Teach Soap

I know we all have our favorite FO and EO scents and we share them freely around here, but I was wondering what scents you have come across that you absolutely can't stand? And if you were able to find a blend that used that scent and changed it into something you don't mind so much! I don't want this to be a thread for bashing any fragrance, but more of a constructive place to where we can help figure out how to change those mishap buys into something that can be happily used!

(I've only used BB fragrances right now)
There are a couple for me at the moment:
Almond FO- Oh my gosh, this scent is the most horrible for my nose >_< I feel weird because a lot of people out there like the scent of almond (and I love eating the actual nut). I received it as a sample in one of my BB orders which I don't mind because now I know I should probably stay away from it. I've been trying it out in a couple of different blends, and haven't found anything that I like to go with it yet. I tried it with the Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey FO, Chocolate Espresso FO, and I just blended it with Blackberry Spice. I'll check on it tomorrow to see how the scents mingle, but so far it seems to be a promising blend...

Berrywine FO- It's not that bad of a scent on its own, but I just don't know if I want to smell like wine after washing up. It would definitely work as a base note with something, but I'm not exactly sure what to pair it with to take a bite out of the wine tartness... and no, it's horrible with the almond ^_~ I've tried it with Black Tea, Earth Musk, and a couple other pairings I can't remember at the moment, but those have all brought out the wine smell even more... this one has me stumped at the moment!

I've also been trying to come up with a men's fragrance and I think my forerunner at the moment is a mix of Wasabi FO and Earth Musk FO.

So, what's your least favorite scent and what have you tried to make it into a good blend?

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Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

FO/EO I hate - lol - I can't STAND the smell of lavender!!!! I know others, including my hubby, love it, but it gags me....
Also hate patchouli and almond...

I haven't done much experimenting with blends on these, I guess I'm afraid of taking an EO I hate and wasting perfectly good EOs (that I love) on trying to make it smell better!

I'm sorry you 2 don't like almond... lots of us do And I understand Berrywine smells like alcohol OTB, but after CP it is really not bad.
Depending on what products I use the EO/FO for. If it's just OTB I dislike Black Tea, Tea Tree EO, Patchouli EO, Lemongrass EO, Matcha Tea, Chamomile, Lemon Verbena (believe it or not). But then when use it in blends, Patchouli, Lemongrass, and Chamomile are great!
In CP I really don't like Cucumber Melon, Spellbond Wood, & Wassail (am I weird?).
But then again, I don't buy a lot of food scented FO so not going into that category.

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Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

I am not in love with dragon's blood.... and have not got to the point of trying to blend it with something else.
Champagne on its own is not good for me but add a fruit flavor and it turns out great. If I mix CP and M&P I will do pink sugar with it and that one nearly everyone as fallen in love with.

My worst was cucumber melon with kelp... whatever you try everyone needs to avoid this. I still remember when I posted on this how kind soapbuddy was - saying very gently that she would probably not choosen to mix those two. Leave it to me to come up with something horrible!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

For me it's patchouli - gag... I also don't care for really sweet scents like cotton candy, etc. I recently tried blending a rose FO with lavender EO and that was pretty nasty, too.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

I am an anit-almond person too much to my customer's dismay. after awhile i just felt SO nauseated when i would make anything containing it so i just had to stop.

While I like lavender the certain type i like has gotten really expensive so i am looking to replace it with something comparable but have not found anything that comes even close and that makes me (lol)

I have moved away from FO's completely pretty much out of choice and am having fun experimenting with EO blending, so far i have come up with some really nice combos but i am sure that i will make something awful by accident at some point too.....

Erin

Out of all tea FO I only like Lychee Red Tea but it is indeed going to be discontinued...
The Cucumber & Melon is fine in M&P and other products, but it does not play well with lye. It got this nasty rotten cucumber smell after CP, cannot stand it. There are people who do not have the same experience as I did, I guess my nose is too sensitive. Oh and I do not like Pink Sugar... It smells like I'm washing myself with straight vanilla sugar and bees are coming for me! LOL. Wow, we all are very different in terms of what scents we like and dislike!

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Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Another Almond hater here - made a blend of it with amber & vanilla for giveaways & got the worst migraine EVER And of course, my customers loved it, & I had to break their hearts. I'll go on 2 hours' sleep for a month straight without complaint if the business needs it, but I refuse to work with scents that leave me crying.

Beau Brummel is another misery-inducing one, as is Chipotle Caramel. CC I still use, but in a very small percentage in a very foody blend, so it's tolerable, but Beau Brummel had to be double bagged & put in the back of the closet & I swear I can STILL smell it.

I lovelovelove Black Tea, by itself & in blends - it gets better a few weeks after delivery, so don't judge it straight off the truck... I have a hard time with most of the berry FOs, but find that with blending they're workable (Yuzu is fantastic for that).

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Please visit my Etsy shop!

Plumeria is my least favorite f.o.

I definitely have to pick up some Vanilla on my next BB run because it seems that most blends contain even just a hint of it! That vanilla and cinnamon blend sounds like a great cinnamon bun blend ^_^ I've been trying to stay away from the "spice" scents because I hear that they can be irritating to the skin...

I wonder why almond is so popular with customers, but the soap-makers don't like it so much Are you all using CP and does the CP make it mellow out a lot?

I had not been looking at the Beau Brummel, it just didn't seem like a scent my future customers (my target market) would really enjoy. I hope it doesn't mix with your other scents being stored in the same place! And I agree with not selling something you yourself would not use. I believe sellers should be 100% behind all their products.

I'm not a big fan of Plumeria, either. I'm really glad that was my other sample I received from BB. BB just saved me some $$ by sending me samples of 2 scents I was looking into purchasing that I now know I don't like!

Well, I do have my sniff results from yesterday's q-tip test, trying to make a men's fo (from my most favorite to least favorite). The first FO was two drops and the second listed is 1 drop:
1. Wasabi and Earth Musk- Wasabi is a really bright scent on its own, but the Earth Musk really grounds it (oh, that was a pun, hehe). I think this is more suited as a unisex fragrance, though, because the Wasabi is still pretty bright smelling. I'm going to try this test with equal parts of the two FOs and see how that goes.

2. Blackberry Spice and Black Tea- An interesting blend with a definite top note in the Blackberry, then the Black Tea scent hits the nose and adds a nice musky tone, finally a hint of the spice blends into the others. Gives a nice masculine feel all around

3. Almond and Blackberry Spice- Hated it at first because the almond was so strong, but after sitting for a day it does seem to have mellowed out a bit. The Blackberry Spice helps to cover up a little bit of the almond as well but isn't overwhelming. Not a bad blend considering the almond in it. I would probably use this as a very light scent in any soap. (I may remind you, I do not like almond at all!)

4. Blackberry Spice and Almond- Too much Blackberry Spice and for some reason the almond being in the background makes this a horrible smell. Almond in the forefront with this blend is a lot better (see #3). It's funny how just changing the percentage of each scent completely changes the overall effect! wow!

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Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

I think it's the "spice" essential oils that are an irritant, more so than the FOs.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

It is funny to see how much people's tastes differ! Shows that as a soaper you can carry scents that you personally do not like because many of your customers do!

I LOVE sweet scents, the Pink Sugar was my FAVE, also Vanilla Select and the D.R. Chocolate.

I can't stand Patchoulli or Sandalwood type scents.

Ylang Ylang and Anise EOs are by far my least favorite. Anise can come in handy to give a "dark" rich hint to some blends, if used in a very small amount. Not sure about Ylang Ylang yet. It just smells like sunscreen to me.

Also, I agree with those who said Berrywine... I've ordered it twice and had a fair amount of success with it, but it's just too sweet for me.