Geosmin in soap

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

aihrat

Gently gently
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
Messages
116
Reaction score
230
Location
South Africa
(Apologies in advance if this thread belongs with the Fragrance/Herbs section, I wasn't really sure how well it fits...)

Anyone tried using geosmin in soap to make a petrichor (ie. "rain on soil") scented CP soap? The pure geosmin from Perfumer Supply House is ridiculously expensive so I juiced some beetroot and added 200ml per 900g oils beetroot juice. Nothing remains of the earthy smell after cure beyond a faint muddy smell. I have read that geosmin breaks down when it's heated and I did gel my soap, so maybe that could be why?

Anyways, has anyone successfully made a "rain" scented CP soap, or used geosmin in any of their recipes?
 
Organics and botanical just do not hold their fragrance in soap. If you want an earthly addition to your soap try a dirt fo. Nature's garden has a decent one but go very light since it is a very strong Dirt fragrance. Beet juice will do nothing for fragrance and turns brown when the lye hits it
 
I have this: http://www.saveonscents.com/product_info.php/products_id/203864 "true rain" FO.

I haven't soaped it yet, but oob it does smell of geosmin/petrichor. There are also some green/floral/watery notes in there as well; at least to my nose.

FWIW, I ordered the extreme concentration, and oob the scent seems kind of light to me. This is my first order from "save on scents", so I'm not all that familiar with their different concentrations. I kind of expected "extreme" to be much stronger. Maybe it will be one of those FO's that bloom in CP; but I have my doubts that it will survive saponification/curing. I'm hoping to be surprised.
 
I have this: http://www.saveonscents.com/product_info.php/products_id/203864 "true rain" FO.

I haven't soaped it yet, but oob it does smell of geosmin/petrichor. There are also some green/floral notes in there as well; at least to my nose.
FWIW, I ordered the extreme concentration, and oob the scent seems kind of light to me. This is my first order from "save on scents", so I'm not all that familiar with their different concentrations. I kind of expected "extreme" to be much stronger. Maybe it will be one of those FO's that bloom in CP; but I have my doubts that it will survive saponification/curing. I'm hoping to be surprised.

Wow! Thank you for the link. I've heard that geosmin/petrichor needs to be combined with ozone notes to really smell like rain, otherwise it will just smell muddy, so that FO looks awesome! Now to feel wealthy enough to import it to South Africa...:p

I wouldn't worry about the light scent - I've heard that even neat geosmin doesn't smell that strong OOB, which is why perfumers run the risk of under-dilution. Under-dilution leads to a smell that's way too muddy. From WP: "The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion.. So unless the scent degrades from saponification, you should still be able to smell the rain fragrance in your soap even if it seems light out of the bottle. :)
 
I sometimes try to create perfumes and I have a bunch of aromachemicals at home. I bought my Geosmin at 1% concentration from the hermitageoils page. There is no way I could use it, anywhere :). In perfumes it takes over the world instantly, even when I dose it diluted to 0,001, sparingly. I cannot find a way to use it, in any composition, without having that effect of a very diffusive combination of mud and must. Never achieved that effect of the smell of weather turning! I have tried to combine it with some ozonic/fresh air/clean/watery smelling aromachems, such as floralozone, helione or calonal, but with not so great results.
I must admit I am not a skilled perfumer, so that might be the reason, too ;)

I check all the aromachemicals on the good scents page
http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1019861.html
and it says that geosmin survives the bleach (invincible *******! ;))))) and is stable in soaps.

If anyone tries it in soap please let us know! :)
 
Wow! Thank you for the link. I've heard that geosmin/petrichor needs to be combined with ozone notes to really smell like rain, otherwise it will just smell muddy, so that FO looks awesome! Now to feel wealthy enough to import it to South Africa...:p

I wouldn't worry about the light scent - I've heard that even neat geosmin doesn't smell that strong OOB, which is why perfumers run the risk of under-dilution. Under-dilution leads to a smell that's way too muddy. From WP: "The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion.. So unless the scent degrades from saponification, you should still be able to smell the rain fragrance in your soap even if it seems light out of the bottle. :)
Hey there! I’m new here. What’s WP? I’ve read this same thing elsewhere but would love to know your source. Thanks!

Hey there! I’m new here. What’s WP? I’ve read this same thing elsewhere but would love to know your source. Thanks!
 
It's not clear what the posters meant in this 5 year old thread. Maybe "WP" was a common abbreviation then, but not so much now.

My best guess is "WP" may mean Wikipedia. The quote, "The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion" is direct from this article -- Geosmin - Wikipedia

A helpful resource for common soap making abbreviations (although not "WP") is this thread in the Beginners soap making forum -- The Acronym and Abbreviation Definition Thread...
 
It's not clear what the posters meant in this 5 year old thread. Maybe "WP" was a common abbreviation then, but not so much now.

My best guess is "WP" may mean Wikipedia. The quote, "The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion" is direct from this article -- Geosmin - Wikipedia

A helpful resource for common soap making abbreviations (although not "WP") is this thread in the Beginners soap making forum -- The Acronym and Abbreviation Definition Thread...
Thanks so much!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top