Essential Oil Blends and Blending Ideas

If you're like me, if you've been making soap (or candles) for very long, you've acquired a cabinet full of essential and fragrance oils. One of the most exciting and rewarding things (for me at least) to do in soapmaking especially is creating your own fragrance and essential oil blends. It's been a few years since I've been making soap commercially, and I still have people asking about a couple of my most popular blends. But how does one come up with the various combinations of blends? Mostly by trial and error or by recommendations from books or other soapmakers. But I just came across a really great feature at the Rainbow Meadows website. It's an Essential Oil Blend Recipe Search. In addition to TONS of great information about essential oils, you enter in one or more essential oils that you have on your shelf, and it gives you all of the blends that they have that use those essential oils! Who knew that I could add some Bergamot to my Lavender and Ylang Ylang to get a "Waikiki Blend"? Or a bit of Ginger to my Eucalyptus and Lemon to get "Steamy Blend"? Beware, if you're at all like me, you'll spend quite a while searching through the various combinations, and then have a real hankering to go make some soap!