# Investing in Essential Oils



## dippy (May 17, 2020)

I am going round in circles deciding which EOs to buy.  I have read the threads talking about EOs that last longer but the more I read the more my wishlist expands.

If you had to pick a few (no more than 5 or so) to start you off which would you choose?  I know everyone has different tastes but I am looking for a small selection that will be versatile and that I can use a number of different ways.

Lavender is the only one so far I am definitely getting.  Not that I am a massive fan of plain lavender but I don't mind it and I have read it is good in the mix.

At the moment I am just looking at EOs not FOs.

So tell me what are your must haves?


----------



## DKing (May 17, 2020)

I just put in an order a couple of days ago for some of my favorites.  Peppermint, Lavender, Litsea Cubea, Lemon grass (litsea and lemongrass are almost the same scent...at least I find them very similar) Patchouli.


----------



## dippy (May 17, 2020)

I was thinking either peppermint or spearmint, lavender and litsea so your list is similar to my thoughts.  Not sure about patchouli as I don't really like the scent by itself but it sounds like one that does blend well so it might be worth me considering.

I was also thinking of petitgrain as that sounds very nice.  My ultimate favourite scent is neroli but it is too expensive so I am not going to go that route until I get some soap practice under my belt.


----------



## DKing (May 17, 2020)

My cousin LOVES everything patchouli so I am getting it to make her some soaps.  I am going to try mixing it with some other oils I have and see what blends well.


----------



## SoaperForLife (May 17, 2020)

Cedarwood, ylang ylang, and orange are good ones to have.


----------



## dippy (May 17, 2020)

DKing I would be interested to hear you get on with trying blends. I have family members who like patchouli but i dont think i could bear it curing in my lounge if its not blended with something!

Ylang ylang was one I looked at as it sounds like it is good for anchoring. I have a feeling I read the same for cedarwood. Off to check that now..


----------



## atiz (May 17, 2020)

Bergamot is my favorite. 
I also like some "pine" scent -- fir balsam or such. 
But I think it really depends on what *you* like! Just get your favorites.


----------



## lsg (May 17, 2020)

Besides lavender--patchouli, litsea cubeba (to anchor citrus EOs), orange, peppermint and rosemary.


----------



## dibbles (May 17, 2020)

I now only keep a few EOs that I have found stick pretty well in soap. I love bergamot, but find it a little too expensive for soap making. What I have - lavender 40/42, patchouli (I love it), litsea cubeba and/or lemongrass (I prefer litsea), orange (folded - I have 10x), peppermint/spearmint (I'd pick peppermint - spearmint is sweeter, peppermint is sharper). I have grown to like tea tree in blends, but it wouldn't be one I'd pick if I were to only have 5. I have some cedarwood that I rarely use, but I do like it and it is a nice blender. Lime and eucalyptus both stick and I have them, but wouldn't put either in my top 5.


----------



## SPowers (May 17, 2020)

I particularly like the citrus scents - lemon , orange and lime.  I've had to reorder them so that' a clue to their use.  I initially bought a 'set' - I've tried many but it's just trial and error to determine which ones I use more frequently.  I make my own household producta as well so I tend to use citrus a lot in them.  It depends on what I'm making.


----------



## shunt2011 (May 17, 2020)

Patchouli, tea tree, lavender, orange 10x, lemongrass, Litsea, peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary. I make and sell a lot of straight up patchouli.


----------



## DKing (May 17, 2020)

dibbles said:


> I now only keep a few EOs that I have found stick pretty well in soap. I love bergamot, but find it a little too expensive for soap making. What I have - lavender 40/42, patchouli (I love it), litsea cubeba and/or lemongrass (I prefer litsea), orange (folded - I have 10x), peppermint/spearmint (I'd pick peppermint - spearmint is sweeter, peppermint is sharper). I have grown to like tea tree in blends, but it wouldn't be one I'd pick if I were to only have 5. I have some cedarwood that I rarely use, but I do like it and it is a nice blender. Lime and eucalyptus both stick and I have them, but wouldn't put either in my top 5.


I have never used bergamot but have been wanting to, so it is included in my latest order.  The lavender I get is 40/42 as well, I tend to favor litsea over lemongrass.  
Have you tried black pepper in with your citrusy smelling soaps?  I love a little black pepper mixed in as well.  It is quite pricey but you only use a little.


----------



## Aromasuzie (May 17, 2020)

I'm relatively new to making soap and as I have a Diploma in Aromatherapy, I didn't want to use any aroma except for essential oils.  I buy my oils wholesale and am only using 2% essential oils in my batches, but the cost adds up!  I now know why lots people use fragrance oils!
I totally hear what you say about Patchouli, but it's great as a base note so use only a small amount in your blend.  The last blend I made was Peppermint 85% and Patchouli 15%, and the patchouli wasn't too overpowering.  I 2nd what a lot of others mention, litsea cubeba (may Chang) on the lemony aroma, love peppermint, if you want a floral, I suggest Geranium and ylang ylang as they have very strong aromas, a little bit more expensive, but you don't need much. Ginger, Palmarosa and Rosewood essential oils would my other suggestions.  I quite often mix ginger, geranium and citrus together, love this with steam distilled lime.  I would love to add cinnamon or clove but they are skin irritating oils so maybe that's where the fragrance oils come in, smell without skin sensitivity.  If you're going to buy essential oils, I'd also suggest to sneak in a few for the first aid kit, lavender great for any muscular or skin problems and tea tree is a great one for infections


----------



## dibbles (May 18, 2020)

DKing said:


> I have never used bergamot but have been wanting to, so it is included in my latest order.  The lavender I get is 40/42 as well, I tend to favor litsea over lemongrass.
> Have you tried black pepper in with your citrusy smelling soaps?  I love a little black pepper mixed in as well.  It is quite pricey but you only use a little.


I haven’t tried black pepper EO, but I do like it in some FOs I have had. How much do you use to get the scent?


----------



## DKing (May 18, 2020)

dibbles said:


> I haven’t tried black pepper EO, but I do like it in some FOs I have had. How much do you use to get the scent?


I wish I had kept notes on each EO blend I have done so I would recall what amounts I liked best.  I am thinking somewhere in the 10 to 20% range of the EO total, if I recall correctly.  Enough to notice it but not have it overwhelm the total scent.


----------



## KiwiMoose (May 18, 2020)

I have since moved to FOs for cost reasons - but i still use some EO in every batch ( something that will compliment the FOs I use).  My must-haves are Patchouli, Litsea Cubeba ( May Chang), Sweet Orange, Palmarosa.  My usually-haves are Anise, Spearmint, Lemongrass, Ylang Ylang, Cedarwood and Lavender.


----------



## MarnieSoapien (May 18, 2020)

lsg said:


> Besides lavender--patchouli, litsea cubeba (to anchor citrus EOs), orange, peppermint and rosemary.


I haven't heard of this before! How well does it work? I made a batch of soap using orange and patchouli (85/15 I think) and I don't get any of the orange fragrance. I might put listea cubeba on my next order.


----------



## KiwiMoose (May 18, 2020)

MarnieSoapien said:


> I haven't heard of this before! How well does it work? I made a batch of soap using orange and patchouli (85/15 I think) and I don't get any of the orange fragrance. I might put listea cubeba on my next order.


I'm not sure it will make much difference - orange is not at all strong, and the patchouli would take over anyway.


----------



## atiz (May 18, 2020)

You should also look at the EOcalc website -- they have some great blends, and you can get a sense of what are the most prominent EOs in those.


----------



## SoapSisters (May 18, 2020)

Litsea cubeba is my most versatile EO. I usually use it with one other EO, lavender, rosemary or anise. Lemongrass can also be used instead of litsea in these blends, but I think litsea has a fresher, softer scent.


----------



## lsg (May 18, 2020)

shunt2011 said:


> Patchouli, tea tree, lavender, orange 10x, lemongrass, Litsea, peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary. I make and sell a lot of straight up patchouli.


You can use patchouli as a base note in many blends.


----------



## szaza (May 18, 2020)

Hmmm.. picking 5 is hard! I'd probably try to get 5 different types of scents so you have a versatile range. For example floral (lavander, ylang ylang, palmarosa - I never used geranium, but that would also be an option), green/herbal (peppermint, rosemary, petitgrain), citrus (litsea, citrus fruits, lemongrass), woody (cedar, fir) and spicy (ginger, cinnamon, clove - these can only be used sparingly to avoid sensitivity, I use eocalc.com to be safe).
It seems like your mind is already set on lavander, peppermint and litsea, which are safe options to start with. Though it also sounds like you really enjoy florals. If that's the case, going for safe and universally loved scents might not give you blending options that you're looking for. If you only want to buy 5, why not get 5 that you really like and only worry about how well they'll blend between them instead of trying to find universally well-loved and easy to blend EO's that you 'don't mind'? Maybe I completely misunderstood what you meant by that, but I think you could consider taking a risk by getting ylang ylang and petitgrain instead of lavander and peppermint. In my experience/opinion the 'easy to blend' EO's need other scents to blend with to be interesting anyway.
Patchouli is often used and it's a great base note, but it's pretty overpowering and always detectable in a blend, so if you don't like it I wouldn't start with that for your first 5. 
To recap, based on the idea that you like florals (which I know I could be wrong about), I'd probably choose Ylang Ylang, Petitgrain, Litsea, Atlas Cedar and Cinnamon (or ginger) and I'd later add lavender, peppermint, patchouli, rosemary and orange to increase your blending options.

Just as a side note, petitgrain is a very green scent (to my nose at least, I'm not an aromatherapist and I don't know what category it officially belongs to) and unfortunately it doesn't smell anything like neroli, even though it's from the same tree.. Petitgrain is a very nice scent though and I love it in blends


----------



## l-jholmes (May 18, 2020)

I would get a mix of top notes, middle notes and base notes in the scents that you like so that you can make blends that are well balanced.


----------



## KiwiMoose (May 18, 2020)

As an aside - I make a beautiful rose FO soap that I add a small amount of Patchouli to, just to anchor the rose scent.  You can't smell the patchouli at all, but the rose becomes a good strong scent that lasts for ages.  I like to think that the patchouli is doing its job there.


----------



## dippy (May 19, 2020)

Thanks so much everyone, you have given me lots to think about.  Based on what has been said I think I am going to go for more than 5 to give me a bit more versatility.  I like the idea of covering all bases of floral, green, citrus, woody etc.  I prefer light floral and citrus but I am also thinking about family members who I will be making for who have different ideas of what is nice.  

I have to think about anchoring and creating balanced blends so I might up my list to 7 or 8 bearing in mind what has been said.   I assume EOs have a decent shelf life once opened.  Should they be kept in the fridge?


----------



## dippy (May 19, 2020)

I have just been looking at the EO calc - its amazing! Thanks for the tip atiz


----------



## szaza (May 19, 2020)

dippy said:


> Should they be kept in the fridge?


I keep them in the fridge just to be on the safe side of things but I don't think that's strictly necessary. My EO's all have expiration dates on them that are +-1 year from when I buy them, but honestly I use them after that (of I haven't finished them by that time) and haven't had a problem yet.


----------



## abirose3 (May 19, 2020)

atiz said:


> You should also look at the EOcalc website -- they have some great blends, and you can get a sense of what are the most prominent EOs in those.


I'm New at using this forum. I use Melt and Pour Goat Milk Soap. I just do this for my own personal use and to give as gifts. On the EOcalc website, how do you determine what percentage to use for top, middle, base note essential oil blends? As an example, a Patchouli, Geranium, & Lavender blend. I just never know what percentages to use to get the usage blend. I don't think I should use 33, 33, 34 percent. As I said I'm new to this and only make maybe one to four bars at a time with trying different EO blends. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


----------



## Zing (May 19, 2020)

Good luck sorting through all these opinions!  Mine are
cedarwood (every soap has at least a titch)
lavender (my wife would be happy if I only used this, for me I like it blended especially with litsea cubeba)
litsea cubeba
orange 10X
lemongrass (gift recipients go CRAZY with this one)

Limit of 5 is tough!  I also love rosemary, myrrh, frankincense, peppermint (watch the usage because it can make for a truly tingly sensation in all places).  I haven't been able to afford patchouli but was given a small bottle and I can't wait to get more.

When I started soaping, this guide was super helpful and I go back to it again and again:








						Essential Oils for Soapmaking: My Top 10 & EO Blends Using Them!
					

Want to scent your handmade soap with essential oils, but not sure what to buy first? Here's top 10 essential oils for soapmaking, plus blends!




					www.modernsoapmaking.com


----------



## Aromasuzie (May 19, 2020)

dibbles said:


> I haven’t tried black pepper EO, but I do like it in some FOs I have had. How much do you use to get the scent?



I would say you would need quite a high percentage in a soap blend as Black Pepper is not a particulary strong smelling oil.  If you we're going to put in a massage oil blend, I'd say go for it as it's excellent for increasing circulation, and reducing any sort of muscular aches.  All the essential oils everyone is mentioning is there due to strong aroma and "staying power".  The citrus oils are disappointing but that's not surprising as they contain "top notes" and evaporate the quickest and unfortunately oxidise the fastest as well.  I can certainly understand why everyone has moved to fragrance oils and it simply comes down to fragrance staying power and price.  I will continue to stick with essential oils as my nose can tell the difference but I will pay for it via my wallet


----------



## Susie (May 19, 2020)

Lemongrass is my go-to for everything.  I also adore cinnamon bark, clove bud, nutmeg, spearmint, and wintergreen.  Lemongrass is cheap, and stands in well for those citrus EOs that I can't get to stick no matter what I do.  I make a "spice" blend that smells like grandma's house at the holidays, but you have to be careful about how much of those you use.  Refer to the IFRA suggestions and stick to them.  I don't like peppermint, but if you do, it adds a nice note to lots of stuff.


----------



## atiz (May 19, 2020)

abirose3 said:


> I'm New at using this forum. I use Melt and Pour Goat Milk Soap. I just do this for my own personal use and to give as gifts. On the EOcalc website, how do you determine what percentage to use for top, middle, base note essential oil blends? As an example, a Patchouli, Geranium, & Lavender blend. I just never know what percentages to use to get the usage blend. I don't think I should use 33, 33, 34 percent. As I said I'm new to this and only make maybe one to four bars at a time with trying different EO blends. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


I'm not an experienced blender. But I really like many of their "premade" blends. It will list the exact percentages if you go under "Browse Essential Oil Blends", and then click on the blend.


----------



## abirose3 (May 20, 2020)

Thank you Atiz. I did look through the blends and found the blend percentage I was looking for the Patchouli, Geranium, & Lavender. There is another blend I am interested in, in finding percentages, Patchouli, Grapefruit, & Geranium. The only combustion that I could find was:
Clove Bud 3%
Peru Balsam 4%
Patchouli 10%
Grapefruit 51%
Geranium 8%
Bergamot 24%

Since I do not want to use the Clove Bud, Peru Balsam, & Bergamont. How would I distribute those percentages to Patchouli, Grapefruit, & Geranium.

If anyone can help me I'd appreciate it. 
Thank you!


----------



## Carl (May 22, 2020)

shunt2011 said:


> Patchouli, tea tree, lavender, orange 10x, lemongrass, Litsea, peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary. I make and sell a lot of straight up patchouli.



I second this!

This is almost my exact set of essentials.  I keep every one of the above plus Cedarwood, Anise, Basil, and Cinnamon Leaf.


----------



## dippy (May 23, 2020)

Wow it is really interesting to see what people like and use.  Common themes running through many of the posts.   I got my essential oils today.  In the end I went for Lavender, Lemon, Orange, Litsea, Petitgrain, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Peppermint.  I know it's not 5 (oops, my bad ).

I am going to see what I can do with these initially and then will get a few more for my birthday in the summer.  I was thinking Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang and Patchouli and poss Lemongrass.

I hadn't tried Petitgrain and was looking forward to trying it and it is such a familiar smell to me.  I think I must have it in one of my current beauty products that I use regularly - not sure which one though.  

I am slightly frustrated that there has been a delay on my main soap supplies order so I can't make anything yet just plan things.  So this afternoon I have looked at EOCalc and put a few blends on cotton wool balls wrapped in tinfoil - can't wait to smell them in a day or two.


----------



## Nona'sFarm (May 24, 2020)

abirose3 said:


> Thank you Atiz. I did look through the blends and found the blend percentage I was looking for the Patchouli, Geranium, & Lavender. There is another blend I am interested in, in finding percentages, Patchouli, Grapefruit, & Geranium. The only combustion that I could find was:
> Clove Bud 3%
> Peru Balsam 4%
> Patchouli 10%
> ...


I would suggest using a cotton ball test:
Make sure you write down each blend to track it.
On a cotton ball, put
6 drops grapefruit
2 drops patchouli
2 drops geranium
Place in zip lock bag. In 15-30 minutes,  take a sniff. If you like it, go with those ratios. If not, start over with a fresh cotton ball and choose new amounts, adjusting based on what you think it needs more / less off. If you can stick with 10 drops for each test, then the math is easy, once you find a pleasing combination.
Your final soap / outcome may not smell exactly like the cotton ball, but it will be close.


----------



## abirose3 (May 24, 2020)

Nona'sFarm said:


> I would suggest using a cotton ball test:
> Make sure you write down each blend to track it.
> On a cotton ball, put
> 6 drops grapefruit
> ...


Thank you Nona's farm, I will try that!


----------



## Green Butterfly (May 24, 2020)

Tea tree, lavender, patchouli, Eucalyptus, peppermint. These are my top five


----------



## Adeliepenguin (Jun 13, 2020)

Can you mix essential oils and fragrance oils to create a blend? I have lots of fragrance oils like blueberry, pineapple, peach etc but think they’re a bit boring together and I have loads of essential oils I have exasperated blends out of now


----------



## KiwiMoose (Jun 13, 2020)

Adeliepenguin said:


> Can you mix essential oils and fragrance oils to create a blend? I have lots of fragrance oils like blueberry, pineapple, peach etc but think they’re a bit boring together and I have loads of essential oils I have exasperated blends out of now


I do this in almost every batch I make


----------

