Unusual fragrances

[dibbles]

@Carly B of the samples I ordered from Scent Memory I have tested 4. The only one I didn't care for too much is Mojave Ghost. I really don't like amber if it's too forward so I'm sure that is why. Neroli Portofino is lovely in soap, and Hello Sailor is one I will keep around for hubby if he likes it. He's been out of town, so hasn't had the smell test yet. But, it is one of the only fragrances that lists pepper notes that I can pick that out. Baccarat Rouge is so pretty (to my nose), but seems a bit light so I'll be curious to see how it holds up in soap. It would be lovely in lotions or other bath & body products I'm sure.

A couple that surprised me that I love (probably because I wasn't sure what to expect) are Osmanthus from MMS, Earth Meets Sky and Avalon from Nurture. Earth Meets Sky changes in soap and I think it is pretty great. There are so many more and I could go on for pages.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I wish I could get the range of FOs that y'all get over there. Some of these sound divine!

 

[Carly B]

@Carly B of the samples I ordered from Scent Memory I have tested 4. The only one I didn't care for too much is Mojave Ghost. I really don't like amber if it's too forward so I'm sure that is why. Neroli Portofino is lovely in soap, and Hello Sailor is one I will keep around for hubby if he likes it. He's been out of town, so hasn't had the smell test yet. But, it is one of the only fragrances that lists pepper notes that I can pick that out. Baccarat Rouge is so pretty (to my nose), but seems a bit light so I'll be curious to see how it holds up in soap. It would be lovely in lotions or other bath & body products I'm sure.

A couple that surprised me that I love (probably because I wasn't sure what to expect) are Osmanthus from MMS, Earth Meets Sky and Avalon from Nurture. Earth Meets Sky changes in soap and I think it is pretty great. There are so many more and I could go on for pages.

What drew me to Nurture initially was the Lush dupes. I actually have a bottle of Rentless, what Earth Meets Sky dupes, and it's pretty spot on. The African soap crumble soap I posted on another thread is made with that. And it smells yummy. Of course, I still am sad that her dupe of Tramp went away (Paramour) . FB has a dupe of SuperTramp, but even the original wasn't the real Tramp.

None of your Scent Memory was in my cart except for Hellooooo Sailor. Everyone here as said good things about it, but is it just another after shave smell? I really love neroli and have a TON of neroli fragrance, so I didn't take this one. If you are a big neroli fan, try Citrus Tree from FB (another place I have a shopping cart full waiting for the Labor Day Sale). It's a spot on dupe of Lush Orange Blossom (which I have a couple bottles of) which is full on neroli.

 

[KiwiMoose]

FB has a dupe of SuperTramp

 

[Kimimarie84]

I have had about 15 sitting in my cart for several days. It's actually what prompted me to start this thread. They sound intriguing, but I'm looking for fragrances that aren't the same as everyone else's. Also, I wish there were soaping notes regarding acceleration and discoloration.

I’m not sure about other fragrance oil companies, but Midwest Fragrance has soaping notes for each scent on their website. They’ll tell you how much cold process soap they used, the percentage of FO, how it behaved, discoloration, and acceleration. They also have links to IFRA usage rate charts they’ve created. I find their website to be helpful when choosing FO. They even have a shopping section for FOs they’ve deemed soap safe.

I’m not affiliated with them in any way, and I don’t know the owners personally. I just like their FOs and how they behave in soap. They do have dupes, but they also have some of their own blends.

 

[dibbles]

Everyone here as said good things about it, but is it just another after shave smell? I really love neroli and have a TON of neroli fragrance, so I didn't take this one. If you are a big neroli fan, try Citrus Tree from FB (another place I have a shopping cart full waiting for the Labor Day Sale). It's a spot on dupe of Lush Orange Blossom (which I have a couple bottles of) which is full on neroli.

Helloooo Sailor - my first impression OOB was unisex. When I first soaped with it my impression was - more masculine. Now that the soap is a couple of days old masculine scent. There is something different than the usual aftershave and I think it's a bit of patchouli and maybe vetiver. But it's starting to seem more aftershave to me. I like it a lot and don't have that many male scents, so will probably reorder this.

I actually have a sample of Citrus Tree. I haven't made anything with it yet and should really get that done. OOB I like it.

 

[Carly B]

Lush in the old days was really big on incorporating pop culture references into their product names. There used to be a game on the old Lush forum (I'm talking 20 years ago) figuring out
what they were referencing in their name. Some were easy, like "Honey, I Washed the Kids" but others were more obscure or more niche, like "Sonic Death Monkey"

 

[cerelife]

I'm in love with NS Cinnamon Supreme! It smells exactly like the spice - not cinnamon candy or those cinnamon brooms - just the actual spice. It behaves well and sticks like a dream.
Some other scents that I love that are unlike the usual fare are:
FB Weather Vane
FB Citrus Tree - my husband comes from an old-school Florida family who have owned citrus groves since the 1890's. If HE says it smells like orange blossoms, then I'm all in!
FB Jasmin Showers
FB Prince Showers
NS - All Souls Day
NS - Earth Meets Sky
RE - Blue Skies
Daystar - Milk Sugar Kisses
Daystar - Woods and Bitter Coffee
And if by unusual you mean weird (then hello fellow weirdo!), these 2 soap well and the scent is true and sticks:
NG - Dill Pickle
Bulk Apothecary - Ramen Noodle
And Yes, I sell out whenever I make these!
Another unusual in a bad way is NS Mad About Mint. It cures out to smell exactly like toothpaste to my nose.
I know several of these are Lush dupes, but they have that 'something special' that makes them stand out from other FO's.

 

[cerelife]

Oh, and @dibbles I wear MK Baccarat Rouge 540 daily. It's such a beautiful complex scent and I've not seen another FO supplier offer it. So yep, that alone is unique. I also saw in Zany's thread on Scent Memory the mention of a White Shoulders dupe. Holy cannoli, I forgot this perfume existed!! This was a rite of passage - every girl I knew got a bottle of White Shoulders on her 13th birthday. It was the first time we were allowed to wear perfume and this was a huge big deal for us!!
Gonna head on over the the Scent Memory website for some unique scents!

 

[dibbles]

Oh, and @dibbles I wear MK Baccarat Rouge 540 daily. It's such a beautiful complex scent and I've not seen another FO supplier offer it. So yep, that alone is unique. I also saw in Zany's thread on Scent Memory the mention of a White Shoulders dupe. Holy cannoli, I forgot this perfume existed!! This was a rite of passage - every girl I knew got a bottle of White Shoulders on her 13th birthday. It was the first time we were allowed to wear perfume and this was a huge big deal for us!!
Gonna head on over the the Scent Memory website for some unique scents!

Yep, the junior high hallways reeked of it, I'm sure!

 

[Virgogoddess]

I am not affiliated in any way but I have been to scent memory hq and do know the owner.
I am someone who struggled to find scents that didn’t give me a headache and would work in candles.
This is a company that has both and I don’t mind telling people that. I know which ones are dupes and which are not. I also know the Midwest catalog and they most recently start blending their own. Having said that I think their fragrances are good quality.
I love the niche fragrances and love the scent memory fragrances. I have nearly everyone one and smelled all of them (but a few).
It’s not for everyone but I have struggled to find something I love. I am sure I am not alone

So do you have any recommendations for a first time order?

 

[BWt]

Egyptian Dragon was a very good seller for me for years, but I purchased mine from Natures Garden which was considerably less in cost than OT, but I am sure it varies a tad in scent. I tried other Egyptian D's but Natures Garden's sold the best for me, being a good unisex fragrance. It sold to folks that did not quite like the strong scent of my Dragon's Blood.

Found the same results with these two Natures Garden scents.

 

[persephonesgarden]

I think they are niche/unique because they are not the usual duplicates of other companies' fragrances. A lot of them are high end perfumes, which I haven't seen many FO suppliers offer, let alone do well.

I agree with @contrinokathy and @dibbles’ assessment of Scent Memory as unique, there really are a lot of niche and luxury perfumes as opposed to the usual host of Lush, B&BW, VS etc dupes that you see on a lot of other FO websites. (Maybe she has those too, I’ve mostly poked around the niche perfume listings.) I don’t know if this is still how the owner does it, but when they first started out she established their catalog by taking customer nominations for scents and then would essentially oversee group buys of anything that could hit the MOQ. So I think that’s a big part of why their offerings seem so different, it’s all been very customer driven because they can support that initial order.

Personally, I have not tried SM but I would echo the endorsements of Nurture Soap. I hope they expand their line some day!

Indigo Fragrance also has lots of novelty scents but the availability of their SDS and allergen documentation is often lacking, which doesn’t work for me. :/