Essential Oil Notes Explained | Blog | The Soapery (2024)

FAQs

Essential Oil Notes Explained | Blog | The Soapery? ›

Top notes are the first scents you'll experience when inhaling an essential oil. They are the first scents people will notice in a blend. Top notes are usually fresh and light and give an instant little lift. They awaken the senses before fading and allowing the middle and base notes to take over.

These notes can be separated into three categories: top, middle, and base. A top note is usually the first thing you'll notice in a fragrance. They are usually fresh and uplifting and will also usually be the first to evaporate. Middle notes help give body and fullness to a blend.

If you are unsure how much to use, you can follow a few different guidelines: The 30-50-20 rule: your mixture is 30% of your top note, 50% of your middle note, and 20% of your base note.

Base notes are much heavier, tend to be woody or spicy but can include floral such as Ylang Ylang. These tend to be the longest lasting and can work very well in soap making especially when combined with some of the lighter notes.

Lavender is a great example of a middle note scent with benefits. This go-to middle note oil is often used to reduce stress, help with sleep and instil a feeling of calm. Middle note essential oils are often used to achieve calm, reduce pain and improve the health of the skin.

Simply put, there is no recognized organization that certifies or grades essential oils. Essential oils are only either pure, or impure, and their purity can only be determined through a lab test called a Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry test, or GC/MS for short.

I do not recommend using benzoin or orris root as both are skin sensitizers and have potential to induce allergic reactions. If you choose to use either, please label your soap accordingly. (Want to dive deep and learn everything about using essential oils in soap and cosmetics in one place?

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Ylang ylang is a base note and the scent should easily last the lifetime of your bar of soap. Ylang ylang can be a little too much on its own but as part of a blend gives a fantastic depth of fragrance.

How do you structure soap notes? ›

The 4 headings of a SOAP note are Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. Each heading is described below. This is the first heading of the SOAP note. Documentation under this heading comes from the “subjective” experiences, personal views or feelings of a patient or someone close to them.

In modern clinical practice, doctors share medical information primarily via oral presentations and written progress notes, which include histories, physicals and SOAP notes. SOAP—or subjective, objective, assessment and plan—notes allow clinicians to document continuing patient encounters in a structured way.

Shea Butter Soap Base, made with unrefined Shea butter, is best suited for dry and aging skin. Castile Soap Base, made with olive oil, is perfectly suited for children. Camel Milk Soap Base, rich in Vitamin B and Vitamin C, is beneficial for pigmented skin and helps brighten the skin.

Grade A oils are pure and therapeutic. These are the most expensive oils because they are made from organically grown plants and distilled numerous times. Grade B oils are “food grade,” meaning they may contain synthetics, pesticides, fertilizers, or carrier oils.

Follow the 30:50:20 ratio when mixing scent notes - 30% top note (3 drops), 50% middle note (5 drops) and 20% base note (2 drops), label each new blend clearly. Essential oil blends perform best after 'resting' for a day or so, this will allow the oils to blend and harmonise fully.

Fragrance notes are the different layers and aromas that make up a complete fragrance. The way the fragrance notes combine is what gives every scent its own unique profile. The top notes of a fragrance are what you smell first, the aromas that give you an initial impression and draw you in.