Fresh EO blend that holds up after cure
- Thread starter cascarral
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Hello!
I'm making an Activated charcoal brine soap and want it to smell herbaceous, minty, uplifting, fresh! However I've had a hard time making this EOs stick, even by the time I'm unmolding I can barely smell the blend.
I've been using 3% of oil weight, which is what I use for my other soaps and it works great, I'm guessing this particular category of EOs fades more easily? Right now my idea is to use rosemary EO paired with any of the following: eucalyptus, bergamot, thyme, sage, tea tree, lemon, lemongrass. However I'm open other options. My favorite blend so far has been rosemary + bergamot 1:1 but it completely faded at 3%.
Does anyone have any ideas/experience with blends of this nature?
There are tons of rosemary soaps in the market, it's driving me crazy that I can't make this scent work for me!
I use a blend from the EOCalc website called “Revive.” It has tea tree, eucalyptus, lavender and ??? It sticks around for at least three months. For my earliest soaps, which are only 5-6 months old now, the lemongrass and patchouli seem to have held the best. I was using very low concentrations back then, usually < 1%.
The bergamot and lemon fade too quickly for soap in my experience. It sounds like you have a great collection of oils. Try using something more like 5-6% if it is safe with your EOs.
i agree! My lemongrass parchouli Is almost too scented! I LOVE that blend. Wish I could find something like it with a minty scent.
Aw I didn’t know this about bergamot, this is too badwell, I’ll try with something else then. Thank you!
I love bergamot too
I use most EO's at 6% PPO, except basil, thyme, Petitgrain and spicy EO's that irritate the skin. Be very aware that Thyme and Basil are very very strong and will overpower almost every eo so use very tiny percentages and work up. Lavender with Patchouli is very nice and sticks well.
Do you ever use it? If so, What do you pair it with and in which %?
@cmzaha does petitgrain stick for you?
@cascarral I've tried bergamot on its own with no luck, but I think it held a little longer blended with cedarwood and patchouli. It was a nice blend! I think roughly equal parts of each. Cedar and patchouli work well as a backdrop to many other EOs too.
I loooove petitgrain with french lavender, afraid it won't stick though.
Cascarral, have you ever tried eucalyptus with peppermint or spearmint? I enjoy those combos. I think rosemary with peppermint is a popular blend too, if you are looking for something minty. The mints hold ok for me, but not as long as patchouli.
Actually, the missing EO in the Revive blend I mentioned above is peppermint. I’m not usually a big fan of eucalyptus and tea tree, but I like the blend.
I find Petitgrain sticks like glue and is very overpowering. I have used it with Brazil Lime in using very small percentage of the petitgrain and it is lovely. Brazil Lime with Litsea is also very nice. Another favorite of mine is Brazil Lime, Litsea, and Cedarwood in equal parts. It really blooms when the warm water hits it.
Thanks a lot
Nice! Do you have the ratios of this blend? I’ve got all the EOs so might try tomorrow
Hi! I made a batch with revive 4% and I can barely smell it after 1 week
how much % have you used? it's driving me insane!!
Adobehead
Well-Known Member
Peppermint, Tea Tree and Pachouli in about equal parts works well IMHO. I use about 4% which some might say is heavyhanded, but mine last.
Could you share the EO percentages please??
That post is from 2019. Probably best to look at EO calc for that information
https://www.eocalc.com/enter-your-own-blend/
Yes I agree. Look at the recent recommendations. Good luck in your soaping adventures!
Thank you for your suggestion @LynetteO. I have checked the calc but that particular blend doesn't exist
and I'm little hesitant to try my own blend as I don't have much soaping experience using EOs.
and I'm little hesitant to try my own blend as I don't have much soaping experience using EOs.Thank you for the wishes @soapmaker Yes I too know that they've updated their EO usage rates but if you do share your blend percentage, I'll make a test batch and check it out if it works for me.
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If a particular blend is not there, then you can use the 'create' feature, Enter Your Own Blend » EO Calc - Essential Oil Calculator . There are lots of recommendations on blending 'notes' but I like to use 20:50:30 base:middle:top notes. You could use 20 patchouli or cedarwood, 50 rosemary, 10 spearmint, 10 peppermint, 10 lemongrass. Or if you leave out the base note, use 50 rosemary, 17 spearmint, 17 peppermint, 17 lemongrass.Thank you for your suggestion @LynetteO. I have checked the calc but that particular blend doesn't exist
Thank you so much for your suggestion. I'll try it..I totally forgot about the cotton ball technique to choose the EO blend. I'll try it today and check what blend goes well..
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
If you do that, plan on setting aside a morning or afternoon when you can "play" undistrubed. I write out at least 3 variations to start with and go from there. Sniffing fresh coffee beans can clear your "nose palette" if/when you need it.
You impress me so much with you EO knowledge @Zing!!
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Cedarwood and sweet orange seems to hold up well in a bar when clay is added.
Sure @Zany_in_CO . Thank you so much.
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