Differences Between Bitter Almond And Sweet Almond Oil

[h~aly]

i would like to make a soap with both bitter and sweet almond oils, however i cannot find the bitter almond on the soap calculators. why is that? are they the same? im sure they aren't...
what is the best percentage range to be used for bitter almond oil?
if anyone has any information on bitter almond oil it would be much appreciated... thanks thumbsup.gif

 

[Bergamia2504]

It has prussic acid in and has been known to cause death :shock:

 

[fiddletree]

I'm curious.... why would you want to use bitter almond oil? To echo the poster above, that stuff is toxic. Please please please don't use it! Unless you want to make Poison Death Soap.

 

[Fragola]

Here's a soap containing it:
http://www.cosmaterra.fr/savons-douche/ ... /13/47/347

Thinking about purchasing one, for self defense purposes

 

[PrairieCraft]

I've looked into this in the past and came to the conclusion that it isn't worth it to try being "natural". In this case natural isn't better than synthetic. There is a company who sells bitter almond oil with the toxin removed but it is almost 20 bucks an ounce (also, it is currently out of stock, making me wonder if they decided it wasn't worth the hassle). The toxin was likely removed using some sort of chemical (don't know for sure just guessing, but if it was then that makes the whole "natural" point moot). And a blog post I found reported that it is a skin sensitizer even without the prussic acid. Just doesn't seem worth it. BB has a great almond FO.

The reason you don't see it listed on soap calc is because it wouldn't be used as a base oil it would be used as a fragrance oil. (correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[carebear]

you are correct.

 

[carolyntn]

Fragola, I believe this company may have a labeling error. The soap Savon Bio Lait de Chevre et Amande (goat milk and almond soap) label states only Almond oil (not specifying either sweet or bitter almond) but the ingredient list shows bitter almond. However on another product - the shower gel with goat milk and sweet almond oil (gel douche bio lait de chevre amande douce) it is still labelled as bitter almond oil!

 

[Fragola]

Nope, it's not a labeling error, probably they wanted to keep the description short. They also have a shower gel:
http://druide.ca/Product.aspx?ProductID=42214&Langue=

Also, a google search (especially in other languages than English) will reveal what looks like dozens of hits. Apparently it's more popular in other countries than US.

 

[carolyntn]

Oh ok, now I understand my confusion. The website you originally linked was CosmaTerra and they explain the product as having sweet almond oil, but it really contains bitter almond as specified on the ingredients label. The maker of the products, Druid, on their website do state clearly they are using bitter almond oil.
So, maybe they are using bitter almond essential oil for scent?

 

[h~aly]

I'm curious.... why would you want to use bitter almond oil? To echo the poster above, that stuff is toxic. Please please please don't use it! Unless you want to make Poison Death Soap.

honestly it was just a matter of using oils that i had access to, i had no idea it was toxic. i read more and more into it.. although i still havent come to a definite conclusion
here were a few of the sites i looked at:
http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/hand ... skin-safe/
http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/es1038841.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_7217438_differ ... -soap.html


thank you so much for the feedback

 

[h~aly]

I've looked into this in the past and came to the conclusion that it isn't worth it to try being "natural". In this case natural isn't better than synthetic. There is a company who sells bitter almond oil with the toxin removed but it is almost 20 bucks an ounce (also, it is currently out of stock, making me wonder if they decided it wasn't worth the hassle). The toxin was likely removed using some sort of chemical (don't know for sure just guessing, but if it was then that makes the whole "natural" point moot). And a blog post I found reported that it is a skin sensitizer even without the prussic acid. Just doesn't seem worth it. BB has a great almond FO.

The reason you don't see it listed on soap calc is because it wouldn't be used as a base oil it would be used as a fragrance oil. (correct me if I'm wrong)

ah i gathered that it would be a fragrance oil and i agree with your conclusion... plenty of other oils out there! thank you for all your help