Blazing Saddles soap (and body wash, and lotion, and cologne, and anything else we can make) smells like leather, gunpowder, sandalwood, and sagebrush... but how?
These real-life items give off scent molecules, and the shape of those molecules tells your nose what an item is. That's what "scent" is.
Scientists replicate that molecule in labs, combine it with some carrier base, and sell it as fragrance.
Fragrance can vary greatly in terms of manufacturing process and safety, depending on its intended use. Scents made for cleaning products, for example, fall under different regulations than scents made for cosmetics (which ours are). All fragrances manufactured in the US are regulated by the FDA and come with Safety Data Sheets (which become part of our fine library of Good Manufacturing Practices material). Just like anything, working with reputable manufacturers is the key to ensuring safety and authenticity. We have been working with some of our fragrance manufacturers since I was making calls to them from the lobby of the Oprah Winfrey Network in Los Angeles more than 5 years ago.
Though our products are <95% natural, this is why we don’t claim that they are "all natural." Fragrances make it possible to make our products smell the way they do (there are no "essences" of leather or gunpowder, for example, and sandalwood essential oil costs about $500/oz and has nearly made the sandalwood tree extinct in India).
Some people think synthetic fragrances are a "cheap" way to create scents, and that essential oils are higher quality. Don't fall for this marketing spin. High-end companies like Hermes and Coco have been using synthetic fragrances since the 1800s.
"The industry as a general rule is blindly and adamantly convinced that the public will only buy perfumes it believes to be 'natural.' Since on average perfumes contain 80 percent synthetics, the industry lives every day terrified that the client won't like reality, which thus needs to be suppressed at all costs." - Chandler Burr, The Perfect Scent
We believe honesty and transparency in our production is important because we have done the work to ensure that our products aren’t just badass and amazing, they’re safe and responsibly made as well.
In our part of the desert, Chaparral Sage (Salvia clevelandii) really smells wonderful after a rain.
The regular, old Vitex tree (Vitex agnus-castus) has blooms that smell sweet and seeds that smell spicy.
Maybe you could find some molecules that evoke these scents, someday.
Don’t worry if it takes awhile. I like all your stuff, and you couldn’t drive me away with a switch – especially one from a sage. Ha!
Hi Nate!
We don’t… actually, I wrote a blog post about that very thing just the other day: https://outlawsoaps.com/blogs/soap-life/can-i-use-your-soap-as-shaving-soap :)
I personally use our own regular soap as shaving soap.
Do you have any plans to make shave soaps?