Lot to lot variation or mess up??

[gdawgs]

I ordered two sample sets from BB, the "Best of" set and the "Men's Fragrance" set. Both sets came with a "Tobacco and Bay Leaf" and a "Sensuous Sandlewood". However, out of bottle the two bottles of each set smell very different. One bottle of the Tobacco smells exactly what you would expect it to smell like, the other one is fruity smelling. For the sandlewood, one smells earthy and woodsy, the other is fruity and florally.
Have any of you noticed a significant difference in scents out of the bottle like this? I'm just wondering if there is that much lot to lot variation or did someone put the wrong thing in one of the bottles

Also, last night I made a batch of Spiced Mahogany that came in one of the kits. On the bottle it says it may accelerate, cause ricing, and will discolor to dark brown. I didn't see any of these things happen. Because I was expecting it to turn dark brown, I didn't add any colorant. It's as white as can be! So I'm just curious if that one could be wrong as well, or does the discoloration have a lot to do with the oils you use(e.g some recipes will discolor, others may not??)? After sniffing this batch this morning, it smells almost identical to the "Shave and a Haircut" batch I made a couple weeks ago.

 

[Steve85569]

Give the soap some time to discolor. Nag Champa doesn't start to do it's thing for several days but when it does it keeps going...

 

[lenarenee]

I ordered two sample sets from BB, the "Best of" set and the "Men's Fragrance" set. Both sets came with a "Tobacco and Bay Leaf" and a "Sensuous Sandlewood". However, out of bottle the two bottles of each set smell very different. One bottle of the Tobacco smells exactly what you would expect it to smell like, the other one is fruity smelling. For the sandlewood, one smells earthy and woodsy, the other is fruity and florally.
Have any of you noticed a significant difference in scents out of the bottle like this? I'm just wondering if there is that much lot to lot variation or did someone put the wrong thing in one of the bottles

Also, last night I made a batch of Spiced Mahogany that came in one of the kits. On the bottle it says it may accelerate, cause ricing, and will discolor to dark brown. I didn't see any of these things happen. Because I was expecting it to turn dark brown, I didn't add any colorant. It's as white as can be! So I'm just curious if that one could be wrong as well, or does the discoloration have a lot to do with the oils you use(e.g some recipes will discolor, others may not??)? After sniffing this batch this morning, it smells almost identical to the "Shave and a Haircut" batch I made a couple weeks ago.

Sounds possible there was some reformulating. Did you notice any notes on the website that gave a date when fo was reformulated?

And yes, I have ordered the same fo and been disappointed that it wasn't the same, but those were from a company that didn't have notes about reformulating. Specifically, Redwood from Rustic Escentual - very different the second time I ordered it, but no notes on it being reformulated.

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with Steve, some fragrances take time to darken and change. As for the scents smelling so vastly different I would contact BB and ask if there may be a mix up with labeling. Generally fragrances are pretty darn close from one to the other. I would be concerned if they are so very different.

 

[IrishLass]

I could be wrong, but I'm leaning heavily towards it being a mix-up. I've had that happen before, but with a different vendor. I ordered a fragrance from them once that was supposed to be bursting with notes of berries, jasmine and rose, with a dry-down of sandalwood and almond, but what they actually sent me was their FO called Vaniglia del Madagascar, a fragrance I was quite familiar with because it's one that I always had on hand from them, but the bottle they sent me was labeled with the name of the FO that was supposed to be bursting with berries, etc...

I agree with Shari- if it's a reformulation, they should still smell pretty darn close to one another. At least that has always been my experience.

I would contact BB about it.


IrishLass

 

[gdawgs]

I don't see any notes about reformulation for either of these. There is a number on the bottle that matches on both bottles. I'm thinking it may be lot numbers, but it's hard to say. When I search for that number on their website, nothing comes up, so it's probably not a part number.


We'll see what happens on the discoloration, but I don't think it's going to do anything. I'm at 24 hours and it's still white as can be. I have used a couple different fragrances that discolor and those did it almost right away. This one says it has 5% vanillin, which I thought was supposed to discolor quite a bit. I know Bramble Berry has an instant messaging service during the day, I might send them a note tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[gdawgs]

Well I just got done chatting with BB. The gal agrees that something doesn't seem right. So she offered to send me another men's kit(since I think that's the one that was messed up), or she could throw together a sampler of her choice, or I could send her a list of ones to try. So I'm going to put together a list. Anyone have any must have scents from BB (that aren't in the men's or best of sets)? I am going to get another spiced Mahogany and Sensuous sandalwood since I'd really like to know what they smell like.

I must say that I'm pretty impressed with BB so far.

 

[IrishLass]

I love these from them:

Soapy Clean (smell just like Tone soap)
Kentish Rain
Orange EO 10X
Cedar & Saffron
Passionfruit Rose (it's a dual FO and flavor oil. I haven't soaped with it yet, but it's awesome in lip balm)
Yuzu


IrishLass

 

[doriettefarm]

These are my top picks:

Black Tea
Chipotle Caramel
Lavender & Cedar
Tomato Leaf

 

[snappyllama]

Ginger patchouli is one I love from them. It sticks really well and is perfectly behaved - kinda a unisex scent. It's actually one of my favorite FOs from anywhere.
Cold Water might be in their men's collection. If not, try that one. It's a great clean/masculine FO.
Champagne is an awesome blender. It smells like bubbles!
Dark Rich Chocolate is a good chocolate.
Honey Ale is lovely in beer soap where it gets a slightly sweet hoppy scent.
10X Orange EO is great and actually sticks!

 

[McMomWV]

Bramble Berry's customer service is fantastic. I've been spoiled by Amazon so the shipping wait drives me crazy - I'm on East coast.
My favorites not in the kit:
Lavender and Cedar
Lavender 40/42
10x Orange
Champagne (I love smelling bubbles, pairs well with Anjou Pear FO)

 

[gdawgs]

Well here's what I put together. I grabbed at least one from each of you who threw out suggestions. My wife loves gardenia and honeysuckle, so I put those in there too. I probably don't need to order a sensuous sandalwood, because I'm pretty sure I figured out which is the correct one that I have.

Sensuous Sandalwood
Spiced Mahogany
Yuzu Cybilla
Tomato Leaf
Ginger Patchouli
Lavender and Cedar
Cedar and Saffron
Black Tea
Heavenly Honeysuckle
Winter Gardenia
Gardenia
Yacht Club

I've done quite a bit more sniffing and I figured a few things out. I have bottles of Shave and a Haircut, Tobacco, Sandalwood, and Spiced Mahogany that were mislabeled. The Mahogany is actually Shave and a Haircut. The mislabeled shave and a haircut is actually Sandalwood(well I'm about 90% sure of it anyway). But I still have the bottle of tobacco and one sandalwood that I'm not sure of. I don't think I actually got a Spiced Mahogany. I'll find out once the new set gets here.

Thanks again!