# Suppliers in Ontario, Canada



## danielle22033

I was wondering what suppliers people use in Ontario, Canada... The only supplier I know of is sapphireblue.com  Thanks


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## CaraCara

There is New Directions Aromatics in Toronto.  I find their base oils are cheaper and their samples are larger (although you are not far from Saffire Blue--my parents live in London).  If there are any others in Ontario or even Canada that are competitive in price then I would love to know who they are.


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## danielle22033

thanks, most of my family lives in the Toronto area as I am originally from there and make lots of trips down that way.  I may be able to do a pick up order and skip the shipping costs


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## Half Caper Farm

There's also Canwax (canwax.com - I think).  They were in the GTA but moved up towards Huntsville.

I deal mostly with Sapphire Blue as I can pick up and visit a friend in Tillsonburg at the same time.   Also, I buy most of my oils from them, so the  money I  save on not shipping the heavy stuff makes up for the (very slightly) higher prices of fragrances.   New Directions does have a larger variety of FOs, so I do buy from them too.

Both have very good customer service.


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## DonnaC

I just got some amazing FO's from Candora Soap and they are in London ON.  www.candorasoap.ca


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## danielle22033

DonnaC said:


> I just got some amazing FO's from Candora Soap and they are in London ON.  www.candorasoap.ca



It seems like candora has a lot of different FO then Saffire Blue which I really like especially when I am looking for something different, however for standard EO like Lavender 40/42 they want 3x the amount for it.


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## Miz Jenny

Sapphire Blue's shipping costs are ridiculous.  Canwax is the best for smaller items and NDA for large items, i. e., 5kg size coconut oil. 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Soap Making mobile app


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## neeners

following - this will be great for me to know when I move back to Ontario


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## DonnaC

Since Candora Soap is closest to me and I'm really happy with the quality, it's where I wanted to do my shopping, but I need good pricing too.  When I initially checked out there prices, they seemed good to me.  But I didn't check out the EO prices before (I do buy those too!) Danielle's post prompted me to do that. I compared 60ml sizes of the first few EO's.  Here's what I found. 

Anise EO- Candora's is less by $2.
Bergamot EO- Candora is less by $ .64
Cedarwood EO- Candora is less by more than $2
Cinnamon Leaf EO- Saffire is less by $.50
Clove Bud EO- Candora is less by $2.45

So I feel better!  It went on back and forth like that. So it really depends on what you're buying I guess.


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## danielle22033

DonnaC said:


> Since Candora Soap is closest to me and I'm really happy with the quality, it's where I wanted to do my shopping, but I need good pricing too.  When I initially checked out there prices, they seemed good to me.  But I didn't check out the EO prices before (I do buy those too!) Danielle's post prompted me to do that. I compared 60ml sizes of the first few EO's.  Here's what I found.
> 
> Anise EO- Candora's is less by $2.
> Bergamot EO- Candora is less by $ .64
> Cedarwood EO- Candora is less by more than $2
> Cinnamon Leaf EO- Saffire is less by $.50
> Clove Bud EO- Candora is less by $2.45
> 
> So I feel better!  It went on back and forth like that. So it really depends on what you're buying I guess.



Lavender at candora is $16.50 and at saffire it is $5.76
Maybe this is just the one oil that is a huge price difference? It just happened to be the one I looked up.  However since you brought up price differences, I (of course) needed to check it out too! And everything else is pretty comparable, with just cents differences.  Thank you for pointing this out.  I really look forward to using Candora too! Do you know where they are located? I can't seem to find the address on their website?

Thanks


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## DonnaC

Yes, they're on Wellington in London, but not sure of the full address at the moment.  You can give them a call.  I talked to Donna there (finally, someone's name that's easy for me to remember!) and they are quite friendly.


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## namad

Personally, I have not had luck with suppliers in Ontario (except New Directions Aromatics for my EO's)

I found that Voyageur Soap and Candle in BC, is the best for carrier oils. Personally, I have not been happy with the suppliers in Ontario (Saffire Blue or Canwax) whether it be from the ingredients or the customer service. I have tried to get carrier oils from New Directions, but I was not happy with the quality compared to Voyageur Soap. 

That is me, personally 

-- 
Ashley Hanna
Soap Artisan | Hanna-Made Soaps

www.hannamadesoaps.com
[email protected]


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## danielle22033

Hanna-Made Soaps said:


> Personally, I have not had luck with suppliers in Ontario (except New Directions Aromatics for my EO's)
> 
> I found that Voyageur Soap and Candle in BC, is the best for carrier oils. Personally, I have not been happy with the suppliers in Ontario (Saffire Blue or Canwax) whether it be from the ingredients or the customer service. I have tried to get carrier oils from New Directions, but I was not happy with the quality compared to Voyageur Soap.
> 
> That is me, personally



Are you located in Ontario? How is Voyaguer Soap for shipping costs? I just tried to do a fake order to see how much I get charged however they said they add it later on after they weight it, so I cannot get an estimate.


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## namad

Yes, I am in Waterloo

I am happy with the shipping cost through them. On a $375ish order, shipping was $50ish. To me it's worth it, as they have good customer service (which is important to me), they have good quality oils, they ship your order fast. haha, as you can tell I am impressed with them 

They allow you to get the total with shipping before paying for an order. 

What you do is put in the comment section before you place your order, "can I please get total with shipping, before completing the order. 

I use the Organic oils from Voyageur, the only thing they don't have Organic that I use is their Avocado Oil. 

I have gotten the Organic Unrefined Avocado Oil from -  Creations from Eden, in Alberta before, Wicked stuff. Worth paying whatever shipping is for. Sadly, it seems to be sold out whenever I want to buy any. 

haha tips from Ash 

-- 
Ashley Hanna
Soap Artisan | Hanna-Made Soaps

www.hannamadesoaps.com
[email protected]http://www.hannamadesoaps.com


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## CaraCara

I've had excellent service from both Saffire Blue and NDA and find that the quality is quite good. Their shipping costs are peanuts to where I am, which is near Ottawa so this definitely affects the rates. I'm glad Candora was mentioned because I will be in London in a couple of weeks and will go and check them out.


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## namad

CaraCara said:


> I've had excellent service from both Saffire Blue and NDA and find that the quality is quite good.



I have had excellent service from NDA also! I like the quality of their EO's very much, I was just personally not as impressed with their organic coconut oil as I was with Voyageur's. I make 100% coconut oil soap and have NEVER had a problem, until I used NDA's, I have holes in my soap like no ones business. I made 2 batches, just to make sure it wasn't me (cause you never know right) and yah, it just was holy mchole soap. Still works great though, just made me realize that voyageur is the place for meeee 

Saffire Blue, that is another story and let's just leave it at that


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## namad

CaraCara said:


> I'm glad Candora was mentioned because I will be in London in a couple of weeks and will go and check them out.




I am also glad that Candora was mentioned!! Never knew about them, going to have to try them out, heck yes! Thanks CaraCara for rementioning them in the post, as I missed it the first time


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## danielle22033

Hanna-Made Soaps said:


> I have had excellent service from NDA also! I like the quality of their EO's very much, I was just personally not as impressed with their organic coconut oil as I was with Voyageur's. I make 100% coconut oil soap and have NEVER had a problem, until I used NDA's, I have holes in my soap like no ones business. I made 2 batches, just to make sure it wasn't me (cause you never know right) and yah, it just was holy mchole soap. Still works great though, just made me realize that voyageur is the place for meeee
> 
> Saffire Blue, that is another story and let's just leave it at that



I would like to know more about Saffire Blue (if you are will to share)  I do like their prices, however they haven't been too nice to me... not rude but short on the phone and I asked for the ingredient list for their melt and pours and the percentages so that I could summit my CNF and it too them over 10 days and 3 phone calls to send it out to me.  I also just recently went to pick up an order and I didn't feel very welcomed.

that being said, I do like how fast I get my parcels and do not have a problem with the supplies I receive.


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## namad

danielle22033 said:


> I would like to know more about Saffire Blue (if you are will to share)



Of course I am willing to share, but keep in mind that my experiences are my own and just because I was not happy/had a bad experience (or a couple haha), does not mean that is the same for everyone 

I would place an order with them, and then maybe an hour later (or a day later) try to add new products to my order (I can be high maintenance at times, I admit it ). 

I did this a couple of times and every time I would try to add a product, I would not get a response from them about the new product, I would get a shipping notice, and then a response - oh add it to your next order, almost like they would ship it right away so I would keep ordering (Yes, I thought I was crazy too, so I just let it go)

I also emailed them as I had received a product from them (Indigo Root Powder) and I could not for the life of me make my soap blue (and the powder looked green, not blue like what I had seen), like you, i asked how to use it properly, they blasted me saying they are not responsible for formulating my recipes and they arent responsible if it does not work, Kitten Love? I asked what I could do to get my soap blue, holy. Again, let it go.

I also ordered rose petals from them, and literally - the bag was full of stems, barely any petals. I was not impressed (I go to Richters Herbs for my dried herbs)

Then I ordered activated charcoal from them, they took my money and then sent me an email saying they had none, did I want my money back or did I want to wait till it arrived and have it shipped. I said give my money back, ill get it somewhere else

I forgot about it, then like a month plus later, I checked my credit card statement and the money had not been refunded, Kitten Love?

I email them, nothing, email them again, got a response, rude response. I was not happy with treatment so I tried to post a comment on their website, the one person (won't say who) emailed me back and said that I was banned from purchasing from them, that I had threatened them etc. 

HORRIBLE. I was absolutely flabbergasted, pissed, and let me tell you - I PRAYED to Karma that night 

Then I tried Canwax, emailed them some questions about certain products and NEVER HEARD ANYTHING, still to this day, never heard a thing??

So, Voyageur all the way!

Again, that's just me. Wow, talking about that I got all angry again hahaha

and maybe while I mention it, does anyone know how to make soap blue with indigo root powder that looks green haha??


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## Meowmeow2d

Following.  Anyone know where I can get wooden molds from Toronto or the GTA.  Want to save on the shipping.


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## inkyfingers

Alrighty then, since I too, am in Southern Ontario, maybe I should sit here and quietly listen.


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## cpSoaperx3

I have tried lots of suppliers and my new fav is candora soap and supplies. I found them a few months ago from this forum. (Thanks!)  I love the products, service and my orders come fast! I don't know of anywhere, at least in Canada, that has an order ready that quick. Brambleberry is a great choice for shopping in the states, but it costs too much to get it over the border. :cry:


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## Mr.Clean

I used to shop at Saffire Blue, but I refuse to pay extra to have my order given priority. And if you don't, it keeps getting bumped until they run out of orders from those who did pay extra. Last time I ordered, it was almost a month, and I gave up. Not to mention that they keep moving, and have very poor signage. I never know which door to go to, and I stand outside ringing the bell and no one comes. Last time I was there, I pulled up to the door marked "pick up", and they told me to move to another door that was unmarked. That is the last time I placed an order.


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## Dahila

***Our showroom is open for your visits and pick ups from Noon - 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. *We  are located at 85 Midpark Rd #6 in London ON. N6N-1B2. Our office hours  are from 9am - 4:30pm Monday to Friday. You can reach us during  business hours at 519-685-3111. For more info on picking up your order,  visit our 'Pick Ups' page. Please follow us on Facebook for updates. Candora is not longer on Wellington .  It is on midpark.
Saffire blue is charging so much for shipping I stopped ordering there.

Candora is my favorite place, too) Owner is such awesome person and they share the knowledge willingly 
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52831&page=2 
I had linked to many canadians suppliers, we have another thread "Canadian Suppliers"


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## Mr.Clean

I just placed an order with Candora! I'm very happy to find a closer supplier, and with better prices!


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## Stacy

My two cents...

Canwax and Voyageur - I have ordered from both places and they were both fast and I was happy with the service. I did not have any problems with my orders or need to contact them about anything however. I am not a huge fan of either of the websites. Other suppliers have detailed information, MSDS sheets etc, and I like having all of that available.

New Directions - I get everything I can from them.  I find their site very organized for product information and they've always been helpful when I've had a problem or question. Shipping is expensive but I'm on the east coast and shipping from everywhere is expensive. 

Saffire Blue - I use these folks for items that are unavailable or considerably more expensive elsewhere and DO NOT have expiry dates. They refuse to put expiry dates on their products and it took me weeks of badgering to get them for my first order (more info here if you care to read it). Getting your order together and shipped can take a long time, but as Mr.Clean said, you can pay for priority service (which almost offends me and I refuse to do). One other pet peeve is that they will ship an incomplete order if something is out of stock without asking you first. If you're making an order for a critical item and a couple of other things and they happen to be out of stock of the main thing you wanted, you end up paying shipping on a bunch of stuff you would have waited for.  I now put a note on all my orders to hold it if anything is out of stock.  I don't know if it works or if I've just been lucky but I haven't been shipped any incomplete orders since I started adding it.

That being said I have had a couple of orders where counts were off and they were quick to credit me with no issues. They also have the best prices on lower volume packaging that I could find (jars bottles etc).


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## Mr.Clean

Thanks Stacey! The one thing I stuggle most with is finding packaging. Specifically orifice reducers. While I'm here, what's the best/cheapest way to print/purchase waterproof labels?


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## Stacy

That all depends on what level you're looking to present.  You can make a plain ink jet label and cover it in packing tape carefully but it's time consuming and take a lot of time to get the knack to do it neatly (I tend to be a perfectionist though so take that with a grain of salt). There are waterproof Avery labels you can get and if you print them with a laser printer they're fairly waterproof.

So far I haven't found anything besides professional printing that is going to get you a real waterproof label like a professional bottle.

Keep in mind that if you're designing labels, printers don't print white. Clear labels are a no-go unless you're staying with a very basic color scheme (think all black text).


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