Maple Street Candle

[LucyFae]

So about a year ago I took the plunge and ordered from them. They had a handful of poor reviews on this forum during covid which weren't good, but they're relatively close to me and I figured why not? Plus, everyone had issues during covid, so I figured I'd give them a shot.

Gotta say I've been very pleasantly surprised. Over the past year I've done a few orders with them and gotten 60% of my FO from there, and consistently find my order shipped the same day or next day. Shipping to MA was beyond reasonable, and arrived in days. Well packed, nothing broken or leaking.

The FOs themselves were pretty great imo. I liked them better than the ones I got from Aztec by a long shot. After 6 months most of my aztec soaps scent faded.

The best part is they put the usage rate AND vanilla content right on the labels - and for a ditz like me, that's ridiculously convenient, especially when I waffle back and forth between candles, MP, CP, bath bombs, etc. which obviously all have different rates, and vanilla stabilizers to go along with them. (Shout out to the member here who made ZCS - I use that in MP and CP, and some have held color for 6months to a year! Anyway.)

I love the lavender. It's definitely more floral, which i mix with eucalyptus or camphor if I want the more herby scent, but most of my family prefer the floral.

Fresh cut rose is another favorite. It doesn't have that perfume smell, but a lot of green/ozone scent, like an actual fresh cut rose.

Green tweed and shave and a haircut have been favorites for the men folk. I recently tried a pumpkin FO I got on clearance and it smells amazing (although no longer available, sadly). The "deluxe" scents I've tried- cannabis and agarwood, and dark rose something were also lovely, and they carry plenty of DUPEs - Victoria secret, Yankee, BBW, lush, peak, etc.

With the exception of the pumpkin (which in fairness, i mixed with another brand of vanilla FO) all have behaved very well with no or minor acceleration.

The only drawback so far is they're mostly geared to FOs, with a small selection of candle color and wax. No candle vessels, no soapy stuff, etc.

I did read on Facebook that the owner sometimes bought formulas from other companies going out of business or retiring scents. Idk if it's true, but for those of you looking for older, out of business FOs, or a new place to try, check them out! Fair warning, I haven't ordered much from the big suppliers like BB - I prefer to stay on the east coast and as local as possible, but even after a year, the soap I've made with their FO are still holding up.

 

[not_ally]

Thanks for the info, LucyFae, I'm always looking for stickers in soap and and it's hard to find reviews for smaller companies. Much appreciated.

 

[LucyFae]

Thanks for the info, LucyFae, I'm always looking for stickers in soap and and it's hard to find reviews for smaller companies. Much appreciated.

Of course! I tried finding reviews before ordering and didn't find many, so I made a note to myself to post one after extensive testing.

I should probably add that since they're more candle/non-body inclined, when their website says soap safe: yes or no - it isn't just talking about soap. It should actually say skin safe, or more specifically i think, lip safe. I guess they sort of eyeball the categories and decide from there, and if the usage is really low in one or more categories, they just put no.

I asked yesterday about their Leaves dupe. It says not soap safe on the product page, but their IFRA page says it can be used up to 20% for cat 9, and approx 2.5% for cat 5, which are the main two I use. Only 1 and 6 were rated 0. When I emailed them to ask, they pretty much said the above.

Looks like they're having a 14.99/lb sale on 40 or so different scents, so im gonna pick up my leaves Dupe tomorrow.

 

[not_ally]

Lucy, where is the list of sale scents? I don't see it on the home page, the only sale item is the 20 1-oz set.

 

[LucyFae]

Lucy, where is the list of sale scents? I don't see it on the home page, the only sale item is the 20 1-oz set.

It starts tomorrow, according to their FB! I was super unclear that that's why I was waiting until tomorrow lolol. Sorry!

 

[LucyFae]

Lucy, where is the list of sale scents? I don't see it on the home page, the only sale item is the 20 1-oz set.

So I picked up a few of the 1lb $15, and I'm in love so far.

I used a blend of honeycrisp apple, new England maple(both part of the sale), and spooky cider(not part of the sale) last week, and it smells so good. Used 4% ppo and probably should've used 2.5 or 3%. They performed great, although I didn't need much working time since it was a simple design.

The honeycrisp smells like a straight apple. Not much spice, which is exactly what I wanted. I got the homemade cookies and a few samples too, but haven't had a chance to try them yet. Oob they smell good though.

 

[not_ally]

Hi Lucy, thanks for the update, I decided to pass on them and put in an order at Midwest Fragrance Co. I was just worried by the absence of soaping reviews with Maple Street, plus there didn't to be that wide of a range of scents on sale. I was interested in one, but the MUR had apparently dropped to below 1% with the last round of amendments. I'm glad you liked the ones you got!

 

[LucyFae]

Hi Lucy, thanks for the update, I decided to pass on them and put in an order at Midwest Fragrance Co. I was just worried by the absence of soaping reviews with Maple Street, plus there didn't to be that wide of a range of scents on sale. I was interested in one, but the MUR had apparently dropped to below 1% with the last round of amendments. I'm glad you liked the ones you got!

Of course! Can't blame you there, it's definitely a smart move, but I've always been impulsive (sorry to my mom, and SO, lol). I'll share my experiences with MSC here for whoever comes along in the future.

And I hate when the MUR drops, that happened with another FO I really love, so I'm back in the hunt for a pure honey FO without the baby powder smell of OMH.

Any favorites from Midwest? I've been thinking of trying them at some point.

 

[not_ally]

From MWFC I got: Rose Bouquet, Lavender, Tobacco Bay Leaf, Fresh Mint and Eucalyptus, Fresh Lemon, Sea Salt and Orchid, High Tide, Iced Vanilla Woods, Cedar Musk and Lavender. I was really impressed with all of them OOB except the Sea Salt and Orchid, which seemed oddly fruity to me for what I expected to be a floral scent. I really don't attach much importance to OOB impressions, just because it makes no difference how great they are if they vanish quickly in soap, but I have to say that this was my best experience with OOB scents from any company.

Two especially, the Rose and Tobacco Bay, were standouts. I got those two in particular with high hopes they might both be replacements for the ones I use now (Sweetcakes True Rose and BB's Tobacco Bay Leaf), both of which are really expensive - the BB TBL is $50 for 16 oz!. Also the Sweetcakes Rose, while a fantastic scent that sticks, accelerates like crazy, so you have to settle for a single color and still move quickly to get a nice smooth pour, forget about multi colors, swirls, etc.

The MWFC Rose was, I think, as good as Sweetcakes, which is saying a lot. It is a true, heady, very strong one-note rose which has notes of the greenery in leaf and stem, and of the flower in full, dewy bloom. The Tobacco Bay is also very good. Not quite as good as BB's, less nuanced and evocative of the intricate layering of the scent notes, but for the money it's a non-issue. If it sticks I'm definitely switching except for the one person in my family who adores the BB version in cream/lotion (where I can just buy a small bottle!)

The only MFCW FO I have soaped so far is the rose. It does accelerate, but I was very careful, used Zany's NSC (a high OO, slow moving mix), did not use the SB at all, just a whisk, soaped at RT, used 33% lye concentration, separated my colors at emulsion, etc., etc., and was able to do a 3 color circling Taiwan swirl. I do think if I had SB'd at all it would have been a different story. But the fragrance is fantastic. Crossing my fingers it sticks.

 

[LucyFae]

Awesome. Thank you! I'm definitely going to give them a try. I do love MSC, but they have very few lemon FOs, and my SO loves lemon. Do you make candles too or just soapy stuffs?

I should give the ZNSC another try too... the only two batches I ever "failed" at lol. Both were my own fault (blanked and used tap water for #1, and #2 was left alone without being rotated in high humidity for eight months. Ooops!).

 

[paradisi]

Of course! Can't blame you there, it's definitely a smart move, but I've always been impulsive (sorry to my mom, and SO, lol). I'll share my experiences with MSC here for whoever comes along in the future.

And I hate when the MUR drops, that happened with another FO I really love, so I'm back in the hunt for a pure honey FO without the baby powder smell of OMH.

Any favorites from Midwest? I've been thinking of trying them at some point.

Oregon Trail has a nice straight honey fo.

 

[not_ally]

I've heard that OT has a good straight honey, I think Irish Lass uses it in her mix. It's hard to find honey without extra/yukky cherry/almond notes. EBB used to have the most perfect honey scent ever, just a luscious, heavy one-note scent named Honey L'Occitane. They discontinued it and I'm always hoping someone will make a similar one, but no luck yet. I've been using Peak's/Keystone's Wild Mountain Honey (also recommended/used by Irish Lass as part of her mix), which is good although not as good as the EBB one was.

Lucy, I got the MWFC Fresh Lemon and OOB it is really pretty good, none of the bakery/sweet/candy/pinesol notes that lemon FO's usually have. It is very similar to Rustic Escentuals Lemon Verbena which I think is best in class for lemon and what I usually use when I want a lemon fragrance, but is a bit less fresh/green. I'll post here after I've soaped it about whether or not it survives the lye and hopefully, down the road, a decent cure period.

I don't make candles, just soap/lotion/cream, other B&B stuff. You should try ZNSC again, I don't usually like so much olive oil in soaps, but do like that one. I forgot to put FO into a batch last week, you have lots of company!

 

[LucyFae]

Oregon Trail has a nice straight honey fo.

Ty, I'll have to check them out!

I've heard that OT has a good straight honey, I think Irish Lass uses it in her mix. It's hard to find honey without extra/yukky cherry/almond notes. EBB used to have the most perfect honey scent ever, just a luscious, heavy one-note scent named Honey L'Occitane. They discontinued it and I'm always hoping someone will make a similar one, but no luck yet. I've been using Peak's/Keystone's Wild Mountain Honey (also recommended/used by Irish Lass as part of her mix), which is good although not as good as the EBB one was.

Lucy, I got the MWFC Fresh Lemon and OOB it is really pretty good, none of the bakery/sweet/candy/pinesol notes that lemon FO's usually have. It is very similar to Rustic Escentuals Lemon Verbena which I think is best in class for lemon and what I usually use when I want a lemon fragrance, but is a bit less fresh/green. I'll post here after I've soaped it about whether or not it survives the lye and hopefully, down the road, a decent cure period.

I don't make candles, just soap/lotion/cream, other B&B stuff. You should try ZNSC again, I don't usually like so much olive oil in soaps, but do like that one. I forgot to put FO into a batch last week, you have lots of company!

I agree, so many honey scents are almond heavy, or weird cherry. Then there's OMH which is always a bit "powdery" imo.

I actually really love the Peak wild mountain honey dupe I got from MSC. It's my favorite "true" honey so far, but I got it a while ago and when that big IFRA happened, their MUR dropped to 0.3%. I've been using it mainly for our wax melts, or mixing it at like .2% with other honey or lavender. It's strong so it still comes through, but I'd much prefer it on its own. I noticed Keystone has it as well, I've been meaning to try it.

I'll have to check out one of those lemons! I think all I have on hand is regular EO, which I mainly use for shower steamers and add to our cleaning stuff. I much prefer FO for soap, so the Midwest or Rustic Escentuals might be perfect. I was thinking of doing a small WSP order, hmmm...

The ZNSC is definitely on my list to try again at some point. I did get to try the first batch before it went DOSy and enjoyed it, I think i did the variation with 10% coconut. Hopefully third time is the charm!