# New soaper question on FOs



## happymom (Mar 28, 2013)

Hi, I am a new soaper (3 batches but addicted already). My first batch I scented with lemongrass EO, and it was awesome. 

I have ordered a few fragrance oils and have had mixed luck - I made a batch of soap, divided it up into small batches to make "test" bars and added a little bit of a different fo to each. 

Question 1 - I tried chocolate/coconut FO. I didn't like it out of the bottle because it didn't smell "true." I added a little cocoa to the sample bar to turn it brown (which worked really well) but no one I have asked likes the smell, saying it smells fake. Is there such thing as a "true" chocolate or coconut smell? I have heard chocolate is hard to duplicate.

Question 2 - I ordered OMH fo from Wholesale Supplies Plus. It smells like almond extract - wonderful, but nothing like Oatmeal, milk or Honey, which come to think of it, don't really have strong scents. (I don't think I would want a soap that actually smelled like milk). So that got me wondering... if you order an FO like OMH, does the manufacturer send you a scent that would compliment that type of soap, or is it really supposed to smell like OMH?

Another example is pumpkin, raw pumpkin has a smell that wouldn't be appealing in a soap, so is there an understanding that pumpkin fo is supposed to smell like pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon/nutmeg/clove? I ordered Pumpkin Pie FO from WSP, and it smells good but I don't think it smells like Pumpkin or Pumpkin Pie.

Thanks everyone!


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## Badger (Mar 28, 2013)

I wish I had good answers for you.  I am new to soaping as well, but am truly addicted as well.  With fragrance oils there can be an amount of hit or miss with what you get.  Sometimes the scents work really well, and sometimes not so much.  The other thing with scents is that sometimes they change over time or through the saponification process.  So, what you smell in the bottle may not be how the FO smells in the soap.  It may also change from a fragrance that you don't like so much to one that you like more.  There is a separate forum that is dedicated to soap fragrance oils.  I just recently joined it and am slowly exploring it.  The site can be a little overwhelming (at least to me), but it has some very good information.  If you like, I can likely get a suggestion for a good chocolate scent.  

I have heard some reviews that say many OMH FOs have more of an almond scent to them.  It may be that way for appeal, I am not sure on that one at all.  Many places that sell fragrance oils will give some description of what the scent is like and a few of them also offer scent samples to try them out.  I hope this helps a little and I am sure that there are others with more experience will chime in also


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## Moot (Mar 28, 2013)

Hello

I'm more of an eo person, but I do like fo once in a while.  I've had a hard time finding fragrances that I like plus I get a headache when I work with them.  Try Oatmeal stout or Energy from brambleberry those two I like.  As for chocolate...I like to do a natural cocoa butter soap with a touch of mint oil and cocoa to make a choco mint soap.  
Have fun!


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## ruby61 (Mar 28, 2013)

I am just starting to experiment with eo's I guess it has been a real reluctance on my part afraid  of ruining a scent. They need anchors so unless I find a suggestion or recipe blend I donot experiment.  
Omh The perfect search for me recently has been found.  I hate the smell of almond in soap, i think it is just one of those smells that needs to be done sparsely at least to my nose.  I tried many but have come to love the sweet cakes version.  I recently got the sample of bb but have not tested it yet.  I only use half what is suggested.  I think an omh needs a light scent so you can enjoy the natural essence of the soap.


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## Nikon (Mar 28, 2013)

Welcome to soaping

The thing with FO is that they can be hit or miss.  The best way to find out is to search forums for the fragrance name and distributor/seller.  As far as anything with Coconut, there seems to be a lot of people still searching for that perfect coconut smell, so that seems to be a tough one as far a FO go.  As far as chocolate there are many that smell great, but the problem is finding the type of chocolate that you want.  There can be chocolate, nutty chocolate, fudge, brownie smell, fudge brownie, etc.  I think you will have better luck finding a "true" chocolate over a "true" coconut that doesnt smell like suntan oil.  

I have OMH from Wholesale Supplies and i dont like it because it smells too almondy for me, but many people swear by it.  BB is suppose to have one of the best OMH, but the one I like best comes from Community Candle Supply because it doesnt smell like almond.  As someone else mentioned the Oatmeal Porter from BB could also pass for OMH.  It is VERY strong and has a creamy nutmeg oatmeal smell too it.

What you order is supposed to be what you get.  So OMH "should" smell like oatmeal milk and honey, but remember smell is very subjective and during cold process cure the FO can change for better or worse (thats why I hot process :>)  Also, please remember that sometimes the scent names and descriptions can be exaggerated for marketing and sales purposes (ie a company will name a fragrance "Tobacco" and if they dont get good sales from it, they may rename the same fragrance "Old Grandad's Pipe Smoke" with a more robust description to see if sales pick up....

EO are very good for soaping and Lemongrass is a solid performer and a staple with many soapers, but you can get very good scents from FO's


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## happymom (Mar 28, 2013)

*Thanks!*

Moot are you saying that cocoa butter retains its scent all the way through saponification? Or do you add some at the end? I made some body butter with CB and it smells great.

Ruby61 I will try the BB and Sweetcakes OMH. Badger thanks for the tip on the soap FO forum, this is my first day at on the forum so I will head over there!

Thanks everyone.


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## danahuff (Mar 28, 2013)

I would agree that FO's can be hit or miss. Sometimes they smell great out of the bottle, but either lose their scent or don't smell as good in soap. Sometimes they don't smell so great out of the bottle, but they smell amazing in soap. Sometimes they discolor your soap, and sometimes it's so worth it. I find that you really just have to experiment. I buy a lot of scents from Nature's Garden, and they post reviews. I have come to trust the reviews, generally speaking. They and Bramble Berry also test their FO's in soap to see what will happen and report the results on the product pages. I think that tends to help me make up mind. You can purchase smaller sizes from them so you can test fragrances. Nature's Garden sends aroma buds with your orders so you can see how fragrances smell. Bramble Berry has a different sample each month that they send with orders. It is OMH this month.


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## Cherry Bomb (Mar 29, 2013)

I love BB OMH.


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## melstan775 (Mar 29, 2013)

I have BB OMH Cybilla, and it is the perfect cherry almond fragerence for cuticle oil and lotion. True OMH, not so much. How is the other OMH that BB carries? We'll see how OMH Cybilla does through saponification.  For chocolate I got chocolate fudge from Candle science. It smelled exactly like brownies baking.  The scent faded a lot, but it was probably because user did not use enough.  I did notice some of the scent came back today, and I will continue to monitor it. I am willing to order this fragerence again and use more to see if I get  better result.


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## lsg (Mar 29, 2013)

The only advice I can give is to read the reviews of the fragrace oils.  I am still trying to find a true cocoa or chocolate scent.


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## Genny (Mar 29, 2013)

lsg said:


> The only advice I can give is to read the reviews of the fragrace oils.  I am still trying to find a true cocoa or chocolate scent.



Ditto this.  Coconut & cocoa/chocolate scents tend to fade and/or morph in CP.   I've been searching for a non-fading/morphing coconut for years & haven't found one 

As far as OMH, WSP's definitely smells almond/cherry-like to me.  NGC's is kind of almondish as well.  BB's seems to fade at first, but after a month or so, it comes back.

If you're not a member of The Soap Scent Review Board, I highly recommend becoming a member.


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## Cherry Bomb (Mar 31, 2013)

Genny said:


> Ditto this.  Coconut & cocoa/chocolate scents tend to fade and/or morph in CP.   I've been searching for a non-fading/morphing coconut for years & haven't found one
> 
> As far as OMH, WSP's definitely smells almond/cherry-like to me.  NGC's is kind of almondish as well.  BB's seems to fade at first, but after a month or so, it comes back.
> 
> If you're not a member of The Soap Scent Review Board, I highly recommend becoming a member.



I have tried to become a member of the Soap Scent Review Board but there is not an area to sign up. I am only able to locate an area to sign in. In their FQA area they do state that they may not be not accepting new members? Maybe I should email the administrator or something? Bummer!!!!


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## VanessaP (Mar 31, 2013)

Email the admin. She had to disable new registrations because of the spam problem. You just have to make sure you use a non-free email address. To my knowledge, she won't allow people with gmail, hotmail, yahoo (and the like) email addresses.


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## Cherry Bomb (Mar 31, 2013)

VanessaP said:


> Email the admin. She had to disable new registrations because of the spam problem. You just have to make sure you use a non-free email address. To my knowledge, she won't allow people with gmail, hotmail, yahoo (and the like) email addresses.



Thank you! Wow! I only have a gmail address. Total bummer  I'll still email her though and check it out!


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## misskat22 (Apr 1, 2013)

I just signed up for the scent review board a few weeks ago and it's awesome! I just sent off an email to ask about registration and the admin got me set up pretty quick. It's definitely a good place to be!


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## new12soap (Apr 1, 2013)

Cherry Bomb said:


> Thank you! Wow! I only have a gmail address. Total bummer  I'll still email her though and check it out!


 
You should have an email address through your internet service provider. Whoever you pay for internet access, cable company, phone company, etc, should give you an email address to use separate from any free accounts you have created on the web. The one from your ISP is considered a "paid" email and you should be able to use that to sign up for the scent review board.


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## Moot (Apr 1, 2013)

Regarding the chocolate mint, I add quite a bit of cocoa with the cocoa butter and it does smell "chocolately".  I add very little mint so it doesn't take over the whole scent.  It isn't strong at all though, but I like my soaps to have a "hint" of a scent.  I think I have a strong nose because when I smell something, it can be strong to me, then most other people, they can barely smell it.


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## RocknRoll (Apr 1, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> I have BB OMH Cybilla, and it is the perfect cherry almond fragerence for cuticle oil and lotion. True OMH, not so much. How is the other OMH that BB carries? We'll see how OMH Cybilla does through saponification.  For chocolate I got chocolate fudge from Candle science. It smelled exactly like brownies baking.  The scent faded a lot, but it was probably because user did not use enough.  I did notice some of the scent came back today, and I will continue to monitor it. I am willing to order this fragerence again and use more to see if I get  better result.


 I dont have any other OMH FO to compare it to but my first impression was that it wasnt very strong out of the bottle. It may change in CP soap, we shall see. Its not overpoweringly sweet or almondy to me. I got sent a sample of the OMH cybilla and dont really care for it, maybe its the almondy note, I dont know but aaak! :thumbdown:


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## Cherry Bomb (Apr 1, 2013)

new12soap said:


> You should have an email address through your internet service provider. Whoever you pay for internet access, cable company, phone company, etc, should give you an email address to use separate from any free accounts you have created on the web. The one from your ISP is considered a "paid" email and you should be able to use that to sign up for the scent review board.



Thank you for your input! The only paid email address that I have access to is my guys and I will have to apologize to her up front because he named his website address: Hosmackin! Men!!!! Lol I will msg her now!!!! Hope I get accepted!!!!!!


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## happymom (Apr 2, 2013)

*Thanks everyone!*

Boy am I glad I joined this forum. I have the same problem with the "free" email address - mine is gmail but I will try to work something out to get on the Scent Review Board. 

I just made a batch of orange/anise (2 parts anise to 3 parts sweet organge) and the anise totally overpowers the orange - I can't even smell it. So in retrospect I think my mistake is making a whole batch instead of testing first - a little overenthusiastic I guess.  That and getting on the SR Board should save me some money. 

Thanks everyone for your input!


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## Genny (Apr 2, 2013)

happymom said:


> I just made a batch of orange/anise (2 parts anise to 3 parts sweet organge) and the anise totally overpowers the orange - I can't even smell it. So in retrospect I think my mistake is making a whole batch instead of testing first - a little overenthusiastic I guess.  That and getting on the SR Board should save me some money.



I've done anise & sweet orange before.  I find it better to add 1 part of litsea cubeba to the orange to help bring it out so the anise doesn't overpower it.


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## Paintguru (Apr 2, 2013)

The "free" email aspect of the soap scent review board annoys me to no end and has almost motivated me to start a competitive board.  I'm sorry, but 90% of people out there use web based email for a number of reasons.


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## Genny (Apr 2, 2013)

Paintguru said:


> The "free" email aspect of the soap scent review board annoys me to no end and has almost motivated me to start a competitive board.  I'm sorry, but 90% of people out there use web based email for a number of reasons.



True, and they used to allow free emails, but with so much spam on a daily basis it became ridiculous and a lot of work to weed through it.


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## Paintguru (Apr 2, 2013)

Genny said:


> True, and they used to allow free emails, but with so much spam on a daily basis it became ridiculous and a lot of work to weed through it.



How do you guys prevent spam here then?  Every other board I visit allows free emails and don't have spam issues.


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## VanessaP (Apr 2, 2013)

This forum is a specialty coding done by Austin's company so its not something that is readily recognized by most spambots' programming. Long story short, this forum confuses them


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## Paintguru (Apr 2, 2013)

VanessaP said:


> This forum is a specialty coding done by Austin's company so its not something that is readily recognized by most spambots' programming. Long story short, this forum confuses them



"This is not the forum that you are looking for."


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## Mommysoaper (Apr 2, 2013)

I have used BBs Dark Rich Chocolate and was initially disappointed it wasn't a "chocolate bar" type of scent.  But once it cured it made my soap smells like chocolate cake batter imo and my husband thought it smelled like fudge so, not completely disappointing!  Unfortunately, finding the FOs you like will take some shopping around and trial and error, but that gives me more opportunities to make soap, so Yay!  Have fun!


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