Uncommon Good Scents!

The SAFEteam's Perfume Challenge and Giveaway 2010

For this challenge, many of us were forced out of our comfort zones. Soapers were asked to create our favorite scent in a blend of our OWN. It could be a perfume, cologne, roll on perfume oil, or solid. We had to use two or more scents from fragrance oils, essential oils, resins, or absolutes in a blend that was uniquely ours.

Now it's up to you, the voters, to pick a winner. To vote, list your favorite in the comments section. We'll choose a commenter at random to win the winning perfume and a feature here on our blog.

And here are the contestants .....

1. Arrugginito Rosa by Anhoki

I remember the very minute we met. That little bistro in Brooklyn where I was sipping a Latte. You walked up, sat at my table, and handed me the most beautiful rose I'd ever seen. You said the rust color matched my hair. I blushed. For my birthday an entire field was filled with rust colored roses. The proposal was a wine tasting tour in Napa with a dozen roses handed to me as I walked through the double doors. The ring.... in a tasting glass. When we were married every guest was handed a rust colored rose. For the birth of each of our children you had our favorite florist send 3 dozen rust colored roses. SO beautiful. Time goes by so quickly anymore. It seems like just yesterday we began our journey together. Now I set here, alone, longing for you to hand me just one more rust colored rose. Until we meet again I will carry on our little tradition by leaving one with you.

Blended in a base of Shea butter, Virgin Coconut, Jojoba, Candelilla and Carnauba waxes Arrugginito Rosa (Rusty Rose) is oils and waxes of Jasmine Sambac, Rose Absolute, Rosewood, Petitgrain, Amyris, Amber, Ginger and Black Pepper. The complexity of this blend is overshadowed only by its warmth and subtlety. A truly beautiful blend for even the hardcore un-girly girls.

2. Whiskey Girl by Swan Mountain Soaps
At the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Phillip Street in the heart of the French Quarter stands a crumbled-looking stone building once used by the infamous privateer Jean Lafitte. History has it that Lafitte operated a blacksmith shop there as a front for his privateering operations. Today, the 200-year-old building is the coolest bar in New Orleans. And the home of one of the oldest cocktails ever invented - the Sazerac.

If you can imagine New Orleans on a foggy night in 1785, in a bar lit only by candle and hearth where absinthe and rye whiskey flowed, you understand the heart of Whiskey Girl.

Whiskey Girl perfume oil is our own all-natural botanical blend of essential oils, with warm amber and spice accords, hints of bourbon, clove and lemon, a touch of myrrh and sandalwood, and a whisper of absinthe that blend into a seductive, mysterious creation. Total strangers will ask what you're wearing. Answer them if you want ... or keep them guessing. In New Orleans, nothing is what it seems.

3. Autumn Faire by theskinyourein

Soft, sexy, spicy, warm and very slightly sweet, just like a cool, colorful Autumn day. Autumn Faire Perfume Oil is just what your soul needs to calm and soothe you after a long hot summer and it's easy on your skin because it contains Jojoba Oil, Essential Oils and a dab of buttery vanilla fragrance oil to round it all out. You'll smell spiced oranges, mandarins, grapefruit, nutmeg, a dash of cinnamon, a pinch of Bitter Almond Essential Oil, Vanilla Essential Oil Blend and the icing on the cake is the buttery vanilla fragrance oil. Interesting combination, you say? The scent comes full circle from the first whiff to the gentle aroma that lingers on your skin.

4. Tres Belle Perfume Oil by Posh Wash Soap

When dreaming about the romance so inherent in a French garden, one might think of Monet's garden at Giverny - soft, lush and almost nostalgic for a lost paradise. The French, a characteristically passionate people, infuse their gardens with this passion as well, which is readily seen in its wide array of plants, its abundance of growth and the marvelous splashes of color born out of the dark green beds of foliage.

My perfume oil is inspired by a French garden. A fresh, flowery & green scent that starts out with French Lavender, combined with hints of lilac, rose, carnation, muget, musk & much more. Tres Belle is a romantic, fragrant walk in a beautiful floral garden.

5. Grace all-natural perfume oil by oilandspice

Grace Kelly has for decades epitomized the essence of refinement and
elegance. Her beauty captivated audiences in theater and film and soon won
the heart of Monaco's Prince Rainier Grimaldi III. Known as "Princess
Grace" Kelly she continued to set the standard of the sophisticated woman. Even
to this day her legacy continues on the wealthiest street in the world,
Avenue Princess Grace, Monaco.

Capturing this same essence of beauty and refinement in a gentle blend of
scented oils is "Grace." French Lavender and Sandalwood combine with hints
of Rosewood to produce a scent that is worthy even of the Princess of
Monaco. Superbly cultivated and painstakingly blended, "Grace" brings out
the Grace Kelly in each of us.

6. Flamme by Amelia’s

Formulated in an area of the country and on a barrier island that breeds sultry nights, there’s good reason to call this roll-on perfume by its French name ….. Flamme.

This is a fragrance of many layers and undertones of florals --- with an extra edge. When sniffing it for the first time, most people’s eyes pop open with pleasant surprise and then they look up with a smile.

Flamme has another meaning here …. more like fire …. hot and flirtatious. That’s the essence of the pleasant edge.

What’s that funny saying? “Good girls go to Heaven, and bad girls go everywhere!”

Flamme could rewrite that into, “Good girls go to Heaven, and Flamme girls go all kinds of merveilleux places!”

“Flamme, eau de parfum --- Let it take you places.”

7. Hunterdon by LittleBatch

I love where I live. Hunterdon County, NJ is a gorgeous place, so I
created a perfume blend in its honor, with all of the scents that I love
and remind me of home. Clean air, freshly tilled earth, green grass from
the fields, farm stand vegetables (cucumbers & tomatoes), wild berries
(strawberries & blackberries), evergreen trees, majestic oaks, and flowers
(hydrangea, rose, peony, honeysuckle) & herbs (sage, peppermint) from my
garden are all represented in this scent. It smells clean, nature-inspired,
and definitely one-of-a-kind.

8. Sultry Passion Perfume Oil by Starlet Glam Bath & Body

Old Hollywood Glamour and style of the past: And the sexy glamazons like Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Veronica Lake. All such classic beauty and sirens on the silver screen. An era full of Pin Up girls, Burlesque temptress lounge singers with their slow and sultry songs, Sensual Boudoir photo shoots, Silent, Golden age and Post war films.

Sultry Passion Perfume oil was created and inspired with the magic of Old Hollywood of Sultry Love and Passion. A personal exotic sweet blend of Jasmine, Vanilla and Blackberry. With a hint of Chocolate, Almond and Sandalwood. Rich, Intoxicating, Sensual. And so seductive and perfect for passionate evenings! It comes in a hot pink perfume bottle.

9. Oakmoss and Sandalwood Natural Botanical Cologne by krugsecologic

Ituha - Native Americans use this word for "the mighty oak". This natural, uni-sex cologne blends Oakmoss and Sandalwood with a touch of Vanilla absolute for sweetness and citrusy lemon to top it off. This is a 100 percent natural blend.

Ituha reminds me of one of my favorite activities - running a trail in the early morning hours before anyone is awake, moving away from civilization. Everything is quiet. The only sounds are forest animals and birds, the wind through the trees. Before your eyes, lining the trail stand large, mighty oak trees. Calming you with their presence and simultaneously humbling you with their grandeur.

10. Purple Haze by Thistledelight

Purple Haze Pulse Point Perfume is so called, because I have dedicated this blend to Scotland's beautiful hills and glens. If you have ever visited Scotland, you will have noticed how the hills are covered with a purple hue. Most people think it is just the Heather, but it isn't, this purple hue even covers some tree trunks too. The scent is in the air, which is a mixture of heather, moss, woodsy, and greenery, with a hint of roses, jasmine, and the mountain springs. I have blended this perfume to remind me of my home. Just to wander our countryside and just breathe is a wonderful experience. It sends electricity through your veins and recharges the soul.

We need all of those scents in there together, as even Heather is not one scent. Heather is a complex scent because of it's beginnings, and why it graces our hills and mountains.

When God first made the world, He looked at the bare and barren hillsides and thought how nice it would be to cover them with some kind of beautiful tree or flower. So he turned to the Giant Oak, the biggest and strongest of all of the trees he had made, and asked him if he would be willing to go up to the bare hills to help make them look more attractive. But the oak explained that he needed a good depth of soil in order to grow and that the hillsides would be far too rocky for him to take root. So God left the oak tree and turned to the honeysuckle with its lovely yellow flower and beautiful sweet fragrance. He asked the honeysuckle if she would care to grow on the hillsides and spread her beauty and fragrance amongst the barren slopes. But the honeysuckle explained that she needed a wall or a fence or even another plant to grow against, and for that reason, it would be quite impossible for her to grow in the hills. So God then turned to one of the sweetest and most beautif ul of all the flowers - the rose. God asked the rose if she would care to grace the rugged highlands with her splendour. But the rose explained that the wind and the rain and the cold on the hills would destroy her, and so she would not be able to grow on the hills. Disappointed with the oak, the honeysuckle and the rose, God turned away. At length, he came across a small, low lying, green shrub with a flower of tiny petals -some purple and some white. It was a heather. God asked the heather the same question that he'd asked the others. "Will you go and grow upon the hillsides to make them more beautiful?" The heather thought about the poor soil, the wind and the rain - and wasn't very sure that she could do a good job. But turning to God she replied that if he wanted her to do it, she would certainly give it a try.
God was very pleased.
He was so pleased in fact that he decided to give the heather some gifts as a reward for her willingness to do as he had asked. Firstly he gave her the strength of the oak tree - the bark of the heather is the strongest of any tree or shrub in the whole world. Next he gave her the fragrance of the honeysuckle - a fragrance which is frequently used to gently perfume soaps and potpouris. Finally he gave her the sweetness of the rose - so much so that heather is one of the bees favourite flowers. And to this day, heather is renowned especially for these three God given gifts.

This blend is a combination of many scents, some of which are, white roses, sandlewood, geranium, lavender, and oakwood to name a few. This scent is a mixture of floral and sweet, but grounded by the earthy green undertones. This pulse point perfume was made using fractioned coconut oil since this oil absorbs into the skin quickly, then topped off with the wonderful fragrance blend. Each bottle is 10ml and is a roller ball application. Very neat and tidy to fit straight into your purse or pocket for easy top up. Rub some on your pulse points and enjoy the aroma all day long. Just a little dab will do you for quite a few hours indeed.