Skylantern
Well-Known Member
I'm coming out of my shy space to post my first question! This is a big moment for me, I've been lurkin for awhile now 
To save on time I switched from a homemade body wash (modified SCM bubble bath recipe) to the Stephensons Organic Body Wash. It's the most appalling castile odor. I used to think I loved castile soap, I enjoy Dr. Bronner's, but this stuff is really unpleasant and the odor sticks to your hands even after rinsing. It's overpowering all my FOs.
The recommended FO amount on their company website is .5%, which is really low. BB had it at 1% for body wash. Using BB's Ginger Patchouli I cannot even smell it at 2%. All I smell is the base.
My questions are these:
Will the base preservative fail if I add too much over the recommended %? Is this less of a problem because FOs are oil and not water based?
What is a typical FO % for a body wash? (e.g. recommended lip balm scent is 1% but most ppl in the forum tended to use 3% in their responses)
This has been sitting since 2019, purchased from the Chemistry Connection, I didn't think surfactants went bad. Not in the same way oils do. It doesn't smell off or rancid, just an overpowering castile smell. It's not marked as castile, and I'm not a soap maker so I could be explaining this poorly or have my terms mixed up but from what I have on-hand, a Dr. Bronner's plain Castile, the Stephensons base smells like an amped up version.
I think what is throwing me off is that my homemade version smells closer to... bubble wand solution? A very light, clean, detergent smell that projects every FO I've put into at 1% with no issues. This body wash is a very heavy funky soap smell. I can't mask it. I don't even feel like I should have to mask it but you know, learning experience and all that. The BB Ginger Patchouli is to die for btw, I love it immensely and if I can get away with adding it at a higher % without compromising the preservative while staying within IFRA limits (personal use, not selling), I'd feel better about working with this base.
One last thing, it's crazy drying, moreso than the SCM bubble bath recipe or my Dr. Bronner's. Any suggestions on what to add to help with that(oils? butters? Toss it?)
How should you calculate additional preservatives for minor additions?
Thank you so much!
To save on time I switched from a homemade body wash (modified SCM bubble bath recipe) to the Stephensons Organic Body Wash. It's the most appalling castile odor. I used to think I loved castile soap, I enjoy Dr. Bronner's, but this stuff is really unpleasant and the odor sticks to your hands even after rinsing. It's overpowering all my FOs.
The recommended FO amount on their company website is .5%, which is really low. BB had it at 1% for body wash. Using BB's Ginger Patchouli I cannot even smell it at 2%. All I smell is the base.
My questions are these:
Will the base preservative fail if I add too much over the recommended %? Is this less of a problem because FOs are oil and not water based?
What is a typical FO % for a body wash? (e.g. recommended lip balm scent is 1% but most ppl in the forum tended to use 3% in their responses)
This has been sitting since 2019, purchased from the Chemistry Connection, I didn't think surfactants went bad. Not in the same way oils do. It doesn't smell off or rancid, just an overpowering castile smell. It's not marked as castile, and I'm not a soap maker so I could be explaining this poorly or have my terms mixed up but from what I have on-hand, a Dr. Bronner's plain Castile, the Stephensons base smells like an amped up version.
I think what is throwing me off is that my homemade version smells closer to... bubble wand solution? A very light, clean, detergent smell that projects every FO I've put into at 1% with no issues. This body wash is a very heavy funky soap smell. I can't mask it. I don't even feel like I should have to mask it but you know, learning experience and all that. The BB Ginger Patchouli is to die for btw, I love it immensely and if I can get away with adding it at a higher % without compromising the preservative while staying within IFRA limits (personal use, not selling), I'd feel better about working with this base.
One last thing, it's crazy drying, moreso than the SCM bubble bath recipe or my Dr. Bronner's. Any suggestions on what to add to help with that(oils? butters? Toss it?)
How should you calculate additional preservatives for minor additions?
Thank you so much!
