All images and text are ©Artisan Soaps so please don't steal them &/or claim as your own!


22 February 2010

The Vanilla Files (part 3)

I took these photo's outside today to give the truest natural colour of each bar ..
TVF 22.2a ©Artisan Soaps
TVF22.2b ©Artisan Soaps
TVF 22.2c ©Artisan Soaps
TVF 22.2d ©Artisan Soaps
TVF 22.2e ©Artisan Soaps
*Notes on Scent*

- Very Vanilla -
Smells warm and nutty when pouring into mould. Strong scent of Almonds a couple of hours after pour, distinctly Almond! .. Couple of days into cure and it's taken on a playdough smell, hmm .. Ok total lump of playdough - most unpleasant .. A few more days and it's got a 'hint' of Vanilla, hopefully it will continue to improve ..

- Pink Sugar -
Couple of days into cure this has become not so much Vanilla but somewhat fruity with honey and floral notes too .. This is pure yum, beautiful scent, sweet and floral but not overly - just right ..

- Vanilla Bean Noel -
36 (or so) hrs into cure and I honestly can barely smell this even with nose touching - I expect it to come back soon, but when?? Another day or two and it's starting to come alive, very nice sweet vanilla .. Continuing to increase in scent, it's a bakery buttery sweet almost cookie like Vanilla - Yummy!

- Vanilla Sandalwood -
36 (or so) hrs into cure and all I can say is YUM! Loving this once .. Sweet and powdery with a backbone of vanilla ..

- Buttercream Frosting -
Warm and sweet and buttery .. This was one of my fav scents to start but I'm getting a tiny hint of a 'plastic' scent now - hopefully that leaves as quick as it arrived ..

- Vanilla Bean -
This one has the most 'authentic' vanilla bean paste scent - only I detect a very slight medicinal note too .. Loosing it's medicinal note just a day later .. Still an ever so slight 'plastic' note about this, but I continue to have high hopes for it!

- Vanilla Abricot -
I honestly couldn't smell a thing when I sniffed this out of the bottle! Soaped it has become a buttery Vanilla with an ever so light fruit candy like quality .. *Nothing to do with scent but I still find it remarkable that this FO Ashed (quite severe even) when none of the others have in the least! Including the one made less than 10minutes after and sat side by side in the moulds ..

- Marshmallow Fluff -
I found this one almost unscented when sniffed direct from the bottle, but it came alive almost instantly once soaped .. It's not even a subtle scent anymore, but not too perfumery either .. A few days into cure and it's the truest 'Vanilla Essence' of the lot ..

- Drizzled Honey Vanilla -
This one has a really unique scent that I'm struggling to put into words - I get no Vanilla that's for sure .. It's almost floral, perfumy .. I want to like it but I think it's giving me a headache :( OK, definitely getting stronger by the day, overpowering floraly fruit! Not my thing at all but I feel like others would like it and that it would work well for shampoo ..

- Musk Vanilla -
This one immediately reminded me of 'Black Magic' with it's Musk .. It has a powdery scent to it similar to the Sandalwood Vanilla, but also a clear Vanilla .. I have a feeling men would chose this one over most of the others?

- Warm Vanilla Sugar -
Quite subtle compared to the rest (so far) .. Warm, sweet, butter scent - smells just like it's namesake .. Still very subtle - hopefully it increases as it cures or comes alive in use?

- Vanilla de Madagascar -
This one is a richer/deeper Vanilla scent to the rest, almost chocolaty .. Currently changing a lot throughout the day, pick it up in the morning and it's as described before, later in the day and it's pure buttery sweet cooking Vanilla?!

- Black Raspberry Vanilla -
Not that impressed when I sniffed it out of the bottle but once soaped WOW! Smells fantastic! A couple days into cure and it's still lovely and light coloured, fruity (like juice, but not fake!) .. I don't necessarily smell 'Vanilla' but maybe a creaming soda scent to it ..

So there you go, all my scent notes up to date :)

These obviously need a lot more cure time and I'm sure many will morph in one way or another throughout .. I'll be checking on them every other day and jot down notes in my book to share along with new pics next Monday ..

And if you ever want to look back at last weeks pics or reports I've put a sticky with links to all the Vanilla Files up the top of my blog to make it easier ..

PS: in case you're wondering, I'm still sick :(
Shower and an early night is the plan, if only I could turn off all the ideas dancing around in my head; like making Apple scented shampoo, or doing an experiment similar to this but with blends of Micas!

4 comments:

  1. This is fantastic, I appreciate your hard work and posting all this information for us! Thanks:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm sorry you're still sick. I hope your evening plays out how you want it.

    This work that you're doing on vanilla is just fabulous! I love it and I'm so excited about all the findings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clare, you are truly inspired and inspiring! I love your scent descriptions and really hope the Drizzled Honey Vanilla ends up with some vanilla notes to round it out.

    Be well soon! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope you feel better soon. Nothing like feeling sick to ruin the fun of experimenting.

    That's too bad that the honey vanilla gives you a headache. I'm wondering if I'd like that one since it has florals in it!

    I don't understand why some scents go plastic. Too bad. I have found that the plastic scent stays and gets stronger.

    So far they all look yummy!

    ReplyDelete