Check out my new website!

[Sarah]

I have my view, and I have supported it. Have you supported yours?

I'm sorry, but it's not up to anyone but you to do your research. I've said more than once in this post to do a search, you will find LOADS of info on this site alone. Just because no one is posting that info in this one thread does not mean it is not out there. Go look through the natural wax section, and definately look through the archives. Stick to what you believe in, but be open to the fact that everyone else is not automatically wrong just because they disagree with you.

[Vicky_CO]

I agree with Bruce this thread has been interesting. I most likely should have keep my mouth shut. But hey I do have a big mouth.

Paraffin is also nontoxic you give the impression soy is the only wax that is nontoxic.

Is there any proof or facts supporting that paraffin is non toxic also? I am NOT stating that it is, just asking if there is proof that it isnt.

I was talking about in inert form both are nontoxic. I honestly was thinking like most people do that hey our kids crayon are made from Paraffin wax.

Now any time you burn anything it doesn't mater if it soy, paraffin or buffalo chips you are releasing something in to the air. Now does paraffin release things that are not good for you yes but honestly no real studies have been done on what soy releases in to the air case studies don't count that is just some joe blow taking some candles he has bought and burned them side by side.

If you can produce a study that has taken a half dozen candle maker and teamed them up with a half dozen scientist, samples of all waxes and wax blends and any additives, most FO, dyes, EO and a really good lab that would be study I would listen to anything short of that is not accurate it just opinions based on some very limited testing.

I wish the government would step in and put some grant money to doing that kind of study but honestly I don't see it happening.

You need to do more research lead wicks where banned since that report was produced in 2001.

[kuepie]

I have to chime in just to say that we all want to beleive our candles are the best. No matter what they are made of. Maybe some of us have every right to beleive that, but certainly some of us really don't. I have to say you opened the door for criticism. Constuctive or not. I think everyone on this board comes here for anything and everything that has to do with candles or bath and body. So, from my experience on this board, people devote alot of time to their craft, and everyone including myself has an opinon. Who is to say I'm right, you're right, the person over there is right? I know I learned a very valuable lesson from this thread.....make sure if you ask for advice be prepared for a wide variety of opinoins, negative and positive. If I can't handle what I consider to be the best of the best criticism about candle making from all who reply on this board, I sure won't ask for it.

[katy]

I have tested my candles. You guys act like candles can seep into peoples heads at night and explode from within if not formulated properly. It's not rocket science. Candles can have burning problems, they can catch on fire, but this has been controlled for. And, if any candle is burnt under proper supervision, as all candles should be, this isn't an issue.

Well this statement really has me a little worried. Have you ever heard of a candle blow out. I have and have seen them happen. I tested for two years before i even sold one candle. You may be a little faster than me or richer (in order to pay for all of the testing suppies lol) not me. I took my time and got it right. You need to test every color ever scent of every size. No, candles can not seep into your head but they can burn a little kid if you use the rest room (as i know we all do from time to time :undecided) when that candle has a blow out.

I think that your website was nice looking. It does take a while to load but still nice looking.

I am not bashing i am just stating what i feel. If someone does not like too bad so sad.

Vicky Thank you for the info on the first post you made on the thread.

Good day to all.

Katy

[katy]

I just wanted to also say

I LOVE THIS SITE ALLOT.:D:D:D

[StacysScentsations(DH)]

I hope you werent offended buy my post. I did not mean to bash your site in the least and I did actually mean I would help you our if you needed it. I am very new to candle making to (I am in the giving away stage) to close friends and family who do have nice things to say about them. I learn alot from the people here and reading some of your later posts in this thread I think you thought or wanted to hear only praise for your site. If thats the case then you dont want a critique you want compliments. All the points I made are valid and can be fixed up in a jiffy. I often tell my customers that as much as businesses are assumed to have a website, I mean we are in the technology era and domain names are cheap so I think people now more then ever take advantage of the net to research stuff and if they can find you they wonder why. However a disfunctional website is positivly worse than no website at all. You will rarely meet someone who wont buy your product because you dont have a website. You will meet people however that went to your site and decided not to give you their money and go elsewhere for different reasons. I meant what I said about the email thing to email is not secure (thats a scientific fact) So if you had a customer order from your website and then they got their credit card statement and found out it was maxed out on other stuff they didnt buy. I bet they wont be buying from you anymore. A good rule of thumb for online business is to either use virtual terminals or if you must run the cc manually it should be held in multiple databases which are md5 encrypted. Anyone who could break that code wouldnt be hacking your website as that is how your bank stores your account info on their website. As for the other comments I made I didnt mean to offend. I meant to give you "Professional Criticism" which is what I thought you were asking for. I am new to candles but not to websites or marketing which is what I tried to stick with. OK Im done. Again I wish everyone luck with their business especially online, and if you decide you need some help with it or some ponters please feel free to pm me.

PS. This website is the brittanica of candle and bath or sure. So much knowledge in such a small place. One more tihng alot can be learned from this website itself. For instance it is owned buy peak candle supply, not only do they have an awesome site but they let you talk about their competitors, link to their products, even buy from them. They offer their competitors to join and advertise their own products and services here on their site. Hows that for marketing, see they are sure of their products so no need to compare. Now ask how many people out of the 1500+ members respect them for that type of marketing. You can come to this website anytime anyday and you wont be alone. That is successful marketing.

[debscent]

I personally think that no matter what is said to Absurd, it will be a waste of space. He asked for opinions and when they did not agree with his, he became defensive, and insisted on talking about himself and not his product.

My deodorant smells great, but hey, I don't burn it. (Don't know what toxins are in there, but I'm sure we'll hear about it). (Response to his suggestion that his candles "smell" great).

My only suggestion Mr. Rock Star, Chemist, Biologist, Candlemaker--get spell check. It's free with most software and/or websites and doesn't require a degree to use it.

Ok, onto the next person who appreciates what the kind people on this board have to offer.

[CraftyChris]

So, how long would it take me to become a biologist? A month, maybe two?

Please don't disrespect those of us that make a living at this by saying your a candle maker just because you can take a mold, pour wax, scent and color in it and make it burn, anyone can do that. (ok, maybe not anyone) :undecided

I don't know about the others that do this full time but I always feel directly insulted by anyone that thinks they can just pick up a pitcher of wax and become a candle maker. I have a book and test tubes but I'm not a biologist or chemist. (but I did stay in a holiday inn express last night)

AMEN BRUCE!!!

I'm in this full time too-and make my living making candles! I too am very insulted by the very same things. I'm been making candles for 10 years now, and I know people who have been making them for 50+ years. THEY are the master chandlers, master carvers, and so on. I only hope so bee that good one day. It does take more than reading a book and popping out a candle to call yourself a candle maker. You need more experience. You need to be able to trouble shoot on your own, you need insurance, and you need a company that can stand up without putting others down.

www.craftycandles.ca

[Lolas Lights]

Well I'm gonna chime in here and say that I think this board is wonderful and I take all the advice I can get. I haven't been in this long and the only candles that I have sold are a few scents in containers and pillars that I have tested tested and tested some more. I will not sell a candle that I have not tested the fo, wick, for hangups or blowouts, etc . You just can't test a couple of containers, or pillars or any candle and say, woohoo now I've got some good candles and I'm going into business. I sell more aroma beads than anything as I haven't tested all the FOs that I've got. If anything has my name on it that I have made, I want a quality product that I know will pass the safety standard. I don't want to be responsible for someone losing their life, house or possessions because of my carelessness.

Everything that has been said on here is just good common sense, and most have been in this a long time, long enough to know what they are talking about. You cannot test enough products in a couple weeks or a month and think you can have a full fledged business with enough products tested to make it. When I ask for an opinion, if I get a bad one or good, I take it all into consideration and don't get defensive, I accept this advice as most on here know a thousand fold more than I do about this and I am glad for the great opinions I get, good or bad. Nuff said on my part.

[Indescent]

It's really sad. I agree-- there are some MAJOR insecurities here. I can translate to what it says to me:

I just started, so if you think my candles suck you don't know a good candle anyway because you've been buying that Chernobyl type paraffin candle.

Its always the "small" ones that say "size doesn't matter".

[Sarah]

PS. This website is the brittanica of candle and bath or sure. So much knowledge in such a small place. One more tihng alot can be learned from this website itself. For instance it is owned buy peak candle supply, not only do they have an awesome site but they let you talk about their competitors, link to their products, even buy from them. They offer their competitors to join and advertise their own products and services here on their site. Hows that for marketing, see they are sure of their products so no need to compare. Now ask how many people out of the 1500+ members respect them for that type of marketing. You can come to this website anytime anyday and you wont be alone. That is successful marketing.

excellent example.

[MooChelle]

Couldn't have said it better.....

Its always the "small" ones that say "size doesn't matter".

[joyofsoycandle]

I just want to say one thing, I do not believe that the amount of time someone has spent on candlemaking completely determines whether or not they really know what they are doing. There is NO set of rules that states that a candle youve made is not worthy of selling unless youve spent over 6 mths testing it. I do test mine of course, I test it the way a customer would most likely burn it. I marathon burn the candles and I use the tester sheet off of this website, and if they meet the expectations, then they pass the test and if pass the test, then why wouldnt they be worthy of selling. Even if it only took me 5 days to figure it out. So I guess my point is that I think people make WAY too much of a big deal on how long people have been doing this. People can learn and do things at different speeds. And also everyone is assuming that this persons candles have not been tested. How do we know they havent been tested? I just dont understand how it could possibly take so long to burn a candle and make sure it does what it is supposed to, and performs the way it should. This person doesnt have alot of scents or alot of styles of candles, so its not quite as difficult as someone who has 50 or more scents and several different types of candles. I just think people are assuming things. Anyhow the only thing I think that needs correcting on the website is to boast the products simply by mentioning the good qualities and benefits of that product, and leave out comparing it to anything else. That looks as if its believed that one is better than the other. And the misspellings need corrected and the other website technical type issues mentioned. But, other than that, I dont believe that people should make such accusations that the candles are not tested and that someone doesnt know what they are doing unless they have done it for a certain amount of time.

[Sarah]

I guess my viewpoint here is that you can only really understand everything that can go wrong with your candles by experiencing it yourself. And when you are dealing with something that people will take home and light on fire, i think it is fairly important to understand as much as you possibly can.

I think with anything, it takes time to get it right. I could start out doing something new tomorrow, and i don't care what it is, if it is something that i am unfamiliar with, i will not be ready to sell a finished project in a couple weeks. There is so much to learn and understand when it comes to candles that i find it unlikely (though of course not impossible) that someone could be ready with a product in such a short amount of time.

[BruceCarvesWax]

I just want to say one thing, I do not believe that the amount of time someone has spent on candlemaking completely determines whether or not they really know what they are doing. There is NO set of rules that states that a candle youve made is not worthy of selling unless youve spent over 6 mths testing it.

You meet me here in 5 years and we will talk and laugh about what you just said...

Bruce

[topofmurrayhill]

I guess here it's such a touchy subject since many of you make a living off of paraffin candles, and therefore you take it personally when I "bash" them.

Now, that's an example of getting personal, and frankly it pisses me off when you impune the motivations of people here. A huge proportion of the those critiquing your cheap and uninformed marketing approach make soy candles and like soy wax, including myself. Your remark is cynical and insulting.

I've also rather had it with this pious nonsense about your being part of the scientific community and citing "peer reviewed" research. I will say flat-out you simply don't know what you're talking about. Do you want to replicate the Iowa State study and see how they concocted their results? Take the same big wick and stick it in paraffin, beeswax, and vegetable wax. Without matching the wick to the wax, what do you think will happen? The paraffin will burn like a coal powered locomotive and provide many years worth of fodder for false advertising. I wonder what sort of fumes vegetable wax would give off if wicked like that.

You have intimated that people here are closed minded. Give me a break. We've heard it all before. You're the one who's too hard-headed about promoting his agenda to listen to people who've already been around the block.

[The_Dallas_Texas_Dean]

Well now. Some of you know me well enough by now to know I wouldn't let a thread like this one slide by without getting in a few words of wit and wisdom. ( I really only read the whole thing waiting for Indescent to get fired up, and wouldn't ya know, she is all mellow tonight..RATS)

I am assuming that Absyrtus is male. Not sure exactly when I detected that down this path, but with that ego, there is not a doubt in my mind at this point. Ya got me feelin' for ya brother. I have no doubt about it that all you were doing was posting your new site that you were so proud of and BLAM! I bet you were just waiting on people to chime in with their idle compliments about how awesome it was ,like everyone does for the people that post pics of their crappy candles whether they look good or not. A very encouraging group we have here......IF, and that is a HUGE IF, you are N I C E.( and humble)

It started out with some very nice constructive criticism. Where ya blew it, is when you got defensive. Ya can't come to the "playground of the pros" and get cocky and defensive. I guess you have learned they will chew you up and spit you out like a mouthful of bad wax.

I thought your site was crap too, but I was just about ready to post that I liked your unique idea of the bottles with the scent names, ( even though I KNOW if they are strictly 100% natural essential oils that chances are pretty good that they stink) and you started getting defensive and rude to the very people that were taking the time to try and help you.

Heres the REAL deal. The whole ( natural) ploy has been beat to death, It truly is old hat. You can get Aromatherapy natural candles at Walgreens now for 5 bucks. 99% of the consumers buying candles now could care less if they are pigeon poop as long as they smell good. Yes, there are still people in search of the natural everything, but the majority of them are just late bloomers because the rest of us have already been there and got over it when we discovered that we were paying more for products that were inferior. Most of it is total hype and the consumer knows it.

It never ceases to amaze me how you can go to Las Vegas and sit at a slot machine next to a non smoker and listen to them bitch about the smoke and you look over at the non smoking section and it is totally empty!( not sure what that had to do with this topic, but I had it in my brain and decided to type it anyway...sorry, don't cha just love old people?)

Anyway, I do wish you good luck with your company and your sales. Sounds like you are going to do it your way, sink or swim. Just for future reference, when people are trying to help you, whether you agree or disagree, just say THANK YOU, and do WTF you want to do....and in the process, open your mind ( not the ego side) and you just might learn a few things. I want you to know the ONLY reason I was so tacky to you was because you ruined my night with the peanut butter slam!

Michael

OK...now, for all you nice folks that I P.O. with my word choice or my analogies you can rag on me. I'm too old to see the screen anyway:laugh2:

[sune42]

By customers, I am referring to those that have viewed the site. I have asked about 10 people if they found the material offensive, if they felt I was bashing people, and if they found the information helpful. No one found anything wrong with it.

Yes, so far, I have only sold to family and friends. Still, I have successfully filled about ten orders, with more coming every day. I am just starting, but I have tested my product, and I have not produced one single candle with any flaw other than ugliness.

Well hell, I must find out how you get orders. I have given out my website at shows and at an art/craft show at my work. I have had plenty of views but no orders.

I am sorry, but you are being very defensive and that doesn't sit well with me.

[debscent]

Check out the site again, significant changes were made. There are still a few typos, font errors, grammatical issues, but it's not the same as it was.

[dragontears]

i myself i m o think the site is to bland i have seen alot of sites on candletech and they reach out and grab ya and say buy me .. i myself when purchasing things online i like the dark colors to me it makes it easier to read.and i agree with everyone else alot more testing needs to be done or you will end up with a disatisfied customer.

[prairieannie]

I am assuming that Absyrtus is male. Not sure exactly when I detected that down this path, but with that ego, there is not a doubt in my mind at this point. Ya got me feelin' for ya brother. I have no doubt about it that all you were doing was posting your new site that you were so proud of and BLAM! I bet you were just waiting on people to chime in with their idle compliments about how awesome it was ,like everyone does for the people that post pics of their crappy candles whether they look good or not. A very encouraging group we have here......IF, and that is a HUGE IF, you are N I C E.( and humble)

Michael, I laughed and laughed and laughed at this remark. How True and insightful this was! OMG, I'm STILL laughing. Your entire post just made my day, and it's only 7 AM.

[mizbizzyb]

Check out the site again, significant changes were made. There are still a few typos, font errors, grammatical issues, but it's not the same as it was.

Yeah, regardless of his attitude in here....he made some recommended changes. I noticed where he no longer slammed the other company by name.

CT~~he listened. Doubt he would come in here and give those that helped a huge "thanks" and needed apology for him being defensive.

[Georgia]

Wow! This thread was entertaining and informative. In my experience, soy people want soy candles and paraffin people want paraffin candles. They have already made up their minds and citing facts, figures and studies don't seem to have much influence.

So, I thought the site was different, and we are all looking to stand out. My only complaint was how big was "small" or "large". I did find it today - I have to pick one to find out how big it is. I didn't like that much - I want the info upfront. But, you state the sizes as 3-1/2, 4-1/2 ect. Your mold is that size, but I bet your candles aren't. By the time they shrink and you level them, they are under that. Fair labeling act says you can round down, but not up.

[Sarah]

~edited.~

Everything does look much better at first glance. I think it has improved from when i first looked at it, but i noticed that most stuff has just been moved.

[joyofsoycandle]

Im probably going to get alot of slack for this, but how can you all assume he hasnt tested his candles, just because he hasnt spent a year or more doing it? And to Bruce, I have made candles for the last five years and they were paraffin, now I switched to soy so Im learning it all over again plus I quit for a while and restarted. But I just dont find it as difficult as people make it out to be. Yes I have gotten on here and asked alot of questions because I do find soy to be a little more difficult to master than paraffin. But, I mean really, how long does it take to test a candle? It doesnt take 6 mths to test a candle. You burn it, you make sure it performs the way it should, and if it passes the test, then its worthy for marketing. I think people act on here as if its a scientific thing and you have to go deep into the lab for the next couple years before anything made is worthy of selling. Im sure someone will disagree, but I just had to say it. I think people are being way to harsh. The only thing I agree to that he did wrong was the comparisons. There was no need to compare. But I feel like everyone is just picking this person apart when hes trying to correct things. No one is perfect.