# avocado oil / olive oil



## Lina (Sep 21, 2015)

I found a cp soap recipe that has 22% olive and 20 % avocado oil. I am wondering what avocado oil brings to the table that is different than olive?

Thanks!


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## fuzz-juzz (Sep 21, 2015)

It's partly unsaponifiable and makes gentle bar that has quite a high SF without one already calculated in.
I made one batch with 20% avocado oil once and never again. 
It was really greasy, mushy, melted quickly in the shower and developed DOS after few months.
But that's my experience. For some 20% avocado oil in the soap might as well feel nourishing, etc.


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## Obsidian (Sep 21, 2015)

I've never heard that avocado is partly unsaponifiable, did you find that info on here? I've made a 100% avocado bar before and while it took a few days to harden up, it did eventually get quite hard and wasn't greasy at all. It never went rancid either.

For me, OO dries my skin a bit and can also leave it a bit sticky. Avocado doesn't seem to do that, it makes a nice mild soap.


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## DeeAnna (Sep 21, 2015)

I don't know if it's been posted on SMF, but my notes say avocado can have anywhere from 4% to 9% unsaponifiable content. That's high compared with the other commonly used soaping oils. 

Avocado is otherwise similar to olive oil, but with a higher linolenic acid content -- that might be where the DOS is coming from. I used avocado at 10% to 15% in one recipe for a soap that I wanted to be extra gentle for my mom. Made a few batches of that and have had no DOS after about 1 year of testing.

I don't see a huge difference in the soaps with avocado vs. ones without avocado, but that's on my skin and with my water. It certainly has label appeal and does make a mild soap. It's hard for me to find avocado here in the boonies of Iowa, so I've gotten away from using it in soap, but I have no complaints otherwise. I seem to recall Carolyn (cmzaha) uses avocado quite a bit in her soaps.


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## Rowan (Sep 21, 2015)

I've use avocado oil at 5-10 percent in soaps. My skin seems to love avocado oil more than olive oil in soaps. I'd second Obsidian's comments, in that it makes a mild bar that is non-sticky.

I find high percentage olive oil really drying, unless it's cured for over 6 months. However everyone's skin is very different. I've never had a problem with DOS, even with soaps over 2 years old.  

I'd be really interested to hear what percentages of AO others have tried.


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## fuzz-juzz (Sep 21, 2015)

I've heard in on here. 
It could be avocado oil that I used, it's cold pressed. I bought refined last time by mistake and it looks and smells different.
I use it about 5% in my recipes. I did try 10% but didn't like it also.


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## DeeAnna (Sep 21, 2015)

Here ya go:

"...Four varieties (Zutano, Bacon, Fuerte, Lula) of avocado (Persea americana) have been investigated for their unsaponifiable matter (UM) in mature and immature fruits. The UM content in crude oil was always higher in immature fruits (15-40% w 4-9%)...."

Source: http://www.researchgate.net/publica..._tocopherol_contents_of_avocado_oil_varieties


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## commoncenz (Sep 21, 2015)

This is all pretty interesting. I've been using Avocado Oil at around 10% for about 4 months now and haven't had any issues. I also use Olive Oil in my recipe too. I've found I like the combination better than using only Olive Oil.


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