Micas & More going Full Times

[amd]

So far for her FO's I have used.... (all at 1 oz PPO)

Cool Water: Soaped lovely, scent holding at 16 months.
Honey I Washed the Kids dupe, have never smelled original so I can't compare, but I really like this one. Slight discoloration, no issues soaping, scent holding well at 6 months.
Watermelon Lemonade: Soaped lovely, but scent is so light, mostly watermelon, no lemonade. I can't smell it unless it is completely by itself at 7 weeks old.
A Thousand Wishes: A witch to soap with, riced and accelerated in my recipe, and then hung out in a gloopy state forever before hardening. Scent is good at 7 weeks.
Blackberry Magnolia: Accelerated slightly (expected with floral) but extremely workable. Strong scent at 3 weeks old.
The Tonic: I loved this one OOB, changes a bit in soap (BUT soap isn't even a week old yet so that could change). Soaped with no issues.

The Cool Water I will definitely be going back for. Waiting to hear if she stocks the True Lilac, I will try that in comparison to CC True Lilac.

 

[Cosmo]

Addressing the concerns of Wisteria Purple by Nurture, Cheshire Cat is an exact match: https://nurturesoap.com/products/cheshire-cat-purple-mica

 

[dibbles]

Addressing the concerns of Wisteria Purple by Nurture, Cheshire Cat is an exact match: https://nurturesoap.com/products/cheshire-cat-purple-mica

Thank you Carrie. I'm hoarding my last little bit of Wisteria. I'll try the Cheshire Cat when I order next.

 

[lenarenee]

@lenarenee she tests everything, so this surprises me. I think I started buying from her in 2016? or maybe even as recent as 2017 - and everything I have used has had a normal usage rate. She quite frequently posts videos when she is testing new colors / FO's - I know there has been at least one FO that did not perform well in her test video and she said she wouldn't carry it. If you purchased before those years, I would be willing to send you some samples of colors to try again - PM me if you're interested!

You are very generous amd; I think I'd like to take you up on that!

I'm sure she tests, and naturally she can't test for all varieties of recipes. But since my recipe was so white (no oo, high lard) I was very dismayed at the performance of quite a few. ( I looked up the date of my order and it was mid 2016.)

Lin, I think you're wondering if the FO's I used contained vanilla? They didn't; I don't color discoloring fo's.

I also noted that M&M micas had an unpleasant smell to them. Never before had I noticed a scent from micas and that was off putting as well. However, the last 3 batches of soap I made changed that. They were "old" Nurture and Mad Oils (before they changed) micas from my first days of soaping (up to 5 years old) and the greens and blues had a sour smell. Either I just never smelled micas before, or something happens as they age??

 

[amd]

Either I just never smelled micas before, or something happens as they age??

Interesting about the smell - I hadn't noticed! Now I want to go home and sniff all my micas... and y'all can laugh at me when I tell you about rainbow colored boogers tomorrow... and yes, PM me about sending you some colors I have quite a few that I have duplicates of because she changed the name of the color (probably my only true complaint about the colors, we won't discuss my OCD hoarding issues about MUST HAVE ALL THE COLORS), so I have plenty to spare!

 

[Lin19687]

@lenarenee I just smelled 5 of the Micas I have that I bought last year. None of them have any odor to them. Nothing bad at least and it is so very very faint... I have color on my nose but I am not getting it all over my face to put it in my nose. lol
I have not smelled anything while soaping with them either.
I don't think I ever heard of that from them from anyone else. So weird. Did you order anything else in the box or stored near anything else. Just wondering if it picked up some other scent

 

[earlene]

I can believe it about odors of colorants. I can smell some of them sometimes, particularly while mixing. Some blues smell a bit sulfur-ish to me. Some greens also have an odor, but off hand I can't bring to mind a description. Some mica colors are a mix of ingredients (to obtain the desired shades), and may contain TD and/or oxides. Oxides also have an odor so would contribute to the odor of certain colorant mixtures.

Even though TD is supposedly odorless, I don't find that to be entirely true while mixing. But some people seem to believe Vodka is odorless, too, and it is not.

So perhaps, lenarenee, you have one of those more sensitive noses.

 

[lenarenee]

I can believe it about odors of colorants. I can smell some of them sometimes, particularly while mixing. Some blues smell a bit sulfur-ish to me. Some greens also have an odor, but off hand I can't bring to mind a description. Some mica colors are a mix of ingredients (to obtain the desired shades), and may contain TD and/or oxides. Oxides also have an odor so would contribute to the odor of certain colorant mixtures.

Even though TD is supposedly odorless, I don't find that to be entirely true while mixing. But some people seem to believe Vodka is odorless, too, and it is not.

So perhaps, lenarenee, you have one of those more sensitive noses.

Interesting - it was a couple blues and greens I was using at the time for Fresh Bamboo and Euc/spearmint soaps.

@lenarenee I just smelled 5 of the Micas I have that I bought last year. None of them have any odor to them. Nothing bad at least and it is so very very faint... I have color on my nose but I am not getting it all over my face to put it in my nose. lol
I have not smelled anything while soaping with them either.
I don't think I ever heard of that from them from anyone else. So weird. Did you order anything else in the box or stored near anything else. Just wondering if it picked up some other scent

I find it odd too because I've been soaping for what...5 years? Only M&M micas, and these old blue and green ones ever had a noticeable smell. Steph's micas were packed in little plastic bags with nothing else in the shipment, and packaged well. Maybe they were old? (that's IF being old causes a smell)

... and y'all can laugh at me when I tell you about rainbow colored boogers tomorrow.

That's the funniest thing I've heard in weeks! I bet some FO company would like to make a fragrance called rainbow boogers!!

 

[Lin19687]

I will have to smell the Greens and Blues better. Maybe because I now mix the FO in before the Lye and usually color then too I only smelled the FO.

If I have Rainbow Boogars it will be AMD and your fault hahahahha.
But I will have to do this AFTER work today Blue and Green may not work well with my purple shirt

 

[amd]

I bet some FO company would like to make a fragrance called rainbow boogers!!

I can't believe there isn't one. I mean... we have Monkey Farts and Unicorn Poop... and Snowman Balls...

ETA: I'm on board with earlene's assessment regarding sensitive noses. I did take a sniff of a few of my pinks/reds last night, but I also have a cold so maybe that's why I didn't notice a scent. I also mix my FO before adding color, so usually I'm overwhelmed by the FO as well. Do most of your other colorants come in jars or pouches? I wonder if storage container can affect the mica scent? Because I do notice a strong plastic smell when I use M&M compared to the few Nurture/Mad Micas (in jars) that I have. I assume that's the pouch itself that I'm smelling (I also think Ziploc bags stink too...)

 

[earlene]

amd, I had not even thought of that, but yes, some plastics smell just awful. And then when odors adhere to the plastic containers, they can become intolerable.

 

[scard]

I'm glad M&M is now full time. I haven't been disappointed by anything I have ordered. Maybe it's just me but the spatulas are the best I've found. I haven't had any issues with the micas and I have a bunch of them. The FOs I've tried have all been very nice, the ancient incense fragrance is lovely but does yellow quite a bit (but she does have a sample pic). I do use Nurture micas as well and have no complaints.