Do you use FOs you hate to make others happy?

[mx5inpenn]

For the life of me I will never understand why people like the smell of lavender. But a lot of people do, so I always have a few bars of it. Now why don't more people like the smell of Dragon's Blood...... :think:

Add me to the lavender hater list! It's supposed to be a relaxing smell, but leads to a migraine for me. Since purple is my favorite color, I am always gifted purple candles, body products, etc. They end up going to my mother's.

 

[Rusti]

Add me to the lavender hater list! It's supposed to be a relaxing smell, but leads to a migraine for me. Since purple is my favorite color, I am always gifted purple candles, body products, etc. They end up going to my mother's.

See, I didn't like lavender either at first, but it's begun to grow on me. I do find it very soothing if I'm stressed out and looking for a gentler remedy than wine to start with. And the EO is great for bug bites. The itching goes away so fast!

 

[artemis]

See, I didn't like lavender either at first, but it's begun to grow on me.

Same here. I hated lavender anything. Then, after I started having children, everyone gifted me with lavender EVERYTHING. I think it became the smell of babies (and cuddling and quiet times) for me.

 

[lenarenee]

Add me to the lavender hater list! It's supposed to be a relaxing smell, but leads to a migraine for me. Since purple is my favorite color, I am always gifted purple candles, body products, etc. They end up going to my mother's.

I only like lavender when it's outside in the garden - never in oil form.

I once used it at night in a diffuser only because it IS supposed to be relaxing - thought I'd suck it up and tolerate it so I could get some sleep. Nope! It irritated the heck out of me and I lost sleep after spending 2 hours trying to get the scent out of my room!!

 

[CaraBou]

Oh man, I love a good lavender. To me, it's not even a floral -- it's just... well... lavender! But I'm super picky; it can't be too camphorey or perfumey, and it has to have that spicy lavender edge to it. Mind you, I'm talking EO only. The best lavender I've found isn't available anymore; not sure how I'll recover when my bottle is gone.

As for whether I'll soap something I don't like: not if I have to order it. I have too many FOs I don't like to go ordering a crap shoot. EOs might be different, because in my mind they're straight scents that lend themselves to blending better.

 

[makemineirish]

As for whether I'll soap something I don't like: not if I have to order it. I have too many FOs I don't like to go ordering a crap shoot.

I can certainly understand that. although, I slipped this one into an order with free shipping. In this case, I don't have anything I thought would work as the person I want to please likes everything I hate. While I have FOs that failed to live up to my high expectations based on descriptions or reviews, it is hard for me to bring myself to use them in anything. It is not that I want to waste the fragrance. It is that I do not want to waste my oils, micas, time, and creativity on a lackluster result. I don't sell, so everything gets gifted or used by me. I live with the product or reviews forever after.

EOs might be different, because in my mind they're straight scents that lend themselves to blending better.

This is actually one of my FO pet peeves. I often have a "vision" of what I want to achieve. My ideas originate from various points. Sometimes it starts with a fragrance, sometimes a swirl technique, perhaps a type of soap, maybe a color palette, occasionally a destination, or even a literary description. However, I always have a really clear concept. This often leads me into weird wormholes.

For instance, I specifically wanted a black currant to combine with some other notes. However, it is incredibly difficult to find one-note iterations of anything. A search on Fragrance Oil Finder will give me any number of results as long as I don't mind it in combination with strawberry, mulberry, apple, rose, jasmine, citrus, sandalwood, vanilla, peony, pomegranate...and the list goes on. While any of these may be lovely scents, none of them work for my plan.

From Nature With Love is the only company that offers a one-note variation. In fairness, they seem to have quite a few one-note FOs. However, the vendor reviews on Soap Scent Review Board were not promising and I failed to reach customer service. It seemed a waste of money.

It is nice that EOs are slightly more predictable but I am still surprised by the difference between vendors at times. Unfortunately, a black currant EO is not an option

 

[Stacyspy]

Two words... Fairy Garden. It's my very least favorite scent. Ever. It's also my very best seller.... sigh

 

[Arimara]

I'm going to try lavandin grosso in place of lavender. I'm not always keen on the latter, especially if it's an FO. I have Johnson's baby products to thank for that. I do excuse Aveeno's lavender scented items since they have a powdery note to them (chamomile maybe?) and it softened the lavender quite a bit.

Generally speaking, I am the only one bent on scents and I refuse to not do so unless it irritates or really offends noses. I like the thought of enjoying a few scents in the shower and I found a scent my daughter didn't gag to.

 

[dixiedragon]

I fully agree. The standard 40/20 lavender falls under the heading of camphorous or medicinal to me which even sounds unappealing. I can handle French or floral iterations, but it is still not my preference...just less unappealing than other options (like voting:mrgreen. Even nicer interpretations tend to be reminiscent of cleaning products given that it is such a popular choice.

My only explanation is biological wiring and emotional conditioning. With biological wiring (scientifically inaccurate, I know), I think of that conversation in the Matrix where Mouse ponders,

I assume that one of the reasons is that other people simply smell things differently than I do. Maybe I would like their version

Like everybody, I am aware of the emotional component of scent recognition. Maybe I would feel differently about the aroma of lavender if it was a scent associated with hugging my grandmother. My best correlation is horse droppings. I grew up with horses and have only positive associations with a barn. Nevertheless, I have no desire to combine the scent of manure, sweat, leather and hay into a signature scent. (It is the only fragrance where an "animalistic" note might actually make sense to me.) But I can certainly acknowledge that that particular aroma has a certain nostalgia for me that it might not hold for other people. It is even conceivable that I MIGHT enjoy a candle that recreated the experience in my workroom...but I would still use a much heavier hand with the hay and leather notes. I like a CLEAN barn

Wheels are turning....I might need to make that candle after all.

I love that idea! Leather (BTW, I'm really digging Bitter Creeks leather FO), some kind of grass/hay scent and some kind of woody scent. I wonder if you made it a salt bar if you'd get just a hint of saltiness like clean horse sweat?

 

[Rusti]

I love that idea! Leather (BTW, I'm really digging Bitter Creeks leather FO), some kind of grass/hay scent and some kind of woody scent. I wonder if you made it a salt bar if you'd get just a hint of saltiness like clean horse sweat?

I agree, I'd totally find a leather/hay/woody scent interesting!

 

[makemineirish]

My late husband loved Nag Champa and so do i. In fact, he told me I never had to use another other scent as far as he was concerned. My daughter and other family members love it as well. In fact, I should be making more soon!

Do you have a favorite Nag Champa that you have found?