Floral FO for someone who doesn’t like florals

[Audrey Chung]

I don’t like florals but my friends do. I don’t have to like the fragrance, but do y’all have recommendations for non perfumey florals that women in their early 20s would enjoy? I can’t actually tell if a floral fragrance is good or not, just if it’s weak or strong or gives me a headache. Looking for both cold process friendly fragrances and soy candle friendly FOs. Thanks guys!

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome, Audrey!

The enjoyment of a scent is such a personal/individual thing that it's going to be difficult to make specific recommendations for certain age groups. At least for me, anyway. For example, for as many old and young people alike that I know of who love rose or lilac or jasmine, etc..., I can find about the same number of both young and old folks alike that hate all of those. lol

What specific florals do your friends like?


IrishLass

 

[Audrey Chung]

Thank you IrishLass! You make a very good point. However, to be honest I’m not entirely sure what they like, which is where I should’ve honestly started... They tend to buy “whatever smells nice at bath and body works” I’ve heard them talking about lavender and another scent which turned out to be iris. I recently took a poll and they said that they like fresh scents. So my guess is they prefer more powdery, florals that lean towards smelling similar to cotton if that makes sense. But then again some of them said they like fruity florals which are entirely different In the meantime I’ll ask them again for specific florals. Thanks!
Edit: After thinking about it I realized I was making the assumption that florals are all similar. I mean, I can’t tell the difference but I bet floral lovers can, much like how I like coffee FO to be bitter and not smell sugary. I’ll report back when I know specific flowers they like!

 

[lsg]

You might try a rose/vanilla blend; but should probably include a vanilla stabilizer to keep the soap from turning dark. You can also scan the fragrance combinations from suppliers to see what they combine with florals.

 

[dixiedragon]

Rosewater Lemonade at WSP is wonderful in lotion. Haven't soaped it or candled it yet, but it gets good reviews!

 

[RobinRogers]

Isn’t Nag Champa a floral? I also like the Gardenia and you don’t have to make it very strong.

 

[DeeAnna]

Dunno if I'd call nag champa a floral, exactly. It's more of a pungent, exotic wood-resin scent.

A clean, sweet, strong floral that many people like is Honeysuckle by Nature's Garden or Majestic Mountain Sage. I'm not a big lover of floral scents, and even I like it. NG's Honeysuckle is the one I'm most familiar with, but am starting to use MMS's version. Moderate acceleration. No discoloration.

For a fresh, herbal, slightly floral scent, I like Green Tea by NG or MMS. Again, I have more history with the NG version, but am trialing the MMS one to have an alternate supplier. No accel. No discolor.

 

[Obsidian]

Eden's garden from brambleberry is a nice floral. It has a lot of green notes and isn't overly sweet.

I like to blend it with stronger florals or stronger herbals to add a softness. One of my favorite blends is sweetgrass and edens garden.

I smelled a hyacinth scented soap at a market that was quite nice. Been meaning to find a FO to try myself

 

[jcandleattic]

I'm with IrishLass, meaning it's very subjective and hard to determine. Almost everyone I know says they love the scent of Rose, however, when it comes to product, I can't GIVE that scent away because nobody likes it. (and yet, it smells EXACTLY like my rose garden) so go figure.

Ones that my daughter and I both like in florals are a scent from Aztec called Pink Lilac and Willow - lovely fresh floraly scent, and not overpowering. and we also both tend to like sweet pea.

 

[Audrey Chung]

Wow thank you all for your responses! I’m definitely intrigued by the honeysuckle, Eden’s garden, and pink Lilac and Willow. I’ll have to look into them and see if I should order samplers.
Update on what my friends say they like: everyone just said that they like florals, nothing specific except that one of them doesn’t like rose. I get the feeling that crafters are a lot more specific about what we like and don’t like in a scent...

 

[earlene]

I'm with IrishLass, meaning it's very subjective and hard to determine. Almost everyone I know says they love the scent of Rose, however, when it comes to product, I can't GIVE that scent away because nobody likes it. (and yet, it smells EXACTLY like my rose garden) so go figure.

Ones that my daughter and I both like in florals are a scent from Aztec called Pink Lilac and Willow - lovely fresh floraly scent, and not overpowering. and we also both tend to like sweet pea.

Well, I love Rose scented soap. I love it for myself. I used to have a bar of Rose scented soap in my upstairs bathroom in which the scent lasted about 3 years! That is until a guest decided to leave it floating in bathwater one time. The scent just totally disappeared. I don't know why just at that time, but before that, every time I used it, the fragrance was exceptionally welcoming. After it lost it's scent, it was just plain soap. I only hope the Rose FO I have purchased lasts so well, but since I haven't made a lot of Rose scented soap myself, I don't yet know.

 

[GlenS]

New to the scene but have found that the strength of the scent causes me headaches. But medium to light scents I like the Honeysuckle FO.
Good luck

 

[BrightMeadows]

DeeAnna, I'm curious as to how close the MMS Green Tea is to NG's. I was going to try it, but it is so much more expensive, and if they are quite similar, I won't bother.

 

[atiz]

I am usually not a huge fan of florals, but one slightly floral sweet scent I really like is BB Wildflower honey. It is more of a sweet honey scent than a straight floral, but definitely has some floral notes. No acceleration, but very slightly discolors (1% vanilla). I would think people who like "florals in general" would also like it.

 

[kharmon320]

I really steer away from florals (personally) but I do love Be Delicious Blossom from WSP. It is a perfume dupe but it's really a lovely fragrance. Light, floral, slightly perfumey, but not overwhelming.

 

[Saponificarian]

I like Orchid and Pink Amber from WSP. The cleanest floral I have ever used. Pink lilac and willow from Aztec is really nice too.

 

[cmzaha]

I have to agree that Orchid and Pink Amber is nice.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Go fresh or fruity floral for young ‘uns I reckon.
Ideas:
Cherry blossom
Wild currant and sandalwood is nice ( I think it’s from Natures Garden)?
Himalayan Bamboo (candle science)
Mix some Jasmine FO with with a citrus like Bergamot and Neroli from Candle Science. Half and half
I’ve used all of these and they are ‘fresh’.

 

[shunt2011]

I'm one who really dislikes florals. I do make Lavender & Lilac as I have a lot of customers who use it. I found Lavender Marshmallow (B&B) at Just Scents. It's one of my favorite candles to burn and so far it's sticking in soap and smells really good too. I made the soap in January.

I also like Peach Magnolia Raspberry (NG)
Blackberry Magnolia (Micas and More) - This is a bit weak in CP.

 

[Saponificarian]

I have to agree that Orchid and Pink Amber is nice.

We seem to like the same FOs! I l have loved every single FO you recommended especially the Tobacco leaf and Amber you recommended from WSP.