HERB - Herbal Soap Scents

[Gaylin Walli]

Lady Katerine wrote:
>From what we (my new husband and I) read during our soap research, 
>one shouldn't use the Fragrance Oils in soap.

I'd be curious to see the research you have on this topic. I've
never encountered it ever and I'd be interested in hearing what
the research has to say on the reasoning behind not using it.

>the cinnamon soap is pretty much solid, the lavender is still 
>liquid! We also goofed and measured the canola oil by volume, not by 
>weight. :)

Then I am confident the canola oil is the problem in the lavender soap.
Unless you used TONS of lavender oil, the mistake of measurements
is most certainly the problem. I made this same mistake not too long
ago with a batch of soap using canola and corn oil. Goodness knows
why I wasn't thinking, but I read the label on the bottle completely
wrong. Ah well, live and learn. Even after years of soap making, you
can still make this mistake. :)

Lady Diana wrote:
>While, from what I've read, both fragrance and essential oils *can* have
>an effect on soap and can cause problems, I think in this case you may be
>seeing the effects of the canola oil measurement instead.

As mentioned earlier, I agree with lady Diana's assessment. Typically in
soap making the essential or fragrance oil you use will on effect the soap in
one of two ways. The soap will have too much oil in it is you use a LOT
of the oil for fragrance. By a lot, I mean, more than a small bottle or
so typically used in soap making. The second way soap is affected by the
addition of essential or fragrance oils is the experience of having your
soap "sieze" as you add the scent. That is, you're moving right along,
making your soap, it's nearing trace (in cold process soap making) and
you add your scent. Suddenly you have a mass of hard goop in your pan
and no way to really effectively get it into your molds.

>For what it's worth, a lot of folks on a soap forum I read occasionally
>seem to recommend using the fragrance oils from Sweet Cakes [...]
>(http://www.sweetcakes.com/), because the owner tests all the scents for
>compatibility with soap herself before adding them to the inventory.

I wholeheartedly agree. Sweetcakes is an excellent online supplier that
comes highly recommended from many a soap-maker I know. I have not
personally purchased from them, however, because I always manage to
decide to make soap at the last minute. I end up purchasing my essences
either at the local health food store (very expensive) or ordering my
essences when I order my herbs in bulk.

jasmine
iasmin de cordoba, gwalli at infoengine.com

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