I think you're right. NR, or whoever they get their 120 ml bottles from labelled TFA as Fa.
That doesn't make it right. It doesn't even make
sense. Like someone else here said, if you insist on making it into only 2 letters instead of 3, PA would make more
sense.
But, I like TFA instead. It just makes more sense and has always been that way. Fa and FA just confuses the issue. There's no need to force extra confusion unnecessarily.
Linda said they started using the
Fa logo approx. 3 years ago, but
only on the 4oz. and 16oz. size bottles of flavorings that
do not require special GHS labelling. GHS labelling became a requirement for flavorings that might cause skin sensitivity, or are flammable, or several other reasons. It was because of some new government regs. that they
had to start using different labels for those that
did require it, and those that
don't. Those that
do need GHS labelling...have a bunch of extra wording about those things above, written on them.
So, if vendors like NR, ECX, etc. buy and rebottle her company's flavorings...it comes with the proper label on it when
they get it from her company. She has no control over how they label it though, when they rebottle it.
The 4mL and 15mL bottles
bought from her website...all have the Flavor Apprentice logo.
I am not bothered by changing to Fa as that is now the brand name. This is the name the vendors have started using and I personally think the forums should use it for new mixers so they don't get confused as to what they mean to order.
According to Linda...Fa is
not now their
brand name. It's just used as their
logo on some of their labels (per the above post). Their brand name is still The Flavor Apprentice and/or The Perfumer's Apprentice.
The only vendor I have seen using the 'Fa' for TFA is NR. Apparently they are re-labeling TFA bottles that they sell. To me that is just plain wrong and a bit shady in my book. Its just like ecigexpress labeling TFA their 'Signature' line. That caused so much confusion that they now put TFA in the description exposing the real source.
See my post above about the Fa and NR.
Linda wasn't aware of the "Signature" line being sold by ECX until I told her about it. However, she said that
any vendor can buy TFA flavorings, rebottle them, and call them whatever they want to call them. She has no control over that. But, she went on to say that the only way
a consumer can find out if the rebottled "Signature" flavorings
are indeed the same original TFA flavorings, or not...would be to buy a small bottle from both places and compare them.
"Vendors can unfortunately pretty much label flavors as they choose"
I didn't know that vendors had that kind of power/control over another companies product. Somehow that just doesn't seem right to me.
Answered in above post.
She did agree with
my own guess as to why ECX for example, might call their TFA flavorings "Signature" or something else. I told her I thought it was because it would give customers
the false idea...that the
only place to get a favorite "Signature" flavoring, was from ECX, as if it was their own proprietary flavoring! If they didn't make it known that it was a TFA flavoring carried by many vendors = more repeat customers for them.
A guess as to why ECX is
now putting TFA in the description: They were losing customers who
wanted to buy TFA flavorings...and they were going elsewhere to buy them, since ECX didn't carry them! That sort of forced their hand to make it be known that their "Signature" line is TFA.
I don't claim to be an authority on the matter but from the information that I have seen to date, it was indeed the company ( The Perfume/Flavor Apprentice ) itself that introduced the new logo 'Fa' and not specific vendors.
Bingo! We have a winner!
NR and OSDIYS are the two that pop into mind without looking. Fa or FA is on the invoices as well.
I've only ordered a couple times from NR, but on their invoices I just pulled out of my file...for the TFA flavorings
I ordered, they've spelled out the brand name like these 2 examples below:
Flavor Apprentice Blueberry Candy (PG) - 10mL
Flavor Apprentice DX Coconut Candy - 2oz
OSDIY has used
fa on their invoices I've gotten, since at least early 2016, as part of their
SKU identification numbers, ie.
fa-citp-10 (then beside it) Flavor Apprentice - Citrus Punch II - 10mL
For Flavour Art...my invoices have
fl in their
SKU identification numbers, ie.
fl-frc-15 (then beside it) Flavour Art - Fresh Cream - 15mL
*******************************
Linda did say that at the time they were choosing how to differentiate the labels on flavorings that did or didn't require the special GHS labelling...they had no idea that using the Fa logo would cause
any confusion with Flavour Art. In fact, she said they didn't even know about websites like ELR or others, nor that people who make their own eliquids often share recipes online and use abbreviations in those recipes. She said if she HAD known, they'd have probably opted to just stay with the TFA logo, and just make it smaller on the GHS labels, to allow the necessary extra room for all the specifics needed on them. Said as it is now...there's little chance they'll be switching back to it though, because of existing inventory, the need for redesigning logos and labels to do it, etc. She is sorry it's causing any confusion for us who DIY and thanked me for calling her.
I made a tester recipe (completely bypassing the single flavor test) and OMG! It's 10 days old and I decided to give it a shot because it did say to age 1 week.
