Bath and Body Find Review

by Avery, added 8/9/10

Brand: Friendly Fumes

Soap 4.5 oz., $5.00

Matching lotions: 4 oz., $6.00 & 8 oz., $10.00

Scents:
Pineapple Cilantro
Philly Nice
Blueberry Honeysuckle
Peach Gardenia
Lavender Coriander
Jasmine Grapefruit
Grapefruit Orange

If you are a fan of our sister site, Candlefind, you already know the "fragrant" folks at Friendly Fumes. Bob, the fourth generation soap maker, (and soy candle maker) has been hard at work mixing up new scents for the summer, and asked us to take them for a test drive along with a few standards. Seven "flavors" of soaps and lotions - this is a dream job!



Soaps

I tried the soap as a hand soap and in the shower. Washing my hands with Friendly Fumes soaps was not drying. Usually, I head right for the lotion after hand-washing and I deliberately abstained and let my hands go naked for awhile, something that I usually can not handle. While I would not always do this, this soap did not leave my skin so dry that it was uncomfortable. 

The soaps come in natural brown soap-size boxes with a clear sticker with the Friendly Fumes logo (a colorful flame) on top, and their motto: "Everybody is always stickin' their nose in our business". The side panels of the box has the name of the fragrance on one side, the ingredients on the other. The soaps slices are sealed in little cellophane bags, keeping the scents confined and non-mingling.

Lotions

Testing, I like the way Friendly Fume's lotions feel on my hands. They leave them feeling soft and moisturized, not at all greasy. I get annoyed when I have to hang out and wait for my lotion to absorb before I pick things up. Not the case here, it disappears as I rub it on. The lotion is a good consistency too - not runny, not sticky.

The lotions come in the cobalt blue bottles with the white "pop tops", and the label is tan with the fragrance name and the ingredients. The lotions are dye-free.　

I am getting anxious! Let's go try all these scents!

Pineapple Cilantro 

"An amazingly rich and fruity pineapple scent with just a hint of green. An exotic combination of lime slices, pineapple chunks and orange slices with a mild spicy twist"

Soap - (light yellow-orange, darker swirls) The soap has a mild scent that is noticeable when I use it, but like many soaps, it is not a long-term scent. But, it sure smells good when I am washing!


Lotion - This one is marked "S" for strong - just the way I like my lotions! This is a great scent, good for layering after scrubbing with the matching scent. The Pineapple is the first scent to greet your nose then that herby/green and lime follows - a good combo for those hot humid days, this scent has summer written all over it! The scent lingered for at least a half an hour.

Philly Nice

"A fresh, clean ozone type with top-notes of bergamot, lemon, pomelo, fir and juniperberry, followed by a spicy ginger, lavender and sage middle-note and a mossy vetiver, sandalwood and white musk base-note. Loved by Men too! 


Soap - (Natural swirled with brick red ) This is a pretty soap, it has the look of a pretty red agate rock. The scent is faint in this soap, it smells primarily clean. (Which, I suppose, is a good thing for soap!) While it is not strong to sniff, it is one of those soaps that you can smell drifting in the air when it is sitting in the soap dish.

Lotion - This is where all those notes come together, and while it is clean smelling like the soap, the overall feeling of the scent is masculine to me. I like the blend, and it is hard to pick out the different scents, but I find the juniper, vetiver and bergamot to be the ones that my nose finds. Maybe some sage? Since those notes can be somewhat harsh, and this scent, while snappy, is not intense, my guess that is the musk is giving it the softness.

Grapefruit Orange 

"A perfect combination of tart grapefruit and sweet orange" 

Soap - (dark gold) Oh - here is a fun one! It gets its color from paprika - and you can see the little rusty specks in the gold semi-transparent soap. So cool! The scent is very light, I get mainly grapefruit with a orange peel scent.


Lotion -This is marked as a medium scented lotion. First sniff is that grapefruit again, but then as it warms it takes a twist - it begins to smell like the orangey peels with spices like Constant Comment tea! I couldn't quit sniffing my hands - I am sure people that saw me thought I had some type of OCD disorder! This scent lasted quite awhile on my hands - at least an hour.

Blueberry Honeysuckle

"Juicy, tart, sweet, and slightly sulphuric scent of blueberries, tempered with the lilting sweetness of honeysuckle"  

Soap - (medium blue) This is another nice textured soap, with a foamy lather. The scent is sweet and light.


 Lotion - Yum! Just YUM! This is a pretty neat scent if you have not tried it. I took a sniff and thought "blueberry! No... it's honeysuckle! Wait... no... its blue... honey... well, it is a really good, complementary blend, that's what it is!"


This one is marked Medium, and it is a good thing. This is a very sweet blend and I think that a stronger scent would be too much. For me this is good in smaller doses, and it lasted about a half hour once I applied it. If you are a sweet pea and raspberry fan, you might like the sweetness here.

Grapefruit Jasmine 

"A blend of feminine jasmine and tart grapefruit"

Soap - (peachy pink) I get mainly grapefruit in my sniffs once the wrapper is off. After it has been used, the scent is very mild - but again, I find that to be the case in many soaps unless I rewrap them when they dry.


Lotion - Just the opposite! I smell the Jasmine leading here, with the grapefruit preventing floral overload. It has a nice balance - it finishes somewhat spicey. This lotion is marked "strong", and over time the jasmine won out - this is the scent your little sister/niece/young daughter will steal and use when you are not looking!

Lavender Coriander 

"A great fresh unisex fragrance. A very clear and clean lavender aspect, with a warm coriander base, clean and crisp"


Soap - (lavender-gray) This is the lavender that I think of when novels talk about the lavender sachets tucked in between the embroidered handkerchiefs. It is a quaint, old-fashioned smell, and I mean that in a good way. It is not a artificial soap scent, by any means. The scent is mild, but Ican clearly smell it.

Lotion - The predominant scent is the lavender, although my nose says there is something else. It does not scream "Coriander!" however. Coriander is not common is bath and body products, (but pretty darn good in apple pie!) Some describe coriander as "lavender-like" or "pungent", and some as "sweetish and slightly bitter" in scent. It is doing a great job of mingling with its partner because this is a pleasant blend. I like the name, Lavender Coriander, as it sounds unique, and gets my curiosity up! I am a fan of lavender, so I liked this scent combination, a fresh and energizing blend. It was still mildly scenting after a half an hour.

Peach Gardenia 

"Aspects of the lush, juicy fruit as well as the romantic white flower"

Soap - (tan and orange ) I really did not smell much on this soap when I opened it - until I got it wet. Then there was a big burst of scent - hard to distinguish the exact notes, but my nose said "fruity"!


Lotion - Relax... this will notmake you smell like the Senior Prom! This scent is so much fun - when I applied it, the ripe peachy scent was in the forefront, but on the next whiff the spicy gardenia was what I smelled. I am not sure how Bob pulled that off - but it was so much fun sniffing this chameleon scent that I passed it out to friends so they could smell the scent changing for themselves. Moderately strong - it didn't linger as long as some of the others.

Friendly Fumes has done an exceptional job of coming up with some scents that are summer-friendly. Most of the newest scents have a fruit n floral mix that feels fresh and simple when the sun is beating down and you are not in the mood for heavier scents. (We could just do a temporary hold on the fragranced items until the temperaturedrops, but as scent addicts...give up on scent completely? Never!)

It's been a long hot summer, so when you are comfortably situated in front of the A/C and feeling a little self-indulgent, pull up Friendly Fumes web site and check out all the scents and products. 

For those that have trouble making up their mind, Bob has you covered with Sampler Boxes.

And with flat rate shipping at $6.95 - you can order away without constantly clicking back and forth to check your shipping costs. Simple! No higher math! (I wonder if that is sorta what Gershwin meant when he wrote: "Summertime, an' the livin' is easy...")

Happy scented summer!

~ Avery


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