Scent dissipates while soap cures - why?

[Wendy90292]

I recently used various fragrance oils, professional grade, from a local soap and candle warehouse for people who do this for a living. Since any of my FOs ALWAYS are not even noticeable by the time the 2-week "airing out/curing" process ends (until they are wet again, and then only faint scent), I decided to triple the amount of FO in my newest batch as an experiment. I stir in when both are at ~120 degrees, which is where I am mixing the lye into the oils anyway. Am I burning it off?

The candles smelled GREAT but the extra FO made them feel greasy (before they cured) and also the color (mica in one case, rose clay in the other) smudged on my hands. Now that they're cured, they smell like...olive oil. Or maybe other oils. I don't know. Not great. Not so good for gift-giving.

I'm not a pro. I do this for fun only, and I give away my soaps. Smelling nice when I gift them is REALLY important. Please advise if you can? Thank you.

PS - This is endemic, not specific to any brand nor even any quantity of FO, from Brambleberry's to this one to Camden Grey to others. It ALWAYS dissipates too much. Am I adding it when it is too hot still? Does trace stage affect scent later?????? UGH!!!

 

[KiwiMoose]

All FOs are different. Some of them will hold in CP soap and some of them won't. The best way to find out which ones do is to read the reviews ( from people who have made soap). Generally speaking, citrus scents do not hold as well as others. I would caution against adding extra FO in case it takes it over the safe usage limit. If a scent doesn't stick at 3 or 4%, then it's unlikely to stick at double that.

 

[AliOop]

You are probably becoming nose-blind to the FOs. People regularly walk in my house and from the front door, they exclaim, "Your house smells terrific!" (amazing, lovely, etc.)

I, on the other hand, don't smell any of it unless I leave for a few days, and then return. I can barely smell most of my soaps when using them, too. But I know from others who do that they absolutely can smell it.

 

[BWt]

@AliOop is correct in that you probably are becoming nose-blind. You could try smelling coffee beans or ground coffee before smelling your products. I keep a small jar of coffee beans with a tight fitting lid and smell that a few times before going to check on my soaps or candles.

 

[Wendy90292]

All FOs are different. Some of them will hold in CP soap and some of them won't. The best way to find out which ones do is to read the reviews ( from people who have made soap). Generally speaking, citrus scents do not hold as well as others. I would caution against adding extra FO in case it takes it over the safe usage limit. If a scent doesn't stick at 3 or 4%, then it's unlikely to stick at double that.

Thank you! I had no idea that quantity is not the solution. Thank you! Yes, one was "Sicilian Tangerine" which did not stick when I used it in the recommended amount in candles either. Never thought it might not be my error!

You are probably becoming nose-blind to the FOs. People regularly walk in my house and from the front door, they exclaim, "Your house smells terrific!" (amazing, lovely, etc.)

I, on the other hand, don't smell any of it unless I leave for a few days, and then return. I can barely smell most of my soaps when using them, too. But I know from others who do that they absolutely can smell it.

Tragic, but this is NOT the case. My recipients often say, "Is it unscented?" or "I can sort of smell lavender" - usually for the rose or white ginger! Hahahaha!

Oh, in case any of you are interested, I buy from General Wax and Candle in Los Angeles. It's a huge place, mostly geared for candle people, but a fairyland for people like us. Website easy to find. (I don't know if we're allowed to post those on this site!)

 

[AliOop]

I am a little confused. You talked about increasing the FO, but then said, "The candles smell great."

The candles smelled GREAT but the extra FO made them feel greasy (before they cured)

Did you mean to say that the soap smelled great? Or are you talking about candles? I am confused, sorry.

I took a look at their website. Well, it's actually their sister website where they sell the FOs, which is CandleMakingSupplies dot net. Every single FO is listed as a "candle fragrance oil." No mention of soap in the initial listing. If you click on it to read more detail, they do list usage rates for soap but talk about soap BASE - which would imply that they expect you to use these in M&P, not CP or even HP.

Also, I don't see rany eviews for soaps - just candles. So it seems these FOs are not designed with CP soaps in in mind, and almost certainly not tested in CP soap.

Honestly, I'd try some other FOs from other vendors, ones with good CP soaping reviews.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Hi @Wendy90292

I really like Brambleberry (and others, but I’ll start there) and have good luck IF
I read reviews
Check soap usage rates
Check for vanilla content (discolors)
Check for acceleration notes

BB has free shipping til Friday, BTW.

Some of my BB favs that smell amazing (to me) in CP soap are: watermelon sugar, caffe latte, pink grapefruit, cranberry cocktail, clover and aloe, coastal rain, coconut citrus sorbet & black raspberry vanilla. HTH

 

[Wendy90292]

I am a little confused. You talked about increasing the FO, but then said, "The candles smell great."

Did you mean to say that the soap smelled great? Or are you talking about candles? I am confused, sorry.

I took a look at their website. Well, it's actually their sister website where they sell the FOs, which is CandleMakingSupplies dot net. Every single FO is listed as a "candle fragrance oil." No mention of soap in the initial listing. If you click on it to read more detail, they do list usage rates for soap but talk about soap BASE - which would imply that they expect you to use these in M&P, not CP or even HP.

Also, I don't see rany eviews for soaps - just candles. So it seems these FOs are not designed with CP soaps in in mind, and almost certainly not tested in CP soap.

Honestly, I'd try some other FOs from other vendors, ones with good CP soaping reviews.

Thank you for all the work you put into answering my question! I REALLY appreciate it, Ali! Wow! So I make candles too, and it was a simple mistake to use the word "candles" when I meant soaps, ergo being here on this site asking that questions.

So on the labels on all their FOs, it talks about how much one can/should use in makeup, shampoo, body wash, soap, candles, etc. I have "scent escape" issues with Camden Grey and Brambleberry and other FOs as well, and even with essential oils, which makes me think I'm doing something wrong in my process, more than the oils/scents being wrong. (E.g., am I mixing when it's still too hot?? Am I curing too long?)

You may be right about the General Wax NOT being meant for CP. That never even crossed my mind! I will ask them next time. I have about $150 in FOs from them, so it could be a tragedy!

Thank you kindly for teaching me.

 

[AliOop]

No worries @Wendy90292 I was pretty sure you meant soaps, but since we do have a candle forum here on SMF, I wanted to be sure.

That would indeed be sad if all your lovely FOs couldn't be used for your CP soaps! Hopefully you could still use them for your candles?

I wish I could help more with the issue of the scent dissipating from all scents that you use. My soaps these days are mostly CP, and I soap at room temp or just a bit warmer. But even when I was doing mostly HP, I didn't have trouble with FOs fading. With a few exceptions (patchouli, for instance) most EOs do fade pretty quickly for me and many others. I think @Mobjack Bay has shared her methods for helping the EOs to stick around, and maybe she will be so kind to do so again.

 

[Wendy90292]

Hi @Wendy90292

I really like Brambleberry (and others, but I’ll start there) and have good luck IF
I read reviews
Check soap usage rates
Check for vanilla content (discolors)
Check for acceleration notes

BB has free shipping til Friday, BTW.

Some of my BB favs that smell amazing (to me) in CP soap are: watermelon sugar, caffe latte, pink grapefruit, cranberry cocktail, clover and aloe, coastal rain, coconut citrus sorbet & black raspberry vanilla. HTH

Thank you!

No worries @Wendy90292 I was pretty sure you meant soaps, but since we do have a candle forum here on SMF, I wanted to be sure.

That would indeed be sad if all your lovely FOs couldn't be used for your CP soaps! Hopefully you could still use them for your candles?

I wish I could help more with the issue of the scent dissipating from all scents that you use. My soaps these days are mostly CP, and I soap at room temp or just a bit warmer. But even when I was doing mostly HP, I didn't have trouble with FOs fading. With a few exceptions (patchouli, for instance) most EOs do fade pretty quickly for me and many others. I think @Mobjack Bay has shared her methods for helping the EOs to stick around, and maybe she will be so kind to do so again.

Interesting. I've only done two batches of HP and never liked them, although they DID - come to think of it - hold the fragrance longer. SO much to learn!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

There’s lots of great advice above. If you’re looking specifically for tips on how to get EOs to stick in soap, this post summarizes the experience of folks on the forum. I have also shared testing results for a bunch of EO blends in this thread.

For some FOs, the safe usage levels are so low that the result is lightly scented soap at the start. I mostly stay away from those unless it’s an absolute favorite.

 

[cmzaha]

BTW you do not burn off the FO, the flash point is just the point where an eo or fo can ignite. Fragrances either fo's or eo's will tend to stick or not and is trial and error. Flash Point terms are used mainly for shipping our fragrances and essential oils.

It is usually best to purchase small bottles of fragrances and run test batches of soaps before buying and making bigger batches of soaps which I admit I did not usually have the patience for. Although I did run test batches for California Candle Supply with his fragrances since some of John's fragrances were wonderful in soap and some would not hold, and he was giving me the samples to test for him. BTW everyone he still carries a close Dragons Blood and Hardwood Musk to my dupe. LOL, I am still hoarding some DB if I ever make soap again...