All the SOAP Panel fragrances in cold-processed soap

Then I made a set of lotions to give away to one of my local customers for participating in a survey. I couldn’t wait to give them away, however, so I named them the best I could…

#1 I called “Buttercream Orange”
Actual name: Orange Cream Cupcake (woo hoo – so close!)

#2 I called “Lemon Verbena”
Actual name: Ginger Verbena (another close one!)

#3 I called “Mango Smoothie”
Actual name: Southern Peach (not bad…this one is actually for sale now!)

#4 I called “Pomegranate”
Actual name: “Tropical Punch” (eh. wasn’t too close on this one, but it’s also for sale!)

#5 I called “Garden Path”
Actual name: Exotic Fruit Smoothie (what??? how did I miss that? also for sale…)

#6 I called “Country Cottage” (I had no idea, obviously!)
Actual name: Caramel Vanilla

#7 I called “Caramel Coffee”
Actual name: MAPLE SYRUP! (I was truly surprised!)

#8 I called “Green Apple” (I’m telling you, when I compared it to a green apple fragrance that I already had, they smelled very similar!)
Actual name: Poppy Fields

So there were a few curve balls thrown in, but what a fun experience! Brambleberry will be announcing the chosen participants for their Fall/Winter Team on Wednesday! I decided to pass this time around, but I would definitely do this again. Did any of you guys apply?

I made up two sets of lotions with each of the eight fragrances. Then I sent out an email to my local customers and told them about the eight mystery fragrances and asked if they would come to the farmer’s market today to pick their favorite. The incentive, of course, was that they would be entered into a drawing to win the other full set of lotions.

SOAP Panel fragrances - lotion testers

I wish I had a picture of everyone who got lotion on their nose from sniffing the testers! It would have been much more entertaining. However, this is all I’ve got.

Oh, and the results of the poll! I bet you were wondering. Personally, I am having a difficult time choosing just one. My top three in the lotions (because some of the soaps seem to smell different) would be #1 – a nice buttery orange, #3 – the one that smells sort of like tropical fruit, and #8 – the one I think smells like green apple.

Here are my customer’s top picks:
Fragrance #1 – 6 votes
Fragrance #2 – 9 votes
Fragrance #3 – 7 votes
Fragrance #4 – 4 votes
Fragrance #5 – 5 votes
Fragrance #6 – 0 votes
Fragrance #7 – 1 vote
Fragrance #8 – 5 votes

Ironically, I think #2 would be my last choice. Not that I don’t like it, because I really do like all of them! It just isn’t one of my favorites. You know what I mean. One of my customers described it as a lemon verbena, and that’s probably pretty close!

After she helped me count all the votes, I had my daughter pick a winner:

Congratulations to Linda C!!

Thanks to everyone who participated! I thought it was a huge success!

Anyway, I was sitting in my driveway having a garage sale this morning when the FedEx truck pulled up with my box of mystery fragrances from Brambleberry. I clapped my hands, and said a loud “Woo hoo! I’ve been waiting for this one!” (When you live in Kansas, it takes a LONG time to get packages from Washington!)

SOAP Panel fragrances

My neighbor, who was helping me with the garage sale, also got to sniff their yummy goodness. She would have rather smelled something more herbal or minty, but these fun fruity/yummy scents are my favorites for sure! Even if my nose has difficulty sorting out the specifics…

So, first impressions:
#1 – Somewhat buttery and definitely orange. YUM.
#2 – Lime, for sure…
#3 – Tropical fruits – mango, perhaps?
#4 – Very strong berry scent
#5 – Citrus-y
#6 – This one is eluding me. Somewhat familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.
#7 – Very yummy vanilla/caramel, almost coffee-like
#8 – I think I smell apple!

Last time I did the SOAP Panel, I tested the fragrances in cold processed soap and lotions. I think those are two of the best tests because nothing is more finicky than lye, and with the lotion, you can get a feel for how something smells when applied to the skin. Can’t wait to get started!

Have you noticed that many of the fragrance suppliers are shipping fragrances in HDPE bottles these days? Essential oils usually come in amber glass or aluminum bottles which are recommended for long term storage. Most of you probably know that if you order fragrance oils that are shipped to you in HDPE plastic bottles, and you aren’t planning to use them within a couple of weeks, they need to be transferred to amber glass or aluminum or the fragrance oil will eat away the HDPE plastic. Many of the fragrance suppliers don’t tell you this! I’ve often wondered how a new soaper is supposed to figure this out. Anyway…

I’ve collected a whole lot of fragrances over the years, and fortunately most of the suppliers I buy from ship in amber glass – especially when I was first starting out seven years ago. I always felt bad throwing away the amber glass bottles once they were empty, but I didn’t know what else to do with them until about five years ago when fellow soapmaker Deb Hammett shared her secret for cleaning amber bottles. This was before it was trendy to recycle! Are you ready for this tip? Ok, here it is:

Deb commented on a yahoo group that she soaks the bottles in hot salt water, then rinses and puts them in the dishwasher. The good news is that it works! I usually grab one of my stainless steel soap pots, add hot tap water and a good amount of salt (probably half a cup in one to two gallons), then stir until the salt is dissolved. I pre-rinse the bottles out with warm tap water and rub the labels off with my fingernails. The paper ones come off really easily once they are soaking wet! Then I dip the bottles in the pot, one by one, allowing the salt water to fill up the bottle as I tip it in. I let them soak overnight, then run them through the dishwasher the next day.

Now the cone-lined caps are a different story. The plastic absorbs the fragrance, and does NOT want to come out. I buy new caps from Essential Supplies. They also have a great selection of amber glass bottles if you need some. If you already have amber glass bottles and need new caps, you can figure out which size you’ll need with this chart.

Please let me know if you found this to be useful information!

I will show you the results given by the survey, then share my decisions with you and finally, who the winners of the two ounce Jojoba-Shea Lotions are! Yes, I decided since there were 61 participants, I would choose two winners, instead of just one. It only seemed fair…

A: Lavender Meadows
B: Lavender Lemon
C: Other – several said Lavender Vanilla…

A: Patchouli
B: Sandalwood Rose
C: Other – three said it’s not their favorite type of scent

A: Celebration
B: Asian Plum

A: Almond Milk
B: Oatmeal, Milk & Honey

A: yes
B: no

A: Almond Milk
B: Antique Lilac
C: Black Raspberry Creme
D: Caribbean Diva
E: Cranberry Crush
F: Grapefruit Jasmine
G: Lavender Meadows
H: Stress Relief
I: Other – Most of these were custom orders

Here’s the interesting data – the rankings of scent types. This is in order by the number of first place rankings:
1 – Fruity (24.59%)
2 – Herbal or Minty (18.03%)
2 – Lavender (18.03%)
3 – Sweet (16.39%)
3 – Earthy (16.39%)
4 – Floral (14.75%)

And the order of second place rankings:
1 – Herbal or Minty (24.59%)
2 – Fruity (19.67%)
3 – Sweet (16.39%)
4 – Lavender (14.75%)
5 – Earthy (16.39%)
6 – Floral (11.48%)

My choices then, for my five scents of lotions based on the responses:
1. Lavender Lemon
2. Sandalwood Rose
3. Celebration
4. Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey
and…
5. Stress Relief (mint & eucalyptus)

Stress Relief wasn’t on the survey because I already knew I was going to include it! I think many of you will be happy about this based on your response to the question about which scents you hope Great Cakes Soapworks will continue to carry. By the way, those who would like to get fragrance free lotion can still get it, but I’m not going to have it stocked.

And, finally, the winners of the lotions, chosen randomly out of a hat by my youngest daughter:

Sheila D. of Lenexa, KS
and
Sharon P. of Olathe, KS

Congratulations!!!