Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Essential Oils in Natural Deodorant

  • Essential Oils in Natural Deodorant

    Posted by jsmith14 on January 8, 2019 at 2:54 pm

    Hey All,

    I’ve been working on a natural deodorant formula for six months and I am struggling to get strong scents to hold in the bar.

    I’ve read that when using EOs one should keep them below 1% of the total makeup of the bar.  However, it seems that when I do this my scents are not as strong.  I’ve noticed many top natural deodorant brands claim they only use EOs, yet their scents are very strong.  Either they are using more than 1% or I’m adding my EOs in wrong.

    I’ve been adding scents into my mixture at around 42 C.  I am considering using jojoba oil as a carrier oil to see if that helps. 

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    Much thanks,

    Jsmith

    jsmith14 replied 5 years, 1 month ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 10:19 pm

    “They” use fixatives for this purpose. “They” being perfumers.  Read up on the topic of fixatives and you’ll figure it out.

  • gunther

    Member
    January 8, 2019 at 11:23 pm

    Do essential oils fully dissolve in jojoba oil?
    If it does, then jojoba oil already works like a fixative, delaying the volatile “notes” in EO from evaporating too fast.

    You can try a fixative. Some like triethyl citrate and benzyl benzoate are widely available and cheap.
    Some pro perfumers don’t use fixatives in some fomulas as they dampen the smell. They just use the heavier oily components as fixatives.
    So, also try with no jojoba oil and just EO+emulsifier. Jojoba oil may be “over fixating” it (dampening its smell).

    You may have weak or dilute EOs. 
    Some EOs have a faint smell by themselves.
    Try adding more EOs as needed.

  • jsmith14

    Member
    January 30, 2019 at 1:30 am

    Hey All,

    Thank you for your feedback!  I am currently trying to figure out a few more specifics about my EO blend in a natural deodorant I am formulating.

    Currently, our blend of Jojoba OIl and EOs make up a little over 2% of our formula by weight.  The blend itself is 40% jojoba and 60% EO by volume.

    The questions that I am running into are as follows:

    1 ) How diluted should our blend of Jojoba and EOs be? Currently, the blend itself is 40% jojoba and 60% EO by volume. I’ve read about blends in which they are mostly Jojoba (1-3% dilution by EO).  However, I also have other diluting ingredients in our formula such as Fractionated Coconut Oil so I am not sure if I need to be aggressive with Jojoba.

    2) Since I have other ingredients that are considered diluting ingredients how do I calculate the diluting % and will it matter when I input my eo/jojoba blend?

    3 ) In general what would be an appropriate/safe dilution percentage in a natural deodorant stick formula?

    Thank you!

    ~jsmith


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