Color and fragrance help

[Servant4Christ]

I have so many questions! You'd think I were new at soaping, but I'm not. I've just always made unscented naturally colored soaps and am looking to expand my knowledge for friends and family who want pretty and pleasant smelling soap.
I'm looking for ballpark figures as I know the usage rates will vary. How much soap does 5g of mica color? How much soap will a 1oz bottle of FO make?

With spring coming, how does this look for a start?

FOs-
Fresh cut roses (NG)
Cool citrus & basil (NG)
Mandarin lime (NG)
Cool clear water (NG)
Jack Frost (NG)
Lavender & chamomile (Nurture)
Lilac blossoms (Nurture)
I also want to try either Eucalyptus Rain (WSP) or Cotton eucalyptus (BB)
I also have list for Scent Memory, but that'll have to wait a bit.

Micas- no idea where to even begin here, but here's my short list on Nurture-
Orchid
Iris
Celestial silver
Winter white
Nocturnal
Savage garden
I'm thinking the first 3 colors might work well together with the lavender and/or lilac FO listed above for Easter. Kaolin and rose kaolin are already in my cart, too.

 

[dibbles]

I haven't tried any of the FOs on your list with the exception of Lavender and Chamomile. It's nice and behaves well, but I'm not a chamomile lover and it does discolor. All of the colors on your list are nice, but you might not find enough contrast between Orchid and Iris. One of my favorites is Cheshire Cat, which is quite dark and looks nice with Iris. I love Savage Garden but it occasionally surprises me and ends up more of a deep teal than dark green.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I haven't tried any of the FOs on your list with the exception of Lavender and Chamomile. It's nice and behaves well, but I'm not a chamomile lover and it does discolor. All of the colors on your list are nice, but you might not find enough contrast between Orchid and Iris. One of my favorites is Cheshire Cat, which is quite dark and looks nice with Iris. I love Savage Garden but it occasionally surprises me and ends up more of a deep teal than dark green.

Thankyou. If you know of a better option for lavender, I'm all ears. I'm only looking because that scent has actually been requested and I do not like the camphorous smell of the lavender EOs I've smelled. I have no idea if I like the smell of chamomile or not.
As for colors, teal would not be good in the camo soap I've been planning, so maybe I'll scrap that one for now. As for purple, I had no idea there are so many variations! I want a darker purple leaning more blue than red if this makes sense. A good friend's favorite color is that shade along with black so I thought I'd make her a mostly black soap with some purple and possibly a touch of silver swirled in.

 

[dibbles]

Cheshire Cat is definitely a deep violet (blue leaning). Savage Garden is usually a dark green, but as an alternative Green Vibrance with a bit of black will give you a deep forest green. Or Alpine Green is fairly dark too.

I did some lavender FO testing a year or two ago (actually looking for a lavender sage). I can try to help - are you placing an order anywhere it can be added to?

 

[Carly B]

First your questions:
I usually use 1 oz of FO in a pound of oils, more or less depending upon the IFRA, fragrance strength, etc.
5gm of mica will make several pounds of soap for me, and that's if I'm using it as the only color. Again, depending upon the intensity of color, your mileage may vary.

I also have folks who like lavender. I like NS's lavender and sage better than the lav and chamomile, but it's definitely not pure lavender.

I agree with Dibbles about Cheshire Cat. I just used that yesterday with some pink, blue, and green, scented with Persephone's Kiss (NS) for a spring soap.

 

[MellonFriend]

I'm looking for ballpark figures as I know the usage rates will vary. How much soap does 5g of mica color? How much soap will a 1oz bottle of FO make?

If you are making a one color soap, a 5 gram mica bag from Nurture for me has approximately 4tsp. So check the usage rate on the mica to see how much soap that will color.

1 ounce bottles generally will scent 650-950 grams of soap depending on your their usage rate and how strong you like the scent. Personally, I've stretched those 1oz bottles from Nurture to more soap than they should be able to scent, and they all still smell great even though I'm a bit below the lightest scent amount on the calculator. Usually I'm about a half an ounce short of the lightest amount listed on the calculator.

Hope that helps some! What I've given you is all ballpark.

 

[Servant4Christ]

Thank you all so much!
I wonder how NS Cheshire cat compares to BB Orchid. My friend saw the orchid color while I was browsing the BB website a while back and she pointed and said THAT is my kind of purple! Lol
My plan is to place an order from Nurture and Nature's Garden over the weekend. I'll order small amounts to play with and see what I like. I cannot wait to use my new soap mold and wire cheese cutter!

@dibbles I have no idea what I'm looking for in a lavender. The only lavender smells I tend to like do not have the camphorous or herbal smells. Think along the lines of a soothing bedtime lavender scented lotion. Then again, I keep reminding myself that I don't really have to like it as much as the people I'll gift the soaps to!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I can chime in on the lavender. I’ve used BB’s Peaceful Lavender with success. It behaves well and does not discolor. The scent is much softer than lavender eo and IMHO, not at all camphorous. I’ve also used MMS Tassi Lavender and like it, but haven’t used it for over a year because I haven’t ordered from MMS in that time. As I recall, it also behaves well and does not discolor. I would say it’s less sweet and has little to no powder notes compared with Peaceful Lavender. I would characterize both of the lavender FOs I mentioned as florals rather than herbal.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I had to stop looking. I have sooo many micas in my cart that I'm thinking I should really pare it down a bit because there's no way I need 6 different pinks!

 

[lucycat]

Photos comparing shades of mica can be deceiving. Sometimes they are a lot closer in look that you expect from the photo. Also, how much you use can make the difference in a pastel or strong color. So, I normally choose darker colors and a bit of variety. My first micas were from a color set similar to the vibrance color set. It is still a nice easy way to start.

I like bluish purple colors for lavender and mix in some klein blue or kashmir blue with purple (mainly purple vibrance). Most of Nurture's purples that I have tried are in the reddish-purple family. I like Iris because is is bluish-purple and is a good accent.

Winter white is ok but I prefer Titanium dioxide and I like Nurture's that mixes with water.

I like Savage Garden but also like yellow-greens as well. I think celadon green is a nice soft spring green as well as lime appeal for a brighter green contrast.

I tested Eucalyptus Rain last fall and really liked. It was one of the fragrances I ordered in their sale. It is a sharp crisp clean that I thought very appealing; definitely unisex to masculine. At 3 months it is holding well. I thought more the idea of Eucalyptus and Rain becuase it was hard for me to pick out those notes.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I stumbled across the most lovely lavender scent in a candle today. The scent was Lavender and Fig Leaf. Anyone know where can I find this in a FO?

 

[dmcgee5034]

If you end up ordering from BB, I really liked the mica sampler packs so I could try a variety of colors.

 

[Zing]

I am definitely recommending the sample packs. I'm a hobbyist and those little BB packets last a looong time. It helps me decide what to spend my money on.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I've used Fresh Cut Roses and it's great - soaps well

 

[Servant4Christ]

I am definitely recommending the sample packs. I'm a hobbyist and those little BB packets last a looong time. It helps me decide what to spend my money on.

If only their shipping didn't take so long.

I've used Fresh Cut Roses and it's great - soaps well

Yes, this one is on my list because of another thread where @DeeAnna says it smells like tea rose.

 

[sbravener]

If only their shipping didn't take so long.

I figured out the shipping issue. I ordered 3-day shipping on some stuff for my wife for V-day and it went from Bellingham to Tacoma to Tennessee to Kentucky all on its way to TX.

Also regarding scents. make sure you try out on a small sample batch first before you scent a big batch. my wife has found that NG scents (especially the florals) have caused her soap to seize up as soon as she put in the scent. BB scents have just caused some weird discoloration.