Looking for some opinions

[Ianto]

My order from Wholesale Supplies Plus came in and I am looking forward to using new stuff!

Here are 2 recipes I am considering making:

12% Coconut Oil
8% Castor Oil
10% Mango Butter
70% Olive Oil

OR:

12% Castor Oil
8% Castor Oil
15% Mango Butter
65% Olive Oil

Mango butter is the new item and I am trying to decide how much to use! Does anyone have opinions on this?

I also bought some fragrance oils and am a little sure where to start with it. I have read 0.5 - 1 oz per pound of oil. I do not like scents to be overwhelming and know it will take some time to figure out what I like... Do you think 10-12 grams per pound of oil would be a good starting point?

 

[Hazel]

I'm sorry. I just saw this post and it's probably too late to help you.

JMO but either amount of mango would be fine. However, I think it would make it a more costly soap if you used 15%. On the other hand, it wouldn't matter if you loved the soap. I like babassu in soap and it's a lot more expensive than coconut.

As for fragrance amount, it really depends on the strength of the fragrance oil. I have one fragrance oil which I can use at .25% ppo since it's super strong and doesn't fade. (Well, I haven't noticed that it fades. It's possible that at some point it might. I haven't had any bars longer than one year.) I have another fragrance which was a softer scent that I used at 1 oz ppo and it was very faint in the soap. Have you seen the Fragrance Oil Chart? You might find it helpful to research FOs. You could also register with http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/. However, she requires members to use a paid email address to register in order to keep spammers off the board.

What fragrances did you buy and from what supplier?

 

[Ianto]

The fragrances I ordered from Wholesale Supplies Plus are: Fresh Brewed Coffee, Cucumber Mint and Verbena & Lemon Type.

I ended up making soap with 10% mango butter last Saturday and used 10 grams of fresh brewed coffee for 450 grams of soap. The soap is turning a coffee with lots of cream color from the vanilla in the fragrance. I am hoping that it darkens just a tad more. At 10 grams it is a light scent - I am not sure if it is recognizable as a coffee scent though! To me it smells more like a baked good that has brown sugar in it with the slightest hint of coffee.

Next weekend I will try one of the other fragrances and maybe 8 or 12% mango butter (I can't decide!).

 

[Marilyna]

I always start with 1 oz ppo.

 

[Hazel]

I'm sorry but I haven't tried any of those scents so I can't suggest an amount. I also can't comment on whether 10 grams into 450 g batch will hold up. Please let us know how it turns out after curing.

 

[jean1C]

I always start with 1 oz ppo.

This is what I go with...I have soaps that are over a year old, and some that are less than a month....Some are strong, some are gone.
I don't think your mango butter has anything to do with your scents staying.

 

[Ianto]

The mango butter and fragrance are unrelated - other than they are both new things I tried. I have only used olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, essential oils and natural colors so far.

I think 1 oz per pound of oil might be too overwhelming to me. The 10 grams I used probably won't be enough depending on how much it dissipates after curing. Only 3+ weeks to go