It's a Dog eat Dog world out there!

[Gaisy59]

I can't remember who I first heard sing it. There are many women attributed to writing the song who actually only ever sang it after she put it out there....gawd what is her name again? I can see her in my mind but the name is escaping me....the video she recorded of herself singing it is really rough, her and a hand drum, no other instruments, very likely exactly as I would have done it. No fluff, no bull

So yes, I have heard the song, but not sure if we are thinking of the same person. I love the lyrics of the song. They are definitely me, except I don't curse the stones. I give gratitude to them I do cuss a lot in general, however Good for the soul!

There are actually quite a few who have recorded the song, but Ekaterina Shelehova might be the one you are thinking of. Full on drumming.

 

[Ephemerella]

I’m so grateful that Hive and Honey is going to carry at least some of the waxes, or I would have to spent so much more time and money testing candles again.

HH is really helping small business owners for exactly the reason you mentioned. I thought soap was expensive and time-consuming to create and test, but candles take the cake.

Interesting about #9 working for tricky SM oils, I have struggled with some of their FOs getting to work in both a candle and a soap.

Glad you have a solution available to you.

 

[BritS]

HH is really helping small business owners for exactly the reason you mentioned. I thought soap was expensive and time-consuming to create and test, but candles take the cake.

Interesting about #9 working for tricky SM oils, I have struggled with some of their FOs getting to work in both a candle and a soap.

Glad you have a solution available to you.

The worst part of candle testing is waiting two weeks to see if your candle is viable. Then, when you find out it’s not, you have to do it all over again and retest. I would make several testers at a time to try to save up on time, but that gets costly. You always end up trading one for the other or trying to find a balance between them.

I love SM fragrances. I truly do. For me, they perform better in things like body creams, sugar scrubs, and perfumes. I find that my standard 3% fragrance usage in soap is almost never enough for their fragrances. I have to double it up most of the time to get good scent retention, which is costly. It seems that their oils in candles need more time to cure compared to other oils, which is crazy to me, considering I already have to spend anywhere around two weeks to test.

Have you tried increasing the amount you’re using in soap? That seems to be the only thing that does it for me.

 

[Ephemerella]

Ha! I'm always begging friends to take my test candles because I have so many! Testing is just so involved and, as you said, expensive! I am sticking with 464 (it works for me on multiple levels), so I work hard to find oils that work with that wax for good ht and ct.

I blend a lot, so I can usually get SM to work out with a little help from another oil. I stay low in candles, I try not to exceed 8% (I get more consistent results with tempermental 464), and I generally use 5% in soap (strong scent sells) unless it exceeds the usage rate — which, if it does have a low usage rate, it has to be strong OOB. If the usage is low and the scent is weak, I don't even bother anymore.

I have a massive collection of FOs that are lovely, but don't cut the mustard for my uses. I really should offload those one day.

 

[melinda48]

It has been dog-eat-dog since the beginning of commerce. I am sorry to hear of the demise of these small companies. The only thing I can do about such things is to try and use the companies that seem to have more ethical standards than ones who profit from companies who have failed.

So, if a business fails, no other company should step up and fill that void? All companies profit from those who have failed in one way or another. It is not unethical to fill a void.

 

[Saponificarian]

Turns out it was bankruptcy. Now I see deceit from Valerie, she could have notified her clients and SMEs that depended on her. Glad I gave her the benefit of the doubt and the fragrances are available at AFI (who was the supplier) and Maple Street Candle.

https://thescentlibrarian.substack....ZUId6Aqx7HWd5Ta6jsuZUmvsU4fRShukwI&open=false

 

[BritS]

Turns out it was bankruptcy. Now I see deceit from Valerie, she could have notified her clients and SMEs that depended on her. Glad I gave her the benefit of the doubt and the fragrances are available at AFI (who was the supplier) and Maple Street Candle.

https://thescentlibrarian.substack....ZUId6Aqx7HWd5Ta6jsuZUmvsU4fRShukwI&open=false

That was quite the read. I did see another person on YouTube mention the bankruptcy. If I had known that, I would have stocked up on wax and whatnot.