Smelling Essential Oils

[Amaress]

If I head to the grocery store and smell the different varieties of lavender oil (40/42, fine, etc) will that give me a good idea of what the differences might be for buying in bulk from somewhere like Brambleberry, New Directions, etc., or am I better off just buying the 40/42 in bulk? (I am not really an essential oils girl, please explain like I’m 5)

 

[Obsidian]

It will give you a idea of the differences between the different varieties of lavender but it won't be a good indicator of what the bulk lavender will smell like. The grocery store EO's a very low quality, they just don't smell as nice as the ones carried by soaping companies.
I would really recommend you buy smaller sizes of the EO you want until you find the perfect one for you. Nothing quite as disappointing as buying a large bottle only to find you don't like it.

 

[lsg]

Eden Botanicals sells samples for $2. each. You might give that a try.

 

[CaraBou]

^^Good advice from both above. Every lavender is different (to my nose anyway), so samples are best to start with. I did not know about Eden Botanical's samplers, I might have to check that out.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

The problem I have with Eden Botanicals is they're a bit pricey for my pocketbook. After trying several different lavs, I settled on High Altitude French Lavender from Sun Pure Botanicals and have never been disappointed with the quality, prices, customer service or shipping (except that Leslie does tend to over-wrap a package like it's going to go around the world! haha) It's a women-owned company based in NM. Here's a link...

https://www.ebay.com/str/sunpurebotanicals

 

[lenarenee]

One of the benefits of the 40/42 is that it's standardized; you'll get the same results from every bottle.

Non-standardized eo's can smell different from month to month, harvest to harvest, company to company, and bottle to bottle.

Now, last time I checked (a year), Brambleberry's 40/42 was standardized with components from essential oils only. That may be different now. Also, other brands of 40/42 are sometimes standardized using fragrance oil, so you'll actually get a blend of essential oil and synthetic fo. You have to dig out the fine print from each company.

Fun fact: I used to use a blend of 3 different lavender eo's. But they got so expensive I'm now using a blend of BB 40/42 and BB lavender fo. Saves a lot of money; plus has reduced the time it takes for my lavender soap to get dos.

 

[CaraBou]

One of the benefits of the 40/42 is that it's standardized; you'll get the same results from every bottle.

Now, last time I checked (a year), Brambleberry's 40/42 was standardized with components from essential oils only. That may be different now. Also, other brands of 40/42 are sometimes standardized using fragrance oil, so you'll actually get a blend of essential oil and synthetic fo. You have to dig out the fine print from each company.

^^Note lenarenee is saying that different company's 40/42 aren't identical, and that that an individual company can change their 40/42 formula as well. But you still have to know if you like the product enough to re-order. Also note that Crafter's Choice/Wholesale Supplies Plus offers a 30/32 that was good to my nose (but still not cheap). I have tried a couple of lavender FO's and not been much impressed. Blending would be the way to go with that, as lenarenee mentioned.

Bottom line, lavender can cause it's own bona fida addiction - so if you are not a fan and/or you do not sell, run fast NOW! Otherwise, feel free to hang out with me on the streets; we'll see what we can score. I'm actually jonesing to chase the dragon that Zany left ↓

After trying several different lavs, I settled on High Altitude French Lavender from Sun Pure Botanicals and have never been disappointed with the quality, prices, customer service or shipping

 

[Amaress]

Selling is my main worry!

Say I made a small 2.5 lb batch with the sun botanical high altitude lavender, I’m adding close to $2 per bar to my cost over what a fragrance oil would be. Do you sell essential oil bars at a much higher price than fragrance oil bars?

She’s out of the 8 oz it looks like, I’m not sure how much that would bring the price down.

^^Note lenarenee is saying that different company's 40/42 aren't identical, and that that an individual company can change their 40/42 formula as well. But you still have to know if you like the product enough to re-order. Also note that Crafter's Choice/Wholesale Supplies Plus offers a 30/32 that was good to my nose (but still not cheap). I have tried a couple of lavender FO's and not been much impressed. Blending would be the way to go with that, as lenarenee mentioned.

Bottom line, lavender can cause it's own bona fida addiction - so if you are not a fan and/or you do not sell, run fast NOW! Otherwise, feel free to hang out with me on the streets; we'll see what we can score. I'm actually jonesing to chase the dragon that Zany left ↓

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Say I made a small 2.5 lb batch with the sun botanical high altitude lavender, I’m adding close to $2 per bar to my cost over what a fragrance oil would be.

I use Sun Pure High Altitude French Lav in lotion I make for a wholesale customer. It's their best seller. If using EOs in soap, I use the recommended amount of 0,5 oz PPO (Per Pound Oils); 0.85 oz - 1 oz PPO for FOs. You will find that EOs tend to disappear after about 6 months, IME. They do come alive when wet tho. So, a period of T & E is necessary to find something to "stick" the scent.

A couple of things to try is adding the EO to castor oil (if using) or lard (!) overnight before adding it to the batch. A bit of dry additive like baking soda, clay, corn starch, oat flour, etc. at a rate of 1 tsp - 1 Tbls PPO can help stick the scent.

Lenarenee's suggestion of combining EO + FO makes good sense to me.

Other suggestions would be to research Lavender blends to "anchor" the scent. Personally, I like a blend of Lav + ylang ylang for a more floral, less medicinal fragrance.

 

[lenarenee]

Sorry, I meant to quote Carabou's post.

I'm saying some companies use synthetic constituents to raise a low percentage enough to reach that 40 or 42 percent compound. Some use only essential oil constitents.

 

[CaraBou]

Sorry, I meant to quote Carabou's post.

I'm saying some companies use synthetic constituents to raise a low percentage enough to reach that 40 or 42 percent compound. Some use only essential oil constitents.

Right. Each company's 40/42 is different. There are other constituents besides the linalool and linalyl acetate that are not standardized, which could result in overall scent variation between companies (albeit less than what you might get otherwise). One source I read said those two compounds are intended to reduce camphor (which is good from my perspective) - but there are other constituents to scent as well. I'm no expert and haven't sniffed many 40/42's but I deduce there's still room for variety.