FO: What's wrong wiht my olfactory senses?

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

AhZo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Messages
268
Reaction score
175
Location
Canada
Hello.
I am no only beginner but also quite daft.
I started MP soap because it sounded like fun and I was using Essential Oils to help ease fibro symptoms, then added soy candles, body washes (premade, just mix in fragrance and thickener, etc), beard oil, etc. Looking at trying a moustache wax and/or beard balm today.

My experiences with fragrance in my life have not been very mainstream. I usually detest and/or am allergic to most mainstream scents (Febreze, laundry detergents, popular bourgie trends, Glade, Axe, etc).

Anyhoo, have been purchasing from several different retailers here in Canada. I've been using EOs, but have tried a few FOs. Recently picked up 3. They are horrid. Vile, even. The plumeria smells NOTHING like pumeria, more like fake fruit. The "whiskey bar" smells like someone who can't afford to be in a whiskey bar who picked up a discarded fragrance sample in the garbage of a cheep gas station. And the sandlawood smells very little like sandalwood, but again: I haven't really worn sandlawood oils since my hippie days (read: seeing the Grateful Dead. Yeah: Im old).

So, question: am I missing something?
Do I need to let them rest for abit? (put some on blotters and let them rest for a few hours so far...still >blech!<)
Do FOs tend to smell okeydokey to most people and I'm an outlier?
Should I try a small batch of candles to see if they smell right *in* something?
Or are these just bad and good oens exist out there?

It's a shame that brick and mortar stores are in such scarcity, but we'll just add that to the list of complainst along with all those kids on my lawn. ;)
 
I can say Plumeria is a hard fragrance oil to find a realistic smelling one. I know of a very good one that is quite realistic but it is from a US supplier and you have to use a shipping forwarder to purchase from California Candle Supply which is a shame because he has some very nice fragrances. Saponificarian might be able to help you out, sent her a message.
 
I can say Plumeria is a hard fragrance oil to find a realistic smelling one. I know of a very good one that is quite realistic but it is from a US supplier and you have to use a shipping forwarder to purchase from California Candle Supply which is a shame because he has some very nice fragrances. Saponificarian might be able to help you out, sent her a message.

Thank you for the response cmzaha

It's not as much finding the specific plumeria scent, it's more that I'm wondering if these scents get better with time and/or use, or is this just another matter of "I don't find pleasing what the mainstream finds pleasing". (See also: fast food, any chain restaurant, ryan gosling, cell pho9nes, Top40 music, romcoms, etc)

hoping there are other curmudgeons to find solidarity or pehraps a "just do this and it'll all be fine" (barring lobotomies or other more drastic measures)

Although I'm not opposed to lobotomy
Its' frustrating for me and with the demise of brick and mortar stores I see no resolution except to spend much money on random fragrances. surely theres a btter solution just not seeing any so far. Eeek!
 
@Creepy a lot of FOs and EOs smell like a chemical soup to me. I rarely find that an FO smells better in soap than it does in the bottle. It may smell different, but not better.

Others that I do like, will give me headaches. It can be quite frustrating to weed through lots of FOs that either smell terrible to me, or give me a headache, or both. Wish I had a solution for you, but the only things that work for me are to read reviews, spend $$$ on highly recommended fragrances, and stay away from fragrance "types" that I know will set me off (fruity smells, for instance), or that I just don't like (most but not all spicy smells).
 
@Creepy a lot of FOs and EOs smell like a chemical soup to me. I rarely find that an FO smells better in soap than it does in the bottle. It may smell different, but not better.

Others that I do like, will give me headaches. It can be quite frustrating to weed through lots of FOs that either smell terrible to me, or give me a headache, or both. Wish I had a solution for you, but the only things that work for me are to read reviews, spend $$$ on highly recommended fragrances, and stay away from fragrance "types" that I know will set me off (fruity smells, for instance), or that I just don't like (most but not all spicy smells).

Thank you AliOop.
I fear that this will require a greater investment in research.
Alternatives include finding my brethren curmudgeonly ilk and their reviews. :D
 
Well, I'm in a senior community so we don't have kids on lawns here.

When we lived in a more typical neighborhood, I had the most trouble with the neighbors who let their dogs bark day and night, and then do their business on our lawn. I love doggies but some of their owners... o_O:oops:😝
 
If you let the fragrance oils sit for at least 24 hours after arrival, they can smell differently. Overall, a concentrated fragrance could smell different once diluted. When I smelled caramel apple (or something like that) from crafters choice, all I could smell was the vanilla out of the bottle. In the soap I could mostly smell the apple notes, so that was a nice surprise. It is a bit of a gamble with most fragrances though.
 
If you let the fragrance oils sit for at least 24 hours after arrival, they can smell differently. Overall, a concentrated fragrance could smell different once diluted. When I smelled caramel apple (or something like that) from crafters choice, all I could smell was the vanilla out of the bottle. In the soap I could mostly smell the apple notes, so that was a nice surprise. It is a bit of a gamble with most fragrances though.
thank you for this. I wasnt sure how much things coule change, but I think I may try a test run.
I ut the 3 in question on blotters and let them 'rest'and I'd say they're slightly better. I just dont want to ruin a whole batch of soap or candles with cacapoopoo fragrance-esque chemical blech.
just after yelling at the kids on my lawn I'll reminisce about the days there were these things called brick and mortar stores...
 
@Creepy I don't know if this would be of interest to you or not. I've never used Stock Fragrance, but have heard very good things. These samples might not tell you everything you need to know, but it would give you an idea.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top