OOB vs in wax/soap

[Raidell]

Hey, I'm more of a perfumer than a soaper or candle...er? and I've seen FOs with really positive reviews, but that say it's mediocre OOB and only really gets good when used in something. I always have to be a little careful and look before I buy.

Have you guys had some major experiences like this? What are some FOs that aren't so good OOB but really bloom in soap or wax? Or even vice versa: stuff that smells heavenly OOB but really goes sour when you mix it up in something?

[B@BlissStreet]

Welcome, and yes. Yes, yes, yes. Sometimes they bloom, sometimes they wilt. If not, this would be a much less expensive addiction/hobby/job/co-dependency process. I don't do perfume, but do both m&p and soy wax as well as dabbling in b&b. Any time you mix FO with a carrier, you are going to get different results besides a dilution. HTH. I'm sure much more experienced perfumers will add to this, but this is the busy season and the boards aren't always as quick with everyone making product for the holidays. Good luck.

[Candybee]

This is very true when adding FOs to CP soap or 'cold processed' soap. Once you mix the FO in the soap batter with the lye the lye can play havoc with it. You can get a scent that fades, lasts as long as the soap, or morphs into a completely different scent all due to how it reacts with the lye.

With candles, it depends on the wax or wax blend. Soy is really unpredictable and finicky to work with when it comes to scenting it. Sometimes all the wax needs is a good long cure and sometimes a fragrance just doesn't work in the wax. Other times it smells great and of course there are scents that smell totally different once they are in wax-- sometimes not at all like the OOB scent.

Haven't you noticed with perfumes that they can take on variances and subtle nuances with different people? Its due to their blood and skin chemistry, harmones, etc. Everyones chemistry is different and can also have an effect on their likes and dislikes of certain scents.

[SuzyK]

I have had a few scents that I did not like OOB but then they turned out great in wax. I use soy and like Candybee said, a good long cure can make a huge difference in how strong a scent is. There are also some that I love as wax melts but not so much in soap.

[Raidell]

Oh yeah! I've found perfumes and FOs that smell really different even on a test strip vs on my arm! That reminds me of a perfume oil I bought a while ago that tried to play up the variance so that it smelled unique on everyone, or at least had a different tone. (I just wish the way it smelled on me was a little nicer!)

And from my (admittedly very little) experience, I've noticed that after mixing a couple FOs together, you don't really get a feel for how the scents will play together until after you let it sit for a few days. I've had stuff that smelled like a nice blend, but after a few days it all leveled out and got flat, and then stuff that at first smelled like a mess, but then mellowed out and had some nice harmony...

I suppose if everything turned out like you'd expect, this would be a much less exciting (and expensive) hobby!

[bsones]

Personally, I've found that the difference between what a FO smells like on a test strip (let alone OOB) and what it smells like in wax is so vast that I stopped using test strips altogether. If you really want to know how an FO is going to smell in a candle, then you have to pour one. I make testers with those little 4 oz. Ball canning jars, which hold exactly 3 oz. of wax. I melt 78 grams of wax right in the jar, and then add 7 grams (roughly 8%) of the FO that I want to test. Then I can check the cold throw, or drop in a wick if I want to test the hot throw. They seal up air-tight so that I can save them for later reference.

[Scented]

The one example that sticks with me is how putrid vineyard smelled OOB that I didn't want to ever make it, but so I could buy something I had to make candles with it and what an about-face that fragrance was once it was in wax.

I know there are scents out there … many of them give some posh description that I think it fools the nose into thinking that a particular scent is really in the mix and it isn't. Must have faded the minute the top came off the bottle.