# Staying power - please help!



## kellyc (Nov 6, 2008)

I posted this in the main soap forum but figured it may be best here?

Can anyone tell me if the following combinations of essential oils added to CP soap will have staying power please?

Im going for a lemon and oatmeal bar here so i want it nice and lemony with good staying power...

Lemon
Litsea
lemongrass
Cedarwood

And the other one is a lavender and lime bar...

Lavender
Lime
Clove

What do you rekon? Im having trouble making my scents last and will little experience, i need some advice from you gurus out there! Would love some advice coz im stressing out!

x


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## kellyc (Nov 7, 2008)

Can _anyone_ help??


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## peaches (Nov 7, 2008)

Hi Kelly

I use this blend calculator when working out blends and quantities.  I think it's a great resource.  Hope this helps!


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## Deda (Nov 7, 2008)

For me, the only way to ensure that my soaps scents last is trail and error, lots of testing and careful notes.  There are so many variables, like the quality of the fragrance or essential oil, the temperature you soap at, the humidity you cure at,  even the base recipe you use.  

I know it's not what we want to hear, but keep careful notes, compare samples from 1 month, 6 months and 1 year.  

When I soap I note _all of the variables_, including manufacturer and temperature.  I know it seems onerous to keep such copious notes, but now after a few years I can_ usually_ reliably predict somethings about my soap with relative certainty.


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## kellyc (Nov 10, 2008)

Thank you, that helps.

Although, if you had to bet, would you say the above combinations would have staying power?


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## mandolyn (Dec 18, 2008)

Now, you enter into a whole new area of research!!  

Scents can be divided into 3 categories:
high notes
middle notes
low notes

High note scents are those that you smell first. They are the florals & citruses. They fade quickly, so need to be supported with a middle or low note scent. Low note scents are the woodsy ones like patchouli, cedar, frankincense, etc.

When you do some research on this & begin practicing it, you'll come up with some wonderful scent combos! The combinations are endless & this really does work to anchor some of those fleeting scents.

Your first combination has a lot of citrus & just one low note. I'd replace one of those citruses with a middle note or another bottom note.

The 2nd combo could use a low note scent.


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## carebear (Dec 18, 2008)

if you want to search more out on the web you might do better with the phrases "base note" and "top note".


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