Frankincense or Benzoin?

[Anstarx]

I'm designing a luxury facial bar recipe with an EO blend lately. It was a goat milk soap (first time using GM!) with luxury butter and oil, and I would like a gentle and soothing gender neutral EO blend.

I have some EO on hand but I felt I want something that's heavy and gentle and build around it. Frankincense and Benzoin EO are things that I've always wanted to try but never got around to. I did had a benzoin FO and it's wonderful, sweet and thick and homey, but I've also heard wonderful things about frankincense, saying it's warming and calming and a must have, etc.

I've considered both, but when checking with my local supplier I realized both are only available in 100ml bottles, while I only need 30ml or so for one batch. Buying both will be too expensive for me since I just want to test the water, so any suggestion on which one I should get?
Also, here are the EOs I have on hand: clary sage, tea tree, eucalyptus, mint, rosemary, cedar, lemongrass, and ginger. Any of these can make a nice soothing blend? I usually stick to FO or single EOs so I don't have much experience with blednng EOs.

 

[soapmaker]

These are wonderful EOs to blend. Eucalyptus Mint is very refreshing. Tea Tree and Mint is good. Actually all of these would blend nicely. Trust your nose as far as what you like but consult safe usage levels.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Frankincense is a lovely oil for your purpose. For blends based on what you have on hand, go to https://www.eocalc.com/ to explore your options:

 

[Quanta]

I think most people will like benzoin better than frankincense. Benzoin smells like a deep, sweet vanilla (at least the raw resin does, which is what I have) which means it'll blend with very nearly anything, but frankincense smells very medicinal to me. It smells like pine and lemon, kinda. It is quite strong. I usually use one part frankincense to two parts lavender, but it might be a little more balanced with three parts lavender. It would be a little more tricky to find good combinations with frankincense than with benzoin.

If you want to work with what you have on hand, I second the suggestion for eucalyptus and mint. If it's for use on the face, I would keep the percentage pretty low because both of those can be irritating on the face, especially near the eyes.

 

[Loulu13]

I'm a Frankincense girl! It's wonderful and gender neutral and goes marvelously with citrus and florals. What I sometimes do when I don't know how things will smell together is open each sent hold them together in one hand and circle it under my nose. Or should I say wave it. You can really get a sense of the blend you are considering.

 

[Anstarx]

Thank you, everyone, for the input. I managed to find another supplier who carries 1ml sample sizes (their larger sizes are more expensive so I don't usually buy from them) and I decided on using benzoin for this batch. However, I fell in love with frankincense and myrrah and definitely want to try it for my next batch!