# Your experiences trying FO's that smell awful OOB?



## peachymoon (Jul 14, 2020)

Hi all! So, I just received an order with a handful of fragrance oils and I'm a bit disappointed with how some of them smell. I'm reluctant to try them. I've read reviews (for other FO's) that have noted a pleasant change the maker's opinion of the FO once the soap is in the curing process, so I realize the smell might change significantly once the FO is IN a soap. What have been your experiences with this--do you go and ahead and try it anyway? Do you try it in a teensy batch? Any tips for testing FO's? I was also wondering if there are ever any swaps for these kinds of things on the forum. Thank you!!

& for those who are curious, the two in question are WSP's Farmer's Market Baby Bibb and WSP's Lavender Vanilla! The former smells like Raid to me and the latter smells like strong cleaning chemicals. :x


----------



## Megan (Jul 14, 2020)

I would say pretty much all FOs change in soap. I've never used one that smells exactly the same as in the bottle. I still have some I'm scared to try though, so I would say small batches are best for those wild card ones. 

Keep in mind, using at a different percentage might help as well. With really strong fragrances, I tend to go down a percent or two than in my normal batches....
Keep in mind also: fragrances can change after cure. Or even during final use (some disappear and come back!)


----------



## shunt2011 (Jul 14, 2020)

I don't judge a fragrance OOB.  It's different once placed in a product.  I made small batches to test and have been pleasantly surprised many times with something I wasn't thrilled with OOB but loved it in product.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 14, 2020)

Megan said:


> I would say pretty much all FOs change in soap. I've never used one that smells exactly the same as in the bottle. I still have some I'm scared to try though, so I would say small batches are best for those wild card ones.
> 
> Keep in mind, using at a different percentage might help as well. With really strong fragrances, I tend to go down a percent or two than in my normal batches....
> Keep in mind also: fragrances can change after cure. Or even during final use (some disappear and come back!)



I think I will try these at smaller percentages, thanks for the tip! And that's funny that some of them have a disappearing act. xD



shunt2011 said:


> I've don't judge a fragrance OOB.  It's different once placed in a product.  I made small batches to test and have been pleasantly surprised many times with something I wasn't thrilled with OOB but loved it in product.



Ok, this is reassuring to hear. Thank you!


----------



## Misschief (Jul 14, 2020)

I have one that I can't stand oob (Champagne Kisses); it actually makes me gag. However, I used it in a white wine soap (how perfect, right?) and I love it in the soap. It's light, fruity without being sickly sweet, and really nice. I'm learning not to judge a FO by what I smell in the bottle.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 14, 2020)

Misschief said:


> I have one that I can't stand oob (Champagne Kisses); it actually makes me gag. However, I used it in a white wine soap (how perfect, right?) and I love it in the soap. It's light, fruity without being sickly sweet, and really nice. I'm learning not to judge a FO by what I smell in the bottle.



Yeah, I got a headache after smelling these. One of them only has one review, but I was curious about the scent, and the other has so many good reviews so I'm hopeful it'll change, but, oh boy, I just could not picture myself pouring this into a batch once I smelled it, haha.


----------



## shunt2011 (Jul 14, 2020)

What scents are you using and where from?   Have you checked the Fragrance Review Forum.   You may find some feedback there as well.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 14, 2020)

shunt2011 said:


> What scents are you using and where from?   Have you checked the Fragrance Review Forum.   You may find some feedback there as well.



Oh, I just came straight here to ask, I will look for it now! The scents are both from WSP: Farmer's Market Baby Bibb and Lavender Vanilla. The reviews for FMBB are generally positive, but no one mentioned the OOB smell, which I would've expected to come across. Seasoned soapers are probably used to the discrepancy between the OOB smell and the smell of the FO in soap. xD


----------



## DeeAnna (Jul 14, 2020)

A better way to evaluate FOs and EOs is to put a wee drop on an unscented paper towel or a strip of coffee filter. Wave the strip of paper around your nose to scent the air. Test like this every 10 minutes for the next hour or so. Then test again some hours later. 

Sniff some ground coffee or coffee beans between scents to refresh your nose. Don't test more than 2 or 3 scents at a time to avoid scent overload -- even using the coffee, my nose and brain just can't deal with more than that at one time.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 14, 2020)

DeeAnna said:


> A better way to evaluate FOs and EOs is to put a wee drop on an unscented paper towel or a strip of coffee filter. Wave the strip of paper around your nose to scent the air. Test like this every 10 minutes for the next hour or so. Then test again some hours later.
> 
> Sniff some ground coffee or coffee beans between scents to refresh your nose. Don't test more than 2 or 3 scents at a time to avoid scent overload -- even using the coffee, my nose and brain just can't deal with more than that at one time.



Thank you so much! I'm going to try this out.


----------



## IrishLass (Jul 14, 2020)

Ditto what the others have said....never judge a fragrance by how it smells OOB. More often than not, they smell much better once soaped, although I must say I have several that smell exactly the same in soap as they do OOB.


IrishLass


----------



## sarahmarah (Jul 14, 2020)

I have WSP’s Baby Bibb and I find that it’s fantastic in soap and it lasts. It’s a slightly sweet green smell that also makes a fantastic blender. Try it on a small batch.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 16, 2020)

sarahmarah said:


> I have WSP’s Baby Bibb and I find that it’s fantastic in soap and it lasts. It’s a slightly sweet green smell that also makes a fantastic blender. Try it on a small batch.



Oh good!! I told my boyfriend about this comment and he is very intrigued to see how it will come out in soap now. Out of curiosity, is there anything specific you recommend blending it with?


----------



## sarahmarah (Jul 16, 2020)

peachymoon said:


> Oh good!! I told my boyfriend about this comment and he is very intrigued to see how it will come out in soap now. Out of curiosity, is there anything specific you recommend blending it with?



I blended with Yuzu Original EO/FO from WSP. Mostly used Baby Bibb because the Yuzu will knock your socks off and be very overpowering. I would think it would do nicely with most any fruit or floral scent. It gives off a fresh smell and it’s not too heavy or too green imo.


----------



## Obsidian (Jul 16, 2020)

Last time I used  FO that smelled bad oob, I ended up throwing the whole batch away it stunk so bad.
Next time I got a stinky FO, I didn't even bother trying it, just tossed it.
I have some that I don't love oob, still use those but if they flat out make me gag, I don't use them.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 16, 2020)

sarahmarah said:


> I blended with Yuzu Original EO/FO from WSP. Mostly used Baby Bibb because the Yuzu will knock your socks off and be very overpowering. I would think it would do nicely with most any fruit or floral scent. It gives off a fresh smell and it’s not too heavy or too green imo.



Thank you for the suggestion. I'm definitely gonna try it in a very small batch, so I may split it and add something citrusy to part of the batch. 



Obsidian said:


> Last time I used  FO that smelled bad oob, I ended up throwing the whole batch away it stunk so bad.
> Next time I got a stinky FO, I didn't even bother trying it, just tossed it.
> I have some that I don't love oob, still use those but if they flat out make me gag, I don't use them.



Hopefully once they're in soaps they won't be so bad, it would be a shame for them to go to waste, but I definitely felt really alarmed when I sniffed these and can see how you'd just wanna toss them after a bad experience testing them. :s


----------



## Obsidian (Jul 16, 2020)

peachymoon said:


> Hopefully once they're in soaps they won't be so bad, it would be a shame for them to go to waste, but I definitely felt really alarmed when I sniffed these and can see how you'd just wanna toss them after a bad experience testing them. :s



I always do the sniff test like DeeAnna mentioned. Sometimes they smell bad just because they are so strong.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 16, 2020)

Obsidian said:


> I always do the sniff test like DeeAnna mentioned. Sometimes they smell bad just because they are so strong.



Is it prudent, then, to try the fragrance at a less potent percentage, or just stick to the recommended one in WSP's fragrance calculator?


----------



## Obsidian (Jul 16, 2020)

peachymoon said:


> Is it prudent, then, to try the fragrance at a less potent percentage, or just stick to the recommended one in WSP's fragrance calculator?



I really don't know. I've never even looked at a scent calculator. I tend to use 6% unless its not safe to.
If a scent is really strong, I will try 3% instead.


----------



## glendam (Jul 17, 2020)

You said you just received them.... usually they smell different just after arriving because of all the movement, and you can do a more fair assessment if you let them sit 24 hrs or so.  In my own personal experience, and perhaps because I have an acute sense of smell; if I dislike it out of the bottle, I will dislike it in the soap.  The only exception has been spearmint EO.  I also hated cedarwood (because I got the Texas version) But over time it has grown on me.
As far as fragrances, I usually sell them straight away if I don’t like them, and if I decide to try them in soap I still dislike them.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 17, 2020)

glendam said:


> You said you just received them.... usually they smell different just after arriving because of all the movement, and you can do a more fair assessment if you let them sit 24 hrs or so.  In my own personal experience, and perhaps because I have an acute sense of smell; if I dislike it out of the bottle, I will dislike it in the soap.  The only exception has been spearmint EO.  I also hated cedarwood (because I got the Texas version) But over time it has grown on me.
> As far as fragrances, I usually sell them straight away if I don’t like them, and if I decide to try them in soap I still dislike them.



I did smell them when they arrived and then again a couple of days later to show my boyfriend. I think my sense of smell is pretty accurate too, it's the reason I'm so picky with food (lol). So, I think will try these in single soaps since it's my first experience with them. If you don't mind my asking, where do you sell them?


----------



## glendam (Jul 17, 2020)

peachymoon said:


> I did smell them when they arrived and then again a couple of days later to show my boyfriend. I think my sense of smell is pretty accurate too, it's the reason I'm so picky with food (lol). So, I think will try these in single soaps since it's my first experience with them. If you don't mind my asking, where do you sell them?


don´t mind at all, In facebook, I am in a few destash groups.  Such as soap supply destash, or Soap Supplies Destash and Vendor Sales by Soap Box Micas.  I have posted in the classifieds here too.  Some groups do not allow crossposting, you just have to look in the group rules.


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 17, 2020)

glendam said:


> don´t mind at all, In facebook, I am in a few destash groups.  Such as soap supply destash, or Soap Supplies Destash and Vendor Sales by Soap Box Micas.  I have posted in the classifieds here too.  Some groups do not allow crossposting, you just have to look in the group rules.



Sweet, thank you so much! We'll probably see each other around there.


----------



## Virgogoddess (Jul 17, 2020)

I got lavender lemon fragrance oil from nature’s garden and at first I hated it! Then after letting it sit for awhile I reluctantly used it. You know what? Not only do I love the smell but ended up ordering more! It’s one of my favorites. Sometimes cure, cures! Lol


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 17, 2020)

Virgogoddess said:


> I got lavender lemon fragrance oil from nature’s garden and at first I hated it! Then after letting it sit for awhile I reluctantly used it. You know what? Not only do I love the smell but ended up ordering more! It’s one of my favorites. Sometimes cure, cures! Lol



I like that little saying, haha!


----------



## Hope Ann (Jul 18, 2020)

Virgogoddess said:


> I got lavender lemon fragrance oil from nature’s garden and at first I hated it! Then after letting it sit for awhile I reluctantly used it. You know what? Not only do I love the smell but ended up ordering more! It’s one of my favorites. Sometimes cure, cures! Lol



I was freaking out last month after adding to my soap.  Very fake lemony but it settled down.  I did in a soleseif with lemon peel for extra exfoliation.

Hope


----------



## penelopejane (Jul 19, 2020)

I have a tiny IceCube tray that holds about 15g batter per cube. I mix 1/8 tsp of FO per cube and do a whole lot of testers at once. I scratch numbers on the cubes once they’ve saponified. This lets me work out how they smell in soap rather than OOB which I find is often vastly different.
If I really hate an FO I try and mix it with something to make a nice, one off scent. You can put a couple of cubes in a plastic bags and see if that combo smells nice. I hate waste!

if you have some people you can enlist as testers and one of them loves a scent you hate make a one off batch Just for them (even if it’s just small enough to use up the FO).


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 21, 2020)

penelopejane said:


> I have a tiny IceCube tray that holds about 15g batter per cube. I mix 1/8 tsp of FO per cube and do a whole lot of testers at once. I scratch numbers on the cubes once they’ve saponified. This lets me work out how they smell in soap rather than OOB which I find is often vastly different.
> If I really hate an FO I try and mix it with something to make a nice, one off scent. You can put a couple of cubes in a plastic bags and see if that combo smells nice. I hate waste!
> 
> if you have some people you can enlist as testers and one of them loves a scent you hate make a one off batch Just for them (even if it’s just small enough to use up the FO).



Thank you, this is a great idea!


----------



## TheGecko (Jul 21, 2020)

I had a couple of scents that I got during RE's scent sale last year that I absolutely hated OOB...Blueberry and Cherry-Almond.  Then I made them into soap.  The Blueberry turned out night, I thought the Cherry-Almond was just too 'sweet'.

I also had a scent that smelled great OOB, but not so much in [CP] soap...it was a Dragon's Blood.  I'll have to look it up since I have several bottles by different suppliers.


----------



## Angie Gail (Jul 29, 2020)

I've used the WSP Lavender Vanilla in hot process soap and it came out fine. I don't really like lavender scents (but others do and I like to offer a variety of scents).


----------



## peachymoon (Jul 29, 2020)

Angie Gail said:


> I've used the WSP Lavender Vanilla in hot process soap and it came out fine. I don't really like lavender scents (but others do and I like to offer a variety of scents).



Thank you for sharing your experience with it. I'm really curious to see how it will change in soap, just working up the courage to test these. xD


----------



## Soapdragon (Aug 21, 2020)

peachymoon said:


> Hi all! So, I just received an order with a handful of fragrance oils and I'm a bit disappointed with how some of them smell. I'm reluctant to try them. I've read reviews (for other FO's) that have noted a pleasant change the maker's opinion of the FO once the soap is in the curing process, so I realize the smell might change significantly once the FO is IN a soap. What have been your experiences with this--do you go and ahead and try it anyway? Do you try it in a teensy batch? Any tips for testing FO's? I was also wondering if there are ever any swaps for these kinds of things on the forum. Thank you!!
> 
> & for those who are curious, the two in question are WSP's Farmer's Market Baby Bibb and WSP's Lavender Vanilla! The former smells like Raid to me and the latter smells like strong cleaning chemicals. :x


I wondered these same things too. Raid heh heh! Urgh! I bought two scents both so bad i chucked them and i hate waste. Piping Rock - the cherry blossom and a honey one. Burned my nostrils off!! I have a few i use only to deodourise the outside bin if it smells bad enough to need washed out. They are dewberry, baby powder and intensity by Just A Soap, but they arent nasty exactly, just not to my liking. I only tried two in soap i was unsure about, one stayed chemically and the other just needed a really low dose to be tolerable. Have noticed quite a few scents change during cure tho...


----------



## peachymoon (Aug 21, 2020)

Soapdragon said:


> I wondered these same things too. Raid heh heh! Urgh! I bought two scents both so bad i chucked them and i hate waste. Piping Rock - the cherry blossom and a honey one. Burned my nostrils off!! I have a few i use only to deodourise the outside bin if it smells bad enough to need washed out. They are dewberry, baby powder and intensity by Just A Soap, but they arent nasty exactly, just not to my liking. I only tried two in soap i was unsure about, one stayed chemically and the other just needed a really low dose to be tolerable. Have noticed quite a few scents change during cure tho...



Yeah, I've still been hesitant to try out the ones I mentioned in this post. The OOB scents really discouraged me!


----------



## Arimara (Aug 21, 2020)

BB's Cedar & Amber is an example of an FO I hate OOB but is actually far more pleasant in a soap. I need to find one of my other FOs to see how it blends (the FO in question should smell like pine trees) for the Holidays. My point is, you're just not going to know if you like them until you try them. I do like PJ's suggestion with the ice cube trays.


----------



## dixiedragon (Aug 21, 2020)

If i absolutely hate it OOB, I don't soap it. Just because it's not fun for me. If I'm kind of "meh" about it, I might still soap it b/c odds are SOMEONE will love it.


----------



## Finnegan (Aug 21, 2020)

I feel the same way, if I don't like it, I don't soap it. I never had a soap that smelled better after soaping than before, but I had plenty that started of nice and morph in soap. It is a bit of a risk, so I've learned to buy small amounts of FO, soap them, and only then do I buy bigger volumes of FO.


----------



## peachymoon (Aug 21, 2020)

Finnegan said:


> I feel the same way, if I don't like it, I don't soap it. I never had a soap that smelled better after soaping than before, but I had plenty that started of nice and morph in soap. It is a bit of a risk, so I've learned to buy small amounts of FO, soap them, and only then do I buy bigger volumes of FO.



Oh yeah, I've bought some 4 oz. ones that I'm not too excited about so I've decided to never do that again, lol. Thankfully these icky ones are 2 oz., but I think I will end up trying to destash them, which someone else suggested.


----------



## Finnegan (Aug 21, 2020)

It might be for the best to destash them. The fragrance oil you hate may be a fragrance oil that someone else will love.


----------



## lucycat (Aug 21, 2020)

Remember that even if a fragrance gets a good review it may still be a fragrance you don't like.  Green fragrances are not for everyone.   I like lavender vanilla to still have an herbal note but you may prefer a sweeter floral.   Soap small amounts and then decide if they are for you.    There are some fragrances that I don't like OOB but do like in soap but mostly if I don't like the scent OOB I also won't like it in soap.


----------



## Arimara (Aug 31, 2020)

lucycat said:


> Remember that even if a fragrance gets a good review it may still be a fragrance you don't like.  Green fragrances are not for everyone.   I like lavender vanilla to still have an herbal note but you may prefer a sweeter floral.   Soap small amounts and then decide if they are for you.    There are some fragrances that I don't like OOB but do like in soap but mostly if I don't like the scent OOB I also won't like it in soap.


I think I found that one scent I don't like OOB and luckily, BB stopped selling it.


----------



## TheGecko (Aug 31, 2020)

peachymoon said:


> Oh yeah, I've bought some 4 oz. ones that I'm not too excited about so I've decided to never do that again, lol.



I only buy 1 oz bottles to start with, that way I’m only out about $5.00 between FO and batter if it doesn’t work out.  The other side of the coin...that you fall in love with it and then have to order again and wait.  LOL


----------



## Arimara (Aug 31, 2020)

TheGecko said:


> I only buy 1 oz bottles to start with, that way I’m only out about $5.00 between FO and batter if it doesn’t work out.  The other side of the coin...that you fall in love with it and then have to order again and wait.  LOL


That has happened with Afternoon Tea and Persephone's Kiss from Nurture. Lovely doesn't do those two justice with me. In short, I agree, 100% but sometimes, those FO bundles are a nice deal (sometimes).


----------

