Entering the World of Essential Oils

[TENroaches]

I've been aiming to start this thread for a few days now. I'm going to document my adventure into the world of Essential Oils to make aftershaves and colognes. I decided to put the thread in the aftershaves forum, thinking I might get more advice on how to make these better for your skin.

So far, I have just 11 EOs. I'm going to be placing an order for more soon, but I just got these locally to hold me over....

Bay
Bergamot
Citronella
Clove Bud
Eucalyptus
Lemon
Lime
Nutmeg
Orange
Peppermint
Sweet Basil

So far, I've attempted three aftershaves. The first had toothache relief (85% eugenol (clove oil), 15% sesame oil) and a little bergamot for the scents. I used rum for the alcohol, and also used witch hazel, some "aloe vera gelly," and vitamin E.

Then I went and got more EOs, and was short on bottles, so I dumped the first day's attempt. Then I made a basil aftershave. I got 151 proof vodka to use as my alcohol, and used basil EO and then WH, aloe vera gelly, vitamin E, and then glycerin in this one. It smells WONDERFUL (if you like basil).

I even added basil EO to my olive oil / castor oil blend I use for oil cleansing. Basil and olive oil is so good.

I found another AV bottle, so I made another aftershave. Only thing different from the basil aftershave is the scent. This one had more bay than anything. Then there was, but not necessarily in this order, clove bud, nutmeg, lemon, lime, bergamot, and orange. More orange than any of the other citrus EOs, I'd say, but I didn't keep very good track.... I really like the smell of this one, too.

Only trouble is, I haven't noticed them performing very well. My face feels kind of tacky (almost 100% sure that I used too much glycerin), and I got razor burn! I never get razor burn! I did just start using pauldog's Feathers, and I'd like to blame the change to Feathers for the burn, but I recently got the best shave of my life, by a long shot, from one of those Feathers. Perhaps I should get back to doing the towel prep. But that doesn't excuse my aftershave's performance.

I got the citronella because I love the smell of those citronella bug repellent candles. I don't know what I might use it for. Maybe a splash for before bed. Wait a second.... would this work to get rid of these stupid ants in my apartment?!?!?!

I'd love to make an aftershave that smells like Yankee Candle's "Greenhouse" scent. Go sniff it if you get a chance. It doesn't smell like flowers, it doesn't smell like grass, it just smells GREEN. Maybe even with some dirt in there.

I did sniff some balsam fir (I'm pretty sure) EO that sniffed nice and pritty, but I assumed I could get it cheaper online.

I'll be placing an order for EOs from here. I'll definitely be getting ginger root oil to make ginger and lime AS and maybe cologne. And I'd probably add ginger to that spiced one I already have. I'm also considering getting that menthol EO, but I'd like to know if it really sniffs like menthol or more like mint.

I'd entertain the idea of getting FOs, too, but there's something about the idea of getting everything from nature that I like.

I might go to Walmart and get some Aloe Juice from the dietary supplement section. I wonder if that can be frozen.

I have an order of glass bottles and atomizers coming in tomorrow. Mostly 4oz bottles.

Any recommendations, words of caution, thoughts on this are welcome and encouraged!

 

[Sue]

You may want to purchase some disposable pipettes. They are pretty reasonable. You can then measure by drop or ml. Keep excellant notes of each blend. Store your oils away from excessive heat and light. What you don't like today you may like in two weeks. Most of all, have fun!!
Sue

 

[TENroaches]

You may want to purchase some disposable pipettes. They are pretty reasonable. You can then measure by drop or ml. Keep excellant notes of each blend. Store your oils away from excessive heat and light. What you don't like today you may like in two weeks. Most of all, have fun!!
Sue

I did order some disposable pipettes, but I remember questioning how "disposable" they were (can you reuse?). I don't quite remember how many I ordered. I mean, I could just keep one designated "disposable" pipette per ingredient, right? Eleven of my EOs (maybe more, we'll see once I get 'em) have those nice caps that let out a drop at a time.

I have my EOs in my linen closet, so they should be safe there. Also have central air. Only the best for my EOs.

 

[JHouse]

I did order some disposable pipettes, but I remember questioning how "disposable" they were (can you reuse?).
:

just rinse them out thoroughly with some deionized or distilled water and you should be fine to reuse them.

 

[AKady]

Could the sugar in the rum and vodka be causing the stickyness?

 

[TENroaches]

Could the sugar in the rum and vodka be causing the stickyness?

Hmmm. I don't know. It's very similar to my other aftershaves (store-bought) I have that I added too much glycerin to. And I sprayed some EO and vodka on my face last night and it didn't make me sticky. So I think it's the glycerin.

 

[TENroaches]

Today, I'm wearing one of my homemade ones.

I don't remember the exact drops, but it has, in order as best as I can remember:

Orange
Bay
Clove
Nutmeg
Lime
Peppermint

And glycerin, because I read that helps the scent last longer.

I was going to add distilled water to dilute the stuff, but I tried it yesterday, and it burned the first time I put it on my chest, but I put it on later at night and it didn't burn, and didn't but on my neck, either. So I just put in some glycerin and it's good to go.

It's been on for 5 hours now and still smells great. I'm really happy with this one. I documented the number of drops of each one, but with the orange, I had to use a disposable dropper since it didn't have the nice dropper cap (I need to learn technical terms...), and I think a lot of the drops might have been mostly air. I hope I can replicate this.

I did get ginger root EO, and it smells an awful lot like wood. Not as gingery as I was expecting. It was from an eBay vendor, so maybe I got hosed, or maybe ginger root oil just smells like this. Maybe it's from the root, but the outside of the root and not the part you eat. It does kind of mix nicely with lime. I made a little balm with Corn Huskers, witch hazel, ginger oil, and lime oil. Strangely enough, the balm is white.....

I also made a mixture (not sure if I wanted it to be an aftershave or what) of lemon and eucalyptus, trying to make it smell like honey lemon cough drops, and it's not bad. I haven't decided if I'd wear it out, but I sprayed it on my face last night and it's pleasant (to me).

 

[RoyalKooparillo]

Kudos for being adventuresome with EOs!

A couple months ago I had some Lemon Verbena hydrosol that I spiced up with a few drops of Bergamot, Lavender, and Lemon EO. Unbelievable scent. I'd love to figure out how to incorporate that into an A/S. Good luck on the alchemy!

 

[wastan]

So much to learn reading stuff like this! Way too much fun. I've been using glycerine as a pre-shave and reading this has raised a couple of questions. 1. would it be possible to mix a lemon essential oil in with the glycerine without having the ingredients separate and if so how? 2. If I wanted to make just a straight up lemon pre-shave oil what would I use as the base oil (to which I'd add a lemon essential oil) and are there instructions (e.g., recommended mix amounts) someone can point me towards? Thanks much for the benefit of your experience.

 

[Sue]

Try:
4 T sunflower oil
1 T aloe
1 T avocado oil
1 T meadowfoam oil
2 caps vit. E oil (tocopherol)
Add EO of choice. Just give it a shake as needed.
Sue

 

[Confuzius]

Slightly OT, but not enough to start a new thread, plus could open up some interesting possibilities for TENroaches

Anyone know if there's an easy way to home-extract/distill EO's?

 

[htownmmm]

As long as you're willing to be the guinea pig......


marty

 

[GeNn]

Before I used a straight razor, I wondered why there was such a following and it piqued my interest until I became a straight shaver too. Now i read this post and wonder why would anyone want to go into EO's mixing and testing when excellent colognes are readily available. I'm not trying to knock this by any means, I'm just trying to understand the desire to make your own cologne. Isn't this a lot of effort to do?

 

[Sue]

Slightly OT, but not enough to start a new thread, plus could open up some interesting possibilities for TENroaches

Anyone know if there's an easy way to home-extract/distill EO's?

In the past I've fragranced cold processed soap from Lavender cut in my back yard. You can use any fragrant buds. You'll need enough; when chopped, to fill a four cup/quart mason jar 5 times. Discard any blooms that are past their prime.

Chop up the buds and fill a mason jar with them. (Put the remainder of the chopped buds in a zip lock bag and store it in your refridgerator hydrator). Then cover the buds with an unfragranced oil. (Olive will work). Cover tightly and let sit in a sunny window. Shake well every morning and night for five days.

After five days pour out the oil thru a fine strainer into another container. Fill the jar again with buds from your zip lock bag. Pour the strained oil back over the new buds. Let it sit again for 5 days shaking well in the am and pm.

Repeat this procedure three more times (5 total). Each reuse of the oil makes it stronger. You will end up with about a cup of oil.

With the time involved you aren't saving money but can say 'I made it myself'.

Hope this helps. Have fun!
Sue

 

[micah1_8]

Here's one of my favorites:

Uncle Albert's Amazing Miracle Mist

25 drops lavender
10 drops peppermint
5 drops cedar
10 drops sandalwood/vanilla
5 drops allspice
10 drops clove
20 drops almond
5 drops glycerine

I mix all ingredients and then pour into an iGo brand 2oz. Fingertip Sprayer. Then I top the bottle off with walmart brand Witch Hazel.

Give it a good shake before spraying. Makes an excellent aftershave, body spray, hemmoroid treatment, whatever... This stuff is addictive. The scent fades to a subtle wood within an hour, and boy is it cooling. It gives a nice chilling effect and feels wonderful on a freshly shaved face/head. If you try it, let me know, I'm curious how others like it, and I'm kind of proud of the formulation. If anyone knows a simple way to make the scent last longer, please let me know.

 

[micah1_8]

Anybody ever tried tobacco EO? I think it just might be what I'm looking for in some of my projects.

 

[cstewart]

I did get ginger root EO, and it smells an awful lot like wood. Not as gingery as I was expecting. It was from an eBay vendor, so maybe I got hosed, or maybe ginger root oil just smells like this. Maybe it's from the root, but the outside of the root and not the part you eat. It does kind of mix nicely with lime. I made a little balm with Corn Huskers, witch hazel, ginger oil, and lime oil. Strangely enough, the balm is white.....

If you are thinking of the ginger you get with sushi, I think that's actually pickled ginger. I'm not really sure what fresh ginger smells like.

 

[TENroaches]

If you are thinking of the ginger you get with sushi, I think that's actually pickled ginger. I'm not really sure what fresh ginger smells like.

I'm not. I do like the sushi ginger, though. It tastes like Windex! I get ginger root from the produce section at the grocery store. It's good to eat plain or to juice and make ginger beer with. Good stuff!

 

[micah1_8]

Here's one of my favorites:

Uncle Albert's Amazing Miracle Mist

25 drops lavender
10 drops peppermint
5 drops cedar
10 drops sandalwood/vanilla
5 drops allspice
10 drops clove
20 drops almond
5 drops glycerine

I mix all ingredients and then pour into an iGo brand 2oz. Fingertip Sprayer. Then I top the bottle off with walmart brand Witch Hazel.

Give it a good shake before spraying. Makes an excellent aftershave, body spray, hemmoroid treatment, whatever... This stuff is addictive. The scent fades to a subtle wood within an hour, and boy is it cooling. It gives a nice chilling effect and feels wonderful on a freshly shaved face/head. If you try it, let me know, I'm curious how others like it, and I'm kind of proud of the formulation. If anyone knows a simple way to make the scent last longer, please let me know.

Add another to the list of things this stuff is great for-- Anti-itch spray for bug bites. Went to a ren-faire this weekend and the wife got devoured by mosquitos. Her ankle was especially itchy. I suggested she try a little Uncle Albert's Amazing Miracle Mist and lo-and-behold! it worked a treat. She said that it helped subside the itching for over an hour, which by my reckoning is on par or better than some anti-itch sprays on the market. So chalk one up for Uncle Albert's Amazing Miracle Mist.

 

[TENroaches]

I just tried to replicate my above toilet water. In the amber bottle, this time it looks whitish/cloudy. Which is odd. I made an aftershave balm before out of orange and clove EO and Corn Huskers, WH, vitamin E... and it turned white, too. My first bottle of EDT with the same recipe (except 1/3 the volume) doesn't look cloudy at all. I read citrus EOs can go bad faster than others, but I doubt that's the case here....

Any ideas? Is this a sign of contamination of some sort?

UPDATE: It doesn't look so cloudy now... Still maybe a little more than the old batch. Maybe I just needed to add a little more vodka? When I was putting in the clove bud oil with the dropper, it was running down the outside of the dropper and dropping from the bottom of the lip... not right out of the dropper. I hope that didn't make the drops bigger, but I'm sure it did. I might have to make another batch. We'll see.