The ylang yland faded almost completely from my olive oil soaps

[aab1]

I made 70% olive oil/30% pko soaps with ylang ylang eo and it's been about 6 weeks and the scent is almost completely gone.

I made quite a bit with the intent to sell but I now feel it would be misleading to say they are scented with ylang ylang, but I also can't say they're unscented.

Is there a way to sell these without disappointing customers or should I keep them for me and to give as gifts?

Thanks

 

[Susie]

Have you wet a test sample down and washed your hands with it? Sometimes soap scents get a lot stronger when you use them.

If the scent is completely gone, I would either rebatch and add more at the end of the cook, or grate it for confetti in another batch with other scents.

Either way, you need to honestly tell people that it is in there.

 

[pamielynn]

Try this: put a bar in another room for several hours, come back and smell it again. Sometimes, my nose stops smelling the scents. I'll run around asking everyone to "smell this!" and THEY can smell it, but I can't. If I separate a bar from the area where it's kept, I'll be able to smell it again a few hours later.

I agree, also, to try to actually use it and see if you can smell it, then.

Even if you can't smell it after all of this, you still need to tell people it's there - I bet they will be able to smell it. If not, you know that next time, you need to add an anchor or just use a bit more.

 

[neeners]

I'm with pamielynn - I can't REALLY smell the scent when it's sitting in the soap curing room, but when I have soaps in my car in transit to people, I can DEFINITELY smell the soap. I find the scent also gets stronger in the shower. so give it a couple of tests before you give up on it....

 

[mintle]

It also helps to take a sniff of coffee (beans or even instant coffee) if your nose is attacked by numerous scents (in a perfumery, when composing eos, sniffing soaps etc). It allows you to 'reset' your nose and get rid of olfactory fatigue.

Maybe then you will feel a faint sign of ylang ylang in your soap?

I dislike ylang ylang so would be happy if the scent disappeared , however I understand the confusion you have regarding selling. You could always sell with an information that the batch smells in a very subtle or delicate way.

 

[aab1]

Since they've been curing for about 2 months I put them in large freezer zip lock bags with napkins to which I added ylang ylang essential oil.

Do you think this will revive the scent in a more permanent way? I was also thinking of shrink wrapping them after they've spent a week or so in the bag to lock in the scent.

 

[Obsidian]

It will revive the scent but not in a permanent way. I bet after a few days in open air, they will lose much of that scent. I've actually heard of unscrupulous sellers doing this right before a show to boost the scent so the soap sells better. After the bars are purchased and taken home, the strong scent goes away and the buyers are left feeling ripped off.
I'd cut my losses if I were you. Sell them as lightly scented at a discount price to move them but before you do that, have others smell them to see if the scent has really faded or if you are just used to it.

 

[cmzaha]

Good advice from Obsidian. Some people like very light fragrance

 

[Relle]

I would sell them as lightly scented, because some people don't like highly scented soap.