NaughtyNancy

I find that Bulk Apothecary and most recently in my ventures with Wholesale Supplies Plus, both have hella strong fragrance oils. I've also had some from Brambleberry that have been extremely strong. I recently tried their "pepperberry" FO, and it was so intensely strong and concentrated in the bottle that at first I was very disappointed and thought it reeked horribly. I went ahead and did the q-tip drydown test, anyway, and once it mellowed out very nicely, it smelled good, still super strong but not blow-my-eyebrows-off overpowering. Others have been hit or miss for me. I find a lot of Rustic Escentual FO's to be soft and to fade quickly or smell soapy when fading, for example, but there have been exceptions. For example, their "just peachy" FO is very strong and long-lasting, and actually smells wonderfully like juicy peaches. I also get the hit or miss thing from Nature's Garden. Some of their FO's have smelled nice but been super weak and fast fading for me, while some of them have been much stronger so that a little goes a long ways. I think some of it, too, might be telling in the transparency. For example RE/NG offer dilution guidelines and seem to care about product safety. I can't say the same for Bulk Apothecary, so also sometimes I weigh pros/cons differently depending on personal fragrance item vs home fragrance item. Some types of FO in my own experience are notorious for being weak across the market, such as sandalwood FO, usually weak regardless of company, or you might get a very strong scent but that's a straight up juniper wood sort of smell, and is only labeled with a sandalwood name, so with some scent types I think it's worth it to blend your own from stronger and simple FO's.

Just received an email from brambleberry saying that they are reformulating their fragrances due to the shortage, says it will be in effect through 2018.

You never know for sure until you try, I guess. Could do a small batch at first (in the style you like) and give it a try. Only part of it needs to tie in with a popular theme. The scent names alone could put the right twist on things, and then the items fit a theme, while also standing out as something interesting from the usual, too. There is also the case that, with something very popular (high demand), there will also be a lot of competition (high supply), whereas with something lower in demand, there will be less supply, as well. So it sort of evens out, if there is enough traffic overall. Someone with niche tastes that are not catered to much by the larger commercial scene, will often more eagerly buy up something that suits their tastes. Whereas someone who wants a 'country linens' scent knows that they can find that pretty much anywhere, and will tend to be much more selective, only purchasing if something really wows them or is a really low price. I have had that experience both as a customer, and as a seller (small sales only, no official big branding yet). I make mostly personal fragrance items, and have dabbled in candle making, but I much prefer to buy handmade soap than try to make it myself. So I am always hitting up the soap ladies at festivals and such, and I'm usually that customer that pops up and buys a bunch of something that most people weren't interested in. I love patchouli, for example, so if they have a strong-smelling patchouli soap batch in the mix, I'm gonna be all up in that tent like how many do you have? Anyway I personally like a sort of earthy and subculture look combined, when I decorate/label my items. The retailers in my area that would potentially be interested (as I've been scoping them out lately) are a split between "Pure Michigan" rustic themes and then gothic/head shop/subculture mashup themes. So the logo ideas I have been sketching and working on have been trying to get both worlds in a bit, while also being looks that I personally like (I like somewhat darker/mysterious and nature-themed designs, myself, and like to make items that are earthier, muskier and/or warmer). One example I have been toying with is a moth design and a dark background, black tins, and the moth design comes in a handful of colors (for different scents). They can be interpreted differently based on their surrounding context (other items and the feel of the overall shop), as either nature-themed (for the pure Michigan angle, which tends to be a lot of rustic mixed with outdoorsy), as well as sort of gothic subculture (for the shops that cater to that appeal). If I was faced with a "country" sort of market, then I would probably just tweak the texture of the logo in an online editor, give it a kind of rustic-vintage look and use more brown than black. And change the fragrance names up a bit. But the moth would stay, the brand name would stay, the shape/size of the container would stay. It would still be my brand's tastes, just with a bit of a twist on it. Like with something like this, the names of the scents, plus a tiny, simple graphic that fits the market theme, again could cater to the higher demand, while still being unique. In an ocean of red candles with big burlap bows (or whatever is the case), you offer something sleeker that can blend in easily with almost any home decor style, but you've got this cute little logo or graphic on the candle that signals a personal appeal to the customer. Like a cute little pine cone (random example here) on a coniferous scented candle, it signals the customer with tastes that are rustic, woodsy, etc but still offers that sleeker and minimalist aesthetic. They can go just about anywhere in the area and find a bunch of mason jars with burlap (again if that is the case), but your candles provide options, and options feel like empowerment, and customers like feeling empowered (exercising choice is exercising personal expression). As an example. You can totally work it without having to completely sacrifice your own personal expression.

Their purple sandalwood FO is pretty nice, blends well with just about anything in my own experience.

I use tea tree and virgin coconut oil for almost everything for myself. I also harvest the black walnut hulls from my tree and make tinctures every years, as soaking my feet with it diluted in warm water helps my pedestrian feet issues a lot. Always have eucalyptus and lavender on hand due to half my social circle being smokers (eucalyptus for the annual bronchitis event) & (lavender for all the anxiety stuff). I make a spray blend of orange, lavender, clary sage and peppermint for the seasonal depression folks, they use it in the morning to help wake up in the months when it's dark and cold. Those are all my top essential oils. Mountain Rose Herbs is my favorite company since I love how genuinely passionate they are about being eco-friendly / organic, supporting small and isolated communities around the world and going for fair trade when they can. I also trust them which is a huge deal for me when it comes to the state of the essential oils industry. Only side effect I've ever experienced/ seen is that tea tree oil can be pretty aggressive, can irritate and dry out skin if not used carefully, same with black walnut. For oily types like myself though it's great.

Still need to do lilac solid lotions for all the grandmothers' presents. They all think lilac is the best thing ever, so it makes it pretty simple. I also ordered a little bit of the tobacco fragrance oil from piping rock, the half ounce size to try it, and it smells SO BAD lol. It smells so bad it's funny. Like goodness gracious bad. Everyone who has visited since I got it and has been brave enough to sniff it (I gave them all honest warnings) was like omg?!?!?! with looks of shocked disgust. So I ordered some really cheap melt and pour soap and bought some festive gift tissue paper from the dollar store. Going to make some gag gifts with it (the one side of my family loves gag gifts to the point that they are kind of disappointed if there are not any 'funny' gifts in the whole bunch at the annual gathering). So I will be bringing some of the lulz this year. Going to wrap them up with makeshift tags, introducing my new line of luxury soaps.. hehehe. But then will have all the solid lotion faves on backup as the real gifts.

Nice! Curious how those 2 sandalwood ones do outside the bottle. I love their patchouli saffron, it's like earthy and warm incense, reminds me of something but can't quite put my finger on it.

Ooo which ones did you order, if you don't mind sharing? So many were sold out already when I went to try new stuff during their black Friday / cyber Money sales, so they still have some that I want to sample when I do my next round with them. I'll be looking forward to your reviews!

This is a bit outside the box, but the jasmine fragrance oil by "NOW" foods brand is very heady, very strong and apparently very nice to people who like jasmine. I can't really comment on the last bit as I am not very into florals, myself, but the people in my social circle who like florals think it's awesome for potpourri and other small aroma things I have made. I have only ever bought it off amazon pack of 2 bottles 1oz each for $11, don't know there is a better deal elsewhere. However the downside is that I don't feel comfortable using it in any skin products because the company is not forthcoming about what is in the fragrance oil (like phthalates or nah?) and doesn't give any dilution recommendations at all. They are a bit sketch, like most EO and FO sellers on amazon lol. I'm a bit of a whatever person when it comes to putting stuff on my own skin, but I am more serious about safety when it comes to stuff I make for other people. If I can't empower people to make their own health decisions, i.e. I can't inform people about what is in an item, then I don't feel comfortable having them slather it onto their body. I checked to see what your profile says you make and saw candles, though I figured I would mention it. So anyway though for potpourri, car fresheners and little candles it is really strong and apparently smells really good to people who like really feminine heady floral stuff. I have tried getting jasmine FO from more reputable companies for people who want it in skin care products, but have noticed the same sort of perfumey/soapy quality. Most recently I tried waterlily/jasmine FO from rustic esentuals. It doesn't smell bad at all, but has a more perfumey laundry detergent kind of quality to it as opposed to rich/heady.

Only beer themed FO I have tried is roasted oatmeal stout from bulk apothecary but it just smells like cookies. Good oatmeal brown sugar cookie FO but nothing beer/stout about it. However I can tell that bulk apothecary does their own blending and so someone else's oatmeal stout FO might smell quite different. Just have a handful of same-name FO's between bulk apothecary and other companies, and bulk apothecary's all smell different from others with the same name.

So far it is just icky in everything. It has been banished to the shelf of "fragrances I don't know what to do with but can't bring myself to throw away, either" lol. However, witches brew bloomed all the way in a solid perfume, came out smelling a lot like a damp, earthy Autumn leaves sort of smell, rather than just straight up patchouli. So hey there's that! I bet it would make for an awesome candle scent.

You into foodie type scents mostly? I think I could roughly categorize most of the people I make solid lotions / solid perfumes / etc for - the foodie people, the flower people, the citrus people and the dirty hippies (like me ) Mmm I'm gonna have to try it the next time I stock on my cuban tobacco and such. Well, if it helps you feel any better, I wish I could make candles like you, haha. I mostly enjoy FO's for personal fragrance items, so I tend to carry on about them like they're books or something. Here is my first attempt at candles (I saved the photos because it cracked me up so bad):

Do you find that the vanilla/cream note or the coffee note smells more dominant than the other, or is about an even ratio? Curious because I'm starting to develop a bit of a thing for coffee FO's hehe. I ordered many samples from wholesales supplies plus, my first time trying this company. Definitely more winners than duds, which was a really pleasant surprise. Some of them are pretty strong, too, which was also a really pleasant surprise since I wasn't paying a higher than usual price, just approx $3.50/oz, when normally when I want something stronger I have to go to bulk apothecary, but they charge approx $6/oz. So all around am extremely happy with wholesales supplies plus. They took a while to process my order, but once it shipped it was here in just a couple days, so that evened out and was a reasonable time overall. Hrmm let's see.. (forgive me yall I have a thing for earth/wood/musk and misc masculine). Faves are bold/underlined: Oakmoss Sandalwood - smells mossy fresh but not ozonic fresh, definite notes of wood and citrus, it's nice Masculine Musk - smells like a soft and high end cologne Dirt - seriously smells just like fresh damp potting soil, crazy how spot on this scent is, it's super realistic Pumpkin Peppercorn - very rich and warm, smells absolutely delicious, like warm toast covered in apple pumpkin butter Indonesian Teakwood - fresh from the bottle it smells bad to me, like fruit punch and very sharp wood note, but given about 20 minutes out of the bottle and the fruitiness fades, and the wood softens, and it's a mellow mildly sweet wood scent, I had considered it a dud but when I went to round up the cotton qtips when I was done sampling, its scent had greatly improved Spank Me Leather - smells like warm ink and paper, like that smell of warm paper fresh from the printer with a lot of ink on it, and a faint hint of cold leather, reeeeeally like this one, also seems very nuanced and versatile, made me think "tattoo parlor" on first impression Vanilla Oak - definitely woody, with a mild sweetness, but not overtly vanilla, just a sort of soft and mysterious sort of sweetness to it, pleasant Tuscan Cedarwood - smells to me like a softer and slightly woodier version of rustic escentuals' cuban tobacco Burmese Woods - to me smells exactly like essence of Jesus by rustic escentuals, and I mean exactly like it, which threw me off, and unfortunately just like that one, to me it does not smell woody at all and is a little off to me Cashmere Suede - to me smells like damp burlap bags and celery, it's like I want to like it but all I can think of is celery when I smell it Black Cashmere - sooooooooo good, like warm linens, soft musk (but not powdery, just soft and smooth) and soft earth, I find it very relaxing Oud & Incense - to me this smells very much like ho wood essential oil, a very bright and clean wood smell Sandalwood - this hands down smell exactly like juniperis virginiana essential oil, commonly marketed as cedar wood essential oil but different from atlas cedar essential oil, so smells exactly like juniper wood, I had to get the two side by side because I thought surely there had to be a difference, but nope, exactly the same smell, disappointing for a sandalwood fragrance, but if someone wants a juniper wood smell or the smell of "cedar wood" essential oil as it is commonly marketed, this is basically a perfect replica scent of that Dragons Blood - am not a fan, the citrus is very strong in it, but I don't think citrus was listed in the description, had been looking forward to a non-citrus dragon's blood interpretation, and this smells mostly like oranges, and out of the bottle the smells just kept getting weirder and weirder, but I am biased against citrus half the time, so it might smell amazing to a lot of other people, the earthy and woody qualities did come out a lot more during the dry down but it just smells off to me in nose scrunching way Sandalwood Patchouli - this smells nothing like sandalwood nor patchouli to me, but it does smell amazing, it is soft but has staying power, a rare combo, is slightly masculine but pretty unisex, and is ultimately an extremely smooth and mildly warm musk, neutral and not powdery, will be excellent for adding depth to fragrance blends Witches Brew - for real just smells like straight up patchouli, I can't detect the cedar or cinnamon at all, love patchouli so I can make good use of this fragrance, but I think anyone expecting something more complex would be disappointed (at least this is the case for the bottle I received) Tabac and Leather - very strong, very smooth and masculine, very nice, does not have a sharp or chemically cologne smell to it which I often get when trying more complex masculine fragrance oils, so am very happy with this one Leather - not a fan, does not smell like a rugged or worn leather smell, but instead to me has a chemically smell like a new car scent, just very sharp and chemically, but I think if someone was aiming for that specific new car sort of scent then this one would work really well for it

Not yet but I want to! It looks like it would be really nice for blending. I just received my big box of samples from wholesale supplies plus so that was my big sampling splurge for December. Got a few really nice masculine scents from them. Though the sample that impressed me the most was Dirt LOL. I can't get over how much it really does smell like potting soil, it's crazy.

Tried some new FO's from bramble berry with my latest order of wax. I had ordered some bergamot black tea FO to try since my mother and her friends like citrus, and because I like to spoil people lol. I personally am not a fan of citrus nor perfumey scents. I gotta say this is hands down the nicest and most elegant citrus FO I have ever smelled, and it holds up really well in wax and butter. I don't like perfumey scents but this smells like a very classy high end sort of perfume smell to me. The citrus is soft and so it doesn't smell culinary. It is very feminine but not in a powdery floral way. All the citrus gals so far who have tried it really love it, too. Solid lotions galore. Anyway just pretty impressed with that one, thought I'd share. They also sent me a sample of rose quartz FO and to me it basically smells like red Kool-aid powder, plus sleigh ride FO which to me kind of smells like if some wintergreen gum and big red gum were mixed together, honestly smells pretty bad to me, and so far nobody likes it. Bergamot black tea though A++ in my book, even as someone who usually avoids citrus like the plague. Seriously every time I am dragged to Lush with my sister in law I'm just like yall have anything in this store that doesn't smell like fruit and they will bring me some coffee beans massage bar from the back like, "Uh... this."

Most FO's I go for are of the musk/earthy/wood/spice sorts. That said, bulk apothecary FO has been the strongest for me. I couldn't say how their fruity or floral ones compare, as examples. I go for stuff like tobacco vanilla, patchouli saffron, frankincense & myrrh.. I do also really like their white pepper lavender which is technically a floral I guess, but not a soft or light sort. I have tried some culinary themed FO from them and all have been extremely strong. That roasted oatmeal stout one about blows my eyebrows off with the smell of cookies when I open the bottle. I have my faves from a handful of places, and yeah the shipping is brutal unless I already know what I like/want and can do a bulk order. Once I know what I like and am just ordering bulk staples it's not as big a deal. But when exploring & sampling it's killer. I tend to save up a while and then do a huge order of samples from a new company to save money, like free shipping for orders over $X or other offers. With bulk apothecary they really seem to favor earthier blending, which I love, personally, but not all people do. Sandalwood patch FO from them is like a very earthy musk with some hints of sandalwood coming out during its dry down. They also tend to lean sharper and woodier. For example frankincense from natures garden smells of powdery incense. Essence of Jesus from rustic escentuals - supposed to be a woody myrrh scent IIRC - smells like mildly warm sweet tea with hints of cinnamon to me. It's certainly not bad but a far cry from woody. Frankincense & myrrh by bulk apothecary smells like sharp wood with dark spice in it. Just major differences in subjective interpretations. So bulk apothecary is also my preferred choice for strong, earthy and woody notes. That's personal preference at play, to a great extent. When I do want soft incense type FO I prefer natures garden. Rustic escentuals has some big winners of their own for me, like their cuban tobacco. I am not much into fruity smells but got some for friends and family who like them, and yeah their peach was amazing. I would probably start with sampling rustic escentuals if I was looking to build up a full fruity notes line.

I haven't had any luck with EO for candles, but I am very amateur still in candle making. EO works great for me in all body products so far, and I buy handmade CP soap bars from local crafters that use EO, smells wonderful, I get mostly patchouli, lavender and tea tree mixes, sometimes rosemary and peppermint. I started branching out into FO for personal fragrance and wax items some months ago. I like the extra diversity, like being able to get a strong note in a body product that wouldn't be safe if strong in EO form, like pine or clove. I use no protective gear and just open a window. Probably dumb but just keepin it real here. Only issue I ever have if I make too much stuff at once is nausea. That's my signal that I got too much in the atmosphere and should have taken a break from crafting sooner.

I just ordered more lilac FO for my grandmothers with no notices, limits or price hikes, or anything else amiss. Maybe won't affect all suppliers, hopefully.

If I am aiming for strong FO's I go for bulk apothecary or piping rock. I do find that natures garden and rustic escentuals fade much faster (I do solid personal fragrance mostly). Sometimes that's okay or even preferable, depending, so I don't see them as bad. I prefer having the varying options, actually. There are also some exceptions so far. Rustic escentuals' just peachy FO wound up being crazy-strong, for example. I would never need to pay more elsewhere for a strong peach. But with some scents/notes I like to use in blends like sandalwood, tonka bean, fantasy musks, etc if I want a bottom/base with some oomph I splurge on the stronger stuff.

Not yet. I have to stick to a budget or I would have a whole basement full of over a thousand FO's haha, and am still working my way through my "top interests" picks to this day, after several months of starting to use FO's. Havana nights mentions florals and citrus, which makes me personally a bit eh on trying it, but it sounds like something that some of the gals I know would really like, so I think I will add it to the "stuff to sample for other people when I eventually have enough money" list, I have a lot of citrus fans.. so a whole shelf of stuff that is in essence "FO/EO for my mother and her friends" hehe. I occasionally try to sneak some patchouli in on them, but they always catch it, so no conversions to the dirty hippie side of the force yet. I can feel you, for sure, though. I learned the sample-size-first lesson pretty early on with how subjective FO's can be.. And now with my giant bottle of Essence of Jesus on the shelf. Sometimes with FO's people in reviews will be like, "This smells so amazing like X, Y and Z" and then I will get some and be like the hell?

Yes! That's the magic sinus infection spray in my family haha.

I tried this one. To me it smelled just like extremely diluted rosemary essential oil. Not to say that this is what it actually was, but just that this is exactly what it smelled like to me. I could have just passed on it and made my own super weak rosemary scent from scratch using the actual EO, as it's very affordable and strong. I haven't tried any of the others on your list, though I have tried some that were similar from them. I can also say that rustic escentuals' FO's are like most any other company in that they have some really nice ones along with some pretty meh or even dud ones. Just saying because even though their white sage was pretty lame to me, doesn't mean that I don't have other things from them which are really nice. Sorry if this isn't helpful at all, but just some things that come to mind looking at your list.. I have their cuban tobacco, which is of a similar thematic feel, and it is a staple in my collection. It doesn't really smell like tobacco, but my goodness it smells amazing, very warm and delicious and sexy all at once, mildly sweet but not too much, and doesn't fade really fast like many economy FO's. Given that, I am planning to try their pipe smoke in the future, since their other tobacco themed FO has been just wonderful. This is another one where I have just tried something similar, I have a big bottle of their rose petals FO. It really is a very nice and true rose smell fresh from the bottle, though it tends to fade into a sort of soapy smell. It is stunning in its shining moment, though. Some of their other florals have been more impressive, like their lilac, which passed the scrutiny test of 3 different grandmothers in my extended family who love lilacs, and held true to its character during the dry down (no turning soapy). So in my experience rustic escentuals is worth trying for more nuanced florals. You seem like you might have a thing for cedar wood in your list. If that's true, and if you're going to splurge on a bunch of samples and pay for the shipping, anyway, I would also recommend trying out their red saffron, it is another staple in my collection. It's similar to a lot of saffron & cedar FO's but has a super nice dry down that just gets better and better as it goes.

Went ahead and ordered some of the Cera Bellina wax from Lotioncrafter to try. If I am understanding it right, I just have to modify my recipe to make it 10% of the overall composition, but can still use the premium white beeswax along with it. Am also going to be removing the raw honey and leaving that just to made-to-order skin care stuff for people who want it. Gonna do a mini test batch when the Cera Bellina wax arrives, and will try to remember to update this thread about 3 weeks from then with what difference(s) it made.

Rustic escentuals' Christmas Bliss FO is my favorite Christmas themed FO that I have ever sampled so far, though I have only sampled a bit over a dozen such themed FO's from a few different companies. Their Christmas Bliss FO in my own experience is much stronger and bolder than their usual FO's and it is also fairly versatile, it will come across as Christmas to people if you label it as such, but it can also be labeled in other creative ways, and it blends really well with FO's that are simple and softening, such as sandalwood, to tone it down a bit into something smoother, if desired. I've had a few different very finicky people who lit up big time over that FO, and I really like it myself (and am also a finicky sort, myself). Just overall very impressed with the blend, it is a more complex one but balanced really well, smells absolutely awesome. I am usually not a fan of the usual Christmas FO's (just personal tastes) whether sampling a FO or sniffing a store product. Christmas tree and pine ones tend to smell like cleaning products to me (dammit power of pine sol), the wreath ones smell chemically to me like eucalyptus gone wrong, the spice ones just smell like overblown potpourri on steroids to me, the snow/frost themed ones are too ozonic for my tastes, and then the holly balsam sorts of blends to me just smell like generic red holiday candles and not in a good way. (I really am hyper-fickle, though, this isn't meant to be like an objective critique or anything). Holds true across all companies I have tried. So all of that said, I was pretty blown away by that Christmas Bliss one, it's got the Goldilocks "just right" thing going on for me.

LOL I read this and immediately thought, "That would have been the one I would have bought!" so it sounds like everything was amazing, just didn't get an incense fanatic up in there.