CatahoulaBubble
Supporting Member
Fragrance descriptions to me are like a sommelier talking about the notes in wine. I mean I can smell that fragrance and it smells nice but I don't smell the 15 note combination that they describe. I can also drink the wine that a sommelier says tastes or smells like cherries and apple wood with a hint of the spring rains of timbuktu but really I just taste wine. Fragrances are so subjective too. I have customers that constantly buy lavender and I personally do not like the scent of lavender in things. I like fresh lavender in the garden but fragrance and EOs do nothing for me. I also have people request patchouli and I can't stand the scent. It will never cross my doorway and I will never make a soap with patchouli. To me it's a fine balance of what I can stand to smell vs what people like. When I make lavender I do it all in one day and then it goes in a covered rack with an air purifier and a dehumidifier so that it cuts down on the scent permeating the house.Those are some really good points and they got me to realize something: I like it that I have been able to experiment with different basic recipes to develop something I like. I have control over this part.
With fragrance, not so much. I'm new enough to all this that I'm always trying a variety of FOs and EOs and combos, some I like, some I don't. The sellers' descriptions of FOs make them all sound exquisite, but some are certainly better than others in reality. Even reading others' reviews, it takes a lot of experimentation to really get to know what's good -- which gets expensive considering the cost of both the oils and the fragrances. It's more trial and error to find the good ones, while developing basic recipes has a larger component of quantifiable chemistry that I can tweak to get what I want. It's frustrating when I make a batch of "good soap" but the fragrance didn't come through as I'd hoped.
I so very much appreciate this board and all the thoughtful responses I've gotten to my soapy thoughts!