FO reviews: Big Tree, Kody's Candles, Aussie Soap Supplies, NCS, ACS (Aussie)

[seven]

Some FOs i have tried:

All done in CP unless stated otherwise

Kody's
Frangipani: well behaved, did not discount water, no acceleration. Strong scent that sticks well. My fave for frangipani.
Sex on the beach: well behaved, scent did not stick as well as expected
Cucumber melon (bbw dupe?): well behaved, not a dead on dupe
Chocolate (rich): strong scent, discolours, scent lasts and lasts. Nice, rich chocolate scent
Big Tree
Dove (Type): some acceleration noted with water discount. nothing major, will be okay with full water. Quite strong scent. Dead on dupe.
Sandalwood: well behaved, strong scent.
Pink sugar: well behaved, discolours dark brown, even my pink chopped embeds are now slowly going colorless I prefer the scent to be more strong though.
Honey wash kids (lush dupe): tried in HP only, good scent that sticks, i love this.
Bergamot & mandarin: well behaved, scent sticks well
Frankincense & myrrh: well behaved, real strong scent at first, but after a month i found that it has dissipate quite a bit (which is disappointing).
ACS
Lola (Type): well behaved, scent come and go during cure
Honeysuckle jasmine: ricing, major acceleration, strong scent that sticks, but unfortunately i dislike the scent as it is too sickly-chemically-sweet kinda thing
French lavender: well behaved but makes soap crumble big time (pls don't try this for CP, it will def ruin your soap!). Smell a bit chemical which i dislike
Bulgarian rose: slight ricing and acceleration, nice rose smell though
NCS
OMH: love this! well behaved, discolours medium brown (TD helps counter this)
Aussie Soap Supplies (I understand that their FOs came from Brambleberry)
Linden blossom: well behaved, soft-medium floral that sticks well, love this
Cherry blossom: well behaved, no discolouration, soft-medium scent that sticks well
Lavender: well behaved, scent didn't really stick unfortunately (I did use maximum amount)

Those are from the top of my head. Will add more as i go along..

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Can I add some
Big tree:
Honey wash kids: georgeus, sticks well, discolours tan.
American dream: love it, sticks well in my charcoal soap, discolours.
Lotus blossom: slight A&D, but lovely fragrance that lasts well.
Black magic: one of my faves, strong spicy vanilla scent, slight A, discolours dark brown.
Black raspberry & vanilla: another favourite, fragrance sticks well.
Be delicious: well behaved, sticks well, lovely in wax as well.
J&J bedtime dupe: well behaved, sticks well, slight tan discoloration.
Very vanilla: yummy vanilla, slight acceleration, discolores dark brown
Avabathe: ok this one was a disappointment, crazy ricing and acceleratation, I left the soap to gel and set anyway, it was cut as normal but developed DOS were the ricey bits were. In the bin it went.

 

[seven]

thanks for the addition fuzz juzz other aussie soapers, please feel free to add more if you like..

 

[fuzz-juzz]

You're welcome!
I would like to read other reviews as well. They can help when it's so hard to choose from many and to maybe reduce disappointments.
I have few more:

Big tree:
Nectarine/honey: lovely and fresh scent OOB, only rose scent left after cure which is fine by me. Slight ricing, nothing unmanageable.
Pumpkin vanilla pie: lovely spicy scent, not much of pumpkin scent though. Discolours brown.
Pink lemonade: behaves well and has strong scent but to me is just too chemically.
Olive brach: lovely scent, which slightly disappears after cure, well behaved, discolours tan.
Beach (type): well behaved, fresh unisex fragrance, but disappears heaps after cure.

BB from Aussie soap supplies:
Lemon Meyer: lovely & fresh, well behaved.
Wasabi: a BB favourite, I always have soap on hand in this fragrance. Well behaved, discolours tan. Fresh and minty. Lovely fragrance.
Energy: sticks and behaves well. But to chemically in soap.
Lavander and green tea: lovely fresh scent, more green tea than lavender. Behaves and sticks well.
Woodland elves: great Christmas scent, fresh and smells like pines. I was to scared to use it in soap but it's lovely in soy candles.

 

[jade-15]

I actually did a few test soaps a couple of weeks ago and took notes - meaning to write some reviews on here! I have subscribed to this thread so I can grab my notes and write a few things later.
What I will say for now...

I read escentials FOs were rubbish. I was ordering EOs from them, and had been after two FOs for a while just for rebatching soaps - and since this was the only order I placed in a few months, I decided to get them anyway (hoped it would work in the rebatch fine and I could test it in CP - if rubbish just throw it out). Did also go back and re-read comments on here which were from 2 years ago and wondered if perhaps they had changed their FOs.

So, I used chocolate fudge, coffee and some of the vanillas (will add more details later). They all worked beautifully in my rebatch, smelled like chocolate & coffee should.
For my CP, I used a purposefully slow-tracing batch for my testers, and was disappointed to not have any ricing or seizing (I wanted to experience it in a nice little batch!). I also soaped cool, and only tested one soap bar at a time.
All of them had some cracks on top from overheating (which the plain and other FOs didnt have). Could cut these back and make smooth.

Escentials
Vanilla sugar: Dark brown discolouration, bad smell (chemically and yuck)
Vanilla musk: Accelerate +, dark brown discolouration, heavy vanilla scent - like a perfume
Vanilla bean sweet: Dark brown discolouration, vanilla and sugary smell - reminds me of fairy floss, a bit fake
Chocolate fudge: Tan brown discolouration, overheated, very weak scent that's mostly chemical and gross
Coffee bean: Tan brown discolouration, mild overheating, very nice coffee scent

I WILL try the coffee again in a larger batch, but will be certain to freeze it.
Chocolate I will use in rebatching.
But I won't be buying those FOs again!

 

[seven]

i've also only tried EOs from escentials. not my fave supplier that one coz they ship sooooo slow and their packing was rubbish.

i have to say that their EOs are good and well priced though.

 

[jade-15]

I've only placed one order for EOs, and found it well packed...
I will probably continue using them for my EO supplies as they are quite well priced. I have been slowy doing a comparison chart with prices and, on average, escentials is cheaper for a lot of oils and butters.

Got my notes out and typed them up... Will edit the above comment of mine as I got my chocolate & coffee mixed up!

So this is what I have - assume no discolouration or acceleration, unless otherwise stated.

Brambleberry

Black raspberry & vanilla: Mild scent
Warm Vanilla Sugar: Accelerate +; Pleasant scent, reminds me of baking; Soap still really soft at 5 days (anyone else have this?)
Celestial waters: Accelerate ++,; Good strength smell, almost fruity - makes me think of twilight colours
Summer Fling: Smells nice
Plumeria: Very mild scent, smells like “frangipani” scented objects, not true frangipani
Sun ripened raspberry: Accelerate ++; Weak smell, a bit like floral perfume
Sleeping angels: Accelerate +;
Pomegranate (discontinued): Accelerate +; Very very slightly darker at five days; Very faint smell
Bonsai: Accelerate ++; Slight greyish discolouration; Fresh scent, but reminds me of aftershave... not sure if I like it
Lemon verbena: Accelerate ++; Scent reminds me of lemon myrtle

 

[Relle]

thanks for the addition fuzz juzz other aussie soapers, please feel free to add more if you like..

There are old threads about FO's and EO's in here that soapers have tried.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I did read through few threads. But the thing is some suppliers are not selling certain scents anymore or have added new ones in their stock. Like for example Big Tree, few scents I liked got discontinued but there's also many new ones which probably haven't been mentioned on those threads. IMO bit of an update is not a bad idea. Some soapers might benefit from these few reviews.

 

[jules92207]

Thank you, Seven - I just mashed and froze some strawberries and needed a good strawberry fragrance!

 

[Relle]

i'm going to add some from SOS (save on scents)

strawberry (body shop dupe): well behaved on cp, scent sticks.
love spell (VS dupe): amazing! i love this one! very very well behaved.
very sexy (Vs dupe): slight ricing on 32% lye conc. nothing major. will use full water next time
coconut lime verbena: well behaved, not a dead on dupe tho.

Thought this was for Aussie suppliers. Are these available here ? Haven't seen any suppliers here selling them.

 

[seven]

no, they're not. my bad sorry. moved to a more appropriate thread

Big Tree
Fresh cut roses: for a floral, this one behaves quite well. i dont recommend too much water discount though.

Kody's candles
Mint chocolate chip: behaves very well, lovely smell. like any other FOs from Kody's, you have to use a bit much. at least 6-7% from total oils for a long lasting scent.