cedar_lea

So I've been a bad forum member. I've been enjoying & appreciating your FO reviews, but not posting any myself! So I'm going to rectify the situation and post my OOB reviews. I've only used 3 in a sanitizer so far and done some Q-tip tests so I don't have alot of performance info yet.

WSP:

Brown Sugar: Some maple notes but all and all sugary and slightly carmelly. I'm happy with it.

Vanilla: I read a few good reviews on this one. It's pretty basic. It kind of smells like cheap vanilla candles, but it also kind of smells like vanilla frosting so it's a little better than that. It should be a decent blender.

Patchouli: There's a story behind this one. I was looking to replace some Aroma Cacia EO I'd used in a blend & couldn't afford to replace. It's a mediocre patchouli EO with a slight medicinal scent that's warm and earthy but not the amazing swoon-over patchouli EO that people typically talk about. Someone on another forum suggested I try this one & it is identical. I'm happy

Birthday Cake: I smell alot of rum in this, along with yellow & white cake scents. I've been told this is one I can't judge OOB and the rum notes decreased some with the Q tip scent, but didn't go away. I'll have to play with it before I can actually form an opinion.

Sandalwood: Also happy with this one. It's rich and spicey. I would like to find one that's a little more powdery & woody, but there is no doubt that this is good and true.

Bamboo Teak: I don't know why I ordered this. I guess I saw the teak and got excited & forgot that I hadn't really liked most the bamboo scents I'd smelled. It's actually not bad. Cologne-like but not in a Stetson sort of way. It's a pretty classy scent with a nice green-ness to it, a little bit of woody notes, and a hint of floral (I want to say honeysuckle). Still don't know why I ordered it but I'll find a way to play with it.

Candlemakers Store:

Tangy Citron: This is a huge find for me. It's not a common scent but it's one I used in one of the first blends I ever did & one I really wanted to have. It's a nice tart citrus that's somewhere between grapefruit, orange, and lemongrass. Very eye opening and energizing scent

Bergamont Tea: WAY floral. Light citrus bergamont note and alot of something that I want to say is jasmine or gardenia. I don't get the tea at all. This shouldn't be a huge surprize because I rarely do, but it's definately not what I was expecting & I don't know what I'll do with it.

Chocolate Fudge Icing: Smells exactly like the Betty Crocker icing from the tub!

Coconut Bay: Nice blend of coconut and bay leaf. I'd say the coconut is more of a creamy one but the bay keeps it from smelling like sunblock & gives it a wonderful crispness. I like it

Coconut Cream: OOB smells like Hawaiin Tropic. Seriously. I work in suncare & I know that smell! If my Q-tip test is any indication it does mellow out to a lighter more creamy coconut in product, but I'm very glad it wasn't the only coconut I ordered

Smooth Bourbon: I am in love! It has some carmel notes, but it also has wonderful whiskey notes. I joke that it smells like candied Jaymeson. It actualy has a rich complex masculinity that is absolutely yummy. I huff it way more than I should & keep being shocked how much I like it.

Rum: Carmelly. Smells alot like Rum Extract. It's not bad but not what I was hoping for when I think of a yummy bottle of rum for my pirate scent. However blending it, bourbon, and coconut bay did the trick so I'm happy.

NG:

Drag Strip: I've been dreaming about playing with this for awile. I get a little more exhaust that I expected from other reviews, but it definately has the classic auto shop smell. I'm worried that it might be difficult to blend because it's subtle but I'm excited to finally play with it and try to turn engine greese into something elegant.

Apricot: Reviews said this was very true. At this point I'm leaning towards close. It's got the fuzzy scent of apricots and the sweet of apricot necter & then it has a tart that is a little more like an orange than an apricot. That said I'm definately not disliking it and think it will be fun to play with.

Boston Tea Party: The jury's out on this one. The first time I smelled it I was totally excited. I smelled black tea and lemon with a hit of honey like sweet. . . . . today I smell lots of lemon and lilly of the valley. I might smell a hint of tea. Today it smells like a lemony version of AHRE Rooibas. . . . . I could have sworn that I'd finally found a tea that smells like tea. . . . but today I'm not sure. I'm also not sure where I got the sweet honey smell before.

Myrrh: I'm getting an anise note & it's definately not as powdery as I'd expect Myrrh to be. Disappointing because I really love the smell of myrrh.

Neroli: Beautiful and rich. Can definately identify it as neroli. It may be sweeter and a little more cordial-like than other neroli's I've smelled, but it's yummy & I'm happy

Lemongrass: There is an interesting clean note to this. If Downy make a lemongrass dryer sheet this is how it would smell. It's not bad, just ingeresting.

Bergamont: Absolutely perfect. Smells slightly like lavender & slightly like citrus just like the tea. Dead on & I'm so glad to finally have it!

Cypress: Accuate. Smells more like the pitch than aged wood or needles, but there's a hint of that too.

Camphor: I got confused and thought I was ordering Cardimom. Nope. This is camphor! Smells like vicks, just like it should. Now what will I do with this one!

Alyssum: OK I knew I'd like this one before I picked it up because folks used it in the Spring Swap. Nice creamy floral similar to freesia, but distinctly it's own. Sweet but not too sweet & yummy

The tea I ordered from NG is Boston Tea Party & it's not quite what you're looking for. I'm really happy with it. It's like a black tea with honey and lemon. No floral notes & sweet and citrus, but not really like iced tea is.

I use NG's Angelica instead of NG's Angel. I have the real stuff in perfume form. I think the Angelica smells more like it and it is a bit stronger. Every nose is different. Even with the real stuff. I bought it based on smelling someone that had it on. I think it smells better on her then me. But, I still love it - my daughter hates it.

Angel is such an interesting fragrance perfume wise. It's one of the first perfumes I fell in love with. It definately doesn't work with everyone's body chemestry. It's awesome with mine, but some people get sour notes when they wear it. I have a theory that it wears best on BO prone people, but I haven't exactly tested it. I just happen to fall in that category and have noticed a few others that it smells awesome on are the same. Of course the fact that my skin loves vanilla probobly doesn't hurt.

So I'd gotten some of the Mill Creek Fresh Cut Grass from the classies & I've been happy with it. I've almost used it all up in blends.

That said I haven't actually ordered anything from Mill Creek. I'm not opposed to getting a new supplier per say, I just don't see alot of things that I'm overly interested in on thier site & would rather not be ordering just because of the one FO -- especially because there seems to be alot of true grass scents out there.

That said, I wouldn't want to grab anything too different. Peak's Tall Grass sounds phenominal, but I'm not sure if those danilion notew would be too much of a difference.

So people who have sniffed a few -- Opinions?

This

http://www.homedepot.com/Cleaning-Air-Fresheners/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbqs5/R-202559646/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

When I worked at Home Depot this is what I used to remove price tag residue. It worked way better than Goo Gone. Squirt down sticky and whipe with paper towel. With Goo Gone I had to scrub a bit more.

Also I think it's histarical that the shelves at Home Depot smell orange.

I'm not familiar with any of the blends, but I did just pick up the Bourban and the Rum from The Candlemaker's Store. They both have a definate buttery carmelish note, but they also do have alot of the alcohol scents. I wasn't happy with the rum by itself but by mixing the two I got enough to do that pirate scent I've been working on. I mixed it with thier coconut bay so it was a coconut rum. If you end up needing to do any mixing that alcohol note is hard to find so I figured I'd mention it.

Does kinda look like a monochrome lava lamp LOL! But I think it looks cool.

Cheers,

Steve

It totally does! I could stare a lava lamps for an ungodly length of time. Must Turn Away From Soap Now . . .

I love and use Elements Red Tea. Smells just like the fresh brewed sweet iced tea I make for myself. No citrus notes.

Really? I hated AHRE Rooibas so much I hadn't even bothered looking into another. Thank you for this info!

Is the orange in the pinapple blossom a trick of the camera? If not it's completely amazing & I love it!

It depends on the scent. Some things are exact OOB, some bloom different. Since I blend everything the OOB scent is importaint because that's what I'm going to be using when I mix. Knowing how it will change when it actually goes into something is also something I have to consider. That said it's going to change differently if you put it in soy or parafin or lotion or an incence . . . and that's not even getting into the craziness that the poor CP folk have to deal with. So I think all reviews are useful. I would love to hear what happens if you did a sample of the no scents in somekind of base & if they get better.

There is alot of information that can be gleaned from OOB -- For example that the Mt. Dew has a watermelon note is something I want to know before I buy it. That the pancake doesn't have a berry note is HUGE information. It's not going to magically develop a blueberry smell when it goes into wax.

I just ordered a iced tea scent from NG. It should arrive next week. I'll post back when I know if it's sweet or not.

I heard of someone using IPM in diffusers and having good luck. Would that work in incence too?

It's just a little plastic spatula right? It's like a kitchen spatula with a round side? Unless they've come out with something new since I last checked. I suppose it works to scrape out the wax after you've poured it hot. We usually use mini cheese knives and scrape cold.

I had another brilliant trial and error moment. While fighting with the frosting on the soy tarts I had the brilliant idea to test if it was the dye reacting by making my own dye with oxide and soybean oil. It's not like I had any wicks to worry about clogging right?? Well turns out there's another reason we don't do that. When the wax melts all of the oxides drop to the bottom leaving white wax and crumbs in your burner.

OH and the tarts still frosted.

So now that I've done my stupid thing on to researching right? . . . Guess what there's stupid thing #2: Universal Additive isn't Universal Soy Additive . . . no wonder the melt points were so different . . . .

So hopefully this weekend I'll be able to make good tarts now that I figured that out

Everyone's pretty much covered the obviousl ones. Anything resinous, herby, or woody is going to be easily masculine.

The ones that I've notices that aren't as often expected are bergamot and lavender. They aren't typically masculine but I've met alot of guys that are crazy about them. I think it's the freshness.

Scented is totally right about anything being able to be masculine. One my blends my mom says "smells like the yummiest man ever" is honeysuckle (which obviosly isn't an EO, but a similar floral could substitute), Cypress, Oakmoss, Chamomile, and a little bit of Bulgarian lavender. It definately seems to react well to male skin (I've tested it in a solid perfume on alot of people and it's always the guys that end up bringing out the cypress or chamomile after wearing it a few moments and smelling amazing.) I didn't set out to make a manly cologne scent when I created it, but the end result seems to be.

Essential is a local supplier for me. I've gotten some butters and oils from them & been really happy with thier service. Thier prices seemed more expensive in some cases, but they offer lots of quantity options so there's several little price breaks. It's nice to be able to get a medium size amount & not everyone offers that in the wholesale world.

I've had this happen when the wick has gotten stuck in the wax. These were all store bought candles so I'm not sure of any of the specifics on it. Basically the wick was long because I never trimmed the things and when the wax around it would get soft the wick would lean over. Sometimes it would just stick in the wax and go out and sometimes it would keep burning on it's side. I believe I had it happen in a yankie jar candle and nothing broke, just made funky burn mess. eventually the wick broke off of itself and went out. I obviously didn't think about glass + fire = bad.

I should also mention that the leather's pretty strong. It's one I smell whenever I open the fragrance cupboard -- & there hasn't been a spill.

LOL. You're totally reading my mind too BTW.

I've been dying to get my hands on some plumeria so I could mix it with ginger and sandalwood and maybe some coconut for a couple weeks now so I've had some time thinking about this. . .

I'd go with just a little sandalwood to complement the ginger.

OK it may sound a little wierd but I think that this paints a definate 4th of July image:

Blue: One of your ocean scents

White: Cotton Candy

Red: Watermellon or Strawberry.

I've used the leather in some blends that have gone into M&P soap. It has all of the nice tannis scents of leather. I haven't bothered shopping around for another so I can't say how it compares. OOB there is a slight chemical smell (beyond the ones you'd expect in a nice hide) but it's not overpowering and doesn't seem to stay when it's put in stuff.

Thanks for the heads up. They were one of the places I was thinking about ordering rum FO from.

That's what I figured might be the case & why I hadn't tried . . I haven't had much luck with Peaks USA so far, but maybe I'll look into getting another & I'm still wanting to try some different dyes and see if that helps. I had just read throught the "bloom resistant" description of Ecosoy a few times with envy and wondered if it was worth trying. Thanks for responding Stella.

I know AHRE has a vanilla nutmeg . . . I'd say it's more nutmeg than vanilla and not overly creamy so I'm not sure it's what you're looking for, but I figured I should mention it.