NDA order came!!

[Mouse]

Yay!! I have been eyeing their EO list for so long...I'm not kidding when I say that I have a spreadsheet with all their listings and prices that I've had for a year and I've never ordered. I got 5x Orange, Petitgrain, and Himalayan Cedarwood all in 16 oz bottles, and a 3.3 of Sweet Basil. All GORGEOUS OOB. I can't wait to play with these and do some mixtures with some of my FO's.
Has anyone used Sweet Birch or Chaulmogra EO's in soap? These sound gorgeous and I really want to try them!
I have to say I like NDA's aluminum bottles and they bubblewrap each one very well-very happy so far and can't wait to soap! Trying to get my housework done so I can play tonight Being able to afford fragrances is a rarity for me right now so every package on the porch is like Christmas

 

[Hazel]

I wish I could help you but I've only gotten peppermint EO from them. I also like the bottles the EO comes in and they package really well for shipping.

 

[LauraHoosier]

EOU uses them as well for their 16 ounce bottles and they've grown on me

 

[Krisduff]

I love love love NDA's EO's. I've bought quite a few from them in the past and have soaped with all of them except the Birch Sweet. I did a bit of research on it and it is known to be very toxic in small doses (as is Wintergreen) so I'm staying away from both in my soap. Here's a thread on in from the forum

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/vi ... weet+birch

From NDA I have bought and soaped Anise Star, Cedarwood Himalayan, Eucalyptus Globulus, Lime, Tea Tree Australian, Grapefruit, Lavender 40/42, Orange 5 Fold, Peppermint Supreme, Lemon 5 Fold, and a Ylang Ylang Nature Identical. All were beautiful in soap but, alas, the citrus are always hard/impossible to make stick for any long period of time. My favorites are the Peppermint Supreme, Lavender, Tea Tree, Anise, and Eucalyptus. I've tried anchoring my citrus blends with Benzoin EO (also from NDA), cornstarch, and also some different clays but I haven't found that this has really helped.

On my "gonna get when I have the money" list for EO's from NDA is Patchouli, Spearmint, & Lemongrass.

 

[judymoody]

Everything I've gotten from NDA has been excellent quality and very nicely packaged. The 5x lemon and the lemongrass are TDF.

My husband is a bit OCD about breaking down cardboard packing cartons for recycling as they come into the house but he saves the NDA ones because they are so sturdy.

 

[Mouse]

Krisduff, thank you SO much alerting me to toxicity issues! I will do some research tonight....I've read about birch tar being an old-time skin remedy so I am definitely curious now!

 

[paillo]

i LOVE love love nda essential oils -- and fragrance oils too! the bottles are really wonderful, i'm reusing them and pouring my faves that are bottled in plastic into them (ahem, making sure that the possible blended scents are compatible). since their shipping costs went down i think they're my favorite supplier.

yes, definitely read up on toxicity, as well as phototoxicity (nothing to do with nds, just facts). i recently made a vitamin C facial serum with ginger and clary sage EOs only to read right after i made it that ginger eo is photosensitive. i'll give it to my vampire friends, i guess

 

[Krisduff]

Your welcome. I wish I would have read up on Birch Sweet before I ordered the 100ml bottle. I have no idea what to do with it now - ideas?

 

[judymoody]

I also ordered some sweet birch before I knew about the toxicity issues. I use it in very small amounts in blends and I make sure its presence is listed on my label.

 

[Mouse]

Judymoody, how much do you add per pound? What does it add to your blends at that rate? I really want to try it (I really want to try all the EO's at some point), but it worries me thinkin it may hurt someone. I really would like to try things like benzoin, too, but I know there's a sensitivity risk with that one, too. Yet, I see artists like Tiggy from Future Primitive using benzoin in a lot of her blends, and she sells pretty high volume, from what I can tell. If these types are being blended at super low rates per pound, what's the benefit and how strong is their presence in the final product? I'm so curious about this!
I really want to take my hobby to the next level, and begin blending my own FO's and EO's. I do a little of that already, but I just really want to be careful and get some advice before I delve a little deeper. I know EO's can be just as dangerous as lye in their own way, and I just want to give the process and the material the respect it deserves, and I still have so much to learn. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.

 

[judymoody]

I have to look at my notes but I remember that I looked up what the maximum % was for Health Canada as their regulations tend to be more stringent than the US.

Sweet birch actually is pretty potent to my nose. I put a smidge in a blend that had all sorts of EOs, tangerine, orange 10x, grapefruit, lavender, litsea, fir needle, petitgrain. The birch was very noticeable. I had to add more parts of the others until it was toned down enough to use.