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Alcohol free perfume formula help
I’m a perfumer and I’m used to using TSDA1 (alcohol denat) in my compositions. So to make my life really difficult, I’ve decided to try something else. I am attempting to make a natural, alcohol free, vegan, PEG free, California Prop 65 friendly (so Polysorbates are out) perfume. I want it at eau de parfum strength (min 15% fragrance compound) and water based in a sprayable format.
Now, ideally, I would want this to be clear, but I think that might be wanting the Moon on a stick, so I would be happy with a very watery, sprayable o/w emulsion.
So far, I have come up with the following and wondered if anyone could think of a way of making it better.
A
ad 100% Distilled water
5% Lysofix (Glycerin, Glycine Soja)B
15% fragrance compound (isolates, essential oils, CO2 extractions, etc)
5% Tegosolve 61 (Polyglyceryl-6 Caprylate; Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate; Polyglyceryl-4 Cocoate; Polyglyceryl-6 Ricinoleate)
1% Plantaserve E (phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin)
Mix A
In separate container, mix B then add to A.
Mix at high shear.This gives me a watery emulsion, but it does tend to separate on standing, which isn’t ideal. It’s also not very pretty. I was wondering about adding a mica plus something to hold the mica in suspension in the emulsion. But I don’t want to clog up any spray and my knowledge base has run out on that one. Alternatively, I could just paint my bottles white and tell people to shake the bottle before they spray, but I just don’t like to do that.
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9 Replies
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Good luck - I’ve been struggling with water-thin emulsions with similar constraints (set by customer not by me).
You could try using the Tego Solve 90 as well- that one looks like it’s better for fragrance solubilizing anyway. Your emulsifier total is probably nowhere near high enough- to solubilize 15% oils you should try maybe 45% solubilizer. The alcohol was in there for a reason, you could try a crap ton of propylene glycol.You could also try pemulen tr 2 (Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer)
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Where do you see polysorbates listed in Prop 65 list?
https://oehha.ca.gov/media/downloads/proposition-65//p65list091319.pdfMaybe you can try some Polysugamulse D9, but I don’t know if you’ll need inordinate amounts of it to solubilize 15% fragrance.
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@Gunther I think it’s because of production method of polysorbates (using ethylene oxide which is on the list and could be residual). I still don’t understand how in-depth products need to be investigated to be prop-65 compliant
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@EVchem You’re quite right about the production methods of polysorbates being the reason for the Prop 65 warning label. It isn’t the polysorbates themselves, but the *possible* contamination (sigh).
I have some Pemulen EZ4U (and I’m loving that name, btw, so… Walmart). It’s not a natural, but if I can say 99% natural (the Pemulen should give me a good, stable emulsion at only 0.4%), that should be good enough. I’ll give it a go and let you all know.
I’ve also tried with Symbio solv clear plus, but the max dermal limits are only 4-5% with a 1:4 fragrance to solubilizer ratio.
Why on EARTH have I decided to do this to myself??? Oh I know, because my life isn’t difficult enough.
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Okay, quick update.
Tried the Pemulen EZ4U.
At 0.4% it does emulsify but the spray is rubbish. Just not fine enough. It has clogged up one spray head already and the other, well, the spray pattern is more of a glob than a mist. Looks a bit rank, if I’m honest.
At 0.2%, it emulsifies with a crap ton of mixing - a good 25 minutes (10 for the A phase of water and pemulen, 15 for the B into A phase). I’ve found best results by mixing the A phase for 5 minutes, letting it rest, mixing it again and then mixing in the B phase. Still a bit gloopy for what I want.
At 0.1% it’s separating, even with the staged mixing, which is a shame, because that’s the consistency that I need.
I may need to do some more tinkering - Xantham Gum? Triethyl Citrate perhaps?
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instead of water, you could try using a low-viscosity non-alcoholic solvent instead; you’d be making your work a hell of a lot simpler
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@Bill_Toge You’ve read my mind! TEC is the one that jumps out immediately.
However, I’ve also been thinking a lot about utilising plant based hydrocarbons (Vegelight 1214-LC was one of them). I’d be making more of a ‘dry oil’. That might work. I’ll give it a go if I can get some samples.
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@Hirondelle21 a handy hint when selecting potential solvents is to get a numerical value for viscosity - the most effective solvents for perfumes are 10 cSt/cP or less (for comparison, water and alcohol are both around 1 cSt)
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@Bill_Toge Thanks. Great help. I’ll let everyone know how I get on.
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