TallTayl

I’m slowly getting through testing on round 1 and 2. The hard part is choosing what makes the cut to test. criteria so far has been simple, but not totally fair. Will be dialing in better criteria as we all get more familiar with the forum group needs and wishes. - no cologne types this eliminated scents like mahogany teakwood sandalwood. If there’s enough interest in the forum to split a full keg I can revisit that. - no powdery types the version of nag champa sent to us fell into this category. I have other nag champa that does not smell powdery and sells well enough. - no fringe scents. sugar beet fell into this. I’d like fragrances in the beginning to be relatively widely liked. Sugar beet, while accurate, is not something that most people will love. It will be an amazing blender though so I’m keeping it in my back pocket for now to round out realistic garden blends. + uniqueness I’d prefer fragrances we can’t easily find elsewhere. This limits “dupes” of popular retail brands for now. There are always exceptions, of course. I love a great blackberry. Black raspberry vanilla types fill the niche for me. Little/no vanilla, more fresh tart berry. The sample I have is the best I’ve tried. Only need to get it into soy now to complete the fragrance testing process. + must be useful alone or in blends. fresh cut stems fits here. It is intriguing alone, but adds that special note to cut florals. + quality, strong out of bottle experience. some may bloom stronger in product, but for starting our fragrance forum venture I’d like to focus on those that are strong OOB and only get better in product. + seasonally appropriate looking for current and next season. Realistically it takes 6-8 weeks to gather interest, order, and receive fragrances. Then it takes you all a few weeks to test and develop products with it. We need to work at least 8 weeks in advance to hit our season. So now, we need to be hitting for August and beyond. Blue Hyacinth is amazing, but might be better to look into around December for feb/march 2024 release. Sniffing: how would you like to smell the product to evaluate for what to bring in? - foil wrapped sniffy blotters? - in product, like melts, cp soap, tea lights? - little vials as similar to the old fashioned Avon perfume vials? - fragrance sets of 1 oz (or more) to put into your own product? the more complex the sniffy type, the more I will need to think about the fragrances to bring in. I only get a small initial amount from the lab, like an ounce or less typically. This barely covers my initial testing plus a few foil wrapped sniffy blotters. If we want to experience it in product before committing, I’ll choose based on the fragrances I think I will use and get the minimum 25 lbs sharing whatever is left over as fast buy. We can reorder 25 lbs or more at any time after that. I’d like to not have to store too much in inventory. I can keep a few lbs of each on hand, and prefer to not tie up cash flow storing lbs and lbs. That restricts space and cash from other new fragrances.

A big component of longevity is the quality of ingredients In The bottle. You could look for fixatives, but I’m not sure what to look for in your product. when I began learning about fragrances, I contacted places like Pure Fragrance Oils, Lebermuth, AFI, etc. and spoke with perfumers. Then I dove into places that teach perfumery. if you specifically need a dupe like black ice, I’d give AFI a jingle and see what they can offer. Then compare with other labs that appeal to you. https://afi-usa.com AFI is a decent starting place as their mins on common fragrances are pretty low. And they introduced a sampling program recently. if you wanted to sniff what I use from my labs, I have on hand: dragons blood Egyptian dragon provence tonic pink sugar I’ll also be offering up sniffies of the new candle scents so people can vote for favorites. I plan to bring in three to start.

I had a similar experience with BW wax 😢 it was “better” than 464 and 444 with fewer cavities and much less frost, but could not coax HT from it.

That’s not one I’m familiar with…. If you’re willing to branch out a little I have several in my collection that might give you an idea of how other sources can work.

The only component of citrus I’ve ever been taught to worry about is bergaptene. Bergaptene is known to cause photo toxicity. Many places offer bergaptene free bergamot essential oil. While technically a wash off, superfatting leaves behind some residual soap on the skin. all that said, many citrus oils fade quickly in Cold process (cp) soap. Along with Bergamot I can never get plain orange or grapefruit to stick. Lemon can be a fader too. litsea cubeba essential oil is very lemony and can help give a boost to lemon, or be used in place of lemon. Orange is available “folded”, or concentrated, 5x and 10x which helps with longevity. sometimes other forms of orange, like blood orange might stick longer. You’ll see lots about “anchors” of base notes like patchouli. Most ive found are old wives tales, but do try them yourself for the learning experience. Cold pressed lime is usually sticks ok and doesn’t morph. I like this one a lot! I add all of my fragrances and essential oils to the base oils before the lye so that I can blend thoroughly.

From round 1, the strawberry jam 1 in cp turned beige. As it cures further has a bit of a pink hue. How appropriate! And it is soft, but can definitely smell it. The usage rate was only 4.48%, but it was enough to scent this well. strawberry jam 2 is all but gone in CP. beige color and just soap. 6.4% max usage rate. I used 5%. Pinion Wood has a 4.88% usage rate in Cat 9 (soap). It’s growing on me. Beige discoloration, but acceptable. black raspberry vanilla is all tart berry. Very slight discoloration to the beige. High max limit at 42%. I used 5%. I’m very happy with this one in coconut/palm wax and CP so far. Need to get it into soy to complete the tests. I’m at a small dribble in the sample so taking it easy so I can make sniffies too. from round 2 I’ve only had time to get strawberry rhubarb jam and down to earth onto coco/palm wax. Both have bloomed quite a bit in wax so far. Can’t wait to light them!

I’m thankful for you hanging here too. 😊 the good news is no new spammers today. Woot woot!

You are far too kind. Thank you 😘

I wish article writers were less lazy. It’s like saying chlorine is deadly, so don’t eat salt.

A lab can make any concentration you choose. You are correct, for a price. typically the minimum is 25 lbs of each fragrance. Some labs, like AFI, will make smaller sizes, I just don’t have personal experience with them. Most common retail fragrance smells flat and diluted to me. Some smell strong, but not good. Incense, cologne and floral types will often be more potent smelling than most other classes. what places have you tried so far? what types of fragrances do you like?

Oh I DID! The morning coffee ritual is sacred.

Thanks for your patience and for notifying when you see the spammers. Waking up to the new rash of Invison Community focused bots is a rush. Without even a sip of life giving coffee those bots needed to be destroyed. I’ve implemented a couple of changes to the registration process and tightened the spam filters to help slow that down. Sorry to any real human who got caught up in the net. I’m trying to backtrack and undo any of those who appear to be real people but know I won’t find them all in that mess. if the bots get smarter I’ll need to limit the email services used to register. I’d rather not do this as many “real” services will be shut out.

Congrats! Isn’t it fun when it begins to click? I’m so happy for you!!! yes it’s normal to wick up/down several sizes between fragrances. Solvents and aroma chemicals all behave chemically different in waxes. Science is fun. Yes, dye chips can also change the wicking.

YouTube has been listening apparently. This video was in my feed this morning.

The second set just arrived. the perfumers at that lab are stars. Some of these are so realistic they smell better than the real thing. Many in this set blend well to create interesting combos. Fresh cut stems with blue hyacinth smells like I just hit the spring flower garden with sharp shears. The cut stems fragrance with some other florals I have, like rose, will be made much more interesting with fresh cut stems enhancements. I’d love to make florist inspired fragrance bouquets! Strawberry vine with down to earth is like walking the strawberry fields in July. No berries, just the crushed/cut plant material. Tangerine and ginger surprised me in a good way. The fresh cut ginger is nice and soft like the fresh root. It is unlike the dried versions many ginger fragrances have. It would be nice with an effervescent note like a fresh ginger ale. I could not imagine sugar beet until I smelled it. I garden, and have a farmette with animals that eat sugar beets. This bottle has the beet and dirt notes like standing over a pail of beet pulp. It will appeal to a select group of people, but will also add that earthy note to other blends. I can see a horse inspired line with a bit of molasses added to that one. I’m still in a summer berry mood right now. The sun ripened BlackBerry is sweet and luscious. It is the perfect complement to the black raspberry vanilla’s tartness. I love them both for different reasons. To me this one is a blackberry jam. For mouth watering sensations, though, the strawberry rhubarb jam is perfection. It took me two or three slow deep sniffs to appreciate the way the notes reveal themselves. I’m SO excited to put this one into wax. I need to pace myself and test each of these thoroughly to get a better appreciation. I didn’t name them all here, and will revisit now that I’ve sorted them into different batches to work with. Some are more subtle and were overpowered by the more prominent blends. awaiting IFRA on this collection. Some might be b&b safe at normal levels. my short list to test in round 1: 1) Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. If this throws In my waxes I will be in heaven. 2) garden herbs. This is a little minty. Not a sharp peppermint or spearmint, but definitely sweet mint. Blending idea: Garden herbs with strawberry vine smells really interesting. 3) sun ripened BlackBerry. It smells like blackberry jam 4) down to earth. Smells like soft petrichor. A little sugar beet in it would smell like garden petrichor. 5) tangerine ginger. I’ve never had a successful ginger candle. They either wick weird (die out) or don’t throw at all. maybe 6) clementine coriander. It’s growing on me. A light citrus. Not quite tang, but not quite orange. holding blue hyacinth for spring I think. It is STRONG and hyper realistic. Seems like this one used at 5-6% would blow you away.

Maybe he would consider a special buy for you and others who like his fragrances.

You're a pioneer! That air pollution comment makes SO much sense. It's not unlike a smoker's sense of smell diminishing, is it? Have you ever tried car clips? SO many styles that clip right on to the vents. I found just the back clip part and plan to offer ceramic versions that can be changed out or refreshed easily. I'm big on no waste. Your solution is even easier. Love it!

This one looks super appealing, and way less $ than I saw last time I checked…

Some are nice and forthcoming. Did you ever buy from Moonworks? When she closed she shared all of her sources, and PFO ended up carrying the line. 😊

It all depends on your fragrance. The solvents will dictate which fuels will chemically work best. likewise your source of coconut and bees waxes will be different from source to source and lot to lot. coconut oil comes in different melt temps. All will burn different. I had a shipment of coconut 76 that was very wet and didn’t burn at all. I generally start at either 50:50 or 80:20 depending on the container.

Stearic acid is a major component of soy wax, so a study saying stearic is toxic disproves all the “soy is the best” studies. I’m curious why you ask. stearic comes from different sources but is often just referred to as stearic acid. your source mentioned above must have that comparative info? For what it’s worth any fuel incompletely burned (badly wicked or poorly made candle) will soot. A properly wicked, well made candle with stearic and most other common candle fuel fully combusts leaving carbon dioxide and water.

I have not but found small copper pots that do it at a small scale. I don’t grow enough of the plant materials to get a drop 😂 making hydrosol is a little easier.

Could be frosting. Need pics to be certain.

Palm needs to be poured very hot to develop the beautiful crystals. I heat to the 210 (or whatever temp the particular blend needs) and add FO right away. Good candle FO doesn’t lose potency with typical commercial wax pour temp. If wax needed to be cooled specially then it would not be profitable to make candles commercially.

I’m so sorry for what you’ve been going through. It’s great to see you again. 😊 you and I have very similar preferences. I’m on the same hunt.