# help for a newbie?



## taragolden (Sep 5, 2013)

hi guys! i am brand spanking new and have only done 3 batches with my friend laura who is teaching me the ropes. I LOVE very strongly scented soaps with essential oils, and am a purchaser of Zum, which is the level of scent i would love to reach. however, my last batch i used rose oil( not cheap) and pure lavender, and it came out smelling like oatmeal, without a trace of either scent.
also maybe a made a mistake but i used beet powder for the colorant, and it came out brown instead of a beautiful beet color. did the beet react with the oils to change their smell?
can some of you recommend which oils are strong and do better in soaps? i did pretty well with a blend of fir, cedarwood and ylang ylang( the blend of young livings sacred mountain blend) and that came out pretty well. next i was going to try lavender/lime/lemon or lavender/rosemary and frankinsence and myrhh. your input is appreciated.


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## lsg (Sep 5, 2013)

Here is a good place to visit.  Registration is required to get full access to the forum.


http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/index.php?sid=ee9312a3c4fb953433747ccefd0ad1e5

I never use rose otto in my soaps.  I save it for face cream and lotion.  You might try a combo of rose geranium and rosewood.  They are not cheap, but they are not nearly as expensive as rose otto.  I also use fragrance oils as a substitute for the really expensive essential oils such as sandalwood, rose, and jasmine.


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## christinemm (Sep 5, 2013)

Hello, I love experimenting and making up my own recipes but it is a risk, especially for a newbie. I had made about 8 batches of easy soap with no scent then took a 2 year break. I am back at it now and started experimenting and realized I may be wasting time, energy, and money in the process. I made a hibiscus herb tea that is dark red and used it in the lye water which turned it a browner color then the final soap was beige. I don't know what I was thinking because 2 years ago I bought a big colorant kit of natural items and herbs that are tried and true (from soap making resource) I just never opened the package. I am now going to stop experimenting and use those ingredients and follow directions! LOL (SMR has the directions on the site inside the product description for each herb or additive). 

I do CP soap and prefer natural ingredients and EO not FO. 

In the 2 years since I last made soap it seems that there has been an explosion of synthetic colors on the market and a lot of FO (synthetic) available. It seems brightly colored soaps (synthetic) and heavy scents plus scents that are not available in EO are popular. Making soap for looks seems to be the thing lately. Look at cupcake soaps and other cute soaps.

Another thing that seems more popular is hot process soap made with a crock pot. From what I have figured out by adding color after the hot process is done it stays brighter and darker. Also adding EO at that point leaves a stronger scent and you can use less. That soap is thicker and certain swirling techniques and layering seems easier to do in that state. So, if you look around on the internet or youtube you will see some really beautiful, bright, and hear of strong scents and check, they may be crock pot hot process or made with FO synthetic or synthetic colors.  Others like it for a shorter cure time. 

Other cool looking soaps are melt and pour glycerine based.

I am going to use up the oils I have on hand and my EO on hand as well as play with the natural colorants I already own with CP. 

The lye will eat away some of the EO or the heat in the soap will burn some of the EO off. (I also have experimented with herbal infused olive oils that retain scent when turned into skin lotion or salves but disappeared during CP soapmaking.) Some EO are so delicate they will not be strong in the end or may disappear altogether. As the other poster said some things are best left for skin lotions or other personal care products. Successes for lotions and salve are my crab applel blossom infused olive oil and magnolia blossom infused olive oil. The calendula infused olive oil seems to only help by adding an orange - dark yellow color to the soap but calendula is said to be good for baby skin or sensitive skin. 

HTH ChristineMM


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making


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## Hazel (Sep 5, 2013)

Welcome to the forum! Are you making soap the cold process method? This can effect your final scent strength since EOs are volatile and are being exposed to lye as was stated above. I've had better luck with using EOs in hot process batches. I only use .3-.5 oz ppo (2%-3%). 

Off the top of my head, I've had good luck with EOs such as clary sage, juniper berries, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint, geranium and cypress. There was an EO swap experiment awhile back where people tested different additives to help anchor EOs in CP. You might find it informative. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=33078


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## taragolden (Sep 10, 2013)

hi everyone! thank you all so much for the responses and info. I really appreciate it. a lot of what you say makes sense. i did not know that the lye eats some of the EO. I am doing cold process now but am considering trying the hot process.
i see maybe i was rash to try to make a rose soap. i am crazy about the real oil, its such a powerful healer/gift that i thought a soap would be amazing.. but if the lye eats the scent then it is true i cant afford to take that route.
on another note, i made a soap with uncle harrys toe fungus oil the other day,, it has neem, oregano, tea tree, cinamon and grapefruit.. im cheating my using a sliver before its cured but it seems pretty powerful and great for river trips and camping trips in mexico and hawaii. thank you again, all, who took the time to answer.


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## Stinkydancer (Sep 10, 2013)

Hazel said:


> Welcome to the forum! Are you making soap the cold process method? This can effect your final scent strength since EOs are volatile and are being exposed to lye as was stated above. I've had better luck with using EOs in hot process batches. I only use .3-.5 oz ppo (2%-3%).
> 
> Off the top of my head, I've had good luck with EOs such as clary sage, juniper berries, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint, geranium and cypress. There was an EO swap experiment awhile back where people tested different additives to help anchor EOs in CP. You might find it informative. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=33078



This...exactly.

I would learn how to formulate a lotion and use the Rose Otto.


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## heartsong (Sep 10, 2013)

with melt and pour bases, your scents will not morph or fade and you use waaay less than CP...even HP...if you love using essential oils, you may like to try this...plus instant gratification, you can use you soap after 24 hours!

as a 16 year cold process soap maker, I have a much higher respect for the new, more natural glycerine soaps now. I highly recommend Cierra's "low sweat" M&P. it lathers wonderfully in hard water, too...the extra hard is nice for men's soaps, but a little drying for women's...cierra has wonderful customer service and you always get rebated on the shipping charges...some of the best prices around and I am loving the sample f/o's I received recently...anyway, here's a link if you're interested http://www.cierracandles.com/Soap-Making-Supplies.html


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## judymoody (Sep 10, 2013)

Question: was the rose oil you used diluted in a carrier oil or 100% rose absolute?  If the former, that might have contributed to the loss of scent.  Either way, I agree with other posters - use it in a leave on product.

Lye does not exactly "eat" fragrance but it can alter it or cause it to fade.  You have already gotten some good advice about which oils will stick better.

You can also try suppressing gel to preserve more of the EO.

How much did you use, might I ask?  You might not have used enough.  As mentioned 2-3% of your soaping oil weight is a good amount.

Zum soaps, by the way, use both fragrance and essential oils.  You might have to use more fragrance than is safe to get to that level.  They smell very potent to me.


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## taragolden (Sep 15, 2013)

*thanks all*

i think you guys are all giving me good advice. i did use rose absolute and i definately see the point in saving it for leave on products.. that makes a lot of sense. I did order some melt and pour blends and plan to do some experimenting to find if thats a better fit for me.


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