Question about Save On Scents FOs

[bumbleklutz]

For those of you that use FOs from Save on Scents, I'm curious as to what "concentration" you order for your CP soap. I've never seen other suppliers that offer the different strengths of FOs and I'm confused as to which concentration is appropriate. Is standard too weak? Is extreme just a waste of money? They offer a staggering variety of fragrances, many of which I've not seen elsewhere; but I'm completely confused as to the concentrations.

So far I've ordered four FOs from them, but I've only received one. I have not soaped it yet. All were the extreme concentration. The one I received seems to smell no stronger than other suppliers regular FOs OOB to me, but not having smelled the standard or ultra concentrations I don't really have a frame of reference.

For reference, the FOs I've ordered are:

"True Rain"-obviously a rain scent. It does have notes of petrichor/geosmin OOB.

"Brut"- a duplication of the men's cologne from the 60's/70's that happens to be my dad's favorite.

"Cold Water" (M)- a duplication of "Cool Water" men's cologne.

"Drackkar" (M)- a duplication of "Drakkar Noir" men's cologne.

$63.24 seems awfully pricy for 8 oz. of FO, not including shipping. If I could get away with using the standard or ultra strengths, that would lower the cost.

So what strength do you use in your CP? Any and all opinions and advice is welcome.

 

[lsg]

For soap, I order the ultra, the regular doesn't hold up in cp soap for me.

 

[SoapAddict415]

Wellington fragrances also offers scents in different strengths if you're interested. There's the body oil grade which can be used directly on the skin, manufacturers grade for (soap making) bath & body products and premium grade which is for bath & body products plus soy candle making.

 

[Aline]

"Extreme" is the only one that is uncut, the other 'concentrations' are diluted! I do still buy a few FOs from them (always "Extreme" of course) in spite of their misleading marketing and high prices. Having said that, they were the first FO company I discovered and I have replaced most of the oils I used to buy with those from other companies...

For those of you that use FOs from Save on Scents, I'm curious as to what "concentration" you order for your CP soap. I've never seen other suppliers that offer the different strengths of FOs and I'm confused as to which concentration is appropriate. Is standard too weak? Is extreme just a waste of money? They offer a staggering variety of fragrances, many of which I've not seen elsewhere; but I'm completely confused as to the concentrations.

So far I've ordered four FOs from them, but I've only received one. I have not soaped it yet. All were the extreme concentration. The one I received seems to smell no stronger than other suppliers regular FOs OOB to me, but not having smelled the standard or ultra concentrations I don't really have a frame of reference.

For reference, the FOs I've ordered are:

"True Rain"-obviously a rain scent. It does have notes of petrichor/geosmin OOB.

"Brut"- a duplication of the men's cologne from the 60's/70's that happens to be my dad's favorite.

"Cold Water" (M)- a duplication of "Cool Water" men's cologne.

"Drackkar" (M)- a duplication of "Drakkar Noir" men's cologne.

$63.24 seems awfully pricy for 8 oz. of FO, not including shipping. If I could get away with using the standard or ultra strengths, that would lower the cost.

So what strength do you use in your CP? Any and all opinions and advice is welcome.

 

[IrishLass]

I've only ever bought a few FOs from them, and I made sure to get the 'Extreme' concentration. For what it's worth, I never used them in soap- just in perfumes only, and I liked them well enough in that capacity.

I agree with Aline- I, too find their marketing to be misleading, or at least very nebulous and confusing anyway......

I bought their 'Extreme' concentrate because I was under the impression from others that it was the only concentrate they sell that's uncut/undiluted, but I'm now wondering if it might be diluted as well, because out of curiosity I just read their 'Usage Rate' page, and the usage rate for the Extreme concentrates under body oil says it's "perfect for High-end stores or dilute 1-1 or 2-1 for Strong Body Oil" (quote theirs) which seems to infer that it would be perfect to sell as-is in high-end stores (maybe as a perfume oil, I suppose???) or you can dilute it to make a 'strong body oil'.

Hmmmm......I don't know.......the wording they use (in red)^^^ is not very clear-cut and just leaves a little too much to be desired for the likes of me, so I did some extra searching and was able to find a little bit more in-depth info on their "Important Fragrance Oil Info" page, which helped to make things clearer (at least I think it did anyway). It says there that each of their different concentrates (including the Extreme) "may be applied to the skin directly (cosmetic), or when blended with other cosmetic ingredients, making them just right for scenting toiletries". The wording is a little bit confusing, but this leads me to believe that the Extreme concentrate might not be completely undiluted/uncut, but in actuality the least diluted out of all their various diluted concentrations, because they state that you can apply it to the skin directly. If the Extreme were truly uncut/undiluted, there should be dire warnings to avoid applying it to the skin directly (at least I would hope so!).

In contrast, all the other vendors from whom I buy FOs, such as Brambleberry, etc... specifically state that all their FOs are uncut/undiluted, and they give clear warnings against using any of them directly on the skin without diluting them first.


IrishLass

 

[bumbleklutz]

I agree with everything here....The marketing is nebulous at best, and the prices are not very competitive. On the other hand, they do offer some fragrances I haven't found elsewhere.

I still haven't soaped any of them. My real life and job has sort of been getting in the way of that for the past few weeks.

Based on what IL quoted, (and my own reading) I have to agree that I think even the extreme concentration is diluted, just the least diluted. I'll add my results to the SMF fragrance oil review sheet as soon as I get a chance to soap them. FWIW all of the extreme concentrations I received don't seem any stronger OOB than other suppliers regular oils. However, everyone who has sniffed the cologne dupes has said they are spot on or at least very very close.

I will probably only use SOS for a few novelty fragrances that I can't get elsewhere. Between the pricing, and the unknown strength/dilution it's just too much of a gamble.

 

[Arimara]

The extreme scents I've used held up very well in soaps. I'm one who would say get their sniffies if you can. For $4.50, you can get 5 small tester vials extreme FOs to test for yourself. But looking around at other vendors may be to your benefit as well. Personally, I totally get why they are pricey. They are at a prime location that if they were to go out of business, some developers would take that land and make more unnecessary high-rises that NYers can't afford. I rather support them than see any more of those abominable eyesore pop up.

 

[Fisher]

I've used their fragrances at the basic level (forgot the name) and most have held up well over a year or more. I also used them in lotions and same thing.
I do however buy the sniffies first as they are notorious for sending samples that smell nothing like they intended (bad dupes or bad packaging) I'm not sure.
I tend not to buy from them if I can help it for my biz. For personal useage yes.