chuck_35550

I use a cd18 for nearly all my fos in a 12 oz salsa jar and slow cool for best adhesion. Just finished up a wholesale account and so far so good. I' m using a blend of 40% 3022 and 70% KY tart wax at 9% fo and pouring into mini silicone gingerbread men and christmas trees. It only takes 12 oz to make 24 melts. Hope they move well. HTH Steve

That makes sense Candybee. The base is from Columbus and not a high dollar base. I' ll have to cut the color layers and add more base. Thanks. Steve

Did you use a stick blender? I would never use a wooden spoon, use stainless steel, high tempered plastic or silicone. Wood splinters get in your soap. Castile takes awhile to trace if you are using a spoon; whereas a stick blender will bring your soap to a slightly thin pudding trace. HTH Steve

Honey I Washed the Kids is in the neighborhood but I have a Toffee from Tennessee Candle Supply that is close. Couldn't sell it. I think some fragrances are just too singular as to interpretation or expectation. What smells like toffe to me may not smell like toffee to you. Everybody recognizes coffee, orange ect. kwim? So you get mostly buttery, brown sugar, vanilla or generic notes. I don't think Werthers. I think Heath bars/chocolate. Steve

Try mocha

The first test will always be ct and then ht. If the customer can't detect enough of the scent they put it back on the shelf.

Lately my soaps have been sticking like crazy to my slabs dividers. Usually this is not a big problem, so I had to think what has changed. I stopped using Borax in my lye water because of the terrible ash it caused and once I left it out the ash went away. I came across a thread one day about how Borax helps soap to come out of the mold and reduce stickiness; that's when it occurred to me what had changed. I know that its a fact about the relationship of Borax and ash but is there any basis for it helping soap to release from the mold? Steve

Why would you spam a soap reference thread?

The only other option is to up the percentage of fo pp of wax. If you're looking for an excellent coffee, any of the ics coffees are dynamite and the Cuban Coffee from Southern Soapers is extremely realistic and strong. I use ng Strawberry Shortcake and its strong but a little on the fake side. Peak has a great strawberry jam that is true and really kicks butt, which you could mix with a birthday cake or maybe a shortbread type vanilla. HTH Steve

Oh wow, that is so smart! Maybe you should go into design and make money helping folks updat the look of their products. Far out. Steve

The Cafe Vienna comes from ICS and I mix ky Pineapple with ky Brulee (50/50 if you like a lot of pineapple), the Apple Jack Peel is pretty much apples and spice and I'm lucky to sell that, cause apple is not a big seller for me. Babs, there are some ah/re, ics (bear claws), southern soapers, bcn, tcs, and mw (santa's cookies is sugar cookie royale). I have put my name on tcs list for three fos and pray that they come through (especially Hansel Gretel) and hopefully, the heavy evergreen will be successful this season. I have a ton of fos from past Christmas seasons that didn't move and so every now and then pull them out to see if maybe this time, lol. Thanks for all your responses and encouragement. Here's to a great season. Steve

The Christmas Tree Farm account forced me to make the list and I sure hope this works out. Spiced Cranberry Santa's Sugar Cookies Polar Express Holly Jolly Christmas Perfect Pumpkin Vanilla Bean Noel Apple Jack and Peel Creme Brulee Caramelized Pralines Bear Claws Pumpkin Brulee Sugared Spruce Cafe Vienna Christmas Past Tinsel Bayberry Chocolate Truffle Pineapple Brulee Hansel and Gretel's House Christmas Kitchen

I bet the Bayberry would be awesome. You could try Hansel and Gretel's House which has some raisin and spice notes but with a lovely earthy fig you might want to stay with the herbacious/evergreen with a hint of cinnamon or even citrus. HTH Steve

I think it depends what venue you are desiring to use. Flea markets or prim looks are best bets for Masons or antique Masons; whereas if you are looking to go into gift shops, beauty salons or local stores then you need to look at a tumbler or a pretty jar that is inexpensive. Right now, I might as well not be in business due to the depressed economy. I'm selling melts and a few candles and little else these days. People are having a difficult time in rural areas and handmade items are a luxury, unless you sell Christmas items at a lower price. I buy my jars and lids at bulk (free shipping) and try to buy raw materials in bulk or during sales that offer breaks on shipping. I look at this as a time to reevaluate the business and wait it out until things improve but in the meantime get my products stable and settle on where the money will most likely be available. I detest shows and wished that I had nothing but wholesale accounts but that would be too easy. HTH Steve

Italian Biscotti, Brown Sugar Vanilla, Sandalwood with evergreen, anything warm and exotic. Figgy Pudding is English and not Mediterranean, unless your fig is a sweet type and not an earthy type. HTH Steve

Thanks for the advice Jack. Seems like it must be the jojoba that shut down the lather, maybe. What about some castor? Gosh, 8 pounds of soap that might be worthless is a big loss for me but I hate to throw away 4 pounds as it is. Steve

I made Annie's recipe using a clear base from Columbus. The first and second layer looked bad and the resulting soap was rubbery. I remelted the soaps and doubled the amount of mp and added 1 tsp collodial oatmeal to each pound. The whipped tops were a total disaster but the bars were beautiful and the layers held together very well. I gave a bar to my dw and she was unimpressed and gave me the bar back to try out. The soap absolutely will not lather and the feel is slimey on the skin and does not leave you feeling clean or anything. Any suggestions on saving 4 pounds of work intensive soap? TIA Steve

Ok, finished up last night and we'll see. I used a recipe from Ann Marie (glycerin, meringue powder, mp and foaming body wash) for my icing. I didn't have the foaming body stuff from bb so I used a almond/milk foaming liquid bath product and beat it with a hand mixer. It never did get nice stiff peaks and I hated to waste anymore of the meringue powder cause it was $14.00 bucks at wallyworld; so I glopped it on and placed my imbeds (before glittering) and it looks quite a busy mess. I'm not sure the icing will harden but I'll take it out tonight and let it air a little bit and see. I can tell you that my hands are the softest man's hands in the universe. lol Steve

Honestly, there are ear candles on the shelves of my pharmacy. Ear Candles!

I get the same treatment. Everybody gets that glazed eye look the minute I begin expounding about soap and candles. Oh well, somebody has to do it.

I first started with J-50 and it was fussy and required second pours and sooted like crazy. Then I took up J-223 and it was a step in a direction but not exaclty what I wanted in a candle. Then I mixed the two in numerous formulas but still no cigar. The idea of pure soy did not appeal to me after seeing numerous candles in the stores that looked terrible and had little or no fragrance. Eventually, Green Leaf or GL Candle Supply introduced a parasoy that did what I wanted and although it occasionally had problems; it has been my wax of choice these many years. There is absolutely nothing natural about any of these waxes. Nothing. They are mass produced with chemical additives for improved characteristics they rely on artificial fragrances and colors and they soot no matter what anybody says about their candle. Combustion results in carbon emissions. We have seen the removal of some ingredients from fragrance oils because they have been deemed dangerous. Its just a candle folks. Its not some prescribed, FDA approved therapeutic product that's all natural....its a candle. So stuff like: triple scented, 100% natural, cleans earwax, clears sinus problems, and or comes from leafy plants that died and gave their lives for us is totally misleading. Totally. Sheesh. Steve

Ok, Candybee you are correct about Chemistry Store, sort of......the different types of bases are priced differently but at ah/re they're all $53.95. The Chemistry Store is still cheaper $44.90 but shipping was $25.35 ups for me and at ah/re it was $18.97 BUT I got two free fragrance samples and ordered a silicone mold of mini christmas trees. So for just a few dollars more I did get some freebies and the mold. KWIM Steve

Update: the caramelized Pralines is really kicking butt and there's good distinction on the nutty notes. Very nice. Bear Claws has developed nicely and the mocha hazelnut continues to get better with time. The cinnamon buns was a total disaster and didn't smell like anything close to that and clogged my wick badly. The main problem with these fos are the weak cold throw and that means customers don't buy. They just have to kick butt on both ct/ht for a sale. HTH Steve

Thanks for the heads up Chris on soaping. I used it in a mp project and blended with ah/re vanilla cinnamon and its really killer. Plan on cp this week-end, hopefully. I have to give Chris full credit for finding this wonderful fragrance. I get it on my fingers and walk around the house smelling my fingers, kinda gross but its that good. Sorry if I caused anyone to relapse. Steve

I am burning the tester from ICS aznd it is kick butt strong and the nutty notes are detectable. HTH Steve