(03-29-2012 12:43 AM)wiserd Wrote:  Hi Halo,

Could you explain this? Is it because of the water content of the vodka?

The water content of vodka will make the scent layer in the bottle. You'll have to shake it each time. If you don't mind shaking the bottle before each use it should be ok. Vodka doesn't have added scent, right? What you should never ever use is rubbing alcohol, because it has a strong odor of it's own and will destroy any perfume.

Everclear is better (if illegal) to use because it is 100% alcohol without any water.

Perfumer's Alcohol is best because it contains emollients that enable water, oil and alcohol to blend.

(03-29-2012 12:11 PM)Mara ~ Love Potion Wrote:  The water content of vodka will make the scent layer in the bottle. You'll have to shake it each time. If you don't mind shaking the bottle before each use it should be ok. Vodka doesn't have added scent, right? What you should never ever use is rubbing alcohol, because it has a strong odor of it's own and will destroy any perfume.

Everclear is better (if illegal) to use because it is 100% alcohol without any water.

Perfumer's Alcohol is best because it contains emollients that enable water, oil and alcohol to blend.

Thanks much, Mara! I didn't know about the emollients in perfumers alcohol. Though technically, everclear is 95% alcohol. You have to cut alcohol with some noxious chemicals to cheaply get it to 100%. So the quality of truly 100% alcohol is always a little suspect.

Thanks, Wiserd! I was unaware of that! Good to learn something new every day. Everclear is illegal in California - not allowed to be shipped into the state. I've never encountered it before in real life. (Though I tried very hard once, because I wanted to sell a facial refresher spray that was entirely of edible grade ingredients, but I was foiled in my pursuit!)

It's not legal for a perfumer to craft with drinkable alcohol. We have to by law use denatured alcohol of one sort or another, but a consumer can do what they wish for their own personal use.

There are several formulations of perfumer's alcohol for different perfumer's needs. Some will accept more water than others if you want to make a *splash* strength scent for yourself, for example. Others will allow different kinds of oils to blend together than normally wouldn't. For example, I sometimes use food grade flavor oils mixed with cosmetic grade scent oils. Those won't blend permanently in oil - they layer, but perfumer's alcohol will make them blend and you can produce a perfume strength spray.