Interesting topic Wanda and thanks for the instructions on how to carve out a pillar. I've usually just let them burn enough to make a well to hold a real tealight then messed around with a knife but your way sounds much neater. :-) I burn real tealights, votives, tapers, then pillars in that order of frequency but tealights the most. I have a bazillion tealight holders (ys finds) and feel they are safer than tapers with the cats. I like the beeswax or soya the best altho have a lifetime supply of paraffin ones but mostly use them outdoors in the summer. Ikea has the best quality paraffin tealights for the lowest price IMO and sell in bags of 100 for about $3 on sale ($4-something regular) and I've also bot them at YS's for even less. I do have some battery ones I got a few years ago for the RV (for safety) but wasn't impressed with the appearance of the flame altho I've been told they have improved so should give them a try again. I like the idea of remote control pillars as I have the same accessibility problem on my mantel. I'd like to use them as there are convection currents because of the stove and my beeswax tapers dripped on the silk poinsettias at Christmas.

I had a feeling it was Chinese. The Chinese use a different manufacturing method than the Breton Technology used by Cambria, Caesarstone, Silestone, and the other big manufacturers. When I bought my Pentalquartz, which is Breton-made in Vietnam, the warehouse manager told me that the owner of Pental, which is a big west coast granite company, went to China to see their manufacturing facility, and he wouldn't buy it. He said the resins are cured at lower temperatures for shorter time periods. So there's the cost-savings, but it's not as durable. I've read here of surface pitting with Chinese quartz. That's unheard of with Breton quartz. So now we see your water marks, which is ridiculous. I would have them take that junk out and buy a reliable brand of quartz myself. I'm saving your photo to show others what can happen when they buy Chinese. They never believe me that Chinese quartz can have problems. They just look at how pretty it is and how much money they save.

What brands of fragrance oils have you tried? There can be great differences in quality. It sounds like you are doing everything right, but you may just be using an oil that works poorly.

newhomebuilder, I'm taking a look at the new beach club but felt the need to caution you first about buying Scentsy wax on ebay. You have no idea how old it is and unless it's kept in the freezer, it's "intended" use can be as short as 4-5 months depending on how it was stored. It will still have fragrance but be weaker. Which peach scent have you found and I'll try to figure out when was the last time it was offered (but it could be older than that). It might be something that hasn't been for sale for a year or longer! I'd hate for you to be disappointed with your first Scentsy experience. Tell me what you like and I'll try to make some suggestions...of course everyone's nose is different! The last peach fragrance I remember is Posey Peach