Scent It Your Way

Every person's sense of smell is different. Not only do we perceive scents and aromas differently, but we also prefer different levels of fragrance, especially in products we use frequently. Your desired fragrance level may be purely personal preference, or it may be due to sensitivities, allergies, asthma, or other condition.

Because we know that we're all different when it comes to sense of smell, we have decided to add a new Fragrance Level option to all products where customers choose their fragrance. You can choose Light or Normal fragrancing for any product where this option appears.

While we never over-scent any product, we do realize that even our low fragrance usage might be too much for some people. Our Normal level of fragrancing in personal care products is about 1% maximum, although it does ultimately depend on the strength of the fragrance, and whether or not we are using essential oil. Our Light fragrance level will be no more than half of our Normal level.

Starting in 2009, we will also be offering a line of lightly fragranced soaps. As with personal care products, the fragrance level will be approximately half of what we typically use.

I personally know the problems that can be caused by sensitivities to fragrances and fragrance levels. I have customers with allergies and asthma. I want our customers to be able to enjoy our fragranced products without problems, and it is our hope that the new Fragrance Level option helps accomplish this.

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Coconut Madness

I have gone from not being able to stand coconut in any way, shape or form (other than using the oil in soap), to really liking it. I discovered just how much I like the taste of coconut milk in food dishes (see today's post in my food blog). And the aroma of fresh coconut is simply amazing.

Coconut Oil is one of the standard oils I use in almost all of my soaps. Its fatty acid composition brings both hardness and big, fluffy bubbles to soap. I’ve made soaps without any coconut oil at all, and I didn’t like them as much.

I have a batch of All Natural Coconut Milk Soap made only with coconut oil available. It has a beautiful white color, and fluffy lather that is both creamy and silky in feel. My Spa Salt Bar is primarily coconut oil with a small amount of castor for extra conditioning.

I’m also a big fan of Fractionated Coconut Oil. This light-weight, medium chain fatty acid fraction of coconut oil is wonderful in many products, giving emolliency without being greasy. It also has an extremely long shelf life, making it useful in many applications. I use this wonderful oil in our regular Hand & Body Lotion, as well as our Silken Perfume Oil.

Using more coconut also includes using more of the milk. In addition to my current Coconut Milk Soap, I plan on using the milk in more soaps. I just love milk (any type!) in soap. I think it improves the feel of the lather, as well as providing extra conditioning and moisturizing to the skin. Milk is also wonderful in bath products. Check out the Coconut Milk version of my Foaming Milk Bath.

I’m currently testing bath & body formulations using coconut milk, including a new hand & body lotion. So far I really like this lotion. My skin had dried out quite badly while I was sick recently, and just a few applications of this lotion took care of it completely. Other products in the formulating and testing phase include shampoo and conditioner.

Still on my "To Do" list is to find the perfect coconut fragrance to use in these products. To that end, I invite you to vote in my poll in the sidebar. Also feel free to leave a comment to make a suggestion. The poll will be open until 7am CST on November 1st.

Coconut Milk Hand & Body Lotion, as well as other coconut-based products, should be available early next year. Subscribe to our blog to keep up-to-date on our Coconut Madness line.

See the companion post at our DPN Food blog