Lavender

[jenlwhi2]

Hey, lavender soap brought me to the forum too! Welcome!

I also use 1oz ppo. I found the scent a little overpowering at first. In months 3-6 (ish - my memory isn't perfect) it seemed just about right. At 11 months it still smells like lavender, but the scent is pretty feeble. I like strongly scented soaps, so another person might find it scented enough.

That is great to know! I just did a 3 lb loaf with 3 oz eo today. So, we will see how it turns out! From what I'm learning not only do people all like different scents. But, they all like different amounts of scent too. I have 1 bar that I was so disappointed because I can barely smell it (Apple pie fragrance). Even after rebatching it and adding more scent it's so faint that I figured I'd have to give them away. But people have raved over it! So I must just like super strong smells haha I'm trying to keep that in mind and not get things too powerful. Thanks for your kind input

 

[psfred]

Sense of smell is as variable as any other sense, so you need to take that into consideration if you are selling soap. No matte what level of scent you use, someone will want it different, so you have to choose and go.

I personally seem to have a very keen sense of smell -- with HP soap 0.5 gr ppo of some FO's is too much, even after a month or two. Less of a problem with CP as scents seem to vanish pretty fast, but some FO's are still too strong (Brambleberry Fierce in particular). Other people can be completely insensitive to odor compounds and cannot smell them no matter how strong they are.

For retailing soap, you might want to consider two levels of scent, light and heavy -- might suit buyers that would otherwise pass. Up to you, but if you find it hard to get enough scent in your soaps for you, you may be making soap that causes other's eyes to water!

Best course of action for selling is probably to get independent opinions for people you trust -- after all, just like making beer for the brew pub, you are making something for other people to buy, and if you want to sell it, you have to make what THEY want. You can make whatever you want for personal use!

I do find that HP soaps require MUCH less scent most of the time, though. CP kills the scents, although sometimes they re-appear after a while. Never a strong as with HP though. Much easier to make, but as always, it's a compromise.

Peter

 

[bathgeek]

Bah. I didn’t want to make lavender. It doesn’t really do much for me, and EVERYONE makes lavender soap... but customers kept asking for it. I give up, I bought a bottle of FO so that I can give customers what they want. I guess this means I need to get patchouli too, that one has been requested too.

 

[CaraBou]

I make lavender soap and only add about 10 grams of the Brambleberry 40/42 Lavender to 4 ounces of soap.

No, I use 10 grams of essential oil total for the entire 4 lb. batch of soap, not ppo.

sartak, I'm not sure if you meant 10 g per 4 ounces of soap or per 4 pounds. They are obviously very different. The latter seems very light to me.

I am a huge lavender fan. Personally, I like to anchor it with a bit of rosemary, at a combined rate of about 5% EO ppo. That's 25 g EO per 500 grams of oil (not total soap). Most of that is lavender; maybe 1/4 to 1/5 is rosemary.

I definitely prefer lavender EO over FO. All of the FOs I've used either smell powdery or otherwise "fake". But I've also had trouble finding EO's that aren't too herbal. My favorite source has been discontinued and I will soon be on the prowl again.

 

[dibbles]

Bah. I didn’t want to make lavender. It doesn’t really do much for me, and EVERYONE makes lavender soap... but customers kept asking for it. I give up, I bought a bottle of FO so that I can give customers what they want. I guess this means I need to get patchouli too, that one has been requested too.

I love patchouli. Try mixing it with orange.

 

[bathgeek]

I love patchouli. Try mixing it with orange.

Good idea, will try that.

 

[jenlwhi2]

I am a huge lavender fan. Personally, I like to anchor it with a bit of rosemary, at a combined rate of about 5% EO ppo. That's 25 g EO per 500 grams of oil (not total soap). Most of that is lavender; maybe 1/4 to 1/5 is rosemary.

Can you clear this up for me. Ok when you say ppo are you talking total soap or just total oils? You mentioned both so im unsure. I'm going by my total soap. That would make quite a difference in how much eo someone put in!

sartak, I'm not sure if you meant 10 g per 4 ounces of soap or per 4 pounds. They are obviously very different. The latter seems very light to me.

I am a huge lavender fan. Personally, I like to anchor it with a bit of rosemary, at a combined rate of about 5% EO ppo. That's 25 g EO per 500 grams of oil (not total soap). Most of that is lavender; maybe 1/4 to 1/5 is rosemary.

I definitely prefer lavender EO over FO. All of the FOs I've used either smell powdery or otherwise "fake". But I've also had trouble finding EO's that aren't too herbal. My favorite source has been discontinued and I will soon be on the prowl again.

I replied above and tried includuing part of your text and it didn't gray it out so didn't know if u would notice...boy this app is confusing to me! Haha

 

[lsg]

Try this blend--2 parts lavender, 1 part rosemary, .5 part cedarwood, .5 part spearmint, .5 part patchouli.

 

[jenlwhi2]

Try this blend--2 parts lavender, 1 part rosemary, .5 part cedarwood, .5 part spearmint, .5 part patchouli.

Sounds like a really yummy soap! Does these other oils not take away from the lavender scent?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

...Does these other oils not take away from the lavender scent?

That was my second thought too, jen! My first thought was that it "mind-smells" like a lovely herbal blend! If I were to use it to round out lavender, I think I'd go with this:

1 part (because I don't like working with 1/2 parts LOL) each of cedarwood, spearmint and patchouli
2 parts rosemary
5-10 parts lavender

Here's a lovely floral/lav blend from Soaring Creations:
2 parts lavender + 1 part ylang ylang

My personal fave, that also sells well:
1 part lavender + 1 part anise

EOs tend to fade, but then come back to 'life' once the soap is used. That being said, here are a few tips to "stick" the scent that work for me:

1) Anchor the EO with a base note like Patchouli, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, Vetiver, or Litsea Cubeba - this is the advice I see most often. But if you're going for the beneficial qualities of tea tree, for example, and this isn’t just about “scent”, so maybe a blend of other beneficial EOs? 2 Lavender + 1 Rosemary + 1 Tea Tree?

2) Infuse the EO in some of the oil from the recipe, in an amber glass bottle, and let set an hour or so, or overnight, before soaping. Castor oil works well and added at trace makes for easy release.

3) I’ve infused EOs in lard well ahead of time and that works great.

4) Add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon ppo dry ingredient -- I like to use cornstarch, but clay, powdered oatmeal, any powdered ingredient of choice seems to help.

5) From another soap buddy: For a 5 lb batch, add 2-4 oz EO to 1/4-1/2 ground oatmeal (I use oat flour) in a jar with a tight fitting lid an hour before soaping, or overnight. Add at trace or to the warm oils before adding the lye solution.

6) Add 1% Oakmoss Absolute (10% dilution) to your blend to add depth and help to extend the life of the scent.

HTH :bunny:

​

 

[lsg]

Sounds like a really yummy soap! Does these other oils not take away from the lavender scent?

It doesn't smell a lot like lavender, but smells lovely as a blend.

 

[jenlwhi2]

That was my second thought too, jen! My first thought was that it "mind-smells" like a lovely herbal blend! If I were to use it to round out lavender, I think I'd go with this:

1 part (because I don't like working with 1/2 parts LOL) each of cedarwood, spearmint and patchouli
2 parts rosemary
5-10 parts lavender

Here's a lovely floral/lav blend from Soaring Creations:
2 parts lavender + 1 part ylang ylang

My personal fave, that also sells well:
1 part lavender + 1 part anise

EOs tend to fade, but then come back to 'life' once the soap is used. That being said, here are a few tips to "stick" the scent that work for me:

1) Anchor the EO with a base note like Patchouli, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, Vetiver, or Litsea Cubeba - this is the advice I see most often. But if you're going for the beneficial qualities of tea tree, for example, and this isn’t just about “scent”, so maybe a blend of other beneficial EOs? 2 Lavender + 1 Rosemary + 1 Tea Tree?

2) Infuse the EO in some of the oil from the recipe, in an amber glass bottle, and let set an hour or so, or overnight, before soaping. Castor oil works well and added at trace makes for easy release.

3) I’ve infused EOs in lard well ahead of time and that works great.

4) Add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon ppo dry ingredient -- I like to use cornstarch, but clay, powdered oatmeal, any powdered ingredient of choice seems to help.

5) From another soap buddy: For a 5 lb batch, add 2-4 oz EO to 1/4-1/2 ground oatmeal (I use oat flour) in a jar with a tight fitting lid an hour before soaping, or overnight. Add at trace or to the warm oils before adding the lye solution.

6) Add 1% Oakmoss Absolute (10% dilution) to your blend to add depth and help to extend the life of the scent.

HTH :bunny:

​

Ok wow those are a lot of options to try! I've heard of doing the Infusing and putting the eo in a dry ingredient. Is there one of those that you have tried that works best/easiest?

Didnt mean to already post that question...continuted from above

Or,do u do all or several of these options(that u mentioned) at once?

Also, why does it HAVE to be Amber glass? Would a regular jar not work?

Lastly, how do u guys post a small snippet of a reply on here? When I hit reply to someone it includes their whole reply in gray.

 

[Relle]

Lastly, how do u guys post a small snippet of a reply on here? When I hit reply to someone it includes their whole reply in gray.[/QUOTE]

Use the post reply button on the left hand side of the page, you are using the quote button on the right hand side.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Is there one of those that you have tried that works best/easiest?

Learning about top, middle (heart), and base notes to create blends and then adding an anchor like Oakmoss Absolute to "stick" the scent and add depth, is probably the best/easiest way.

Or,do u do all or several of these options(that u mentioned) at once?

I have used them all at once, but rarely. It depends on what I'm making and whether it might need a little extra oomph.

Also, why does it HAVE to be Amber glass? Would a regular jar not work?

It doesn't have to be amber glass. I just assumed everyone has a few of those laying around with nothing better to do. If I make it ahead of time and then plans for making the soap the next day fall thru, at least the EO(s) have a safe environment until I get around to making the soap.

Lastly, how do u guys post a small snippet of a reply on here? When I hit reply to someone it includes their whole reply in gray.

The way I do it, I click on the Quote button, then edit to my heart's content within the quote. Then click "Post Reply".

 

[SaltedFig]

Cut out everything from between the quote boxes (see below for how they look), with the exception of the snippet that you want to reply to ... like this:

Lastly, how do u guys post a small snippet of a reply on here? When I hit reply to someone it includes their whole reply in gray.

When you quote, you will see [/QUOTE] at the end of the quote, and the persons id and the post reference number at the start.

For example, your quote above starts with

 

[CaraBou]

Can you clear this up for me. Ok when you say ppo are you talking total soap or just total oils? You mentioned both so im unsure. I'm going by my total soap. That would make quite a difference in how much eo someone put in!

PPO means per pound of oils. But really I should have said PUO (per unit of oils) because it doesn't matter what unit of measure you're using (grams, ounces, whatever), as long as you measure the oils and the fragrance in the same unit.

To do this, Just multiply whatever percentage of fragrance you want (in my suggestion, 5% or .05) by the amount of oils, and that will give you the amount of fragrance in that same unit of measure. For example, if you are using 500 g of oils for a batch that will ultimately weigh 750 g, multiply 500 g by .05 (5%) -- that equals 25 g of fragrance needed. If you were measuring that same batch in ounces instead of grams, you'd have 17.64 ounces of oils x .05 (5%) = .88 ounces of fragrance (which is equivalent to 24.9 g) in about 26.5 oz of total soap. The 750 g or 26.5 oz of total soap is irrelevant to the calculation.

Slightly clearer than mud now?

 

[jenlwhi2]

PPO means per pound of oils. But really I should have said PUO (per unit of oils) because it doesn't matter what unit of measure you're using (grams, ounces, whatever), as long as you measure the oils and the fragrance in the same unit.

To do this, Just multiply whatever percentage of fragrance you want (in my suggestion, 5% or .05) by the amount of oils, and that will give you the amount of fragrance in that same unit of measure. For example, if you are using 500 g of oils for a batch that will ultimately weigh 750 g, multiply 500 g by .05 (5%) -- that equals 25 g of fragrance needed. If you were measuring that same batch in ounces instead of grams, you'd have 17.64 ounces of oils x .05 (5%) = .88 ounces of fragrance (which is equivalent to 24.9 g) in about 26.5 oz of total soap. The 750 g or 26.5 oz of total soap is irrelevant to the calculation.

Slightly clearer than mud now?

Ahh... yea, ya know what? I've been reading 'per pound of OILS' but my silly brain has been converting that to 'per pound of SOAP' this whole time. TLThat will change even further my amount of eos I've been using. Boy I feel silly. :/ thanks for clearing that up and I'm anxious to give these formulas a new attempt!

Learning about top, middle (heart), and base notes to create blends and then adding an anchor like Oakmoss Absolute to "stick" the scent and add depth, is probably the best/easiest way.

Ok , I'd never heard of the oakmoss absolute. What is so special about it? Is it just a really great anchor oil?



It doesn't have to be amber glass. I just assumed everyone has a few of those laying around with nothing better to do. If I make it ahead of time and then plans for making the soap the next day fall thru, at least the EO(s) have a safe environment until I get around to making the soap.

- ok that makes sense!

The way I do it, I click on the Quote button, then edit to my heart's content within the quote. Then click "Post Reply".

I'm giving this a try...we will see what happens.

I'm giving this a try...we will see what happens.

Ok thats strange...it included my other comments above. Goodness! :/

Learning about top, middle (heart), and base notes to create blends and then adding an anchor like Oakmoss Absolute to "stick" the scent and add depth, is probably the best/easiest way.
".

Im posting this here in case u didn't see my other comment about this...
I had never heard about oakmoss absolute. What's so special about it specifically? Also, how much of it do u add in relation to your other eo?

Also, do u find the corn starch makes the soap feel gritty at all?
A lot of my people like exfoliants but some just want a smooth bar without anything else added.

 

[lsg]

I use clay as a fixative instead of cornstarch.

 

[jenlwhi2]

I use clay as a fixative instead of cornstarch.

What kind do u use?

 

[lsg]

I use white bentonite or kaolin Clay for uncolored soap and French green clay if I want a muted green color in my soap.