Ethanol not mixing oil

[FragranceSauvage]

Hello,

I have been reading for sometimes the posts in this forum and now here I am, just newly registered.
I have always been in love with perfumes and now I am starting to make my own .. because it is fun, exciting, rewarding and you know what you put in it.

So now I have a formula composed of only essential oil:
Sandal wood
Vanilla
Pepper mint
Pine
A bit of lemon

However, when I mixed Ethanol 95% that I bought in a pharmacy...it didn't mix the oil properly. Next morning I could see bubble in the bottle..

So I guessed, Ethanol did not have enough alcohol so I bought Ethanol 96% .. but the result was the same!

What could be possibly not right in what I do?

Thank you in advance for any advices/suggestions.

 

[Dmitriy]

Apparently, some of your essential oils (or all) is not 100% and contains as a supplement fatty (jojoba, coconut, etc.) base oils or something else. Ask a question to your supplier.

 

[ourmess]

Yup, definitely that - one of your materials is diluted in some fixed oil. Almost certainly the sandalwood, vanilla, or both.

For a frame of reference: real sandalwood is vaguely around $100/oz, while vanilla is more like $400/oz. If you didn't pay prices similar to those, then your product is either heavily diluted or flat-out fake.

 

[pkiler]

Yes, indeed, Carrier oil mixed with your EO. bad product to use for alcoholic Perfumery...

 

[FragranceSauvage]

Well done !

Not pure essantial oil. After I read your comments ...I decided to make a perfume with all the ingredients mentionnned except Vanilla and sandalwood..

And Bingo ! It was clear ! no bubble..even with Ethanol 95%.

Then I couldn't resist putting a bit of Vanilla....then some small bubble appeared even after a lot of shaking.


But I have another question:
Why not carrier oil ?

What does ethanol can mix one type of oil (essantial oil) and not the other one (carrier oil)...?

 

[Bill Roberts]

They are not both oils, or at least not of the same sort at all.

The term "essential oil" is a misnomer, by common understanding of the term "oil." The materials are not the triglycerides (fats, vegetable oils) or mineral oils that we ordinarily mean by "oil," or very much at all like them.

Oils of the above sorts are very hydrophobic, while aromamaterial molecules are in general hydrophobic but often not as much so as oils. They either have sufficient polarity or small enough size for ethanol to dissolve them while oil (e.g., vegetable oil) molecules do not.

You can see a physical difference for yourself: put a drop of vegetable oil on a hard surface today, and tomorrow it will still be there. A month from now it will still be there. Try this with an "essential oil," and that won't be the case.

There is a broader meaning of "oil" but it's so broad that some such substances will dissolve in a given solvent, such as ethanol, and others will not. However, vegetable oils, animal fats, and mineral oils are practically insoluble or insoluble in ethanol.

Another way of looking at it could be, volatile oils are commonly or perhaps always soluble at least to some extent in ethanol, while non-volatile oils such as vegetable oil are not. It is not that volatility itself lends solubility but it is related to other properties that are relevant.

 

[FragranceSauvage]

First of all sorry for the late reply..and thank you so much Bill Roberts for this very thorough and detailed explaining ! really great description easy to grasp!

So interesting - I must admit that it is actually true now that I think : essential oils do not feel oily at at all one I touch them with my finger..

Other thing I learned from you is that: not all essantial oil are soluble to some extent in ethanol.
I understand that some essantial oils are difficult to solve in ethanol...I would be very curious to know these essantial oils.

 

[Bill Roberts]

If I said that I did not mean it!

So far as I know all essential oils used in perfumery dissolve adequately in ethanol, provided it is at least 190 proof (95%.)

 

[FragranceSauvage]

Thanks a lot for making it clearer

 

[Mr.P]

I would add:

Sandalwood has low solubility in ethanol compared to other essential oils. Maybe a factor depending on the ratio in your blend.
Vanilla: I have some vanilla co2 extracts and they do not dissolve perfectly but leave little droplets.


That said, I think the most likely scenario is the one already stated: that your “precious” oils (sandalwood and vanilla) were purchased as a dilution in jojoba or some other fixed oil.

 

[pkiler]

Yes, Mr. P., some CO2's do not fully dissolve, and if you use fatty acid ethyl, or methyl esters, you can get the totality of the CO2 dissolved. (Ethyl linolenate, Ethyl linoleate, ethyl palmitate... etc.)

 

[FragranceSauvage]

I see.. I suppose the solution would be to mix the essantian oil in a mixure compose of more than just ethanol...

As I see, perfumer mixure has more than just ethanol in their mixure

 

[ShahrukhQazi]

Hi guys,

I am new here and Thank you guys so much for making me understand that why my essential oils are not mixing in ethanol, same happened to me as well when I made my first blend with Sandalwood a couple of days ago. It will be a learning for me to dissolve my each essential oil in ethanol to see if I should add them in future or not.

Anyways many thanks for the detailed information.

 

[pkiler]

Hi guys,

I am new here and Thank you guys so much for making me understand that why my essential oils are not mixing in ethanol, same happened to me as well when I made my first blend with Sandalwood a couple of days ago. It will be a learning for me to dissolve my each essential oil in ethanol to see if I should add them in future or not.

Anyways many thanks for the detailed information.

A true essential oil should have no problem dissolving into alcohol.
Adulterated essential oils may have problems though.
Mostly this discussion has been about CO2 extractions that do not dissolve well into alcohol, not essential oils.