Imagine having a shower after a long day at work, holding a bar of soap that has geranium, rosemary, and cedarwood essential oil. As you slowly inhale, the scent enters your nose, your body starts to relax, the soothing scent slowly relaxes your brain, and your mood shifts.
That’s what I love about my bar soap, which has a sweet floral and woody scent. Let me share with you the science and art of essential oil blending.
Essential oils are the essence or “life force” that comes from the flowers, petals, leaves, roots, bark, resins, seeds, and needles of a plant or tree. These oils are obtained through steam/water distillation or mechanical methods such as cold press or absolute solvent extraction. Traditionally, essential oils are used for medical, emotional, beauty, physical, and religious purposes such as ayurveda, scented baths, and incense burning.
We talk about essential notes like music or wine - we use the term “notes”. The notes help create a synergistic blend using each aroma chord to have a balanced product. The 3 notes are comparable to having leaves - the first note, a trunk - the middle note, and a root - base note
Top Note
First smell to arise that is sharp and penetrating
First scent evaporates first, scent does not linger.
Scents that clear the mind, stimulate thinking and uplift energy.
Middle Note
Holds the top and base note together to provide a rounder scent
Gives the blend softness, fullness and round an edgy aroma.
Scents that are soothing, calming and relaxing.
Base Note
Majority of base notes come from woods, resins, and roots. The scent improves with age.
Scents that provide grounding and support of your blend, reduce evaporation of the top notes.
We’re done with the theory of essential oil, now comes the fun part which is the blending. Here are some key questions to ask when it comes to blending.
Here are some of our scent recommendation
Calming - Lavender, Geranium and Bergamot
Floral Paradise - Rose, Gardenia, Ylang Ylang
Refreshing - Peppermint, Sweet Orange, Juniper Berry
Grounding - Patchouli, Cedarwood, Tea Tree
Our top tip for essential oil blending is to use a maximum of 3 types of essential oil to create a distinctive scent. The best proportion for the essential oil blend is 3 top notes: 2 middle notes: 1 base notes
Have fun experimenting! Stay tuned for our upcoming blog on how essential oils affect your soap.
Happy soap making!💛
Love,
Sugar & Spice
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