by Avery Jordan
Company:
Dream Soy Candles
Type:
8 oz apothecary – $15.36
12oz hexagon – $13.08
8 oz flat tin $8.01
Clamshell – $3.24
Scalloped melts – 3/$2.08
Scents:
Santa’s Cottage
Christmas Splendor
Mint Mojito
Introduction to my review of Dream Soy Candles:
Dream Soy is a vendor that cares about their products, and cares about their customers. I know because I observed this first hand!
Reviewing candles can be great fun – discovering new vendors and new waxie products…and it can be awkward at times as well. What if you have a product that is not performing the way you expect? We have the same dilemma at home, when the products we order arrive with items missing, oils leaking, tops popped off – is it worth contacting the company you purchased from?
I vote for doing follow up with the vendor. Scary? It sure can be! No one wants to tell a business owner that you have concerns about an order. So, practicing what I preach, here is a case in point… and a story with a happy ending!
Dream Soy has a great website – they have specials, they have 
reward points, they send sample candles, and when my candles arrived and they were very attractive, giftable candles. However, I was having a problem with them. The throw was not as strong as I would have expected from a company that put so much effort into their presentation. Tapping fingers on the counter… what to do? What to do?
Let’s face it, that is the real world. Once in awhile, you order and something is amiss. Often you can tell by the presentation or the product if it is worth pursuing. Sometimes you took a chance on a new vendor and it did not pay off. Other times, like in this instance, you can tell so much effort has gone into the website and the product that it does not make sense that the candle/melt is not performing the way you would expect.
So, like I mentioned before, here is the hard part for most of us…choosing to notify the vendor. Again, these candles were darn cute, but I really did not think that they could sell them if they did not have a good throw. After all, they say they are “pleasantly fragrant but not overpowering”! So I expected to be able to smell them – perhaps softly scented, but still smellable! Were these typical? I had a hunch they were not – and since these reviews are to be honest evaluations, I wanted to be sure I had the real deal.
Brenda, the owner that I worked with, is all about making sure her product is right. She pays attention to customer service, and if you tell her something is amiss, she will attend to that detail. I explained that I had some concerns – and judging by the customer comments on the site – my experience was different than what she was used to.
Here is where the conversation can go south! We, as customers, rightly expect a quality product we have paid for, but let’s face it… stuff happens. I am OK with a “boo-boo” if the vendor acts responsibly and works to make the situation better. (And I am well aware that some vendors are gun-shy as they have been met by angry customers who make it difficult to iron out the situation.)
My hunch paid off – Brenda immediately started her research to figure out what had happened. Part time help? Change in supplier? Cure time for soy?
She looked at several things and kept me posted along the way. (Yes, communication is key to this situation!) She sent out a survey to her customer list asking for feedback, so those afraid to contact her directly had a vehicle if they had a problem recently. Not only did this show the customers that she really cared about their experience with her candles and melts, it also gave her feedback she may not have gotten otherwise.
After identifying an issue or two that had been different than usual production (my candles were made during the Holiday rush) they made sure they were on top of their product quality – and then they held some really big sales to entice new customers and also encourage previous customers to order again. (And boy did we!) Several candle-buddies ordered from Dream Soy with good results. Would we have ordered again if I had been met by hostility or if the vendor was defensive? Most likely not…but with both sides playing nice and trying to work it out, it was win-win for all.
So let’s take a look now at Dream Soy. Their website is a very easy place to shop – it is arranged in a common sense way that does not make you work hard! I love their scent list – the descriptions are very enticing and it is an alphabetical list which is a no-brainer for shoppers like me. (Wanna try Breakfast at Tiffany’s? I am leaning
toward Paris Twilight myself! )
They have an ongoing special of “buy three products and get a surprise candle” in your order. (They also have a great way of listing their specials and newsletter-type alerts under “announcements” on the right side of the page. Ever get a newsletter email you accidently delete and it is impossible to locate the sale info on the vendor’s website? Well, here you go! Delete away!) And let’s not forget the order tracking bar, clearly marked on the right side of the site.
Currently they have some pictures of their candles displayed on their front page – but they do not do their actual candles justice! You get the idea, but you really have to see the tags to see how nice-n-artsy they are. Seriously, I could collect those little tags – I’m sure that they could be repurposed in a really cool craft project.
There is a large selection of melters – and boy, are these adorable. If you like hanging melters that have a theme, check these out. ( For those of you that have cows in your kitchen decor, there is a melter just for you!)
There are a lot of things to look at on the site – I enjoyed the themed soy candle sets, like “Coffee House” – a set of Blueberry Muffin, Hot Cocoa, Fresh Brewed Coffee, and Cappuccino Hazelnut candles. Also, check out the Rewards program, and there are a number of candle topics under the heading of “Information”.
How was the presentation?
I am smitten with the décor on these candles if you have not already picked up on it!
The containers are clear glass (mason jars, apothecaries, etc.) and it is the extras that make these special. Each candle has a “gift-tag” type label tied on with colored raffia. The recycled paper tag portrays the scent in a colorful drawing. (A little reminder, though, the raffia decorations should be removed prior to lighting so the tails of the bows don’t give you an evening to remember…)
The tin is a slim one – flat like a pancake instead of the usual style of a 4 oz tin, and it has the colorful illustration on the top of the tin.
How do my candles and tarts look and smell?
Christmas Splendor
Description from Dream Soy site:
“Ripe apple blended with fresh orange, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.”
I have this scent in the most gorgeous hexagon container – I love the design of these, since I am all about right angles and straight lines! They illuminate so nicely – and they look quite regal on the Christmas mantle. My soy candle is the 12 oz size, it is natural in color and softly scented. The cinnamon-spicey note is the strongest in the candle. It is rounded out with the fruit, but no one fruit stands out to my nose, it is just a comforting blend that reminds you of the Holidays.
The melts are also natural colored, and they come in a 3 pack of scallop shaped tarts with the same colorful label tied on with raffia. I tried a tart in a tealight melter and also in the 24W electric melter. There was a little delay before the scent started, and I started to get concerned…but never fear! In about a half an hour it started out kicking out the spiciness and it continued through the entire tealight. Scenting covered a medium sized room.
Santa’s Cottage
Description: 
“A freshly cut spruce tree with a subtle note of sweet holiday citrus warmed with fresh bakery notes, molasses, ginger and other spices”
I was tricked!! I was sure I knew what to expect here – the cold sniff reminded me of a sweet tobacco scent – and after all this was Santa’s Cottage… Ha! I was duped by the molasses apparently, because once this candle began burning, the fruity citrus was the main “flavor” my nose picked up. After it had burned for a bit I could smell that sweeter smell that I identified on the cold sniff, but it remained subtle. This was softly scented and scented a large powder room. It was an apothecary with the clear lid and natural in color.
The tarts were zesty little things! Using a tealight melter for these, they covered a medium large room (12 x 16) with plenty of scent.
Mint Mojito
“Blend of lime, refreshing orange and peppermint infused with natural essential oils including lime.”
…Well, you did it! You spent the night helping Santa put together the Barbie Dream House. You worked hard, going into the wee hours…finally you thought you were done and as you were cleaning up you noticed the sheet of 89 decals that you still need to stick on… ones that you did not see earlier. Uh… don’t ask how I know about situations like this.
Relax! Take a deep breath, and light this candle (and may I suggest that you may want to get the real version, also, to soothe the nerves…) This is a perky and zesty, keep-you-awake kind of scent, and you are gonna need it to get all those decals in place. The lime is its outstanding note – but on the finish you get the mild mint tickle in your nose.
The melts for this scent are clamshells. I used 2 cubes in a tealight melter. There was a big burst of lime greeting me when I opened the door, and there was a little mint too! When I tried 2 cubes in the electric melter, it was stronger in the mint note. The chemistry of heat does interesting things to fragrance!
How did my candles burn and melt?
The soy candles in glass containers are simple to maintain, there is no soot, and the do not leave wax on the side of the container. Minor wick trimming for the relight is all I needed to do.
The flat tin is a 2 wicked candle, which is good because there is lots of surface on the top trying to get melted into the pool. I was not able to get the entire top melted, it left wax adhering in that figure 8 design as the wax melted in two big circles around the double wicks. No wax was wasted here – off to the candle melter for the remains.
The melts melted easily in both a tealight melter and a 24 w melter.
Closing thoughts on Dream Soy:
I encourage you to take the leap and contact the company when you have questions about your order. I am so glad that I contacted 
Brenda. She was so helpful and willing to work with me, and I ended up having a great experience.My take-away message is that it is best to not sit in silence! Would I contact a vender again if the candles seemed out of character from previous experience or from their general presentation? You bet. I have to think that reputable vendors would appreciate the feedback (politely, please!) also.
Happy candle smelling!
~ Avery
i am definitely a big chicken when it comes to voicing complaints to vendors! i applaud you — and that company for stepping up the plate. truly awesome. and santa’s workshop sounds like it would be a huge hit in my house. 😀