# Is there a natural vanilla fragrance for HP?



## Soul_Healthy (Mar 11, 2015)

I'm in desperate need for a way to make vanilla soap. I don't trust anything labeled vanilla EO because I don't believe it exists. I've also read that vanilla extract only lasts a while until the scent fades. Is there anyway to get the vanilla smell without using fragrance oil? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with FO; I just market my business as straight up natural, using only clays and EOs for fragrance. Thanks for your help!

...clays and spices for colorants, I should add... 

Or maybe you guys know another warm, sweet scent out in the soap world that I haven't used yet. Would sandalwood be something similar? Could I blend some things together?


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## Lnzy1 (Mar 11, 2015)

I've heard Benzoin essential oil smells vanilla like. I've never used it though so I can't speak to the truth of it.


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## TRBeck (Mar 11, 2015)

Peru Balsam and Benzoin both have vanilla-like elements. Both are potential skin irritants, though.


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## abc (Mar 11, 2015)

Vanilla Eo is an absolute. There is also benzoin EO which has a vanilla-like aroma. Both are expensive.


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## Soul_Healthy (Mar 11, 2015)

I just purchased some Peru Balsam. I read it can cause sensitization. Is there a certain amount I need to use in a 2 lb. batch? I've used .5 oz. of clove in a 2 lb. batch before along with orange and ground cinnamon, and it didn't irritate my family's skin. What do you guys think?


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## Lnzy1 (Mar 11, 2015)

abc said:


> Vanilla Eo is an absolute. There is also benzoin EO which has a vanilla-like aroma. Both are expensive.



I've not seen Benzoin priced much higher than a lot of EO. In fact a lot of time it seemed cheaper. Bulk Apothecary has a 2 oz bottle for $6.


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## new12soap (Mar 11, 2015)

Soul_Healthy said:


> I just purchased some Peru Balsam. I read it can cause sensitization. Is there a certain amount I need to use in a 2 lb. batch? I've used .5 oz. of clove in a 2 lb. batch before along with orange and ground cinnamon, and it didn't irritate my family's skin. What do you guys think?




I think that is _3 times_ the maximum recommended safe usage rate for clove, and that's _before_ you added cinnamon. It would burn my skin off, and even on people that don't have sensitive skin over time it can cause irritation.

There is no fragrance that I love and need so much that I am willing to exceed safe guidelines to get.

Yes, I know, "some people" can use it just fine without a problem, but "some people" can also drink a 6 pack of beer without feeling drunk, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

As for vanilla, I second trying the benzoin or shelling out the bucks for the vanilla oleoresin or absolute.


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## Lindy (Mar 12, 2015)

Check the IFRA Banned & Restricted Oils list for percentages for the spice eo's.

There is a vanilla absolute which is amazing and incredibly expensive.

Just a quick note about the "safe" rate for most essentials being a combined rate of 3%. By combined rate I mean all the EO's add up to 3% or about .5 ounce PPO. The reason behind this is that essential oils were developed for medicinal uses, at the time no-one even thought of using them in soap. At any rate anything over 3% becomes therapeutic and at 5% is fully therapeutic. Yes I know that soap is a wash-off product but let's think about what makes our soaps so special, it's the superfat. Well essential oils do not saponify as they are not a true oil, so where do you think they go? They end up combined with the free floating oils of the SF. Now there is a supposition that saponification destroys the therapeutic properties of the EO because after all look at the citrus scents, they disappear so how can the therapeutic properties remain? Scent is just one part of the whole. According to Robert Tisserand the therapeutic properties survive saponification.

This was longer than intended but I wanted to explain the 3% rule on *most* essential oils.


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