Stone Cottage Soapworks favorite fragrances!

Hey David, I received my sample package today and got a chance to do a first run.

Initially I lathered fig and pear. Unfortunately, to my nose the scent mostly disappears when lathered. So, I restarted with Bayberry. I have to admit, I didn't pay attention to the scents. I was expecting something sweet and was surprised by how Bayberry really smelled. That said, I was fairly impressed. To me, this seems like a good autumn scent... Where I would place a Bay Rum soap. It has some similarities, to my very untrained nose, too.

I will definitely need to use the others to know for sure, but I think I chose some good ones. Again, I don't think I was paying close attention. The Bali Isle threw me when I first smelled it. I ran to the website, and think I had it mixed up with a different scent. Again, seems like a happy accident, as it's a very nice scent. I can smell the frankincense, but it's not heavy or thick (as I'd expect with such). There's a lot more going on in this scent, and it seems to work quite well.

The Eau de Floride is a unique One, and I'm not sure it is in my wheelhouse, but as someone who has never smelled Florida Water, I had to give it a shot.

Finally, the sweet pumpkin smells awesome, but is so light I have it feeling it will also disappear on lathering. I will definitely give it a try, as it is decadent in nature and I think I generally prefer those scents. EDIT: Lathered a bowl of it, for sake of testing. It actually smells stronger when lathered. Definitely a good one. I just hope it doesn't light me up when actually used.

Not sure I provided any sizeable feedback to help. But I will definitely come back and post more thoughts as I dig further into the samples.

Thanks again.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Hey David, I received my sample package today and got a chance to do a first run.

Initially I lathered fig and pear. Unfortunately, to my nose the scent mostly disappears when lathered. So, I restarted with Bayberry. I have to admit, I didn't pay attention to the scents. I was expecting something sweet and was surprised by how Bayberry really smelled. That said, I was fairly impressed. To me, this seems like a good autumn scent... Where I would place a Bay Rum soap. It has some similarities, to my very untrained nose, too.

I will definitely need to use the others to know for sure, but I think I chose some good ones. Again, I don't think I was paying close attention. The Bali Isle threw me when I first smelled it. I ran to the website, and think I had it mixed up with a different scent. Again, seems like a happy accident, as it's a very nice scent. I can smell the frankincense, but it's not heavy or thick (as I'd expect with such). There's a lot more going on in this scent, and it seems to work quite well.

The Eau de Floride is a unique One, and I'm not sure it is in my wheelhouse, but as someone who has never smelled Florida Water, I had to give it a shot.

Finally, the sweet pumpkin smells awesome, but is so light I have it feeling it will also disappear on lathering. I will definitely give it a try, as it is decadent in nature and I think I generally prefer those scents. EDIT: Lathered a bowl of it, for sake of testing. It actually smells stronger when lathered. Definitely a good one. I just hope it doesn't light me up when actually used.

Not sure I provided any sizeable feedback to help. But I will definitely come back and post more thoughts as I dig further into the samples.

Thanks again.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Great to hear from you and thanks for your feedback!  One thing to think about is that the sample you are receiving is a .4 oz. sample in a small container and the full size container has at least a half to 3/4 of an inch of headspace in the container for the scent to fill with the scent of the shaving cream which will give you the full scent of the product but the sample size doesn't do it that way.  I often suggest that you take a tiny, minute little dab of the shaving cream on the tip of your finger then rub it onto the top of your other hand in a small circle and take a whiff of the scent from that!  It actually works quite well!

Having been born and lived in Massachusetts for a couple of decades I was introduced to the Bayberry bushes by my grandmother on Cape Cod and was able to smell the aromatic scent of Bayberry which is quite a handsome scent and those who have not tried it often expect a "fruity, berry" scent which it does not have!

Eau de Floride is an old fragrance often used for men in shaving products and as the fragrance description says that I wrote for the website "(Florida Water) This is our version of an Eau de Cologne made of a natural Essential Oil scent blend of Bergamot, Lemon, Lavender, Cinnamon and Cloves which debuted in the 1800’s as an Eau de Cologne for both Men and Women! NEW!"

Figg & Peare is a scent I created with the British in mind!  Having been lucky enough to travel to England on many occasions over the years, I got a sense of British taste in perfumes and came up with this "[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]This is for you gentlemen who like the option of a classic fruit combination of pomaceous Pears and Fig fruit that blend so nicely together with a base of Vanilla, Musk and Amber!  A great way to begin your day! A day that is full of jolly good fun!"[/font]

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Thanks so much for your input and I look forward to hearing more!  The Sample Packs are still 20% OFF and  I hope you all give them a try and share some feedback with us!  Thanks![/font]

I'm loving the tub of Basilico that I got a few weeks ago. It still smells more like anise to me than anything else, which is weird since there isn't any in the scent description. Nice & sharp.

Of the 5 samples I ordered at the same time, I really like the Bay Lime & Spiced Bay, feel neutral about Musk & Red Velvet, and found the straight Lime to be a bit on the harsh side.

So, in looking back through my lists I can see several which will remain on the list:

Two newer scents have done well and I want them to continue to be on the list - 
Balsam Fir 
Bayberry
Several original scents will be kept:       
Cèdre Noir
Figg & Peare
Fougère
Hespéride
Lavender
Leather & Smoke
Musk
Patchouli
Rose
Sandalwood
Suède de Kashmir
Vetiver and Vanilla

There are three scents that I am wondering about:
Bay Lime
Spiced Bay
Bay Rum

The Spiced Bay and Bay Lime are traditional type scents but I am not sure if they have interest with other more modern scents around!  The Bay Rum doesn't seem to be getting the attention I would have expected from the guys who seem to be very interested in this scent and I just haven't got much feedback on it so it is difficult to tell!

There are about 17 scents I am thinking just might not be right for this market so those are on the list of possible scents to get rid of...

I also have quite a few scents that are in the middle and I just don't know what to do with them!  Two of them just got put back on the list of scents to keep!

So, these are the current results...so far!

David

I'm loving the tub of Basilico that I got a few weeks ago. It still smells more like anise to me than anything else, which is weird since there isn't any in the scent description. Nice & sharp.

Of the 5 samples I ordered at the same time, I really like the Bay Lime & Spiced Bay, feel neutral about Musk & Red Velvet, and found the straight Lime to be a bit on the harsh side.

Having just finished a bottle of Lime scented cologne, I have thought more about your mention of the Lime Essential oil!  The original concept was to keep it more "natural" but Lime essential oil can have some harshness that those who are not used to it might find easier to relate to a "Lime Scented Cologne" fragrance with other notes in it so I am putting together a new fragrance formulation for a "Lime Cologne based-scent" for this purpose!  Thanks again for your assistance and your input!

David

I'm loving the tub of Basilico that I got a few weeks ago. It still smells more like anise to me than anything else, which is weird since there isn't any in the scent description. Nice & sharp.

Of the 5 samples I ordered at the same time, I really like the Bay Lime & Spiced Bay, feel neutral about Musk & Red Velvet, and found the straight Lime to be a bit on the harsh side.

Having just finished a bottle of Lime scented cologne, I have thought more about your mention of the Lime Essential oil!  The original concept was to keep it more "natural" but Lime essential oil can have some harshness that those who are not used to it might find easier to relate to a "Lime Scented Cologne" fragrance with other notes in it so I am putting together a new fragrance formulation for a "Lime Cologne based-scent" for this purpose!  Thanks again for your assistance and your input!

David

Hey David,

I do tend to prefer fairly naturalistic scents, "lime zest" sort of thing over more complex cologne scents. But yes, I often find straight essential oils to be a bit on the harsh side, e.g. rosemary oil smells like gasoline to me...

I'm loving the tub of Basilico that I got a few weeks ago. It still smells more like anise to me than anything else, which is weird since there isn't any in the scent description. Nice & sharp.

Of the 5 samples I ordered at the same time, I really like the Bay Lime & Spiced Bay, feel neutral about Musk & Red Velvet, and found the straight Lime to be a bit on the harsh side.

Having just finished a bottle of Lime scented cologne, I have thought more about your mention of the Lime Essential oil!  The original concept was to keep it more "natural" but Lime essential oil can have some harshness that those who are not used to it might find easier to relate to a "Lime Scented Cologne" fragrance with other notes in it so I am putting together a new fragrance formulation for a "Lime Cologne based-scent" for this purpose!  Thanks again for your assistance and your input!

David

Hey David,

I do tend to prefer fairly naturalistic scents, "lime zest" sort of thing over more complex cologne scents. But yes, I often find straight essential oils to be a bit on the harsh side, e.g. rosemary oil smells like gasoline to me...

Having spent the last few days in my fragrance and essential oil cabinets, I found several different "versions" of Basil essential oil and at least one of them has a different quality than the one I used in the "Basilico" sample and this one smelled much more like a warm, freshly picked piece of Basil than the one I chose. As far as Lime essential oil, there can be some differences in scent from source to source but sometimes the addition of essential oils of lemon and or orange essential oils in small amount tend to "round out" the scent and I even found that to be the case in a few of the colognes listed online with a name that included "Lime". Sometimes a cologne can be made with one note taking a complete focus in the product and other times it is that note and other supporting notes that take the focus together. So it is a matter or taking a look at what is out there and deciding which approach would be the best for this formula!

Greetings, Guys!

I'm back again and having been doing further work on this project so I will be working to select which scents I am going to use on the "first run" of the Final Formulation of the Stone Cottage Shaving Cream!  So, my goal is to find suggestions for the first 12 scents that should be released after the first production!  I am eager to hear your input and I will be going over all the posts in this thread to get a good grip on things so far!  Looking forward to hearing from you!

David