Three Differences between Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils

Distinguishing the differences between an essential oil and a fragrance oil may be confusing for beginners. So to make things a little easier, we’ve a post about three differences between these two different types of oils!

A row of essential oils we have in store!

1. Sources and Reproducibility

Essential Oils are extracted from plants, which make them products of natural sources. To have a precise reproduction of a certain batch is impossible as plants have a ‘bouquet’ of components that are synthetically difficult to reproduce.(1) Moreover, the grades of essential oils vary according to seasons and growing conditions as well.

Fragrance oils, on the other hand, are synthetic. They do not possess the natural healing properties and therapeutic benefits you can get from essential oils. Though, unlike essential oils, fragrance oils last longer and there is a wider range for you to choose from since they can be easily made in a laboratory.

Fragrance Oils being sold at our store.

2. Uses

Both oils can be used in the making of soaps, candles, cosmetics and such, but only essential oils are aromatherapeutic.

*According to Jane Buckle in Clinical Aromatherapy: Essential Oils in Healthcare, ‘aromatherapy’ is divided into three types: aesthetics aromatherapy, clinical aromatherapy and holistic aromatherapy. However, they are all essentially the practice of using oils extracted from plants to enhance psychological, spiritual and physical well-being of a person.(2)

3. Price Difference

The price of essential oils varies depending on season, type, availability and the way it was extracted. In general, fragrance oils are cheaper than essential oils.

Email us if you have any enquiries at enquiry@craftiviti.com or pop by Craftiviti Craft Store at 10 Boulevard, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

If you found this post useful, please join us on our Facebook or Instagram for more updates and demos!

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References:

1. Christian Valnet, Essential Oils And Aromatherapy(Edizioni R.E.I, 2015).
2. Jane Buckle, Clinical Aromatherapy: Essential Oils in Healthcare, 3rd edn (London: Churchill Livingstone, 2016).

Pssst, we're also available at Craftiviti.com!

We Got Featured on the Vulcan Post!

A few months back, the founders of Craftiviti got featured on the Vulcan Post so we thought to share the news here!

To read the entire article, click here!

Pssst, we're also available at Craftiviti.com!

HOW TO MAKE SLIME

It's officially the school holidays and we were so excited to experiment (once again) making slime.

There are tons of tutorials out there and our first experience making slime wasn't all too successful. This time however, we made sure we watched as many videos as possible to determine which type of slime we were after.

Here's what you need:

• Glue (you can use white craft glue, or even regular clear school glue)
• Borax
• Soap Dye / Food Coloring
• Hot water
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring spoons
• Gloves
• Stirrer / Spatula

First, prepare your work station:

Wear your gloves as you won't want any colouring to stain your skin.

Then pour out the glue into the mixing bowl.

Add equal amount of hot water to the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.

Measure out 2 teaspoons of borax and mix it into a cup of hot water (we used 40 ml).

Add dye into the borax mixture.

Pour the borax and dye mixture into the glue mixture and stir.

Stir until glue mixture turns into a blob of slime.

Remove from mixing bowl and knead lightly.

There you have it, your own handmade slime!

To make it more slimey, leave the slime in a bowl of hot water for about 15 minutes for it to absorb more water.

Make Crystal Candles with a Frosty Look

Every once in awhile we find a product that deserves a lot of attention just because it is so beautiful to look at.

Craftiviti Ice Wax definitely deserves the spotlight in on our blog this month.

Made from a special blend of 100 % from Palm Oil base (Vegetable Origin), the Ice Wax cools with a look that is so unique it almost glitters!

Ice Wax picks up colors wonderfully and creates a random beautiful surface that is absolutely mesmerizing.

The crystal patterns are smooth so it’s perfect for pillar candles where you get to show off every part of this crystallized look.

But the Ice Wax is not only just all about looks, it also burns well and retains scent very well too.

Also, it has a very low melting point of 50-60 deg Celsius so it really reduces the time it takes to make your candles.

Recommended fragrance load is 3% to 5% but of course you can test it out for yourself to find a formulation that suits you.

Instructions

1. Secure wick to pillar mold
2. Melt Ice Wax over double boiler
3. Add in fragrance 3% - 5% of weight of wax
4. Add in 0.5% candle dye
5. Stir well and gently pour into pillar mold
6. Let cool 48 hours before removing from mold

More information here>> https://www.craftiviti.com/product/ice-wax/

Mixing Lye for Beginners

Making Cold Process Soap is one big step up from Melt & Pour.

I have always been a M&P fan. I like the fact that M&P soaps have no curing and waiting time. I like how creative it can get with M&P and how vibrant the end colors look. I also like how convenient and easy it is to make soap with Melt & Pour Soap Bases.

But most importantly…

I like the fact that I don’t have to deal with Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) because M&P Soap bases are already pre-prepared for instant use.

But the curiosity of working with lye kept bugging me. Every day I meet soap makers who had graduated from M&P and were still alive after moving onto lye so I thought to myself ‘How bad can it be?’

I read all the notes and did plenty of research. I also spent hours watching different YouTube videos on the proper way to mix lye (every instructor has a different trick to it).

It took months of research before I mustered up enough courage to add Sodium Hydroxide to water (NEVER THE OTHER WAY AROUND).

But even with all my research, my very first experience mixing lye was very unnerving for me.

If you are reading this and expecting something bad to happen at the end SPOILER ALERT – nothing horrid happened but here are the more important DON’TS coming from a paranoid beginner.

DON’T forget your gloves and wear a long sleeves to protect your arms from any splashes. I remembered the first two but didn’t think safety glasses and a facial mask were necessary. Trust me it is. Because when the lye starts fuming, the vapors can sting which brings me to the next DON’T.

DON’T mix lye indoors. Even if your kitchen is well ventilated like mine is, the fumes did get to me and I started worrying if my ceiling would start to corrode. I ended up moving my lye outside to the balcony which was a very dangerous thing to do especially when the lye was so hot. It is best to begin the mixing outside and to leave the whole darn thing outside until it cools. However, remember to warn your entire household that you are mixing lye so they know not to touch anything that looks like water until the coast is clear.

DON’T use any other glass cup and especially not a plastic mixing cup to mix your lye. Always use a high grade science beaker or a stainless steel mixing bowl and a glass or stainless steel stirrer. NaOH in water can get very hot so you don’t want it to melt your cup or break it (my digital thermometer clocked 84.3 Celsius!) .

DON’T let any pets and kids hang around no matter how cute they are. EVERY instructor in EVERY video I watched mentioned this but I ignored this golden advise when it came to my 2 cats. I figured I would just shoo them if they got in my way. But when my beaker got really hot, I started freaking out. What if the cats tripped me and I fell onto the beaker? What if they jump on the counter and dipped their paw into it?! What if they knock over the camera that was hanging over the beaker and the beaker explodes and everything MELTS! Not worth the anxiety. So just keep all pets and kids away.

Here’s my beaker safely out in my balcony. You can’t see the fumes but it’s THERE. By this time, I had locked my cats in my bedroom and I also did a quick prayer that no bird or falling leaf would come near that beaker.

But all in all, making a lye solution was not as dangerous as I thought it would be. Aside from the fumes which caught me by surprise, everything  was actually quite easy, which brings me to my last and most important advise…

DON’T try this on your own for the first time. It is always best to make your 1st batch with an experienced CP soap maker or learn it from a professional instructor at a workshop before attempting to work with Lye. Looking back, if I had someone watching over me instead of doing it on my own, I wouldn’t have gotten so paranoid.

Check out my next article on how to make a basic CP soap with this lye solution.

VIDEO – The Latest Craze Using OPC Foaming Bath Butter

The latest is soap making is seriously something else!

Ever heard of Foaming Bath Butter or Soap Souffles? You will soon once people start getting their hands on it.

The OPC Foaming Bath Butter Soap Base from Stephenson Personal Care is an all-in-one easy-to-whip soap base that makes countless variations of soaps.

Time to dig out that under-used cake mixer because it’s never gonna rest ever again!

WATCH THIS VIDEO

What this one soap base can make:

• Bath Butters
• Soap Souffles
• Soap creams
• Shaving Creams
• Luscious Bath Scrubs

Mixing time: 20 minutes

Volume: The more you mix, the more this soap base rises. This 1kg base can rise to twice its volume when mixed with sugars.

Mixing ratio: 1 part soap base to 1 part sugar / salt (Optional)

Storage: Keep OPC Bath Butter  in a large mouth jar for easy access. Always use a clean dry spoon to scoop the bath butter out of the jar during use to avoid contamination. Keep OPC Bath Butter  dry at all times.

Usage instructions: Scoop a spoonful of OPC Bath Butter onto your hands and add water. Scrub away. Butter is soft and moisturising. Does not dry skin. Produces rich lather.

Recipe:

• 1kg OPC Soap Base
• 1kg Fine Sugar
• 30 drops Peppermint Essential Oil
• 20 drops Lemon Essential Oil
• 10 drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
• 3 drops Yellow Soap Pigment

Instructions

1. Scoop OPC Soap Base from the container into your mixing bowl
2. Blend to break up the OPC Soap Base for 5 minutes
3. Add in essential oils and soap pigment (you can also add this last)
4. Increase the speed to Medium
5. Add sugar into the bowl while blending at low speed
6. Leave to blend for 20 minutes
7. Scoop your invigorating Foaming Soap Butter into a jar
8. Can be used immediately

Honey Cold Process Soap Making Workshop

We had a great workshop last Sunday with LooLoo Soaps. Our 1st session was booked out fast so we opened up a second session on the same day just 1 hour apart. Daphne from LooLoo Soaps handled both classes like a champ!

The oils used in this workshop were:

Pomace Olive Oil (A new addition in store!)

Coconut Oil

Castor Oil

Palm Oil (which we do not carry)

Participants learned how to work with lye indoors and how to incorporate raw ingredients like fresh honey into their cold process soap making.

There was much stirring and giggling. And the entire place smelled heavenly with essential oil.

Each participant got to take home a mega block of soap weighing around 1kg. But because it is a CP soap, curing time will take up to 6 weeks before any of the soaps can be safely used.

Stay tuned to our next workshops on anything crafty! You can check our FB or visit our Workshop page on our website right here: https://www.craftiviti.com/workshop/

Lifecasting with Alginate and Plaster

Casting your own body parts could be a really cool project to do at home or with your family.

Imagine casting the hands or feet of your kids. That would be such a treat for the little ones.

Alginate is perfectly safe to use. It is a powder made from seaweed and is often used in the medical industry to make molds.  A good alginate powder helps create very detailed true to life duplicates. Ideal for casting body parts or very detailed objects.

One thing important to remember about alginate molds is that it is a ONE time use mold.

Here's what you need...

• Alginate powder
• Plaster of paris powder
• Silicone mixing bowls
• Stirrer
• Water
• Measuring scoop
• Scale *optional

Mix 1.5 part WARM water to 1 part powder. Mix fast and mix well. You will see lumps forming so really beat those down. Make sure you work very fast as the powder will start to harden almost immediately.

To be safe, you have a mixing window of only 1 minute so get at those stubborn lumps quickly.

Here you will see the alginate powder's color range from purple or pink. This indicates that the alginate is ready to start molding.

When the alginate cures, the color will change to a lighter shade of green or white. Remember it takes 1 minute for this to happen and if you are not ready, you'll need to start all over again with a new batch.

Here we are casting a thumb - Simon's thumb to be exact. You can cast a full hand, your toes, your ears or anything you can think of. We even know someone who casted her pouty lips! Alginate is non-toxic and safe, so go crazy and get creative!

The alginate is cold to the touch. While dipping you will notice the alginate turning color. At this point, try not to wiggle around in the alginate. Simon's thumb went in for 2 minutes and he only removed it after he felt the Alginate harden completely.

Kids will need to be told beforehand not to wiggle around otherwise the mold will not come away clean. So play the frozen game with them.

Here Simon's thumb mold is ready. Notice how the color of the alginate has changed from pink purple to light green? This indicates the alginate has hardened completely and is now ready to cast.

The hardened alginate mold feels like jello.

Next is preparing your plaster mixture. Add water to your plaster at a 2:1 ratio - 2 part plaster to 1 part water. The amount depends on the size of what you need to cast. Here for Simon's thumb we mixed a very small batch of plaster (around 30g).

The reason why we use these unique silicone molds especially when mixing plaster or alginate is because the clean up after is super easy. Just distort the bowl and the plaster will crack and fall right out. It's definitely an environmentally friendly alternative to throwing out plastic mixing cups.

With plaster, you have more working time so don't worry. Take your time to mix the powder and water well. Once the mixture is well mixed, slowly pour the plaster into your Alginate mold.

Make sure you pour the plaster of paris mixture slowly and against the side of the mold cavity to avoid bubbles being trapped inside the mold.

See photo above how flexible the silicone bowl is. It's perfect for pouring too!

Once you've filled up the mold with plaster, give the sides of the mold a good tap to release any bubbles that may be trapped inside.

We demolded Simon's thumb after an hour. That's the great thing about plaster, it hardens fast and makes production super easy and effective. Plus, plaster is a relatively cheap project material to work with. You can purchase plaster of powder here>>>

Notice the fine lines and even pores on Simon's thumb casting. This is all the alginate's doing. Alginate picks up uber fine details and creates amazing replicas. We can even see Simon's thumb print!

There are many other casting powders you can work with as well. Some come in different colors and varies in how fine the grains are.

• Black casting stone - slightly course like cement. Finishing is dark grey. Very stong.
• Yellow casting stone - fine yellow powder. Good for delicate casting projects. Premium grade.
• Terracotta powder - bright terracotta orange color. Unique casting results.

More craft materials available online and at our craft supplier at Craftiviti Sdn. Bhd. (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia).