Back to Central

I love the scent of freshly made soap, especially if it contains essential oils -- or fragrance oils. The right fragrance oils. Even though I am committed to making a batch of soap with each new fragrance oil we bring on at Snowdrift Farm, I am partial to essential oils in cold process soap.

We've had a slew of new fragrance oils lately, so I have to admit that my production of cold process soaps containing essential oils has been wanting. I was reminded this week just how much I miss the essential oils while making private label batches for a local customer I'll call "V".

V's company provides "green housecleaning" services, but she loves the soap, and peddles it at every chance. She just doesn't want to make the soap. That's where I come in. V and I have spent many hours determine exactly what she wants in her soaps, and she wants everything to be natural. The first two batches contain Sencha and Gemaicha Teas, amongst a litany of other yummy ingredients, and have decidedly citrusy essential oil blends in them.

When I formulated these soaps with V, I kind of turned my nose up at her essential oil blend suggestions. After all, they were not the Oriental/Floriental blends of which I am enamored. In the end, V won out. They are her soaps. I just had it in my head that I would not like the smell of them. Boy, was I wrong.

Batch no. 1 contains a preponderance of lemongrass topped off with a splash of Roman Chamomile. Batch No. 2 is scented with a citrus accord of tangerine, pink grapefruit and bergamot with an inference of Chinese ginger in the background. Paired with the teas and a few other natural texturizing and coloring ingredients, they are beautiful. They smell beautifully, too.

This experience has brought me back to central. I like FO's, but I love EO's. And that's just the way it is for me.

Harvesting Lavender

At one point in the past 10 years, I noted to my business coach that if I had to rename Snowdrift Farm, I'd probably choose The Lavender and Shea Butter Company. Lavender essential oil outsells almost every other essential oil, absolute and CO2 extract that we sell, nearly 2:1. There's a reason for that.

Of course, I'd love to boast that Snowdrift Farm sells an oil apart from others that are available on the market today, but the truth is that our best-selling lavender essential oil, our French lavender 40/42, is a standardized material. This means that the lavender 40/42 you purchase from Snowdrift Farm should be of the same quality as any lavender 40/42 in the world. The numbers 40/42 refer to the linalyl acetate/linalool count -- that odor which makes lavender oil smell like, well -- lavender. Essential oils of citronella and eucalyptus are similarly categorized.

What makes Snowdrift Farm's 40/42 different from others out there is our consistency. We have been purchasing from the same source for over 10 years. From distillery to distillery, oils differ, even if ever so slightly. There's a lot to be said for consistency. The same with our Bulgarian lavender essential oil. It's a beautiful oil, with a rounder, sweeter note than the 40/42. Our Bulgarian lavender has a camphor count of about 2%. That's pretty low and its relative absence adds to the sweetness. By contrast, the 40/42 is in the 6-8% range. I use the 40/42 for soapmaking and reserve the Bulgarian for perfumes, lotions and other such goodies.

Lavender grows all over the world in the temperate zone. They say the 'best' lavender is cultivated in the Mediterranean, where the soils are rocky or sandy and drainage is optimal. Hot weather encourages the plants to flower and bloom. Harvest and distillation take place quickly during the summer months, June through September. Here in the USA, plenty of good lavender is cultivated and celebrated. There seem to be an awful lot of lavender farmers located in Washington and Oregon, though. Our friends at Pelindaba Lavender and Sequim Lavender celebrate lavender yearly with festivals and fairs. Now, that would be a fun road trip.

Hierbas de Ibiza

Ibiza is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea and belonging to Spain. Ibiza's claim to fame is its everlasting summer of love and fun. Every summer, free spirits from all over the globe gather here to party. There are plenty of designer fragrances that invoke the name of this island, in an effort, I believe, to get you to believe you are (almost) there when you wear them. Escada's Ibiza Hippie (great name!) and Cathy Guerrera's Ibiza come to mind immediately.

Hierbas de Ibiza was the brainchild of Antonio and José Torres, two Ibizan brothers -- and jewelers. They perceived a need for a signature fragrance for the island -- from the island -- and in 2005, Hierbas de Ibiza was born.

Packaged in the apothecarian style, this "agua de colonia fresca" or eau de cologne is appealing to both men and women. Made from an artful blend of plant extracts that are indigenous to Ibiza, this colognes' fresh and sparkling citrus accord opening magically morphs into a sweet orange blossom middle and a sweet and luscious bottom. The background of jasmine, geranium and lavender gives this fragrance beautiful support and the sweet cinnamon and vanilla help keep the drydown sweet and low. Very nice.

I purchased mine at Aedes. We're going to have to see if we can knock this one off at Snowdrift Farm.