# bay soap or bay rum with homemade fragrance?



## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

I know this is one of those oddball questions... but what the heck, here it is!

My beloved father-in-law in California picked about 1 lb of california bay leaves, fresh from his tree, and sent them to me at my request. I had thought I could infuse them in rum and make some bay rum aftershave him for fathers day.... well, turns out it's not made with california bay leaves at all, hardly any regular/turkish bay leaves even, more a distant relative, the plant that allspice grows on.

So... I've a bunch of super fresh, super beautiful california bay leaves sitting here and a super wonderful, adored father-in-law sitting in california, waiting to be celebrated. I would like to make something for him with these bay leaves. But what?

I did an hour or two's worth of google research and yes, california bay leaves do have medicinal/herbal applications - infused in oil for a general sore muscle rub is one. Nothing to say that it is bad for the skin or body!

Do you think I can infuse the leaves, in my yogurt maker, in olive oil, for a couple of weeks and use that to superfat soap? Would the fragrance carry over?

In 'The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook' Stephen Green writes about creating your own hydrosols (a less concentrated fragrance than essential oils but related to them) through steam extraction - I could try that with these - my stainless steel juice extractor looks perfect for his technique. California Bay is supposed to be super high in volatile oils! But would that translate to a fragrance that would carry through to soap? I could certainly make a sore muscle rub for him... but aftershave and soap was what my heart was after.

Ideas? Recipes? Please help! 

thanks,
Cathy who is missing her father who has died and needs to pour it on her father in law


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

The scent would probably have a better chance of lasting if you did a hot process soap and added some of the extracted oil to the soap at the end of the cook. I don't know how well the scent would last during the saponification process of cold process soap.
This oil can also cure insect bites, cuts and other bruises. Bay leaves also help cure rheumatism. Why not make an ointment with the extracted or infused oil. You could also make an arthritis cream using some of the oil.


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## Tirzah (May 19, 2006)

I'm sorry I can't help you with soap-making but I did find this recipe for making Bay Rum Aftershave. That would be a perfect gift along with the soap  (not sure if that is the correct variety of Bay for Bay Rum)

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/01/21/diy-bay-rum-aftershave/

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your father.


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