NaughtyNancy

I find that nature's garden is really good for me when it comes to some niche preferences. Most of their FO's with incense themed names actually do smell like the sort of typical incense you will find in the racks of stores like the local stoner shops and such, or at the Renaissance Festival. That sort of scent is pretty dear to my nostalgic heart, and there are plenty of people who also like it. However, for every person who swoons over a powdery incense stick smell, there are many more people who think it smells just awful or very cheap. Because well it is the smell of cheap incense haha. But sometimes that is exactly what I want for myself, or exactly what I need to make something for someone else. Again I think it is very nostalgia related. For someone who didn't grow up on designer fragrances, but grew up going to their local head shop for incense sticks/cones and the like, I think for many a sort of nostalgic fondness grows from that, and it doesn't matter if it is a "cheap" smell, it still smells like their adolescence or other fond memories. If someone wants something made to smell like sandalwood, for example, I always ask them outright, "What does sandalwood smell like to you?" and if they mention "incense" anywhere in their answer, I know that nature's garden will have my hook up. It is different compared to say a company like bulk apothecary where their blending styles seem to heavily favor earthy, sharp and bold. So if someone is heavily emphasizing earthy and woodsy in their answer, then I know that's not a case for nature's garden. I like having the options.

I have no idea, myself, this is my first time getting any FO with "white pepper" in the name, and honestly I don't smell anything peppery about it on a quick first impression. It just smells like a really nice spa-like lavender to me. I work a little bit with pink peppercorn essential oil, and maybe if I'm focusing on it, then I can detect that sort of pink pepper quality, very subtle, though, so I wonder if they are imitating that to some extent. To me pink peppercorn EO is definitely warm in its aromatic quality, but more so than that it smells kind of spa-like, just has a sort of.. wet-heady depth to it with some kick, will really flood your nostrils with a strong warm-humid blast. That is about as close as I can guess for a white pepper fantasy note, if maybe there is imitation going on there, but maybe perceiving the "pink" as the mildly fruity part and trying to remove it, so just getting the humid warmth with some kick. I'm not sure if "pungent" is a good word, since it sometimes seems to be used in a negative light, but to me I like that heavy, humid sort of spa quality.

Yeah it reminds me a bit of tea tree oil, in regards to the challenge of working it smoothly into a blend. I love the smell of tea tree in small amounts, but as for getting it smoothly into a blend for a perfume/cologne.. it's iffy. Sometimes the local soap ladies will do a combination like tea tree and lavender, and that I really love for the shower, but it's just such a powerful/dominating aroma, it's hard to get it to play nice with other notes in more complex blends. The vetiver I tried worked out really well in a lot of blends, same with the oak moss, but they are both pretty tame when added in just small amounts, they just add a little something extra for just a few drops. Vetiver smells to me a lot like garden dirt, it reminds me of pulling carrots from the garden bed, so it adds a sort of garden earth touch to florals and such. I've had a couple people take a whiff of the spikenard/florals, and they don't think it is bad, but they definitely prefer the vetiver. I am thinking maybe I ought to just check out the medicinal qualities of spikenard like yourself and not waste it in perfume blends trying to make it work. I use tea tree with virgin coconut as a sort of catch-all for home remedy stuff, probably couldn't hurt to branch out a bit.

If you're up for some blending experiment fun, I use bramble berry's orange 10x essential oil. It's only a tiny bit more expensive than most FO's, and its potency really is something wild, actually have to be careful with it, because just 1-2 more drops than intended can easily overpower an entire blend. I bought a bottle of it, because I personally am not a fan of citrus scents, but I have several people who I make stuff for, who basically live and breathe citrus. So that 10x orange EO is really nice to have in my stock, as I only need a couple drops of it and can then experiment blending all manner of FO's into it to make lots of 'new' citrus scents for them to enjoy. Handles different spice type FO's just fine, but the results are a little different with each. If someone wants to give it a go and get more for their shipping fee, I find that bramble berry's spiced red tea is a pretty versatile spice FO for blending, it's basically like adding a hint of really rich chai tea to anything it touches. I can't really comment personally on how awesome or not different combos are, since again citrus is not my thing, but it was a hit in regards to gifts.

I can only recommend what yall should definitely not do. Do not put them in a ziploc bag or tupperware container. I love the smell of conifer, but am very allergic to pine trees, so I don't know what in the world possessed me but. This past summer, my mother and I went on a mini road trip, and at one point we stopped at a gas station / car wash in the middle of nowhere. There were big pine trees in the landscaping that smelled really good. On impulse, I had my mother play lookout for me while I grabbed some branches and stuffed them into a big paper bag and threw them in the trunk. My only adulthood memory of stealing and it was three small pine tree branches from a car wash. Living on the wild side. So I got home and spent 2 hours processing them. That tree kicked my *** so justice was met. Woke up the next morning and my face looked and felt like I had been sucker punched by a giant a week prior. But it didn't matter, I had ziploc bags and tupperware containers full of sweet, balsamic, sticky goodness to do who knows what with. After about 10 days, I came to my senses and realized that I couldn't do anything with them, duh. Had a relative who wanted them. Okay cool, this whole stupid experience was still worth something. But, when I went to check on them, they were covered in MOLD. So much mold. Mold for days. But they still smelled good! I just needed to uh, air them out. So I opened the bags/containers and put them in the open windowsill. This riveting saga ended in the local urgent care with multiple "the hell were you thinking" looks. So! I definitely do recommend trying a method beyond stuffing them in airtight containers.

Rustic Nostalgia Is what my brain spat out when reading Rustic (something) Rustic Spice Rustic Warmth

I recently received a new set of samples from bulk apothecary. Their white pepper lavender FO is basically the best lavender FO I have ever smelled in my life. It is basically perfect. Subjective, most definitely, but seriously it's really awesome. I haven't been impressed with any sage FO's I have tried from anywhere yet, but I added just a tiny bit of rosemary EO to some of it (rosemary EO is super strong but very affordable given such a tiny amount smells so insanely potent) and that came out really great.

It only irks me if I start thinking about the average customer not knowing any better, and losing business as a result of it when I am trying to sell some stuff here and there. Myself, I don't make all natural products, but I don't claim to make all natural products, either. I'm very open with potential buyers about what's in my products, so they can make empowered decisions. Some people are like me and don't care, but for those who do care, I would never want to leave them feeling betrayed. Meanwhile other sellers are getting hundreds to thousands of sales with items like solid perfume made with "vanilla essential oil" or.. they will have a $5 1oz solid perfume made with sandalwood "EO" and I'm just like... I have a definite ornery streak in me that sometimes fantasizes about introducing a men's cologne made with REAL GASOLINE ESSENTIAL OIL before I get over it and move on with my day.

It's honestly too hard for me to really pick one. In my own experience, anyway, all of the companies I have tried, have some FO's that are really good, and some FO's that are meh, and some FO's that were just kind of bad. I have yet to experience an FO supplier who just really wow'ed me, or who just really disappointed me across the board. I really like piping rock's fragrance oils, but their selection is rather small, much too small to be a central go-to supplier. Rustic esenctuals FO's in my experience tend to often smell really good, but fade quickly and most of them dry down into a generic soap smell pretty fast, even if they didn't start out smelling anything at all like soap. Nature's garden is my absolute favorite for some types of FO's, but they also fade fast and get soapy smelling on me. This wouldn't be an issue at all if I was making soap, though! And they tend to cater to people making candles or soap, so hey. Bulk apothecary I find their FO's to be very potent and often unique, which justifies the higher prices for me, but when one of their FO's doesn't smell good, it's also more money than usual wasted. I recently tried their honey henri bendel type FO, and to me it smells like some sort of weird and sickly body odor smell, like I swear that I have smelled it somewhere before in my life, probably while working as a CNA, and can't place it but it's nothing I would ever want in any of my products, gives me the heebie jeebies. Bramble berry has had some really nice FO's to my tastes, but sometimes their descriptions are way off and I feel ripped off with the price and shipping once I open something and smell it (looking at you, Sea Moss, aka generic laundry detergent smell #83749274). I have an order of samples on the way from wholesale supplies plus and am expecting it to be the same.. probably a couple total duds, several meh ones, and a few that I will go to wsp JUST to get those FO's because of how much I like them.

I like how you think in your blending. I went ahead and tried just one drop of it in a couple blends this morning. One of them turned out really nice (to my own tastes). I added a drop of it a combination of lilac FO, lily of the valley FO, cypress EO and patchouli EO, heavy on the florals, lighter on the cypress/patchouli and just a drop of the spikenard. It came out very dark, earthy and "forest floor" ish as you worded it, but the florals really smoothed it out, it is quite ethereal and lovely but also very grounded and authentic smelling. There is hope for this turtle butt EO! Haha.

I haven't experienced the scent of Petitgrain yet, myself, or at least not that I was aware of. I might try some the next time I place an order from mountain rose herbs, I see they have it, and it's a more affordable one, though they have two different types to choose from. I wonder if there are different types of Spikenard being cultivated? I would be very unpleasantly surprised if MRH was selling an endangered herb, they are usually an exceptionally eco-conscious company, I always feel confident buying from them on matters of that nature, but they do call it "American Spikenard" which reminds me of the "Australian Sandalwood" specification. I wonder if that furthermore explains some of the differences in the way people describe its scent. I read from several sources around the web that Spikenard's dry down was really something lovely and special and was all prepared for this magical transformation, but the bottle I have of it, at least, smelled like turtle butt to the very end lol. Again I can definitely see a tiny amount of it being interesting in an earthy blend, and I do have a sort of nostalgic attachment to that musty aquatic-earthy smell, but I was definitely.. surprised.

I use the bulk apothecary interpretation for my coffee note. They call it Coffee Beans. It's a very warm, roasted sort of coffee smell, almost faintly sweet but not overblown, and nothing else. It smells super good to me, and I like that I can blend it pretty easily to make different types of coffee scents. Like I can add other fragrances like pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla and so on to it, and they turn out really well. The only experiment I did upon request that went very badly was when someone wanted a mocha sort of scent. Since the Coffee Beans scent is again a very warm roasted kind of scent, that roasted quality did not get along too well with a chocolate note, to me it smelled really bad, and I suspect the person who I made it for was also a bit taken aback but just gave me a polite fib on it since it was a free favor. With other warmer type notes, though, and typical fall notes, it really blends like a champ. Bulk apothecary in general for me is very hit or miss, though. Have a definite love/hate thing going on with that company. When one of their oils is good, it's extremely good. When it's.. not so good, it can be outright icky.

I don't have much experience selling, my candles are very amateurish, and other than that I just do solid personal fragrance and body butter type stuff. I do give a lot away to friends, family, neighbors, etc. I'll buy some stuff, try it out, and anything that I don't feel confident selling or won't use, myself, I start offering out to people (who do sometimes tip me, so hey). All of that said, I also notice that men tend to be really happy to get aromatic items. My best guess perception of it is that the larger commercial markets don't cater to men anywhere near as much as to women. I'm a woman who actually really likes more masculine scents, not like axe body spray type scents, but whenever I buy from people who make soaps and such, they usually have what they consider "masculine" scents or "man" candles/soaps/salts/etc. I go right for those sections, because finding those scents in typical stores is rare. Stuff that just smells like spiced conifer, or a warmer less powdery sandalwood, or a saffron and cedar duet, or teak wood themes, or a more overt birch tar note, or tobacco themes, and so on. I always check out the men's section for body wash and lotions and so on in department stores, and that section is always very sparse compared to the women's sections. And what is in the men's sections, is mostly of the caustic axe nastiness variety of scents. About all I ever found that I liked was the Denali deodorant from old spice, but even that has a sort of chemically cologne vibe to it, just not as bad as most options. Occasionally a more specialty store will have something good, like I was shocked and excited when I encountered bath and body works mahogany woods. But like, how many guys think, "I should go to bath and body works!" when they need some skin moisturization? Not very many, is my guess. So my overall guess is that when they see stuff made with them in mind at local markets and such, it's a more special opportunity, they are not used to being catered to. It's my theory because as a woman who loves masculine scents, I feel that way. I don't make my own soap but love, love, love a good bar of handmade goat's milk soap, and when a local soap lady shows up with a bunch of masculine scents I'm just like YASSSS. Same with candles, since mine are still deep in the learning phase. Most department stores masculines candles smell cologne-ish or even stink. When I find a birch-themed candle that smells good in a sea of ozonic, fruit and flower stuff, I'm that crazy customer who clears the shelf.

Short Version: What are your experiences working with Spikenard essential oil? I recently got my hands on Spikenard essential oil for the first time. It's one of those oils that I have been saving pennies on the side for over time, along with Vetiver and Oak Moss. With those last two, they have been a what-you-smell-is-what-you-get experience from the start, which gave me some confidence when trying them out in solid perfumes/colognes for the first time, despite their high prices. With the Spikenard, though, it seems to be a more mysterious and transformative oil, from what I gather reading pages about it around the web. I'm not sure what to expect for its potency, as far as how much per ounce of blended aromatic oil is needed to make a noticeable difference, how much difference it will make, and how it will transform as the overall aroma of the blend completes its lifespan on my skin. I've never seen so many people differing or even struggling describe what it smells like, in the bottle, out of the bottle, in products, during its dry down, etc. How much it does or does not overpower other types of notes, how long it generally lasts. Also since this is my first encounter with it, I don't know how to tell how nice or not it is, if the quality is where it should be or not. I can say that it is a blue-green hue, which I read is a good sign. At over $30 for just 15ml, I'm a little hesitant to just play with it. I'm not struggling by any means, but I do have to be frugal and methodical with my hobby stuff, especially while trying to build a little work-in-progress. business. The way it smells to me in the bottle reminds me very much so of pet stores that specialize in reptiles. I'm a major herpetology fan, myself, so I have spent a lot of time in those types of stores, and the combined aromas of the habitats between turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, lizards, etc - this Spikenard EO reminds me so much of that, from the reptile/amphibian habitat bedding and the sort of dank humidity, as well. I imagine many people would think it "stinks" but I have a more nostalgic perception of it, so. Many pages I have read about this EO indicate that it should smell quite differently during a dry down outside of the bottle. I took some of the advice I found, and tried putting just a tiny drop of it on a cotton q-tip. Its aroma however did not change over time in this experiment, but just became gradually more faint, no transformation, though. In its very faint state, it turned maybe sort of.. musty cabin.. like an old and little cabin in the woods, with some slight wood seepage issues, in cooler weather. Something I personally like, but again as far as blending.. It was also very STRONG, even at just one drop, but that is a good thing to me for how much it costs lol, don't want to have a need a lot of it in a blend. So! I'm wondering if my experience so far is normal. Dank reptile habitats = normal? I can imagine using this EO in very tiny amounts for some more unorthodox fantasy musk blends. I personally like it, but again I have an unusual subjective perception of it. When someone wants something "earthy" they usually (consciously or unconsciously) are thinking earthy as in patchouli. This Spikenard EO like a very humid, musty kind of earthy. I'm very excited to start experimenting with it, but again with the cost.. also kind of nervous, too. If anyone has experience working with this one and has thoughts to share, I would be very happy to read your input and about you experiences, especially in skin products.

For whatever it may be worth to anyone ordering in the future for holiday themes, I personally was extremely impressed with rustic escentuals' Christmas Bliss fragrance. I found it to be very versatile and my neighbors alone took over half of what I made with it. It smells to me sort of like head shop incense (think like Fizzy Pop incense but with all the background stuff, too) meets a Christmas theme. I added some sandalwood fragrance to it, and it just really popped. It doesn't really fit into my usual line of stuff, since I mostly like to make subtler fantasy musk type blends, but that Christmas Bliss mixed with some sandalwood was almost like a super sexy cologne without the commercial cologne chemical quality to it. The result again was just pretty strong for my usual tastes, but people went totally nuts over it.

My understanding of honey has been that it's really nice for skin, and that it also has antimicrobial properties. This has just been based on articles and such I have read about it, though, not on any pre-existing scientific understanding of my own. So I started adding raw honey to my solid perfumes and some other balms in small amounts. It doesn't cause a sticky factor (though I do only use a very small amount), and I did feel like the solid perfumes and balms seemed richer (though this could easily be a hopeful placebo effect, too). Thank you for all the info, appreciate it. I did start with unrefined shea butter, but did get major grainy problems. I wondered if it was because I melt it down in a double-boiler boiler as part of making the solid perfumes and balms, so I switched to refined shea butter, which did seem to help a lot. I'm going to try removing the honey, since multiple people including yourself are suspecting it as a culprit. I didn't use it in my original recipes, and now that you all mention it, the originals I still have in my collection don't have this patchy pattern, but do all have the "premium white beeswax" sold by bramble berry. Will also check out butterez. I really like working with botanical butters and really only use wax to get the firmer and glossier finish that people tend to like. I had considered candelilla wax but had read that its melting temperature is even higher than beeswax. Every time I make a new blend and make a solid perfume, when it goes into the double-boiler I just have this feeling like PLEASE SURVIVE THE HEAT lol.

I make solid perfumes/colognes, mostly for myself, friends, family, neighbors and other people I encounter under social circumstances. I try to sell here and there, but have never branded or anything. I have also never had any sort of relevant type of education/training before; when I decide to make something new (for me), I just browse a page of online how-to-make-X search results and then basically wing it from there. So that is how it went with solid perfumes/colognes for me, so I might be missing a big DUH thing, but I don't know. For the most part, I really like how my solid perfumes/colognes turn out. I like the way they look (at first), the way they smell, the way they feel / treat my skin and so on. But there is one issue that I can't figure out, and it's holding me back from trying to brand a little business of my own, like to offer to local shops and such. Basically, within a month after making the solid perfumes/colognes, some of them start getting patches on them. Now while I am almost positive that these patches are not something like mold based on how they look up close, they look reminiscent of mold in the way they spring up and then spread, and would probably be pretty off-putting to someone opening their item and seeing that. I can't figure out what is causing this. I do use screw top tins currently, and they close pretty tight, but I'm wondering if somehow air is getting into some of the tins and causing this, or if it is something else, I really have no idea. I make my solid perfumes/colognes with white beeswax, shea butter, virgin coconut oil, raw honey, essential oils and fragrance oils. I was hoping that between the coconut and raw honey, that their shelf life would be pretty good, and, they do both smell and feel / go onto skin really good still even months later. These little patches pop up on me all the time, though, and I have no idea what the cause is. The little patches don't phase me at all, personally, I couldn't care any less and still use the items, but that's probably because I make them and know that there is nothing actually icky in them. But, I don't feel at all confident trying to brand while this is still an issue. Again I think it would just creep customers out to discover it when they remove the lid to their item. If I didn't know anything about how something was made and saw something similar, it would make me feel a little iffy, myself. I suck at describing things, so I have provided photos. Sorry about the crappy photo quality, all I have is a cheap phone camera. Edit to Add: I also sometimes see this patchy texturing happening within hours of making a balm that consists of nothing more than shea butter, argan oil and essential oils, and it spreads in the same patchy manner, and looks horrible. Other times it doesn't happen, though. I can't figure out what the variable is.

I really like the smell of super old books, as well. I've been playing around with naturesgarden's Money fragrance oil. I've had several outcomes blending it with other oils, that were really close, but haven't nailed it yet. I still think it has potential as the foundation, I just haven't had the light bulb go off so far.

I have to blend my own sandalwood from single notes or simple pre-blends to get the results exactly how I want. I love sandalwood fragrance but am really finicky with it, especially when alternating between wanting the heavier and woodier interpretation and wanting the more common incense sort of interpretation. I usually start with juniper wood essential oil, as it's a very affordable essential oil and has a very neutral wood quality in blends, doesn't scream "CEDAR" when it's blended in modest amounts and gets along well with fragrance oils in my own experience. I pile different types of fragrance onto it to get a sandalwood interpretation that suits my tastes.

I'd probably go for a good rose geranium, but that would just be based on all of my grandmothers/stepgrandmothers and older aunts. They all love scents that they describe with words like delicate, elegant, etc and when I made them body butter balms using a rose geranium scent, they all went nuts over it.

Vanilla Musk - I generally don't like sweeter smells but love musky stuff, never even used a vanilla themed scent in my blends until finding this one, it basically made me like vanilla which was a small miracle unto itself. Indian Sandalwood - Fades tragically fast on me even when I use a ton of it, but it smells so damn good to me that I still use it, I love head shop incense type smells, and this one just nails it beautifully Saffron & Cedar - Also fades really fast on me, unfortunately, but it's sexy as all hell to my personal tastes

MMS? Popped it into a search engine and am seeing a lot of results for The Sage. Have never tried them before, myself, but I might check out their Sahara Sandalwood and their version of Nag Champa when next month's hobby budget is ready. I'm a shameless lover of head shop and incense type scents, but damn I swear finding a sandalwood I like and that isn't super faint is like hunting leprechauns. Their price variation from one fragrance oil to the next is also on my list of hopeful signs when contemplating trying a new company, speaks positively to their business ethos and potentially the quality.

I was up past midnight getting in on the 20% off deal for wholesale supplies plus, have never tried them before and was waiting and hoping they would do a cyber monday or black friday thing. They have a relatively impressive selection of more masculine sounding fragrance oils, which to me is like hitting some sort of jackpot if at least a few of them turn out to be true to their descriptions. So $100 later after the coupon code and now I'll be back to creeping out the shy carrier guy again when I'm right there at the door awaiting his arrival.

I ordered a 16oz bottle of "Essence of Jesus" from Rustic Escentuals a ways back. It didn't smell at all like what I had hoped it would, though it certainly does not smell bad to me, was just my official "sample size first" lesson. So anyway I just have a huge bottle with that name on it chilling on the shelf in my work space. It has received all manner of comments when friends/family have come over to have me make something for them. They like to pick through and sniff everything, and the name certainly stands out.

I've been having a lot of luck with piping rock's fragrance oils so far. I make solid perfumes, though, and I have no experience making personal fragrance items of any other type. I don't really care about phthalates, either, but I know that some people do. I don't even know if piping rock claims to be pthalate free or not, but the company overall seems shady as hell so wouldn't matter to me what they claimed. I wouldn't buy EO's from them, too many red flags, but with fragrance oils I honestly just want something that smells good and lasts a decent bit. All of that said and in spite of their sketchy vibes.. Their fragrance oils have lasted a lot longer (wearing them in solid perfume) than fragrance oils from any other company I have tried. I have tried Rustic Escentuals, Nature's Garden, Bramble Berry and Bulk Apothecary. They all have at least a couple fragrance oils that I really like, but they fade pretty fast on me, like usually completely gone within 2 hours, and that's even though I go way over the % guidelines when making stuff for my own use. I really love how they smell so I still use them. Also have an order on the way from Wholesale Supplies Plus, will be trying them for the first time soon. Tried some from piping rock and so far all of the ones I tried have lasted waaaaaay longer than what I am used to getting. I used their musk fragrance oil all by itself in a solid perfume and the scent was still lingering on me over 6 hours later, which again since I'm used to only 1-2 hours, getting over 6 hours had me pretty stoked. Like the scent of it is soft in nature, but it LASTED a long time, which just made my day. So I've started using it in all manner of blend combos with my other oils hoping to get more longevity overall. Granted their prices and shipping definitely works out to more than the usual $3/oz for fragrance oil that I am used to, but it's still fairly low pricing and (to me) is worth the extra staying power. Only other things I can think to add if you have never tried them before, is that their stuff is displayed as being on super sale basically all the time, just a heads up, so there is no need to buy a bunch of stuff at once trying to not miss what seems like a great sale, it's just a marketing thing they do. Also if you ever craft stuff to sell it or otherwise need to make big batches, piping rock only sells little bottles at a time as far as I know, like half oz to 2oz size and then you have to rip the dropper inserts out of all the bottles if you're looking to dump larger quantities into a big batch of whatever. Also their choices are pretty limited, but again everything I have tried from them so far has smelled really good, been really strong and lasted several hours on my skin type even when diluted in a bunch of wax and butter. So in a nutshell I am basically hooked as all hell on a few fragrance oils from them, but it doesn't bother me too much since I already order fragrance oils from a handful of different companies, they all pretty much have 2-3 that I'm in love with while everything else I sampled was a dud for my tastes. Shipping fees basically murder my bank account every time I get in the mood to sample new stuff and grow my collection.