Dear Maven - Candle scent issues

Dear Maven,
Your candles are fabulous! I always look forward to burning them to freshen different areas of my home. I have, however, noticed that some candles do not seem to have as much fragrance as others. Sometimes I feel like I’m smelling the wax more than the scent and I’m tempted to add some of your Diffuser oil with a dropper to give the candle a fragrance boost. What do you suggest when I get a candle that seems to have limited fragrance?

Well, first let me say that flattery will get you everywhere. I like to think that I had a little something to do with your satisfaction with our candles, as I am always offering our R & D department my sage advice – sometimes solicited and frequently not.

Moving on to your question, my answer is best summed up in the old saying, ‘Patience is a virtue.’ When you receive a candle that does not seem to have a strong scent, the best recommendation is to put it away and smell it again the next morning to make sure your nose isn’t playing tricks on you. Personally, after a long day of latte runs to my local café, slathering myself with cosmetics, heading to the mall food court to grab a bite to eat, re-spritzing myself with my favorite body spray (Your Inspraytion™ Body Mist from our EMERGE™ collection, of course) and pumping gas (ick!), my nose understandably has an identity crisis on its hands and can’t smell the full bouquet of fragrance notes that may be present in one of Gold Canyon’s amazing candles. Bottom line: it’s a good idea to give your nose a break and check out that new candle a second time when you know your nose is fresh and hasn’t been assaulted by the variety of smells you’re likely to encounter throughout the course of your day.

If you have given your olfactory senses a break and are certain your new candle doesn’t smell like it should, please contact your Gold Canyon Demonstrator and let us send you an exchange. Everyone here takes maintaining our reputation as “The World’s Finest”^® quite seriously and we truly want you to be completely satisfied. Additionally, we may request that you return the candle to us so we can get to the bottom of it if there is a quality issue. Our goal is that every single candle produced be perfect every time.

One last note of expert advice, DO NOT use your Diffuser oil in your candle! This will eventually cause your wick to stop functioning correctly and your candle will not burn. For more information about the appropriate use of Gold Canyon Diffusers (and every other fabulous product we offer), consult your Gold Canyon demonstrator.

Dear Maven is a column in our monthly demonstrator’s newsletters. I have not written any of these articles, but am sharing them here for your information.

Sunny days...

Summer is on its way! At least I am hoping so. The weather the past few days has been gorgeous. Sunny and hot. It is suppose to stay that way for the next ten or so days as well. Yay!

Sunday evening I made a run to Home Depot. I finally bought some of the stuff needed for the veggie garden – mulch, garden soil, etc. I also bought several plants for the front flower garden. When I came home, I spent over an hour outside digging out weeds and planting flowers. I bought a light pink Asiatic lily, a pink salvia plant, a small hosta, a small daisy…um, and a several others that I can’t recall right now.

Spike was helpful. He ate some of the grass out of the front flower beds. LOL That made it easier for me to pull them up.

I am heading to Michigan this weekend, and expect to return with several plants for the veggie garden. Then I just need to find the time to get them in the ground!

Dear Maven - Leftover candle wax and Pod Warmers

Dear Maven,

Is it safe to put the Heritage®, Bella®, Inspirations or any other Gold Canyon glass candle on the Pod Warmers to use up any last remnants of the candle wax or will the temperature of the Warmer be too hot for the glass? I have several customers who tell me they do this and I want to be able to warn them if there could be any hazards.


To make a long story short and answer your question, no, the heat is not too much, but, and this is a big BUT, the quality of the fragrance won't be what your customers are expecting and definitely not what they deserve from Gold Canyon.

Gold Canyon has a patent on the Scent Pods® and Warmers, a product for which we painstakingly ensured that the Pod Warmer, Scent Pod container and fragrance all play nice to create a quality experience for you. Any time a different type of product is used, it has the potential of resulting in a flawed experience.


I know, I know—everyone is trying to be super thrifty nowadays, but this isn’t one of those times to reuse. Just not worth it.


Keep the following info in your back pocket for next time your customers ask you about that remaining wax they are trying to use: The last remains will contain the wick adhesive (not designed to smell good, by the way) and will have wick and other debris which will impart a smoky smell and not look very pretty either. This certainly doesn't showcase the excellent fragrance quality for which Gold Canyon is known.


After interviewing the experts in Research and Development, the best advice I have is to tell your customers to just throw away the last bit of wax and be happy knowing this is a safe and very reasonably priced candle. That last bit of wax is your safety insurance policy and it has done its job, holding all wick debris and keeping the bottom of your candle from getting too hot and bursting.


If you must, you can suggest to these customers that they use the warmers to melt out the last bit of wax in their jars, BUT (notice that’s another big BUT) they must realize this is a cleaning process and not a fragrance experience.


Looking out for your best interest,


Maven


Dear Maven is a column in our monthly demonstrator’s newsletters. I have not written any of these articles, but am sharing them here for your information.

I dream of gardening...

As the weather is (somewhat) warmer, my mind keeps turning to gardening. I have been itching to play in the dirt. Time, money, illness and weather have all prevented me from doing much so far. *le sigh*

But…it isn’t keeping me from reading about gardens and gardening! I came across this great little article on Real Simple’s website about their Reader’s Top Ten Gardening Mistakes.

I’ve also checked out a couple of books from the library about growing herbs and about gardening (flowers and vegetables) in Ohio. I’ve often been skimming through the books.

Here's hoping I can get some work done in the gardens soon. Perhaps next weekend?

midweek update

Let's see....what's going on in Ama's world...

Hubby was sick with a respiratory bug. That was a few weeks ago.

Then, starting about a week ago, I came down with a respiratory bug.

Then Tuesday morning the puppyboy came down with a respiratory bug.

See a pattern?

Hubby was well within a few days. Puppyboy is getting better thanks to a visit to the vet's office and some antibiotics. I will be getting better soon thanks to a visit to my doctor's office and some good meds (antibiotics and a steroid, since I have bronchitis).

So my wonderful plans for last Friday were dashed to the ground, as I ended up leaving work at 12:30 and heading home to sleep. I took a nap for nearly 6 hours. Geesh. That meant I didn't get to the store to buy garden stuff. Perhaps next week?

I did talk to my dad last week and asked about plants. I can't recall now what he has for me, but do know I'll be putting a bunch of plants in my van when I return from the Memorial Day trip to Michigan.

Sunny Days…

“Sunny days,
sweeping the clouds away
on my way to where the air is sweet”

Yes, that’s the beginning of the Sesame Street theme song. It’s perfect for today. I’m looking out the window at work and the sun is shining. There is a breeze making the tree branches sway. All in all, it looks to be a beautiful day today. I’ll find out soon when I go to lunch. Thankfully I’m only working until 6 today. I won’t be able to really enjoy the sun much, though, as I have a meeting at 7 tonight.

I’m thinking of more sunny days. Hopefully I can find the time – and the weather will cooperate – so soon I can get the garden prepped and ready. I’ve been glancing through a few Ohio gardening books and dreaming of landscaping our front yard. So many things I want to do; so little time and money to do those things.

For now I will just enjoy the view out the windows. “Sunny days…”

Dear Maven - Soy Candles

Dear Maven
One question I get as a Demonstrator is “How do our candles compare to soy candles?” What makes our candles better?

It’s great to hear that you already know our candles are better. Smart girl. However, I know it’s sometimes hard when you’re put on the spot and want to tell your prospective customer, Host or new Demonstrator exactly why Gold Canyon is better.

Regarding your question about soy candles, it’s actually pretty hard to compare if you don’t know exactly which type of soy candle your customer is working with. If they don’t give you any details about their soy candle, that’s like telling your husband/boyfriend, etc. to go to the store and buy ice cream. You would never ask someone to go get you ice cream without explaining first that you want the death by chocolate flavor with all the fat and the calories in the premium brand.

It’s the same idea with soy candles—they come in so many varieties. If someone is really fond of their soy candle, they should give a brand and flavor explanation, otherwise all bets of trying to compare are off.

If I’m forced to generalize, I do know one area of weakness for all soy candles except Gold Canyon’s soy candles. Gold Canyon’s soy candles are different because we refuse to compromise on our fragrance strength and character while the candle is cold or while it is burning. We know our customers’ top priority is a strong, true-to-life smelling fragrance. So, unlike many of our competitors, we keep fragrance first and foremost at top of mind. Gold Canyon is not willing to allow our fragrance burning strength to become lessened by using soy wax, as so many other candle companies do. Gold Canyon employs the latest technology to optimize our wax and fragrance oils to bring the best smelling candles while cold and while burning.

Of course, there may be other areas where the competition falls down. Examples might include burn time, consuming all of the wax, sooting, choosing ugly fragrance and colors, etc.

Unfortunately, without knowing the specific candle it is hard to say. When in this sticky situation, it’s best to point out all of the benefits of Gold Canyon. All of the good things you already know about Gold Canyon are always true of any new product we create. Like I said above, we never compromise on fragrance strength and with two wicks, even burning, high quality wax, etc, there’s a lot to tout when it comes to Gold Canyon.

In my opinion, no other company is ever going to measure up, so why compare in the first place! By the way, have you seen “The World’s Finest”^® section of our new catalog? This a great place to get more information and help your customers see the Gold Canyon difference.

Dear Maven is a column in our monthly demonstrator’s newsletters. I have not written any of these articles, but am sharing them here for your information.