These are all of our soap tests from just this week at Bramble Berry. We’ve been working diligently to find unique Holiday scents for 2008 and finalize the line up by mid-July.
Thus far, we’ve fallen in love with an Orange Chocolate concoction and not much else. With a comprehensive line (already!) of Winter fragrances, finding new, unique and difference blends is challenging.
But, we’re up for the challenge … after all, it means that we get to make more soap, smell exotic enticing fragrances and delight in the practice of our craft every day until we finalize the line-up.
The nose is like any muscle. It gets stronger the more you engage it. The average person can only smell 6 fragrances before they start to lose major note categories. I can usually do about 10 but once I hit nose fatigue, rather than try to do the coffee beans or fresh wool, I just quit for an hour and give my muscle a chance to rest. Then, I start again … I’d hate to shortchange a scent because my nose was too tired to really “get” all of the nuances in it.
Maybe you have the best of the best already??? But best part is knowing how high your standards are and how rigorous your testing is. We can buy from BB with confidence.
Sleigh Ride is a fave here.
Jeannie
What I do is sniff some coffee grinds, and then get away from the scents. Usually 15-30 minutes outside will do the trick.
Sometimes I “quarantine” the scent in a room and then stay out of that room for 24 hours. I also don’t sniff or use anything with any FO during that 24 hours.
These don’t always work since some FOs really set off my sinuses, but they do tend to work for the most part.
Carol
Yeah, Joanna got me curious: how does one clear one’s olfactory “palate” after sniffing different scents?
My favorite BB scent is still Pumpkin Spice… but that Chocolate Orange sounds nice… I love those flavors together, I’m sure it will be a fantastic soap blend!
My favorite of your Holiday scents is Feliz Navidad. I fell in love with it over a year ago and can’t resist using it year round!
Can’t wait to see what you come up with for the new Holiday scents!
Kind Regards,
Erin
Do you use fresh coffee beans in between every 7-9 smells? Some people think that coffee used as a scent neutralizer for the nose, is a myth. A perfume creator once told me that after 10 sniffs of different smells will blow your smeller for a while. What is your technique, if any?