# Mikes Fragrances N More



## galaxyMLP (Apr 19, 2015)

So I ordered 10 fragrances from Mikes Fragrances N More. He makes the fragrances himself, they are all phthalate free and his prices are fantastic so I thought I would give it a shot. This is going to be my running tally of how it goes. 

I ordered 

--Chamomile Lavender- 4 oz
--Cigar- 1 oz
--Cucumber Melon 2 -1 oz
--Energizing- 1 oz
--Guava Mango - 4 oz 
--Honey- 1oz
--Rose- 1 oz
--Tobacco Bayleaf- 4 oz 
--Violets- 4 oz

Total cost with a flat rate shipping : $43

OOB (out of bottle) reviews

--*Chamomile Lavender*- 
I really don't like this. It smells nothing like chamomile and has a faint lavender scent. It has an overwhelming cheap floral scent... I was hoping it might be like the huggies type, no such luck

--*Cigar*- Smells like a stale already half smoked cigar. Maybe it will soap nice? 

--*Cucumber Melon 2* -I really liked this one. This is the one he has with added watermelon fragrance. It smells just like the watermelon sourpatch candy tastes

--*Energizing*- I like this one although I have no other energizing scents to compare with. I smell mint, eucalyptus, and citrus

--*Guava Mango* - I like this one but I don't love it.

--*Honey*- OH MA GARSH. IT SMELLS JUST LIKE HONEY! It has caramelized undertones and smells amazing! I was shocked at how wonderful it smelled!!

--*Rose*- Smells like typical rose fragrance. I'm not wowed, it doesn't smell like real rose to me. Its very strong though.

--*Tobacco Bayleaf*- This one is disappointing. It smells like straight menthol. I hope when I soap with it, that scent fades and there are other muskier scents under it. Was hoping this would be like the BB one.

--*Violet*- This is the one that is the most disappointing. I couldn't get the 1 oz of this one b/c since he makes all of the scents by hand, and he didn't have this one in stock, the minimum I could order was 4 oz. I was expecting it to smell somewhat like the baby perfumes (Agustine Reys, Agua de Violetas) but it smells like Gardenia with other cheap florals. It does not smell bad, but it is not Violet scent at all... :-(

Overall, I find most of the scents are lacking "Depth". I think they need more base notes. They smell mostly like top/middle notes.

I'm going to update as I soap with them here. I soaped all but Guava mango and Cucumber melon in "test cups" compared to a control. I will post pictures of those comparisons in a few hours! 

--*Chamomile Lavender*- No acceleration and no discoloration! Its actually quite a nice fragrance to work with. It smelled better when I soaped with it. (I'll update after full cure) (100% oo)

--*Cigar*- It smells pretty bad but, I actually think it will make a nice blend. It has a stale smoke smell but with something earthy it might make a winner. Soaps nice, discolors to a light yellow. (100% oo)

--*Cucumber Melon 2*- First one I tested, soaped at ~100 F, No A, No R, No D (so far) was able to blend 3 colors in CP and have plenty of time to play. Its been 2 days and 95% of the scent is still there. My whole house smelled great the first day. I did not gel. When comparing the soap scent to the bottle it was missing some of the very top notes. I think it lost some of the "cucumber-y" scent. Not exactly sure though. 0.6 oz fragrance PPO. (60% lard, 40% oo)

--*Energizing*- Comapred to the control, this was the only sample that had absolutely no accereration. I tested 8 fragrances against a control and this one stayed the same as the control all of the way through.

--*Guava Mango* - Soaped nice, some discoloration (yellow), some acceleration. Smells really good in soap. (60% lard, 40% oo)

--*Honey*- Discolors to a bright yellow (actually a perfect honey color), no acceleration, smells good but lost some top sugary notes. Hoping they come back! 

--*Rose*- Suuuuper acceleration. This is a 1 color fragrance for sure. If I was working with butters it would've been soap on a stick! Discolors to a light pink, soaped at room temp and heated 10+ degrees more than the control. May be prone to overheating. It smells really good though so it might be worth the trouble. 

--*Tobacco Bayleaf*- Smells nothing like tobacco or bayleaf. It has a pure toothpaste scent. NOT what I wanted but again, I'll work with it. It accelerated some (not as much as the florals, workable for a ITP swirl) Although this fragrance didn't rice on me, it did start to make a white film where I first applied it so It may rice for you. I will not buy this fragrance again. I plan on mixing it with energizing for a "wake me up" bar. We will see!

--*Violets*- 4 oz- Suuuuuper acceleration. Also another 1 color fragrance. Smells like the gardenias I have blooming outside my front door. Not what I was expecting, but ok. Also, discolors to a light yellow.

Edit: 9, not 10 fragrances. I can does maths! 

ETA 2: Added more reviews!


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## JayJay (Apr 20, 2015)

Thanks for the review!


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## Jstar (Apr 20, 2015)

I and JustBeachy have done some reviews of FO's we have gotten from Mike..they are around here somewhere. I have had pretty good luck with the ones I have gotten.

Thanks for posting your reviews as well.

Im wanting to order some more, {Mainly wanting to try the Bamboo} but funds as they are I cant as yet, but this helps to know what works in advance and what doesn't hold up.


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## galaxyMLP (Apr 20, 2015)

I had trouble contacting him through email; I had to end up calling him. He was very polite and willing to answer all of my questions. If these scents soap well, I'm thinking I might try about 5, 1 oz oils from him every month for a few months to see if I can find some combinations I love. 

ETA: I also want to try the bamboo scent. There are 59 scents I'm interested in. I think I'll never get there though!


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## IrishLass (Apr 20, 2015)

galaxyMLP said:


> --Violet- This is the one that is the most disappointing. I couldn't get the 1 oz of this one b/c since he makes all of the scents by hand, and he didn't have this one in stock, the minimum I could order was 4 oz. I was expecting it to smell somewhat like the baby perfumes (Agustine Reys, Agua de Violetas) but it smells like Gardenia with other cheap florals. It does not smell bad, but it is not Violet scent at all... :-(


 
If you are on the lookout for a violet FO that smells like Augustine Reyes Royal Violets, try either of these 2:

Violet Bouquet from WSP 

or

Blooming Violets from Daystar

I am a violet nut. I _love _the smell of Parma violets. I have a bottle of Reyes Royal Violets and also a bottle of Yardley's English Violets, both of which have that distinct Parma violet scent and smell very similar to each other. A few years ago I looked high and low for a FO that captured such a violet scent and went through FO after FO with no such luck until Daystar and WSP came out with the above-mentioned FOs. Jackpot! WSP's is more soft and powdery than Daystar's, but both have that unmistakable Parma violet scent.

By the way- they both soap great with no A or D, which is highly unusual for floral scents.


IrishLass


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## galaxyMLP (Apr 20, 2015)

Yes yes yes!! Thank you!  I was worried I was going to have to try every violet fragrance oil before I found the right one. My cousin just had a baby in October and I want to make a gentle soap with that violet scent. Its a very traditional Cuban scent. By the time I make the castile soap and it cures, he'll be old enough where I wont be worried about the fragrance. Plus, if she doesn't want to use it on him, I know the rest of my family will be clamoring for it!


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## Jstar (Apr 21, 2015)

galaxyMLP said:


> I had trouble contacting him through email; I had to end up calling him. He was very polite and willing to answer all of my questions. If these scents soap well, I'm thinking I might try about 5, 1 oz oils from him every month for a few months to see if I can find some combinations I love.
> 
> ETA: I also want to try the bamboo scent. There are 59 scents I'm interested in. I think I'll never get there though!



I've got a list a mile long as well ~lol~

The thing with Mike and emails is its just him and his dad for the most part..its always easier to call him me thinks.

Also, if you have kaolin clay, that might help to anchor some scents..I started using that after other suppliers FO's started fading, and so far have had good luck adding a bit of that in to all my batches with Mikes FO's..idk for sure if its the clay or not, but Im not having fading issues anymore and the clay adds some slip and just makes ya feel awesome


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## galaxyMLP (May 8, 2015)

Ok, I finished updating the reviews for now! I will update them with the "after 4 week cure" update. The last 7 fragrances were done in 2 oz test batches with 2 ml fragrance added (~ equivalent to 0.8 oz ppo) I pasted the fragrances I added here so its easier for those that have already read the thread. 



--*Chamomile Lavender*- No acceleration and no discoloration! Its actually quite a nice fragrance to work with. It smelled better when I soaped with it. (I'll update after full cure) (100% oo)

--*Cigar*- It smells pretty bad but, I actually think it will make a nice blend. It has a stale smoke smell but with something earthy it might make a winner. Soaps nice, discolors to a light yellow. (100% oo)

--*Energizing*- Comapred to the control, this was the only sample that had absolutely no accereration. I tested 8 fragrances against a control and this one stayed the same as the control all of the way through.

--*Guava Mango* - Soaped nice, some discoloration (yellow), some acceleration. Smells really good in soap. (60% lard, 40% oo)

--*Honey*- Discolors to a bright yellow (actually a perfect honey color), no acceleration, smells good but lost some top sugary notes. Hoping they come back! 

--*Rose*- Suuuuper acceleration. This is a 1 color fragrance for sure. If I was working with butters it would've been soap on a stick! Discolors to a light pink, soaped at room temp and heated 10+ degrees more than the control. May be prone to overheating. It smells really good though so it might be worth the trouble. 

--*Tobacco Bayleaf*- Smells nothing like tobacco or bayleaf. It has a pure toothpaste scent. NOT what I wanted but again, I'll work with it. It accelerated some (not as much as the florals, workable for a ITP swirl) Although this fragrance didn't rice on me, it did start to make a white film where I first applied it so It may rice for you. I will not buy this fragrance again. I plan on mixing it with energizing for a "wake me up" bar. We will see!

--*Violets*- 4 oz- Suuuuuper acceleration. Also another 1 color fragrance. Smells like the gardenias I have blooming outside my front door. Not what I was expecting, but ok. Also, discolors to a light yellow.


ETA: Also, IL, I purchased violet bouquet from WSP and you're right. Its awesome! I discolored to a light pink for me but I think it might fade away. It smells just like what I was looking for. :smile:


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## Jstar (May 8, 2015)

Thanks for the update!


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## skayc1 (May 8, 2015)

I wish Mikes fragrance oils listed the Vanillan content on the FO's, If he does, I can't find it.


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## galaxyMLP (May 8, 2015)

No, he doesn't. I'm possibly going to place another order with him soon to test more fragrances. I'll bring it up to him as I wish he did as well. However I've noticed that the % vanillin content does not always dictate the end color (more vanillin does not always equal a darker bar) at least according to some of the websites I've seen. I'm going to see if I can find an example on bb

Eta: ok, BB Mayan gold has 2.6% vanillin content and it is a light cream color but pumpkin spice has only 2.14% vanilla and it is a dark tan. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the spice scent. Once you get into the realm of something like Dragons Blood which is 11% vanilla, its pretty much always going to discolor dark brown! I find discrepancies in the 0.2-4% range.


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## Jstar (May 9, 2015)

Yea just call him and ask..you can also request that he not send you anything with vanillan in it. Make a list of what you want to test, and then ask him which has it and which doesn't..he'll be happy to suggest subs for them.

There is a lady on youtube named Iris {Divinelites} who uses his FO's and does reviews for several of them..she requests that he not send her anything with vanillan in it.


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