Rustic Escentuals fragrance reviews

[NsMar42111]

These are mostly CP because the HP kept moving so fast! These are all the original 1 oz bottles.... I reallly like the Sea Kelp and it did stick. Next month I may order some 4oz of the ones I do like and see if the quality is the same-thanks for the heads up!

 

[NsMar42111]

Quick update...used up the Lavender Chamomile 1oz in a pound of soap a couple months ago when I did a 5 lb "use for testers" batch. Did it CP (my usual mix minus a little water since the recipe is mostly used HP) and cured it like anything else. Today I was noticing some weird oilness to the edges of a different batch above it and looked closer- DOS around the edges of each bar but really bad on the bottoms of the bars.... When I took the stack apart (stacking letter trays) I discovered that the lavender chamomile underneath had major major oily orange dos half an inch in all the way around the bars! I highly suspect that the batch above (Fragrance Buddy Merlot) "caught" its dos from these bars -they are only 1/4" apart when curing and the top bars were way worse on the bottom closest to the Lavender bars. The next closest bars to either group were an inch away and seem fine, but the soap ball sitting on top got it too. No pictures because they are in the bottom of a garbage bag really far away now. It was not the soap batch, the other 3 lbs worth of sampling have no DOS.

Moral is, test test test if you are going to use the lavender chamomile. I may give it another chance in a HP batch if I do another sample sale blowout because OOB it smells great...but I will be curing it wayyyyy away from anything else! Hopefully this was just a fluke but I hate DOS...

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Bumpity bump bump bump

 

[NsMar42111]

LOL is that a hint? Actually, due to the recent challenge I have a way of better testing scents and will be back on this within the next few weeks-Ionly used one RE during the testing so far but have plenty more waiting!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

LOL No, I just bumped it for someone asking about an East Coast supplier. On the other hand... it has been a while!

 

[Lin19687]

Thanks, MORE fo's to put in my cart... hahahha

 

[NsMar42111]

Just found my box of testers and notes. Can't believe it's been this long! I'm actually impressed because several of the scents are still strong. Here's updated with the notes I had taken:


Bayberry - Not sure what I thought this was supposed to smell like, but it reminds me of a Christmas candle...with no chemical undertone. No discolor, easy to mix. UPDATE: Only lasted about 6 months on smell then faded.

Bonfire Bliss-I smell sweetened wood? Yellow brown discolor, easy mixer. It is a lot different than OOB, lost the smoke smell so we'll see...UPDATE: Meh. Discolored and no fire...if you added smoke scentit might work. Still there at the year mark, although lighter.

Stainless Steel-hrm. Not sure? Light cologne smell? Another wait and see one. No discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: I just don't like it and it faded for me in six months. Might give it another shot, maybe it was just that batch.

Black Cherry-I think cough drops has ruined black cherry for me because that's what I smell-cough drops minus the medicinal overtones. Light yellow discolor, hard to mix in. UPDATE: Definitely cough drops...there at a year but morphed more mediciny

Rustic Lodge-all I smell is maple syrup right now! Brown discolor, another hard mixer. UPDATE: Stayed sweet, there at six months (bar got given away).

Cucumber Melon-mostly cucumber at this point. No discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: Mild yellow discolor at six months, melon gone but cucumber about half strength at six months.

Cucumber Mint-bleh. Old shirt wrapped around a cucumber...hopefully this one changes because OOB isn't bad. No discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: No change....still old shirt. Tossed.

Cantelope-nice! Not as overly sweet as I expected, on the light side, does smell like a cantelope. Light yellow discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: Yellow discolor, at six months still sweet but less fruity. Would be awesome in MP or something like that I think.

Oak Barrel Cider-all I smell is a light cider, no barrel at this point. Yellow discolor, hard to mix in. UPDATE: Another CP batch moved fast and heated up...decent cider but very little "barrel". Meh.

Early Grey and Apple-yep, it does smell like tea that someone put an apple slice in. Weird combo.... Medium brown discolor , easy mixer. UPDATE: Wasn't popular with testers but I liked it. About half strength at six month mark.

Clean Green-half dry grass? Clean smell for sure. No discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: Six months still there but light. Good "straw" scent.

Blackberry Sage-mostly berry but not a sweet one. No discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: No sage, still berry at six months.Light at one year.


Salty Sea Air-no discolor, hard to mix in. UPDATE: Meh, not a fan for a sea scent, just didn't smell like sea.

Green Irish Tweed-tan discolor, hard to mix in. UPDATE: if it didn't discolor light brown I'd keep it-Irish Spring smell at one year even

Forbidden Fruit-no discolor, easy to mix in. UPDATE: Not as sweet of a fruit smell as I'd like, might be a good mixer, still there at six months

Dragons blood-medium red brown discolor, hard to mix in. UPDATE: I couldn't tell the difference between this and BBs dragons blood in the finished bar...but not my type of dragons blood, too powdery at six months

Peppermint Swizzle Stick-no discolor, easy mix, but the soap is softer than other bar. UPDATE: Dos'd and tossed

Tuscan Fields-medium yellow brown discolor, hard to mix in. UPDATE: Will get more, mellowed out...there at six months

Blue Skies-no discolor, easy mixer. UPDATE: Ended upa light yellow, perfumy, not impressed, stuck at six months though

Atomic Fireball-light yellow discolor, medium hard to mix in, another soft bar one. UPDATE: In CP moved fast (another batch), spicy smelling, I'd watch the usage on this one yeow!

Honeysuckle Patchouli-no discolor, easy mix, bar seems harder than others so I'd watch this one in CP for accel. UPDATE: Def. accelerator, too sweet for my taste.

Lemon Pound Cake-dark brown discolor (same color it is in the bottle), hard to mix in. UPDATE: After six months its still lemon pound cake! If you could work with the almost black discolor it'd be a good foody.

Sea Grass Sand Dunes-no discolor, easy to mix in. UPDATE: Nothing stands out, faded at six months.

 

[NsMar42111]

More:

French Vanilla Oak-FAST mover and fast heater! Medium discolor, mostly vanilla no french and barely any oak.UPDATE: Nothing but vanilla at six months

Spicy Apple Peaches - FAST mover and fast heater! Medium brown initial discolor. Wonderful apple peach ! Might be my replacement for one that I used to get from TN Candle. UPDATE: Loses peach at six months but a wonderful cider, over a year and sticking

Ozark Forest-FAST mover and fast heater! Yellow initial discolor, turned more brown. Not sure what an ozark forest smells like but its a masculine scent. Meh...too much "dirt" for me. UPDATE: So bland I mixed it up in the box with other scents...mostly dirt.

Christmas Bliss- FAST mover and fast heater! Nice right now though, not as chemically as other "Christmas" piney scents.UPDATE: At six months got the chemical smell...piney.

Havana night- Medium fast mover and a medium heater-no swirls for you! Smells like too much perfume on someone right now, hoping that fades.UPDATE: Six months too much perfume, one year still too much LOL

Heavenly Honeysuckle-FAST mover but not a heater. I don't like this honeysuckle, too sharp. Hoping it mellows. UPDATE: ehhhh it does mellow but not a huge fan

Cranberry Orange Scone-FAST mover but not a heater. I smell cranberry and scone but not orange. UPDATE: Discolored medium brown, no orange ever showed up

Veviter- Medium Fast Mover. Yellow initial discolor. Hard to describe, it keeps morphing. UPDATE: Never settled down, generic at six months.

3 Wishes Tea - Medium fast mover. Seems to have lost its scent and is just chemically now. UPDATE: Six month mark faded.

Rose petals-Medium fast mover. Not even close to a rose at pour! Still not a rose and showing signs of dos?! UPDATE: Dos'd and tossed

Just Peachy- little faster than normal. Candy peach but not as sweet as candy, seems to be fading fast. UPDATE:Faded out at six months

Clementine Lavender - little faster than normal, not much lavender at this point so I'm curious how it goes. At 2 months, still not much lavender and is fading. UPDATEos'd and tossed

Savogn Blanc- little faster than normal. I think it took on the scent of it's neighbors because I can't id it! UPDATE: Nope, still couldnt tell.

London Fog-normal mover. Yellow initial discolor turned beige Masculine scent, but did not like being next to a floral and picked up some of that scent. UPDATE: Might give it another try, picks up other scents easily

Pinecone-normal mover. Meh, I smell the chemically undertone I noticed in a few others. UPDATE: Holds at six months but still a car freshener smell

Fern and Lavender- normal mover. "green" scent but seems to be fading. UPDATE: Lavender gone. Suspicious yellowy areas...so tossed during a dos cleanout

Lilac-normal mover. Not like my other lilac in scent....will ahve to see. 2 months, still not a "normal" lilac, just a generic floral.UPDATE:Never turned into a lilac...

Green apple-normal mover, does smell like a green apple at this point. 2 months, yep, still apple! This one might make a good mixer.UPDATE:Six months still apple. I like.

Hipster-normal mover. Faded and chemically.UPDATE:Six months smells like leftover perfume bottle...

Jasmine, White-normal mover, and I'm apparently not a jasmine fan but right now its a nice clean jasmine. 2 months still a jasmine and still clean, some other soaps nearby picked up this scent (but it's not a hugely strong scent) during curing. UPDATE: Good at six months still

Stone House Reserve-normal mover. No idea what this is supposed to be, faded.UPDATE: Gone at six months, never ID'd lol

Lavender-normal mover. I have dos! Seems lavenders do that, just a couple spots. I don't like this lavender as much as the TN Candle old version, too artifical. UPDATEos'd and tossed, not a huge fan anyway

Kaylins Herb-normal mover, smells like a baby lotion? Faded out badly, and lost all but a greeny scent.UPDATE: Faded at six months

Pipe Smoke-slow mover! Had to leave in the mold an extra day. Mostly cherry not much smoke right now. 2 months, still cherry not enough smoke. UPDATE: Still cherry at six months, not as chemically as black cherry...maybe a mixer

Sweet Grass and Cedar-slow mover! Had to leave in the mold an extra day. I was expecting "grass" and sweet grass apparently is not the same-now it's cedar with an overtone of (something) . Eh.UPDATE: Cedar at six months...

Lemon Verbena-slow mover! Had to leave in the mold an extra day.. Hope it works out I do like this lemon. 2 months, still liking it!UPDATE: Six months, still lemon!

Oud wood-slow mover! Had to leave in the mold an extra day. Faded down to a musty smell!UPDATE: Six months, must ...ick.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Thanks for sharing, NsMar! That's a lot of work! I count only 3 keepers, right? And then there's "Early Grey" in post #47, paragraph 11 -- might get that for one of our daughters... hahaha

 

[Lin19687]

WOW, TY @NsMar42111 ! impressive.

I am trying to get my NG FO's in order so I can update Scent Review Board and our Worksheet here

 

[TeresaGG]

Bath and Body safe fragrances
rusticescentuals.com/Fragrance-Oils/?bbs=1

 

[NsMar42111]

You know, there's more scents that I wanted to "keep" but I think they got shuffled in the confusion. 2017 was a loooonggg year and 2018 isn't much shorter, plus I had a major DOS outbreak that ended up in a mass cleanout and some stuff went. (DOS was not RE's fault except the few noted in the reviews). I still have samples to test so hopefully I'll keep up with them better. I will say that even if *I* didn't like the scent or found it chemically, others may have a different opinion. I've had scents I hated and used in "sampler" batches become requested scents so take my opinion with a pound of salt LOL. I have a few more on the way and some in the "make me" basket. Hoping others will soap and add their thoughts here!

 

[Obsidian]

I noticed you marked the pine scents as chemically and car freshner. I find pine scents to be the same way, very fake. Balsam from natures garden is the exception. A nice natural pine with no chemical undertones.

 

[NsMar42111]

Few notes....this batch is 100% coconut oil, CP, pretty much room temp (lye was still warm).

First off , three scents NOT to mix! I mixed Blackberry Sage, Honeybee, and White Tea due to usage rates. Equal parts. When used, it turned my batter into a horrible seperated mess! I knew it was trouble when after mixing oil, lye, and mica I added the FO mix and the mica immediatly all sunk to the bottom! Wow....I stickblended the heck out of it and it never came together. I immediatly poured it into a plastic lidded container to ferment (leaving the lid off) and put it into a bigger container in case it expanded- it didn't. It was not overheating, it just screamed NO SOAP FOR YOU. So, lesson learned, don't mix those three. Not sure what was the culprit but never again...

Rustic Lodge is a heater and watch the usage rates-I had a bit of oil pooling but it absorbed. Not sure I trust it but it smells great! I have too many other choices right now to play with but we'll see how popular it is, I may come back to it.

White Sage-awesome! I like it after pour, we'll see how it cures, but it's not chemically right now at two weeks and smells more of fresh sage than a smudge stick. Behaved just fine.

Raspberry Lilac-ok, this one's a winner so far. BUT...RE website shows that the shortage affected it. Boo. Low usage rate but still comes through (1.4% in soaps) in a nice light berry floral..more berry than lilac. Just means I may be looking for a mixer...it soaped perfectly, actually slowed down trace enough that you could do some serious swirls if you timed it right. I'm putting this mix on the top of the list. The two scents together are awesome! I've had some dos issues with other lilac in the past, so it'll be a very long term tester. Next order I'll grab some plain raspberry to mix with the fresh lilac I have to see if I can come close....

That's it for now

 

[NsMar42111]

Made another one:

Fresh Cut Roses-first time I used this I was thinking it wouldn't behave in CP based on how it did in HP, but it actually was fine! Mild acceleration -seems to be typical for florals-but you could get a two color swirl out of it. It's not quite as strong off the bat in CP (100% CO) as it was in HP, possibly due to the HP being, well, hot?. Still a nice rose with a bit of green stem, less green in CP though. I like it!

Update on Rustic Lodge...ok I'm losing it. It was Bonfire Bliss, NOT Rustic Lodge. I'm not crazy LOL. Second batch, def heater and accelerator-poured 6 bars of 8 before having to start scraping vs pouring. This time I whisked it in fast knowing it was a mover, and thus far, no oil pooling! Definite gelling going on though! Update: The bars gelled in the mold, and it's a shallow bar mold (3/4" at the thickest). I'd be very scared of this one in a loaf mold!

 

[Lin19687]

Ohhh @NsMar42111 I just read the review and wow it sounds wonderful !
I got this one and mixed Cranberry/Orange into it. It turned out very nice and a bit toned down.
https://www.naturesgardencandles.com/fireplace-fragrance-oil

On your low % rate scent, My Cranberry/Orange is like that , 1%, and I thought it was going to be a bust. But after a full cure it is a really nice scent. Not over powering but it is scented enough that you don't have to smell it twice to get it.
So maybe yours will come out more after cure ?