Last week I received a fun package in the mail from Brambleberry. I was chosen to test some new fragrances in the medium of my choice – all nine of them! I made cold-processed soap, and also tested them in my Jojoba-Shea lotion base. We weren’t given descriptions or names for the fragrances, and I’m not the best at picking out what is in a blend. Fortunately, this isn’t one of the requirements!!

I started with the first four fragrances, making one small batch of soap and splitting it four ways. I used my regular soap recipe, discounting the water to 25% of the oils, and mixing the oil and lye solution at 85 degrees. I only used the stick blender to reach emulsion – I don’t think it was even at a light trace when I divided out the soap. I added the fragrance at 0.5 oz. per pound, then stirred it in with a spatula, and poured it into my containers.

Fragrance #1 smells very fruity – definitely citrus and possibly tart berries. It turned the soap bright yellow initially, but there was no acceleration that I could tell.

Fragrance #2 is a very herbaceous, masculine scent. It behaved perfectly in the soap, with just a hint of discoloration.

Fragrance #3 is also fruity, not a lot different from #1. A perfectly behaved fragrance with just the slightest discoloration.

Fragrance #4 smells like men’s aftershave out of the bottle, but mellowed out and smells more like a sweet, powdery floral in the soap. Not that I would want to use it in soap again. I had heard that others were having trouble with it, so I mixed this one first. It was a mess! Mid-pour it started setting up. I mean, there was solid soap from the pour spout, down to the mold! I smushed it down, and it started heating up.

Here’s what they looked like from the bottom of the molds the next day:

You can see that Fragrance #1 lightened up quite a bit, and #2 went into a partial gel.

I made another small batch of soap using the same methods as before, just splitting it five ways for the last five fragrances.

Fragrance #5 has a very comforting smell to it. Sweet and food-like, but more complex than I can describe. It turned a dark yellow initially, but there was no acceleration.
Fragrance #6 has a citrus-y lime scent and something else that I can’t quite put my finger on. It set up almost as fast as #4, and started heating up almost immediately

Fragrance #7 was my favorite right out of the bottle. It smells like spicy apple cider! Once in soap, the apple fragrance really came out. Best of all, it behaved perfectly, with just a slight discoloration.
Fragrance #8 smells like Warm Vanilla Sugar and Brown Sugar & Fig mixed together. There was just a bit of acceleration – very workable, and no discoloration as I poured it.
Fragrance #9 is a nice, light floral fragrance, but it didn’t like being put in the soap. It didn’t want to mix in at all, and I ended up with flecks of it throughout the soap. I’m guessing this could be fixed by adding the fragrance to the base oils before adding the lye solution.

This is day two for Fragrances 5-9, and some look (and smell) a bit different today:

Fragrance #5 is definitely going to turn a medium tan
Fragrance #6 looks and smells pretty much the same
Fragrance #7 is also going to turn a medium tan and smells awesome!!
Fragrance #8 surprised me with the color change. It’s now a bright yellow, and I’m guessing will be a rather dark brown. The scent has faded quite a bit, but hopefully it’s one of those that comes back after a few weeks time.
Fragrance #9 is speckled where the fragrance didn’t mix in. The scent is still strong and the color is still light though!

The strength of the fragrance in the soap turned out very well in all except Fragrance #8. I’m still hoping that it will come through in the end!

As for the lotions, they all turned out great of course! As soon as we find out what the fragrances are called, I will have a little giveaway – all nine fragrances in the 2.5 oz. lotion size!