Re: Benzoin is being difficult...

[Guest guest]

Hmm. I think you might be over-saturating the alcohol, benzoin is quite dense.

Try the same amount in 30ml of alcohol? See if that clears that end up a bit...

As far as using an oil....I have had no luck myself. I can rattle off a list of

oils that WON'T work, but it would be easiest to say that you're better off

trying to dilute the benzoin in almost anything else. Even if you get it

dissolved, and heat it slightly, it will look like it has finally integrated,

but then as soon as it has had time to sit everything will settle back down to

the bottom.

That said, you can try infusing jojoba with benzoin (oil, resinoid, or

otherwise). So you can add some benzoin and let it macerate for a while, or I

know some do low heat for a bit, and then run your oil through a coffee filter.

-d

[Guest guest]

>

> Part 2: I would just use alcohol but lately I've been frustrated with my

alcohol, whenever I try to get a good concentration, (60 drops EO to 15 ml) I

add cedarwood or something and the entire solution separates and the EO's sit in

globs at the bottom . Any advice? BTW I'm using 190 proof grain alc, should I

purchase Perfumers alcohol and my problems with that will be solved?

>

190-proof alcohol is as high a proof as you're going to find, whether it's grain

alcohol or perfumer's alcohol, so that's not the problem. Even if you were to

distill your own alcohol, you'd still have about the same product. Is there any

chance that some of your EOs are in fractionated coconut oil or jojoba oil?

I was having this issue when I was trying to blend rose absolute into one of my

earliest blends and I'd shake it and shake it and it would look like it was

dissolving and then it would all come together again in blobs on the bottom of

my vial. Turns out it was in FCO. After I got that straightened out with my

supplier and I got the right one, it never gave me trouble again.

The only other time I've run into a similar problem was when I was using a

jasmine that was 10% in jojoba oil and a rose otto that 10% in jojoba oil.

So, look at your oils and see - my rose absolute didn't say on the bottle that

it was in FCO, but when I went to the supplier's Web site I saw that they

offered two different ones, and I deduced that I'd gotten the FCO one by

mistake.

Cheers!

Andrine

[Guest guest]

> The only other time I've run into a similar problem was when I was using a

jasmine that was 10% in jojoba oil and a rose otto that 10% in jojoba oil.

>

> So, look at your oils and see - my rose absolute didn't say on the bottle that

it was in FCO, but when I went to the supplier's Web site I saw that they

offered two different ones, and I deduced that I'd gotten the FCO one by

mistake.

>

> Cheers!

> Andrine

>

I have had that problem before actually, I bought rose absolute diluted in

jojoba so I am careful never to make that mistake again. I think the main

culprit is actually cedarwood, for some reason it will never let me get to a

good 15% concentration. Is 15% too high or do some oils just difficult and I

have to know which ones are and aren't. Should I buy a different cedarwood from

another trusted supplier? I might just only use cedarwood in oil perfumes from

now on... Has anyone else had a problems with certain EO's in alcohol?

[Guest guest]

> > ...look at your oils and see - my rose absolute didn't say on the bottle

that it was in FCO, but when I went to the supplier's Web site I saw that they

offered two different ones, and I deduced that I'd gotten the FCO one by

mistake.

> >

> > Cheers!

> > Andrine

> >

> I have had that problem before actually, I bought rose absolute diluted in

jojoba so I am careful never to make that mistake again. I think the main

culprit is actually cedarwood, for some reason it will never let me get to a

good 15% concentration. Is 15% too high or do some oils just difficult and I

have to know which ones are and aren't. Should I buy a different cedarwood from

another trusted supplier? I might just only use cedarwood in oil perfumes from

now on... Has anyone else had a problems with certain EO's in alcohol?

>

Hi cmonkey818,

I've never had that happen. I've had residue from resins, but never a problem

with EOs. It's a mystery to me.

Cheers,

Andrine

[Guest guest]

Has anyone else had a problems with certain EO's in alcohol?

>

Absolutely!! Some essences are thick and gloppy, some refuse to dissolve in

alcohol or oil (or both). I have a mushroom absolute that is a mess, but smells

amazing. Mimosa absolute is another beast. No worries, just add alcohol and

" tincture " it. Eventually, the alcohol will absorb the odor molecules and

you'll have a workable essence. I start by creating a 50% dilution which I

gently warm while agitating the bottle. If the essence does not " dissolve " I

may add more alcohol and heat (always using a bain marie). If it's still a

stubborn mess, I just leave it and within a month the alcohol will have taken on

the scent of the essence. You need to experiment with what you've got.

Personally, I love challenging essences!!

Maggie

[Guest guest]

Part 1: I've had no problem with my bezoin oil when diluting it in alcohol,

however whenever I try to use it in jojoba oil I end up with globs of it

sitting at the bottom. I tried heating I got it to break up into a lot of

little globs but after it cooled again they reformed at the bottom. Does

anyone know how to blend benzoin into jojoba or is there another oil that

would dissolve it. Is there something natural I could add to the perfume to

get the benzoin droplets to dissolve?

Part 2: I would just use alcohol but lately I've been frustrated with my

alcohol, whenever I try to get a good concentration, (60 drops EO to 15 ml)

I add cedarwood or something and the entire solution separates and the EO's

sit in globs at the bottom . Any advice? BTW I'm using 190 proof grain

alc, should I purchase Perfumers alcohol and my problems with that will be

solved?

After your post here. I was really worried about trying to dissolve a blend

of benzoin, labdanum and vanilla oleoresin in alcohol but it worked really

well! I used Perfumer's Alcohol from Snowdrift Farm. I looked for 190 proof

grain alcohol but I couldn't find any. Someone else mentioned something

about grape alcohol; I'm not sure where to get this - someone may have

mentioned it but I don't remember. There's also an Artisan's alcohol from SF

but I haven't tried this either.

Sonsa