Keeping a fragrance library is just one of the little extra things I do. It started because I had a dream that one day I would have a brick and mortar store and that behind my counter would be a fragrance bar, filled with bottles and vials of hundreds if not thousands of different fragrances a customer could choose from and have products made just for them. Of course, years later it seems that my dream of a storefront will most likely never take shape (my life just seems too fluid to tie me down to one location), but I still keep a fragrance library filled with almost 300 vials (and counting) of fragrances and essential oils.
Why do I still do this? Part of it is necessity, part of it is just fun. Now that I do many special orders (or fast buys) throughout the year, I find having samples at my fingertips hurries along the process. I rarely have to order samples from a supplier before meeting with a potential customer. I still may have to get some additional samples, but I typically have at least two or three initial ones on hand that a customer can start to sniff right away. If we are lucky, they like something in this first pass, I have enough of it on hand for their order, and I can get started making their product right away. Just Monday I sent out 6 samples to a potential customer and could have sent them at least 7 more variations on their theme. I only sent the 6 I liked best because I thought too many options can be very overwhelming so I decided that if they didn't like any of these I would send them more rather later.
The fun part for me is going through them when I am looking for new scents to make. This keeps me inspired. Typically I dislike using "out of the bottle" fragrances and typically mix my own variations, but this library gives me a starting point. I can open a bottle, decide if I like it, look at the scent description, and see if I can make a version that I like better. Often my fragrances are combinations of one or more "stock" fragrances that I mix together to produce something more complex and interesting than what I can get from suppliers alone.
Where do these samples come from? Typically from suppliers who send along samples of their new additions to their lineup. Sometimes I get just a small vial, sometimes I get enough to make 20 bars of soap. Also when I do a special order (fast buy) I purchase extras. If you ask me for vanilla-pineapple, I may buy 3 or 4 I think suit your desires, but also may get 5 or 6 more to have on hand for the future. Every scent that gets discontinued goes in the library so I have just a little bit for future reference too. I keep a spreadsheet of the fragrance name, vendor, recipe (if it is my concoction), fragrance description, year it was made/obtained, and price at that time. Each year I update this with new samples obtained throughout the previous year, with current discontinued fragrances, and delete those I used up. This way I can look at fragrance or essential oil names, or search the descriptions for key words in order to look for something specific. Then I can go to that particular vendor, be sure they are still making what I am looking for (and the same recipe too) and what their current price is and if that would stay within a budget (mine or the customer's).
So there you have it. A little peek into some of the behind the scenes workings here. Hope you enjoy!
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