HelenW Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 I have only been gathering information about Cold Press soapmaking, but am confused about Essential Oil and Fragrance Oil in recipes and hope that someone can straighten me out. I was under the impression that EO are a pure form of the extract and thus strong, and that FO are man-made and somewhat diluted, but in some of the recipes it calls for the same amount of EO or FO to be used. Any insight would be gratefully appreciated as it really doesn't take to much to confuse me. LOL Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerina Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Essential oils are extracted from the actual botanical by way of either a steam or cold process for example. How it's done can affect the quality of the EO. Generally it does take less, about half, as much EO as a Fragrance oil in a recipie. But like anything they are all different I suppose. But I think half is the general rule. I can't answer to why some recipies would call for the same amount. You can use EO's for their 'health' qualities as well as some for their scent. You are basicly right- EO's are natural. FO's are akin to perfume in that they are man made and built on a chemical base. An FO can have EO's in it... but it's still an FO if it's less than 100% natural. Confused yet?Like I said, you are on the right track. Just remember not to take everything you read in a recipie as fact. Often they aren't tried and true. Look around this site and try to pick up on the companies and sites that the experts around here trust. There is a recipie section here that you can pretty much rely on.And one more thing.... careful about the F and the O.... it can also mean flavor oil which is the only thing safe for lips and anything edible. Btw... welcome to the board.:smiley2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmadness Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Also, just using EO limits you to what scents that you can achieve. If you opt to use FO you can get any scent that you want. When you are first using EO there is a bit of getting used to... IMO- because EO are derived from the plant, flower, root etc. they can have that very natural, earthy smell to them. Some people like it, some do not. I think that a lot of us use both. I have some soaps that are scented with ONLY EO's and some with FO. It just depends on what you want and/or your customer base. Plus, some EO are VERY, VERY expensive because it takes a lot of the actual living plant, etc. to make the oil.FYI- just be careful when marketing EO soaps. IMO- never make a claim about the 'healing' powers, etc. Plus, it is debatable if you really get any kind of health benefits from EO when using them in soap because of the process.Welcome to the board...Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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