Natural Vanilla – Does it hold up in CP soap?
I have to ask because I don’t know the answer yet. I got my Vanille EO blend from Essential Oil University on Monday (which is no longer in business), and the only thing I’ve been confident enough to use it in is the Hand & Body Lotion. Made a new batch of Grapefruit Parfait since that seems to be the favorite one right now: natural vanilla + grapefruit & orange essential oils = heavenly!
But the real question I have is whether it will stick in cold-processed soap. This stuff isn’t cheap, so I don’t want to waste it! The only CP soap made with natural vanilla that I’ve had the pleasure to experience is Dreaming Tree Soapworks Voluptas. It’s absolutely perfect. But then I’ve also been reading that natural vanillas don’t tend to stick. I don’t need Meghan to give away her secrets, but I would like some general guidelines from anyone who has used a natural vanilla blend in soap. How much to use per pound of soap, that sort of thing.
Anyone?
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We’ve tried it in HP soap and it burned off. It’s just SO full of alcohol. I want to try it again with letting the soap cool more before putting in the vanilla and see if that works. That one you named in your post – are you sure the fragrance is from the natural vanilla? She says she uses two vanillas in the soap, but then lists “fragrance” as an ingredient, which seems to say it’s not naturally scented.
@Larissa – Yep, I’m pretty sure. Fragrance can still mean essential oils – especially if you don’t want to reveal your blend. 😉
I use a 10fold vanilla absolute that does hold up in CP, but you have to use quite a lot! You can try to up the ‘vanilla’ scent by adding honey and unrefined cocoa butter though.
Yes,Vanilla does stick in cp. I make a Vanilla/Patchouli blend that is fabulous – just know that it will discolor to a darker brown.
Also Amy, I recommend to use it as part of a blend. I think it smells best as part of a blend rather than on it’s own. Vanilla also has a thicker viscosity so it will tend to sink to the bottom of your container make sure you use a spatula to get it all into your soap batch.
@Erin – Wow, that sounds pretty fabulous! Great suggestions!
@Michele – This vanille blend is already a dark brown, so I suspected it would discolor. I’m hoping my lotions don’t turn brown over time. 🙁
Hey Amy,
what I’m going to say might have nothing to do with your question 😛 but I remember reading somewhere in a soap forum that there’s no such thing as vanilla essential oil, and to create that warm foody scent, “you can try other naturally extracted essential oils that have a balsamic note, which is in the same family as vanilla. Peru balsam, Labdanum, Benzoin, and some amber resins will fit in this category.” (<– I copied this line from the forum.) hope that helps!
@Maggie – You’re right, the description for the product I purchased says, “The Vanilla Replacer is a natural blend containing absolutes, resins and other plant extracts. It resembles vanilla absolute in viscosity, aroma and color.”
This isn’t going to help with your question, but…I have a Vanilla Soap by Blaull (reviewed soaper) and he uses a natural Vanilla blend like Maggie wrote about. The soap is bitter chocolate brown, deep deep brown. Not a problem, but it washes off/ bleeds brown as well. Not nice at all. I, too, think that Vanilla is best used in blending and performs real nice there, but on its own…? There are some delicious Vanilla FOs and that’s beside the point 😉
Like others have said, it will hold up in CP. Any essential oils you blend need an anchor, or base note, to hold the scent longer. Vanilla type blends work well, although if it doesn’t have a base, you’ll need to add one. This will allow you to use a normal amount of the expensive blend and keep the scent. There may still be vanilla in the blend so be sure to use a vanilla stabilizer to keep the browning under control. I have an Irish Cream soap that is a nice tan color, but I used the stabilizer to prevent it from changing colors over time. Good luck!
With out getting into my super secret blend, first I’ll clarify; in ingredients we use the term fragrance for our blends to protect our trade secret. I use a blend of phylalate free fos, essential oils, resins, absolutes, co 2s, and certified natural fos which I work with a local manufacturer to produce.
The key to having the natural vanilla compound stick is soaping as cool as possible and, preventing gel. Voluptas is also a milk soap so it got extra tricky, I also think the obscene amount of organic unrefined cocoa butter in the recipe helps anchor the scent. Voluptas is also dark, dark dark and i leave it that way. vanilla stabilizers are un reliable with the natural compounds and can alter the scent. Best to just go dark and just roll with it. Hope this helps.
@Meghan – I know you’ve gone to a whole lot of work to create your magnificent Voluptas soap – it was obvious as soon as I took that first whiff! Thanks for sharing your tips – sounds like I need to invest in some organic cocoa butter next! 🙂
I tend to find that, in general, my EO’s hold better if I use clays in my CP soaps. I have not tried using vanilla yet as it is so expensive. I also agree with what others have said about it being part of a blend rather than on its own. Best wishes 🙂
@Jodie – Great tip about the clay! I will definitely remember that!
Clays are good for holding scent up to a point and even then its best to go with scents that have staying power to begin with.
Clay in shaving soaps are superb! The one I make gives me the best shaves I’ve ever had. My razors last longer too.
Another one to add for scent holding would be dead sea mud, I’ve used patchouli and honeysuckle with it and it held well.
What I want to know and desperately too, is an absolute stronger in scent than it’s counterpart essential oil, for example rose geranium.
I’ve bought hand made soaps in the past, one of which was vanilla and strawberry, and the scent was so strong, it was the only thing you could smell went you went in to the bathroom! It lasted and lasted, and I’ve been wanting to know how its done for years!!!!! Some people buy soap’s for fragrance alone, and I can’t bring myself to believe that these people put far more scent(essential oils,absolutes or whatever it is) than I can imagine! Il use up to 4%, minimum is 2%, l wouldn’t put more as the scents can have side effects in large amounts. So how do I get a really smelly bar of soap that’s safe to use and can be smelt on your hands and face an hour or so later?
@Jones – Good question! The truth is, different scents will linger on skin more than others. I wish I had a list of which ones stick better than others. I do know that patchouli is one that will cling to skin, hair, or anything else for hours and hours. It has something to do with the rate of evaporation, and the base notes (there are top, middle and base) evaporate the slowest. That’s why a good fragrance blend has a combination of all three. The top notes evaporate fastest and are the first thing you smell, then the middle, then the base. Maybe do a search on base notes and essential oils and see what you get. I’m assuming you are looking for all-natural scents.