If you put essential oils in soap and you use the soap in a hot shower, can you breathe it in?

[Pbonnibel86]

I don't know if I'm asking this correctly, but if you put essential oils in (melt and pour) soap recipe and then use it in a hot shower, can you breathe it in the same way you would as if you used actual drops of essential oil in a hot shower? Does the essential oil lose its properties once it's been added to the soap?

 

[coastmutt]

I'm unsure of the logistics of EO's exact evaporative properties, but I'd say it would have a similar, if not the same kind of effect. For example, I make a lot of lavender soaps, because it has calming properties, (not to mention the insane demand for it in my area), and I don't find the effect of the oil goes away, in fact I prefer using the soap over a diffuser because it's closer to and stays on my body. So, from my humble opinion, no, it doesn't lose its properties, as long as you are using the right amount of EO in your recipes.

 

[rdc1978]

I don't know if I'm asking this correctly, but if you put essential oils in (melt and pour) soap recipe and then use it in a hot shower, can you breathe it in the same way you would as if you used actual drops of essential oil in a hot shower? Does the essential oil lose its properties once it's been added to the soap?

I'm also mostly guessing, but if you are using melt and pour soap, its already gone through the saponification process....so I would think that as long as you add the essential oil below the flashpoint temperature it would retain the same aromatherapy properties.

I defer to anyone else who says differently, but this would make sense to me.

 

[Arimara]

EOs would be better used in a diffuse if you wanted ti use it for aromatherapy. In soap, it would smell, especially if you used M&P but it would be like any other scent used in a soap.