Since Essential introduced their new 100% Natural Fragrance Oils, we have been bombarded with questions from soapers around the world asking if these new Aroma Delights would hold up to the soap making process. The short story is that Essential’s new Aroma Delights (100% Natural Fragrance Oils) do not hold up to the lye needed to make cold process soap. I used 9 tsp for a 6 lb batch to no avail- the soap turned out great, but again no fragrance was discernible. None. I actually could see the soap sweat out the fragrance.
The soap was not altered in any way, no change to color or texture and unfortunately, no lovely Lingonberry Fragrance. Melt and pour soaps may work, but that hasn’t been tested yet. That being said, as a well seasoned and experienced soaper myself, I’m confident it is the lye that breaks down the fragrance and not the heat in the process.
The good news is that I also tried these new Aroma Delights in other products. I started with Basic Hair & Body Wash and added the Lingonberry Aroma Delight at 1% and it is lovely, smells amazing! Same for scenting jellies, creams and lotions. Anywhere from 0.5% – 1% scent concentration works well for my nose, some may want to use less and some may want to use more. I was also happy to find that adding these Aroma Delights does not upset the viscosity of these products at the amount I used nor does it make any changes to the base color.
What I am really impressed with is how well the Aroma Delights blend with and highlight Essential Oils! I was not particularly fond of the Luminous Lotion scent, so I added the Lingonberry and to my happy surprise ended up with a nice well rounded medley! I also diffused the Lingonberry and Blueberry Aroma Delights and it does an excellent job with heat under it. The scent seemed to react well to direct heat which is another reason I’m confident it will hold up to Melt & Pour soaps.
I would encourage you to conduct your own experiments and have fun combining different fragrances!
