Living in Europe - my suppliers of fragrances, essential oils etc.

[MySoapyHeart]

I live in Europe, and more specifically Norway. The land of the midnight sun and fjords. Yes, it is great to live here, no complaints, I am lucky.

But one thing Norway does NOT have, and that is supplyers for fragrance oils and soapy supplies.

Sure, sure, you can get a fragrance oil here, at a place called Panduro. But it is only 10ml, it is for M&P soap, and it will cost you at least 69,- NOK - i.e $8 and not even be available everywhere.

No I am not kidding.

Awesome. Let`s get shoppin` for that 1 bottle of fragranceoil.

Uhm, the computer says: no... (Little Brittain)

Here is a short list of where I shop from. A coupple of places I have only tried once - but, if you see it on the list it is because it was a great shopping experience!

You are welcome!

(You can send cookies to the adress at the bottom.
Ps. I like chocolate chip.)

1) Iherb - Very reasonable shippingfee for small orders - which are what I mostly order from them (no I don`t order small shipping fees, but rather small orders...just to be clear *cough*)

What do I get at Iherb? Well, I like the Now Cocoa Butter, which is unrefined and comes in a handy jar. I buy those for my lipbalms and soapy needs. Also deodorized Sheabutter in jars. I also have purchased the Now Avocado oil there, because of the lower fees.

2) Mother Nature Goodies - I order my essential oils from there. I have tried several different brands, but the oils I get from MNG has always been pure and good quality, and the shipping is ok to Norway.

They also carry basic oils and butters, beeswax etc, and those are greeat too. I have never been unhappy with anything I have ordered from them, which have made me into a return customer since 2010 (started shopping from them via ebay, then they got their own site)

3) Nurture Soap - My go-to place for Mica`s. I also bought the 2.5 basic mold from them - which is great for those smaller and more easy to handle batches that gives me 10 perfectly sized bars. I made a rather lengthy review of it over at Nurtures (because I am not one of those can keep my reviews below 200 words...:silent

I also have a coupple of fragrance oils from them. I am happy with them, and one of the one I have is discontinued now (Blue Cotton - a sweet, fruity vanilla type of scent) But the other one is Apricot, and I really like the fruityness of that one. Ripe apricots that doesn`t smell like burnt plastic? What`s not to love about that...

4) Natures Garden - Only ordered from them once, but are very happy with their CS, their great selection of 200 flashpoint fragrance oils, shipping fees (which is high, but much lower than i.e BrambleBerry)

My first order was among other things a fragrance oil called Green Irish. Highly recommendable if you like a fragrance that is fresh, clean and remind you of good òl fashioned scented soap with a soft herbal undertone that keeps it from being boring. This is a scent that both men and woman can like.
OOB it smelled strong and potent, but in the soap it developed a pleasant and rounder smell that I really love. A keeper, and hubby loves it too (he`s also a keeper, but that is another topic altogether. Moving on people...)

5) Lotioncrafter - Only ordered once, and very recently. That is where I got my EDTA from. Got it a coupple of days ago and have used it in my Green Irish soap - which is the very first time I tried EDTA in my soaps! Can`t wait to see if I can feel a difference.

That`s it people, hopefully this was helpfull to some of you peeps in Europe!

Oh, and here is the adress to send the cookies to:

My Soapy Heart
Cookie Road 5
2016 Cookiewookie
Cookieland

And PLEASE lable the envelope FRAGILE! I`m not really fond of crumbles....

 

[Soapmaker145]

I live in Europe, and more specifically Norway. The land of the midnight sun and fjords. Yes, it is great to live here, no complaints, I am lucky.

But one thing Norway does NOT have, and that is supplyers for fragrance oils and soapy supplies.

Oh, and here is the adress to send the cookies to:

My Soapy Heart
Cookie Road 5
2016 Cookiewookie
Cookieland

And PLEASE lable the envelope FRAGILE! I`m not really fond of crumbles....

What I see is a business opportunity, or at least that is what I would call it to justify the shipping cost of all the soaping supplies I want to try. I'm not sure how popular handmade soaps are in Norway and how many soapers you have close to you, you might be able to form a cooperative. On the other hand, you might not want to listen to somebody like me who has several hundred 1 oz FO samples that have to be dealt with one way or another.

By the way, your address is missing something. You won't get any cookies if you don't correct it.

If you have hard water, you'll notice the effect the EDTA has on the lather.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...Norway. The land of the midnight sun and fjords...."

Ja, ja, Fjords! (Fjordhest)

 

[MySoapyHeart]

What I see is a business opportunity, or at least that is what I would call it to justify the shipping cost of all the soaping supplies I want to try. I'm not sure how popular handmade soaps are in Norway and how many soapers you have close to you, you might be able to form a cooperative. On the other hand, you might not want to listen to somebody like me who has several hundred 1 oz FO samples that have to be dealt with one way or another.

By the way, your address is missing something. You won't get any cookies if you don't correct it.

If you have hard water, you'll notice the effect the EDTA has on the lather.

Lol! Aaaaand now I am wondering how on earth you are able to store those samples... :think:

No worries about the address, cookies will find me! (Or, I will find them:mrgreen

Re the EDTA, we don`t have very hard water here, more towards medium soft, but my family and friends that live in other parts, they have hard water because they source their water supply from different place. My sister and her husband have their own water well, where they get all their watery needs from, and that water is quite hard. I look forward to hear back from them when I start to give them soaps with EDTA from now on! (and SL too). Just made a batch, but that is just a few days old.

Regarding see this as a business oportunity etc; I don`t have the health to do that, so I leave that up to others.

There isn`t any soapers near here either, from what I could find from my search. But then again I live in a very small area, sort of a tiny village type area, surrounded by woods, and the smallest shopping center you`ve ever seen. If you start walking from one end to the other it will take you no more than 60 seconds to cross it. Safe to say there aren`t exactly a lot of shops:mrgreen:

The few that are doing soaps are selling them online and in large scale, and are half way across the country.

"...Norway. The land of the midnight sun and fjords...."

Ja, ja, Fjords! (Fjordhest)

Wow, that picture takes me back! They are beautifull horses and can have a fun personality, that`s for sure.

The first time EVER I sat on a fjordhest, it started to run, like, full on gallop. The man tried to stop it in its tracks, but the horse didn`t care at all - it was all like, move it or lose it human, I`m gonna do this...
The man was shouting at me and the horse, but neither of us had a chance to hear what he shouted, lol. It took me for a ride and crossed the field, and into the woods and jumped over a tree log that was laying across a path. After that I managed to stop it. What a rush!! But the part I was most proud of was that I actually managed to stay ON it during that ride!
I can asure you I didn`t exactly look elegant and seductive when that thing ran away with me, but rather the image you will get when someone put a sack of potatoes on the saddle, tighten it up with some flimsy string and pray for it to stay put when the horse takes off. Yeah, that was probably how I looked that day...
Thanks for the reminder!:mrgreen:

 

[Saponista]

Youwish.nl is the european arm of brambleberry. I haven't bought from them as I would have to pay UK customs duty on them. They have tall and skinny moulds and I really really want one!!

 

[HappyBeeSoapCo]

Youwish.nl is the european arm of brambleberry. I haven't bought from them as I would have to pay UK customs duty on them. They have tall and skinny moulds and I really really want one!!

Why do you have to pay customs if both are in the EU? I'm asking because I wonder if I would also have to pay. This would be a great find otherwise.

 

[Saponista]

UK is weird, I looked up the rules and I still have to pay 20% vat on top of any order over £15 and then the delivery company takes at least £10 fee for processing that customs charge. I could risk it as some things pass through the net, but I bet I would get caught.

 

[HappyBeeSoapCo]

I just checked the Finnish customs site and indeed the UK must be different because I can import from any other EU member country and not pay additional VAT or customs. YAY! I am going to check out that Netherlands site pronto!

@MySoapyHeart, thanks for opening this thread. I hope we can all benefit from sharing info. Sounds like I have a little bit more available here than you do in Norway, but at least you get to ride around on those cute little horses

I like Soapmaker45 idea of cooperating to share shipping and be able to buy in bulk and get those good prices. So far I haven't met any soapers here who are willing to even talk about where they get supplies, but I hope as I get more active in selling and fairs I will meet more small-scale soapers like myself.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I just checked the Finnish customs site and indeed the UK must be different because I can import from any other EU member country and not pay additional VAT or customs. YAY! I am going to check out that Netherlands site pronto!

@MySoapyHeart, thanks for opening this thread. I hope we can all benefit from sharing info. Sounds like I have a little bit more available here than you do in Norway, but at least you get to ride around on those cute little horses

I like Soapmaker45 idea of cooperating to share shipping and be able to buy in bulk and get those good prices. So far I haven't met any soapers here who are willing to even talk about where they get supplies, but I hope as I get more active in selling and fairs I will meet more small-scale soapers like myself.

You are most welcome!
And how true, I just need to get the horse to respect me enough to not do that again. Perhaps I need to start stuffing my pockets full of carrots...I`ll bet it will behave better then, lol:mrgreen:

 

[DeeAnna]

I have eight Fjordhest here in Iowa (north central USA) since 1997, and they are nice little horses.

I'll quit hijacking your thread now! :mrgreen:

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I have eight Fjordhest here in Iowa (north central USA) since 1997, and they are nice little horses.

I'll quit hijacking your thread now! :mrgreen:

No worries. Oh, lucky you, then you know the breed very well!!:mrgreen:

 

[soapswirl]

I've never had to pay customs duty for anything from within the EU, only the occasional time i've ordered from the US. I've used youwish.nl loads of times - its only the delivery charge which is off-putting!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I've never had to pay customs duty for anything from within the EU, only the occasional time i've ordered from the US. I've used youwish.nl loads of times - its only the delivery charge which is off-putting!

Agree! I just a small mock-order of 3 x 100ml`s of fragrance oils. The shipping was 51 euro! :sick:

 

[soapswirl]

Oh no! Its a standard rate of 24 euros to the UK, i thought that was enough!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Oh no! Its a standard rate of 24 euros to the UK, i thought that was enough!

24 EUR- that was actually not to bad in my book, I usually have to pay doubble that in shipping fees when I order things that are fragrances or larger items, which make my ordering schedule rather infrequent.
Wish shipping wouldn`t cost three times as much as the items themselves...

 

[Soapmaker145]

Lol! Aaaaand now I am wondering how on earth you are able to store those samples... :think:
No worries about the address, cookies will find me! (Or, I will find them:mrgreen
Regarding see this as a business oportunity etc; I don`t have the health to do that, so I leave that up to others.

There isn`t any soapers near here either, from what I could find from my search. But then again I live in a very small area, sort of a tiny village type area, surrounded by woods, and the smallest shopping center you`ve ever seen. If you start walking from one end to the other it will take you no more than 60 seconds to cross it. Safe to say there aren`t exactly a lot of shops:mrgreen:

Your village sounds so lovely, like an ideal place for a relaxing vacation with long walks in the woods, no smog, and no stress!

I won't complain about the cost of shipping in the US anymore. We are really spoiled. I wish I had a business that can ship FOs worldwide. You would buy all the ones you want and I'll ship them to you in one box. I hope you can form a co-op with some of the EU members.

You would be surprised how little space few hundred bottles actually need. I found plastic bins in a Home Goods store and bought a bunch. Each can hold about 50 bottles and I can stack them on top of each other in the cabinet. The bins are labeled by vendor. Before that, I put the bottles in cardboard shoe boxes but the plastic bins are much better at containing spills. The key to managing all those bottles is to number them and forget their names until you find the ones you like.

If you decide to try some of the Brambleberry FOs, check the reviews and ask about recent experience with them. I've tried many. While there are several I like, a lot of them did not survive the cp process and were very faint or gone within 8 weeks. Many get reformulated and become unusable. Not a problem that is specific to BB, all other vendors are in the same boat.

It sounds like cookies find you the same way chocolates find me!!! Time to make some truffles for Valentine's day!

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Your village sounds so lovely, like an ideal place for a relaxing vacation with long walks in the woods, no smog, and no stress!

I won't complain about the cost of shipping in the US anymore. We are really spoiled. I wish I had a business that can ship FOs worldwide. You would buy all the ones you want and I'll ship them to you in one box. I hope you can form a co-op with some of the EU members.

You would be surprised how little space few hundred bottles actually need. I found plastic bins in a Home Goods store and bought a bunch. Each can hold about 50 bottles and I can stack them on top of each other in the cabinet. The bins are labeled by vendor. Before that, I put the bottles in cardboard shoe boxes but the plastic bins are much better at containing spills. The key to managing all those bottles is to number them and forget their names until you find the ones you like.

If you decide to try some of the Brambleberry FOs, check the reviews and ask about recent experience with them. I've tried many. While there are several I like, a lot of them did not survive the cp process and were very faint or gone within 8 weeks. Many get reformulated and become unusable. Not a problem that is specific to BB, all other vendors are in the same boat.

It sounds like cookies find you the same way chocolates find me!!! Time to make some truffles for Valentine's day!

It is really peacefull out here The woods are like 2 minute walk away from our house. Unfortunately I have some health issues that doesn`t allow me to do that much walking in the woods, and my husband is in a wheelchair so we can`t do much outdoor activities.
But the air is clean, the birds are aplenty, so we feed them and they create a lot of entertainment for us.

Mmm, now I want truffles, sounds delish... *drool*