Do you ever mix FO with EO's in your soap?

[ShelleyW]

I am having trouble with my EO
sticking in my HP soap. Once I use it I can smell it but the scent on the outside fades quickly. Do you ever mix FO's like orange or lemon for example to boost scent?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Which EO is it, and how hot is soap and at what stage do you mix it in?

 

[Ruthie]

I've mixed lavender eo and fo and it did fine.

 

[songwind]

I've mixed the two without any issues.

 

[cmzaha]

I mix them quite often

 

[judymoody]

Frequently.

BTW, Brambleberry's pink grapefruit and orange peel are great stickers in the FO citrus category.

You could also blend in some lemongrass or litsea EO for added oomph.

NDA's 5x lemon EO sticks really well.

 

[kazmi]

I mix. Especially lavender EO and FO

 

[ShelleyW]

Which EO is it, and how hot is soap and at what stage do you mix it in?

Usually lavender or a citrus like orange. My most recent batches were lav/patchouli/neroli and orange/litsea. After curing for a few weeks, the scent is barely detectable. I used them in the shower and once the soap is wet I can smell the oils. I recently started selling my soaps and the FO's are selling well, the EO's not so much. I make HP soap and add the EO's after the cook, not sure of the temps but I let the soap cool for a few minutes before I add them. If I wait to long, it is a gloppy mess.

I guess my original question should have been, Do you mix FO and EO in soap to sell? Seems to be heresy to me b/c I love EO's and really believe in their healing properties but maybe I am a purist. When operating a business, the customer is king. If people want to buy it, I want to make it.

 

[Happysoap]

Until recently I used only EOs in soaps with many issues. They are costly and the scent fades. Now I am considering FOs. I did quite a bit of research and also I recently talked to a friend of mine who is a pharmacist in love with natural products. She confirmed that that its a waste to used EOs in a wash off product such as soap. A lot of EOs are needed to get the scent but there is very little skin benefit from it. So little that its really not worth it to use. Large part of the EOs (30-60% depending on the EO) is saponifyable meaning that a good portion of the EO beneficial components actually saponify which, in combination with the short time its actually in contact with the skin, makes the EO largely ineffective in respect to skin benefits. EOs are better used and are much more beneficial in leave on products such as lotions etc because the skin has the time to absorb them. So I guess its better to go with things like FOs for scent but add some other nice ingredients to the soap like goat/rice/almond milk etc. I am not very happy about this but that is the result of my research.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

............ Large part of the EOs (30-60% depending on the EO) is saponifyable meaning that a good portion of the EO beneficial components actually saponify which,............

Except when added to HP after the saponification is already finished.

That said, I have also started leaning towards the thinking of only using EOs in the products that aren't wash off.

 

[Lin]

For me I prefer EOs, its not about any healing qualities of the EOs but the lower chance of my skin reacting to them. And even then I've reacted to EO scented soaps. Most of the ones I've made are unscented, a couple scented with EOs. I do know when I first started buying CP soap it was difficult to find soap sellers who did not use FOs. Even more difficult to find ones who offered completely unscented soap. So if I ever sell my soaps, I'll be focusing on what I like and what works for me. It may be a very tiny part of the market, but we are out there! I also have issues with scents making me sick, especially added fragrances so I wouldn't want to be working with them at home. I can't even go into the detergent isle at the store without getting sick.

 

[grayceworks]

I also prefer to avoid chemical fragrances when possible, due to sensitivities. I was considered 'environmentally ill' for nearly 7yrs to the point I could barely go in public. That's how I got started making stuff. I still have to be super-careful, for example when taking a cab the other day, they had an old pine freshener in the car. Wasn't strong, but that slight whiff of the fake-pine was instant migraine. Natural pine, juniper, cedar, fir, etc do not do this.

It's trial and error, but I do use FO for a few things, and have found some that are 'safe' relatively speaking, for my sensitivities, and appear to be ok for many others with similar issues who have used my various products. I found a nice coconut-mango, a gardenia (ok from one supplier, but another makes me react), a cucumber-melon, and a baby-powder scent. I think that's all I'm ever going to try in FO, no sense pushing things! everything else I want to make is doable with EO's. They do cost more, but my target, when I get to that point is people with sensitivities like my own, and we tend to pay more for stuff that we know won't aggravate our sensitivities.

I mainly use them for scent in soap, but I use them for other benefits in the other stuff that I make. That being said, I do sometimes blend EO and FO to achieve a specific scent -- like with baby-powder scent -- I have no idea how to create something recognizably similar with EO, but it took me a long time to find a FO that I don't react to.

 

[roseb]

I'm having the same debate with myself. The big reason I started to make my own soap is to avoid all the chemicals. But people want smelly soap! I've just decided to start using FOs for the soaps that I make for friends and family. I've asked them and they are all okay with using them. I'm still sticking with EOs or unscented for my own use. I mostly HP, so I add them after the cook and so far all my EO scents have stuck. I do add more than 3% though.

 

[shunt2011]

I make both FO and EO as well as a couple mixed. In my area the FO fragrances out sell the EO blends as quite a few are Dupe types of fragrances. I'm slowly going to eliminate the EO's except for the top sellers.

 

[judymoody]

I also find that some FOs make be feel a bit queasy (anything "honey" in particular) and my husband really dislikes the scent of many of them and they make him feel headachey.

I use mostly EO in soap, not for therapeutic purposes as I'm not convinced that the effects survive saponification, but because I prefer the smell. However, there are single note scents that I like that I can't get in EO form due to cost (sandalwood, oakmoss, neroli, yuzu) or the fact that they don't exist (almond, coconut, lilac) and for those, I have found FOs that work for me.

If an FO has a description like "imagine yourself deep in a spruce forest as fragrant notes of vanilla, tonka bean and musk delight your senses, leaving behind a lyrical dry down of bergamot and rose," I stay far, far, away.

 

[SudsyPM]

I've mixed as well with no problem, but I prefer to use a clay to add sticking power vs. the fragrance oil since we try to go the "all natural" route.

 

[seven]

I've mixed as well with no problem, but I prefer to use a clay to add sticking power vs. the fragrance oil since we try to go the "all natural" route.

so, using clay is gonna help the scent stick? i didn't know this. thanks so much for the tip, i will give it a try.

how much should i use to make the scents stick?

 

[DeeAnna]

Some FOs are formulated with essential oils by the manufacturer. There is one supply company (have to hunt up the name -- escapes me at the moment) that even lists the percentages of essential oils in some of their FO blends. So mixing your own EOs with FOs is just taking the process a step further.

 

[Lin]

Maybe the clay is working/being used like cornstarch for anchoring EOs.

 

[dryalligator]

Fo/es

:wink::smile: You have to check the flash points on essential oils or fragrence. If your hot process is over 180 degrees when molded your going to lose scent. The lowest I've been able to go without is 160 degrees. You risk losing bar beauty soaping cooler. Higher temps they lose scent