# Something to make honeysuckle smell better?



## boondocker (Apr 6, 2016)

We have honeysuckles on our property and it always smells so nice, so I bought some honeysuckle EO from Bulk Apothecary.

Wow!  It smells awful!!  Soooo disappointed!!!  Yes, it smells like honeysuckle somewhat, but more like the strong perfume scratch scents that you get in the magazines!  They always gave me a headache!!  I had to put this bottle out of the room!!

How can this be?  Shouldn't honeysuckle EO smell like the real deal??

Is there some other EO that I can mix with it to make it smell nice?


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## Serene (Apr 6, 2016)

eh, is that a new thing?  There is no such a thing as Honeysuckle Essential Oil.

I hate labels on some vendors websites.   

The name is Honeysuckle Essential Oil, which is so misleading, but there is an "Important note" at the bottom on the description on the site. 

*Important Note:*                               This is a synthetic Honeysuckle essential oil blend.  That makes it great for soap and lotion making and is beautiful smelling but is not considered a therapeutic grade like our other pure essential oils.

Boon, you may want to make a small batch of soap with it.  You may find that you like it after all after you use it in soap.  It will smell different.  Unless you are completely opposed to using anything that is not an Essential Oil.


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## lionprincess00 (Apr 6, 2016)

Went to their site. Very confusing to call it a pure eo then in the description state it's a blend.
Almost misleading.

Product Description
Pure Honeysuckle Essential Oil


Important Note:

This is a synthetic Honeysuckle essential oil blend.  That makes it great for soap and lotion making and is beautiful smelling but is not considered a therapeutic grade like our other pure essential oils.

- See more at: http://www.bulkapothecary.com/produ...neysuckle-essential-oil/#sthash.U52CQTbN.dpuf


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## lionprincess00 (Apr 6, 2016)

Lol, serene beat me to it!


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## Serene (Apr 6, 2016)

lionprincess00 said:


> Lol, serene beat me to it!



Great minds, Lionprincess!!

Sere


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## boondocker (Apr 6, 2016)

What??!!  It IS misleading!!  I just looked at the label, and it said, "Essential Oil" in large letters, then a tiny "synthetic!"  How can an EO be synthetic??!!  I did not read the description on the site because I assumed that an EO was a true EO!!

No wonder it turned me inside out!!  I can't tolerate synthetic scents!  Back it goes!!


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## TeresaT (Apr 6, 2016)

Sorry, but that is blatant false advertising.  They call it "Honeysuckle Essential Oil" and "Pure Honeysuckle Essential Oil." Then they add a disclaimer stating it is a "synthetic Honeysuckle essential oil blend."   I'm sure if anyone calls them on the discrepancy they'll state they've got the disclaimer to warn people it is not "pure essential oil" and buyer beware.  Yes, buyer beware; however, shame on them for such misleading advertising and claims for their products.


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## boondocker (Apr 6, 2016)

My body knew!!!  

I hope they don't make ME pay to return this thing!!!  They really need to edit this page on their site!


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## snappyllama (Apr 6, 2016)

That does seem very misleading. 

One thing to note, real EOs don't always smell like what you would expect. If you have a health food store nearby, I'd go smell their samples to get an idea of what to expect.


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## boondocker (Apr 7, 2016)

I just called and "spoke" to them about it.  The service rep agreed with me that it was misleading and said that he would tell upper management about it.

They are sending me a return label.  I will be GLAD to see it go!!!  I have it sitting in the garage since last night, because even walking by it in another room made me feel yucckky!!


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## KristaY (Apr 7, 2016)

I'm so glad they're cooperating with you, boondocker. Many companies refuse to take FO's and EO's back, no matter what the issue. Hopefully they'll correct their misleading site info so others don't get stuck in your situation. You probably saved countless others that have sensitive sniffers!


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## boondocker (Apr 7, 2016)

KristaY said:


> I'm so glad they're cooperating with you, boondocker. Many companies refuse to take FO's and EO's back, no matter what the issue. Hopefully they'll correct their misleading site info so others don't get stuck in your situation. You probably saved countless others that have sensitive sniffers!



They have been a good company to work with so far.  Once, I got some bad shea butter and they sent me another one right away.


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## topofmurrayhill (Apr 7, 2016)

KristaY said:


> I'm so glad they're cooperating with you, boondocker. Many companies refuse to take FO's and EO's back, no matter what the issue. Hopefully they'll correct their misleading site info so others don't get stuck in your situation. You probably saved countless others that have sensitive sniffers!



While matters like this are too small for legal enforcement, reputable companies should realize that their return policies mean nothing if the buyer has been misled into purchasing an item. It'll be interesting to see what they do about the product description.


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## KristaY (Apr 7, 2016)

topofmurrayhill said:


> While matters like this are too small for legal enforcement, reputable companies should realize that their return policies mean nothing if the buyer has been misled into purchasing an item. It'll be interesting to see what they do about the product description.



Exactly so, TOMH. If we're talking about a $20 item, it's all about the principle. Bad customer service over a $20 item will make me shop elsewhere and tell everyone I know about the issue. So they will not only lose all future income from me but potentially from others. That bad encounter over $20 could mean a revenue loss in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars, not to mention a ding on public opinion. Worth a legal dispute? Nope. Worth an ethical resolution? Priceless.


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## boondocker (Apr 7, 2016)

I did tell him that I had been discussing this on a forum and that many were calling it "false advertising" and that it would not look good for them to keep this page as is.


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## PuddinAndPeanuts (Jun 10, 2016)

For what it's worth, I've got a collection of probably 7-10 honeysuckle scents at this point.  They mostly suck. I want real honest-to-God natural smelling honeysuckle. Bath and body works used to sell a lotion that was pretty close.  I got the dupe (Wild Honeysuckle from WSP)- it's crap.  I sell a Honeysuckle Bamboo body butter that's a blend of several FO's, more than 1/2 of which is neither honeysuckle nor bamboo.  Other people love it, but it still doesn't seem right to me.

But- Today, I just got an order in from Candle Science.  Their Honeysuckle Jasmine is the closest I've found to the real thing.  I may yet switch to this for the bulk of my new Honeysuckle Bamboo, but I hate to do that as the blend I have was an instant best seller. At the very least I may make a small jar just for me with it.

I've got honeysuckles from: wholesale supplies plus, be scented, bramble berry, and candle science.  Check with me before you order if you like to see if I've got it (and I probably do) and I'll tell u what it's like.


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## Cindy2428 (Jun 10, 2016)

Boondocker - back to your original question. When I have scents that are too sweet my first choice is to add lime eo, 2nd choice grapefruit. I can't stand Ylang-Ylang or Jasmine on their own; I always add something to them.


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## TeresaT (Jun 10, 2016)

Oh my gosh.  This is why people have no idea what an essential oil is.  

http://www.livestrong.com/article/225063-how-to-extract-essential-oils-from-honeysuckle-flowers/


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## Soapmaker145 (Jun 10, 2016)

Honeysuckle is one of the scents I was looking for.  The best so far is from TCS.  To my nose, it is a straight honeysuckle.  It cured nice and clean and is holding very well so far.  

I ended up trying BB's heavenly honeysuckle. On its own, it wasn't bad but not something I wanted.  I ended up mixing it 1:1 with the TCS honeysuckle and it worked much better.  I would consider repeating if I want a softer honeysuckle. 

I haven't had very good luck with florals (rose, jasmine, wisteria, lilac, sunflower etc...).  I would say most of them are horrid.  The floral FOs I got from TCS have been been my favorite on their own or to blend with less desirable FOs.


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## boondocker (Jun 10, 2016)

Thanks, but I returned it for a full refund and no longer need to try to make it smell better.  Will NOT be buying ANY type of honeysuckle scent going forward.


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## penelopejane (Jun 11, 2016)

TeresaT said:


> Oh my gosh.  This is why people have no idea what an essential oil is.
> 
> http://www.livestrong.com/article/225063-how-to-extract-essential-oils-from-honeysuckle-flowers/




Isn't that one method of making essential oil?


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## artemis (Jun 11, 2016)

penelopejane said:


> Isn't that one method of making essential oil?



No, that would just be an infusion. If you read the comments at the bottom of the article, a couple people more articulate than myself explained it.


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## penelopejane (Jun 12, 2016)

artemis said:


> No, that would just be an infusion. If you read the comments at the bottom of the article, a couple people more articulate than myself explained it.



I thought it was an enfleurage process using oil. Ancient and time consuming but still works?
I know distillation is the most common commercial process.


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## TeresaT (Jun 12, 2016)

penelopejane said:


> I thought it was an enfleurage process using oil. Ancient and time consuming but still works?
> I know distillation is the most common commercial process.



HA!  Thanks for the education.  I never heard of "enfleurage" before today.  I read some articles online regarding the process. (This one was fascinating.  http://africanaromatics.com/enfleurage-101/)  What the article I posted produces is an infusion.  They're only putting flowers into oil a single time and allowing them to steep for weeks in a dark place then bottling it.  

 To get the essential oil via the enfleurage process, they would have had to mix alcohol into the infusion and shake or stir to thoroughly mix them.  The alcohol would then absorb the scent from the fat and after a while would rise to the top of the fat where it could be poured/skimmed off.  Then the essential oil removed from the alcohol.   

The interesting thing about enfleurage is you can reuse the fats or oils used to gather the volatile fragrance oils in the first place.    With the Livestrong method, there is nothing to reuse because they don't separate the fragrance from the carrier oil (or maybe "gathering" oil would be better?).  

Thanks again for the interesting education.  Ya learn something new every day!!


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## penelopejane (Jun 12, 2016)

TeresaT said:


> To get the essential oil via the enfleurage process, they would have had to mix alcohol into the infusion and shake or stir to thoroughly mix them.  The alcohol would then absorb the scent from the fat and after a while would rise to the top of the fat where it could be poured/skimmed off.  Then the essential oil removed from the alcohol.
> 
> The interesting thing about enfleurage is you can reuse the fats or oils used to gather the volatile fragrance oils in the first place.
> 
> Thanks again for the interesting education.  Ya learn something new every day!!



I didn't realise (or had forgotten) enfleurage required separating the oil again with the use of alcohol.  So I learnt something too. Making a real essential oil isn't an easy backyard process!


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