Teach Soap

A lovely little note, with no advance warning, that Energy has been reformulated. The note said it "works beautifully" but that means nothing to me... I need to know if it smells EXACTLY the same, and if it still lasts as long, is as strong, no A or D...good grief - I have big wholesale orders that need this, and I pop on there to reorder and find this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anybody bought the "new" stuff? Please please tell me what you think of it!!

All new oils get tested extensively before they are brought in, it looks like it performs just as wonderfully as it did before. I will be in the office again tomorrow though and can double check for you and see how it smells compared to the older version. I have not personally smelled the new version. I will post again Monday!

Is there any of the old version lying around the warehouse...?

Just got off the phone with BB. All they could tell me was: get a sniffy or buy a small bottle to be sure you're happy with it. Gosh, that's a ton of help...
To pay their high shipping costs for a small bottle is kinda ridiculous...it's the only one of their oils that I use, and I buy 5 pounds at a time.

They switched vendors.
Thanks,
Guess I will, too.

I'm so sorry that the team didn't accurately reflect the Energy change when you phoned in. That sounds like a frustrating conversation.

This change has been in process, overseen by me personally, for over 18 months to slightly increase the flashpoint for our crafters that make candles. In addition to blind tests in cold processs, we did melt and pour, lotion and liquid soap. All in all, we had a blind smell test with over 20 team members. I would be shocked if you found any difference in performance. However, if you do, I will happily take a return and offer you a refund on the full amount of product you purchased. Nicole has reached out to you to see if she can get you a sample for you to work with to ease your concerns.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. I understand that your product consistency and continuity is important to you. It is important to me as well. I am confident that the small reformulation to help our candlemakers will not affect our soap and toiletry makers.

Anne-Marie

_________________
Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

To be honest, I was very disappointed - I left a detailed message with my concerns, and the person who called me back had not even smelled the new one. That's fine - not every employee can smell every fragrance, but since that was my specific concern - then she was definitely the wrong person to return my call.

My main concern, as far as performance goes...is the way the old one reversed/slowed trace and the fact that the scent lasts forever and is quite strong. Those are the features that sell the soap. No shop wants to bring in a soap that loses its smell in a few weeks.

Just curious - did you consider continuing the original Energy formula for the rest of us, and just getting a new one specifically for candlemakers?

I just got off the phone with customer service manager from BB. She was very understanding of my predicament - (a new large wholesale account buying this one exact soap - gotta stay the same, etc..)

BB is sending me a sample of the new version of Energy, and I have my fingers crossed that it will work out. The only problem is...the longevity of the scent is something that will only be known in 6 months or so. But at least I will be able to see whether it continues to reverse trace, which is crucial to this design in particular.

I will report back with an update as soon as I know anything.

Would be interesting to know for future reference. Thanks for posting updates!

UPS tells me that I will be getting my pkg from BB tomorrow, and I plan to soap it right away, cross my fingers and hope for the best!
I will post my results as soon as I have them.

The new version of Energy arrived last night .

IT DOES NOT SMELL THE SAME.

Not even close.

I really have to wonder what is wrong with the "noses" in Bellingham.
Seriously - I did a blind sniff test with 4 people - they all thought they were very different smells, and they all preferred the original Energy formula.

The original Energy had much more of an "orangey" smell. Kind of like Tang. This one has a lot less orange, and a bit of an herbal, minty smell.
Hugely disappointed - feeling completely misled and completely unbelieving that the people around here can tell the difference and supposedly no one at BB can...

I have not soaped it yet...my only faint glimmer of hope is that is will somehow morph into the old version when soaped...

This will probably be my last post on here - they will not like my review and will probably bump me off.

If I am still allowed on the board, I will post an update when I soap it...if I can bring myself to waste the time and materials to do so.

Look for this over on the soap scent review board.

Oh good, I'm glad it arrived.

I can't wait to hear what you think about it in soap.

We don't typically do OOB (out of the bottle) sniff tests on anything at Bramble Berry. it's so easy for something to smell amazing in the bottle and just wither sadly away in soap. We only do finished product comparisons and we did lots (and lots) of them for this particular reformulation.

Let us know what you think about the fragrance after you soap with it. I'm hopeful =)

_________________
Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

I made a loaf tonight, and it is in its blankies and gelling.

My fingers are crossed.
I really am hoping for the best outcome, although I could tell already that it behaved like "other" FOs. I t did not accelerate, but it did not reverse trace like the original did.

Cut the loaf this morning:

1. After the exact same "wait time" it was waaaay harder than a loaf made with the original formula. Almost uncuttable - had to take two of us and push the wires through the loaf one at a time. Never seen anything like it before. If using this, I'd have to unmould and cut much sooner. Not that big a deal if you time it and are aware in advance.

2. The outside of the loaf is coated with a shiny oil slick. Used the same amount of FO as I did with the original, and this never happened. I have seen other FOs do this, but never my beloved original Energy. (actually personally, I have never cared for the smell , but it sells like mad) I am assuming it will dry/soak in, like other FOs do when this happens, but it makes it a greasy mess to handle when cutting.

3. This loaf could not be embossed - which is our signature logo and customers demand bars with this on it. It was too brittle and tried to break apart, even with much gentler pressure. My partner who does the embossing has done tens of thousands of bars, and he is quite good at adjusting for a particular formula or state of hardness, but no go.

Still a nice soap, but completely unsellable for me with out the embossing. I guess I will shred it up and make a confetti soap.

Oh that's so sad that you had such a different experience than I did testing the fragrance many times (probably well over 20 batches of large, small and different formulation CP in addition to lotion, liquid soap etc). I do have a thought on how I can help you personally though so don't give up yet! =)

Your note worried me so much that I made a 5 pound batch of the 'old' and a 5 pound batch of the 'new' yesterday, unmolded today and stamped.

This is the new fragrance loaf:



And here's the stamped images.



It's puzzling; they felt exactly the same to me, and no oil dripping. I also checked all the new reviews (just a few) since the reformulation and with customer service and they've had zero complaints. Of course, if we get many more complaints or concerns, I'll re-address the issue.

But, in the meantime, I think I can help!=) I can custom order you the original formulation. A 25 pound drum is $376.80. I hope that can solve your issue and make everyone happy (yay!) Updated to add: I actually think I can call in a favor and get you just a 10 pound mini drum if you want to go that route =) Just let me know.

_________________
Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

Anne-Marie if it helps, I would buy some of the old formulation too. I prefer it.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.