So some of you have asked to post about how I work out scent challenges at a party and I thought it would make good blogging material. I decided to use a recent party and one of the challenging guests that took awhile to get the perfect match for.
One thing that I've learned and stay true to at all my parties is the following: SIMPLE = SALE!
The other night the majority of customers actually had 2 scents in their blend and they were HAPPY! Getting super complex on scents is usually for the gifted and those end up being less than 10% of usual party guests.
As I've preached before, I use the 3 step process at my parties and it cuts the time in 1/2 for many steps. The process goes like this: SHOP, START WITH 2, MIX & BUY.
STEP 1: SHOP - So basically this is the fun part and I tell everyone at the party to shop for 3-5 scents they like a lot and when they are done with writing those down they stop and take a smelling break. This allows them to not get overwhelmed and keep it simple. It also means that "next time" they'll want to try other things or look at other families they may have never gotten to and create something completely different. Once everyone is close to 5 scents we play the booking game and then we get to mixing.
STEP 2: START WITH 2 - This is where I have them pick 2 scents from the list they love and put one drop each into the mixing glass. Here are some examples of 5 scent combos and which ones I think would go well and which ones might get you into trouble...
Almond, Raspberry, White Musk, Heliotrope, Naked
So on this combo, WM and Helio go with all of them so scary there. Naked, Almond, and Raspberry are all very strong scents on their own. Putting those together may be too overpowering. Almond/Raspberry or WM/Raspberry, Helio/WM, Naked/WM, Naked/Helio, you get the idea.
White Musk and Sandalwood are my saviors when it comes to taking down sweet, floral, or citrus. Juniper is another great scent that can help with that. Here is another example.
One thing that I've learned and stay true to at all my parties is the following: SIMPLE = SALE!
The other night the majority of customers actually had 2 scents in their blend and they were HAPPY! Getting super complex on scents is usually for the gifted and those end up being less than 10% of usual party guests.
As I've preached before, I use the 3 step process at my parties and it cuts the time in 1/2 for many steps. The process goes like this: SHOP, START WITH 2, MIX & BUY.
STEP 1: SHOP - So basically this is the fun part and I tell everyone at the party to shop for 3-5 scents they like a lot and when they are done with writing those down they stop and take a smelling break. This allows them to not get overwhelmed and keep it simple. It also means that "next time" they'll want to try other things or look at other families they may have never gotten to and create something completely different. Once everyone is close to 5 scents we play the booking game and then we get to mixing.
STEP 2: START WITH 2 - This is where I have them pick 2 scents from the list they love and put one drop each into the mixing glass. Here are some examples of 5 scent combos and which ones I think would go well and which ones might get you into trouble...
Almond, Raspberry, White Musk, Heliotrope, Naked
So on this combo, WM and Helio go with all of them so scary there. Naked, Almond, and Raspberry are all very strong scents on their own. Putting those together may be too overpowering. Almond/Raspberry or WM/Raspberry, Helio/WM, Naked/WM, Naked/Helio, you get the idea.
White Musk and Sandalwood are my saviors when it comes to taking down sweet, floral, or citrus. Juniper is another great scent that can help with that. Here is another example.
Naked, Passion Fruit, Brown Sugar, Grapefruit, Chocolate
Ok this is complex. It can be easy to get a sugar overload and citrus and sweet don't always a great mix make. They are all VERY strong scents on their own. If you start mixing these and the person just isn't sure about it you may need to bring in a mediator such as sandalwood or white musk, etc. to bring down the strength. Here is what I would start with as the first 2 for some of these. Then I would say, do you think we're going in the right direction with these scents? Some people think they just need more or they might need something to better connect the 2 in there but they still like it. If they say it's not the right direction at all, start over now! Don't wait or you'll both become frustrated.
Naked/Passion Fruit, Naked/Brown Sugar, Naked/Grapefruit, Naked/Chocolate, Chocolate/Brown Sugar, Passion Fruit/Chocolate
Last example is more of an herby nightmare LOL -
Almond, Lavender, White Musk, Basil, Spearmint
Ok so in looking at these I'm really going to find out which one of these they like the best. I'm then going to suggest other families like Leafy or Woodsy for them to find a complientary scent as well. See below:
Lavender/White Musk, Basil/Spearmint, Almond (choose a spicy or fruity with this), Basil (choose a leafy most likely with this or bag it) Lavender (also a floral would be great here or heliotrope in a leafy).
I honestly have the hardest time with Herbies and they came up at a lot of parties so you need to remember to have a solution with Almond and Lavender you can suggest. Sometimes they can just figure it out. Bergamot in the spicies is great with Lavender and can be softened with WMusk.
One last example with some more floral scents:
Jasmine, Lilac, Mimosa, Violet, Naked
All of these can go great together. Just start with 2!
STEP 3: MIX & BUY - Always ask your hostess before hand who is the one that loves to spend $ and buys everything? Make sure that you start with her for the mixing process. Know a couple people in case one is taking longer to get her scent together. Start by saying, were you planning on doing the party special tonite? She is hopefully the one that will jump on it and can set the precedent for others to follow. You gotta love that domino effect!
Hopefully this helps some of you wondering how to handle that tough person or just where to get started. Working out the ratios can also be a bit confusing. Just remember that if you're going the "right direction" you may need to up the ratios of one to balance out the other. The perfume we made the other night was 1 Chocolate to 4 Coconut and 4 Vanilla. It took that many to get the Chocolate in a happy place. If you are ALL Chocolate, you may only need 2 of each of the others. Just keep going until the person is all about it!
You have to just go for it and run into challenges in order to get past them and become really skilled at your craft! Team Elite will allow you to do just that with 5 parties a month! ;)
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