Hello ladies, hope everyone is doing well. Honestly for me this has been the worst month (personally) that I have had in a long time. Seems if something could happen & go wrong, it has happened this October! I am so glad today is the last day of this month and really hoping November will be much better. Speaking of November, we are getting very close to the holidays and honestly with all the things going wrong lately I haven't had much time to plan any holiday scents/ideas. I was wondering if you ladies had any suggestions for things we could do or even things you would like to see. I thought my vacation would bring some ideas flooding my way, but it was pretty terrible too. So no ideas came rushing to me.

Also, we need to pare down the scent list. I know this isn't something that is going to be favorable to most of you, but we need to retire some of the out of season scents in order to bring in the new. Our scent list is just way too large, we are almost at 200 scents right now and I would like to put it back to 150 if at all possible. I want to see what you really can't live without and go from there. I also am pretty sure I will be retiring the Phobia scents in a few weeks. They are pretty good sellers, but they are so Halloween, I just don't know about keeping them around. I will take all pleas into consideration. I want to make you all happy, so let me know your opinions.

One last thing, just an FYI. Our weather in GA is so crazy in the fall, we really don't have too much fall like temps. We can go from a 60 degree day to an 80 degree day. What I am getting at is I have been getting a lot of emails about our melt-ables and honestly until we have consistently cold weather I do not want to start selling any of them. Next week we will be back in the upper 70's and I wouldn't rule the 80's out just yet. I have had many 80 degree Thanksgivings in Georgia. So until I know for sure the products can leave our shop and arrive to you without melting, we will wait a little longer. Sorry, I hope it won't be too much longer.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!
~Beverly

Hope November brings better luck for you, beverly! Those kinds of months are the worst.

150 scents seems completely reasonable and then some. As for scents I couldn't personally live without:
Sun Kissed Clouds
Cranberry Eyelet or Noel (they're similar enough that I'd only need one of the two)
Sugared Grapefruit
Blood Orange Cotton Candy
Sigh
Marshmallow

As for holiday stuff, sets are always a lot of fun, although they're probably a lot of work for you. Right now (assuming that early December will be the cutoff time to receive orders in time for Christmas, taking into account seasonally increased TAT and shipping time) we've got 4-5 weeks of holiday ordering time left. I'm not sure if that gives you enough time to put together sets, although if it did that would be great. They're always nice gifts for others because it's a nice sampling of not only CP's product line, but different types of scents too.
As for holiday scents, it's always fun to see candy scents (although not so much candy cane scents because mint can be asking for trouble on some skin types) and cranberry scents. Orange can be holidayish too, so a festive orange might be nice. Fruity, sweet, and bright. Maybe a couple of New Years inspired scents with a champagne base would be fun too. Champagne with a candy (confetti!) note or something like that.

*e-hugs*, Bev!
I really hope that November will go smoother for you!

Scents for the holidays....why not make it a "best of" of the last seasons? The Black scents are good winter scents and you already came up with great new Black blends... was there ever a Black gingerbread? Or a black cinnamon cookie? Something like that...plus, of course, the Black Berry Bliss! It´s my favourite Black scent.

I also always REALLY loved the White set scent list. Triple Vanilla, IE is on the list already, I am still missing my beloved Spiritueuse Noel. Maybe you could add a few other vanilla scents to that and you´d be set. Like a true Vanilla Pudding scent with berries?

Also, there are a few scents from the Noel and Candy sets that were and are well-loved, no?

I am sure you could put up any of these and get a lot of happy campers, er, customers....

I personally would love to see a blend you sent me as a sample: Champagne Sugar mixed with Gooey Caramel. It is so yummy and interesting! I am in love with the little scrub sample which is almost gone.....
I am currently also lemming a scent with sandalwood and citrus notes, like orange or blood orange..I think they really go well together and are well-suited for cooler temps.

Now, scents *I* can´t live without are:

Sweet Sours
Eva´s Ambrosia (although it´s really not a winter scent, if it goes down, just give me a heads up so I can stock up)
Strawberry Noel
Boo Boo Lemon Noel
Black Berry Bliss
Midnight Hag
Green Tea
Mint Julep
Henry Bendel´s a Vanilla Bean

Eva

Can't live without -
Cinderella's Carriage (and it just came back)
Ivory Eyelet
Cake on Monday variations are essential to me too.

I really like nice minty scents in winter - Just got your Peppermint Snow Angles and it's TOO die for.
Cocoa and Marshmallow Meow was fun for me
There was a black gingerbread at one time - I liked but didn't love it.
the Candy Cane Noel series was really popular and I loved them.


If you're looking to do a set - you could do a "The four noels" or whatever number and have the noel blends.
A Winter themed set with gingerbread, cocoa, marshmallow and peppermint scents.

Also, I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE you to do a s'mores blend

Hi Beverly! I'm so sorry that this past month was horrible for you. If it's any consolation, your products and customer service didn't reflect any of this!

I just discovered CP last month and have already ordered twice (that's right...twice in a month. I've got it bad). The scents I've recently fallen in love with are:
Bing Cherry Coconut Frosting--LOVE
Pink Agave Stiletto
American Cream
Mad Hatter Tea Cakes

Since I'm new to CP, I don't know of any scents from past Christmases that I'd like to return. However, I have seen on some forums old scents mentioned that caught my eye. And please excuse me if I'm overstepping any boundaries as a newbie...only having known CP for a month and then making suggestions may be a bit presumptuous.

Blushing Snow Angels- A creamy pomegranate blend that couples red pomegranates and CP’s Blush with creamy white chocolate, buttercream frosting, spiritueuse double vanilla, and just a splash of CP’s black amber

Edible Snow- we were thinking of rich almondy vanilla holiday cupcakes decorated with mounds of white sugar frosting and shredded coconut topping rolled in sugar crystals to make them looks like mounds of edible snow

Fig and Sweet Almond

Sugar Milk - also known as "Lait Sucre" - yummy sweet milk, toffee, sugar, hints of vanilla pods, with just a slight hint of sandalwood to anchor it all together

Edible snow was gorgeous.

Hi Beverly,
Hope things get better soon for you!

Scents I love:
Ivory Eyelet
Blood Orange Cotton Candy

Totally understand about the weather and meltables.

Oh Bev! So sorry you had a horrid October. Today's the first day of November, so here's hoping that things start to go your way!

I get bored so easily that I am always rotating my shampoos and conditioners. There aren't really any that I can't absolutely live without (cause I can always find something on your list to try), but my all time favs are:

Strawberries & Champagne
English Cathedral
Midnight Hag

I have been enjoying the new scents -- especially the Pumpkin Spider Cider and Fear of Cemeteries. I ordered Fear of Cemeteries in several full size products already, so I'm set for a while.

Bev, hope Nov. is much better for you than Oct. was!

Scents I'd like to see remain on the list:
Black Apple Noel (my current fave)
Coconut Rum Cake
Mango and Coconut
Black Noel
Cinderella's Carriage
Bananas Flambe (I'd like this to return to the list, actually)

The Winter/Holiday suggestions already mentioned sound great! I look forward to seeing the scents that will be available.

Okay, so there are a few scents I can NOT live without. I haven't known about Cocoapink as long as some of you ladies, but I have quickly found some beloved scents and I would be crushed if these went away--spiritueuse double vanilla, buttercream frosting, marshmallow (definite favorite), American cream, English cathedral, just to name a few. I completely forgot with my last order to request signature white I read that one interpretation was that it has some similarities to rice flower and Shea and I was crushed when that scent from b&b was discontinued....so I guess when I save up again for another sizable order I will have to order signature white. I also loooooove the pink bonfire....not normally something I would pick but it was very nice and the scent lingered nicely...
Just wanted to put in my two cents...

I'm a newbie to cp too (2 orders last month too!), so I can't really say which scents I absolutely "can't" live without, but I definitely plan on ordering more pumpkiny scents, as well as some cranberry and gingerbready scents, so please don't take those away too soon!
As far as christmas sets, I'm pretty excited for whatever you come up with. I would like to see a collection of traditional holiday smells; candy cane, eggnog, gingerbread,etc. I also read about the "Minter Wonderland" sets from before, and that sounds right up my alley!

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I'm also glad October is over, and I hope November is much better for you!

Hi Bev,
I am really sorry that October sucked. I really hope that November is better for you. There are days you just want to go home and start again but it gets old when it becomes days/weeks. I have only been with CP for a few months but I absolutely cannot live without; Ivory Eyelet, White Sugar, Vanilla Bean Noel and Boo Boo Lemon Noel. I love these fragrances and so do the people who stand near me. I like the edible snow, silver bells or spituese Vanilla ideas mentioned in a previous posts, they sound wonderful. Maybe make more vanilla fragrances or the holiday cookie or holiday treat lines. (Egg Nog, Vanillas, cookies etc) Or even Treats for Santa`, toasted marshmallow, egg nog, ginger bread, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles etc. Good Luck!

Thanks everyone, you all are too sweet. I just wanted you to know why I hadn't come up with anything for the holidays yet. But thanks for the well wishes for November! I am hoping it will be a good month for all.

Great ideas too! I was thinking of revisiting a few things but wasn't sure if you all would be bored with it. Happy to see I am on the right track. This week we will start blending and what I am thinking is release a set or two here in the next week/week and a half and keep those up until right before black Friday. Then the sets will go away and we will have our BF sale. I am not going to release the scents from the sets into the general catalog until the sets go down. This way we can manage getting the sets out before BF and then if you would like to order those scents, I will add them to the scent list on BF. Depending on the amount of orders received on BF, will determine how long TAT will be. If your orders will be for presents, please let us know and we will try our best to get them out in time for the holidays.

Another thing we are thinking of implementing (for the holidays only) is charging a gift wrapping fee of like $2.00 for everything to be wrapped and boxed. If you choose not to pay the fee then your items will just be placed in a priority box and shipped. We spend quite a lot of hours packaging orders in boxes and it slows the TAT down. The fee is minimal and only to help differentiate who would like their items boxed. If you do not want the box, it should speed up your order.

Okay I think that is all for now. Have a great day everyone.

Limiting the time they're offered sounds like a great way to offer sets without slowing the TAT down immensely for the rest of the season.
The idea of forgoing gift wrap/boxing for the holidays unless the person pays to have it wrapped is also a good idea. While it's fun getting CP packages that are all wrapped up like presents, I understand that it's not all that time-friendly during the holidays. I think saving a bit of TAT by not wrapping is a great idea.
Also, so excited to see what the Black Friday sale will be!

GREAT to hear about the wrapping option -

I have long said - I don't have a need for the wrapping.

Yes, it's nice to open... but I am so much more excited about the products that I don't really care about the wrapping.

Bev-

I have had the worst year ever, so I can completely understand the drag of a bad month. I just keep thinking there's a new year coming!

I'm sorry you've had a bad October. =[ I'm willing to beg and plead for Fear of Cemeteries to stay. It's the most amazing scent ever, I love it. I know you're not wanting to keep them around, but maybe you could keep just a couple of the phobia scents around? But yes Fear Of Cemeteries is my perfect scent and I'm hoping that you decide to keep it around.

Thanks! =]

here's to a better rest of the year!

i was thinking, for the sets, one set could be marshmallow themed. CP marshmallow is THE BEST, and once again, it seems to be all the buzz, right now.

so i am thinking a Marshmallow Madness set would be cool. reflecting on the insanity of the season, and the soothing marshmallow to make us go, ahhh and relax.

things like Peppermint Marshmallow, Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows, Gingerbread Marshmallow, Caramel Marshmallow, Eggnog Marshmallow, Cranberry Marshmallow. and a coffee scrub to pick you up & get started on that next insane holiday project.

Months should not suck.

I'd be sad if Breakfast In Bed, Italian Waffle Cookie, Pink Agave Stiletto and (knowing it's a Phobia, so very unlikely) Fear of Halloween went away. There's so many things I haven't had a chance to try yet which look promising, like Strawberries & Champagne and so many cranberry scents.

I'd really like to see something close to a straight pomegranate, or even a pomegranate/cranberry, scent. Maybe anchored by fig or something dry? I tried a few things with pomegranate in back in the old-CP days, and it seemed like the note was drowned out by sweet things. (Even Blood Orange Pucker ended up too candied for me, though, so I might be an outlier!)

Am all for the giftwrap-as-option thing. The extra packaging is lovely, but not essential!

I cannot live without Sigh and The Un-Red. Just those two, everything else I will survive if it disappears...

Bev, I am sorry your month has been tough! Let's hope November brings better days. I think the packaging fee is totally fine!! Although I ADORE CP packaging, if it would speed up TAT, I'll take that instead.

I'm excited to see what you have planned for the holidays this year!!

The packaging is lovely, but I'd be just as happy without it. xoxo

What I've really been craving this year as the weather's got colder is outdoorish smells with a sweet twist; like a walk on a winter's day, so it might be something like:

a frozen lake (white sugars, cream, pale musk, a hint of mint/s and a tingle of berries);
a snow flurry (boo boo lemons, something sparkly (champagne?), sweet lavendar, and marshmallows);
then a winter forest (pine, fir, coniferous trees, mixed with CP's 'Black' ambers, and warmed with vanilla or benzion);
then a cute little wooden house (cedarwood, sandalwood, gingerbread, vanilla and a hint of woodsmoke)

I almost wish I hadn't written that because now I really want it. 0_0

Agreed! Fear of Cemeteries is amazing! That and Fear of spiders are the two scents from the phobia sets I thought I would hate but they ended up being my favorite! I ordered so many of the pumpkin scents but would plead to keep Cinderella's Carriage, Pumpkin Spider Cider, and Pumpkin Caramel Latte. I'd also hate to loose Cauldron Bubbles and Halloween in Dublin. I must admit the majority of my collection is Halloween based since I figured they were seasonal, just bring them back next year and I'll be ok.

As for suggestions the only thing I really want is a Candy Cane Hot Chocolate scent! Peppermint candy canes, cocoa, marshmallows and a hint of vanilla, a warm frothy scent x3. I don't know if you have a scent like this (or have in the past) but if you do I didn't see it.

I HOPE YOUR NOVEMBER ROCKS!!!! October sucked for me too but Cocoa pink made it a bit better so I want you to be happy!!!! <3

Black Cat In The Pumpkin Patch and Black Bananas are about the only things I can't live without. Please bring back Elf Magic and Goodie Gumdrops....I love those for the holidays!

I hope November turns out better for you! Reading through this post it seems like you've got a lot of great ideas already. I'm all for trying to reduce TAT during the busier months! As much as I love getting such cute little packages (since I don't order very often, it's sort of a treat) I wouldn't mind at all forgoing that to get all my goodies quicker.

I hesitate to say what should stay or go, since I know it's all very subjective... I love sugary sweet scents, and my partner hates wearing sweet stuff but loves a good floral. So I guess with that in mind, I'd request that you not cut TOO many of the "non-foody" scents.

Winter and the holidays always makes me think of two things: warm, rich, delicious food... and the crisp bite of cold, clean air. I like the contrasts of them, so personally I'd love to see a little of both in holiday scents.

Hot Buttered Rum, Bread Pudding, Candied Fruits, maybe take some inspiration from other cultures' winter celebrations? I would love a spiced honey cake scent!

For something a little more generically "winter", I always think of wood and smoke, fir tree sap (pine needles with a little something sweet perhaps?), and something nice and cold... I hesitate to say peppermint, because that seems too sweet, but something very invigorating! Like that first lungful of air when you step outside.

Personally... I would ADORE a scent similar to B&BW Winter and Winter Night!

I am hoping Black Apple Noel stays on the list, and you know me...I second a smoky piney scent.