fragrance question

[Zing]

On a trip to Hawaii, I bought a small jar of plumeria fragrance in 1/2 ounce almond-jojoba oil. In my CP soap, I have only used essential oils. Any idea on how much of this fragrance to use per pound of oils? And do I include this almond-jojoba oil in the lye calculator? Thanks for your help.

 

[shunt2011]

You would need to know how much FO is actually it's probably minimal. I would be careful adding it as florals misbehave from reputable soap companies so this may or may not behave. I would use it as is personally. There's probably not enough FO in there to scent but a very small batch of soap.

 

[dixiedragon]

IMO, I think this is going to end up being a waste of money for you. Not all fragrances are made to stand up to the lye process. I think there's a good chance you'll end up with ruined soap and no fragrance or morphed fragrance.

You could make a lotion and add your plumeria oil to it.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm with the others. Usually when EOs are diluted in a carrier oil, the EO content ranges anywhere from 1% to maybe 10%. The point of the dilution is to stretch expensive EOs and also to make any EO safe for direct use on skin without more dilution.

The % of scent in soap usually ranges between 3% to maybe 6% of a pure scent, assuming the scent is skin safe at those rates.

ETA side note: I'm not seeing any mention of plumeria/frangipani EO in Robert Tisserand's Essential Oil Safety. You'll need to do your own research on the safety aspects. I am seeing other sources explain plumeria/frangipani is a scent created by enfleurage. This is a method in which fats are used to extract the scent from various flowers. Historically lard was used for enfleurage, but other fats are used today. The mention of enfleurage suggests there may not be an actual plumeria EO, which, by definition, is created only by steam distillation.

Assuming your scented oil has 10% EO in it, you have about 15 grams total and about 1.5 grams of pure EO. That's not much. You might be able to scent a 50 gram guest-size bar of soap, assuming the EO is compatible with soap.

If you do this, then, yes, you'd include the balance of the weight as soap making fats in your recipe.

 

[OldHippie]

EO, which, by definition, is created only by steam distillation.

Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam, but they don't have to be. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, sfumatura, absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, wax embedding, and cold pressing.

 

[Zing]

Wow! I'm so glad I posted this to people smarter than me about it! I've learned a lot and appreciate all the replies.