Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating General Off Topic Super embarrasing question….. Floral waters :)

  • Super embarrasing question….. Floral waters :)

    Posted by Graillotion on November 27, 2022 at 4:52 am

    EWL….has a crazy on-line Black Friday sale…and so as I will filling my cart with GLDA and other necessities, a couple floral waters fell into my cart…since they were dirt cheap.

    I have NEVER EVER used a product like this….or even imagined I would.

    One is 

    Rose Distillate Lebanese


    and the other is

    Orange Blossom Water (Neroli Distillate)


    Can anyone give some guidance on what level these product are typically incorporated to give a nice light, but detectable scent?

    BTW….if you have never tried Illipe butter from ICSC Denmark….they are practically giving it away!  There is such a difference in quality from ICSC….it will blow you away… I promise.  I do not know if their other butters are from ICSC…but this particular one is….and hey…. who needs any other butter than this one?

    Illipe Butter (Certified Organic) - Buy Bulk | Essential Wholesale

    I would be remiss to not note…. When you apply this butter to your skin….at the moment of application…there is nothing special about it….other than noting there is no glossy oil sitting atop the skin.  The magic and ‘Ah Hah’ moment comes in the next hour…as you feel the area it was applied, and your skin feels like the most perfectly oiled exquisite leather you have ever felt.

    Joy replied 1 year, 11 months ago 8 Members · 13 Replies
  • 13 Replies
  • MarkBroussard

    Member
    November 27, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Graillotion

    You’re going to find that the only hydrosols that actually smell like the source plant material are Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Rose and Lavender.  Most all others smell like hay.  For instance, your Neroli is highly likely to barely resemble the scent of Neroli.

    You’ll need something on the order of 20% hydrosol to get a good scent out of it.  Good as a base for Toners or Mists, for instance.

  • Margaret

    Member
    November 27, 2022 at 9:15 pm

    Lavender hydrosol also smells hay-like. At least, this is what I experienced when I was using my home-made distiller. The hydrosol from a lavender farm nearby also smelled like hay.  It isn’t even close to the smell of lavender “essential oil”. HOWEVER: I also do NOT like the smell of lavender “essential oil”, but I DO really like dried buds. 

    Maybe it’s MY sense of smell.

  • Graillotion

    Member
    November 28, 2022 at 12:01 am

    Thank you both @MarkBroussard and @margaret .  I have properly lowered my expectations. :) 

  • Squinny

    Member
    November 28, 2022 at 2:21 am

    Hi The Neroli Water I buy here in Australian (From New Directions and AWO) does not smell like hay it smells like Orange blossom and the way I would expect it to smell. Likewise my Rose, Geranium, Lavender, Peppermint, Cucumber etc they all smell like you think they would - so I guess it depends on the quality from the supplies? I also use the hydrosols at around the 20% mark in general and replace that portion of my Distilled Water. I find they give a lovely scent to my products that is light, fresh and not overpowering. Just my 2 cents worth :)

  • justaerin

    Member
    November 28, 2022 at 11:22 pm
    I haven’t tried the floral waters/hydrosols from EW, but I’ve used the ones sold by Lotioncrafter and MC. Generally they smell pretty nice, though I go for citrus more often than florals. None of the ones I’ve tried smell like hay, though Tulsi hydrosol reminded me of bales of Eastern Washington orchard grass. I use 5-10% hydrosol to add a very light scent in water-based stuff like serums and spray detangler. It works well to mask some slight chemical odors.
    …and they have sodium cocoamphoacetate that I need on sale, so it would be irresponsible not to try the illipe butter. Thanks Graillotion.
  • Joy

    Member
    December 16, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @Graillotion it seems like you’re in most of the threads I’ve been reading! I promise I’m not stalking you, haha. 

    I love using floral waters for scents, but not all smell good. Rose and neroli smell true to the flowers in my experience, but lavender and jasmine smelled awful. For percentages, I’ve found that it depends on the other ingredients as well. I used 5% neroli hydrosol in a basic HA serum and it gave a lovely light scent that you smell when applying and then disappears. I then tried 5% in a hair gel, and you can barely smell the neroli. For lotions, I used 25% and it gave it a nice light scent. Noticeable, but not overpowering and doesn’t really linger, which is what I personally like. But 25% in that HA serum would have likely been too much since 5% worked well in that case.
  • Graillotion

    Member
    December 21, 2022 at 4:53 am

    @Squinny and @Joy …. just curious….how do these waters appear on an INCI?  (Got mine today….not half bad.)

    What is the correct way to market products with these scented waters?  Doesn’t seem like you could say….fragrance free…. but maybe fragrance oil free?

    Not sure how/if I will use these…but certainly would like to know the correct marketing terms…and INCI wording.

    Aloha.

  • Paprik

    Member
    December 21, 2022 at 6:04 am

    For example Neroli hydrosol would be “Citrus aurantium amara (Neroli) Flower Water” ; Manuka hydrosol “Leptospermum Scoparium (Manuka) Water” …. 

  • Graillotion

    Member
    December 21, 2022 at 6:18 am

    Paprik said:

    For example Neroli hydrosol would be “Citrus aurantium amara (Neroli) Flower Water” ; Manuka hydrosol “Leptospermum Scoparium (Manuka) Water” …. 

    Thank you.

    How do you capitalize on them, on the marketing side?  What is the ‘$$$ ChaChing $$$’ wording that people want to hear?  

    Where are you…marketing guy… @jemolian ?

  • jemolian

    Member
    December 21, 2022 at 8:22 am

    Hmm, it depends if you can find the benefits of the floral water to market. You can take the examples from the Korean products. Normally the korean products newadays may include certain plant extract solutions at a high percentage. Those are marketed as essences. 

    It still really depend on what the overall formulation is. If it’s floral water with petals (bug food) like the Kiehl’s Calendula Toner, the floral water might make sense, haha. If not, i’m not too sure if hydrosols attract customers that much by themselves since they might not have particularly attractive / trendy constituents besides from the fragrance. 

  • Joy

    Member
    December 22, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    I wouldn’t market a scented product as fragrance free, because some customers may think there is no scent. But you can say synthetic fragrance free, or naturally scented with floral water. The marketing appeal of floral waters is mostly in how you describe the scent and the “naturalness” in my opinion. Like “this lotion is naturally scented with neroli floral water. Each application is like being transported to an orange orchard in bloom. Blah blah blah”. Lol.

  • Squinny

    Member
    December 23, 2022 at 2:02 am

    Hi @Graillotion sorry didn’t answer sooner as didn’t see comment. My Neroli Water says :Ingredients: Purified Water, Glycerine, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Potassium Sorbate, Lactic Acid, Neroli Oil, Dimethicone, Sorbitan Stearate, PEG-40 Stearate, Cellulose Gum, Silica, Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid (This is from New Directions Australia). My Rose water is from Aust Wholesale Oils and says: Ingredients: Distillate Water from the Steam Distillation of Rosa Damascena, Preservative (Sodium Benzoate, Gluconolactone - added at less than 1% to stabilize the water). I don’t sell products but when I provide a ingredients list for friends and family as gifts I just list as Rosewater or Neroli Water as they don’t really care. So don’t know what you need to put in your labels for INCI sorry.

  • Joy

    Member
    December 23, 2022 at 2:21 am

    My INCI said the same as @Paprik said, but in the SDS it mentions less than 1% (each) of sodium benzoate and gluconolactone.

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