moon01945 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hi!I am a toal newbie to soaping. But after completing my first batch last night I am toally hooked! Because of my schedule at the moment (work, kids, house) I am looking for this to be a hobbie for me but I would love for it to grow enough where I could start doing craft shows or selling locally. Maybe some day!I have question for those that have been making soaps longer than me (that would be soaping for longer than one day!). Do you prefer EO or FO for CP? and why?I have started collecting a small assortment of EO's for my basic batchs just to get the hang of things. I can see from websites that FO offer more options but I wonder what more experianced soapers have to say on the subject.Also has anyone purchased from --> http://www.essentialwholesale.com/Also I have to tell you all that I have been snooping around these threads for a while and all your posts have inspired me to get organized and start working on my soaps. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousBoutique Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 depends on what I am making. I make a line of EO soaps (Grapefruit, Lavender, lemon-lime, orange, and a Lavender Tea Tree blend, peppermint...) which cater to those of my customers who just want simple, "pure" soap. No color, no additives.. just a good soap recipe and pure EO's. But for "fun" soaps and stronger smelling soaps, I love FO's. I think most have much longer shelf life as far as how long the scent stays strong, and better "wet throw" meaning when the bar gets wet, the scent is stronger. Plus you can make just about any scent in the world with FO's. honestly I love them both. With FO's, I tend to look for ones which I can use in both my soy candles and my B&B, because that saves me money and helps me narrow things down. I am not one for offering hundreds of options.. I prefer to have 20 or less Fo's at any given time that I know are good, consistent sellers. Some accelerate trace so I'm glad I waited until I was a bit more comfortable with soaping to try them... for example my "amazing grace" dupe makes my soap set up FAST.. so fast I sometimes have a hard time getting it out of my bucket and into the mold! Others slow down my trace. Its all just testing, testing, testing. My favorite FO suppliers thus far has been: (make sure the ones you are getting are B&B safe if they are also a candle FO supplier) Candle Science, Snowdrift Farms, Candle Source, Brambleberry (they are in my hometown, great customer service), Majestic Mountain sage (thesage.com) they are in my NEW hometown.. also very nice, Peak Candle supply... You'll find your favorites over time, there are TONS of suppliers out there! Just remember to keep notes on all your FO's so you know which do what.. for example my Buttercream turns my soap DARK chocolate brown, and slightly accelerates trace. If you keep good notes you'll always know what to expect. Good luck! Welcome to your new addiction, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon01945 Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Hi... thanks for the reply!I used EO for my first batch and it came out really good. I am still playing with what recipe I like for a well balanced base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietgirl2004 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I love EO's but theyre so expensive. I use mostly fo's because of cost and because Ive heard that the saponification process lessens the properties of the eo's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitn Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I like to use EO in some soap but FO for most , mainly because of the cost . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adillenal Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I use both. I have a small line of EO soaps and I use lavender EO in a lotion and a whippe shea butter.I use EO's for Mint, Patchouli, Patchouli Mint, Pink Grapefruit, rose geranium, and an herbal blend.The rest are FO's. I have customers that like them all so I try to have something for most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsngarden Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I prefer EO's and have found that if a customer can smell an eo and fo soap side by side they prefer the FO in most cases. Of course mints do very well in EO's, but you have so many more cool options with FO's that you can't even get with EO's!Online, EO's sell well for me (but still not as good as FO's) But there they aren't having a live smell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon01945 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Share Posted January 19, 2010 Thank you for all your feed back!I have some EO's to play with for now. I would like to have a line of EO's soaps. Then I would like to branch into FO's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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