Cp and Essential Oils...Your input would be great!

[Lane]

I am very new to using essential oils. I'm a huge FO fan...but I really really want to start working with a few EOs.

I'm also a fan of Gelling....will that kill the EO? Thinking I may go to doing rebatch...any good rebatch bases out there?

Any good/bad experiences using EOs in your batches? UGH... I dont even know where to start....

EO cost too much to mess up. :shock:

 

[sarahjane]

Hi Lane,

I have gelled EO's with great success. Lavendar, Ylang Ylang, Tea Tree, Lemongrass, Patchouli, Peppermint, Basil, Rosemary, Sage, Rose Geranium and Anise are the only ones I have tried so far and they all held up wonderfully for me! I have read about the citruses fading though (lemon and orange). All the soaps I have made have not faded one bit and most were goat's milk/full gel and have been curing since January and February.

Hope that helps!!

Sarah Jane

 

[7053joanne]

I only just started using FOs so I feel your pain. Citrus scents tend to fade unless you anchor them...use litsea to keep it from disappearing on you. I gel every batch and my soaps retain the scents quite well. At least I don't have any soaps that just smell like soap.

I have used the following with success: Peppermint, eucalyptus, spearmint, lavender, rosemary, cedarwood, cinnamon (can be irritating), lemongrass, sweet orange, tangerine, lemon and lime.

Good luck!

Joanne

 

[Guest]

I think it's the lye saponifying or otherwise damaging the EOs more than the temperature harming them. I could be wrong.

For the most part you'll have to blend your EOs, you know, high note, middle note, base note... I've seen a few EO blends but mostly just pure EOs.

I've been slowly building up a supply of EOs, a few here a few there, none very expensive. Orange EO is cheep cheep cheep! I got 32 oz of orange, smaller amounts of lemon, lime, spearmint, sage, eucalyptus. You can tell I'm planning on some EO experiments but right now I've got plenty of FOs to keep me busy.

In all honesty I don't like FOs. As far as I understand they are fragrances added to a base oil. The added base oil is doing nothing for me or my soap except providing superfatting from an unknown oil I don't want. At least with EOs you know what you're adding although probably you can find out what base oils the FOs are using.

Some EOs are biologically active and can affect a person through the skin. You need to research that.

Well that's all I know about EOs.

 

[cdwinsby]

I used to use fragrance oils all the time but over time (7 years) I developed an intolerance to them....I now get severe sinus headaches when I'm around them. Believe it or not, I was warned by a veteran soaper when I first started that this or worse could be a result of over exposure to the chemicals. Of course I ignored the advise....as usual. Thought I was being smart by using good quality ones!

Now I only use essential oils. Takes a little practice to make up blends but its fun trying. I use geranium, sw. orange, oakmoss, jasmine (10% dilution), lavender, lime, sandlewood (10%), frankincense, patchouli, palmarosa, lemongrass, rosemary, ginger, clove. Those are my favorites anyway.

I put together a page showing what the different characteristics of the different oils are and what they go well with. Also info on blending them...ie. top, middle and base notes and which ones are good for specific things.

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/essential-oils.html
http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/essential-oils-blends.html

 

[Guest]

That's going to be very helpful Cathy and BTW you have a very helpful and informative website.

Honestly I'm not thrilled about FOs at all, but I'm currently using them to expedite matters, if that can be called expeditious. As a novice I want to just add something, a blend, rather than figuring out my own blends. I hope as things settle down that I can start introducing EO combinations and phase out the FOs or at least phase out most of them.

Also, there's at least one commercial soap manufacturer (Indigowild) that boasts about their soap being scented exclusively with EOs, and this sounds like a good claim, like something beneficial to the user.

It also sounds harder to get your scents right with EOs. I'm gonna go off and read Cathy's EO page.

 

[cdwinsby]

Thanks Lovehound,

I not only have an addiction to soap but to computers! My website is my way of "taking notes" as it were.

 

[Guest]

Your hard work earned the compliment! Uh... with all your computer expertise you could do the world of soapmaking a great service by changing your EO page into a scratch and sniff format. Pretty please?

Your table of top/middle/base will be useful to me. I was going to make up my own as soon as I could locate the data but I'll just use your page now.

 

[digit]

http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/essential-oils.html
http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/essential-oils-blends.html

Thanks Cathy!!!!

Digit

 

[Lane]

Thanks so much everyone!

I got some Tangerine Essential oil today (really cheap! :shock: ) and I made a Honey MP with Calendula Petals & Chamomile. It smells so rich and goooood! And looks super!

Has anyone tried the Essential Oils blends from WSP?

 

[garland68]

I have tried the EO blends "Aveda" Type" from WSP. They don't really smell the Aveda original. Some are good and some are gross. Euphoria smell like old lady, Madagascar smells good but no where near the Aveda and Shampure Type smell close but is VERY strong.

 

[7053joanne]

I have tried the Madagascar (Vanilla ylang ylang) and the sinus relief. I wasn't a big fan of the Madagascar but everyone else seems to love it. I like the sinus relief though. But that is something you could cheaply come up with by yourself (i.e. it's a little on the exensive side).

Joanne

 

[garland68]

I just unmolded a loaf that I used Madagascar in...It has orange/yellow blotches in it.

 

[Lane]

These are the blends I ppicked... They had a bunch of good reviews...

Lemon Sage Ginger Natural EO Blend
Chamomile Neroli Natural EO Blend
Euphoria Type Natural EO Blend
Energizing Natural EO Aromatherapy Blend
Bergamot Grapefruit Natural EO Blend
Chamomile & Lavender Natural EO Blend

 

[Guest]

Those sound good Lane. Please report back your results.

I had decided to put off using EOs after initial poor results (too little and only 1 EO not a blend). FOs have been working well for me lately but I don't like them, don't know if I even have any reason to dislike them but I don't. You're getting me enthused in trying EOs again, and I'd love to hear if you get good results with any of those.

I've been collecting a few EOs planning to use them later when I get enough to blend. I've got plenty of sweet orange (because it's inexpensive) and also have lemon, lime, spearmint, sage and eucalyptus. All are inexpensive EOs, and I can understand now that most or all are top notes, so I need to add some base notes to my collection. Suggestions for inexpensive base note EOs?

I'm definitely going to try a few of Lane's EO blends if she reports back that they are good.

 

[Lane]

I SHOULD have these by Wednesday....Now I just need to figure out a one pound mold to test them in...My current molds are 2.5 pounds and I do NOT want to waste a drop of eo testing... *eyes Pauls mini mold...*

 

[zajanatural]

Do you hav ea take apart mold or is it all one piece? EIther way you can go to the hardware store and see if they have a piece os scrap wood that you can wedge into your mold to make it pound. I do it with my long log molds, just wedge a piece of wood in the middle to shorten the mold length.

 

[Lane]

Do you hav ea take apart mold or is it all one piece? EIther way you can go to the hardware store and see if they have a piece os scrap wood that you can wedge into your mold to make it pound. I do it with my long log molds, just wedge a piece of wood in the middle to shorten the mold length.

WHY have a never thought of that! Thanks!

 

[Lane]

I got my essential oil blends from WSP and so far, out of the bottle, this is what I thought. (Yes...all of the bottles were leaking)

Lemon Sage Ginger Natural EO Blend- The best blend, without a doubt! Mostly lemon tho, the sage and ginger are faint...

Chamomile Neroli Natural EO Blend- Meh... Smells good, but rather bland.

Euphoria Type Natural EO Blend- ROSE. I am not sure what this is suppose to smell like, but it is strong and it gives me somewhat of a headache. Somewhat of an "old lady" scent, like a heavy thick rose. Not like a bright light rose. Might work well with a floral water blend.

Energizing Natural EO Aromatherapy Blend- OK. I thought it would be more citrus. Possibly a good shampoo scent.

Bergamot Grapefruit Natural EO Blend- GREAT! Very bright and fresh. Looking forward to using in hair conditioner. Might do a CP shampoo bar too.

Chamomile & Lavender Natural EO Blend- Smells like a watered down Lavender bland. I tried it in a shower gel and it smells *nice* I thought it would be more powdery. It's not.

So far I am 50/50 on these blends. Tomorrow I will be testing them in all sorts of different body care items.

 

[eden]

since I'm new here , I'm not sure if this is allowed ( I did read the house rules) ... WSSP's 'Natural' EO blends ...I don't know what exactly they consider 'natural' - but these are not entirely EOs, and they will not tell you what is in them ( I do realize that a propritary blend is to be protected but this is not the case) ...seriously ...have you ever priced rose, sandalwood or jasmin EO ? I doubt you can find them for $4.00 an ounce ...Vanilla EO as in their Madagascar blend? Personally, I don't believe it , as real vanilla EO is quite costly ...maybe these are an EO/FO combo but they won't say so - they are certainly not 100% natural, pure ( and maybe 'pure' is the operative word) EOs ...BTW, some of them do smell great, but don't really compare to pure EOs IMO. If you are looking for great natural pure EO blends, I can recommend Aroma Alternatives ...you can find their link on the TDF site ...they don't have their blends listed, you'll have to email to ask for samples ( let them know what you are looking for & the intended purpose as well) ...I apologize if my post is out of line - I'm a big believer in EOs & can't stand to see people being mislead into believeing that is what they are using, if in fact it is not ...HTH!