Fragrance

by Alexa
(Europe)

Although I read your article about essential oils, I'm still a bit confused when it comes to fixatives.

I undersand that for approx 500g of soap we have to use around 3-4 table spoons of essential oils. But if I use, for example, ylang ylang e/o it will act like a fixative for the other e/o?

Are there any other ways to fixate the fragrance?

I read about wheat germ that helps mantain the frangrance, but I also understood that it will decrease the lather.

Is is true?

Thank you!

Answer:

The amount of essential oils would be as follows:

My general rule is to add between 3 tsp - 4 tsp (15 ml - 20 ml or .5 oz - .7 oz) per pound of base oils.

Tsp. stands for teaspoons and not tablespoons.

You can also go by weight in which case you would use from 3% - 5% of the amount of the base oils used (15 - 25 grams per 500 grams batch).

The amount used will also depend on the strength of the oils. You would need much more sweet orange essential oil in a recipe compared to something like clove oil or anise oil which are both very strong.

As for the fixatives, yes the ylang ylang essential oil will help to fix the other oils and make them last a little longer.

Here is a quote from my page on essential oils about fixatives.

Fixatives are ingredients that are used in soap making to hold or "fix" a scent to the soap. They are quite useful when you want to make oils like sweet orange or other fleeting top notes last longer.

Benzoin powder or e/o (e/o = essential oil), orris root powder, frankincense e/o, patchouli e/o, oakmoss e/o, cedarwood e/o, myrrh e/o, ylang ylang e/o, vetiver e/o, copaiba balsam e/o and kaolin clay are all examples of fixatives that can be used in soapmaking.

The powders can be added at a light trace and the essential oils would be incorporated into the scent blend you add to the soap.

I have no idea about the wheat germ, sorry.

Cathy