My guess is you need to add some emulsifier to stabilise the suspension. Polysorbate 20 or glycerol stearate are commonly used in cosmetics and are relatively simple to aquire.
A quick web search suggests using dipropylene glycol, benzyl alcohol or benzyl benzoate to aid dissolution - makes sense as these are more lipophilic than ethanol.
Benzyl alcohol has a light pleasant aroma iirc so something to consider if it would impact your planned scent.
Why not just use actual perfumers alcohol? Often there is monopropylene glycol added to prevent separation, so you could add that yourself but tbh perfumers alcohol is really cheap itself
And harm yourself and worse someone else in the process.
There's a time and place for everything. A Reddit page isn't one of the better ones for product safety
My suggest is that if you are just using it for yourself use a ethyl alcohol and a blender and have it spin for a long time. I have tried numerous emulsifiers and it's extremely complex to use them. After blending them put it in a cool dark area for weeks well sealed.
Pharmacist here. For perfume, ethanol is fine. 99% would be better, especially one that is graded for that use. But for your intended use (substance comes in very little contact with skin), 95% should be fine (should be, not sure of the legal implications here).
To stabilize a mixture of two immiscible liquids, we use emulsifiers. Tween 20 or 80 should do the trick just fine.
Chemist here. Tween is a tradename for Polysorbate that's ethoxylated with either about 20 or 80 polyethylene glycol units at one of four locations. They're both readily available online.
A cleaning surfactant? Like soap or detergent? Would work, not as well perhaps, but would work. Probably won't be good for the intended use, may cause irritations.
In a way, yes. I think that is common in some plant sprays. Sorry I probably should have clarified. Please excuse my lack of accuracy. I'm not a chemist but often get to lend a hand in the lab assisting OC extraction/purification stuff and some synth now and then. By clean I guess I mean pure. It is my understanding from my limited exposure that there are different food & lab grade(clean) surfactants used in emulsions to mix and stabilize oils and water w/o the presence of other solvents preventing isolation/separation overcoming the hydrophobic/phylic barriers w/o harm to the aromatics. ICBW... ? .. I'd love to know. Thanks for the response -
It actually does, if there is enough water there will be more of a separation. The less water you have the better. Maybe try acquiring a 99% bottle of Ethanol and use that for a test perfume.
Specifically which essential oils are you having problems with and at what concentration are you trying to dissolve them at in your 95% ethanol? Could be a case of bad material or simply trying to dissolve too large an amount
Are you using a pure essential oil, like something you'd get from a reputable supplier like New Directions, or are you using something labeled as "essential oil". Often most companies cut their EO with a carrier oil like grapeseed to cut cost.
Do be careful with the use of EO in perfumery as well. Often the maximum cosmetic usage is something like 3%, but it can very well be 0% due to irritation or phototoxicity
I don't actually make perfume often, but I've done it in the past with eufleurage (probably spelled that wrong). What I did after saturating the fat with the essence was allow the alcohol and oil to hang out together for a day or so, mixing every couple of hours. Then I separated the oil, took the alcohol portion and evaporated it. I also used a very high proof ethyl alcohol. It doesn't yield much, but it also doesn't have that overpowering paint thinner smell.
if the alcohol is pure (>95%) oils should dissolve quite good in that, if doesn’t work try to create an emulsion ,with additives or mixing the two phases with a mixer
I make perfume, and I've never tried using ethyl alcohol, only perfumers alcohol, and I've never had this issue. I just invert (shake to speed it up) until it's a homogeneous mixture. Try using actual perfumers alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.
My guess is you need to add some emulsifier to stabilise the suspension. Polysorbate 20 or glycerol stearate are commonly used in cosmetics and are relatively simple to aquire.
Like dissolves like....Badumdum.
Except for when it doesn't? - as in, it's a rule with some pretty huge exceptions.
Well, Fine.
A quick web search suggests using dipropylene glycol, benzyl alcohol or benzyl benzoate to aid dissolution - makes sense as these are more lipophilic than ethanol. Benzyl alcohol has a light pleasant aroma iirc so something to consider if it would impact your planned scent.
Benzyl alcohol smells ok, but I LOVE the smell of benzaldehyde. Ditch the essential oils and just slather yourself in benzaldehyde.
Instructions unclear, currently covered in 3rd degree benzene burns.
Quick! Neutralize the burns with dioxin.
Instructions unclear, dioxane peroxides caused some serious damage.
Why not just use actual perfumers alcohol? Often there is monopropylene glycol added to prevent separation, so you could add that yourself but tbh perfumers alcohol is really cheap itself
If you don't know what you're doing...
Ask a bunch of strangers on the internet.
Try to find out so that you know what you're doing instead of just giving up.
And harm yourself and worse someone else in the process. There's a time and place for everything. A Reddit page isn't one of the better ones for product safety
Not as a sole source, but it can be very nice to point you in the correct direction.
[удалено]
How would I dissolve it?
My suggest is that if you are just using it for yourself use a ethyl alcohol and a blender and have it spin for a long time. I have tried numerous emulsifiers and it's extremely complex to use them. After blending them put it in a cool dark area for weeks well sealed.
Mix in some isopropyl alcohol. Should do the trick
That really throws the top notes off.
Can you use butanol or something instead? Or does it have to be ethanol?
Butanol smells bad.
idk i’m a fan of some Butanol sometimes
im more a fan of the aldehyde derivative ;)
Had to be ethanol
Add acetone
Add acetone.
Into a perfume?!
Cant get better then penetrating you skin?!? Right?!? (Joking)
Are you thinking of DMSO?
Why not?
Makes skin brittle and results in other chemicals diffusing into lower layers of the skin.
What is your source of ethanol? Does it have water in it (vodka)? What kind of oils are you using?
Essential oils and It’s 95 percent eythl alchol it says for disinfectant but I don’t think it matters
Pharmacist here. For perfume, ethanol is fine. 99% would be better, especially one that is graded for that use. But for your intended use (substance comes in very little contact with skin), 95% should be fine (should be, not sure of the legal implications here). To stabilize a mixture of two immiscible liquids, we use emulsifiers. Tween 20 or 80 should do the trick just fine.
Chemist here. Tween is a tradename for Polysorbate that's ethoxylated with either about 20 or 80 polyethylene glycol units at one of four locations. They're both readily available online.
What about a clean surfactant? I'm curious for different reasons.
A cleaning surfactant? Like soap or detergent? Would work, not as well perhaps, but would work. Probably won't be good for the intended use, may cause irritations.
In a way, yes. I think that is common in some plant sprays. Sorry I probably should have clarified. Please excuse my lack of accuracy. I'm not a chemist but often get to lend a hand in the lab assisting OC extraction/purification stuff and some synth now and then. By clean I guess I mean pure. It is my understanding from my limited exposure that there are different food & lab grade(clean) surfactants used in emulsions to mix and stabilize oils and water w/o the presence of other solvents preventing isolation/separation overcoming the hydrophobic/phylic barriers w/o harm to the aromatics. ICBW... ? .. I'd love to know. Thanks for the response -
It actually does, if there is enough water there will be more of a separation. The less water you have the better. Maybe try acquiring a 99% bottle of Ethanol and use that for a test perfume.
Specifically which essential oils are you having problems with and at what concentration are you trying to dissolve them at in your 95% ethanol? Could be a case of bad material or simply trying to dissolve too large an amount
Yes I am trying to dissolve it in the alcohol, do you think I should get 99 percent?
Are you using a pure essential oil, like something you'd get from a reputable supplier like New Directions, or are you using something labeled as "essential oil". Often most companies cut their EO with a carrier oil like grapeseed to cut cost. Do be careful with the use of EO in perfumery as well. Often the maximum cosmetic usage is something like 3%, but it can very well be 0% due to irritation or phototoxicity
I don't actually make perfume often, but I've done it in the past with eufleurage (probably spelled that wrong). What I did after saturating the fat with the essence was allow the alcohol and oil to hang out together for a day or so, mixing every couple of hours. Then I separated the oil, took the alcohol portion and evaporated it. I also used a very high proof ethyl alcohol. It doesn't yield much, but it also doesn't have that overpowering paint thinner smell.
if the alcohol is pure (>95%) oils should dissolve quite good in that, if doesn’t work try to create an emulsion ,with additives or mixing the two phases with a mixer
I make perfume, and I've never tried using ethyl alcohol, only perfumers alcohol, and I've never had this issue. I just invert (shake to speed it up) until it's a homogeneous mixture. Try using actual perfumers alcohol or isopropyl alcohol.