More Questions on Scents

[jiroband]

I was just reading and responding to another post on preserving the scent of essential oils, but I didn’t want to be rude and hijack that poster’s forum – so I’ll continue with my questions here.

Is it just me, or do all EO's tend to pretty much disappear before the cure is finished? If the scent is gone, does that mean the therapeutic benefits of the EO's vanish as well? (Does the saponification process/ reaction with lye alter the therapeutic properties of EO’s significantly enough to render them useless; therefore, making it worthless to add them in the first place?)

How common is the use of fragrance oils (FO’s) over the use of EO’s? Do most soap makers use fragrance oils (FO's) to scent their soaps, instead? How typical is it to find soap makers who go unscented – using no FO’s or EO’s? If you do sell your soap, what do your customers prefer? Being new to soap making, I’m extremely curious about this.

 

[cwarren]

Yes.. The lye monster pretty much eats E/Os so they are worthless in CP soap making..

I use mostly F/O or nothing but you will find a whole lota different answers to that..

 

[TessC]

The scent fading depends on the EO in question but yes, a lot of EOs don't stand up well in soap. Citrus EOs, right off the top of my head, tend to fade away really quickly without an anchor and I still can't get them to stick around long term even with an anchor, so I wrote them off and just use citrusy FOs instead. As for the beneficial properties, I've not seen any concrete proof one way or another but after doing a ton of reading it's my opinion that those properties don't survive the lye.

I personally use mostly FOs and just a handful of EOs, but you'll find some soapers here who use nothing but EOs and some who exclusively use FOs. I like 'em both!

 

[Tabitha]

How common is the use of fragrance oils (FO’s) over the use of EO’s? Do most soap makers use fragrance oils (FO's) to scent their soaps, instead? How typical is it to find soap makers who go unscented – using no FO’s or EO’s? If you do sell your soap, what do your customers prefer? Being new to soap making, I’m extremely curious about this.

It's going to depend on your customer base. Once you identify that you will be able to custom suit your EOs or FOs to them. For example, if you are targeting health food store types, EOs are probably a better bet. If you are targeting 13 year old girls who love cotton candy & bubble gum, patchouli is not going to appeal to them. Find your target market and go from there.

 

[IrishLass]

I'm one of those who exclusively uses FOs in my soap as opposed to EOs. My personal reasons for doing so are these:

1. EOs are more expensive compared to FOs for something that is a wash-off product, with some EOs being astronomically expensive.

2. I haven't seen any proof to convince me that the therapeutic benefits of EOs survive the lye monster, except for scent.

3. The scents of many EOs tend to fade quickly in lye-based soap compared to FOs.

4. Many popular scents just can't be duplicated with EOs.

There are a handful of favorite EOs that I keep on hand and use either neat or diluted in leave-on products such as lotions and balms, but not in soap. To me, they are just too dear for soap.

IrishLass

 

[Jezzy]

I have read that there are no therapeutic benefits when the EO'S come in contact with the lye..

 

[GardenGirl]

How common is the use of fragrance oils (FO’s) over the use of EO’s? Do most soap makers use fragrance oils (FO's) to scent their soaps, instead? How typical is it to find soap makers who go unscented – using no FO’s or EO’s? If you do sell your soap, what do your customers prefer? Being new to soap making, I’m extremely curious about this.

I think that both are common.

I agree that most EO's fade more quickly than FO's. but truly, there are several EO's that hang in there like a hair in a biscuit.

I also think unscented soap, though life-saving for some, doesn't stay very interesting for long. Unless you have super problematic skin, handmade soap of any kind (even with EO's or FO's is so much milder than store soap that most folks find great relief with just a switch to handmade. They find they don't really need to go fragrance-free, after all, as long as they're using *real* soap.

I agree with Tabitha. Figure your market, and target accordingly.

 

[jiroband]

Wow, thanks everyone for the helpful information and suggestions! I'm starting to change my previous negative attitude about FO's. (Believing they would unnecessarily "pollute" a natural product.)

I really like natural soap bars over the mass-produced detergent bars and shower gels, but I do miss the scent.

 

[Stacey]

hang in there like a hair in a biscuit.

Sorry...mini-highjack here...

....hang in there like a hair in a biscuit! Brawahahaha!

That makes me like giggle like a 3rd grader!


And now we'll return you to regularly scheduled program.

 

[IrishLass]

Wow, thanks everyone for the helpful information and suggestions! I'm starting to change my previous negative attitude about FO's. (Believing they would unnecessarily "pollute" a natural product.)

I really like natural soap bars over the mass-produced detergent bars and shower gels, but I do miss the scent.

Here's a link to a thread here with some good info regarding the EO vs FO debate. I really respect what Carebear has to say in the thread as she works for a company that works with scents:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... light=ifra


IrishLass

 

[Chris-2010]

EOs fading?

It's a beautiful day today, with our front door propped open, and customers are drawn in by the scents. Your nose might detect our shop 2 blocks away. Only essential oils and absolutes here.

 

[Hazel]

I made a CP batch and added lavender, clary sage and rose geranium EOs to it. It's been about 5 months and it still smells good.

 

[BakingNana]

I have not had one customer ask if I use essential oils. 99% are drawn by fragrance and don't seem to care where it comes from. I use FOs except for dog shampoo and camper's soap. The only question I ever get about scent is if I make unscented soaps as well! I have been developing a pretty good customer base of people with eczema or sensitive skin, and they all want unscented, naturally.

 

[honor435]

I only have a few people want eos, so I make lavender and lemongrass for them( they both seem to hold the scents well), fos, love them,theres SO many to chose from: gotta give my peak pitch! peakcandle.com has a body safe section of really good fos, the sampler is 20 for 10-1ouncers, and you can double or triple any of them, as for a 2 lb batch you will need 2, if you do 1ozpp, which I always do. Ok, I do adore natures garden also, they have a sampler too.

 

[carebear]

Yes.. The lye monster pretty much eats E/Os so they are worthless in CP soap making..

have you ever soaped patchouli?

some stick, and some (for example, Citrus) don't survive.

 

[LadyM]

Chris, what is your store?

 

[BakingNana]

Yes.. The lye monster pretty much eats E/Os so they are worthless in CP soap making..

have you ever soaped patchouli?

some stick, and some (for example, Citrus) don't survive.

Patchouli EO sticks pretty well? Why has the price skyrocketed lately? I figured you'd know why, Carebear! Vanilla Patchouli is selling really well for me, but it's FO containing patchouli EO.