Cocoa Butter - For Scent?

[BrewerGeorge]

Took a few bars of soap to some friends Saturday and discovered that one of them can't use any scented soap without being "itchy." I don't know if she's tried EO's or just is just bothered by typical FO's, but I want to make her some unscented soap.

Obviously, I can make utterly unscented easily enough, but I was wondering about using a bit of cocoa butter specifically for it's scent - just so there's something there. I've never used any butters before in any of my soaps.

How much unrefined butter would add a hint of scent without changing the soap characteristics very much?

Would you take that percentage from the hard oils or the soft oils?

 

[Arimara]

I've only used it for HP soap and the scent is lightly detectable. I used almost 13% cocoa butter in this batch. So unless your friend has a good sniffer, there may be barely any scent, depending on your recipe.

 

[traderbren]

I've used 15% unrefined cocoa butter before in CP and the scent doesn't survive saponification. I'm not sure without going much higher (and maybe not even then) that you will get the scent you are looking for.

 

[Arimara]

I've used 15% unrefined cocoa butter before in CP and the scent doesn't survive saponification. I'm not sure without going much higher (and maybe not even then) that you will get the scent you are looking for.

Chocolate or rather, cocoa powder also doesn't leave a scent in the end product, right? If you know I mean.

 

[Seawolfe]

hehe - my very first ever soap recipe was:

Coconut Oil 5 Oz
Almond Oil 5 Oz
Cocoa Butter 6 Oz
SF 5%

You know what? After a good cure it made a surprisingly nice bar, and yes you could smell the cocoa butter.

 

[Arimara]

hehe - my very first ever soap recipe was:

Coconut Oil 5 Oz
Almond Oil 5 Oz
Cocoa Butter 6 Oz
SF 5%

You know what? After a good cure it made a surprisingly nice bar, and yes you could smell the cocoa butter.

Trying it.

 

[Seawolfe]

Trying it.

To be fair - that recipe is NOT a great recipe by most soaping cannon - too much cocoa butter and coconut oil. But its a good "lets see what happens when I do this" recipe I still have a bar of it, nice and hard with decent lather.

 

[hmlove1218]

I experimented with a batch containing 10% cocoa and I could smell it in the cured bars. To be fair, I can't stand the scent of cocoa butter, so I may have just been picking up on it because I don't like it.

 

[afbrat]

I can smell cocoa butter at 5% in my unscented cured bars. Not very strong, but it's definitely there. Freshly made and cut soap smelled like cocoa butter, which I happen to love. But it faded somewhat in the cure

 

[Dharlee]

Chocolate or rather, cocoa powder also doesn't leave a scent in the end product, right? If you know I mean.

This I didn't know. I made a soap and added cocoa powder to it because I saw it on YouTube (crazy reason, no?) and added cocoa powder at 1 tsp PPO to add scent. I dislike it because it's very brown. The soap smells yummy, but I did also use a chocolate FO so I had no way of knowing if it helped or not with scent. Now I guess I know. I don't care for brown soap that discolors washcloths and brownish bubbles though.

 

[shunt2011]

I use cocoa at 5-10% and have never noticed an scent in my cured soaps. I use unrefined too. Not even my unscented one.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I use cocoa at 5-10% and have never noticed an scent in my cured soaps. I use unrefined too. Not even my unscented one.

Butter or powder? Since the thread has branched off into discussion of both.

 

[kumudini]

I use CB in most batches, often over 10%, and my experience has been similar to Shunt, no cocoa scent at all.

 

[lenarenee]

Are you sure she wants to smell cocoa butter?

I hate the smell of cocoa butter. But, I love what 10% does to a bar of soap. It does leave a noticeable scent behind that I can detect when I'm holding it, let alone using it. (I had to give it away though since I can't stand the smell) I use shea butter instead.

It was not unrefined, but it was also not completely deodorized.

Btw, so nice of you to make something special for her!

 

[green soap]

I use virgin cocoa butter on most soaps (10% and +). I can certainly smell it in 'unscented' soaps. I only use EO for scenting all soaps (except for the unscented), and whether I smell the cocoa in scented soaps or not, depends on what EO blend I use. I made one recently with menthol crystals as the only scent (light, I used 1/2 oz PPO), and I can smell the cocoa and menthol about the same strength. Not a bad combo.

I also make solid lotions, and I used to make them for sale. I made two almost identical versions, one with deodorized cocoa butter, the other with virgin CB. I had some customers prefer one over the other. Some people do not like the lingering chocolate smell at all. I don't mind it, but I can see how it could be too much for some people.

 

[green soap]

Forgot to mention that if the scent interferes with my chosen EO blend, I'll use shea, which does almost the same thing in soap. My shea is deodorized.

 

[penelopejane]

Took a few bars of soap to some friends Saturday and discovered that one of them can't use any scented soap without being "itchy." I don't know if she's tried EO's or just is just bothered by typical FO's, but I want to make her some unscented soap.

Obviously, I can make utterly unscented easily enough, but I was wondering about using a bit of cocoa butter specifically for it's scent - just so there's something there. I've never used any butters before in any of my soaps.

How much unrefined butter would add a hint of scent without changing the soap characteristics very much?

Would you take that percentage from the hard oils or the soft oils?

Some people are allergic to FO's and some are allergic to EO's and some are allergic/intolerant to naturally occurring scents - like cocoa butter. Before you go too far I think you should find out what your friend is allergic/intolerant to.

 

[Arimara]

To be fair - that recipe is NOT a great recipe by most soaping cannon - too much cocoa butter and coconut oil. But its a good "lets see what happens when I do this" recipe I still have a bar of it, nice and hard with decent lather.

That's ok. I still want to see how bad a soap made with 3 hard oils and 25% castor oil could be. It could probably be the worst soap on earth.:mrgreen::twisted:

This I didn't know. I made a soap and added cocoa powder to it because I saw it on YouTube (crazy reason, no?) and added cocoa powder at 1 tsp PPO to add scent. I dislike it because it's very brown. The soap smells yummy, but I did also use a chocolate FO so I had no way of knowing if it helped or not with scent. Now I guess I know. I don't care for brown soap that discolors washcloths and brownish bubbles though.

Thanks. I kind of understand that. I used red palm oil in two recent batches and in one of them, it lathers a touch yellow.

 

[shunt2011]

Butter or powder? Since the thread has branched off into discussion of both.

Both. Except the powder does get a bit stinky if at first but cures out.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Tried it last night. Two ounces of cocoa butter in 40 oz total oils. No other scent (except maybe a bit of honey). The batter certainly maintained the scent; we'll see how it goes as it progresses.