Pb Mirrors & Smoke

Pbgoose

Pbgoose

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Joined
Jun 1, 2017
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Dubbo
This is a nod to Phoenix and Beau's Baskerville. I'm hanging out for it's release again later this year and got a bit impatient so decided to have a go at the scent which requires playing with White Birch (Birch Tar). Birch Tar is amazing stuff and like Thyme oil is very strong. I was playing with the test scent last night in the living room and when I got up this morning the living room still smelt like smoke. My family didn't like the test scent at all. Like Brazilian Bay Thyme, the Birch tar was dominating the scent, especially when drying down. I adjusted my scent profile to use a very small percentage of Birch Tar.
The base for this soap is The Blue Tansy base with the addition of Bentonite and Brazilian Purple Clay. This may be first soap I've made reusing a base formula but I wanted specific characteristics to try and match what I remember of Baskerville. I'll probably buy Baskerville later this year and be surprised at the differences but in some ways that will be a good thing as I don't want to insult P&B with an inferior rip off but rather acknowledge their product whilst playing with a similar scent profile.
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Test lather was good. I think the clay prevented the stringy emulsion of proto lather that I remember with the soft soap of Baskerville, this is a very high KOH % soap. This is a soft soap, lathering takes a bit of work, soap takes up plenty of water and lather comes up a thick cream. Felt good on the face and I expect it will shave well. Will test shave tomorrow.

Ingredients: Stearic, Castor Oil, Tallow (Beef), Avocado Oil, Lanolin, Kokum Butter, Jojoba Oil, KOH, NaOH, Filtered Water (RO), Glycerine, Brazilian Purple Clay, Bentonite, Tussah Silk, essential oils.
Essential Oils: Labdanum, Cedarwood, Vetiver, Frankincense, Tonka Bean, White Birch.
 
Hey @Pbgoose

If you are finding the Birch Tar a little bit too much I would suggest diluting the rectified Birch Tar in EToH to 10% or even 1% and working with that, not only is it more 'workable' you will experience many more facets of the material.
 
@todras Excellent idea! Thank you. I'm packing up after the cook and am in trouble with the missus re: the smoke smell. The scent of my EO cabinet has changed overnight (just got the White Birch yesterday). I'm considering resiting the White Birch or double encapsulation. Mischief could be caused with this stuff.:sneaky:
Considering next job for it and thinking it would be half dose of this batch (which was very small) so dilution will make it make easier to manage.(y)
 
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If you ever hit a materials or fragrance design wall @Pbgoose don't hesitate to give me a call or shout out be it for design, dilution or whatever bro :)

With any natural dilution (EO/concrete/abs) once you have done the weighing and placed the material into the EtoH/DPG you need to macerate it for at least 7-14 days with 21-18 being ideal depending on the temperature and material. There is no escaping the chemistry of change here, a 1% solution of something like Tuberose (or any other expensive oil) will barely be detectable after 7 days but if you wait for 21-28 the pungency and richness is manifest.

This is particularly the case with some of the heavier less volatile EO's and especially the absolutes we use in the colder months. The maceration and transformation is worth waiting for, so many new facets and aspects of a material come out through steady maceration and maturation, I often do a whole lot of dilutions and then leave them from 2 weeks to 6 months. I do all my Winter dilutions in Summer and my Summer in Winter depending on my material sources (where and when the materials are distilled i.e northern hemisphere). That way they get a solid 4-6 months to become more beautiful prior to use.
 
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todras said:
If you ever hit a materials or fragrance design wall @Pbgoose don't hesitate to give me a call or shout out be it for design, dilution or whatever bro :)

With any natural dilution (EO/concrete/abs) once you have done the weighing and placed the material into the EtoH/DPG you need to macerate it for at least 7-14 days with 21-18 being ideal depending on the temperature and material. There is no escaping the chemistry of change here, a 1% solution of something like Tuberose (or any other expensive oil) will barely be detectable after 7 days but if you wait for 21-28 the pungency and richness is manifest.

This is particularly the case with some of the heavier less volatile EO's and especially the absolutes we use in the colder months. The maceration and transformation is worth waiting for, so many new facets and aspects of a material come out through steady maceration and maturation, I often do a whole lot of dilutions and then leave them from 2 weeks to 6 months. I do all my Winter dilutions in Summer and my Summer in Winter depending on my material sources (where and when the materials are distilled i.e northern hemisphere). That way they get a solid 4-6 months to become more beautiful prior to use.
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Oh, I'm always hitting walls.:ROFLMAO: The problem is I don't know what I don't know so there's lot's of learning the hard way.:banghead: I don't mind the exploration though, I just love the colours and depths of essential oils. Thanks for the offer though, I'm sure I'll be calling you at some stage.(y)
The only dilutions I've done so far is making up the Tonka Bean solution (20%) from the solid (which I was able to do from your notes on the forum) and making up menthol. The Tonka works well. Some minor resolidification but easily fixed by 5 mins in warm water so I don't think I'll go to 10%. I will do a dilution with the White Birch so I can let it start aging for the next project. Thanks todras, that will be helpful.
The clothes I've been working in today smell like I've been standing around a camp fire from the White Birch.:D Man that is strong stuff.
 
Pbgoose said:
The only dilutions I've done so far is making up the Tonka Bean solution (20%) from the solid (which I was able to do from your notes on the forum) and making up menthol. The Tonka works well. Some minor resolidification but easily fixed by 5 mins in warm water so I don't think I'll go to 10%
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The crystalisation in the bottle means that the solution is over saturated, the crystals you see forming are Coumarin.The Tonka Abs available in Australia is typically around 66% Coumarin and the substance is not at all tolerant. I know it is Coumarin forming as you described the classic phenomena of when you heat the bottle the substance appears to go back into solution and once it cools it will recrystalise.

With some if not all batches of Tonka Abs (Obtained from Australian suppliers) I have found that 17% is the absolute top limit to what the Et0H will hold in solution based on my calculations using the specific gravity of Tonka and Et0H. If you have crystals forming it means that you do not have a 20% solution, rather I would say you have around 15-16% or most likely less as once crystalization occurs you begin to draw coumarin out of solution - aside from the issue of knowing the strength this is why over saturation is problematic :)
 
todras said:
The crystalisation in the bottle means that the solution is over saturated, the crystals you see forming are Coumarin.The Tonka Abs available in Australia is typically around 66% Coumarin and the substance is not at all tolerant. I know it is Coumarin forming as you described the classic phenomena of when you heat the bottle the substance appears to go back into solution and once it cools it will recrystalise.

With some if not all batches of Tonka Abs (Obtained from Australian suppliers) I have found that 17% is the absolute top limit to what the Et0H will hold in solution based on my calculations using the specific gravity of Tonka and Et0H. If you have crystals forming it means that you do not have a 20% solution, rather I would say you have around 15-16% or most likely less as once crystalization occurs you begin to draw coumarin out of solution - aside from the issue of knowing the strength this is why over saturation is problematic :)
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Although I have no idea about Tonka bean/coumarin in particular, your observation is (as always) spot on @todras. It depends of course on the temperature of the EtOH (your ambient temperature) and is the same with every solution...generally the warmer your solvent (ethanol) the more solute (in this case cumarin) goes into solution.

So you want a concentration that works even in winter time, when your ethanol solution is probably ~3-8? C cooler (depending on your home insulation, cooling/heating, etc.) than in summer. It can make a huge difference...
 
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