fruit oil suggestions?

[jessiecms]

Hi Everyone! :wave: My partner and I just had our first day of soap making! We made beer soap. Gah, what a smell!

Anyway, I have three people on my Christmas list who are very allergic to perfume and chemicals. I was thinking of making lightly scented vanilla products for them, but my sister says she does okay with fruit oils as long as they're not too perfumey. The only fruit oils I have on hand are citrus, which sting my skin a bit (and I'm not even that sensitive!) Does anyone have any suggestions for fruit oils? Not too expensive and not too heavy are the keys. Thanks all!!

Jessica

 

[coffeetime]

You mean essential oils?

 

[cmzaha]

If you are talking essential oils grapefruit is a great sticker and anchor for citrus such as tangerine, orange, lemon, lime

 

[jessiecms]

Yup, sorry! I meant essential oils. I have a bunch of citrus, but is it good for your skin? When I put it in my bath, it stings a bit. Would mixing it into soap/lotion take away that sting?

 

[DeeAnna]

Well, for one thing, when you put citrus EO in bath water, your skin is encountering droplets of 100% EO. I'd be careful about going out in the sun after doing that -- many citrus EOs are photo-irritants, meaning they can cause skin damage when the EOs react with UV light. Quite a different matter from mixing EO into soap at the recommended dosage and using the soap in the bath. You'd be cutting the dosage to a tiny fraction.

But if only one of the 3 people is okay with citrus EOs, what about the other two? Might be safest to just make a beautiful batch of unscented soap and play it absolutely safe.

 

[Obsidian]

Vanilla scents are artificial unless you go with vanilla absolute which is quite expensive, plus it will turn your soaps brown. Citrus has a tendency to fade in soap. What about some kind of herbal EO like basil or rosemary?

 

[jessiecms]

Thanks everyone! Great suggestions!:clap:

 

[dixiedragon]

I really like lemon grass EO. It's very skin-friendly for most people, it sticks fairly well, and you can use it in lipbalm.

 

[Ellacho]

I like bergamot, sweet orange and lemon grass. These are my favorite citrus essential oils.

 

[judymoody]

Another vote for lemongrass - it's cheap, non-irritating and it sticks.

 

[DeeAnna]

Lemongrass is not citrus; it's a type of grass. The EO can be an irritant to people with sensitive or damaged skin due to the citral content, although people with normal skin tolerate it well.

 

[CaraBou]

Litsea cubeba (aka may chang), is another essential oil that smells citrusy though technically it is not. It has a really pleasant lemon scent, similar to lemongrass but sweeter and less sharp IMO. I also adore grapefruit and pink grapefruit EOs, check them out if you haven't already.

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't use them in soap, but the red and green mandarine EOs are yummy in lipbalm and lotion. MMMmmmmm!

 

[shunt2011]

That sounds yummy! I am another Lemongrass fan. I also like citrus mixed with litsea.

 

[Sheila Pullar]

I love Melissa x

 

[JLeigh]

Another vote for Lemongrass here. It's one of my favorites and everyone seems to like it a lot - even a few "tough guys". I made a "Sweet 13" soap bar for my granddaughter's birthday with Tangerine Dreams from Nature's Garden. Smells wonderful and is perfect for young people. It seemed to accelerate hardening of my MP base though.

 

[marilynmac]

If they are sensitive to smells, stay away from that vanilla FO!