent prices and quick delivery. best range of wicks that I've found in the UK also. I've tried their sweet pea FO and it's OK, but again far too few fragrances to chose from.

Ian

Hi there

If you are talking about the Scenti masterbatch solid fragrances that is actually manufactured by Sasol wax, believe it or not. I know Candlewic in the states also used to sell them. I sympathise with your fragrance problem - in my country things are even more limited, but I am not letting that get me down. I order most of my supplies except for wax from the US because I would rather have a quality product that is a little bit more expensive than have to compromise, but thats just me:rolleyes2 . USPS has worked out fine for me, with the exception of one order and that was insured, so there was no hassles. I really appreciate all the suppliers that are willing to ship international - without them the struggle would be much harder.

HTH, Katinka

[Ian H]

Hi there

If you are talking about the Scenti masterbatch solid fragrances that is actually manufactured by Sasol wax, believe it or not. I know Candlewic in the states also used to sell them. I sympathise with your fragrance problem - in my country things are even more limited, but I am not letting that get me down. I order most of my supplies except for wax from the US because I would rather have a quality product that is a little bit more expensive than have to compromise, but thats just me:rolleyes2 . USPS has worked out fine for me, with the exception of one order and that was insured, so there was no hassles. I really appreciate all the suppliers that are willing to ship international - without them the struggle would be much harder.

HTH, Katinka

Thanks for that Katinka. I can't believe that no US resident has responded to this post to date.............Have I upset them?

Perhaps you could let me have details of the suppliers that you use, PM me if you wish. I agree entirely with your philosophy...........no point in doing anything unless you do it right.

Ian

[cybersix]

Ian,

I live in italy, in the beginning I was buying in UK thinking that the nearest the better, but I discovered that buying directly in US makes me save money and gives me great choice on almost everything. The wax I use I buy it locally, too heavy to ship. But everything else comes from US. Our currencies (euro and GBP) are competitive so I can have good prices.

I always ask a supplier if they ship internationally and I chose to use only USPS because it's the cheapest way to ship supplies here.

It takes a lot of patience because post can be really slow, but it's a good way to buy.

HTH

[Ian H]

Thanks for the response Sabrina. I agree US is the place to go. But I need more information. I was hoping to get info from a US resident but to date only europeans have posted on this thread.

It would help if you could let me know your trusted suppliers. I'll post my email address if you don't want to post to the group.

I sent an email to just scent 2 days ago..........Still waiting for a response. Yes I have patience to spare.

Ian

[CareBear]

What kind of advice are you looking for? I can tell you some good FO vendors here in the US, but as for how to get it to you, which ones will ship most economically or costs or anything else I'm clueless.

I personally like Peak Candle Supply (link over there---->)

Scent Works, and Solas, but I do mostly B&B - I imagine candle makers could tell you more. But there seem to be rave reviews for a lot of suppliers.

[Ian H]

What kind of advice are you looking for? I can tell you some good FO vendors here in the US, but as for how to get it to you, which ones will ship most economically or costs or anything else I'm clueless.

I personally like Peak Candle Supply (link over there---->)

Scent Works, and Solas, but I do mostly B&B - I imagine candle makers could tell you more. But there seem to be rave reviews for a lot of suppliers.

Thanks for the response CareBear. I will find out if the relevant companies will ship to the UK.

What I need is a list of suppliers that supply a top quality FO product with good customer care. I want to get good full strength scents not diluted.

Unfortunately Peaks state on their site that the don't ship to Europe otherwise I would have contacted them. I'll check out your other suggestions.

Ian

[diamondk]

Thanks for the response CareBear. I will find out if the relevant companies will ship to the UK.

What I need is a list of suppliers that supply a top quality FO product with good customer care. I want to get good full strength scents not diluted.

Unfortunately Peaks state on their site that the don't ship to Europe otherwise I would have contacted them. I'll check out your other suggestions.

Ian

You can email Peak and ask them about shipping to you. HTH

[sugarysweet95]

I've had similar problems really, have often asked people on the board for good US suppliers that ship to the UK, but with little response. I've found that a lot of web sites not always say that they ship to the UK, but they often do. Having said that, i emailed a good few US suppliers the other week (including Peaks) and still not heard anything! I've found that USPS is the best one to go for and you can often not get charged import duty! Candle science ship to the UK, but only via UPS and their mimimum order was $100. Found the money i saved buying stateside went on shipping and import duty!!! They may have changed their policy a bit ago, not checked for a while. They're good at emailing you back. Candle wic is great, they ship via a number of options (including USPS) at pretty good rates and are generally very quick to respond to emails. Not tried any of their FOs, but they have a great choice of wicks and moulds, especially polycarbonate ones which are my favourite.Tried Pourette too (just once so far), which is great for the dye chips and 2 piece moulds, also ship via USPS and had a good shipping rate. Recently ordered some FOs from Day star supplies, Snowtop and Natures garden. All responded very quickly to the emails and shipped via USPS at a good rate. Can't wait til i get the items, want to try out their FOs as i've heard lots of great things from them.Anyway thats about the full extent of my experience with buying in the US. Hope that helps!

[Ian H]

Scent Works (suggested by CareBear) do ship to the UK, although they state that payment must be made by a US issued card?? If I decide to go with them I need to clarify this point. They do a good range of 'sniffers' which wouldn't be a bad idea to try before I order in bulk.

Thanks DiamondK, yes it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask them. They do appear to be a well rated supplier.

Thanks again Sugar, very helpful. Just to clarify...........I wouldn't expect US residents to know about shipping abroad but they do know the good guys from the bad ones. I'm looking at Natures Garden site now.

Ian

[Ian H]

I've just been browsing the NG website. Wow, what a range.............I'm salivating..........I want them all. I wonder if they'll do me a good discount if I order all of their samplers.

NG definately look favourites in the FO race for me to date. I've sent them an email asking them to confirm they will ship to me.

Their prices look good to me. I can get (excluding postage) a 16 oz bottle for the equivalent of 7 UK pounds. I haven't worked out if the 16 oz is 1lb in weight or 16 fluid ozs. I suspect the former, maybe someone can confirm.

Happy Ian is now going to bed dreaming of exotic scents............Ahhhhhhhh!!

Ian

[ubure]

Ian,

I agree to carebear - you just have to aks the suppliers if and at what rate they ship to Europe. You say you need advice on which suppliers offer good fos - I really don't want to sound harsh, but didn't you read some of the hundreds and hundreds of posts concerning the single suppliers and their quality? And even if we all give you advice you still would have to test the fos because what works in my wax doesn't necessarily work in yours as well.

Also, I cannot quite understand why nobody uses a good mail forwarder - they offer good rates and ecellent service (normally I wait two days for my packs - it's express and I always pay 1/3 less than the normal UPS or DHL rate would cost. You also can chose between express shipping or normal air): they collect all your packs, repack them so you always get the best shipping fees. Yes, USPS is quite cheap, but I cannot wait that long (several weeks).

Good luck with your search:smiley2:

[cybersix]

Ian,

the last time I asked NG didn't ship internationally.

Peak does, I asked them sending an email and I buy all my FOs from them. Good quality FOs and good price.

They are very kind, everytime I want to order something I send them an email and they send me a shipping quote for each way of shipping (surface mail, air mail, or global express) so I can choose.

Just Scent and Greenleaf Candle Supplies ship internationally. Oh and also Daystar does.

I buy also a loto in the classifieds here, if the seller agress to ship internationally.

I have to thank people who accept to ship internationally because it requires a bit more of paper work and phisical visits to the post office.

Or you can do as Inez does, using that service she's talking about, so you wouldn't ahve the limit of suppliers not shipping to UK. But you should add extra costs.

Anything I can help let me know!

[girlyracer]

Ian,

Also, I cannot quite understand why nobody uses a good mail forwarder - they offer good rates and ecellent service (normally I wait two days for my packs - it's express and I always pay 1/3 less than the normal UPS or DHL rate would cost. You also can chose between express shipping or normal air): they collect all your packs, repack them so you always get the best shipping fees. Yes, USPS is quite cheap, but I cannot wait that long (several weeks).

Good luck with your search:smiley2:

Inez

Interesting idea. How does one find a mail forwarder based in the US? I just ran a search and all I got was results for e-mail forwarding:(

Ruby

[Ian H]

Ian,

I agree to carebear - you just have to aks the suppliers if and at what rate they ship to Europe. You say you need advice on which suppliers offer good fos - I really don't want to sound harsh, but didn't you read some of the hundreds and hundreds of posts concerning the single suppliers and their quality? And even if we all give you advice you still would have to test the fos because what works in my wax doesn't necessarily work in yours as well.

It was wishful thinking really, I just needed ideas particularly on floral FO's. I have looked at many scent related posts and agree the comments are very subjective. The main thing was to get advice on quality suppliers and products.

Also, I cannot quite understand why nobody uses a good mail forwarder - they offer good rates and ecellent service (normally I wait two days for my packs - it's express and I always pay 1/3 less than the normal UPS or DHL rate would cost. You also can chose between express shipping or normal air): they collect all your packs, repack them so you always get the best shipping fees. Yes, USPS is quite cheap, but I cannot wait that long (several weeks).

Good luck with your search:smiley2:

I have no experience with freight forwarding. Bare in mind I am not a manufacturer and the volume that I need is quite small. However I will look into this. Thank you.

Ian

[cybersix]

I found these two mail forwarder:

http://www.usa2me.com/site/default.aspx

http://www.myus.com/

To me this kind of service it's too expensive.