About Fragrance Oils - What's in Them?

[northernsoap]

Hi,

I'm seeing that essential oils aren't really working very well with my CP, and I'm ready to try something new. I'm trying to understand what these *fragrance oils* like spice, linen, florals etc. contain - if they're natural or they're lab made chemicals designed to mimic nature and if they have any health risks.

Alternately, I'd like to try some natural oils that work better than essential oils - if they exist

Any help with this much appreciated ~*~*~*~*~

Joy

 

[itunu]

Essential oils usually contain over 100 chemicals. Chemists have broken down the essential oils and isolated these chemicals and call them "aroma chemicals". They use these aroma chemicals as a cheap way to make fragrance oils. For example, rose absolute (which is v v expensive) contains some of the same aroma chemicals as geranium EO (much cheaper) so aroma chemicals in geranium are used to create a rose FO. Usually 4-15 aroma chemicals are found in a typical FO.

The perfume sold in the stores, usually have over 30 aroma chemicals and that usually includes a small % of essential oils. You can buy these aroma chemicals from perfumers apprentice in the US. In the UK hermitage oils and olfactik sell them.

 

[bodhi]

IMO, bad stuff. YMMV, but I avoid them like the plague.

 

[new12soap]

My take on fragrance oils is a little different. To me, essential oils carry tremendous health risks and are quite simply unregulated drugs. Fragrance oils on the other hand, while they have synthetic lab created components, are designed, tested and regulated specifically to be used in skin products (as long as they are in fact marked skin safe).

I realize this is stretching the point a bit, but remember that "natural" is not always the same as "good", arsenic and poison ivy are perfectly natural. "Lab-created" isn't automatically "bad" either, like say life-saving antibiotics or even the lye you use to make soap.

It's good that you are doing some research to find out what's right for you, just approach it from a "how are these different" perspective rather than a "good/bad" one.

 

[Robert]

While it's true that essential oils can be very complex mixtures, the same is true of foods.

 

[soapsydaisy]

What essential oils have you tried? I have far fewer issues with EOs than FOs. In my experience FOs have a tendency to accelerate trace.

 

[savonierre]

It really depends where you buy your FO's, many companies are getting rid of what is perceived to be the "bad stuff".
Everything is a chemical..

 

[northernsoap]

What essential oils have you tried? I have far fewer issues with EOs than FOs. In my experience FOs have a tendency to accelerate trace.

I think the issue is its staying power. Or maybe I just didn't put in enough? Two tablespoons per batch. After the gel process there's pretty much nothing left of the scent. My oils are pretty good - not fantastically good - just pretty good quality. Still I'd expect them to *stay*. Maybe I need a fixative of sorts. Anyway - I tried amongst others - peppermint, patchouli, orange, geranium and rosemary. Hardly an indent.

 

[northernsoap]

It really depends where you buy your FO's, many companies are getting rid of what is perceived to be the "bad stuff".
Everything is a chemical..

How do you differentiate between the good stuff and the bad? If there is such a good thing called *good fragrance oil*.....

 

[soapsydaisy]

I don't know how much you make at a time but I stick to .5 oz per lb of oils. It also helps to anchor the EOs in some kaolin clay. This also helps FOs.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Soap Making mobile app

 

[Saswede]

An essential oil is a "volatile aroma compound" by definition - and it's the vaporization/evaporation of the oil that allows us to enjoy their fragrance. The amount of oil that vaporizes is temperature dependent, so the hotter it is the more the EO vaporizes. Therefore you could consider avoiding gel to minimize the loss of fragrance from your EOs ....... (Gelling is a result of the heat generated in the saponification process, so cooling the soap in the first few hours slows down the rate of saponification, but doesn't prevent it.)

I soap at room temperature and refrigerate the soap for the first 3 to 6 hours to avoid gel. Or if its a milk soap or one with honey or EOs that i know can cause over-heating, I put it in the freezer for 2 or 3 hours and then transfer to the refrigerator for a few more hours. And I find that most EOs last pretty well through this - although I should say that I prefer relatively subtle fragrances in my soap.

I guess that we each make our own choices about using natural vs modified fragrances, and we make them for different reasons. So if you set out to go down the natural route and would like to remain true to that, don't give up on the EOs too early! It just takes some experimentation to figure out how much you need of each EO to achieve the level of perfume that you want, and how to work with each oil.

Good luck!


Sent from my iPad using Soap Making

 

[northernsoap]

I don't know how much you make at a time but I stick to .5 oz per lb of oils. It also helps to anchor the EOs in some kaolin clay. This also helps FOs.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Soap Making mobile app

Does the fragrance stay true? No dissipating after gelling?

 

[la-rene]

Hi Joy, I use 2 to 4% of my total weight of oils for the total essential oil (either single oil or a blend), though I usually run it through a fragrance calculator (like this one: https://www.thesage.com/calcs/fragcalc.html) to make sure I'm with in safe levels. Some essentials are are potent, like clove or cinnamon and you use a lot less. I've only had problems with lavender occasionally fading, but it comes back in the shower or when stored. I've got some other soaps with E/O's that are over a year old and still smelling up my closet. Have you tried a hot process? Sometimes, that helps essential oils stay since the soap is technically fully saponified when you add them in therefor the process doesn't degrade your E/O.

Are you using cosmetic grade E/O from a reputable source? If they are fairly cheap, they may be cut. A perfume can use only a few drops in an ounce of carrier oil to really smell potent. Not sure what you mean about natural oils as essential oils are about as natural as you can get. Though, like it was posted earlier, everything is chemicals so it's just a matter of preference. I use both E/O and F/O. You just can't get a natural dirt of fresh cut grass smelling essential oil! I say try what you feel like using, but stick with a reputable source for either type of fragrance, stay within the safety levels and you should get the results you want (for the most part, you can use significantly more F/O than E/O in a recipe and be safe). However, I will say that for essential oils, sometimes, you just can't get a F/O that does it justice.

Luck!
La-rene

 

[savonierre]

How do you differentiate between the good stuff and the bad? If there is such a good thing called *good fragrance oil*.....

phthalates and nitro musk are the latest "non desirable ingredients" in FO's. It is hard to keep up with and know what really is good or bad, lots of ingredients get a bad rap from who knows where and it goes viral. Sometimes it is true and sometimes not.

 

[judymoody]

I use some FOs but mostly EOs, mostly because I prefer how they smell. I generally use them at a ratio of 3% of my recipe's oil weight. If you are using EOs at this use rate, they should remain potent for a good long time. Some, like anise and clove stick forever and a day.

You have already gotten good advice - check your supplier for maximum safe usage rates for each FO or EO you are using, either singly or in a blend. Suppressing gel also helps preserve scents that are more prone to fading, like natural citrus EOs.

I have never had morphing with EOs but have experienced morphing with FOs.

I suspect your EOs might not be 100% pure or you may be using them at too low a rate (you didn't indicate your batch size). I would seek out a reputable on-line supplier like New Directions Aromatics, Liberty Natural, Scent Works, Soapmaking Resource, or Camden Grey before you give up on EOs.

In my experience, EO-scented soaps should retain their scent for at least a year. The only major fader I've encountered was bergamot.

You could also try blending with a base note (for example adding a small % of patchouli to more fleeting scents like orange or lemon) to help boost staying power.

 

[paillo]

I think the issue is its staying power. Or maybe I just didn't put in enough? Two tablespoons per batch. After the gel process there's pretty much nothing left of the scent. My oils are pretty good - not fantastically good - just pretty good quality. Still I'd expect them to *stay*. Maybe I need a fixative of sorts. Anyway - I tried amongst others - peppermint, patchouli, orange, geranium and rosemary. Hardly an indent.

Peppermint, patchouli and rosemary should have stuck for sure if you used enough. How big are your batches? Hard to give any input without knowing how big your batches are - 2 tablespoons could be a lot or a little, depending. I typically use 1% per pound of oils, sometimes less for strong EOs. If you haven't already, check out soapcalc.net and plug in your oil amounts. It will also give you how much fragrance you should use - you can adjust it from there, but it's an excellent starting point.

Re 'good' vs. 'bad' FOs: very good points posted earlier. I use EOs and FOs, and agree with the points above. I do stay away from FOs containing phthalates, as an increasing number of studies indicate that they are endocrine disruptors.