what is the main purpose of alcohol in perfumes ?

September 14th, 2008 | Tags: ,
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perfumes
alibaba420pk asked:


and if they dont use alcohol then how the perfumes will not work ?

  1. electroberry1
    September 17th, 2008 at 03:29
    Reply | Quote | #1

    The alcohol evaporates at room temperature, leaving the scent. if it was water-based, then it would run all over your skin and could be diluted more easily.

  2. jennygirl
    September 17th, 2008 at 03:56
    Reply | Quote | #2

    i have always thought the alcohol was so that the liquid part of the perfume would evaporate more quickly, leaving the essential oils and other frangrance ingredients still on your wrist/wherever. why it won’t work unless there’s alcohol, i don’t know. are you positive that it won’t work? or maybe just not as well because of the chance of the liquid rubbing off onto something else? i’m reasonably sure about my first part of the answer but not sure about the second part, or if that second part is even true. good luck!

  3. science teacher
    September 17th, 2008 at 09:16
    Reply | Quote | #3

    The purpose of the alcoholis to evaporate and carry the odor. The alcohol used is poisonous.

  4. hazmatbulldog
    September 18th, 2008 at 23:39
    Reply | Quote | #4

    The alcohol evaporates into the air, carrying with it the essences of whatever else is mixed with it

    it’s there as a medium

  5. prasad g
    September 22nd, 2008 at 09:32
    Reply | Quote | #5

    the alcohol is the carrier for the powder that is the scent and it speards it and the evaporates. at least that is what i think.

  6. chris
    September 24th, 2008 at 13:27
    Reply | Quote | #6

    I think they use it because it evaporates so quickly, so the perfume dries and you don’t get a sloppy wet smelly mess

  7. pendarvisr
    September 25th, 2008 at 02:36
    Reply | Quote | #7

    Some of the fragrances are extracted from botanical sources using ethanol. Ethanol also serves the purpose of spreading the fragrance components around. Some of the compounds used in perfumes tend to smell bad when very concentrated. This is why some people stink from using too much perfume.

  8. jellybeanchick
    September 28th, 2008 at 01:33
    Reply | Quote | #8

    Alcohol evaporates very quickly. It is also a very good solvent, so it dissolves the molecules of fragrance, carries them to your skin when sprayed, and eveporates, leaving the fragrant molecules behind.

    You have probably noticed that “body sprays” are not nearly as potent as perfume. If you look at the ingredients, water is the #2 ingredient after alcohol. Because it is watered down, it changes the solubility of the fragrance molecules, which are typically organic and therefore more soluble in alcohol.

  9. dj_silvermane
    October 1st, 2008 at 11:23
    Reply | Quote | #9

    its purpose is to evaporate, diffusing the smell around u… plus the fact tt it is organic(C-H-OH) makes it a good base to add ur scents. its highly volatile, meaning low boiling pt, evaporates quickly. plus e alcohol is not harmful to our skin(tink of e alcohol swabs tt are used to clean wounds etc.

    well if alcohol wasn’t used, the perfume makers wud have to find sumting else to base their perfumes on, the smell might not be as strong nor as lasting… they are non-alcohol based perfumes cos it seems muslims can’t use the alcohol based ones… so yeah…

  10. mfi
    October 4th, 2008 at 00:53
    Reply | Quote | #10

    as solvent of the perfume chemicals

  11. Earl D
    October 7th, 2008 at 10:39
    Reply | Quote | #11

    It’s both a dillutant, extender and carrier.

    A real French perfume costs like $125 per half ounce diluted with some alchol. A lower costing parfume uses more alchol and thus the fragernce isn’t as potent.

    Yu figure most of the perfume is alchol thus only a fraction of an ounce is scent.

    How would you deal with that? One finger tip full is $125 worth and it’s enough for hundreds of applications!

    So you think of Nyqill

    The amount of active chemical ingredients amount to a few hundred grains or less than a gram.

    We are talking about what you put on meat with Salt and Pepper.

    To extend and carry that you mix in water or alchol.

    In the case of Perfume water takes a long time to evaporate and runs.

    Alchol evopates seconds after it hits your skin.

    Alchol leaves no residue, water leaves salts.

    In the case of Nyquill alchol has a numbing effect, helps indcue sleep, kill germs. Everyone knows a good shot of booze is great for the cold or flu!

    Alchol may also have some chemical binding effect.

    The rapid evaporation process may also play a part.

    Water is cheaper than alchol so if they use alchol it’s for a reason that some chemist disocovered.

    Unlike deoderant spray and breath sprays, perfume spayers use air, not propellents.

    This is because propellants have an effect on the chemistry.

  12. JP
    October 10th, 2008 at 11:36
    Reply | Quote | #12

    There are high quality versions of designer perfumes that have a great % of perfume ingredients. With the more common version, eau de toillette, they add a lot of alcohol so you can spray it on and have a big bottle . Just go to a department store or boutique and ask for perfume, not “eau de toilette”. It should be a tiny expensive bottle with a small opening to dot yourself with. It can be more economic, because with sprays the fragrance molecules are spread into the air. With perfume, the fragrance goes right onto your skin without that extra alcohol smell.

    Check out this Perfume FAQ, it lists all the % for versions of perfum. ‘Parfum’ is the highest.

    Smell ya later.

  13. koibito
    October 10th, 2008 at 21:35
    Reply | Quote | #13

    The primary purpose of alcohol is to cause the perfume oils to evaporate faster than they would by themselves, sometimes as much as or 15 times more quickly. This gives the impression that the perfume is considerably stronger than it actually is. That is why, when you first put on a commercial fragrance, the aroma may sometimes seem overwhelming to those around you. This also explains why the scent fades dramatically within one or two hours. The perfume oils have evaporated along with the alcohol.

    Alternate to alcohol is water. In perfume or parfum, 85% is alcohol or 70% is water,therefore the remaining percentage is 15%-30% is perfume oil.

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