Help with essential oils

[samandkennasmom]

Hi Al,

I would like to try making some melt & pour soap using essential oils, I was looking on wsp site and they have quite a few already mixed up oils that I like. One of them was basil, sage, and mint, the other one that kinda interested me is a headache one the have since I have them daily. It's headache natural eo. The question I have and I think it's a pretty dumb one, but how do you know how much to use per pound? I hope someone can help me out soon, I really want to try it out. Do they have good oils? Thanks for all the help any can give me.

Hugs

Michele

[prairieannie]

With essential oils you normally would use about half as much as you would a fragrance oil. They are almost always stronger. That's the rule of thumb I've always used, and it's worked well for me. Your mileage may vary though..... you may run across a few that won't be as strong.

[Noodle]

I have never had any luck with half the amount of EO's in comparison to FOS. I have used various companies for my oils too. I think that you will just have to play around and see what works for you.

[samandkennasmom]

Hi,

So has anyone had to use the same amount of essential oil as fragrance oil or would that be not right because of the cost involved in the eo's? Thanks so much

Hugs

Michele

[Candybee]

I sometimes use lavender, sandalwood, and lemon EOs in my M&P. Frankly I add enough til I get the right fragrance strength I am looking for. I use anywhere from 1-2 tsp per lb. If its not particurly strong enough (like sandalwood) I also try to pair it with a like FO.

You can also use extracts besides EOs and FOs. I use extracts like vanilla and lemon at about the same strength as EOs. So for example if you can't find a peach EO, try a peach extract.

[asheebeans]

I think WSP offers useage recommendations as far as percentages go for EO's. It may be under their Resource Library....I can't remember offhand but pretty sure they have the info listed.