Does anybody like unscented soap?

[tommysgirl]

I'm allergic to Lavender, gives me migraines. BUT I have managed to find a Lavender that only gives me a slight headache

Lavender also gives me migraines. Do you mind if I ask what this one that you tolerate better is called? I'd like to give it a try.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

I make an unscented Oatmeal Milk and Honey soap that smells quite nice. It has no fragrance added to it but the natural ingredients smell quite lovely and I've several customers that will order batches of it just for themselves. One actually takes a batch home to Columbia for his mother because she loves my soap so much.

 

[norrysoaper]

I love unscented soaps. I think soap has a great smell all by itself.

 

[Catscankim]

I make an unscented Oatmeal Milk and Honey soap that smells quite nice. It has no fragrance added to it but the natural ingredients smell quite lovely and I've several customers that will order batches of it just for themselves. One actually takes a batch home to Columbia for his mother because she loves my soap so much.

I love the smell of OMH soap with no fragrance. I made two batches a few weeks ago. The first one i screwed up and burnt the honey. I made another batch. The burnt one smells like maple syrup. I dont like maple syrup, but im sure others will.

 

[TheGecko]

Lavender also gives me migraines. Do you mind if I ask what this one that you tolerate better is called? I'd like to give it a try.

BrambleBerry’s Lavender FO. I bought the trial size and made soap (20 oz) in July. It wasn’t overpowering and three months later it’s just a lovely scent.

 

[jlavehandcrafted]

I like lightly scented soaps but I also just made an unscented, natural soap that smells lovely. I used a bit of cocoa butter in it and it just gives a slight cocoa smell. I love it! I know this can also be a strong scent for some people so I went light on it. It’ll be interesting to see how people like it when I finish curing it.

 

[Ladka]

I used a bit of cocoa butter in it and it just gives a slight cocoa smell.

Is this bit of cocoa butter less than 10 %?

 

[tommysgirl]

BrambleBerry’s Lavender FO. I bought the trial size and made soap (20 oz) in July. It wasn’t overpowering and three months later it’s just a lovely scent.

Thank you! I'm going to try it. Lavender smells really pretty and there are so many combinations with it that sound awesome. But as of yet I haven't been willing to risk the headaches ...

 

[jlavehandcrafted]

Is this bit of cocoa butter less than 10 %?

I used 12%. It’s raw, crude cocoa butter from New Directions. I love the smell of it but I’m not sure they carry that particular cocoa butter anymore. I haven’t bought any for quite awhile.

 

[Tammyfarms]

Several years ago I developed a cough that wouldn’t go away after 4 months. A friend and I were discussing what could be causing it and it was my soap! I was using a holiday fragrance called Apple Jack and Peel. I LOVE the smell of this fragrance. Since then I have gone to no fragrance. Most of the time I don’t use color and I call it Plain Ol Soap. I don’t sell my soaps and will probably make some scented soaps for family as we are moving and will have a garage to cure the soaps. I can’t have fragrance in the house anymore. Makes me .

 

[Jillyb]

I have MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) so can't be around many chemicals, fregrances etc. Which is why I returned to soaping.
My whole business is based around less tox, less waste, less scent. I do personal, dish, laundry soaps, butters lotions etc all with no or very lil frag either tea tree or a mild vanilla (which I struggle with).
There is a growing need for less fregrance. I didnt intend selling- I was simply making for our fam but through FB groups Ive been repeatedly asked for my products. However if you sell scented soaps those with chem reactions will not come near your market stalls as doing so will require significant time recovering from exposure. So this may explain why your fragrance free isn't selling well for some.
I have to ask for an outdoor stall well away from anyone who sells fragranced products.

 

[TheGecko]

@Jillyb - It's good that you can do this and make a living at it. Wouldn't work well where I'm from. But I do carry both unscented/uncolored soaps in my Regular and Goat Milk Soaps and I do take special orders for those who can't do scent but want a single color, or who can do scent and color but can't do butters (I have a large order for the latter...holidays soaps for Christmas...her whole family is the same way).

 

[Rick Jarvis]

This is one of my great challenges. I have played with scents and generally don't like them. I have a weak sense of smell and order what are well reviewed and top selling fragrances from Nurture and Nature's Garden. While no expert they seem chemically and fade pretty quick. I am anchoring them with clay but not convinced that really does anything.

It troubles me that scent is such a driver. You can focus on scent, appearance, or ingredients or some gradient of a combo of those. My skills are much more in making a beautiful and colorful soap over being a scent driven soap or fancy ingredient soap. Candidly I'd rather my soaps be chosen for how they look and are different from most others available. But I hear this about scents often so I just started adding them to my collection. Without shows it is hard to tell if this will pay off.

So for now I am going to live in my little bubble that there are enough people that appreciate the ephemeral art that is revealed in the soap that I make. As I began this journey many women I know choose unscented everything for a variety of reasons. I thought there were a lot of customers like that. It seems this might be a limiting idea.

Thanks for the sharing.

 

[TheGecko]

It troubles me that scent is such a driver. You can focus on scent, appearance, or ingredients or some gradient of a combo of those. My skills are much more in making a beautiful and colorful soap over being a scent driven soap or fancy ingredient soap. Candidly I'd rather my soaps be chosen for how they look and are different from most others available. But I hear this about scents often so I just started adding them to my collection. Without shows it is hard to tell if this will pay off.

Scent is one of our most important senses. It's why natural gas smells like rotten eggs. It's why when I stopped at the store on Friday for cream for my coffee, I came out with freshly fried chicken for supper.

I agree that it is difficult to find out what the "public" thinks about your soaps when the public can't get to them. So I start with friends and family, then branch out to other social groups since things have opened.

 

[gbtreasures]

It was one of my earlier soaps where i was shy/cheap with the fo. I have other soaps with the same fo that smell phenomenal at higher rates. This soap is really pretty and i love it in the shower, so im pretty diappointed.


I brought a bunch of soaps into work to give to our nurses (it is/was er nurse week). The last ones in the box were my cranberry spice and nobody took them. Which is really odd, because I dont have one bar left of the pumpkin spice, and to me they are very similar in smell.

I think that if i made the soap more pumpkiny looking and called it pumpkin spice, they would have flown out of the box lol.

I have experienced the same thing and don’t understand why, but I guess differences make the world go around! I find the Cranberry Spice scent to be a strong scent and would make a wonderfully scented candle that would, most likely, have a nice throw to it.

 

[Zing]

I don't know where I've been but just found this thread and it is fascinating! I'm all over the place on this topic There are scents that can instantly take me back to 7th grade or my wedding day or my trip to El Salvador or Hawaii or when I was 5 or when my boys were babies (hello Dreft!). But I normally buy unscented laundry detergent and personal hygiene items. But I always use essential oils to scent my soap. And the first thing that gift recipients do is to smell my soaps and ask what essential oil did I use? I have one friend with a condition that she cannot tolerate essential oils or even to smell/eat citrus fruits and so for the first time I made one unscented soap recently, just for her. And lavender almost gives me a headache (hyacinth flowers just about knock me unconscious even outdoors) but I make it for my wife because it's her fave.

Hey, @tommysgirl , lavender and litsea cubeba blend is awesome -- and this from a guy who does not like lavender!

And great comment, @earlene , who knows what will happen when we get to the other side with this COVID stuff?

 

[tommysgirl]

And lavender almost gives me a headache (hyacinth flowers just about knock me unconscious even outdoors) but I make it for my wife because it's her fave.

Hey, @tommysgirl , lavender and litsea cubeba blend is awesome -- and this from a guy who does not like lavender!

That is so sweet of you to make it for her
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll see about getting a sample size and try it out to see if I can handle it. I actually really like Lavender a lot. Not a fan of migraines tho, lol!

 

[Rick Jarvis]

Came across this article, and thought I'd post to add another flavor to the discussion. It's hard while in Covid isolation to get a finger on the pulse of soap consumers. I had only a hint of those that avoid fragrance. Is this an unserved population?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/we...oward-scented-products/ar-BB1apJvA?li=BBnbcA0

 

[dixiedragon]

Make it with the FO you don't like. Somebody will like it!