Using Natural Scents and colors

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Are fragrance oils synthetic??


I currently use clays, spirulina, indigo and activated charcoal for colors and essential oils for scents. I notice using essential oils you have to put alot (at least it seeems like alot to me) of the scent in the 2 lb batches.....like i use 20-40 drops and the scent after curing is barely there....when i use 100 Drops the scent finally makes it through the curing stages but doesn't smell like the blend I used.....Like i usually get cedar from cedar wood which is what I want...but if i use four theives from edens garden which is a blend that has cinnamon in it or Hope blend (which has no cinnamon in it) all i get is cinnamon at the end....or if i use joy blend it is so light i can barely smell any at all....

I recieved the island breeze fragrance oil(on sale this month) and used it on the inspire me game. It smells divine but im not sure i want to use it all the time as I'm wanting to keep everything as natural as possible in my soaps(besides the lye) lol

Would a pigment be considered synthetic?? I had to buy the Ultramarine Blue Pigment to get the blue my boss was wanting because indigo wasn't cutting it....she wants a royal or bright blue....she told me to just create and she will be fine with the marketing baskets and frankly im stressing over these 100 blue doves.....

like i said before i want all my soaps to be as natural as possible.....but Im afraid she will like the new bright blue and island scent....and I just don't feel its all natural if the soaps have fragrance oils in them....

Am i wrong in thinking all this or am i over thinking it???

 

[Earthen_Step]

Are fragrance oils synthetic??

I'm wanting to keep everything natural in my soaps(besides the lye) lol i use clays, spirulina, indigo and activated charcoal for colors.

Would a pigment be considered synthetic??

Fragrance oils are synthetic, for scent you would want to use essential oils. Typically anything named "pigment" or "oxide" is going to be synthetic. Mica's can be both synthetic and natural I think. Some Mica's are toxic in their natural form so they are synthetically re-created.

Keep in mind this though. Just because something is natural does not mean it's non-toxic (especially in large amounts). And the flip side, just because something is synthetic does not mean it's toxic. Do your research and make sure you are using safe amounts of whatever you chose to use.

To me the reason for using natural ingredients is for the full flavor that's lacking in the synthetic versions. I like complex and earthy looks and scents. Also there are some side benefits in natural and unrefined complex diverse chemicals found in biology.

 

[boyago]

With EOs it takes a little research for the amount you should safely use. If I have time I'll dig around here I think there have been some pretty good links provided in the past. But 100 drops doesn't seem like much at all to me. I think a drop of water is supposed to be around 5ml and the general rule is to use around no more than 5% of your oil weight. I usually use Bramble Berry's Fragrance calculator to ballpark my scents and then tweak them to my hearts desire. If you are buying the tiny bottles from Wholefoods or a place like the cost will be crazy time but buying in bulk from the soap suppliers brings it back to a do-able.

 

[Earthen_Step]

Are fragrance oils synthetic??


I currently use clays, spirulina, indigo and activated charcoal for colors and essential oils for scents. I notice using essential oils you have to put alot (at least it seeems like alot to me) of the scent in the 2 lb batches.....like i use 20-40 drops and the scent after curing is barely there....when i use 100 Drops the scent finally makes it through the curing stages but doesn't smell like the blend I used.....Like i usually get cedar from cedar wood which is what I want...but if i use four theives from edens garden which is a blend that has cinnamon in it or Hope blend (which has no cinnamon in it) all i get is cinnamon at the end....or if i use joy blend it is so light i can barely smell any at all....

I recieved the island breeze fragrance oil(on sale this month) and used it on the inspire me game. It smells divine but im not sure i want to use it all the time as I'm wanting to keep everything as natural as possible in my soaps(besides the lye) lol

Would a pigment be considered synthetic?? I had to buy the Ultramarine Blue Pigment to get the blue my boss was wanting because indigo wasn't cutting it....she wants a royal or bright blue....she told me to just create and she will be fine with the marketing baskets and frankly im stressing over these 100 blue doves.....

like i said before i want all my soaps to be as natural as possible.....but Im afraid she will like the new bright blue and island scent....and I just don't feel its all natural if the soaps have fragrance oils in them....

Am i wrong in thinking all this or am i over thinking it???

You changed your original post quite a bit

Ultramarine blue pigment is synthetic (unless you buy the expensive natural ground lapis lazuli). If you are trying to please someone who has a specific desired look/scent you may have to use some synthetics. There are limitations going all natural, but I find it very satisfying. With natural colors there can be a lot of fading with time and light exposure. Also lye can do funny things to natural colors.

With EO's I would not measure by the drop, go by tsp/tbs or ml. I have no idea how many drops I use but 100 seems pretty low for 2LB. Depending on the essential oils, you could use as much as 3tbs to get a strong scent.

Like the poster above mentioned, you could use a calculator to get an idea on amounts.
http://www.brambleberry.com/pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

And let's really open it up. You want to keep everything natural apart from the lye. But the lye makes up so much more of the recipe than any FO should.

I think that LBussy had a quote in his sig from a very good soaper that essentially pointed out that using "unnatural" soaping ingredients does out bodies a lot less harm than most things that people do as a matter of course. I personally would use a bar of soap made with an FO until it is finished rather than spend 1 hour beside a motorway breathing in the exhaust fumes.

We need to keep some perspective.

 

[girlishcharm2004]

From my personal experience, 32 drops of essential oil is about 1g. (I'm going to round my math up and down so bare with me.) That would make 100 drops to be very roughly 3 g. 2 lbs (batch weight? not oil weight) is a little less than 1 kg. The would make your percentage ROUGHLY 0.3% -- give or take.

Fragrance are protected so even if they are synthetic replicas of nature, you can't verify that. I personally don't mind using synthetic substances, it's what's artificial that bothers me. So depending on where I buy my ultramarine, I would want to make sure it's pure (synthetic) ultramarine, without any artificial additives.

It's ultimately up to you. If you don't feel comfortable yet, don't do it!

 

[Seawolfe]

I use about 10 ml of my basic EO's in my soap (55 ml for a 5 lb batch). Thats about 3.5 tablespoons. You probably need to quit counting in drops.
The lye monster necessitates using a large amount of EO's, which is why some prefer hot processing where about half the amount of EO's works.

 

[soapswirl]

I generally use 2-3% of my batch weight when scenting with essential oils, even then some may not last well depending on the type of oil! You may wish to experiment with some smaller batches to see how much you need to achieve a lasting scent - but also check safe usage rates as some may be irritant at higher percentages. I would also measure by weight rather than drops/volumes so that you can be sure to reproduce your designs accurately.

 

[soapswirl]

Girlishcharm - i'm interested in your distinction between 'synthetic' and 'artificial'. Can you explain what you mean by this?

 

[FlybyStardancer]

soapswirl, I'll take a stab at what I think Girlishcharm means.

The way I read it is that she uses "synthetic" to refer to man-made nature-identical items. For instance, high-quality ultramarine powder and ground lapis lazuli are chemically identical, but one was created by man in a lab and other other was ground from expensive stones from the ground.

On the other hand, (if I'm interpreting her correctly), "artificial" would be something that is not nature-identical. Strawberry FO, for instance. There is no strawberry EO, therefore there is nothing for strawberry FO to be nature-identical to.

 

[rain_darned_owl]

I was told that 20 drops of EO = 1ml, so 100 drops is only 5 ml (1 tsp). I am new to soaping but the kit recipe I have been using said to use 30ml EO for a 1 pound batch of soap.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Any one know a good place to get essential oils in bulk??

 

[boyago]

Any one know a good place to get essential oils in bulk??

How Bulk are we talking?
Camden Grey has regular listings and then bulk listings for their EOs (33lbs). I don't soap nearly enough to have looked at the bulk rates.

 

[snappyllama]

I've bought them from brambleberry, wholesale supplies plus and mad oils. Mostly I use FOs though. I've heard a bunch of other soaping suppliers mentioned here as good sources.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I was told that 20 drops of EO = 1ml, so 100 drops is only 5 ml (1 tsp). I am new to soaping but the kit recipe I have been using said to use 30ml EO for a 1 pound batch of soap.

While that might be a general rule of thumb, it is not hard and fast. Some EOs are thicker than others and the droppers vary in drop sizes. I do my scents by weight

 

[houseofwool]

Any one know a good place to get essential oils in bulk??

Brambleberry is a great start

If you meet minimums, New Direction Aromatics is amazing (I don't like their patch or peppermint, but the rest has been great.)

 

[SplendorSoaps]

Typically anything named "pigment" or "oxide" is going to be synthetic. Mica's can be both synthetic and natural I think. Some Mica's are toxic in their natural form so they are synthetically re-created..

It's my understanding (seasoned veterans, please chime in if I'm off base) that iron oxides/ultramarines contain all of the same structural components as those found in nature, but are created in a lab to remove the potential for impurities. I've heard them called "natural identical," but they would still be considered "synthetic" since they are man-made and not naturally occurring.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Are fragrance oils synthetic??

You should assume so. They may have natural ingredients but usually not 100%.

I notice using essential oils you have to put alot (at least it seeems like alot to me) of the scent in the 2 lb batches.....like i use 20-40 drops and the scent after curing is barely there....when i use 100 Drops the scent finally makes it through the curing stages but doesn't smell like the blend I used.....Like i usually get cedar from cedar wood which is what I want...but if i use four theives from edens garden which is a blend that has cinnamon in it or Hope blend (which has no cinnamon in it) all i get is cinnamon at the end....or if i use joy blend it is so light i can barely smell any at all....

It may be true as others have said that you are actually using rather little, but it is also true that many EOs are not super strong in soap. Let's say for the sake of argument that you want an EO (or blend) that smells strong in use and that has a noticeable scent throw in the bathroom when you walk in, with a usage rate of 1 oz ppo or less. Several EOs can do this, but far from the majority, and you also have to consider the safe limits for certain of them. Others might be good for a light scent and still others just don't stick in CP. It takes some real research and testing, as well as considering your objectives with your products.

Would a pigment be considered synthetic?? I had to buy the Ultramarine Blue Pigment to get the blue my boss was wanting because indigo wasn't cutting it...

Yes. Ultramarines and oxides are synthetic. The indigo may be synthetic as well. You have to be careful to buy natural indigo. Check with your supplier to make sure. Fabric Treasury on Etsy sells natural indigo and other dyes:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FabricTreasury?section_id=7803579&ref=shopsection_leftnav_8

like i said before i want all my soaps to be as natural as possible.....but Im afraid she will like the new bright blue and island scent....and I just don't feel its all natural if the soaps have fragrance oils in them....

Am i wrong in thinking all this or am i over thinking it???

You are overthinking part of it. Sell her what she likes and wants, as long as she knows what she's buying. It's not a matter of life and death to avoid every synthetic thing. It doesn't mean you are harming the customer or others to provide what is requested in this instance. You can still make what you prefer in general.

 

[dixiedragon]

EOs - I use Camden Grey. I also hear good things about Liberty Naturals and New Directions Aromatics. I did a price comparison on lavender EO and Brambleberry's was about twice as much as Camden Grey.

 

[dixiedragon]

I agree with Topoffmurrayhill - if your boss knows that the scent and color are synthetic and wants those, then give her what she wants. IMO, it's a bad idea to try to force natural ingredients to duplicate what a lab-created ingredient does. Appreciate the natural ingredients for themselves.

I love rose clay. I love the soft pink of it. If I could pick only 3 colors (natural and synthetic), rose clay would be one. But if I want hot pink, or somebody else wants hot pink, I don't try to make rose clay be hot pink, or convince somebody who wants hot pink that they want rose clay instead.