Teach Soap

I would like to make more naturally scented soaps with EOs, but am not sure where to start. I've already used Lavender, Wintergreen (not fun!), Tea Tree/Eucalyptus, and also Rosemary.
Do you have suggestions for one that work well in CP and will stick/hold? I know there are some lovely smelling ones that are super expensive, so I will be staying away from those .
Also, is your favorite a single scent, or a blend? I'm making my soaping "wish list" this weekend

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

I would add, peppermint, spearmint, sweet orange, lemon, pink grapefruit, bergamot and litsea cubeba to your list. The litsea will help anchor the other citrus scents. Adding a little clay to the soap will also help anchor the scent.

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Patchouli! It's so versatile and provides a base note for so many blends. Even if you don't like it on its own, it can complete a blend of EOs and help it to stick longer. Patchouli and folded orange, for example, is wonderful.

Brambleberry's folded orange EO is terrific and sticks well as citruses go.

Litsea cubeba smells like lemon, some people say it reminds them of Pledge, but not me.

Lemongrass is also very nice and not too expensive.

Finally, I'd add cedar. It's also modestly priced. There are many varieties - I prefer the Virginia but others favor the Atlas. It's also excellent for blending.

Have fun and enjoy!

I'd add a spice EO like Cinnamon Leaf or Clove. These are wonderful when blended in small amounts with citrusy EOs. I like the Virginia Cedarwood better than the Atlas, too.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have Cedarwood already and really don't care for it. Reminds me of a hamster's cage......so I tend to stay away from that one
I do have a Patchouli FO and find it an interesting scent. I'd like to smell the EO and see how it compares. Adding in some spice ones sounds like a nice idea, esp. for when fall rolls around!

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

I have a friend that loves the blend of tea tree and lavender. I just did a patch and lavender for my mom for mothers day. I will also second the notion of lemongrass - I mixed this with a water scent and it came out very nice.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Carrie, don't give up on the cedarwood - it's a great blender scent for whenever you need a touch of wood to ground some other scents.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

Can lemon or orange be used by themselves? Will they stick?
Also, have you found that using goat milk with EOs alters their scent any?

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

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

Citrus EO's like orange and lemon don't really stick much. You will be wasting money if using them in cold process.

Someone mentioned Patchouli. I don't really like it but it is popular to blend. I broke down and finally bought some dark aged patchouli. I do not know if it's good or not because I don't know patch. Not to hijack, but does anyone know what really good patch is supposed to smell like? Earthy I get, there's a sweetness but there seems to be a spicy smell to it as well. This stuff is supposed to be aged over a decade.

I was going to chime in that Clove and Cinnamon Leaf is my favorite blend so far, but I see someone beat me to it! I make it with paprika-infused olive oil and poppy seeds and it is really lovely I think.

I really like Lavender and Tea Tree as well, but I do want to try to get my hands on a less camphorous(?) Lavender, I think I saw that mentioned in jrose's blog.

I am not a huge Patchouli or Cedarwood fan either, but it seems that a lot of people really like them both, so I try to include them. I have found that I actually do like Patchouli and Grapefruit together, I think it is mostly (like someone said) that I just don't like either (patch, cedar) alone, but as a compliment to other, fresher EO's.

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Laura<3

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thank you for that advice, ljm1180.
I appreciate it

Off to purchase some litsea!