New Member - Essential Oil Sources?

Hello everybody! My name is Aden and I am glad to have recently joined as a member here.

My husband and I own a goat farm and are in the process of bringing a line of goats milk soaps to our retail store and website.

We have been experimenting with soaps for almost a year now but haven't offered any for sale yet. We have already decided on our mold, stamp, and packaging, but we have yet to find a source of good quality/low cost essential oils/alcohol free fragrance oils.

We plan to start out offering 5 soaps. Each of the 5 soaps will have the option of purchasing that scent with poppy seed exfoliant or plain. Each bar will be 4 oz, and we will be making the soaps in batches of 3 pounds per batch.

I was really hopeful about making a purchase for some essential oils on eBay, but I am really nervous about the quality of the oils as I see a lot of negative feedback with some of the sellers.

I have seen Brambeberry and BulkApothecary, but I was hoping for more cost effective options.

Does anyone have any advice, or know of some seller of oils that are stronger and will require less per 3lb batch? I would love to get away with adding 1oz per 3 lb batch.

Thanks so much, and so glad to have joined here!

Try essentialdepot.com. They have very good product and reasonable prices. Also, they just recently had a sale for 50% off essential oils. I would imagine that sort of thing may happen again.

Good luck! I like your ideas! And I'm a huge goat fan.

Thanks so much lotus!! We decided to get into the soaps because we can't "legally" sell the cheese we make yet, and getting into the soaps offers us a way to bring additional clients into our farm stand. I have been using GM soap for years and am so excited to finally be making it and hopefully growing it into something big for our farm.

Brambleberry has an excellent reputation and excellent products, along with all the necessary paperwork should you need it. Since you are in RI, expect about a week to receive your order though.

ED essential oils are okay, but I have to say BB's are better. I buy from both, but there is a huge quality difference in my opinion. Both work in soap, but you will actually end up using less with BB as they are very good.

As far as ebay, don't do that if you are selling your products. There is no way to know what you are getting. I have gotten a couple that were not good, I just had to toss them. Fortunately they were just small bottles.

I'm sure others with much more knowledge will be along to advise you with better info. There are a few threads on preferred suppliers and safe use in this section of the forum:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f13/

Well, Wholesale Supplies Plus is having a flash sale on the whole site from 12 noon to 4 p.m., and no shippig charge for orders over $30. Now is your chance to get some quality essential oils on sale. A big Thanks to mel z for the heads up.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f33/wsp-4-hour-storewide-flash-sale-today-35492/

Mel, I guess it is true that you get what you pay for, and it's probably not worth it in the long run to waste money experimenting with people on eBay. I did order my wonderful molds from Brambleberry. I got the 12 square bar silione molds and they are AMAZING. They produce the perfect size bar, and slip right out of the mold after a day. I guess I will try some of their oils.

LSG, Wow. I have never ordered from them, but may have to give it a shot depending on the sale. Does anyone know how much the discount will be?

I agree with essentials depot and brambleberry. Haven't tried out wholesale supplies plus, but with that flash sale, I just might!

Sooooo, off the topic of soap, but what isn't legal about selling your cheese? Is it because it's raw goats milk? I just find that sort of stuff interesting and am a big believer in letting consumers do their own research and making their own decisions when it comes to food. I am actually a vegan, but have to buy milk for my son (as it's almost his only source of fats). Here you can only buy raw milk "for your pets". Pretty sure everyone knows that most people aren't doing that, but as long as it says "animal consumption only" somewhere, it's legal.

Anyway, good luck with your new venture in soapmaking! Sounds like you've done your homework and should do well with it!

A dairy in Missouri was closed down for selling raw milk cheese, even though no sickness had been reported from anyone eating it. Big Brother is always watching it seems.

Hi Tiffany! Thanks for reading my post.

The federal government regulates food. They want to regulate, and tax everything, so they make it hard for small farms like mine to enjoy their hobby and make a living off of it.

Each state has different rules, but to become licensed to sell cheese (raw or not), you need to have a separate septic, separate water supple, and a grade a milking and cheese making facility. They make it very hard to do, and very expensive.

We make cheese regardless and give it to friends mostly, but if we were to get caught selling it then we could possibly face a fine large enough that we could lose our farm, go to jail, or lose our home owners insurance. It's just too risky so we are pursuing the legal way. It will probably cost us 50k in the end, maybe more but we will get there!!

That's pretty much what I thought your answer would be. Gah...it really urks me that it is so hard for small farms that sell natural, healthy, better tasting foods than you find at the grocery store, to make a living and be able to sell to those of us who would love to buy from them. Like I said......I have to buy milk for my pets. I won't get started on organic certifications and labeling being so ridiculous yet we can't even get a GMO label. Makes my blood boil.

I could get into an uproar, but I suppose that's off the topic of CP soap. If only I were as good at soapmaking as I am at going off topic! Again, good luck with everything! Kudos to y'all for working to make it happen!

I completely agree with you!! I think it's insanity that they would prefer that we all keep eating poison, but then want to regulate the healthy things that are REAL. lol. I drink raw milk fresh from our goats every day and it's amazing. It's funny. I live in RI, and if I wanted to, I could legally grow marijuana (I have no problem with those who do, but I don't myself), but the RI law says I can't sell cheese.. How silly does that sound?

I hope you get to sell cheese. I've always thought that would be such a nice way to make a living.

Not only is the whole tax thing involved though. Raw milk has serious issues. Listeria does not show up right away, and then salmonella, ecoli, so everything has to be up to certain standards. I understand that. Here's an article on it:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/consumers/ucm079516.htm

mel z said:

I hope you get to sell cheese. I've always thought that would be such a nice way to make a living.

Not only is the whole tax thing involved though. Raw milk has serious issues. Listeria does not show up right away, and then salmonella, ecoli, so everything has to be up to certain standards. I understand that. Here's an article on it:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/consumers/ucm079516.htm

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You are right. Raw milk is WAY too risky, and I would never, ever sell it even if it were legal. My choice to drink it daily is a risk I take based off of the care I give my animals, and the sanitary means with which I milk them. Raw milk cheeses are a complete different story. If the cheese is ages, any chances of bad bacteria go away with age, so thats why most ages raw milk cheeses are legal.

Yeah, I love cheese so much. Kind of wish I didn't. I can never leave cheese!

I figured all is good by the time it cures. I made some for myself with raw milk, but, like you said, that is my choice.

Just wanted to say that I also have the Brambleberry square bar silicone mold! I love it too!

I've bought essential oils from both Brambleberry and Wholesale Supplies Plus and have been happy with both.

Yes, raw milk can have it's issues. I won't buy from a farm if they can't show me their practices and ensure me that they are doing things correctly. But yeah...I can't figure out why we can't make these choices ourselves.

I miss cheese. Ohhhh, I miss cheese! Lol!

Amybell said:

Just wanted to say that I also have the Brambleberry square bar silicone mold! I love it too!

I've bought essential oils from both Brambleberry and Wholesale Supplies Plus and have been happy with both.

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Amybell, they are SO awesome. I was just shocked at how well they worked, and the price is even better!

I agree! I'm going to buy a few more when I get a chance.

Hi Aden! Essential oils tend to be more pricey since they are extracted from the various plants. Here is a link to another source: http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/ . They are out of Canada but reasonably ship to the US by UPS. Their oils are somewhat pricey but are of very good quality (the ones I get from them.) If you want citrus fragrances the 5 Fold Lemon and 5 Fold Orange and the Key Lime are really great. I also like their Peppermint and Spearmint. Citrus oils are notorious for "dissipating" from soap after a period of time. These citrus oils from this company really stick but adding a little Litsea EO helps them stick even better. They also sell fragrance oils but I do not know how they are. Just remember that cheap oils can give not so great results. The other companies mentioned are also great and have very good essential oils. I hope this helps you in some way. You have a great plan!

you could try www.libertynaturals.com. Best quality and prices I've found over the years.

Don't give up the fight to sell the cheese!!! Love me some raw milk cheese. And give Monsanto a poke in the eye