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Dipropylene glycol
Hello
I have been making some bath oils that consist of various oils (sunflower, sweet almond, apricot kernal, macadamia), polysorbate 85, and tocopherol. I’ve also experimented with varying concentrations of fragrances, anywhere from 3% to 8% (obviously for a dispersing bath oil, something at 3% can barely be smelt, 8% isn’t too bad).
The problem I’ve noticed is that over time the fragrance tends to fade.
I read somewhere (for the life of me I cannot find it again) that if I mix the fragrance (which is essential oils and fragrant oils) in dipropylene glycol first, before adding to the oil base, this will stabilize and make the fragrance last longer in the product.Does this sound correct?
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5 Replies
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Dipropylene glycol does little, if anything, to stabilize or fix a fragrance.
Dipropylene glycol is used as a solvent for difficult to dissolve materials or, almost exclusively, to dilute (cheapen) a fragrance compound.
You may find, even, that the DPG doesn’t dissolve in your carrier oil which brings me to another point, is your fragrance truly soluble in your carrier or is it separating after a time and sitting on the bottom of the bottle?
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if you want to solubilise a fragrance into oil, you need to use a low-HLB surfactant (e.g. oleth-3); polysorbates will not do the job effectively
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The Polysorbate 85 is in the mix to disperse once poured into the bath, not to solubilise the fragrance.
I’m currently working on 8 fragrances, they all seem soluble in the bath oil except one. It is a cedarwood and vetiver blend. When added to the bath oil the result is slightly opaque like frosted glass. Over about a week the vetiver settles to the bottom…. Is there anything I can use to prevent this?
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See the answer by Bill (above). DPG will not help.
Better still, ask your fragrance supplier for a perfume which is compatible with your base.
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it’ll disperse just as well if you use a low HLB surfactant
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