What to Scent Soap

Scenting your soap can be an artistic process in itself, the most natural way to color your soap is by using essential oils, but there are some very nice synthetic oils out there too. Mixing or combining different scents can also produce some wonderful-smelling soaps.



What to scent soap with?  Essential Oils, Fragrance Oils, or a mix of the two?

Essential Oils for scenting soap

Essential oils come from plants, the oils come from the leaves, flowers, petals, twigs, bark, stems, and berries of the plants.  These oils are collected by expression or distilling and some are very expensive because of the large amount of plant material needed to produce the oils.

Where to get Essential Oils




There are many companies out there that offer essential oils for sale.

It is a good idea to source out other soap makers and find out where the best places are to get essential oils.

There are so many suppliers out there and some are not that best.

Some companies will sell better-quality oils than others.

Not all essential oils are the same.  You will find that many of the distributors selling essential oils will require large minimum purchases to get a good price.

I buy my essential oils through a wholesaler, but you are required to have a tax identification number to do so, and the minimum order in dollars is $500.00.

These oils will not last forever so make sure you do not order more than you will use within a year.

Storing Essential Oils

Essential oils are sensitive to light and heat, so it is important to store your essential oils in a cool dark place.

Shelf life can vary for different essential oils, the more expensive ones like sandalwood, rose and jasmine actually improve with age whereas the citrus oils don’t last much longer than a year, some as little as six months.



Fragrance Oils

The fragrance oils are usually less expensive than essential oils and sometimes smell way better.  Those are two reasons why most soap makers will opt for fragrance oils over essential oils and now most of those fragrance oils are paraben-free.

Be aware though, that some fragrance oils will alter your soap.  I found a wonderful Jasmine fragrance, but the bars turned rancid after a few months.  This can happen with some fragrance oils.

Storing Fragrance Oils

Fragrance oils should be stored in tightly closed bottles, these should be dark glass bottles, stored like this they will be good for two or more years.

Essential Oils Scents – what kinds of scents do you like?

There are 7 distinctive essential oils scents, they are:

  1. Citrus
  2. Herbal
  3. Fruit
  4. Green
  5. Woodsy
  6. Evergreen
  7. Floral

Some of the scents that come under these oil scents are:

Citrus, what to scent soapCitrus

  • Petigrain
  • Lime
  • Grapefruit
  • Bergamot
  • Orange
  • Lemon
  • Verbena
  • Tangerine

HerbalHerbal, what to scent soap

  • Sage
  • Fennel
  • Juniper
  • Tarragon
  • Rosemary
  • Dill
  • Coriander
  • Caraway Seed

FruitFruity, what to scent soap

  • Cherry
  • Apple
  • Peach
  • Strawberry
  • Apricot
  • Currant

Woodsy

  • JuniperWoodsy, what to scent soap
  • Rosewood
  • Sandalwood
  • Cedarwood
  • Patchouli

Evergreen

  • Different Pines including:Evergreen, what to scent soap
  • Swiss
  • Mountain
  • Ocean
  • Stone

Floral

  • Iris
  • Apple Blossom
  • Hyacinth
  • LilacForal, what to scent soap
  • Jasmine
  • Rose
  • Geranium
  • Carnation
  • Gardenia
  • Honeysuckle
  • Lavender
  • Ylang-Ylang

Green

  • Violet
  • Basil
  • Cucumber

Follow this link to learn how to color your soap with spices How to Color Soap – Spices, Herbs, Plant Oils

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8 Responses to What to Scent Soap

  1. Dushan says:

    Fantastic idea for boosting the scent of soaps. My wife has been looking for ideas just like this. I’ve found lavender to be very soothing especially if I want to fall asleep.

    Do you have any recommendations for good wholesalers? Amazon is alright but tends to be a little on the expensive side?

  2. audra says:

    This is something I’m interested in doing! I’d really like to make my own soaps, and candles. This is a great stepping stone to kick start me off, starting at the basics to one day be a pro soap maker. I think herbal, and fruits, is the direction I will be following, so thank you, for starting me off on my way.

    • Teresa says:

      your welcome.  Scents are so much fun, i’m glad I was able to help inspire you to make your own products.  I can be so rewarding.

  3. Snow says:

    Hi. This is awesome! I never knew you could scent soap with essential oils. I thought you could only use a specific chemical.

    Do the essential oils still work well for their aromatherapy qualities, once infused in the soap? Does it work out cheaper to make your own soap, or is it cheaper to buy pre made?

    Thanks

    • Tes says:

      Hello Snow, yes I make most of my soaps with essential oils, if you are looking for aromatherapy it’s best to use the essential oils, but you still may benefit to some degree with the natural soap.  Whether handmade soap is cheaper than store bought would depend on what you put in your recipe.  I will say tho that the natural soap is much healthier as you know what is in them and often the store bought brands have chemicals and the lack of natural glycerin.  Natural Soap Making – so you want to start making your own soap

  4. Furkan says:

    I really want to color my soaps naturally since I am allergic to many things so I want to use my won hypoallergenic soap. I think that apple or apricot smell really nice and I am sure that my family will also like them. However how many tubes should I buy?

    • Tes says:

      Hell Furkan, I too am allergic to many things, this is why I started out making my own soap.  Olive oil is gentle to the skin, so I make an olive oil soap, the recipe I use is Soap Making Recipes the first recipe on this page.  This recipe makes approximately 30 bars of soap and to this I add approximately 2 ounces of scent.  Lavender is a good essential oil for sensitive skin.  The Apple or Apricot would be nice, but those would be fragrance oils.  Benefits Lavender Essential Oil 

      Check out this page for where to buy some of your supplies.

      Where to buy soap making supplies

      Happy soaping

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