Are FOs usually vegan?

[soapsydaisy]

Since most of my soaps are vegan (I'm not anymore but several friends and family members are), I started to think about what FOs are made of and I realized I had no clue. I prefer EOs but there are a few FOs I am fond of. Are FOs vegan? Thanks for the help. I'd hate to give soap to a vegan with the assumption that my product was animal free.

 

[misskat22]

I would imagine it is, but I suppose to be sure you could always contact your supplier and ask..I know they wont tell you what's in it, but they should be happy to tell you what's NOT in it.

 

[newbie]

I doubt there are any animal products in there too. Can't imagine how there would be but perhaps I'm an not imaginative enough. I agree that any supplier would tell you if they were animal product free.

 

[jcandleattic]

Reputable suppliers will give you or have access to the MSDS (material safety data sheet) records. Get them. They will tell you the chemical make-up of the FO's.
If you are in a business and have FO's around, you should have reliable and quick access to these anyway for insurance purposes.

 

[BotanicalWitch]

Along the same lines as this question. I had a customer ( I just think she wanted a lower price) that said that my soaps were not natural if the had FO what are everyones opinion on that?

 

[DeeAnna]

I question whether "vegan" even applies to fragrance oils, since many do not have animal or vegetable origins -- they are synthetic chemicals.

And as far as the ongoing "natural" vs. "not natural" debate... <...sigh...> I am saddened that your customer was so judgmental about your soap. Regardless of the type of fragrance used, hand crafted soap can never be "natural" in a purist's sense, because it is made with commercial lye. NaOH is produced by using gobs of electricity to break down saltwater pumped from unsustainable saltwater aquifers in huge chemical plants. NaOH from the chloralkali process is one of the products that made Dow Chemical a success.

 

[dagmar88]

Natural hasn't been defined by the FDA, so anyone's free to use it as they please.

I don't care for it, as "natural" or not doesn't say anything about the quality of my products.
I can think of many very natural things I don't want to be in there.



As for the scents, ambergris is the only thing I can think of, and that is being replicated nowadays.

 

[Candybee]

What about musk and leather type FOs? I wonder how many vegans enjoy a good musk scent.

 

[dagmar88]

What about musk and leather type FOs? I wonder how many vegans enjoy a good musk scent.

Real musk is very, very expensive and there's synthetic musk and civet.
You did remind me; you could be on to something with the leather scents though.
Castoreum is still widely used in perfume, ice cream (where it's simply listed as natural flavouring) and cigarettes.

In Dutch, it's called "beaver horniness" directly translated...

 

[soapmaker4]

Along the same lines as this question. I had a customer ( I just think she wanted a lower price) that said that my soaps were not natural if the had FO what are everyones opinion on that?

I would agree with her as there are a lot of chemicals that dont dissipate during the process.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...a lot of chemicals that dont dissipate during the process..."

Hmmm. I am under the impression that the point of a fragrance is that it should not dissipate, regardless of whether it's an essential oil or a synthetic.