Fragrance Buddy FO test

[Soapmaker145]

Few more:

238-Beach: No D, definite A. This was lovely when first unmolded. It slowly faded to a hint of something. I expect it to be completely gone in another 6 weeks.

207-Black Cedarwood and Juniper: More prone to ash. Discolored to a dark pinkish tan/Mauve. The scent has been fading slowly during cure. It is very light at 6 weeks. I don't smell much cedarwood. I also don't get any juniper notes. I'll update if it comes back. So far, the closest FO to pure cedarwood EO is #68 Cedarwood Vanilla from CS. I don't get the vanilla but the cedarwood is slightly softer than cedarwood EO straight OOB. I also tested TCS Redwood Cedar (#109). This one smells like a nice soapy scent with woodsy undertones that include cedar. All my friends who smelled these 3 asked for #109.

205-Driftwood: discolored to an ugly yellowish beige. This is another one that is disappearing by the day. It is really too bad because it smelled really nice at first. Right now, it smells like light incense.

 

[doriettefarm]

Soapmaker145 - How long before your American Cream tester is ready to use? I'm curious once you have a chance to try it if the lather is tinted yellow. The batch I made with it turned out nice but I noticed when I used it earlier today the drippings in the sink were yellow. I'm pretty sure it's not my recipe because I used the same recipe with other FOs and no yellow lather on those bars. Keep me posted if you notice something similar so I won't think I'm crazy! :crazy:

 

[OliveOil2]

I am going to attempt to cut & paste my two replies with reviews, and add a few more. I will transfer everything to the Fragrance Review Chart.

nsmar4211 I have tried a few on your try list, and my friend who soaps has tried a couple of the others, of course you might have a different experience with them:

Sultana I love this one it is easy to work with, think there is slight discoloration. The smell to me is bergamot, honey, and very pleasant. I have soaped this one several times, and never any problems, I didn't color the batter for most of the batches, and had used embeds.

Black Cedarwood: This one is strong and has a cologne type scent, everyone says unisex, but I think more men's fragrance. I do smell the cumin which surprised me. It is easy to work with, I didn't notice discoloration, but I colored it ashed on me. I haven't had the chance to have anyone else smell it, but the scent has held strong for approximately 6 weeks. I hardly ever go below 1 oz per pound, but this is one of those that I think will be nicer at .75 -.85oz per pound.

Karma: I love this scent, and it is very popular, very easy to work with, plenty of time, no discoloration. It sticks very well, and I think is like the original.

Beach: Like nsmar4211 said in her review this is a super fast mover, the scent is not very much like Beach to me, and loses complexity in cure. It didn't discolor, but this is one of the fastest movers I have ever seen.

Dark Knight: Surprised how easy to work with, no acceleration, or discoloration. Soaped 6 months ago, still very strong. I did mix in a little Earth and Son to mellow out the Nutmeg. I was surprised at the strength of the scent considering the low %.

Boudoir: I couldn't believe how bad it smelled OOB, but to me even worse when soaped. Easy to work with, no acceleration, or discoloration. I have heard people say they loved the original Moonworks Boudoir, but for me this is one that I gag when I smell it.

Beeswax and Propolis: I couldn't smell beeswax, honey or propolis, this was a horrible smell to me. For my nose like the Bordoir it was even worse in soap. No acceleration, discolor to tan.

Sun & Sand: This one smells much more like Bobbie Brown Beach than the FB Beach FO. It is nice, but missing something, to me it needs a touch of Jasmine. It was easy to work with, no acceleration or discoloration. Medium strong holding after cure, it hasn't faded.

Love Spell: Nice version of the VS Love spell smells very much like the Candle Science Love Spell and holding stronger. Easy to work with, plenty of time to do multiple colors, no discoloration.

Smell of Freedom: I like this one, but think it needs a little more time to cure to be sure how it will hold. It is a very nice earthy smell, difficult to describe. Easy to soap, no acceleration, or discoloration.

Bella: Beautiful scent, but very weak at the maximum usage rate, might be OK as a mixer, no problems soaping

Sea Witch: This one moves fast, and riced a little on me, I didn't use my best recipe for difficult Fo, and I still was able to play around with a tiger stripe. I colored the most recent batch, but noticed slight acceleration. I really like the scent, it is one of the few ocean scents that remind me of the ocean. I was told that it is the same as Salty Sea Air.

Celestial Sea: This FO changed over the course of curing, it went through a phrase where I thought it smelled like medicine, but continued to improve. I like the finished scent, and it really sticks in the cured soap. It doesn't remind me of the ocean, but a nice herbal smell, I detect some type of tree scent, this smells more like essential oils than FO.

Sir Dorin: Nice fragrance, but at the low usage rates it is too faint. It is such a nice unisex FO I really wish it was stronger. No discolor, or acceleration. Scent didn't fade, just very weak because the usage rate is so low.

I may have a few more I will have to go over my notes, but will transfer these to the Fragrance Review Chart.

 

[Soapmaker145]

Soapmaker145 - How long before your American Cream tester is ready to use? I'm curious once you have a chance to try it if the lather is tinted yellow. The batch I made with it turned out nice but I noticed when I used it earlier today the drippings in the sink were yellow. I'm pretty sure it's not my recipe because I used the same recipe with other FOs and no yellow lather on those bars. Keep me posted if you notice something similar so I won't think I'm crazy! :crazy:

My tester is past the 6 weeks mark. I just tried it. The lather is normal. Did yours discolor more than mine? The scent on mine didn't come back when wet. It is very light.

 

[doriettefarm]

Just for comparison purposes I'm posting a pic of American Cream (front center), Wild Mountain Honey (back right) and Beeswax & Propolis (back left). No color was added but I did use mead as partial water sub on the 2 honey bars.

ETA - the lather itself isn't really yellow but the drippings in my sink definitely are!

 

[Soapmaker145]

You are absolutely right. American Cream lathers white and drips fairly bright yellow water for an ugly dark beige soap. Thank you for mentioning it. I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me so I let it drip in a white bowl. It's unmistakably yellow. I have a problem with the yellow more so than the brown from vanilla or cocoa. Somehow it is an unknown chemical that I've never ran into in soap before.

I don't smell the scent much when wet but I could smell it on my hands after drying them. It smells worse than OOB. As is, it isn't for me.

I'm still looking for a milk/cream scent that is similar to L'Occitane's Bonne Mere milk soap. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[doriettefarm]

I agree. Somehow the yellow drippings seemed off but I'm okay with brown drippings from a vanilla FO, go figure! I wonder if it's the musk aspect because I've never soaped with any other musky FOs before and never had another batch with the yellow tint.

I'd also love to find a dupe of L'Occitane's Bonne Mere milk soap. The closest L'Occitane dupe I've found is for their discontinued honey scent . . . that FO came from Elements B&B. I feel like it lost something in CP so I've been hoarding it for sugar scrubs and liquid soap.

 

[OliveOil2]

Soapmaker145 I just recently soaped your test #109 from TCS and love this scent, I have two batches curing both in beer soap. To me this is a perfect unisex fragrance for soap, and easy to work with. I've used the Driftwood from Candle Science and is holds in CP soap, I just can't get past that brown lather. It wasn't a favorite scent for me, but other people really liked it.

 

[cerelife]

I've soaped with the following from FragranceBuddy at 1oz ppo, and here are my thoughts on the cured (min 6 week old) bars:

Flying Fox - I expected this to accelerate, so I used a 75% lard recipe and it still moved pretty fast. Very little to no discoloration. I've made 4 batches with this FO and I love it! To my nose it's a nice strong honeysuckle/jasmine scent with very little fading so far.
*** Bomb - used my regular recipe with no problems. I colored the batch and the colors are true, so I'm guessing discoloration is minimal to none. Not sure how to describe this scent...it just smells really sweet and candyish to me. A pretty generic scent that I probably won't order again. But that's just me.
Sweet Orange and Chili Pepper - OMG!! Finally a skin-safe FO in this scent that doesn't lose that 'chili-pepper' kick during saponification!! This is the youngest of my soaps at just over 6 weeks old and the scent is still going strong and true! Fingers crossed it will continue to last as I saw another poster mentioned her friend said it faded on her. I used my regular recipe and it behaved fine. I colored this batch as well and again the colors stayed true.

These are the FB oils I just got today, so I'll post after I soap with them.
Porridge
Avobath
Sea Witch
Imogen Rose
Tuca Tuca
Lord of Misrule
Breath of God

 

[Soapmaker145]

Here are few more:
213-Pepperberry Wreath: discolored pinkish beige. Strong coniferous green scent, similar to mistletoe/Christmassy FOs. It is nicely balanced without the sharp overtones found in similar fragrances. It doesn’t smell like pepper EO.

227- Sweet orange Chili: No Dis, more prone to ash. Medium strength in cp. OOB, it has a nice balance between the chili and the orange (which was present in the soap at first). At 6 weeks, the orange is faint and the chili is dominating. This is a nice clean scent (not foodie). I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I will probably mix it with a little FB orange blossom and BB 10X orange to bring back some of the lost citrus notes (something like 75%: 15%:15%).

235-Orange Blossom: Very soft yellow discoloration. Strong clean scent and holding well. This FO is just orange blossom/neroli with nothing else in the background. It's a keeper.

 

[Soapmaker145]

I agree. Somehow the yellow drippings seemed off but I'm okay with brown drippings from a vanilla FO, go figure! I wonder if it's the musk aspect because I've never soaped with any other musky FOs before and never had another batch with the yellow tint.

I'd also love to find a dupe of L'Occitane's Bonne Mere milk soap. The closest L'Occitane dupe I've found is for their discontinued honey scent . . . that FO came from Elements B&B. I feel like it lost something in CP so I've been hoarding it for sugar scrubs and liquid soap.

I haven't had a chance to check if the original fragrance was yellow. If it isn't, I would be very uncomfortable using this FO in soap. The problem with IFRA certificate is the fact that they are based on the original composition of the fragrance. They don't take into account what happens to it when it hits the lye. I know that chemicals can change without a change in color. However, it is harder to overlook when I can see it. I have another Musk. It hasn't finished curing yet. I'll update when I can test it.

I'm also looking for L'Occitane's honey. I tried the Honey Harvest from MMS. Not even close. It had way too much bitter almond which was nowhere near the original. I've been ordering every honey I can find. So far none came close. Do you remember their Linden soap? I would love to find that one too.

 

[Soapmaker145]

Soapmaker145 I just recently soaped your test #109 from TCS and love this scent, I have two batches curing both in beer soap. To me this is a perfect unisex fragrance for soap, and easy to work with. I've used the Driftwood from Candle Science and is holds in CP soap, I just can't get past that brown lather. It wasn't a favorite scent for me, but other people really liked it.

Everybody who smelled #109 asked for it. I normally buy FOs in 4 oz bottles. I bought a 16oz bottle of the Redwood Cedar. I tested a number of the TCS fragrances. Most of them are winners. They smell light (not faint) and clean OOB and soap true to the OOB scent. I think their Peach Magnolia Raspberry is beautiful, same for the lavender and the tangerine dreams. It might take me some time but I'll review the ones I tried.

I have CS Driftwood (#84) and Caribbean Teakwood (#79). Driftwood is faint. I don't care for it. #79 is much nicer but I'm not sure it is going to survive for much longer. Both discolored. The Driftwood from FB was so much better than both of the CS FOs. It has faded a lot but I'm still hoping it will come back even if just when wet.

If you are looking for Frankincense and Myrrh, so far CS has the best I tried.

 

[Soapmaker145]

These are the FB oils I just got today, so I'll post after I soap with them.
Porridge
Avobath
Sea Witch
Imogen Rose
Tuca Tuca
Lord of Misrule
Breath of God

In my test, Tuca Tuca developed the same awful odor as Lust but to a significantly lesser extent (minimal compared to Lust). I smell a nice scent then something awful in the background. The bad scent seemed to disappear, but then came back. Mine isn't done curing yet. Please post about your experience after you soap with this set of FOs.

 

[OliveOil2]

Cerelife good to know that flying fox moves fast it is on my list to purchase. I just thought of one more and want to mention it here as well as the scent review chart because I had issues with it. True Lavender is a beautiful FO out of the bottle. I tested 6 fragrances with the same batter. True Lavender was much moister, almost wet, it took a day longer to unmold. The scent morphed then faded away within a few weeks. The Orange Blossom is a keeper for me too, and different from other companies Orange Blossoms. I can really smell the neroli.

 

[nsmar4211]

Does anyone remember what Fragrance Buddy's sales were last year for the holidays? I now have a huge wish list of testers...and I've found a few that I want to buy in larger sizes, but if the sale is worth it I'll wait.

 

[OliveOil2]

nsmar4211 Last year he did a Black Friday which lasted a few days, and again one near Christmas.

Soapmaker145 we must be on the same scent wave length, I also purchased Peach Magnolia, and love it. I purchased Tangerine Dream, and it is a little light, but nice, I also got the True Lavender, but have had issues with it, may be me though, it seems to hold more moisture, and it has faded on me. He is having a mega sale (Tennessee Candle) now for anyone purchasing 16oz size. $6 off of each 6 bottles, $5 off each 5 bottles etc. I almost ordered, but would get 3 lbs of the Redwood Cedar and 3 lbs of the Peach Magnolia Raspberry, and that is a little crazy. He has duped Bert's Cool Waters, and is coming up with something similar to Perfect Man, but they aren't in stock yet. So I want those of Course. I will post on the sale page, Brent & Kimberly are so great to work with and they have quality oils.

 

[nsmar4211]

Wait, I'm confused...tennessee candle and fragrance buddy are the same "he"?

BTW check in the suppliers ad thread because Tennessee Candle also offered us a discount on the 1oz ers

 

[OliveOil2]

nsmar4211 Sorry to be confusing I was referring to Tennessee Candle when I said He. The 20 1 oz ers are also on his site, but I have a mental block against those little bottles, so wasn't thinking about them, but know lots of people will want them.

 

[nsmar4211]

Darn so I still don't know what Fragrance Buddy did last year for holiday sales.... guess my next round of testers from them will wait and see

 

[Soapmaker145]

Darn so I still don't know what Fragrance Buddy did last year for holiday sales.... guess my next round of testers from them will wait and see

I think Oliveoil meant Fragrancebuddy had sales around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I would wait since it's less than a month away.