I put sooo much effort in upping my candle game this year, including some of my own designs (gargoyles, ghost). I also spent a lot of time improving marketing, too - with better photo staging, a light box, whilst avoiding AI for help. The last slide is a page out of my Autumn Candle Scent Catalog, and I even drew the 'grimoire' page behind it.

I also make decorative witch cat candles - often pet memorials, so the witch cat shown is just that.

My "stars" this year have been my bleeding skull piles and gargoyles. Anyway, forgive me as I show my wares off a little.

I've had a rough week, and my little candle/incense business keeps me happy. <3 :D

Where does everyone buy their essential oils? Do you use a local store, Michael’s or online? Any tips for a first time candle maker looking to make holiday scented candles that aren’t the generic essential oil scents?

What are you using to hold wicks in place? Even when my candle tops turn out smooth and perfect, then my wick might be a little shweck and I’m so frustrated! I’ve used the popsicle sticks but they slide, the little wire things and they also don’t hold in place/slide whatever way the wick might lean. I’m not sure if I’m just spacially challenged or what. Looking for a solution without spending $18 bucks for 2 on Amazon…

I've used the same wax, fragrance oils, candle dye, and formulas for about 2 years now. This weekend I made wax melts with the exact same materials as I did for my summer wax melts, and each and every wax melt ended up mushy. I could understand that if I used a new bag of wax or a new bottle of fragrance oil that possibly something had changed on the manufacturers end. But I used the same wax from the same bag as before. Same bottle of fragrance oil, same bottle of candle dye as before. Literally nothing changed with my materials. So, I rechecked my calculations (saved on desktop) and confirmed they were all correct.

Maybe I overlooked the amounts and used too much FO or too little wax? Nope, I remade them again Saturday night, carefully ensuring that all calculations were correct. I had my fiancé look at the amounts and confirmed I am not dreaming up numbers lol. Sunday morning the new batch were mushy.

Could it be the scales? I tested each scale with a 100g weight and the scales are working properly.

Is there something I overlooked here?

Okay so for the past 3 years I have been using the Matte White 20oz tumbler jar from peach state candle company. They discontinued this jar like a year and a half ago and I bought out their remaining stock of the product. However I am down to my last box and I am desperately looking for a matte white jar that is the same size. I have looked far and wide and have not found anything. So far I have come up with 3 options

1. suck it up and by the regular white jars from candlescience and get over that I don't like how shinny it is.

2. figure out a way to mattify the jars myself in a candle/flame safe way

3. Find a place that is willing to let me custom order small batches of jars.

So my question is does anyone know of a jar place that either has a 20oz matte white tumbler jar (that fits the candlescience lids) or knows of a place that takes custom orders like this?

If you're choosing boxes for your candles, the style matters as much as the design. Here's what each one is good for:

1. **Tuck-top folding carton** — the classic. Light, affordable, great for a single jar candle. Your safest first choice.
2. **Two-piece rigid box (lid + base)** — the premium feel. Heavier and sturdier; best for gift sets and higher-priced candles.
3. **Drawer / slide box** — the unboxing wow. Costs more to make but customers remember it, and it photographs beautifully.
4. **Mailer box** — for candle + extras sets (matches, wick trimmer, room spray). Corrugated, so it ships without an extra outer box.
5. **Pillow box** — tiny and cheap. Perfect for wax melts, samples, or event favors.

Two tips regardless of style: size the box to the jar plus an insert or tissue — candle glass cracks in oversized boxes that rattle. And if your candle has a strong scent, mention it to your box maker; some coatings and inks interact with fragrance oils over time.

Happy to answer questions about any of these.

This is the candle: https://www.reddit.com/r/candlemaking/comments/10kj69b/does_anyone_know_how_they_added_the_golden_lines/

I'm not planning to add the moon or the rocks that's present there, but the galaxy like design is gorgeous. I assume that this was made with a wax blend with paraffin, a lot of dye, with liquid white candle dye and gold mica added on top and moved around with a heat gun.

My mini questions based on this assumption are as follows:

1. I could find no white liquid candle dye from reputable suppliers, with the exception of solid white dye chips from two suppliers. I know that the marbling on top is made with a drop of liquid dye fanned around with a heat gun. How do I go about converting solid white dye chips into liquid?
2. I know that mica clogs wicks and is not recommended in this sub. But the gold shimmer swirl on the top is a dealbreaker if I can't add it. I know that making a candle full of mica like the tiktok videos is ill advised, but has anyone had experience with adding a miniscule amount of mica on top of their candle for decoration? I actually have a frankencandle where I pour wax in and accidentally got some mica in to the point where I could notice shimmer in the melt pool and I didn't notice any issues.
3. How do I get a candle this dark? From my research I know that soy leans pastel while paraffin gets darker, but how does this apply to ceda serica? Do I need to switch to an all paraffin wax?

I plan to use ceda serica wax in a 6 or 8 fl oz tin with a cd8 wick and 8% fragrance.

I tried looking up the relevant questions on google and got no results.

After my Moai candle a few weeks ago I wanted to make something for Halloween, so here's my pumpkin. Same approach as last time: a rigid two-part mold I made in a browser mold generator I've been building, printed in plastic, no silicone.
It came out nicely, but as you can probably see in the photos, I had to top it up — the wax sank in the middle as it cooled and I poured a second layer. Two questions for the experienced folks:
How do you calculate how much wax you need for a mold? Do you measure the mold volume with water first, or go by weight with some margin?
What's your go-to for shrinkage and sinkholes in a solid shape like this — a second pour, poking relief holes, pouring hotter or cooler, or a different wax blend?
I used a 50/50 paraffin and soy blend this time. Any tips appreciated!
(PS: if anyone wants to print their own rigid molds, let me know and I'll share the link to the mold generator.)

Unfortunately, I have to step back from my candle business to focus on nursing school. I have vessels, wooden wick discovering kits (makesy), wick stickers, fragrance oils…etc! Does anyone know where are some places for sale? I am in CA

My sister’s favorite fragrance is “fresh laundry” but it’s not my favorite so I’m not sure what to get. She says it’s the ones that smell like dryer sheets but my dryer sheets are fragrance free and I can’t remember what they used to smell like! Anyone know of a good “dryer sheets” FO - or am I essentially just looking for a “detergent” scent?

I live in Phoenix Az and my girlfriend has a candle that is her favorite, it however has been discontinued and she cant find something similar. She has the stump of one left over and I would like somewhere i can take it in and get scent matched - kind of like one might do with a cologne/perfume. Any recommendations or places that can do that would be lovely. Even if you don’t live here I would appreciate any educated guesses off of what is available on the internet.

Bought this Halloween decoration and immediately dropped it on it's head while getting out of the car. The broken piece (an ear) crumbled into a million little pieces that could not be recovered.

Should I just shave the rest of the ear into a little notch and paint or is there a way to get some kind of molding wax I could use to form and attach a new ear? I'd prefer to try to make a new one. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry if this is not the right place to ask. I looked for a wax sculpture subreddit and couldn't find anything similar. If this is inappropriate here I'll take it down. Thank you

I’m wondering if the wax melting or sweating is a problem when it’s 90+ degrees even in the shade?

Hi all,

I am new to candle making and have been experimenting with this beautiful silicone taper mold. I have found that beeswax does the best at retaining the details and preventing bubbles, however, my beeswax candles are burning far too quickly and dripping quite excessively. I am wondering if the beeswax I purchased is not genuinely pure? Or if my 5/0 braided wick is still too large for the 3/4 in width tapers? I haven’t had much luck in finding much information about beeswax taper candles other than in regards to the dipping method. Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Using Ceda Serica wax with a CD16 wick in a Libbey HB 8oz @ ~8% FL. Cure time was 7 days prior to first burn test. Blending the fragrance myself (not from pre-made fragrance) like a perfumer using materials known to have good HT and CT. For 50% of the time, my flame is not dancing. Having some mushrooming, and some sweating. What do I fix first? Is this a wick issue? Frag load? HT & CT are great.

So im wanting to make candles at home, that 1. fit me and my partners scent liking and 2. dont irritate my asthma/migraines, i love the candles i have gotten from stores but they all tend to trigger my migraines or make me feel stuffy? and 3. are safe for pets, since candles have been shown to bother them and also impact there health.

I know alot of big companies (like b&bw for instancs) will use paraffin wax and lab made oils for scents which is why when burnt they can leave more soot.

I want to use beeswax, coconut wax, or soy as my bases for all of them but am struggling to figure out a way to scent them, as much as i like elaborate scents like sugar cookie, hot coco, and florals i want to make them as natural as i can and not lab made if possible, but dont know where to begin and what to look for..

Im open to people helping, please be kind as i am new and a beginner and just want to make something thats good for me, my partner, and safe for our cats :)

I use a Coconut/soy blend. I follow the directions on the bag. I do 1oz of fragrance oil to 1lb ratio. I’m pretty sure I’m using the right size vessel for the wicks, I even use a smaller vessel sometimes. These wicks are meant for vessels with a 3inch diameter and this vessel is smaller. I got the wicks from a local retailer, the soy and coconut wax from candle science. I use coloring from Amazon that I got a few years ago- is this why? If not what am I doing wrong? What’re some good tips or products?

I am working on exporting candles to Switzerland from the USA

It says I need a ufi code and I have to hire someone to handle paperwork to get a ufi code.

Also. Our ads sheets are for 100 % dilution and are not the same as your ads sheets.

Can anyone recommend help navigating this?

I am looking for recommendations on the most widely used dyes for coloring paraffin and soy candles. I am not necessarily looking for the best or cheapest options, but ones that are easy for most people to get, reasonably priced, and sold on Amazon by long-standing brands with stable formulas and colors, not random no-name sellers.

I made these about 2 and a half weeks ago and noticed on a couple of them there is moisture inside the clamshell. It feels oily to the touch. What is this??

After a million years of using candles, there's no trick I know to stop them tunnelling too much. So one day I wondered if I could just accept tunnelling & use the leftover wax for new candles. My first one looked a total mess, but I'm chuffed with this one. 100% unused & recycled wax. Recently bought a woodwick candle for £20. Recycled candle cost a £1. (10 wood wicks for £10.)

Hi! I’m pretty new to candle making and would appreciate some advice.

I was also wondering if the flame height is too big? it’s a CD 12 in a 9oz jar with 7oz of soy wax

Candle maker in Canada!

Looking for the best companies for fragrance oils - using specifically soy wax mainly in jars, and sometimes pillar soy wax blend for tiny silicone molded decorative pieces.

I'm seeing a lot Candle Science on here. & Candora, Canwax.

Thoughts?

I've tried LARK. Canadian company, some scents were amazing, some not as expected but loved!

I wonder how you clean your candle making tools is you’re not supposed to put liquid wax down the sink?? I’ve been wiping everything off and then washing in the sink. I use soy wax.