I have more photos for our Fragrance Testing Series! This is a long series of blog posts that will show the testing of our fragrances in Cold Process Soap. We are testing ALL the fragrances in our catalog at their maximum recommended usage rate for Cold Process Soap and showing you pictures of what the finished soaps look like in a side by side comparison with an unscented control batch. Since these fragrances were tested at their maximum recommended usage rate, I wouldn’t recommend using more fragrance! These soaps are strongly scented and will smell much stronger when wet!
| Our first fragrance today in Cold Process Soap is Patchouly. According to our catalog, Patchouly is “a strong, exotic, earthy scent with just a touch of spice. Combine with a little sandalwood and jasmine to create a little “flower power” of your own.” In this batch of soap we used the maximum suggested usage rate of fragrance and in this soap it is definitely a heavy scent with a strong earthy and spice scent. This fragrance is one of our favorites for blending with almost anything!
There was not any discoloration of note and this means you can make the swirl you have always been dreaming of without worrying about the fragrance causing discoloration. We used the maximum suggested usage rate of 2.5%, which is 0.4 ounces of fragrance in our 1 pound test batch. |
 Patchouly scented soap on the left and control on the right. |
 Sandalwood scented soap on the left and control on the right. |
Our second fragrance in Cold Process Soap is Sandalwood. According to our catalog, Sandalwood is “a fragrance that works well in combinations. It gives a stable base note to higher, more volatile oils, such as orange essential. Use it on it’s own to give a woodsy, down to earth scent.” This sandalwood fragrance has a smooth rich woodsy scent. A very earthy and calming aroma.
There was not any discoloration of note and this means you can make any colored swirl without worrying about the fragrance causing discoloration. We used the maximum suggested usage rate of 2.5%, which is 0.4 ounces of fragrance in our 1 pound test batch. |
| Our third fragrance in Cold Process Soap is Creamy Chai Tea. According to our catalog, Creamy Chai Tea “has an herbal aroma with spices of ginger, nutmeg and clove. This tea scent of oxidizing tea leaves (often called fermenting) blends in a vanilla note to round out the spices and tea. We think you will love it!” Creamy Chai Tea a soft blend of herbal tea and spices. What a happy fragrance, now I’m craving a Chai Tea Latte!
There was not any discoloration of note and this means you can make any color swirl without worrying about the fragrance causing discoloration. We used the maximum suggested usage rate of 2.5%, which is 0.4 ounces of fragrance in our 1 pound test batch. |
 Creamy Chai scented soap on the left and control on the right. |
 Honey Harvest scented soap on the left and control on the right. |
Our fourth fragrance in Cold Process Soap is Honey Harvest. According to our catalog, Honey Harvest is “a special blend of notes which have become much desired commodity in this place! Warm beeswax, fresh honey, hints of almond and oatmeal make this scent different from the rest. Our version of L’Occitane’s Honey Harvest is certainly sweeter since it’s ready for soaps” A sweet honey scent that gives a fresh comfy aroma.
There is a minimal discoloration of note a soft pale barely there tan. We think this is a lovely color for a honey scented soap! We used the maximum suggested usage rate of 2.5%, which is 0.4 ounces of fragrance in our 1 pound test batch. |
| Our fifth and last fragrance for today in Cold Process soap is Romantic Wish type. According to our catalog, Romantic Wish type “is an orange, apple and pear top note fragrance. It is complemented by jasmine, lily and sweet melon, with a base note of sensual musk.” This is one of my favorite fragrances, this soap has a elegant fruity and floral scent.
There was not any discoloration of note and this means you can make that swirl you have always been dreaming of without worrying about the fragrance causing discoloration. We used the maximum suggested usage rate of 2.5%, which is 0.4 ounces of fragrance in our 1 pound test batch. |
 Romantic Wish scented soap on the left and control on the right. |
Thank you for joining us today! We will be releasing more pictures as we continue testing soaps. If there is a fragrance you would like to see, let us know and we will put it at the top of our list!
Here are the details about our test batches before we added any fragrances!
| Ingredients Hydrogenated Soybean Oil Coconut Oil Olive Oil Shea Butter Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) Water |
Equipment Scale Microwave Safe Container Spoons Pipettes Immersion Blender Soap Mold |
Recipe:
| Recipe in Grams 170 grams Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 142 grams Coconut Oil 113 grams Olive Oil 29 grams Shea Butter 64 grams Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) 177 mL Water |
Recipe in Ounces 6 oz Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 5 oz Coconut Oil 4 oz Olive Oil 1 oz Shea Butter 2.26 oz Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) 6 fl oz Water |
Recipe in Percentages 37.5% Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 31.25% Coconut Oil 25% Olive Oil 6.25% Shea Butter Q.S. Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) Q.S. Water |
Our temperatures for lye and oils are between 125°F and 130°F to handle our currently cool weather. We make our soap with a 6% superfat. All of the batches we make are mixed to light trace and then the fragrance is added. After the fragrance is added we mix until the fragrance is incorporated and then we pour into the mold.
How soon after making are you taking your photos? I made a batch with Honey Harvest last week and it was amazingly light. Today it is a medium tan.
We photo about 5-10 days after making the soap. You may get a different color if you use different base oils or you use a different amount of fragrance than we did in our testing. Were your fixed oils different?
Tina
Hmmm. Interesting. I did use a different recipe but it’s one of my standard ones and one for which I have a sample with no fragrance or color. I don’t mind the darker shade since I wasn’t trying to color it. But it did surprise me with such a dramatic change after being so light the first couple days. The scent is lovely and sweet and appears to be holding nicely. Thanks for answering!
Hi,
Just made about 30 ounces of soap, added about 1.3 ounces of Romantic Wish and stirred. Walked away for a few minutes to get my colorants, came back and had a bowl filled with solid soap! EPIC SEIZE! Not sure if it was the FO or that I water discounted or added 1 tsp Kaolin Clay (in .4 ounces of water).
So, to save the soap it is now in the crock pot and, hopefully, we will enjoy some awesome smelling Hot Process Romantic Wish soap soon! (I added 1 ounce of distilled water to the crock pot.)
Just an FYI…
thanks for all your support,
Jodi
Jodi,
We base our fragrance calculations on the amount of fat in the
batch of soap only. Did you have 30 ounces of fat? Or is this to
be 30 oz of finished soap?
What is the amount of water you used? Water is a vehicle for
making sure your soap is made properly. Discounting the amount
of water excessively can lead to seizing.
Hi Taylor,
The 30 ounces was for soap (about 21 ounces of oils were used). I just did the math on your fragrance calculator and the max amount should have been .63 ounces!! Wow, I used double that because I was using my standard (strong) amount of 1 ounce of FO per pound of oils’s… which is 1.3 ounces. Hmmm…
I have been experimenting with water to lye ratios between 1.8:1 and 2.0:1 with much success. Yesterday, for this batch, I used 1.8:1. Another FO was used for the same exact combination of oils and water/lye ratio and that batch did not seize.
My thought is that too much of the Romantic Wish Fragrance Oil was used and caused the seize. Do you agree?
I wish I could post a picture of how pretty the soap came out after hot processing. Maybe it’s what I was meant to do! LOL
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Jodi
Jodi,
The excess fragrance is certainly a problem. I think scaling back is a great thing!
Plan on the water being a certain amount of the fats, not the lye.
This is why we base the fragrances on the weight of the oils only as well.
One pound of oils always one pound. You may call it 16 oz, or 454 grams,
but it is still 1 pound.
Lye Calculations:
Your 1 lb batch is 16 oz of Coconut Oil Fractions. You need 3.68 ounces
of lye. With your calculations you will use 6.62 to 7.36 ounces of water, probably
more than you need for an adequate batch.
Your next batch is 16 oz Lanolin. You need 1.14 oz of lye.
With your calculations you will use 2.05 to 2.28 ounces of water, FAR below
what you need.
If you based your water on a non-variable (the fats) then you would be
consistent from batch to batch. This would limit the exposure for potential failure.
OK, so before you freak out that my examples are single oils and not a
variety of oils, I want to remind you that people love olive oil soaps. They are
single oils. The key to successful soap making is know what is a variable and what is a
constant.
Good luck!
Thank you so much, Taylor, for your explanation. I really thought that it was better to put in the lye/water ratio, but I can totally see how using the water to oils percentage is better. That said, how low can one go? Looking at my recent batches, the water to oils ratio is between 25% and 29% – other than the 1 batch seizing they all performed well. How low have you gone on this ratio? 20% or less?
I would not consider 25% for our location but this is the lowest I could
recommend for very humid locations. I think 38% saves your behind
like no other. Our Lye Calculator uses 37.5% as the high. I never go
below this when making soap. The trend to go lower will evaporate
one day, just like the trend for straight hair. When we started making
soap we used 50%. I think this makes a wetter bar and works extremely
well in areas with very low humidity. If you are in a swamp, I think
37.5 (or an easier calculation of 38) is much better.