The Struggle Is Real

[Rusti]

Hyacinth is hyacinth. This is not a perfume smell; this is the flower. This scent is the grocery store in reeaallyy early Spring when they've brought in the hothouse hyacinth to entice winter-weary shoppers, leading you by the nose through half the store to the little floral alcove with its pots of pink and purple and white. This scent smells good, Folks! It is very strong in the shower and leaves quite a lot of its sweet scent behind on skin. As such a strong floral, I think most people would consider it quite feminine. However, I think that because it smells so much like the flower itself rather than a floral perfume, it somewhat transcends the masculine/feminine dichotomy. I know that I plan to use it all, and I'm slightly upset that I gave away the two bars that I did.

Now for the bad news... This FO was almost impossible for CP. It instantly riced, and getting into the mold was tough. Back on page 6 of this thread you can see the pic of how bad it was. Have your kids ever played with Moon Sand? It's in the top two of most accelerating FO's I've ever used.
...
I gorgeous as this smells, I can't recommend it for CP. I would be very interested in seeing what it did for HP, to see if the lather issues carried over.

Are we talking about Mad Oils' Hyacinth? If so, that's not surprising to hear, but really disappointing. I got a sample of it with some micas and it has an amazing 'green' smell that a lot of florals don't have and it's one of my favorite things about wild flowers like honeysuckle or the hedges of star jasmine at the Mouse parks in Florida. If I could find a nice jasmine with that 'green' smell I'd be over the moon.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Are we talking about Mad Oils' Hyacinth? If so, that's not surprising to hear, but really disappointing. I got a sample of it with some micas and it has an amazing 'green' smell that a lot of florals don't have and it's one of my favorite things about wild flowers like honeysuckle or the hedges of star jasmine at the Mouse parks in Florida. If I could find a nice jasmine with that 'green' smell I'd be over the moon.

It's Nurture Soaps dupe of Mad Oils Wild Hyacinth.

 

[dibbles]

That is interesting about the lather. I have an FO blend that I believe does that, although which of the two I blended it is I'm not sure. I thought it was my imagination.

I also experienced this with NS Dirty Type 2 (discontinued) FO. Granted, it was also a recipe test for a palm free vegan soap, but this soap does not - at this point - lather. It gets a few, thin bubbles. The purple discoloration is kind of cool (just because it's not brown), but it will eventually turn to tan. I wanted to see how long the purple lasts, but at this point - for me - I don't like it enough to care. Others may like it, it's just not for me.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

It's too late for me to edit the post, but I want to retract the comment about Hyacinth affecting lather. Apparently it was suffering from the "First Use" phenomenon we've discussed before; it just took a little longer to overcome it. I used it for the fourth shower this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find lather back up to expectations for this recipe. I haven't had one take this long before, but whatever works.

 

[Soapmaker145]

I noticed that different FO testers poured from the same batter can feel very different, from nice to not so nice or worse. I think some FOs affect the feel of the soap more than the oils we use. The solvents used for aroma molecules can affect the superfat and the cure. Fractionated coconut is one of the most common culprits. We try to avoid or limit short chain fatty acids and unknowingly, we dump them into the batter with the fragrance. FCO will also affect the superfat and reduce lather particularly at the surface where the lye can react with air.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Fire Tree is fantastic! I like it so much that I've continued using it past the time I should have moved to the next sample, but I just can't switch it out.

The scent is very strong in the shower and smells like spice and sweet smoke, like burning spice- and fruit-woods. This warm smokiness is slightly phenolic, but pleasantly so. It's more spicy than sweet, but I get a hint of purple grapeskin fruitiness. The official description lists several floral notes, but for me they're not discernible on their own, they're just part of the complex, wonderful whole. If somebody told me this is what Frank Herbert's melange spice actually smelled like, I'd believe it completely.

This scent smelled good from the bottle, great in soap and even better in the shower. Once the warm water hits, it opens up and is truly just wonderful. However, it does seem to use up all of its magic inside the shower, leaving almost nothing behind on the skin afterward. I would definitely call it unisex. I can't rightfully judge acceleration because the process that day was so screwy.

 

[dibbles]

Fire Tree
I can't rightfully judge acceleration because the process that day was so screwy.

I made a small batch to test a few fragrances. I didn't notice any acceleration, but it did noticeably discolor.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I made a small batch to test a few fragrances. I didn't notice any acceleration, but it did noticeably discolor.

Thanks, I forgot to mention. My batter was quite red, but the discoloration DID bleed a bit into the unscented white batter that was swirled into it.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I guess I should continue these descriptions until all the scents are represented...

I've been using Scent of Freedom for 3 or 4 days and it's nice. It smells like what it's supposed to smell like, which is a combination of Fire Tree, Oudh Heart, and Old Delhi. I can pick each separate scent when I think of them, but they merge into a pleasant whole. Overall, that merged scent has pushed more into the foodie realm than are the three separately. I could imagine it as an unusual flavor or gum, for instance. I am reminded of Clark's Teaberry gum, if anyone remembers that. Not because Teaberry is the same as Freedom, but because they are both unusual - but yummy - foodie flavors/scents. It's a nice scent, but not really my style; I like the components better separately. All three of my testers have given positive reviews. It leaves a goodly amount of scent behind on the skin that lasts for a couple of hours.

 

[Susie]

I LOVED Teaberry gum!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Update on Old Delhi Station after having finally used it in the shower.

I said this two months ago, smelling the bars:

First, I don't dislike it, per se, it's just my least favorite among the four. It is very complex and well-named, and it's hard for me to pick out individual pieces. My overall impression is walking through the spice aisle at an Indian market. It's a "dry" scent compared to the other three, which are sweeter and "wetter/greener." Among the four, the difference is rather stark, and that difference alone could be contributing to me saying it's my least favorite - just because it's the outlier. I can get a bit of smokiness in that it reminds me of burning incense, with a touch of those sandalwood or jasmine sticks that were so popular in the 70's. But there is no assertive, phenolic "smoke" character like a smoked food would have.

I stand by the above description, but after trying the others in the series, Delhi is no longer my last choice. It's just pure, dry spice - subtle in the shower - that leaves behind a slight woody/spice scent on skin. I can actually still smell a bit of it three hours later. That subtleness has earned it a promotion past Freedom's foody assertiveness. Delhi is not really a better smell, but it's a better smell for soap. (IMO, of course.)