Welcome to the En-light-ener, Candlewic's newsletter for the candle making community. We'd like to thank you for your continued interest in this newsletter. If you have any suggestions for topics you would like to have us write about, please send them.

How Much Is Enough?
Every candle maker has struggled with the difficult decision on deciding how many different candles and accessories to offer in his or her product line. In fact, research by the National Candle Association suggests that larger U.S. candle manufacturers will typically offer between 1,000 and 2,000 varieties in their candle lines. If you have ever wrestled with this decision in your operation or if your business is currently growing, this article may be just for you.

We have all been there at some point – customers asking for more and more types of new scents while you have a few on the shelf that haven’t sold since you started making candles (but luckily you used UV absorber and they are still sellable). Although having a wide assortment of fragrances is a great way to attract and maintain customers, there is a threshold that every candle maker hits where they spend more time juggling fragrances and less time doing what they enjoy – creating new and unique candles.

There are other options available besides juggling 100’s of fragrances. One option is to break out of the container philosophy and branch into other types of candles. By offering more styles of candles that use your current fragrances, you can attract new customers with minimal equipment investment. Some other options are freestanding pillar candles, votives, tea lights, tapers, novelty molded candles, and floating candles just to name a few. Often there are times where one type of wax can do multiple types of products.

Candle makers are finding value in adding other types of products that compliment candles as well. Candleholders, accessories, and other scented pleasures are a great way to bundle products and share common themes. Gift baskets with assorted themes work great in creating extra value to your customers. A mixture of same-scent candles, lotions, and soaps can create exciting baskets. By offering attractive, well made gift certificates, you can please your current customers and gain others. Just be sure to create your gift certificate in such a fashion that somebody would be proud to give as a gift.

Hand poured soaps are a natural compliment to any line of candles.

Another excellent and easy way to build a new customer base is to offer hand poured soaps. Melt and pour soaps are actually very easy to produce and easily mesh into your current product line. The best part about soap is that often times you can use the same scent as your current candles and soap does not require nearly as much fragrance per pound as candles require. Just be sure to verify the scent you are using is “skin safe”. See Chandler’s section of the website to see how incredibly easy it is to make soap. In the event you happen to be at a festival or craft show with multiple candle makers, soap can be a great way to differentiate your booth from the rest of the vendors who may not offer more than one or two types of candles.

Candle makers are finding the power of branding their candles as well. Branding your candles works for you in many ways. Although many experts argue the true meaning of the term “brand”, the basic benefits of a branded candle can easily be boiled down to the term “recognition”. Once your customers start to recognize your logo or name, they start to attribute that recognition to certain qualities that your candles possess. Keep in mind, this can work for, or against you, depending on your candle and the way it burns. Some brands are known for their excellent burn, some for their low price, and some for their creativity. You can create multiple brands that target each of these consumers as opposed to trying the “one candle fits all” approach. With careful monitoring of your brands, you can add and remove an entire line of candles quite easily based on the profit each brand produces. You can also remove the brand and liquidate slow moving candles at reduced prices without harming your existing price structure.

CHANDLERS CORNER

Hi! I'm Chandler! I can help you learn how to make candles.

How Does Chandler Figure Out Tough Challenges?

New products and technologies are introduced on a regular basis. Once in a while a candle maker will run into a challenge during a late night pouring session, or while I am off traveling the world on weekends looking for new and exciting products. These are the times when you need answers most, but there is nobody awake you can call. There is good news. Most times the answer is in your very own hands, and you do not even realize it. There are two factors to concentrate on – temperature and variables.

It is amazing how pouring and heating temperatures can dramatically affect the appearance of your candle. Check all your ingredients and make sure you are following the manufacturers suggestions on temperatures. Some additives need higher temperatures to fully incorporate, while others may have restrictions on how hot they can be heated.

An accurate thermometer is an essential tool.

The other things to note are the variables. Try removing different ingredients one at a time in order to see if the undesired aspect is affected. Let’s take a basic candle with fragrance and color and suppose you are unhappy with a certain characteristic of that candle. The next step is to make the candle other ways but leaving out the ingredients one at a time. You would make one candle with just wax, one candle with just wax and fragrance, and one candle with just wax and color. After each candle has cooled, inspect the new candles and see which one loses or gains the undesirable characteristic. By doing this, you can narrow down which ingredient is causing the problem and take the corrective action that is needed. Sometimes it is as simple as decreasing fragrance, using some additional additives, or changing your pour temperature.

By taking very detailed notes on your experiences, you will have reference material to fall back on in the event you ever run into a similar situation. After running into the same challenge repeatedly, it starts to become embedded into your brain and earns you one more notch in your belt of experience. These late night lessons are sometimes uninvited, but by using the process of elimination, you can get yourself out of almost any bind.

We hope you enjoyed this issue of the En-Light-ener.
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Our goal is to make this newsletter as entertaining and educational as possible.
Let us know if you have any ideas on how we can improve.

Issue Index

July 2008 -- Sunscreen For Your Candles, How To Make Dipped Tapers, and more...

June 2008 -- Fall Candle Season Starts Now, Extraordinary Candle Making Project, and more...

May 2008 -- Green Candle Making, Green Candle Projects, and more...

April 2008 -- Recent Candle Industry Price Increases, Aluminum Mold Candle Project, and more...

March 2008 -- Straight Wax, Exciting New Candle Making Products, and more...

February 2008 -- Business Side of Candle Making, Ice Candle Project, and more...

January 2008 -- Basics of Blended Wax Candles, Rose Floater Candle Project, and more...

December 2007 -- 12 Days of Business, 2007 Candle Making Projects, and more...

November 2007 -- Show Time for Candle Making, Making Snow Candles, and more...

October 2007 -- Ready, Set, GO candle making, Candle Luminaries, and more...

September 2007 -- GREENING Your Product Line and Your Bottom Line…, One-Pour Candle Tins, and more...

August 2007 -- Candle Making's Center of Focus, Making Streak Candles, and more...

July 2007 -- The Latest in Candle Making Products, Votive Candle Project, and more...

June 2007 -- Setting Your Candles' Sale Price, Summer Candle Projects, and more...

May 2007 -- Determining Your Candle Making Costs, Using Extra Candle Wax, and more...

April 2007 -- Natural Wax Buzz Part 2, Layered natural candles, and more...

March 2007--Crucial details of candle making, Candle projects with no melting required, and more...

February 2007--How to choose a candle making mold, Making custom candle molds, and more...

January 2007--"Green" Candle Making, tri-color jar candle project, and more...

December 2006--Looking into the candle making future, 2006 candle projects, and more...

November 2006--Introducing...a candle making introduction, candle projects, and more...

October 2006--Prime time: candle wicks, taper candle projects, and more...

September 2006--Clearly still here:Gel candle making, one-pour tins, and more...

August 2006--Fragrance - the driving force of candle making, a new contest, and more...

July 2006--Planning your production, using granulated wax, and more...

June 2006--Our 35th Year, using aluminum candle molds, how much candle fragrance to use, and more...

May 2006--Summertime candle making, making natural lemon candles and more...

April 2006--Choose the candle wick, making tealight candles and more...

March 2006--Choose the right wick base, blending soy wax with paraffin, making palm wax candles and more...

February 2006--The roll of wax additives in a blended wax world, UV additives, making grubby candles and more...

January 2006--The secrets of soy wax candles, more ways to use candles, making soy wax container candles and more...

December 2005--Planning for the new year, announcing our new home, secrets about wicks, and more...

November 2005--Holiday candle making, ideas to sell more candles, making luminaries and more...

October 2005--Temperture issues when making candles, how to start making candles and more...

September 2005--Choose the right candle mold, ASTM safety standards, and more...

August 2005--Color and Fragrance trends, choosing the right candle making tools, and more...

July 2005--Planning for efficient production, Marketing your Candles, Making Swirl Candles, and more...

June 2005--New market trends in candle shapes and textures, Making Textured Candles, and more...

May 2005--The trends and science of candle fragrances, Making Mottled Candles, and more...

April 2005--How to select the proper candle wick, Top Colors, Making "Earthy" Chunk Candles, and more...

March 2005--Selecting the right wax Part III, Our Top Waxes, Making Floral Candles, Our History and more...

February 2005--Selecting the right wax Part II, Our Top Fragrances, Making Fruit Candles and more...

January 2005--Selecting the right wax, Using blended wax, Coloring wax, Making Layered Jar Candles and more...

December 2004--All about candle making fragrances, Making Grubby Candles and more...

November 2004--Choosing Color for your candle making, Making snowball candles and more...

October 2004--Candle Making Busy Season, Making Palm Wax Candles, Speeding Up Candle Production and more...

September 2004--Candle Wax Melters, Making Sense of your Candle Scents, Making Taper Candles and more...

August 2004--Getting Ready For The Season, Using Votive Pins To Make Votive Candles, No Melt Candle Making and more...

July 2004--Some History & What's New, Paraffin Myths, Making Golf Ball Candles and more...

June 2004--Choosing the Right Candle Wax for Your Needs, Making One-Pour Tins and more...

May 2004--Investigating New Products, Burn Testing, Making Freestanding Gel Pillars & Novelties and more...

April 2004--Candle Making Trends, Rolled Candles with Beeswax Sheets, Making Taper Candles and more...

March 2004--Color Theory & Techniques, Floating Candle Molds, Making Tealight Candles and more...

February 2004--Mold Techniques, Computers and Candlemaking, Making Easter Egg Chunk Candles and more...

January 2004--Marketing Natural Wax and Paraffin Candles, Layering Natural Wax Candles and more...

December 2003--Holiday Greetings, 2003 Year in Review, The 6 P's, Making Icicle Candles and more...

November 2003--Building Your Candle Product Line, Making Holiday Ornaments & Soap-on-a-Wick and more...

October 2003--Marketing Your Candles, Polyurethane Molds, Making Lemon Candles, and more...

September 2003--Packaging & Labeling, Essential Oils, Making Rolled Pillars with Beeswax Sheets, and more...

August 2003--Using Palm Wax, Increasing Your Profit Margins, Using Aluminum Molds, and more...

July 2003--Ultra Violet Light Absorbers, Reducing Shipping Costs, Dipping Techniques, and more...

June 2003--Choosing the Right Wick, Using a Wick Stick, Making Floater Candles, and more...

May 2003--New Products Review, Pouring Temperatures, Finishes For Your Candles, and more...

April 2003--Selecting Paraffin, Natural and “Hybrid” Waxes, Using Pillar Pins, and more...

March 2003--Selling & Marketing Candles, Making it Easier to Make Pillars, Wax Art Crystals and more...

February 2003--Pouring Temperatures, Votive Tips, Making Grubby Candles, and more...

January 2003--Candle Making Safety Tips, Instruction Labels, What To Do With Extra Wax and more...

December 2002--Polycarbonate Molds, Making Clear Snowball Candles, and more...

November 2002--Candle Making as a Second Language, The Story of Chandler, Natural F Wax, and more...

October 2002--Candle Making as a Second Language, Projects Review and more...

September 2002--Accessorizing Your Manufacturing, Making Clear Pillar Candles, and more...

July/August 2002--Making Cinnamon Roll Candles, Clear Pillar Base, New Products, and more...

May/June 2002--Back to Basics, Making F Wax Candles, and more...

April 2002--Making Streaked Candles, Wax 101 part 3: Natural Wax, and more...

March 2002--Making Crackled Candles, Wax 101 part 2: Gel Wax, and more...

February 2002--Making Easter Egg Candles, Wax 101: An Overview, and more...

January 2002 --Review of 2001, Frosty Snowman Candles, New Products, Safety Info and more...

December 2001--Botanical candles, making white candles white and more...

November 2001--Chunk candles, clearance sale!, candlemaking books and more...

October 2001--The new candle market, choosing gels, votive wicks and more...

August 2001--New products, new location , new web site and more...

July 2001--Selling & Marketing Candles (part 3), Candle Burn Times and more...

June 2001--Selling & Marketing Candles (part 2), UV Light Absorbers, Wax Additive Recommendations and more...

May 2001--Selling & Marketing Candles, Burning Instructions, Selecting Sustainer Bases and more...

April 2001--Natural Waxes, Candle Burn Times, Wax Pouring Temperatures and more...

March 2001--Making Wax Inserts, Blended vs. Non-Blended Waxes, Colors, Fragrances and more...

February 2001--Whipped Wax, Wax Art Crystal Wax, Gel Candles, Using Containers and more...