This list contains the top fragrances we use in our soap making business. Most of these fragrances are very good mixers and are used in more than one soap. We will give examples of different mixed fragrances from the over 200 we currently make.

Top Seventeen Soap Guy Fragrances

Vanilla

This one should be no surprise. It has universal appeal as a scent and is included in almost every bakery scent along with being an excellent mixer with amber, lavender and other earthy scents. This is an absolute must have for all soap makers. The biggest downside to vanilla is will turn your bar brown. Small amounts make for a tan color all the way to chocolate brown for 100% vanilla bars. Many customers are resistant to buying such a dark bar. Most suppliers will list vanillin content of any fragrance for this reason. Check carefully each scent as it turns up in the most unexpected fragrances.

Oatmeal Milk Honey

This is a great fragrance all on its own. It is our number two seller as a soap without any additions. It is also a good mixer and has a minimal vanilla content so your bar remains in a light brown state. It mixes very well with food fragrances including most fruits Blueberry and oatmeal milk and honey make a very nice blue berry cobbler. We used to make this fragrance soap and it is your for the stealing as we don’t currently make it.

Lavender

The number one floral scent always. There are many different types of lavender scent. From one end of the spectrum is the very medicinal scent to the other end which smaells like a lavender garden. All types have a wide appeal to the public and it wouldn’t hurt to carry both kinds in your line-up. Lavender is a lso a top 10 mixer. We have an extraordinary nice lavender patchouli scent that has always been a top seller for us. Over the years we have also made a very nice lavender vanilla. This scent is sometimes called sleep time. If you search for laver and “handmade soap’ you will se dozens and dozens of different combinations. Be sure and do numerous experiments with this cent. Your reasearch will pay dividend as you find your own inque blend that is sure to become a best seller.

Orange (Citrus must have)

We really like our orange fragrance and its many combinations. The raelly nice thing about orage is you can usually find a natural 5x orange scent at competitive price poiunts that can at times be even cheaper than a manufactured scent. If you have an all natural line this can be very helpful. Many manufactured scents list orange as one of the ingredients in different scents and perefumes because of its remarkable versatility. Orange in combined ith different florals as an accent to make unique blends for original soap and perfume lines. Experimenting with this can make your line more “upscale” and give your customers the value they looking for.

(Although lemon could be listed here we prefer orange. Lemon can be used instead of orange in most places and still produce a wonderful scent.)

Luv Spell

This of course is a designer fragrance. We have bought this duplicate since the start of our business. we use it on its own and as a mixer. The thought that two different fragrances that are outstanding on their own would also make great mixers has held true for us. We like mixing this with our aloe for a great soap that is an awesome seller.

Almond

Almond is a well know fragrance that can contain small amounts of vanilla. It also makes a very nice mixer with vanilla. It is part of the combo which is our all time best seller “cherry almond”. Because it mixer so well with food scents you usually get a darker bar. We mixed it with apple pie to create our almond spice and great a combo that has a very nice following.

Sandalwood

There are two types of sandalwood people are familiar with. The first is the scent sandalwood which is part old a very famous cologne and i mixed with vanilla. The second is the woodsy sandalwood which smells more like the essential oil. The essential oil has been prohibitively expensive for years now and fragrance oil manufacturers have been able to make scents that have a strong likeness to the oil. At one point it was selling for over two thousand dollars a kilo. This makes it impossible use as a soap scent. Be ware of anyone claiming to have sandalwood essential oil in their soap. If they actually do it is very likely to be highly diluted.

Patchouli

Love them or leave them patchouli. There is generally no in between with this earthy aroma. I personally love it and have used it straight and as a mixer in many of our soap creations. The essentail oil is much strong than the fragrance oil andcan be bought currently for approximately 40.00 per lb. This puts it right on the edge of affordability for soap makers. Better to use as a mixer and be able to offer it regularly than to skip it all together.

Black Raspberry Vanilla

This amazing fragrance was made popular by bath and body works. Funny thing is even though the fragrance is amazing it usually contains no vanilla and makes a very appealing ivory colored bar. We sell a ton of this one straight up and as a combo. Keep this in your fragrance stash and you will won’t be disappointed.

Aloe

We have several fragrances that fit into the cool and fresh category. This is the best seller among that bunch. It makes a great mixer and stands on its own. Use your marketing chops to come up with truly uniques and creative names for your combos so you can dominate the market with you creative combo that is unique to your line.

Cucumber

Somewhat seasonal. cucumber makes a strong seller in the summer months. Of course cucumber melon has been a strong seller for years now. We are getting a very big response for putting it in the lotion list. Please drop us a line and let us know if you found any other unique combos.

Cotton Blossom

I put this scent in the same category as aloe. It has a nice fresh scent and will make great soap on its own. When you mix it with your favorite lavender you will get a favorable response from your customers because of the familiarity of the scent. It smells like a popular laundry detergent. Yes, keep this one around.

Lemongrass

This can come as fragrance or essential oil. The essential oil very affordable and preferred by many soap makers. Also makes a great mixer and have a very popular lavender lemongrass soap. When we first made this soap we used poppyseeds as an exfoliant. Some customers still ask for the poppyseed soap. This one is a keeper.

Gobi Gold

This is a manufactured soap fragrance that comes to us direct from the manufacturer. It might be a top seller because to the unique red black and gold streaks throughout the soap. I can smell some citrus and patchouli in this fragrance, which makes a great combo on its own. Most of the manufactured scents can be made by anyone with some time and determination. Start experimenting early on and you will get better and better at identifying soap fragrance combos. My supplier has an apprentice who is participating in a 5 year perfumer program. He told me it mostly a matter of practice. i believe him.

Bondi Breeze

This amazing scent comes to us as ocean Breeze. We have tried many different fragrances that are attempting to capture that ocean fresh scent and this is the one we like the best. Try different suppliers to get the exact fragrance your customers will love.

Cool Water

Also known as cool water for me this fragrance is similar to the cologne. We find it to be an excellent mixer and also great on its own. This one satisfies a huge hole in the marketplace which is products that are designed for men. You may have heard me say this more than once in my videos, the mens market is completely under served and ready for some serious suppliers.

Bay Rum

This a follow from the last fragrance in that it also attempts to serve the male market. Keep in mind that even though these are masculine scents, they are generally purchased by the female demographic. I get more calls for soap for men than any other specific request. Most of soap is gender neutral, that does not stop the requests. We even named one of scents “Island Citrus for Men” to specifically address these requests although the scent is a mild citrus scent with broad appeal.

A couple of quick notes about light fragrances.

The saponification process that takes place when you make cold processed soap is a vigorous chemical process that distorts many fragrances. It is particularly hard on lighter or more subtle scents. One casualty is coconut fragrance which rarely comes the process as the original scent smelled coming out of the bottle. Some light florals also suffer this fate. I have yet to find a lily of the valley that satisfies our customers, even when we add 5 times more than the recommended amount to the batch. As always experimenting is the safest way to determine your success when adding fragrances to you soap mix. Also check reviews for reliable fragrance suppliers who sell to soap makers and allow them to post on their site. Natures Garden Fragrances has a very well established community with thousands of reviews. Well worth your time to check these out.

When looking for new ideas I will use Google to search for best seller lists from fragrance manufacturers. That is where we found the black raspberry vanilla which has become a huge part of our soap line. You may also want to search best seller lists from soap manufacturers. This will give you plenty of ideas to get started. One of the problems I see from new soap makers is they get stuck on a theme. Whether it is tropical them,e of bakery theme or some similar idea. The market place is indifferent to your idea. After you have a established a track record of making and selling soap you may experiment with your theme. To get sales initial to keep your business moving forward stick to best selling scents so you can generate cash flow to fund your experiments.

You will also get a lot feedback when you first starting and will have tendency to react to every suggestion. Wait until you see a trend before you invest precious time and money into someones crazy request. After you hear the same request 3 times, then you need to do some further research. Until the sit tight and keep a notepad for customer requests.

It is easier than ever to evaluate fragrances with all of the reviews available before you purchase bulk supplies. Keep in mind, almost all suppliers will not accept returns of fragrance oil. Because of this these reviews are very valuable. After you  purchase some scents you will find some reviewer’s ideas that lineup closely with yours. Check out their other reviews for great ideas for new scents and what to avoid.

If you find an amazing scent that you want to make your signature scent may I suggest that you rename it. After a while when your competitors see you have success at your soap business you will find some cannot resist the temptation just to copy your scent and design ideas out right. It is much harder to do If you have a new and different name from what your suppliers calls your favorite fragrance. This will make it impossible for them to find your supplier and track down the exact scent that is working so well for you.