It must be Christmas !
That's it ! It must be Christmas because the lights are up !
Our little shop looks so festive and cosy now that the twinkly lights are up ! We also have the most gorgeous huge tree just outside the shop in the Market Place too ... it's really starting to feel festive now.
For all things cosy, check out our shop for candles, melts and snuggly hand woven winter scarves.
Getting the most out of your melts.
Often, sellers will trumpet how long their wax melts will last and how many uses you will get out of each tablet, but in reality, wherever you buy from, your melts will only be as good as your melter.
So many shops sell the traditional short, squat design of oil burner (see below) as being suitable for wax melts. In reality, they burn far too hot for wax as they are designed to use with drops of essential oils in a water pool.
Using wax melts in these short burners means that your fragrance will evaporate far quicker than it should, so you may only get a few hours per tablet.
Taller tealight burners (see below) are far better for use with wax melts. The distance between the top of the flame and the wax bowl is much larger, meaning that the wax will not overheat and lose it's fragrance as quickly.
A word of caution though ... even with a tall wax burner, you must only use a standard 4 hour tealight. Using larger tealights will potentially overheat your wax and cause cracks in your burner which could become dangerous.
Not all melters are equal though .... here at Sniff[ology] we only ever use electric melters (see below). Now these are inherantly safer because there is no naked flame but a small light bulb instead. We also find that they are the best when it comes to getting value out of our wax melts. We always trial new fragrances in our shop before releasing them for sale. On average, we get 3 whole working days of fragrance before the scent starts to tail off.
So ... as you can see, there are a range of options to choose from when looking for a wax melter. At the end of the day, it is down to personal choice, but when you think about it, the cooler you can keep your wax, the longer the fragrance last.
And, of course, your home will smell absolutely beautiful for longer !
I hope that you have found my wordy post useful ? If you have persevered and got this far ... thank you !
Have a lovely (scent filled) evening everybody.
Almost There ...
After hours of edits and photographs, I am almost ready to launch the web-shop. There are still more products to add and I need to do an up to date stock take at work, but I think I have the bare bones of it ready. There's a 25% discount on 2 or more room sprays because I can't seem to find an option to run a mix and match offer. So buy 2 or more room sprays and you can get the discount by adding ROOM25 in the voucher box at checkout. This offer is restricted to room sprays.
Im afraid I am (for the moment) restricted to UK shipping only, but there is also an option to collect in store at the checkout.
I'm sure there will be more updates pretty soon. For now though, I think I need a bucket of coffee !
Just a quick webshop update
PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE FROM MY SHOP YET AS IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS. THE LENGTHY UPDATE BELOW WILL EXPLAIN WHERE I AM AT xx
Good morning. Its been a very long time since I last posted anything here and I'd like to apologise for that.
But I'd like to explain. (Sorry ... long read)
Home fragrance is my little 'side hustle' and I usually start ramping up production early in the Autumn.
Things haven't been very straightforward over the past year. I'll keep it as short as possible for you.
During Autumn and Winter last year we started noticing a distinct deterioration in Mum's behaviour. Last Christmas was as good as cancelled because of the stress and upset. Everything came to a head in February when Mum was admitted to hospital with a frighteningly rapid decline and was eventually diagnosed with Alzeimers disease. Mum continues to deteriorate but is now being looked after in a care home. I am still trying to process the loss of the Mum that I have known and loved all of my life and come to terms with the person that she is now. It's hard but I'm working on it.
Also, during the summer this year my lovely Father in Law was diagnosed with cancer. After a brave battle, we laid him to rest on October 30th.
This year has been one of enduring sorrow and through necessity I have had to prioritise my bead making business over anything else.
Now things are finding a new 'balance' I want to restart and hopefully grow my little home fragrance business.
I am working (slowly) on a Web shop, but for now I am selling in my shop in town and through Facebook.
Hopefully one day, Sniffology will be a stand alone business that can hold its own. Baby steps for now though. I am busy testing new scents and products and I'd love to get back to sharing my journey with you guys.
That's it for now. Thanks for getting this far.
See you soon with exciting new products and updates
Big love to all
14
NOV
2021
Candle testing has resumed in earnest.
Candle testing can be an incredibly frustrating process. It can also be very expensive ! Please don't ever question the price of a luxury scented candle .... I'll never do that again, haha ! You are paying for hours ... months ... and in some cases YEARS of unsuccessful testing to discover exactly which wick, wax, fragrance and container work well together, because I can guarantee that the combination will be different for every single scent that you wish to master.
Having said that, I think I am *almost* ready to start making a few scents in containers ready for sale.
I am SO close to getting gingerbread, lemon lavender, basil and neroli, lemon and cassis and fig down pat and being able to make candles for sale !
I have also made the first of 2 new candle scents today ... Sandalwood and Black Pepper and Fireside ... I already have these in my wax melt range, but I'd like to add them to my candle collection too ... it may take a few months of failures and retests before they're ready, but it'll all be worth it in the end, hopefully !
14
NOV
2021
All that glitters ...
It's difficult, when running a product based business, to be 100% environmentally friendly. I'll talk about the pros and cons of both mineral wax ( usually paraffin) and vegetable / soy waxes another time ... it really is not as clear cut as you may think.
But one product I am SO pleased to have discovered is biodegradable glitter ! Traditional craft glitter is made from plastics, and we all know by now just how much damage to the environment that plastic particles are doing.
This glitter is starch based and totally biodegradable ... hurrah ! Whilst I love the look that botanicals give to wax melts, I just can't help adding a bit of sparkle to my melts ... it brings out the magpie in me !
I have also just switched over to using glassine bags for my packaging .... I love the frosted look of the paper and they are perfect for retaining scent without any leaching through to the paper. I'll take better photos to share soon, but the contemporary look that they give to my branding really works too. I am SO pleased to have found packaging that looks just the way I wanted it to, AND for it to be eco friendly too ... double win !
Product Development
Testing Lemon and Lavender
A little insight into candle testing .... Testing a scented candle is a pretty long and drawn out process ... First you need to choose a wax. There are lots on the market, so it can get confusing.
After settling on a wax, you need to choose scent.
After that, you need to guess/gauge which wick will give the best results ... Now there are SO many to choose from. Some suit certain types of wax and some seem to do well across the board.
I'm on about my 5th or 6th test candle for this lush lemon lavender fragrance and I FINALLY think I'm getting somewhere .. I have a nice even melt after a few 4hr test burns, no mushrooming (sooty build up) of the wick, nice Cold Throw ( how it smells unlit) and pretty decent hot throw (yes, how your room smells when lit) but ... As I've also discovered from other makers, this wax gives a bit of a fatty smell under the fragrance .. agh !!!
So ... I have a sample of another wax on order and guess what ... I'll have to retest all over again to find the right wick, lol
So please ... If you do ever think a hand poured candle from a small business is a bit pricey, then it's for this reason ... You're not just paying for the candle, but also for the knowledge, expertise and care that goes in to making the perfect candle
This is why everybody (or so it seems) makes melts Although I started out not wanting to make melts ... Candle testing has changed my mind
Onwards and upwards ... I'm currently on my very first candle test with gingerbread ... Fingers crossed for at least a small win
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