My fragrance reviews

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AliensrReal

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2023
Messages
414
Reaction score
1,180
Location
Mississippi
I figured it’s about dang time that I post reviews of all the fragrances that I have used. I like a strong scent and prefer citrus, herbal, beach, ocean, tart fruit, powdery florals and rose. I am not a fan of food, heavy florals, sweet, or vanilla scents. I’ll continue to update as I use new scents.

Details: Most scents are used in CP or CPOP unless specified otherwise. I use scents at around 1oz ppo unless specified otherwise. All soaps are cured 4-6 weeks before writing down final thoughts on scent strength. I wrap my soaps in shrink wrap. In my paraffin wax tarts I use at 10% strength.

Just Scents
Green Apple - This does not smell like green apple to me. It smells like a regular red apple. Maybe I just prefer green apple candy scents over a true green apple. No R/A/D. Moderate scent retention.

Lime Kicker - This is the best lime scent I’ve ever used! It smells like a lime drink or cocktail. I love this more than the lime EO. No R/A/D. Slows trace. Stays strong and true during cure. Would be a great blender.

Mimosa Mandarin - Smelled very floral in the bottle. Smelled fresh and fruity upon mixing in the soap, but now it smells mostly floral again. No R/A. Cream discoloration. Scent retention is strong.

Natures Garden & Candles
McIntosh Apple - It smells just like the apple in the bottle and like chemicals in the soap which lasted through cure. This fragrance caused the worst separation I’ve ever had.

Oregon Trails
Caribbean Pineapple - It does smell a lot like pineapple but you know what? I just don’t like pineapple scents. Moderate separation. No R/D. Scent retention is moderate.

Peche de Vigne - Used at 1.33oz ppo. I don’t think I need to go that high next time. It’s a nice smell but it doesn’t smell like peach to me. Maybe I just like peach candy scents more. I did get severe separation with the fragrance oil. Scent smelled more floral than peachy during cure. No R/A/D. Moderate strength after cure.

Satsuma Guava - It is not at all similar to Scent Works but it still smells delicious. It has a nice tart orange note, but sadly the note faded during cure. Very mild acceleration. No R/D. Scent retention is light-moderate.

Watermelon Patch - Close to a true watermelon scent but still has some light candy notes. Scent slowed trace a lot. No R/A/D. The scent completely disappeared during cure.

Rustic Essentials
Fresh Squeezed Oranges - Smells just like a fresh squeezed orange, but it fades so much in CP. It had a bit of a sour note for the first week. The scent was barely there after cure. No R/A. Discolors to a light yellow color.

Scented Expressions
Champagne Margarita - I smell margarita, booze, lime with a dash of salt. It smells delicious. No R/A/D. Slows trace with plenty of time to do a Luna swirl. Stays strong during cure. Would be a great blender.

Cherry Limeade - Disappointing. All cherry and no lime. No R/A/D. Stayed strong during cure.

Kumquat- Smells nice, citrusy and fruity. Idk what actual Kumquat smells like though. No R/A/D. Scent was light but held during cure.

Snowy Peach Berry - Smells just like the BBW version. I had some moderate acceleration so I won’t use my blender next time. No R/D. Scent stayed strong and true during cure.

Wholesale Supplies Plus
Abobath - Heavy on the lemongrass in the bottle. During cure the lemongrass mellows and a bit of creamy avocado undertones come through. Perfect Lush dupe! No R/A/D. Plenty of time for swirls. Strong scent retention.

Beneath the Stars - This is a beautiful fruity plum scent. No R/A/D noted. Moderate strength after cure.

Bergamot & Coriander - A nice herbal blend that would be a good kitchen fragrance. Very mild acceleration during my column pour but nothing bad. No R/D. Moderate strength during cure.

Blood Orange & Goji - Great balance of fruity and citrusy. My notes say moderate separation and severe acceleration. If I use it again I will soap cooler without my stick blender. Scent was moderate strength.

Calypso Sun - This is tart, fruity and I just want to drink it. No R/A/D. Slows trace and scent stays strong through cure. Even after 2 years it still smells delicious.

Clean Cotton - No R/A/D. Scent morphed into a chemical smell and completely faded.

Cool Water - I don’t know what the original smells like but this smells like a nice unisex scent. Mild acceleration. No R/D. Strong scent.

Green Tea - Smells so herbal and spa like. A nice relaxing scent. No R/A/D. Moderate strength after cure.

Iced Tea Twist - Smells so dang delicious and just like lemon iced tea. I want to drink it. Stays strong and true. After two years the lemon scent has faded a bit but it’s still so dang delicious. No R/A/D. Able to do swirls.

Mango Sorbet - Fruity & sweet. Doesn’t smell like mangoes to my nose. No R/A/D. Moderate strength after cure. Was able to do swirls and the scent did firm up the bar faster during cure.

Mango Tango Twist - Smells better out the bottle. It’s a nice tropical fruity scent, but nothing spectacular. Stays strong and true. No R/A/D. Able to do swirls.

My Main Squeeze - Smells absolutely citrusy and uplifting but was barely there after cure. No R/A/D noted. Plenty of time to do swirls.

Nag Champa - This is the strongest scent I’ve ever used. I smelled it through the bottle upon arrival. It smells just like the Satya Sai Baba brand. It discolors to dark brown and there’s severe acceleration. Stays very strong through cure. My side of the house smelled great for several weeks! Consider using 0.5oz ppo or less.

Peach Bellini - I love this scent! It’s the only peach scent that I’ve tried so far that sticks. I have used it in wax tarts and CPOP. It behaves great in both. Stays strong and true. It’s my absolute favorite and even after 3 years it still smells delicious. No R/A/D. Plenty of time for swirls.

Satsuma - Smells very close to the original. The scent is light but holds during cure. No R/A. Discolors to a light yellow.

Satsuma Guava - Smells extremely similar to Scent Works, but does not behave like it. It accelerated, morphed and faded completely. Great in M&P though. At 10% in wax tarts I couldn’t get the fragrance to fully mix. Will try adding less next time.

Strawberry Thyme Lemonade - Smells so dang delicious in the bottle and M&P. When used in CP I used a vanilla stabilizer and regret doing that. The scent accelerated and morphed to just sweet strawberries. It even had a sulfur undertone for over 6 weeks. My friend loves it so I’ll try it again without the stabilizer and report back.

Strawberries & Champagne - No strawberries or champagne. Scent morphed and faded.

Sun & Sand - Smells like suntan lotion to my nose. Scent stays strong and true. This is a very finicky fragrance. I always get very mild separation whenever it’s not poured at a medium thick trace. I am able to get a nice in the pot swirl, but wouldn’t do anything fancy. Never had ricing but I soap rather cool and I make sure the fragrance is in a hot water bath before using. It can accelerate if you use a stick blender or soap hot. It does make your bars firmer a bit faster during cure.

White Tea - Gorgeous herbal scent that I just can’t describe, but it’s such a smooth and calming blend with a dash of citrus. It’s extremely hard to describe, but it’s really lovely and I love it! It stays strong and true during cure even after 2 years. No R/A/D. Plenty of time to do swirls. May slow trace.

Yuzu Original - I don’t know what this is supposed to smell like but it’s not citrus. It has a chemical smell almost like nail polish to my nose. There was mild acceleration but no ricing. Discolors to a light cream. Moderate - strong scent retention.
 
Last edited:
All I have used is FO or FO/EO blue ds
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I don’t think there are any dedicated FO review boards anymore so it’s really useful when people post about how FOs work in soap (ie, not just how they smell OOB) because objective impressions about them are hard to find now.
That is a big issue with a lot of reviews. I always hear how great they smell, but never how they performed or the scent retention after cure. I like to be prepared for any possible difficulties during soaping. Since I’ve been soaping I’ve kept a scent journal. It at least helps me know if I need to use my stick blender or not.
I've been using essential oils (except when duped by shady vendors in my naivete...), I'd like to start using fragrances instead but I hate taking chances on what something will smell like. So hard to know by just a name.
Fragrance oils are so darn tricky. I love it when there are reviews to get an idea, but it’s always a risk as we all smell scents differently.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for sharing your testing notes! I’m disappointed to hear that the OT Watermelon Patch didn’t stick because I like the way it smells in the test soap I made last week.
Maybe it will stick for you. Nobody could smell it once it was cured in my soap. I do plan to try the sage Kalahari watermelon at some point.
 
Thank you for this! I keep notes on fragrances too in Google sheets, and I add a color block (highly subjective, and based on my eyes and color on my screen). Here is an example - the notes on fragrance are incomplete.
IMG_9063.jpeg
 
Here's a page from mine in the "Warm" fragrance notes category. I am such a luddite that I do it as a table, much less useful when it come to sorting, I sometimes have to go through the whole list, which is really long, with the search function when I'm trying to find a specific FO from a specific company, although it is sorted by fragrance note types. The empty column is for IFRA/flashpoint issues, I only enter something if either of those is something that is going to be an issue (under 5% or w/a low FP). I started keeping it in 2015, it is amazing how many companies are no longer in existence, how many FOs are gone from the ones that remain, or how many have been reformulated with MURs that make them too low for me.

ETA: Can't figure out how to do a screenshot without posting my real name in the corner. I guess I can sign out of MSN but I'm not sure I remember the password to sign back in again. Ugh.

I wonder if there is any possibility of reviving the SMF FO excel chart? I can't deal with any tech issues (again, luddite) but I would be fine with volunteering to input new data/entries if that is required or helpful. I really miss using both that and the Scent Review Board, which seems to be defunct.

View attachment 76858
 
Last edited:
@Mobjack Bay, I know that @dmcgee5034 has mentioned really liking BB's Watermelon Sugar several times, she probably can opine on how well it sticks as well. I went and looked at it, it is expensive at $50/15 oz, though.
In case it helps, Bramble Berry just announced a sale starting today — 20 percent off all fragrance oils, ending 25 March.

I have a sample of Watermelon Sugar FO, and it smells good in the bottle, but I haven't made soap with it so who knows how it will work. Actually haven't made soap at all this month.😩
 
I wonder if there is any possibility of reviving the SMF FO excel chart? I can't deal with any tech issues (again, luddite) but I would be fine with volunteering to input new data/entries if that is required or helpful. I really miss using both that and the Scent Review Board, which seems to be defunct.
I miss that too. @DeeAnna was looking for someone who would take over that some time ago. Maybe contact her?
 
In case it helps, Bramble Berry just announced a sale starting today — 20 percent off all fragrance oils, ending 25 March.

I have a sample of Watermelon Sugar FO, and it smells good in the bottle, but I haven't made soap with it so who knows how it will work. Actually haven't made soap at all this month.😩
Watermelon Sugar retains scent beautifully and was one of my top sellers. It smells more like watermelon Jolly Ranchers than watermelon fruit, I think.

In case it helps, Bramble Berry just announced a sale starting today — 20 percent off all fragrance oils, ending 25 March.

I have a sample of Watermelon Sugar FO, and it smells good in the bottle, but I haven't made soap with it so who knows how it will work. Actually haven't made soap at all this month.😩
Helps to enable you mean? 😉
 
Back
Top