NEW UPDATE:
The winner of this contest
@mrdoug has sent me a very thoughtful message and request saying that he would like to pass his prize on to
@dangerousdon as a gift to celebrate his 1st child’s birth. ( sorry for the mistake earlier)
A very kind gesture for sure!
So Don congratulations on the new family member and the new winner of your choice of one of any of the Shave soap and Skin Food splashes listed below!
Send me your pick and mailing address and I’ll get it shipped out to you on Monday.
All the best!
Frank!
WE HAVE A WINNER!
So after experimenting with percentages of the Mysore Sandalwood oil that is needed to properly scent a 4oz jar of Shave soap using a non conventional method of adding the scent I have a final price of $128.68 and that means that the Winner of this contest is
@mrdoug as his guess was the closest at $125.00. So congrats to you and like I mentioned in this opening post you have your choice of any of the sets listed below. So please email me to let me know what set you’d like.
Also like to thank all of you for participating in the contest! One of the things about this hobby is I like to have some fun and mix things up now and then.
Also like to make a note that the next time you see a Shave soap that says Sandalwood remember the price to just scent a 4oz jar of soap using authentic Mysore Sandalwood oil. Could it be done for less? The answer is yes by using a different type of pure Sandalwood oil BUT and it’s a big BUT all of them are very expensive so based on my experiences pricing all the others it’s possible to get the number down just below $100.00 like in the $90’s So add the other ingredients needed to make a high quality soap, the packaging, the labels, marketing and mark up an you can see that a 200% Authentic Sandalwood essential oil soap cannot be had for $15.00, $25 ,$50 etc etc.
Thought you might like a look at the 10 most expensive essential oils in the world. Of course when buying in bulk you can get a bit better prices but not by much!
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I can’t even Imagine what a Pure Champaca Absolute Essential oil soap would cost as it’s current cost per oz is $2,256.00! Making it the most expensive essential oil on the planet.
So thanks all for the guesses!
Sincerely
Frank
UPDATE:
So I’m testing percentages as far as what percentage of the Sandalwood oil is needed to give a nice amount of aroma projection in the Shave Soap. Of course the higher percentage of the Mysore Sandalwood oil will obviously increase the cost needed to properly scent the 4oz of soap. With that said I’ll need a day or two more to play with the percentage I’m using as I just used the normal amount of oil I’d use in other soaps I make using only Essential oils and there’s not quite the projection I’m looking for. So if you want to change your pick I’d do it within the next couple of days as I’ll be picking the winner on the 21st instead of the 20th as I’m sure I’ll have the scent strength correct by then.
Thank you Cadre!
Hello Cadre
Ok so it’s been awhile since I’ve had a contest and this one has to do with guessing or actually doing some math.
So a lot of shave soap makers are very honest and transparent when describing their scents in a soap. Also acknowledging when asked are you using actual natural essential oils, resins, plant and flower hydrosol’s etc or Fragrance oils they will answer truthfully and I respect honesty and transparency. Well I just got into a debate with someone who claimed that a certain Shave soap was using 100% pure Sandalwood oil in it and no synthetic Fragrance oil in it. The price of the soap was $17 for 4oz!
Ok based on my experience and calculations that would be absolutely impossible unless maybe the Sandalwood oil was given to the soap maker for free or he stole it! Lol
Anyway so below is the price I got for 16oz of Authentic Mysore Sandalwood from a friend in India who sourced this for me through dealers who are authorized as such by the Indian Government which controls the Mysore Sandalwood trade. So based on the price shown below and knowing that the shave soap jar contains 4oz what would it cost to use this real Sandalwood oil in each jar be and I could tell you the percentage of the oil you’d need to use but that would be to easy to figure out so you’ll have to guess or do a little research. Lol
I’ve already done the math and know the cost and as some of you know I’m planning on making an authentic Sandalwood Shave soap down the road as I don’t know of one that actually exists today and I have customers who want one.
So this is a pet peeve of mine and it relates to the debate I’m having with the person I mentioned above. When I see a shave soap or aftershave that lists all these very ultra expensive aroma ingredients in it like Sandalwood, Oud, Jasmine, Rose Absolute, Tonka Bean, Neroli etc etc etc when in reality it’s just a synthetic Fragrance oil or a combo of them which is perfectly ok but it kills me when it’s listed like all these ingredients are the real deal when in reality they are not! That’s what I love about a company that is transparent and let’s it’s customers know what they are actually using in their products rather than use words that are somewhat deceptive in their descriptions.
So the winner is the person who gets the closest to the actual cost per jar of just the Mysore Sandalwood oil. This is not taking into consideration the cost of the other ingredients needed to make the shave soap or the packaging, labels or mark up. This is just what the cost would be per jar to the soap maker.
The best price I got from the 3 different sources my friend used was $4,964.38 for 16 oz so let’s just round it out to $5,000 as that price did not include shipping to the US.
NOTE: If you go on line can you find suppliers who claim to have real Mysore Sandalwood oil that would be a little less expensive than what i got? The answer is yes but I can also tell you from experience that a lot of it is not authentic Mysore but more likely East Indian Sandalwood oil and I unfortunately many are stepped on and diluted with carrier oils so buying overseas is very risky. I know of only one US supplier who actually has authentic Mysore Sandalwood oil and his price would add on another $1,500 to the $5,000 price I got.
Ok so here’s the prize!
You get to pick one of these sets of Shave Soap and Skin Food splash.
Lavender Supreme
Clean Unscented
Melange D’Agrume
Peppermint
Cucumber, Spearmint and Lemongrass
Succes is sold out and I just made a batch so it’s got a few weeks or so to cure but you can get a rain check on it if you’d like it instead of the above
Rules. There’s only one. No soap makers can enter as it would be much easier for them to figure out the cost.
So It’s going to be around the 18th or 20th when I release the new Peppermint Shave soap and Skin Food splash and this latest batch of Lavender Supreme as they will be cured by then and ready for release. So let’s say that this contest ends on October the 20th and the winner will be announced.
In the past these contests have proven to be fun so let’s get started and good luck! Go!
Great shaves all!
Frank
