HELP! Need a fragrance suggestions for CP soap

[math ace]

Here's the deal - I am new to CP soap making. I've been making M&P soap for years, but just branched into CP soap making this year. The first thing I discovered with CP soap is that the fragrances can disappear or morph or cause the batter to seize. I QUICKLY learned that I need to make test bars of a fragrance before committing pounds of soap to a fragrance that doesn't make it through the cure period!

I've searched the fragrance review chart AND contributed my own personal experiences to it! I've searched the forum itself. Most of the threads that had fragrance recommendations are older (2014 - 2017). I know a lot of reformulations on the scents have been made over the last couple of years and that could effect an old recommendation.

I've ordered from Bramble Berry, Candle Science, Rustic Escentuals, and Micas and More.
I've tested about 50 Fragrances so far. I had a lot of $1 samples from Candle Science and Rustic Escentuals LOL . I started doing the testing 2 months ago. So far, I can testify that the following scents do last at least 2 months:
BB - Sweet Cranberry
RE - Honeydew, Barbershop 1920's, & Lemon Sugar Bundt Cake
CS - White Tea & Berries

I'm out of fragrance samples! I don't want to invest any more money in trying scents that don't have a proven track record in CP soap. I want fragrances that last at least 6 months! It will be another 5 months before I know which of my 50 samples are going to last that long. Honestly, many did not make it pass the 1 month mark!

I make soap every couple of months. It is a crafting outlet for me. All this testing is more like work than crafting and it is stealing the joy from my soul! I am close to tucking my tail and running back to melt and pour for some soul satisfying crafting time. PLEASE, SHARE your recommendations for fragrances that last over 6 months in CP soap.

Based on my research - These are the scents that I am thinking about trying next...

Bramble Berry (BB) - Fresh Mango, Grapefruit Lily, Peach Prosecco

Candle Science (CS) - Oakmoss & Amber, Lavender FO

Day Star (DS) - Toffee Sugar Crunch

Lone Star (LS) - Love Spell type, Pink Chiffon

Nature's Garden (NG) - Anjou Pear Blossom, Bamboo White Grapefruit, Baby Bee, Bayberry,
Bite Me, Channel No 5, Cracklin Birch, Lemon Sugar,
Mango Sorbet, Nag Champa, Pumpkin Apple Butter,
The Perfect Man, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Satsuma,
& Sweet Orange Chili Pepper,

Nurture Soap - Flame Tree, Awaken

Pure Fragrance - Dragon's Blood

Rustic Escentuals (ES) - Redwood, Satsuma, London Fog, Lemon Verbena,
Hippie Chick, & Tuscan Fields

If you have used any of the above in the last 2 years and can verify that they last at least 6 months in CP, please let me know.

If you have any other recommendations, PLEASE SHARE... I know RE and CS usually do a $1 sale in about a month. So, it would be a good time to try some more scents from them!

Does NG do sales? I found a lot of recommendations for their scents.

 

[JanelleTrebuna]

BB- Lemon Verbena (*my favorite), Cinnamon sugar, and Blossoms and Berries.
Crazy Candles- campfire scent (dh favorite)

 

[IrishLass]

From your list, I have soaped these:

NG's The Perfect Man- it lasts for over a year in my soap used @ .75 oz ppo.
Rustic Escentual's Longon Fog- lasts for over a year in my soap used at .8 oz ppo
Rustic Escentuals Tuscan Fields- lasts for over a year in my soap used at .95 oz ppo
Rustic Escentuals Redwood- lasts for over a year in my soap used @ .9 oz ppo
Rustic Escentuals Satsuma- lasts at least 6 months in my soap used at .8 oz ppo (possibly longer, but I used up my soap)

Since you have Daystar on your list....if you like a sparkling Lime scent, Daystar's Paradise FO lasts for 3+ years in my soap @ .75 oz ppo. It soaps great, too. Very well-behaved. For an ocean scent, their Salty Sailor is very long lasting, even when used at only .5 oz ppo (3 years+). It moves quickly, but I've learned to be quicker- I don't do a steep water discount with it (I use a 31 % lye concentration), and I don't do any fancy swirls with it (I color it with just one color, and I place Melt & Pour shell embeds on top for decoration before it totally sets up).

Since you have Brambleberry on your list....if you like the smell of Tone-brand soap, their Soapy Clean is a dead-on dupe and it's very long-lasting in my soap at .75 oz ppo (3+ years).


IrishLass

 

[math ace]

Many thanks to Jannelle and IrishLass!

THREE YEARS on a fragrance? Lordy, I didn't even think that was possible! Oh heart be still, I can't wait to start soaping again!
I am planning on shredding all my "scent fader" bars of soap and adding them to loaf soap once I get my hands on some long last fragrances. At least I won't feel like I threw away all that money in my production "unscented" bars of soap!

 

[dibbles]

From your list - Depending on when you bought it, Grapefruit Lily is now listed as not recommended for CP soap. I'm not sure why because it still shows up in the BB fragrance calculator as safe to use at .8 per pound of soap. It can move quickly, but is manageable if you don't try anything fancy. It's a very nice scent. BB's Pink Grapefruit is one of my favorites, and I usually mix the two to slow it down. I just got Peach Prosecco, but haven't used it yet.
NG Cracklin Birch will stick.
NS Flame Tree will stick - discolors to a rusty brown. I tried using a vanilla color stabilizer and it discolored to a very pretty gold. Winter Wonderland from NS will stick forever, but it's not phthalate free. A couple of other favorites from NS are Earth Meets Sky, Paramour, Persephone's Kiss (which is light but does stick for a year), and Black Raspberry Vanilla which is the BRV I like best out of the few I've tried - strong and sticks forever.
RE Lemon Verbena I have used. I have used it alone and also mixed 50/50 with Meyer Lemon. This lemon verbena is comparable to most I have used. My sister can't use fragranced anything anymore due to eczema, but when she could all she ever wanted was Lemon Verbena everything. I have tried many, many of them and found them all to be very similar, stick well and lovely.

If you are open to trying Fragrance Buddy, I've had good luck there. Their Karma dupe (Life Lessons I think it's called), White Tea and Ginger and Leaves are all strong and last a very long time.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Oh heart be still, I can't wait to start soaping again!

That cracked me up! I know the feeling!

 

[math ace]

@ Dibbles

I just sent BB an email about their grapefruit lily. I'll let you know what they say about its "change in recommended usage" status.
In your opinion, BB's pink grapefruit is a long lasting CP fragrance? I love grapefruit scents and would prefer a straight grapefruit scent if I could find a good one.

@Zany_in_CO

Don't get me started girl! My soaping hobby started in the spare bedroom! When I expanded into CP soap, the hobby storage expanded into my dining room! You can't see the table any more because it is covered with little 1 ounce sample bottles and soaping paraphernalia. EVERYTHING is on HOLD until I find some scents that LAST!

I learned to wait after I made the most beautiful spin swirl soap with a fragrance that didn't last a week!
Oh, let's not forget the nice spoon plop loaf that I made with a fragrance that morphed to the scent of lysol wipes! OMG, it was DISGUSTING!

In the beginning, I was most concerned with how the fragrance would effect the soap behavior. Not Any More! I'll deal with a little ricing or acceleration if the fragrance will stick and not morph!

 

[MGM]

I have no recommendations, but did want to say that I found a soap that a friend brought me from France in about 2002. Still as fragrant as it was 17 years ago (and it wasn't delicate back then!) . I stored it very carefully, you know : under the bathroom sink, not wrapped one way or another

 

[Cellador]

I soaped BB Grapefruit Lily over a year ago, and it's still strong. I hope you hear back from them on that scent. The Apricot Freesia is a sticker too, but you have to avoid gel.
WSP's Frankincense sticks well. Their Nag Champa is super authentic & strong too.
Sweetcakes Lilac is amazing. So is the Yuzu. And the Sandalwood.
I so hate to say it, but I cannot find a RE scent that sticks. I love a lot of their scents in other products, but they just don't do well for me in soap.

 

[dibbles]

@ Dibbles

I just sent BB an email about their grapefruit lily. I'll let you know what they say about its "change in recommended usage" status.
In your opinion, BB's pink grapefruit is a long lasting CP fragrance? I love grapefruit scents and would prefer a straight grapefruit scent if I could find a good one.

Pink grapefruit seems to stick well for me. It's been awhile since I used it on its own. Grapefruit Bellini is actually my very favorite, and a blend of the two is great. Grapefruit Bellini has gotten to be pretty expensive and it does accelerate, although not uncontrollably. Mixing the two offsets the cost of the GB and the acceleration, and it pumps up the grapefruit notes. BB Yuzu also sticks well and is very nice, although not a straight, true grapefruit.

I'd appreciate what Bramble Berry has to say about the change in the Grapefruit Lily. Thanks!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Apple Harvest - Candle Science. Nom nom.

 

[dibbles]

I soaped BB Grapefruit Lily over a year ago, and it's still strong. I hope you hear back from them on that scent. The Apricot Freesia is a sticker too, but you have to avoid gel.
WSP's Frankincense sticks well. Their Nag Champa is super authentic & strong too.
Sweetcakes Lilac is amazing. So is the Yuzu. And the Sandalwood.
I so hate to say it, but I cannot find a RE scent that sticks. I love a lot of their scents in other products, but they just don't do well for me in soap.

I'm glad someone else likes Sweet Cakes. They have some amazingly good FOs.

 

[runnerchicki]

I made soap with NG Sweet Orange Chili Pepper in March. I always fragrance on the "light" end, and it is still fragrant. It is my absolute favorite fragrance so far, and I would like to make another batch with it, but I haven't found the box with my fragrances yet (I moved a month ago and I am not finished unpacking still LOL) I'm thinking the only way to guarantee I can find it again is to just go ahead and order another bottle.

 

[math ace]

I soaped BB Grapefruit Lily over a year ago, and it's still strong. I hope you hear back from them on that scent. The Apricot Freesia is a sticker too, but you have to avoid gel.

I will tell you what happens to the Apricot Freesia IF YOU DON'T AVOID the GEL .. It morphs into a Lysol Wipes scent!
There is no rebatching it either! It is strong and lasts FOREVER! I had to throw the whole loaf away!

 

[cmzaha]

From your list, I have soaped these:
Since you have Brambleberry on your list....if you like the smell of Tone-brand soap, their Soapy Clean is a dead-on dupe and it's very long-lasting in my soap at .75 oz ppo (3+ years).
IrishLass

My daughter and I loved Soapy Clean from Bramblerry, but sadly they no longer seem to carry it.

 

[math ace]

Sweetcakes Lilac is amazing. So is the Yuzu. And the Sandalwood.

Funny you should mention Lilac!
The Lilac from RE is very faint and takes on a play-doh scent in CP soap.
The Lilac from CS is very good so far, but I'm only 1 month in on the trial. Unfortunately it accelerated so bad for me that I barely got it in the mold.

How hard is it to work with sweetcakes' Lilac?

A couple of other favorites from NS are Earth Meets Sky, Paramour, Persephone's Kiss (which is light but does stick for a year), and Black Raspberry Vanilla which is the BRV I like best out of the few I've tried - strong and sticks forever.
. . .
If you are open to trying Fragrance Buddy, I've had good luck there. Their Karma dupe (Life Lessons I think it's called), White Tea and Ginger and Leaves are all strong and last a very long time.

I have the Black Raspberry Vanilla from Nurture Soap in one of my testers! It is only a couple of weeks old. At least I can have high expectations for it

I am open to trying any place that sells a tested and proven long lasting scent. Until today, I didn't even know FB existed.

 

[msunnerstood]

Ive had really good luck with FB sccnts, their shipping is very reasonable too. Otherwise, Aztec sells 1 ounce samples 5 for $5 every month and they post their coupon code for it on their site.

 

[cerelife]

Ok, so I went through my soaping notes for the last seven years (before that they're all handwritten and I'm too lazy to go find them), and these are the FOs that stand out to me for having retained a medium to strong scent at the 1 year mark. BTW, I have a bar from my very first batch of soap about 10 years ago using BB's Vanilla Vanilla and it STILL smells amazing!!!

ETA: I forgot that BB no longer carries Soapy Clean FO (and I should because I bought a few pounds of it when they discontinued it!), and when I checked the other FOs it seems that they no longer offer Vanilla Vanilla either - Very sad, since these were great FO's I still have a few pounds of both, so maybe Nurture could make dupes of them?

RE
Heavenly Honeysuckle
Blue Skies
Oud Wood

Peak
Raspberry Truffle
Green Clover & Aloe
Downey Fresh
Wild Mountain Honey

NG
Bite Me
Narcissist
Green Irish Tweed

BB
Black Amber and Lavender
Vanilla Vanilla
Sea Moss
Fresh Snow
Crisp Apple Rose
Soapy Clean

WSP
Nag Champa
Iced Tea Twist
Rose Garden
Carribean Coconut
Sweet Honeysuckle
Lemongrass Sage
Mango Papaya

Daystar
Milk Sugar Kisses
Paradise
Salty Sailor
Woods and Bitter Coffee
Toffee Sugar Crunch

Fragrance Buddy
Sweet Orange and Chili Pepper
Flying Fox (Jasmin Showers)
Sultana (Prince Showers)
Citrus Tree
Weather Vane
Imogen Rose (Rose Goddess)

Mad Oils (now Arizona Mad Oils)
Velvet Peppercorn
Elderflower
Wild Hyacinth

 

[math ace]

Ive had really good luck with FB sccnts, their shipping is very reasonable too.

@msunnerstood
Do you have any specific recommendations for FB scents that you have tried that have lasted at least 6 months in cp soap?

Ok, so I went through my soaping notes for the last seven years (before that they're all handwritten and I'm too lazy to go find them), and these are the FOs that stand out to me for having retained a medium to strong scent at the 1 year mark. BTW, I have a bar from my very first batch of soap about 10 years ago using BB's Vanilla Vanilla and it STILL smells amazing!!!

I bought the Vanilla Vanilla when it went on clearance a couple of months ago! I have a sample bar of it curing now. Totally AWESOME that this scent should be a WINNER ,WINNER, Chicken Dinner!

@cerelife

Can you describe that Wild Mountain Honey fragrance? I am one of those people who do not appreciate the very popular scent of Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey. I do not know which part of that scent (Oatmeal, Milk, or Honey aspects) turns me off, but something does. How similar is the Wild Mountain Honey to the Oatmeal, Milk & Honey fragrance?

 

[Cellador]

Funny you should mention Lilac!
The Lilac from RE is very faint and takes on a play-doh scent in CP soap.
The Lilac from CS is very good so far, but I'm only 1 month in on the trial. Unfortunately it accelerated so bad for me that I barely got it in the mold.

How hard is it to work with sweetcakes' Lilac?

Umm, I just did a one pound tester of it. I always soap cool and hand mix my FOs. All that being said, it did accelerate but not instant-seize type acceleration. No ricing or discoloration. So, not bad for a strong floral-just keep designs simple.