Soaping with Absolutes

[Mouse]

Does anyone use absolutes in CP? I'd really like to experiment with them- particularly cocoa, vanilla, geranium, rose, etc. How much would one add per lb of soap? I really want to try it but I'm terrified of wasting such expensive material!
Any advice?

 

[lsg]

I have only used absolutes with a mixture of essential oils. They are so expensive that using very much would break my piggy bank.

 

[Genny]

If you want to use them on their own, they're really just like using EO's, except some of them are more expensive.

You'd want to use an anchor and add the absolute at the coolest point of soaping as possible, to keep all of it from burning off.

I've never had any success with keeping vanilla in soap, even when anchoring or blending it. It always seems to disappear after 3 months

 

[Mouse]

But you wouldn't use a n entire oz per lb, right?
what would the usage rate be?

 

[Genny]

But you wouldn't use a n entire oz per lb, right?
what would the usage rate be?

It's different for each eo and absolute. I know that some people automatically just do 1 oz/lb. But many eo's don't need that much. Like with Litsea Cubeba, I never go over .5 oz/lb. But with lavender I usually stick to .7 oz/lb.
With the stronger ones, you can use less.

If you want, you can always add your absolutes to rebatched soap instead, so you'll be less likely to lose most of the scent.

 

[Mouse]

Oh! You are totally right, I overgeneralized use rates for EO's...
I guess I'll just have to pick one or two absolutes and experiment