Neem Oil/Acne Bar

[salli]

Has anyone worked with neem oil in a cp soap? Is there something that disguises the smell? I'm thinking of doing an acne bar with neem oil for my son, but I need to figure out how to make it smell better.

TIA

Salli

[Christina]

It's pretty hard to mask the smell of neem oil...especially when used at a high percentage in soap (like 10%). I've used it a lot in soaps (I have a client who orders all her soap with neem and shea in it). Used in small amounts it's no problem. I used quite a bit once, and had to use a LOT of fragrance oil to cover it up. The soap was quite mushy for a long time (kind of spongy, weird). But, I just left it and after almost double the time of regular curing, it was nice and hard and bubbled well. I couldn't smell the neem either. I used a spicey smell as well, just so you know.

Christina

[salli]

Christina, would neem and shea work well together for an acne bar? I was also thinking of using lavender, rosemary and sage as fragrance since they are also good for acne. Do you think those eo's would cover the neem smell?

[doris]

I make a neem oil bar, and just live with the smell. Mind you, I don't really mind the smell of neem oil to begin with. If you want to mask it, I would go for something super-strong: tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus... I also find that the smell changes slightly in the finished bar, for the better.

[ChrisR]

I use Patchouli EO (also good for acne) and Lavender EO in my neem bars and the teens love it!!

[Meridith]

I never use over 5% in my face and shampoo soaps because of the smell. I find that at a lower percentage that smell will mellow with the cure and not be as bad.

[SOAPFREAK]

I use 5% neem with lavender and tea tree