Since people tend to ask me these questions a lot, I'm hoping this will help avoid having to answer these questions if I ever meet you at a craft fair and we can talk about other things...as some have found, I can be a bit of a talker. 😉
Q: What's up with your name? Why are there so many h's in your name?
A: Long story, but I'll make I'll make it as short as I can...one of my coworkers (who also happens to be a good friend) gave the me nickname Dahhhn after a funny story that you had to be there to hear. Needless to say the nickname caught on throughout the office.
Around the holidays (while I was still trying to "master" the art of making candles which spoiler: I'm still mastering, since it's always changing), I would bring in candles for my coworkers. This lead to coworkers telling me how much they liked my cahhhndles.
My original plan was to register as an LLC using the name Candles By Dan. The process took a lot longer than I had planned, due to human error. When I say human error, I'm really saying mistakes I was making because I had somehow convinced myself into thinking the entire process could be done 2 minutes before my break was ending, while I was walking across the parking lot and back into the office.
During this time, I learned that one of my coworkers had passed away. The last time I saw her, I was kind of bouncing around the idea of getting a website going. She had told me to let her know when I did because she would love to order a cahhhndle by Dahhhn.
I had thought I was much further in the filing process than I really was. Special shout-out to my friend Amy who helped me correct everything I was doing wrong. Since I hadn't officially locked in the name Candles By Dan, I was able to change it to Cahhhndles By Dahhhn, LLC.
In case you're wondering, yes...the bank looked at me like I had eight heads when I went to open my business checking account. Yes, my name fits onto one line on my debit card.
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Q: Do you actually write the names of the scents on the labels for all of your candles and wax melts?
A: Yes, I do. I know some other vendors use printed labels (which I personally think look way better than my candles), but I feel that by handwriting all of my labels, you can walk away knowing that your item was actually handmade by me.
Special shout-out to those that have complimented me on my penmanship. I have a hard time taking a compliment, so although my words or facial expressions may say otherwise, inside I'm doing a happy dance.
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Q: Do you actually make all of these candles, wax melts, and soaps?
A: Yes, I do. There are times where I've considered having other people help me, but this is one of my only creative outlets.
Since I was diagnosed with ADHD, this has now become something I really enjoy doing because it requires all of my focus & concentration. It also gives me time to listen to a couple of podcasts in the insanely long list of podcasts that I hope to conquer one day.
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Q: You started with hemp wicks, moved to wooden wicks, and now you're back to hemp wicks? What's going on here?
A: When I first started making candles, I was using hemp wicks. I got some great feedback from people saying that they were finding that the wax was "tunneling" on the sides and that they had a lot of wax buildup on the sides of the jar. There were also cases where the wick would separate from the base and start floating around and tip over (making the candle impossible to light, but giving you a very large wax melt). 😉
I started seeing a shift in other candlemakers hopping on the wooden wick train, so I decided to hop on board. I soon found out that not everyone likes the snap, crackle, and pop that is common with wooden wick candles.
I've decided to find a happy medium and use both hemp wicks and wooden wicks in my line, that way everyone is happy and I'm not excluding anyone. 😉
In order to prevent that "pooling" issue with the wax, check out my Home Made Cahhhndles 101 page for more tips and tricks on how to extend the life of your cahhhndle.
If you don't want to check it out, the two biggest takeaways are to make sure to trim the wick before lighting the candle.
The wax I currently use is a blend of soy, coconut, and hemp wax. Some makers use paraffin wax...I don't. Some makers add more than fragrance/essential oils to their wax: I don't.
Because of this, you'll want to make sure that you let the wax melt all the way to the sides of the can before blowing it out. Sad that I didn't learn that until I turned 43 years old, but I guess it's better late than never. 🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️😂
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Q: Why are all of your candles white? Why don't you add different colors to your candles?
A: This caused a bit of debate about a year ago because I was wondering if I should start using candle dyes. At the end of the day, I decided against it.
Although I think the use of different dyes can make candles look more visually appealing, I think they're too much of a hassle and tend to make a process that can be fairly messy, a lot messier. I've also found that when I've used them, they tend to take on a scent of their own and weaken the scent of the candle.
I also know that there's also a bit of a trend going where people are adding different items into their candles (petals from flowers, glitter, etc.). I'm not going to knock on people for doing that, but I just prefer to give you a product that you can enjoy until it's gone. I find that adding these things to a candle just help shorten the burning time (and I'm nervous about them becomming a fire hazard).
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Q: I like the smell of your candles, but I'm afraid they'll give me a headache. What types of scents do you use?
A: I want to preface this tale by saying that I really had no clue what I was doing when I first started making candles. After doing this for several years, I can only compare the trial & error process to the story of Goldilocks & the Three Bears.
When I first started making candles, I was only using essential oils. People would say that they couldn't really get a good sense of the scent because it was very faint. There were also cases like when I used patchouli, where there was a weird scent that formed when it combined with the wax (that smelled absolutely nothing like the essential oil I was using). Thankfully, those issues disappeared when people lit the candles. As someone who loves the scent of patchouli, I was also happy to see that the true scent came out (and that it no longer smelled like swill from a dumpster that was sitting in the hot sun for a week or two).
I then started having people request scents that you can find in most stores. The problem with those scents are that many of them are fully synthetic (which in many cases are the scents that will cause you to get a headache).
I was able to find a bit of a happy medium where I was able to find a company to purchase my fragrances that have an essential oil base, and limited use of synthetics. I would say about 95% of my scents fall into this category. This is also part of the reason why I have some unique scent profiles.
The other 5% are the fully synthetic scents. The candles that fall into this category are the ones that mimic designer fragrances and/or fragrances that can't be made with essential oils.
I am planning on reintroducing some of the candles that only consist of essential oils, so stay tuned for an announcement on that in the not too distant future.
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Q: Your booth smells fantastic, but what is that? It looks like your melting butter.
A: It's true that I do get hungry at some of these craft fairs and events; however, that is my new USB powered wax melter. I'm not melting butter (even though I'm sure you could). I'm demonstrating how to use my wax melts, since they tend to cause a lot of confusion for some customers (trust me, they did for me too when people first told me about them too).
If you visit my booth and need help melting butter, (I prefer to use vegan butter substitutes), let me know. I have no problem swapping out my melts to help out someone in need. Just know that you will be required to share your popcorn with me.
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Q: What got you into selling soaps?
A: This kind of goes along with my earlier story about the wax melts. When I was at craft fairs I would have people asking me if the wax melts I was selling were either soaps or chocolates.
After having so many people telling others the wax melts were soap, and correcting them by telling them they were actually wax melts, I decided to give soap making a shot...and thankfully, it's been a hit.
I only use fragrance oils that are suitable for soap making, and I also tend to go on the lower end of what is recommended per the International Fragrance Association's (IFRA) guidelines.
Palm oil is also an ingredient in all of the soaps I make. When grown unsustainably, palm oil harvesting can damage forests and endanger communities and wildlife. Because of this, I only use RSPO certified sustainable palm oil in my products. This also explains why I kind of need to charge a little bit more for my soaps than other vendors do.
In case you're wondering, I personally test every single soap before I make it available for sale to my customers. I've also asked several of my friends and family to test them out for their feedback. Once I get the green light, I then make them available to you: my customers. 😉
Q: What happened to your shirts?
A: Yes, I am selling shirts; however, I'm just selling them at in-person events. They weren't really moving on my website, and I think that's because people want to see and feel the product before purchasing it.
I got into tie-dye and reverse tie-dye in the summer of 2022. It was just a fluke...which quickly turned into an obsession. Now I have this want to pretty much dye everything I see. 🤦🏻♂️😂
I usually bring them out at outdoor events, but I promise I'll announce when they'll be coming back to my in person events.
I'll also be posting photos on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. Make sure to check those out and make sure to message me there if there's something you want.
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Q: OMG...do you ever shut up?
A: ...
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Have a question for me, but aren't comfortable asking me in person?
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Your identity will not be revealed (unless you want me to). My only request is that you make it a good one.