Tennessee Candle Company Soap Scents Tests

[nsmar4211]

I don't see much about them, so I figured I'd start a thread like the Fragrance Buddy one and hope others chime in. Just did a large order of scents from them and will be testing them over the next few months. Hard to find any reviews about their scents! Anyone else try them out? Here's the ones I have coming, I'll take suggestions on the first ones to try:

Oatmeal Milk Honey
Sweet Musk
Georgia Peach
Love Spell Type
Peach Magnolia Raspberry
Cherry Pipe Tobacco
Mango Honey
Watermelon
Sweet Coconut
True Lavender
Honeysuckle Passion
Peppermint
Lilac
Butt Naked
Pina Colada
Butterscotch Brulee
Grandma’s Kitchen
Under The Tree
Eucalyptus Mint
BBW Red Velvet Cupcake
BBW Pomegranate
Froot Loops Type
Tangerine Dream
Nehi Grape Type
Paris Amour Type
Apple Cinnamon
Gain Type
Irish Spring Type
Sweet Pea
BBW Spicy Apples Peaches

 

[OliveOil2]

I've tried 2 on your list, and 2 others not on the list. the Peach Magnolia Raspberry which for me is a keeper, great fragrance, easy to work with, and the scent holds. I have smelled the same name from Natures Garden and the fragrance is not the same, I really like the Tennessee version much more.

I also soaped the Tangerine Dream, it is nice, but lighter than I like. Not on your list, but I have to mention their dupe of Bert's Redwood Cedar, it is really a stand out fragrance, a keeper as well, no problems in soaping and a nice scent. They did a great job duping this one.

This might have been me, or at least my recipe because my friend uses True Lavender all of the time without issue, but both my sample and my batch both stayed moist a very long time with my regular water discount. I do like the scent, otherwise easy to work with.

Also not on your list, but I soaped Winter Candy Apple, easy to work with, scent is holding, I haven't made my mind up on this one. Right now I have so many different scents curing in a small area, I need to take this one and set it aside. But it had no issues with acceleration or discoloration.

I would love to hear what you think about the Nehi Grape Type, not something that I would usually soap, but my sister loves Nehi Grape Soda.

 

[Soapmaker145]

nsmar, so glad you started this thread. I have between 20 and 30 testers from TCS that are past the 6 weeks mark. I'll try to get my reviews up by the end of next week. They really have great well behaving fragrances. Check the usage rates because some of them are low. I would like to see them generate the IFRA documents for their FO. It'll make it easier for people who sell to use their FOs.

I'm making Christmas soaps for gifts. I'm using the Peach magnolia, Redwood cedar, Lavender, Tangerine dreams, and Spicy apples&peaches all from TCS.

 

[nsmar4211]

Olive, they were out of the Redwood Cedar when I ordered . Am looking for a cedary smell for a masculine soap, the EO is good but pricey. It's on my wishlist!

I will do the Nehi in the first test batch (hoping next week, waiting on stuff to show up ). I didn't think it'd be a practical soap, but sounded like fun and for $1 I couldn't resist. Mine are all for gifts so I've been getting stuff I want to play with LOL. I'll also do the true lavender and see if it stays wet, having that issue with another fragrance from elsewhere...thought it was just me until I checked the control bar!

Soapmaker, you must have hundreds of FO's . Glad to see I'm not the only one who went "ok, no reviews...lets play!" ! I'm going to start with 1oz per pound of soap as my usage rate. Anything that seems promising I will figure out and make sure it stays within the usage rates recommended. I was looking at that and tried to only order things that had higher usage rates.

 

[afbrat]

I soaped their Love Spell type for the October challenge. I really like the smell in the cooled soap, but I am a pretty new soaper, and therefore have not tried any other version of that fragrance. However, it did not accelerate trace, and did not discolor my batter. The soap is only about a week old though.

 

[nsmar4211]

Look what came in today Talk about quick shipping! I wish all companies were like this!

Arrived right after I used up my last oz of castor oil....:thumbdown:

Well, it gives me time to print out my testing labels and such... right? right? :???:

Edit: The lids are on pretty tight, so far I don't see any leakage even though they are piled together.
Edit Edit: Nope, no leakers. Can smell the scents around the lids, but all bottle shoulders and such are dry.

 

[nsmar4211]

This will be round one (when my oils come in), and I'll update this post after testing. So far *everything* is great out of bottle though...hoping they behave and hold! My sniffer is in heaven....

Testing will be 3 oz ish (once cured) bars, 60% lard recipe, oils/lye will be cooled to around 120, batter will be mixed to emulsion and poured 3 at a time, scent added (4ml), mini milk frother used to stir if possible (skewer if not). All thoughts are my own .

******
Georgia Peach-clear in bottle. BAD little monkey, seperated almost immediatly and even after blending together three times still mush. 24 hours still feels like, hrm, cream of wheat? Update: At three weeks I can't even tell what scent this is. Would need to retest.

Love Spell Type-bright orange in bottle. Very well behaved, no accel, no immediate discolor. 24 hrs developed lye? fo? droplets on top. Update: At three weeks, discolored to tan. Smells great!

Mango Honey-light honey color in bottle. Medium low accel, yellow discolor immediatly. Update: At three weeks, I don't smell this as mango and honey, just a dark sweet smell I can't ID. Dark yellow brown discolor.

Watermelon-slightly yellow in bottle. Medium accel, no immediate discolor, heating up in a three oz single cavity mold. 24 hours didn't gel, so slight heater. Update: At three weeks, smell faded. Off the list for CP.

Sweet Coconut-mid yellow in bottle. Heater! Heated up immediatly, accel, bright yellow discolor, oil seepage on top. 24 hours oil reabsorbed, full gell, turning brownish yellow. Update: At three weeks, medium tan discolor. Not much coconut...

True Lavender-slight orange in bottle. Medium low accel, no immediate discolor. Update: At three weeks, no discolor. Smells like lavender. Thinnnnkkk I see a yellow spot so holding off in case it DOS'd...

Tangerine Dream-light orange in bottle. Accelerated, bright neon yellow immediate discolor, heating up in a three oz single cavity mold. 24 hrs, no gel, discolor tuning down to light yellow. Update: At three weeks, lighter smell but still there. Tan brown discolor. Might try HP to see if it holds better.

Nehi Grape Type-dull darker orange in bottle. Very low accel, orange yellow discolor (no clue how'd you would make it purple), mild heating up in three oz single cavity mold. 24 hours no gel, discolor turning tan. Update: At three weeks, ugly mud tan brown discolor but still smells like grape soda! Would be cute for kids if you use a fun mold?

Sweet Pea BBW-light yellow in bottle. Accelerated (expected since its floral), no immediate discolor, mildly heating up in single cavity mold. 24 hours no gel, no discolor. Update: At three weeks, no discolor, light flora, smells just like the bbw perfume I have. Might HP to hold the scent better, did fade a little.

Oatmeal Milk & Honey-clear in bottle. Low acceleration, orangish discolor. 24 hours discolor turning tan. Update: At three weeks, bleh. Smells like playdoh. Off the list.

 

[OliveOil2]

That is a Hugh bunch of samples, you are going to have fun. Looking forward to hearing how they perform. When you get ready to purchase your Cedarwood EO New Directions Aromatics has Himalayan Cedarwood for a very inexpensive price. I really like it, and it is very strong. They have that insane $100 minimum order, but I usually stock up on their clay, or other base oils. I love the black and pink Australian clay for soap.

 

[BrentBrown]

nsmar, so glad you started this thread. I have between 20 and 30 testers from TCS that are past the 6 weeks mark. I'll try to get my reviews up by the end of next week. They really have great well behaving fragrances. Check the usage rates because some of them are low. I would like to see them generate the IFRA documents for their FO. It'll make it easier for people who sell to use their FOs.

I'm making Christmas soaps for gifts. I'm using the Peach magnolia, Redwood cedar, Lavender, Tangerine dreams, and Spicy apples&peaches all from TCS.

Hi, thanks for you suggestions we are working on getting the IFRA up for our fragrances.

 

[Soapmaker145]

Olive, they were out of the Redwood Cedar when I ordered . Am looking for a cedary smell for a masculine soap, the EO is good but pricey. It's on my wishlist!

Soapmaker, you must have hundreds of FO's . Glad to see I'm not the only one who went "ok, no reviews...lets play!" ! I'm going to start with 1oz per pound of soap as my usage rate. Anything that seems promising I will figure out and make sure it stays within the usage rates recommended. I was looking at that and tried to only order things that had higher usage rates.

I wish I did this experiment years ago. I spent 7 years of buying based on reviews. I ended up with a lot of FOs that I didn't care for. Thankfully most of them got used up. There is always somebody that likes what I don't. One of the ones I couldn't stand, my dad loved and took all the soaps.

Right now, I have between 300 and 400 samples. I haven't entered all of them into my excel sheet. I think I'll continue to experiment but on a much smaller scale. I would like to add FOs from few smaller suppliers. I really need to get a good HP recipe so I can use up the ones that faded in CP. It's making me want to do an HP test in parallel strictly out of curiosity.

 

[Soapmaker145]

Here is my list of TCS testers, almost all fully cured. I'll try to get as many reviews written as I can this week. The scents OOB are nice and clean. Many are simple scents that are true to the name. The majority soaped well in the testers and the scent stayed true and holding. Percentage wise, more of the TCS FOs survived cp than any other supplier I tried so far.

95 Georgia Peach
96 Lemon Chiffon Pie
97 Pina Colada
98 Chocolate Nut Brownie
99 Watermelon
100 Butterscotch Brulee
101 Peach Magnolia Raspberry
102 True Lavender
103 Butt Naked
104 Lilac
105 Love spell
106 Cherry Pipe Tobacco
107 Vanilla Bean Noel
108 Brown Sugar & Honey
109 Redwood Cedar
110 Spicy Apples & Peaches
111 Eucalyptus Mint
112 Sweet Pea
113 Paris Amour
114 Honeysuckle
115 Sugar Cookie
116 Hot Maple Toddy
117 Vanilla
118 Mango Honey
119 Baby Magic
120 Pomegranate
121 Tangerine Dreams
122 Strawberry
123 Winter Candy Apple
124 Baby Powder
125 Butterschotch
126 Under the Tree
127 Sweet Coconut

 

[Soapmaker145]

Hi, thanks for you suggestions we are working on getting the IFRA up for our fragrances.

Thank you. That is very helpful.

 

[afbrat]

Have you guys tried out the fruit loops type from them? I ordered a 1 oz bottle when they were on sale and I love the scent oob. Smells just like the cereal! I thought it would be great for kid soap! I have not tried it yet though.

 

[Soapmaker145]

I have the fruit loop one but didn't soap it yet. I agree it would be great for kids soaps. The Lovespell one is nice. I'm making a small batch with it for a friend. I don't usually like this scent but I don't mind the test sample I did with the TCS version. ETC: There was no discoloration and the scent is pleasant.

 

[nsmar4211]

Fruit loops will be in my round 2. Round one will be done end of this week, so I can report on acceleration issues at the least. Can't wait to hear the cured reviews!

 

[nsmar4211]

Ok, round one is complete. My garage smells very good! I updated the original round one post with usage info so far .

 

[afbrat]

Ok, round one is complete. My garage smells very good! I updated the original round one post with usage info so far .

Awesome, thanks for posting your results so far! I am really impressed with their scents oob. The Love Spell soap I did for the Oct challenge still smells great a couple of weeks out from pour, and still not discolored. Have not soaped any of my other scents from them yet, I am trying to decide which to use in the Nov challenge.

 

[Soapmaker145]

First few pictures of my TCS testers taken after 8 weeks.

 

[Soapmaker145]

Here are my notes on the TCS testers. So far, I've made larger batches of the Lavender, Peach Magnolia and Redwood Cedar. All testers were poured at 5%.

101-Peach Magnolia Raspberry: No discoloration. I wouldn’t have bought this one based on the name. It turned out one of my favorites from TCS. The scent is clean, bright, happy, well blended. I don’t smell all the individual notes but the sum is very pleasant. The scent was true from day 1 and stayed true through the cure. It is just as strong at 8 weeks and holding. I made a larger batch. I added it at medium trace. It accelerated trace but politely. I was still able to attempt a swirl. The batch heated to about 140oF covered with towels. I ended up using it as a source of heat for the rest of the batch. It was hard enough by 16 hours to pop out of the silicone molds in perfect shape. Smells great.

102-True Lavender: No D/ NO A. I don’t normally like lavender in soap but I Love this one. I made a batch for me. It’s pure floral without being artificial or heavy. There are no herbaceous or camphorous notes in the background. It doesn’t smell like men’s cologne. It stayed true from day one. Holding strong at 8 weeks. I made a larger batch and it behaved very well. I added it at medium trace without issues. The batter stayed fluid. It warmed up in the mold but not as much as #101. I put them on top of each other to make sure it gels.

103-Butt Naked: Discolored to a light chocolate milk color. It smells fruity with a touch of vanilla, coconut, and sugar to me. The scent is medium strong and holding at 8 weeks. This is my first Butt Naked so I can’t compare to anything else.

104-Lilac: No D. This scent was too strong when first poured but it mellowed nicely at 8 weeks. It smells like lilacs which I dislike but my husband loves. I’ll be making a small batch for him. I would use this lilac for blending.

105-Love Spell: No D. I smell citrus with a little floral in the background. I actually like this one. I’ve tried the one from MMS and didn’t care for it. Several people liked it too. I’ll be making more. I can see blending it with Amber or Patchouli. Strong scent and holding.

106-Cherry Pipe Tobacco: Discolored to a milk chocolate brown. I have to say I can’t stand bitter almond scent. This is just my personal preference. To be fair, the first note you smell is floral, the typical cherry blossom notes and then you get hit with the bitter almond but not so much that it overpowers everything else. Overall, it is well balanced unlike most almond scents. Strong scent and holding.

107-Vanilla Bean Noel: Discolored to a milk chocolate brown. I smell vanilla and cooked sugar with some milk notes in the background. I’m not sure what the original is supposed to smell like. This one has more vanilla notes than most vanillas I tested. I would use it for vanilla right now. Medium scent and holding.

108-Brown Sugar & Honey: Discolored to yellowish beige. I smell some of the same notes that are in Vanilla Bean minus the vanilla. It lost some of the honey notes that were there at first. Now it smells more like cooked sugar. There is something else in the background that I can’t quite identify. Medium strong scent. I would use it as a blender when I want to add a sweet note.

109-Redwood Cedar: Discolored to a light chocolate milk. I liked it when I first poured it and I like it even more now that it finished curing. Strong well blended woodsy soapy scent. It’s not as sharp as straight cedarwood EO. Everybody who smelled it asked me to make them few bars. I bought a big bottle. When I made a larger batch, it accelerated politely. I poured #109 with Cedarwood EO+ CS Cedarwood Vanilla (colored the second portion with BB burgundy oxide). 109 accelerated and thickened while the other mix almost reversed trace a bit and was much more fluid. It also heated up a bit but to lesser extent than #101.

110-Spicy Apples & Peaches: Discolored to light yellowish beige. This one is lovely. When first poured, it smelled to me like sweet spicy chutney with peaches and apples. A friend who smelled it said apples and cinnamon. It’s a strong scent. At eight weeks, it has blended and matured to a very nice fruity spicy scent. I think it would work well for Christmas too. I don’t like food scents in my soaps but I’ll make an exception for this one.

111-Eucalyptus mint: No D. When first poured, I would smell the mint first and the eucalyptus after. The mint was dominating. At 8 weeks, the 2 blended nicely. The bar smells like a citrusy mint with a bit more herbal in the background. It doesn't have the harsh notes that mint can have sometimes. Strong scent. At first, I didn’t think I would use it. I put on my to-buy list today. I can even see blending it with some citrus.

112-Sweet Pea: No discoloration. It is a soft floral scent. It is medium light scent but is holding up nicely. It will accelerate. It isn't bad on its own but I think I would use it for blending.
ETA: The small sample riced when I added the fragrance but I was able to stir it smooth. The final product doesn't look any different from the rest of the batch.

113-Paris Amour: Discolored to light beige. It is a light perfumy mix of sweet, fruity and floral. Can’t compare it to anything else since I don’t know what it is supposed to smell like. It is not bad but it is not my favorite of the ones I tried. Scent smells better after full cure. I didn’t like it initially. Scent is medium light but holding.

114-Honeysuckle: No discoloration. Straight honeysuckle scent. I liked it better after it was fully cured. Strong scent. Smells soapy to me.

115-Sugar Cookie: Discolored to a milk chocolate brown. It is a sweet nondescript kind of scent. It is light and has lost some of the complexity it had OOB.

116-Hot Maple Toddy: Discolored to a yellowish brownish beige. Lost a lot of its complexity as it cured. It was really nice when first poured. It is stronger than #115.

117-Vanilla: Discolored to a milk chocolate brown. Light vanilla notes. So far this one is stronger than other vanillas I tried but it is still light. I would use #107 for vanilla instead. Vanilla seems to be a tough scent to cp.

118-Mango Honey: discolored to a light pinkish beige. This is another scent that didn’t fare well during cp. I really liked it OOB to the point that I will try it in HP. The scent is fairly light at 8 weeks and nondescript. I will be trying to recreate the OOB scent with a mix of Mango and Honey FOs when I have some that work well in cp.

119-Baby Magic: Discolored to a light pinkish beige. It smells just like the original. Strong scent and holding.

120-Pomegranate: very light discoloration. You have to have both bars side by side in good light to notice it. Light scent. I’m not sure what pomegranate FOs are supposed to smell like since the tree doesn’t have any distinctive scent. I smell a bit of sweet and a bit of sour. I don’t think this is for cp.

121-Tangerine Dreams: No discoloration. This one smells citrusy and bubbly. It is stronger, a bit drier and less sweet than BB Kumquat. I’ll be using this one once I run out of Kumquat. Medium strong scent and holding well since first day. Stayed true to OOB.

 

[nsmar4211]

Love spell has developed either lye water or FO droplets on top. Tried zap testing but can't tell if it's zap or horrible tasting FO. It's the only FO doing it at this point...pheno drops on a piece of toilet paper that I blotted up a small section went bright magenta so I'm guessing lye. These are small testers so more of a warning sign to watch for ... I do plan on doing a 1lb batch of this one later.

Funny your Tangerine Dream didn't discolor...mine started out bright yellow but at 24 hours has faded so it might fade out by cure . I can't smell mango honey over the surrounding testers, mine my end up light too. Sweet Pea smells just like the bath and body version perfume I have so far, the perfume is light too. Behaved well in my test bar. True Lavender smells great so far, hoping my holds too!