Teach Soap

I am having such a huge senior moment here, and my mathskills are on hiatus at the moment so I need a sounding board. If I could ask for some feedback I would really appreciate it!

This is my very first try with 5-fold orange essential oil, so I have no idea how it smells after a full cure and want to be extra carefull of this one. I have never been able to get my hands on it before, until now. I have cured these lard/olive/coconut/almond bars for almost 3 weeks now, and I am baffled that it smells so strong compared to my other soaps that have been curing for same ammount of time. They smell so lovely, but stronger than I am used to from my other soaps.

I am aware that the recommended usage of this oil (and 10 fold it seems) is .5oz ppo according to different sources, but the strength alone in the bars makes me wonder if I have used to much, or misunderstood something?

That is why I just need some feedback on my usage rate (remember the senior moment... )

I used 18 grams (or 22 ml) of 5-fold orange in a batch of 1000 grams (2.2 pound) of fats. Water is of course excluded as it evaporates and should not be calculated in the usagerates of essential oils. Am I correct in calculating that I used 0.7 oz for the entire batch of 1000 grams (35.27oz) of oils? That isn`t above the recommended usage rate, is it? When I know that .5oz is 14.78ml ppo, and I used 22ml for 2.2 pounds of fats, I actually used a littlebit less than the recommended ammount?

Again, it is my first try with this oil and was so surprized that it had such a nice kick, but it isn`t nauseating or anything, just sticking well.

Thank you for any feedback!

The 5x essential oils are vacuum distilled which concentrates their odor so you get a stronger scent.

Your math is sound. So I think you've just discovered why the 5fold oils are so great.

I've never heard of 5x EOs. One frustration I've had is how much the scent fades as the soap cures. So even though it is 5x normal, you still use .5 oz ppo? And where do you buy 5x EOs?

The sage has has folded essential oils as well as BB and of course you can also find them at Bulk Appothecary.

Some of the terpenes that cause photosensitivity when used on skin are destroyed when the EO is steam distilled. You should still use caution though when using any citrus EO in leave on components, and orange eo can be drying when used in soaps.

As for citrus scents fading quickly, SB made the brilliant point the other day of adding a small amount of a base note to make the citrus oils like grapefruit n orange stick longer. I knew that of course, but I didn't realize litsea cubea is a base note and her comment was very helpful to me. Litsea smells kinda lemony, so that's what I'd try. You can just use a little so it will stick longer but not necessarily be perceptible in the final scent, altho i imagine orange+lemony would blend together beautifully. Litsea's not real expensive either.

Interesting to know that the 5 folded citrus EOs are vacuum distilled but that some terpenes removed from steam distillation are left in the former process, which can likely cause sensitization as well as photosensitivity, a much scarier thing, bc once your body develops an allergic reaction to smthng you've got it for the rest of your life, whereas w/ the other you just get a sunburn, right?

I wish SB would chime in to let us know that terpenes are a problem in vacuum distilled oils. I did a quick Google search and couldn't find anything to that point- can you kindly provide a link, Hawk? But I guess if we use it at recommended usage rates it's safe. Are there other folded EOs besides orange? I could only find safe usage rates for the orange folded EOs...

Any base oils can be used to help anchor citrus oils. Litsea, Vetiver or Patchouli all help.
Terpenes don't seem to be a problem in vacuum distilled oils.
But like any recipe, it's best to make a small batch and see how the batch works for you.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I like frankincense alot too for a base in perfume, but it's usually too expensive to use for soap. I noticed Essential Depot has it on sale for $11 per four ounces right now.

Here is a link to some information on folded oils. I will try to find the original article I read on them but it's been some time since I read it and I'm not sure which journal it was in.


Here is an interesting blog post on using phototoxic oils and what oils are phototoxic.

You can always check the IFRA website for information as well.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

That was a good link, Hawk. Thank you for posting. I am happy to learn about folded essential oils. I understood from your first post that there were MORE undesirable phototoxic chemical like terpenes in the folded EOs that were not destroyed by the steam distillation, but now I see that those undesirables are largely removed from the folded version. That's great to know. I will be ordering some from BB on my next shipment.

I will keep that in mind about Essential Depot. I agree I would prefer not to have EOs or any organic product from China. I have heard horror stories about specifically organic products from China are a joke, and their manufacturing processes are pretty lax. That said, Essential Depot is a company I have a great deal of confidence in. I ordered some peppermint and rosemary from them with my last lye shipment, and they seemed fine, by which I mean great. I generally order everything I can from BB, esp EOs bc I find them to be very high quality at a great price. But certain EOs like frankincense I have to source elsewhere.

For that stuff, I use Essential Wholesale alot, and sometimes Eden Botanical and Mountain Rose, altho MR is often a bit expensive. But MR has absolutely the best tasting cold pressed culinary hemp oil in have ever tasted. It can be eaten by the spoonful plain & is WAY better than the best hemp oil i could buy off Amazon. SB, or Hawk, do you care to recommend good EO suppliers?
Of course I use different quality EOs for soap and often a slightly higher quality for perfume. In my opinion DoTerra and Young Living are great EOs but are only worth the money if you are taking it internally for medicine. Not trying to antagonize the fda or anything but it's true...

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Sure, I know I don't know enough to take EOs internally. There are books about it but none of them come from credible sources. I wouldn't do it, but I know some people do.

I met a guy at a meditation center who said he knew the guy that started Young Living or smthng like that, and those oils are so expensive bc their wavelength is greatly enhanced. I can't explain like he did, I've got this guy's number if you want me to reach out and ask, but if you look at some EOs with Kirilinken photography they will be almost dead, but the guy that started YL was taught how to enhance their wavelength back to a natural almost living state and that's what makes them therapeutic, they shine like a sun under Kirilinken photography, after I made the same point you did about there is no such thing as therapeutic grade EOs. It sounded like this guy knew what he was talking about, but who knows? Also the same guy that got me started building orgonite. He built a 'cloudbuster' at the Center, based on the research of Dr William Reich, & i sat there for two weeks and observed holes in the clouds right above this thing, and very strange weather, like the most powerful lightening or electrical storm I ever saw, multiple lightning every second, but completely silent.

I have had good luck with Bulk Apothecary for EO and carrier oils.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Back to your regular scheduled program.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.