Working with cinnamon???

[trilloneal]

What are any precautions to take when working with cinnamon essential oil , i know you have to dilute in stay on products but what about soap? do i dilute, put less of or just add normal quantities. what about if a pregnant woman or children under 6 use my soap will it still be a problem?
thank you!

 

[Lindy]

When using cinnamon EO in a soap you must not go any higher than 0.6% as it is such a sensitizer. This is set by the IFRA. You are better off using an FO when it comes to that scent. Not all natural products are safe

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Great advice! Of 1% of the eo is bad, I'd go with 3% of an FO instead. It's man-made, but for most people it would be much safer

 

[LuckyStar]

Cinnamon and sage essential oil are two things i wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole in regards to soap making. Yes they can be used safely, but i'm really not up for chancing it.

 

[Susie]

I use cassia/cinnamon EOs on a regular basis. In small amounts. I use it as no more than half of the EO blend for any given soap. So, if my soap is 16 oz of oil, I will use no more than 0.25 oz. I know if I go above 0.3 oz PPO, irritation is possible. I have had to rebatch twice learning this the hard way (after a 6 week cure).

 

[new12soap]

FYI, not all FOs are safe at those levels either. I participated in a swap, one of the people used a fragrance with a cinnamon component at 5%, fortunately I washed my hands with it first! They turned red and burned and tingled. We looked up the fragrance and it was only skin safe at 0.5%

A lot of fragrance oils are a blend of natural and synthetic ingredients.

Since then I stay away from anything with cinnamon in it at all. Too many other lovely scents that don't burn. Imagine if I had taken that bar in the shower to try?

 

[Susie]

Some people LOVE cinnamon/clove/orange/peppermint/lemon/<insert name of potentially irritating EO here> enough to learn safe parameters. And aren't able to use most FOs due to allergies. Or just might not like floral scents.

Folks have reasons they want to use, or not use, certain ingredients.

I would err on the side of caution and put a warning on the label for pregnant and nursing mothers/babies. I would not worry so much about the 3-6 yr old crowd. I would think, however, that you might want to come up with a "mommy and me" soap that has utterly safe ingredients. That would be a really good marketing angle.