Basic Fragrance

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SgtSluggo

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Any suggestions for fragrances (FO's or EO's) that are simple (fewer oils are better), easy to obtain ingredients, and work in a variety of soap (HP and CP)? I don't have any fragrances at all and plan on making mostly fragrance free soap for my family but would like to have a basic clean smelling fragrance when I want the soap to have a smell other than soap.
 
Fragrance is very subjective, one person's "Wow!" is another person's "Ugh!" That being said, I have never had anyone react negatively to Brambleberry's Oatmeal, Milk & Honey. I use it in CP soap all the time, it discolors to a tan color, no acceleration that I've noted. I don't do HP, so can't tell you anything about that.
 
I also have all around approval for Brambleberry's Oatmeal, Milk & Honey. Peppermint is also liked by most, I found I prefer peppermint fragrance oil over essential oil.
 
Fragrance is very subjective, one person's "Wow!" is another person's "Ugh!" That being said, I have never had anyone react negatively to Brambleberry's Oatmeal, Milk & Honey. I use it in CP soap all the time, it discolors to a tan color, no acceleration that I've noted. I don't do HP, so can't tell you anything about that.

Funny you should say that... :mrgreen: I wouldn't say that I hate BB's OMH, but I'm definitely not a fan.
 
Fragrance is so subjective. 2 people named OMH - the OMH I have from BB (I think it's the Cybilla version) has a Play-dough note to my nose.

I love Honey I Washed The Kids (at Lush, anyway) but I would not call it "basic and clean smelling". It is rich and sweet.

Go to someplace with a variety of scented soaps (Lush, Whole Foods, Bath and Body) and smell them and see which ones are what you want.
 
Is "Honey I Washed The Kids" at Nurture the same one (or dupe) of the Lush one? That was one of my favorite bars from them, when I bought soap from them, but I agree it doesn't smell (or feel, though I think that's not the FO) very clean.

I tried making a soap with blackcurrant FO because I love the smell of their Comforter bubble bars, too. In the bottle the FO smelled perfect to me, but I think I didn't use nearly enough or I added it early and it cooked out or something. :confused: It was my first batch of soap ever and it seems to be turning into actual soap, just scentless and colorless, so I guess it could be worse, but it would be nice to figure out the scent.

Anyway my suggestion is to look at a fragrance calculator before you buy anything to make sure you are getting enough. But given that I have only done the one soap yet, take anything I have to say with a biiiig grain of salt. :)
 
babysoapmaker has a good point. You do want enough to do a test batch! If you are doing a 1 lb test batch, 1 oz should be good.

Nurture's Honey I Washed The Kids is supposed to be a Lush dupe, though I can't tell you how good it is. I got Nurturer's Yuzu and Cocoa and it smells soooo much better than the Lush bath bombs.
 
I concur on Oatmeal, Milk and Honey as a good basic scent. If you want to go for toward fresh, check out some citrus fragrances. Sage and Lemongrass from Brambleberry is a great one. I also really love Bamboo and White Grapefruit from Nature's Garden.
 
Ok Ill be the EO proponent - I would recommend Lavender EO if you can only get one. Add Rosemary EO if you can only get two :) I have found exactly one FO that I love (BB fresh cut grass), the rest smell like perfume to me.
My super simple least expensive EO starter list for solo or blending would be:
  • Lavender
  • Rosemary
  • Lemongrass &/or Litsea Cubeba
  • Eucalyptus
  • Peppermint &/or Spearmint
  • Patchouli
  • Cedar (sub if you don't like Patchouli)
  • Geranium Rose
 
When I think clean scent, I would say that I tend to think of green and herbal scents. Rosemary-Mint, Eucalyptus-Mint, Lavender-Mint are all good, clean blends to my nose. I agree, if I could only have one EO it would be lavender. My EO list would be lavender, peppermint, rosemary, litsea and eucalyptus in that order. I happen to love patchouli, so I would add that too.

I've never used, but have read comments on BB Soapy Clean smelling like Tone soap. Kentish Rain is a clean smelling fragrance oil. Avobath might be another to check. Nurture has a version, and great mica selection if that interests you. Fragrance Buddy has a version called Citrus Showers. I'm not crazy about, but a clean smell a lot of people do seem to like is cucumber.

Read the reviews on the fragrance oil spreadsheet, or suppliers websites.
 
I like Nurture's Satsuma Orange. It's a straight up citrus scent, and it's not too complex. I think it smells fresh, invigorating, and clean. It doesn't accelerate, but it does discolor a slight yellow. Also some folks; myself included, think that it causes the soap to stay soft in the mold a bit longer than normal. So plan on giving the soap some extra time before unmolding and cutting.
 
I encourage the sniffing because you may find something where the name or the description doesn't seem like something you'd like, but you like the scent. I used to never get fig scents. I don't like figs. But I have discovered from a few samples that I really dig fig scents.
 
I like the ideas of a couple of EO's and I can pick up the Lavender and Peppermint oils locally. Any suggestions for a lavender-mint blend?
 
You'll only need a tiny amount of mint - that one gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Plus, you have to be careful with usage rates for mint as well. I like 4 parts lavender to 1 part mint.
 

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