Buy a full case and the price per unit drops automaticallyRequest a sample
AccountCart0
All ContainersBottlesJarsCaps & ClosuresPumps & SprayersTubs & PailsJugsDroppersTinsTubesAccessories
Industries
Personal CareShop all 934 items →
AromatherapyBathBath →Body careBody care →Color cosmeticsColor cosmetics →DeodorantDeodorant →FragranceFragrance →GroomingHair careLip careLip care →NailNail →Oral careOral care →Skin and faceSkin and face →Soap and washSoapmaking →Sun and protectionSun and protection →
Learn:BathBody careColor cosmeticsDeodorantFragranceLip careNailOral careSkin and faceSoapmakingSun and protectionEverything we have written →
Learn
Beekeeping100Hot sauce making90Jam and preserves96Pickles and ferments64Sauces and condiments36Syrups36Oils and vinegars34Nut butters and spreads33Dairy and alternatives33Coffee and tea36Confection31Resin and casting27Supplement liquids23Laboratory17Dispensing13Photography and darkroom14Industrial chemical14Prepared and deli15Body care14Color cosmetics13Bath14Pet health15Toiletry decanting14Oral care14Capsules and tablets14Nail14Fragrance15Deodorant17Fossils16Janitorial16Baking and dry goods16Seed storage17Specimens16Paint and ink18Automotive fluids18Wax melts17Diffusers17Detailing15Sun and protection18Dish and hand16Soapmaking91Candle making93Beverages92Cleaning products92Lip care89Minerals and rocks93Powders91Skin and face91Spices and seasoning91Findings and components16
All 1,895 pages we have written →
Soapmaking
All Containers›Shop by use case›Soapmaking›The bar itself›Fragrance and essential oilsShop all soap and wash →
The bar itself

Fragrance and essential oils

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated

On this page5

The reason people often buy a handmade bar, and the ingredient most likely to ruin the batch it is added to.

A hostile environment

Soap is alkaline, hot and reacting. Many fragrance compounds do not survive it unchanged.

Which is why a fragrance that smells wonderful in the bottle can be faint, different or absent in the cured bar, and why fragrance sold for soap is formulated differently from fragrance sold for candles or lotion.

Fragrance oils

Synthetic or blended, formulated for the application, and far more stable in soap than most essential oils.

Buy ones stated as suitable for cold process soap and ask the supplier for behavior notes: whether it accelerates, discolors or rices.

Good suppliers publish that, and it is the most useful information about a fragrance you can have.

Essential oils

Natural, expensive, and variable in how they survive.

Some hold well: lavender, peppermint, the citruses less so, patchouli and cedar very well.

Many fade badly, and citrus in particular disappears almost entirely without an anchor.

And usage rates matter: several are irritants above a level, and an essential oil in a wash-off product is still a skin contact.

Behavior is the real question

More important than the scent when you are planning a batch.

Acceleration: some fragrances take a fluid batch to thick trace in seconds, which ends any plan involving a swirl. Florals and spices are the usual offenders.

Ricing: small hard lumps forming through the batch.

Seizing: the batch solidifying in the pot.

Discoloration: vanillin turns soap brown, reliably and sometimes dramatically, and a pale bar scented with a vanilla fragrance will not stay pale.

Test any new fragrance in a small batch before committing it to a production run, and record what it did.

References

No published source. This page is written from practice rather than from published guidance. No extension service or agency publishes on this question for soap, so nothing here is cited, and it should be weighed as experience and not as a standard.
Written from the federal regulation and FDA and CPSC guidance named on each page, not from a laboratory or a legal practice. Whether a particular product and a particular label make exempt soap, a cosmetic or a drug is a determination about your product, and this is not that determination.