# Making Essential oils stick on skin



## BeeMaiden (Aug 8, 2015)

I prefer to scent my soaps with essential oils whenever practical. I've been using oils at a rate of .5 oz /lb oils and while they smell wondrous, the scent never sticks on my skin. I think it would be lovely to smell faintly of lavender or orange or whatever after a bath. I wondered if anyone has had any success in this. (My soap is CP, btw)


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Aug 8, 2015)

Soap is a wash off product which make a lingering scent quite hard to achieve.  I have some shaving soaps that manage it, but I do wonder at what % scent they use, especially if it would be EO.

If you want to smell of something, make some kind of leave on product for after your bath - it would be much better than trying to get an EO from soap to stay on your skin for any real time after use.


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## BeeMaiden (Aug 8, 2015)

I have tried some artificially scented handmade soap which left a light, lovely scent afterwards - and also commercial body wash does this as well. 
I just wondered if anyone had gotten their soaps EO scent to "stick".


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## WickedlyNatural (Oct 16, 2015)

The only eo that's had any staying power on the skin in my soaps is patchouli, and that was a soap with nothing but patchouli. In soaps with patch as part of a blend, it doesn't have the same longevity. I've had this same problem and same question. The whole reason I want to make my own soaps and use essential oils to perfume them is to stay away from the syndets and the phthalates and parabens frequently found in commercial soaps and fragrance oils. Just keep trying different blends with the strong base notes, we'll figure something out eventually. I'm going to tray a soap with clays; bentonite clay is suuposed to help the eos last longer in the soap, maybe it will help it last on the skin as well?


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## HappyHomeSoapCo (Oct 16, 2015)

I've noticed eo's on my skin for a few minutes after a bath but never much longer. I agree, a lotion/balm is the better way to go


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## shunt2011 (Oct 16, 2015)

Even most FO's don't stick for long after showering. As stated, they are wash off products.   The exception is a few of my manly scents.  They stick to my husband pretty well.  I would make a lotion or body spray.


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## dixiedragon (Oct 16, 2015)

You need to make some kind of leave-on product. Some FOs and EOs do tend to stick, I think those tend to be heavy on bottom notes. But expecting fragrance from soap to stick is counter to the very nature of soap.


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## IrishLass (Oct 16, 2015)

When it comes to EO's, .5 oz ppo is considered the safest, highest amount to go with in soap, so I definitely wouldn't exceed that.

I agree with the others- if you're looking for something to linger on your skin, your best bet is to make an after-shower body splash or a lotion or a spray, but with EO's, you need to be careful with which ones and how much you decide to use on your skin (depending on their medicinal effects). 

I use FO's in my soap and none noticeably linger on my skin much more than 5 minutes after I shower, which is actually how I like it because I don't want the scent of my soap to overpower or interfere with whatever scent I decide to wear for the day. 


IrishLass


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