Experiment: Scent Fixing & Gel Phase

[Jamesh388]

Hi all

My first post here - thanks for having me

I thought I'd jump right in with a question: has anyone found that essential oil scents fix better in non-gelled CP soap? It just occurred to me that the heat generated in gel phase (apparently up to 180F!) might cause some evaporation of essential oils..

I've been trying to improve the scent strength of my CP soaps and tried the usual recommendations (maximum usage rates and fixing with kaolin clay). But I've still found that some essential oil soaps I've bought have stronger scents than mine. All my soaps are gelled and having tried everything else to improve scent, I just wondered if this could be a factor...

A picture of my curing "purple haze" soap attached for your trouble

Much appreciate any thoughts or advice!

James

 

[VikingChick]

Welcome! I’m not sure I have a good answer for you, but I wanted to say that I love your purple haze soap!

 

[AliOop]

Welcome! I too like the purple haze!

Have you tried anchoring your scent blends with a bit of a base note, such as cedarwood, oakmoss, or even patchouli? (PS - don't hate on me if you hate patch - it's you, not me).

 

[Jamesh388]

Welcome! I too like the purple haze!

Have you tried anchoring your scent blends with a bit of a base note, such as cedarwood, oakmoss, or even patchouli? (PS - don't hate on me if you hate patch - it's you, not me).

Thank you! Haha, I like Patch too Yes, I do use base notes on all my soaps, and coincidentally this one does have patch in it. Smells great, just wish it was a little stronger.

 

[AliOop]

Thank you! Haha, I like Patch too Yes, I do use base notes on all my soaps, and coincidentally this one does have patch in it. Smells great, just wish it was a little stronger.

Yup, that is the issue with EOs - it is hard to get a strong, long-lasting scent.

In some prior posts by a former SMF member, SavageDaughter, she shared how she makes a slurry with EOs and dry additives, and lets that marinate for a few days. Apparently that works well for her, and a few others here who have tried it. Personally, I rarely plan far enough ahead to let anything marinate for hours, let alone days, but perhaps that might work for you? You can search for her posts by putting her name in the search box, like this:



PS - just realized I never answered your actual question. I gel all my soaps so unfortunately I can't say whether the scents are stronger in non-gelled soaps. Your theory about the extra heat causing some of the EO to dissipate sounds reasonable, but maybe you could mitigate that by tightly covering the soap throughout the gelling and until it has fully cooled.

 

[Jamesh388]

Yup, that is the issue with EOs - it is hard to get a strong, long-lasting scent.

In some prior posts by a former SMF member, SavageDaughter, she shared how she makes a slurry with EOs and dry additives, and lets that marinate for a few days. Apparently that works well for her, and a few others here who have tried it. Personally, I rarely plan far enough ahead to let anything marinate for hours, let alone days, but perhaps that might work for you? You can search for her posts by putting her name in the search box, like this:

View attachment 79802

PS - just realized I never answered your actual question. I gel all my soaps so unfortunately I can't say whether the scents are stronger in non-gelled soaps. Your theory about the extra heat causing some of the EO to dissipate sounds reasonable, but maybe you could mitigate that by tightly covering the soap throughout the gelling and until it has fully cooled.

Thanks very much for the suggestion - I usually add kaolin clay to my EOs just about an hour before, so I might try that the day before and see if it helps.

 

[lsg]

With citrus EOs, it is best to blend them with another (basenote) EO. For instance, I use a combination of orange and cedarwood EOs. Litsea cubeba and vetiver EOs are also good anchors for citrus EOs.