Essential oils are a great option for scenting your products naturally. Based on the definition from the International Organization for Standardization, essential oils are defined as “a product obtained from a natural raw material of plant origin, by steam distillation, by mechanical processes from the epicarp of citrus fruits, or by dry distillation, after separation of the aqueous phase — if any — by physical processes.” Click here to read this statement, which is included in their vocabulary of aromatic natural raw materials (ISO/D1S9235.2).
If you prefer to keep your products as natural as possible, essential oils are the way to go. Just like fragrance oils, it’s important to use them properly. Each essential oil has a different usage rate, and depending on what you’re making you’ll need to use a different amount. If too much essential oil is used in a product, it can cause skin irritation. The easiest way to find out how much essential oil is to use the Fragrance Calculator. Simply select what kind of product you’re making, how much you’re making and which essential oil you want to use. The Fragrance Calculator will then give you how much you can safely use in your product. For example, below you can see how much lemongrass essential oil is safe for 48 ounces of cold process soap.
One important note about the Fragrance Calculator: For fragrance oils, the calculator uses the usage rates recommended by IFRA (International Fragrance Association). For essential oils, there is no official IFRA usage rate. When calculating usage rates for essential oils, the Fragrance Calculator uses rates dependent on our tests and crafting experience. Just like most ingredients used in bath and beauty products, the usage rates may vary on personal preference. If you like to err on the side of caution, I recommend using the “light” suggested usage rate for essential oils. Then, I recommend making small test batch to make sure you enjoy the scent, and it does not irritate your skin.
But what about if you’re blending several essential oils into one product? How do you safely blend and use several essential oil in one recipe? I’ll share with you my favorite method to safely blend essential oils. I will preface by saying that everybody calculates their blends a little differently. If you use a different method, that’s okay – and, I’d love to hear how you do it. It’s all about personal preference, safety and what you’re comfortable with in your products.
For this example, let’s say we are using 10x orange essential oil, litsea essential oil and clove leaf essential oil in 48 ounces of cold process soap. If you’d also like to learn about blending fragrances, check out the Fragrance Oil Blending Tips post. While that blog post focuses on blending fragrance oils, the same tips and tricks also apply to essential oils.
The fundamentals of blending fragrance and essential oils are very similar. Check out the Fragrance Oil Blending Tips post for more info.
First, I always recommend doing a little bit of research about the properties of the essential oils you’re using. For example, clove leaf essential oil is a well-known skin irritant and skin sensitizer when applied directly to the skin. For this reason, I generally don’t recommend using it at all in leave-on products, like lotion. However, it is suitable for cold process soap, which is washed off. 10x orange essential oil is a photosensitizer, which means it can cause skin to become more sensitive to the sun when used in leave-on products. But because we are using it for cold process soap, no worries there. Litsea essential oil has no major skin concerns.
Once I know that each essential oil is suitable for my project, it’s time to blend. First, I like to find out the maximum usage rate for each oil for the total amount of soap. In this case, that is 48 ounces of cold process soap. Below are the Fragrance Calculator Results for each oil in my blend:
10x Orange Essential Oil Usage Rate for 48 ounces Cold Process Soap:
Clove Leaf Essential Oil Usage Rate for 48 ounces Cold Process Soap:
Litsea Essential Oil Usage Rate for 48 ounces Cold Process Soap:
As you can see, the maximum usage rate for listea and clove essential oil is 1.44 ounces. The maximum usage rate for 10x orange essential oil is 2.4 ounces. So, for this batch of soap, I don’t want to use more than 1.44 ounces of either the listea or clove essential oils in my blend. The total amount of essential oil that would be safe for this blend would be 2.4 ounces, which is the maximum usage rate for 10x orange essential oil. Once I decide how much clove and litsea I’d like to add to the blend, subtract that amount from 2.4 ounces.
Let’s say I want to use .5 ounces of clove leaf essential oil and 1 ounce of litsea, which equals 1.5 ounces. If my total blend can equal up to 2.4 ounces, that means I can add up to .9 ounces of 10X orange essential oil. If I want to use more orange essential oil, I need to decrease the amount of litsea or clove leaf. Using this method, I know that I will be using less than the maximum usage rate for each oil. If I were to use a 1:1:1 ratio, I would use .8 ounces of each oil which equals 2.4 ounces of essential oil total.
What if you want to use 1.2 ounces of litsea and 1.2 ounces of clove? Each of these amounts are below their max usage rate, but that equals 2.4 ounces which does not allow for any 10x orange essential oil in the blend. This is where a little bit of personal preference comes in. If you feel comfortable adding more orange essential oil to the blend, that is up to you but that is a lot of essential oil and way, way more than normal formulating rules would suggest.
Personally, I always like to be on the super safe side and use less rather than more. Everybody’s skin reacts to essential oils (and any other bath and beauty product) differently. If somebody is more sensitive, the max amount of the usage rate for all of the essential oils may not work well for their skin. After all, that is a lot of essential oil for one batch of soap! The Fragrance Calculator gives the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) suggested usage rates for fragrance oils, and my suggested usage rates for essential oils. I recommend staying within these guidelines, but doing your own tests to find out what amount of essential oil works best for you. A small test batch is really helpful. If you notice any skin irritation at all, you can reduce the essential oil amount for your next batch.
If you’re looking for more information on essential oils and how to safely use them in your products, check out the blog posts below!
The Truth About Vanilla Essential Oil
Undiluted Aroma Oils + Plastic Don’t Mix
Sunday Night Spotlight: Hungarian Lavender Essential Oil
Sunday Night Spotlight: Peppermint Essential Oil
Sunday Night Spotlight: Orange Essential Oil
Hello Kelsey,
I am a novice soaper (just made my first batch) and the essential oil addition really baffles me. I am a long time user of Young Living Essential Oils and have used them in my lotion and lotion bars for many years. For a batch of lotion bars, which would be about the same amount as a smallish batch of soap, I use 4-6 DROPS of lavender, 4-6 DROPS of sweet orange, and 8-10 DROPS of thieves blend. All the essential oils amounts I have found for soaps are in the order of 1.5 oz, or 3 tbsp, etc. I feel like I am missing something HUGE. If I used those amounts in my lotion bars, not only would I irritate people’s skin horribly, but I would have to charge 10 times the amount I do now. A 0.5 oz bottle of YLEO can cost $20-40 at wholesale prices. What am I missing? Are the essential oils sold at Bramble Berry diluted into a carrier oil? I want to use only the purest of EO’s and I can’t find any details about the Bramble Berry ones. I’d appreciate any info you can share with me!
Thanks so much for being here for all of us soapers!
MacLaren
Our essential oils are pure. Many come from local sources, so we’re able to keep the prices lower. Learn more about them here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/our-essential-oil-philosophy/
If you find that your recipe only needs a few drops of essential oil, you can stick with those amounts. The scent guidelines we provide are suggestions, so feel free to use less than that. We just don’t recommend going over as that can cause skin irritation.
Hi!
I try to make some essential oil blends using the 30-50-20 Rule in order to incorporate them in my CP soaps. Do i have to change my ratios in the blend to match the limits in your calculator or can i keep my ratios as they are?
Thank you very much!
You can keep those ratios the same, just make sure they add up to the “Strong” suggestion on the Fragrance Calculator without going over. 🙂
Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you very much gor your assistance!
One other thing,
Why cannot i use 2.4 ounces of orange, 1.4 oz of litsea and 1.4 oz of clove (that means 5.2 total oz of oils)?
Why do i have to consider 2.4 oz (the oz of orange) as a limit for all of my oils?
How do i determine the total amount of oils that go into a recipe that i use/make?
If too much essential oil is used in a product, it can cause skin irritation. We recommend using no more than the max usage rate for your products to avoid any potential irritation. Find out how to determine that max usage rate in the post above. You can see screenshots of how to find it. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thank you very much for your comment!
I’m making sugar scrubs but didn’t see it listed on the Fragrance calculator. Can I use the same amount that were given for salts?
Yep, the Salts category works for sugar scrubs too!
Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I’m new to cold process soap making. So far I’ve only used recipes I’ve found online. I want to make my own scent blends. If I understand you, I should find out the maximum essential/fragrance oil to use in my soap for each scent. Use the highest maximum as the amount of EO/FO to use in my batch. Also, when the fragrance calculator asked for the amount of soap, do I use the amount of oils (in ounces) or the total amount of soap?
That is correct! You don’t want to exceed the “Strong” suggestion on the Fragrance Calculator. So, if the highest usage rate is 2 ounces, you can do any combination of scents that adds up to 2 ounces, just don’t use 2 ounces for each so it adds up to 4 or 6. Also the Fragrance Calculator is based on the total weight of your soap, including oils, water and lye. 🙂
Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I can’t seem to find information about what essential oils blend well with lemon and will hold the scent. I read about Peppermint and Lemon, Rosemary and Lemon, or Lemon with another citrus being nice blends but what essential oils actually will help the lemon essential oil hold it’s scent? I want to do a Lemon poppy seed soap or a lemonade soap (cold processed) and use only essential oils. If I used Lemon and Lime essential oils would the two citrus scents hold each other or would they both fade? I don’t really want to do Lemon and Peppermint or Lemon and Rosemary. Thank you.
Scents that help “anchor” citrus essential oils are earthy, deep and complex. Some good options are lemongrass, patchouli, frankincense and cedarwood. They give you a nice balance of citrusy and earthy. 🙂
Lemongrass essential oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Lemongrass-Essential-Oil-P3822.aspx
Patchouli essential oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Patchouli-Essential-Oil-P3420.aspx
Frankincense essential oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Frankincense-Essential-Oil-P6707.aspx
Cedarwood essential oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Cedarwood-Essential-Oil-P4897.aspx
Learn more about preventing scent fading here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-prevent-scent-fading-in-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
What happens when you combine multiple citrus together like lemon, lime, grapefruit, etc.? I’m trying to get a more lemon/lemonade scent and not an earthy scent. Thank you!
Because the citruses are all lighter, they will fade in cold process soap. The deeper, earthier note is what locks them into place. You may like 10X Orange! It’s super concentrated so it sticks well in cold process soap. 🙂
10X Orange: https://www.brambleberry.com/Orange-10X-Essential-Oil-P4441.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi, I have read the post about fragrance oil and essential oil, but I still have a question. Could I mix fragrance oil with essential oil? I have a fragrance oil that I not quite like, and would like to mix it with orange essential oil. Is that ok? Or it will do some harmful things?
Thank you
You can definitely do that! Essential and fragrance oils smell really nice together. Just make sure to not add more than the strong recommendation on the Fragrance Calculator. 🙂
Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi,
I wanted to know something about essential oils. In the soaps that I make, i give it a curing time of about 6-8 weeks. But over time, once the soaps have cured, the smell of the soaps reduces a lot or even goes away completely. I am adding a high amount of essential oil. If i add any more, then i end up accelerating the soap so fast to the point that it solidifies in my vessel only. But i am not satisfied with the smell. Is there any way by which i can improve the smell? Maybe a change in the process or something like that.
Also, i store different soaps in separate cabinets, to make sure that the smells dont mix or kill each other. Is there something that i can do here also to improve the smell? Or atleast make it last longer?
Thanks
Certain essential oils can fade in cold process soap, especially citrus oils. What are you using in your recipe? Let me know and I’ll help you troubleshoot. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
So, I use 9 different oils in my soaps. They are
Lime Essential Oil
Orange Essential Oil
Rose Essential Oil
Basil Essential Oil
Lavender Essential Oil
Patchouli Essential Oil
Jasmine Essential Oil
Coffee Essential Oil
Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Thanks
Citrus essential oils like lime and orange do fade, so it helps to pair those with an “anchor” scent like patchouli or coffee. As for the other scents, those should stay pretty strong in soap. I’m wondering if you may need to use more. You can use our Fragrance Calculator to find out how much to add: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
Get more tips here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-prevent-scent-fading-in-soap/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi!
I know this post was written a while ago, but I have a question about using essential oils. I’m making a sugar scrub that will be have grapefruit essential oil in it. I’ve read that grapefruit oil should be diluted at 4%… the sugar scrub I’m making is about 8oz, though mostly sugar (it’s a pretty dry scrub), with a little bit of coconut oil. Is the 4% dilution to be based on the entire 8oz product, or only the amount of carrier oil that’s in the product? I’m concerned about using too much, because I’ve read grapefruit essential oil can be phototoxic. Thank you!
Thank you!
The 4% will be based on the total weight of the scrub, including sugar. The essential oil will be diluted and also used in a wash off product, meaning it will be safe on the skin. We don’t recommend citrus essential oils for leave on products as they are photosensitizers, but they’re fine for wash off products like scrubs and soap!
You can also use our Fragrance Calculator to find out how much to add: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
The Fragrance Calculator is based on up-to-date IFRA (International Fragrance Association) guidelines. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi Kelsey!
Thanks so much for your quick reply! Sorry to clarify with another…
The sugar scrub I am making is a combination of sugar, oats, coconut oil, and grapefruit essential oil… so, since there isn’t really any “cleanser”, would it still be safely considered a “wash off” product since, with oil based scrubs, the oils tend to stay on your skin even after you’ve left the shower?
Thanks again! I used the calculator and made a batch today 😀
That’s a great point! Because there is no cleanser and the oil tends to stay on your skin, I think skipping the citrus essential oil is a good idea. It may not cause a problem, but it’s best to be extra careful and avoid any irritation. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi, I’m new to soap making, I’m starting with melt and pour. I have a 4 animal mold: elephant, hippo, lion, & giraffe. I want the end result to be gentle, natural, and appealing to moms and children. My plan is to use the goatmilk soap base. For color, use indigo for the elephant and hippo, use dried calendula for the lion and giraffe. Are there any essential oils you would recommend that would appeal to parents and children? I was going to use lavender, but there is concern regarding little boys and lavender.
Spearmint or peppermint are popular among children and parents! They give the soap a lovely refreshing smell. 🙂
Spearmint essential oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Spearmint-Essential-Oil-P3821.aspx
Peppermint essential oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Peppermint-Essential-Oil-1st-Distill-P3828.aspx
Another great one is 10X Orange. It smells citrusy and also adds a natural orange hue to your soap: https://www.brambleberry.com/Orange-10X-Essential-Oil-P4441.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
So if I am making a large batch of lavender cold process and the fragrance calculator calls for 4 oz lavender but then I want to add/blend with tea tree oil (which for the same amount of soap also call for 4 oz) I would do 2 oz of each NOT 4 oz of each correct?
Thanks!
Also what could you do if you over scented a batch? Would you re-batch it somehow?
Hi Emily!
That is correct! The 4 ounces is the total amount, so both essential oils will need to add up to that. That could be 3 ounces lavender 1 ounce tea tree, or 2 and 2, etc. 🙂
You can rebatch the soap if it has too much essential oil. I would recommend rebatching it with an unscented soap to help dilute the scent. Learn how to rebatch soap here: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/soap-queen-tv-presents-how-to-make-rebatch-soap-2/
If you don’t have soap on hand, you can use our Rebatch Bases: https://www.brambleberry.com/Rebatch-Bases-C14.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I am reading about safe dilutions of essential oils like 1% for pregnant women, 2% for average adults, etc. what do these numbers mean? and do these numbers apply to amounts for cold-processed and liquid soaps? Do your calculators reflect these percentages?
Hi Shannon!
The usage rates for essential oils are usually based on International Fragrance Association guidelines. For instance, cinnamon essential oil can cause irritation at higher levels, so it has a lower usage rate. That can help prevent skin irritation. The IFRA guidelines are what our Fragrance Calculator usage rates are based on: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
The usage rates will be different for soap, lotion, etc. The calculator has a drop down menu so you can choose those options. 🙂
For pregnant women, the usage rates may be a bit different. Certain essential oils are not recommended during pregnancy. You can read more about that here: https://www.soapqueen.com/personal-ramblings/keeping-the-bramble-bump-safe-2/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi, I am new to soaping-
If I want both essential oils and fragrance oils or extracts in my soap, do I calculate them separately? Following your example, you would add in that 2.4 ounces of essential oils, and then calculate just for fragrance or extracts and add that on top of the essential oils?
Do all these additives have anything to do with the superfat calculation when creating a recipe? Thanks.
Hi Nava!
For a fragrance and essential oil blend, you’ll want to add the total amount suggested for essential oil. So, if the Fragrance Calculator strong recommendation for essential oil is 2.4, that’s the total amount. That could be a mix of 1 ounce fragrance, 1.4 ounce essential oil, etc.
For extracts, we recommend about 1 teaspoon per pound of soap. That is in addition to the fragrance oil! Read more about extracts here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/sunday-night-spotligh-extracts/
Both fragrance and extracts are considered additives and not calculated in the superfat level. If you’re worried about the batch getting a bit too soft, you can decrease your superfat level slightly. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Superfatting Soap: An Explanation: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/superfatting-soap-an-explanation-2/
Hi there. This is terrific information! I want to check…in your example with 48 ounces of cold process soap being entered into the calculator, is this the amount of oils/butters AND water AND lye or just the amount of oils/butters? Thanks for your help! 🙂
Hi Traci! The amount entered in the Fragrance Calculator is the total weight of the soap, including oils, water and lye. 🙂
Fragrance Calculator: http://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi guys
Just wondering if you have any info on essential oils that are safe for dog soaps? I have been approached by a pet label who wants to engage me to design and manufacture two dog soaps with essential oils. I heard cedarwood, lavender, citronella, eucalyptus, peppermint and sweet orange are all okay. But I can’t find a reliable resource to confirm this and I am feeling nervous ha 😀😀😀
Hi Amanda!
Congratulations Amanda, that is so awesome! I know dogs are sensitive to certain foods and essential oils, like citrus essential oils. Before using any in your products, I would recommend talking with a veterinarian about which ones are safe to use. 🙂
The ASPCA has some great information on that as well! You can find out more here: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi,
Thankyou so much for the fabulous information. Just wondering can I use the same calculations in hot process soap.
Thankyou
Christine
Hi Christine!
You’re welcome, glad you enjoy the post! Also, you can use the same calculations for hot process soap. Just select “Cold Process” from the Fragrance Calculator drop down menu. 🙂
Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Great article! But as to the comment, “The total amount of essential oil that would be safe for THIS blend would be 2.4 ounces…”, I have some questions.
How did you determine that number?
And wouldn’t it be different if it were some OTHER blend?
Or is ANY EO figured at a max of .8 oz., since this is a 3-lb. batch? (3 x .8 = 2.4 oz.) I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around that. 🙂
Hi Patricia!
That is correct, that number will be a bit different for each blend, and for your recipe! The best way to find out exactly how much to use is with our Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx
For this blend, you can use up to 2.4 ounces of orange. However, you can only use 1.4 of litsea and clove. So, your total number will be 2.4 ounces, but the clove and litsea can’t exceed 1.4 ounces.
As another example, let’s add Peppermint Essential Oil, 1st Distill and Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil to 16 ounces of melt and pour soap. You can add up to .4 ounces of both Peppermint and Lavender. However, if you add .4 ounces of each to the recipe, you will get .8, which is double the amount. That means you can add .2 ounces of Peppermint and .2 ounces of Lavender, or .1 of Peppermint and .3 of Lavender.
Let me know if that makes sense! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hello!
Why cannot i use 2.4 ounces of orange, 1.4 oz of litsea and 1.4 oz of clove (that means 5.2 total oz of oils)?
Why do i have to consider 2.4 oz (the oz of orange) as a limit for all of my oils?
How do i determine the total amount of oils that go into a recipe that i use/make?
Thank you in advance
I love your Fragrance Calculator too! Thank you for updating it recently. And I do everything pretty much the same way as you do. 🙂
So glad you love the Fragrance Calculator Martina! I’m not a fan of math, so I love that it tells you exactly how much to add. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Very informative. Thank you! What I do generally is half and half to give me a total. So I would use half the amount of Litsea and half of Clove leaf…. So it’s pretty similar. How do you tell which oils go best together though?
Thank you Lois, glad you found the post informative!
As for which oils go together, it’s definitely personal preference! We have an amazing blog on blending fragrance oils that talks about how to identify notes in the scents and pair them together: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/fragrance-oil-blending-tips/
That post is on fragrance oils, but the tips apply to essential oils as well. Also, experimenting can definitely help! You can try a couple of blends to see which ones you like best. 🙂
This post also has some great essential oil blend suggestions: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/lori-novas-top-ten-essential-oils-2/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Where would I be without Bramble Berry!! I’ve learned so much from the Soap Queen!!! Thanks Anne Marie! I have to say, I do the same thing as you when blending and I even use a bit less since I have become addicted to Hot Processing soap, I try not to go over .5 oz per pound of any EO since, 1. I’m not a big “scented” person and 2. I want to make sure nothing bothers our skin (we are a very sensitive family!!!) Thanks again for all your amazing information!!!!
You’re welcome Jackie! So glad you find the information helpful. Thank you so much for your super sweet message. We love helping people out, so it means a lot to us. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I always use the fragrance calculator! Its a great tool to have. I don’t do too much serious blending but as Anne Marie says, this is a good reminder to know the properties beforehand and what products they work better with than others. I see product reviews and posts all the time on various sites, particularly where people are touting the fragrance oils they’ve used in their lip balms, which are usually not certified skin or ingestion safe. I hope no one ever gets sick from one of them.
So glad you enjoy the Fragrance Calculator Michael! We definitely felt that was an important tool to have for our customers. Also, we try to provide as much information about the difference between fragrance and flavor oils. Hopefully people find the information helpful! 🙂
Sunday Night Spotlight: Flavoring Oils: http://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/sunday-night-spotlight-flavoring-oils/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
By any chance in the near future will you guys come up with a reverse fragrance calculator? One that you plug in the amount of EO/FO is left in the bottle and it will tell you how much you recipe should be?
Would be oh so nice.
Thanks so much for your suggestion Christy. We’ll definitely keep that in mind for our website! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry