BEST fragrance oil suppliers

[SageSlowdive]

Hi guys!

 

Wanna ask our forum experts a good question: what are a couple of the best fragrance oil suppliers you've gotten oil from? I've been ordering alot of sample oils trying to find some ones to really sit on.

[BusyBee]

Quality of oils from almost every US fragrance oil manufacturers or fragrance houses are equally the same.  But when it comes to scent, it is matter of personal taste (smell in our case).  Scent is all about presentation of a certain scent, and they are all manufactured in different way.  They call it "accord" and top, middle & base notes of different manufacturers are all different for same named scent.  Even just one manufacturer produces about 50 different kind of rose scent alone.  You might find manufacturer A has best Rose that you like, but you might find manufacturer B's Pumpkin Pie scent is better than manufacturer A.  So, no one can say one fragrance oil manufacturer or supplier has better oils than others.  

 

When you grow to little bigger operation, it is good idea to working with fragrance oil manufacturers or fragrance houses directly and custom order your own scents.  Try to locate one that is close to you since everyone is good.

[SageSlowdive]

23 minutes ago, BusyBee said:

Quality of oils from almost every US fragrance oil manufacturers or fragrance houses are equally the same.  But when it comes to scent, it is matter of personal taste (smell in our case).  Scent is all about presentation of a certain scent, and they are all manufactured in different way.  They call it "accord" and top, middle & base notes of different manufacturers are all different for same named scent.  Even just one manufacturer produces about 50 different kind of rose scent alone.  You might find manufacturer A has best Rose that you like, but you might find manufacturer B's Pumpkin Pie scent is better than manufacturer A.  So, no one can say one fragrance oil manufacturer or supplier has better oils than others.  

 

When you grow to little bigger operation, it is good idea to working with fragrance oil manufacturers or fragrance houses directly and custom order your own scents.  Try to locate one that is close to you since everyone is good.

Do you have some recommendations for quality suppliers? I've seen posts on being weary of buying from Ebay wholesale suppliers for example.

[franu61]

Suppliers By State List - General Candle Making Discussions - Craft Server

[GailC]

17 hours ago, SageSlowdive said:

Hi guys!

 

Wanna ask our forum experts a good question: what are a couple of the best fragrance oil suppliers you've gotten oil from? I've been ordering alot of sample oils trying to find some ones to really sit on.

 

We all have our favorite suppliers. I personally like Fragrance Buddy, Aztec, Natures Garden, and order the most from them. I also like Mill Creek, Candlewic, The Flaming Candle, Cierra and Candlescience. Rustic Escentuals is good, but their shipping has gotten too expensive for me.

[kandlekrazy]

It really is all over the place, I suggest searching in this section of the forum.  I personally like RE &  The Flaming Candle's fos

[TallTayl]

While it is not the most efficient business model, I look for the best of a particular fragrance that I would like to buy,  and find the right supplier for it. Every single supplier has different qualities and codes for their fragrance oils. I had to test a lot of duds to find the best.

 

The wrinkle in all of this right now is that formulas are changing daily based on supply issues in our entire industry. I cannot confidently say that any one supplier is best today without the risk of  something changing tomorrow. 
 

 I’ve been in the scented products  industry for several decades and have never seen anything quite like this. I’ve hit “pause” on quite a few things until supply straightens itself out. I don’t see our predicament changing for at least a year - more than likely two. I wish I had a crystal ball to see what the industry will look like then. I’m pretty confident it will never go back to the heyday it was just a few years ago.

[WaxingPoetic]

I agree with the suggestion of checking out the fragrance discussion board...so much great info on there ! My personal favorites are :

 

Wholesale Supplies Plus - GREAT oils, but keep in mind that they are pricey at times, & shipping can be wayyyyy too slow there.

Rustic Escentuals - If you love foody / sweet scents, RE is the place for you. 

Just Scent - Tons of scents to choose from here, & they ship fast.

Majestic Mountain Sage - They can be pricey too, but they have top notch oils & they ship SUPER fast ! They have, in my opinion, the most realistic cotton candy that I've found as of yet.

Flaming Candle - Everything I've tried there so far ( with the exception of their bubble gum, that has a really strange note in there that ruins it ) has been amazing ! Their Sugar Cookie Royale in particular.

The Candle Source - Great, strong oils, good prices, fast shipping ! They have the best Creamsicle & the best Pink Sugar & Love Spell types that I've found so far. A big downside is their super outdated, hard to navigate website - but still very worth that aggravation, in my opinion. 

 

I've just tried a few things from Midwest & loving them so far ! So I think that they'll be a favorite, too. Definitely check out the fragrance board, though ! 

[moomin3]

22 hours ago, TallTayl said:

 I’ve been in the scented products  industry for several decades and have never seen anything quite like this. I’ve hit “pause” on quite a few things until supply straightens itself out. I don’t see our predicament changing for at least a year - more than likely two. I wish I had a crystal ball to see what the industry will look like then. I’m pretty confident it will never go back to the heyday it was just a few years ago.

Oh I know... the $1/oz fragrance sample sales twice a year from Candlescience and Rustic Escentuals... goodbye forever (probably for my storage space and wallet benefit). You make a good point with recommendations no longer being reliable due to daily changes... 

[moomin3]

If you have suppliers close to you that's a huge bonus for saving shipping and forming connections with actual staff and understanding more about potential inventory issues/due dates - something frustrating on bigger websites. For instance, Candlescience routinely runs out of many of their best oils and has "ETA 4/05 West Coast" listed and 4/5 comes and they push it, understandably, to 4/15.. and on and on. Just watch out if you build a line around an oil that you don't purchase in bulk. The  FB fragrance destash groups are going crazy with people begging for even sample sized bottles of certain FOs so they can fulfill orders... (I'll withhold my inventory management judgment for now).

 

Candle Cocoon has extremely fast shipping and affordable, strong oils that can be used at lower %. She tests solely in 464 and has wicking guides to go with each oil. Her oils are thicker and therefore may require some additional testing but are complex and take her a long time to formulate.

Wholesale Supplies Plus - agree with above poster. Just got another order from them and I like their weekly sales, reviews from customers (really frustrating when sites don't allow this - i.e. Wooden Wick) and while you do have to wait a good week or two longer than most sites to get your order, just factor that into inventory mgmt. 

Midwest Fragrance Co - super friendly, affordable, fast shipping. Reviews on site and helpful FB group. 

Rustic Escentuals - purchased by WSP, and unfortunately not treated well by them - recent shipments have arrived with leaky, carelessly packaged oils although WSP takes extraordinary care packaging their own products.... strong oils, but make sure to look on reviews if people are using them more for soaping than candle making (goes for all sites really).

Natures Garden - weak, in my opinion. I have never had a good oil from here but others may beg to differ!

Flaming Candle - can be complex, affordable, impressive scents. Fast shipping.

Northwood - haven't been too impressed with their FOs but maybe that was the luck of the draw with the variety pack sample set I got. People generally like them, the owner is active on social media and transparent, and they have proprietary wax blends & access to hard to find wicks that people love. 

[GarthAlgar]

On 4/5/2021 at 11:38 AM, WaxingPoetic said:

I agree with the suggestion of checking out the fragrance discussion board...so much great info on there ! My personal favorites are :

 

Wholesale Supplies Plus - GREAT oils, but keep in mind that they are pricey at times, & shipping can be wayyyyy too slow there.

Rustic Escentuals - If you love foody / sweet scents, RE is the place for you. 

Just Scent - Tons of scents to choose from here, & they ship fast.

Majestic Mountain Sage - They can be pricey too, but they have top notch oils & they ship SUPER fast ! They have, in my opinion, the most realistic cotton candy that I've found as of yet.

Flaming Candle - Everything I've tried there so far ( with the exception of their bubble gum, that has a really strange note in there that ruins it ) has been amazing ! Their Sugar Cookie Royale in particular.

The Candle Source - Great, strong oils, good prices, fast shipping ! They have the best Creamsicle & the best Pink Sugar & Love Spell types that I've found so far. A big downside is their super outdated, hard to navigate website - but still very worth that aggravation, in my opinion. 

 

I've just tried a few things from Midwest & loving them so far ! So I think that they'll be a favorite, too. Definitely check out the fragrance board, though ! 

 

I would argue that Candle Science has one of the best and modern websites of your list.  Though I only go there for very specific items because they are always out of stock (Especially in the last year).  I think a lot of how-to blogs and youtube videos recommend CS as the go to supplier for everything.   

[WaxingPoetic]

2 hours ago, GarthAlgar said:

 

I would argue that Candle Science has one of the best and modern websites of your list.  Though I only go there for very specific items because they are always out of stock (Especially in the last year).  I think a lot of how-to blogs and youtube videos recommend CS as the go to supplier for everything.   

Ya know, I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, lol...I’ve never tried CandleScience ! It was always high on my list of suppliers to try, but when it comes time to order, they must just skip my mind, not sure how. I was actually going to order, finally, when I ordered my last batch of supplies, but then I read on the fragrance board that they changed a lot of their fo’s & it seems that a lot of people were displeased by the changes, so that pushed them back out of my mind.

 

I may still give them a try for supplies sometime, though ! Didn’t intentionally leave them out of my post, but I just can’t personally speak for CS yet. Do you have any recommendations for a future order ?

[GarthAlgar]

On 4/8/2021 at 3:59 PM, WaxingPoetic said:

Ya know, I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, lol...I’ve never tried CandleScience ! It was always high on my list of suppliers to try, but when it comes time to order, they must just skip my mind, not sure how. I was actually going to order, finally, when I ordered my last batch of supplies, but then I read on the fragrance board that they changed a lot of their fo’s & it seems that a lot of people were displeased by the changes, so that pushed them back out of my mind.

 

I may still give them a try for supplies sometime, though ! Didn’t intentionally leave them out of my post, but I just can’t personally speak for CS yet. Do you have any recommendations for a future order ?

 

That's funny!  There are so many suppliers and so many GREAT suppliers around that it can be hard to keep track of.  They did change their fragrances, but they argue that they're better quality and better for you.  I think that's why hoards of new makers shop there.  Because CS is reasonably priced and they're a little more transparent about their ingredients than literally every other supplier.  

 

I suppose that all depends on what you're into.  I don't care for most sweet scents, unless they're blended in very small percentages.  I generally like earthy, woodsy, and unisex fragrances so FO's like Oakmoss and Amber and Caribbean Teakwood are top notch in CT and HT.  Though, I only personally burn those at home because they're heavily saturated in the market.  It's actually annoying how many makers I see selling those scents.  If I wanted to sell them, I would blend them to at least make a little unique.  But I digress.  

[WaxingPoetic]

20 minutes ago, GarthAlgar said:

 

That's funny!  There are so many suppliers and so many GREAT suppliers around that it can be hard to keep track of.  They did change their fragrances, but they argue that they're better quality and better for you.  I think that's why hoards of new makers shop there.  Because CS is reasonably priced and they're a little more transparent about their ingredients than literally every other supplier.  

 

I suppose that all depends on what you're into.  I don't care for most sweet scents, unless they're blended in very small percentages.  I generally like earthy, woodsy, and unisex fragrances so FO's like Oakmoss and Amber and Caribbean Teakwood are top notch in CT and HT.  Though, I only personally burn those at home because they're heavily saturated in the market.  It's actually annoying how many makers I see selling those scents.  If I wanted to sell them, I would blend them to at least make a little unique.  But I digress.  

I’m usually the opposite, very into sweet scents, lol...but...oakmoss sounds pretty good to me, actually ! You twisted my arm, btw ! I’m definitely going to give them a try in the near future. I’m always so surprised at my own self for never trying them 😂 I’ve been doing this for over a decade, like how did I just skip CS this whole time 😂 If they don’t throw well in my wax, I make butter scrubs & butter sometimes too, so there will be a use somewhere in there. Thanks for the recs ! 

[NightLight]

To me each supplier has hits or misses. It’s a big pain in the tushie finding the gems.

along with finding the gems is dealing with the supplier. Do they ship quickly, do they always have fresh stock etc.

Ebay I would avoid for the most part though, many of the bi suppliers have opened up show there.

[Smells in here]

Really Liking me some studio fragrance at the moment. The only supplier out of 20 or so that I have found that does free shipping on 25. Bottle cost equal to others and still offers free shipping! Oils are great quality. All 3 sample orders arrived on my door step in a couple of days. Extremely impressed with this place. Black amber lavender, iced vanilla woods. Strawberry shortcake, beach linen just a few tested in wax all threw very well and surprisingly didn't fade as quickly as I expected. The black amber lavender for example was made in a wickless tin 2 and half weeks ago. I am still warming that tin. And it still smells really nice. It's a new favorite for sure really nice lavender. Super impressed overall.