♠ Product, Ordering, & Sales Information
PACKAGING: All Black Dahlia Boutique products come in elegant, designer packaging which is part of the luxury value our products have over all the other brands.
In the spirit of eco-friendly our packaging is reusable. The labels are easily removed to repurpose the boxes, bottles, and jars. On occasion, the corner of a label may pop up, but pressing it back down with a firm pressure should keep it back in place indefinitely. Glass items decorative bits are glued on warm water and soap will take them right off if you choose. Boxes are glossy cardboard
- Pillar Candles: Each candle comes in either bubble wrap with a tag that has the candle care and casting information for easy display or its own black, gloss, box cushioned with black shred paper and wrapped in tissue. The tissue is folded on top to enable opening it to see the candle without having to remove the candle from the box. Proper burning instructions are on the back of each box. Magick candles have inserts that contain a spell and how to read the progress of that spell by how the candle is burning.
- Bath & Beauty and Kitchen Witch: These items will come in either glass or plastic containers with unique and beautifully designed labels containing package date and ingredients. All sealed with shrink wrap where necessary. Salts will start being offered in resealable bags soon.
- Apothecary Items: These products come in resealable baggies or glass bottles with beautifully designed labels.
- Spell Kits: These items come either in cardboard boxes or deluxe designed wooden boxes depending on the kit. Smaller kits come in a black envelope or resealable baggie. All come with instructions for use and information on how to tell how your spell is progressing.
- Décor Items: Most will come with just a label attached on the back or bottom. Others may have black gloss boxes or handmade boxes.
♠ SELLING POINTS
All items from Black Dahlia Boutiques are handmade from the highest quality materials available. The Boutique is a Metaphysical shop stylized in Gothic Romanticism and categorized as high-end décor and magick. Every piece designed at the Boutique comes elegantly packaged and prepared for your best success and satisfaction.
The candles are made from a Coconut Parasoy (2% paraffin) wax blend and contain cotton core wicks.
- Herbal and oil products are made from organic, local, and ethically sourced materials.
- All Bath & Beauty items are vegan even the balms and solid perfumes which contain pillar soy wax instead of beeswax.
- Home décor items are made from repurposed items found, donated, or purchased at thrift stores.
- All spell kits have been tested and maintain a high success rate as reported between myself and other clients.
- Herbal sugars containing ground herbs for flavor. If used in liquids the sugar will dissolve but the herbs will not so they will need to be strained.
With the current socio-political climate some customers may be inspired by knowing that Black Dahlia Boutiques is owned and operated by a family consisting of LGBT people of color. I stared the company to be able to stay home as a single mother raising special needs kids. It grew from there.
- DISPLAY: Most items will be packaged in a way that is easy to display. Candles are a bit harder due to the packaging. Displaying one candle will help cut down on opening of boxes and crinkle paper mess. Be sure to keep them out of direct sunlight or they may discolor.
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SHELF LIFE: Some items will last longer than others based on ingredients and preservative measures. Here is a breakdown of each product type and its shelf life and storage:
- Candles will depend on color. Single color candles will last indefinitely. Candles with more than one color can begin to bleed if they get too hot, humid, or sit for long periods in sunlight. We do not buy back unsold product so I suggest pushing those over the others where you can.
- Bath & Beauty items are good for up to a year if kept in a cool, dark, place. Displayed in light may shorten this time. Clear soaps with herbal embeds may discolor more quickly as they sit but will still be wonderful for use. Soaps with more than one color may bleed into each other if left for several weeks without use.
- Kitchen Witch products will have a package date on the label. They are organic, vegan, and all natural so they are good for about 6 months to a year from the package date. Some items that contain coffee or other ingredients that may benefit from refrigeration but not necessarily need it will be good for only 2-3 months from the package date and should be pushed first when possible.
- Apothecary items are good for 1 year from package date if stored in a cool, dark place.
♠ IMPERFECTIONS, DAMAGES, RETURNS:
Due to the handmade nature of our products there may be small imperfections or differences between similar products. This should be pushed as a feature of artisanship to customers rather than a problem needing fixed. We accept returns if you receive the wrong item and report it within 7 days of receiving the package. Items must be returned in resalable condition with all parts and pieces included.
Report any damaged items to use within 3 day of receipt and include pictures of the item, box (all sides), and all packaging and stuffing inside the box so we can file the damage claim and replace or refund your items. Items that can be replaced will be first. Refunds are only available for items that are no longer in stock.
Faire handles damages differently. Those retailers should see Faire's policies for your details on damages and returns.
Shipping:
Shipping dates are set for 10-14 days after order is placed to allow for time to make any items that are out of stock, order supplies, etc. Most packages ship within 7-10 days. Candles, especially soy, are very heavy so we suggested buying a large number to make it worth the shipping costs. Glass candles are much heavier for nearly the same wax as the pillars so we suggest pillars over glass if you are concerned about shipping costs.
Integrity: Lately we have had a large uptick in attempted thefts from retailers. We do have a camera in the shipping area and save the footage of the boxes being packed for a month after they are delivered in case of theft by the shipping company which has happened recently. We do submit this footage when a claim of missing items is made and the footage clearly shows it being packed. One retailer is facing mail fraud charges for filing a false claim. Not only that but we do protect our products with magick as we are a shop run by witches. Your products will all carry the same energy as your actions so please use integrity when shopping with us. We will go above and beyond to make sure you enjoy your experience with us for those who do the same.
Troubleshooting for Candles:
Soy blend candles need a special disclaimer. Most people will not follow the directions when burning candles. This is not a problem for cheap store-bought candles as they are made with mostly to all paraffin (even the ones that claim soy are usually only 10% soy and only the top 1 ½” is scented). However, real soy blended candles (as well as coconut) have a much lower melting point and a memory so this can be an issue. Here are some typical issues and their fixes with soy candles to help your customers.
- Tunneling: Soy wax remembers. If you do not create your melt pool properly your candle will tunnel (containers and pillars) or burn down really fast (pillars). Following the instructions on the back of the candle properly will prevent this. Your first burn should have enough time to allow the candle to melt all the wax on top either to the glass for containers or until there is a hard shell no more than ¼” around the melted wax. Blow out and let harden completely before relighting. This is the only time your candle should ever burn more than 2 hours for a pillar and 3-4 hours for a container.
- Tall flame & Lots of Black Soot – If this happens the customer is not trimming the wick down to ¼” (1/2” for black candles or those with herbs, or glitter if they are struggling to stay lit). To fix this just trim the wick.
- Candle is struggling to stay lit: This means they did not remove all of the decorations before lighting. Glitter, mica, and herbs can clog the wicks and prevent a good burn. All of the instructions included with each candle are clear about removing these before burning but almost no one does. To fix this issue just remove the decorative bits. The glitter can be more challenging is why we no longer add as much. It can be scraped off with a flat tool or paper towel if stubborn heat with a hair dryer and then wipe with a paper towel to get any stubborn bits if they are causing issues.
- Candle won’t stay lit: This can be an issue with trimming the wick too short or with decorative candles in general. The Gothic line of candles use more color and fragrance for great cold throw as most people won’t burn them because they are too pretty; they are designed more for looks than function. This can cause the candle to not burn the same as other candles. Especially those with a glitter layer on top or black color (more has to be used to get it black). To fix this just remove the glitter if that’s the issue or dig out the wax around the wick until you have no more than ½”. Particularly stubborn pillars can be cut down and used in a wax melter or double boiler.
- Glass cracked or caught fire/ Pillar burned down really fast – This is only caused by burning longer than the recommended time for that candle and highly recommended against that for this reason. This can also cause the container candle to lose scent extremely quickly as it burns up the essential oils faster than it should.
- Only one side burned, and the wick fell out – This candle was not placed clear of drafts or in an open enough space as instructed. This happens because air movement keeps the flame pushed to one side and concentrates the heat there melting that part faster than if it were evenly dispersed.
We are fully committed to the success of our customers and clients. While we all understand that magick items are just tools to pull the power out of you we are still available for consults and advice for using or assessing the results of any of our products.
Thank you for choosing Black Dahlia Boutiques for your Gothic Décor and Metaphysical supplies. We hope you love everything you received and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship!