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Perfume formats: oils, roll-ons, solids, attars and sprays

By Omer Siton, founder of PerfuMate · Updated

A perfume concentrate can be worn in alcohol, in a carrier oil, set in wax, as a light body spray or as an attar; the scent materials stay the same, and the carrier changes how the perfume opens, how far it carries and which IFRA category applies. Each question below has a short answer and a link to the page that answers it in full.

What is perfume oil, and how do you use it?

A perfume oil, or oil-based perfume, is a perfume concentrate dissolved in a carrier that does not evaporate, such as jojoba oil, instead of in alcohol. It wears close to the skin and opens slowly; roll or dab a short line on the wrists and the sides of the neck, one stroke per spot to start. What perfume oil is, and how to apply it.

How do you make perfume oil at home?

Weigh the concentrate, add the carrier, roll the bottle until it is clear and rest it for a week or two. PerfuMate's range for a perfume oil is 10 to 30 percent concentrate, starting at 20: a 10 ml roll-on at 20 percent is 1.72 g of concentrate in 6.88 g of jojoba oil. How to make perfume oil.

What is the best carrier oil for perfume?

One with no smell of its own that does not go rancid: jojoba oil, a liquid wax that keeps for a very long time; fractionated coconut oil, thin, odourless and stable; or isopropyl myristate, a light ester that dissolves perfume materials well. Avoid kitchen oils such as olive, sunflower and sweet almond. Which carrier oil is best.

Do you need a carrier oil for perfume, and where do you buy one?

Only for a perfume oil, a roll-on or a solid perfume: a spray perfume needs perfumer's alcohol and no carrier. Buy a cosmetic or fragrance grade from a perfumery or cosmetic-ingredient supplier, look for the label names, such as Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil or Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, and smell a small bottle first. Do I need a carrier oil.

What is the difference between carrier oils and essential oils?

An essential oil is the volatile, fragrant part of a plant, distilled or pressed out of it, and it evaporates; a carrier oil is a fixed oil or liquid wax with little or no smell, which stays on the skin and dilutes the essential oils. In a formula the carrier counts as solvent: jojoba, fractionated coconut oil and almond oil carry no IFRA limit and add nothing to the scent. Carrier oils vs essential oils.

How long does perfume oil last, and does it expire?

On skin, as long as its slowest materials stay readable; in the bottle it has no fixed date and keeps as long as its carrier and its top notes do. Jojoba, fractionated coconut oil and squalane resist oxidation while kitchen oils go rancid, and a little Vitamin E with full, cool, dark storage keeps it longest. How long perfume oil lasts.

Do perfume oils last longer than alcohol-based perfume?

Usually, close to the skin: the carrier does not evaporate and slows the perfume's own evaporation, while alcohol leaves the skin quickly and lifts the top notes on its way out. The same concentrate wears closer and often longer as an oil, though how long either lasts depends mostly on the formula's base. Perfume oil or alcohol spray.

Does alcohol make perfume last longer?

No. Alcohol evaporates and adds nothing to how long a perfume lasts; it dissolves the concentrate, lifts the top notes and makes the perfume carry at first. Longevity comes from the concentrate: its slow materials, and how much of it is in the bottle. What alcohol does, and does not do.

Perfume oil vs alcohol-based perfume: which is better?

Neither in general. Choose an oil for close, alcohol-free wear and for formulas built on woods, ambers, musks, resins and florals; choose a spray for projection, a bright opening and citrus or green formulas. Both are IFRA Category 4, checked at the concentrate's share of the bottle. Which is better.

What is roll-on perfume (roll-on perfume oil), and how do you use it?

A roll-on perfume is a perfume in a small rollerball bottle, and almost always a perfume oil. Roll a short line on the wrists and the sides of the neck, two or three strokes in all to start, on skin rather than clothes, since the oil can mark fabric, and add more after an hour if you want it louder. Roll-on perfume, explained.

How do you make roll-on perfume?

By weight, in the bottle: a 10 ml roll-on holds about 8.6 g of jojoba oil, so at 20 percent weigh 1.72 g of concentrate and 6.88 g of carrier, roll until clear and rest it for a week or two. PerfuMate's seven-line first formula passes every Category 4 limit at 20 and at 30 percent, so it works as a roll-on. How to make a roll-on perfume.

How do you use fragrance oil in a roll-on?

Treat it as a concentrate and dilute it in a carrier, never above the Category 4 maximum on the supplier's IFRA certificate: with a 12 percent figure, a 10 ml roll-on can take at most 1.03 g. A fragrance oil sold for candles and soap only, or with no Category 4 figure, is not meant for skin. Fragrance oil in a roll-on.

Roll-on perfume vs spray: which is better?

Neither in general: a roll-on wears closer, opens more slowly and contains no alcohol, while a spray carries further and shows its top notes. A 20 percent oil holds more concentrate than an 18 percent eau de parfum yet usually reads quieter, because the oil holds it close. Roll-on or spray.

What is solid perfume, and how do you use it?

A solid perfume is a concentrate stirred into melted wax and carrier oil and set in a tin: a perfume oil made firm. Rub a fingertip over it two or three times and touch it to the wrists and the sides of the neck; it wears close, like an oil. How to use solid perfume.

How do you make solid perfume?

Melt the wax and carrier oil together gently, let the base cool until it is about to set, stir in a concentrate with no alcohol in it, pour and leave it to set. A 10 g tin at 20 percent is 2 g of concentrate and 8 g of base, for example 4 g of wax and 4 g of oil. How to make solid perfume.

Does solid perfume contain alcohol?

No, not when it is made with wax and oil: ethanol is flammable and stays away from the melted base, and materials normally kept as dilutions in alcohol are diluted in Dipropylene glycol or Triethyl citrate instead. On a commercial solid's ingredient list, ethanol appears as Alcohol or Alcohol Denat.; fatty alcohols such as cetyl alcohol are waxes, not ethanol. Solid perfume and alcohol.

How long does solid perfume last, and does it last longer?

On skin, about as long as a perfume oil of the same strength, close and steady; next to a spray it is quieter rather than dramatically longer. In the tin it keeps as long as its oil and its top notes do, longest with jojoba oil, fractionated coconut oil or squalane, and with Vitamin E whenever a plant oil is present. How long solid perfume lasts.

Solid perfume vs liquid perfume: which is better?

Neither: a solid is close, portable and alcohol-free, with nothing to spill. Its disadvantages are the other side of the same choice: it is quiet, shows little of its citrus top, needs more concentrate than a spray, softens in heat and puts a finger in the tin each time. Solid or liquid perfume.

What is alcohol-free perfume?

A perfume whose concentrate is carried by something other than ethanol: a carrier oil, as in a perfume oil, a roll-on or an attar; wax and oil, as in a solid perfume; or water with a solubiliser, as in some body mists. Worn as perfume it is still IFRA Category 4, checked at the concentrate's share. What alcohol-free perfume is.

How do you make perfume without alcohol?

Make it as a perfume oil, in jojoba oil, fractionated coconut oil or isopropyl myristate, or as a solid perfume in wax and oil. It sits closer to the skin and opens more slowly, because nothing lifts the top notes. Perfume without alcohol.

How do you make homemade body spray?

Weigh a light concentrate into perfumer's alcohol at a low strength, rest it and filter it: 100 ml at 3 percent is 2.4 g of concentrate and 77.6 g of alcohol. Decide its IFRA category first: a body spray is Category 2, and only one clearly labelled not for use under the arms can be considered under Category 4. How to make a body spray.

Perfume vs body mist: what is the difference?

A body mist is a perfume made weaker, sprayed over the body and filed by IFRA with deodorants in Category 2, where many limits are lower: IFRA's own example puts coumarin at 0.080 percent of a body spray against 1.5 percent of a fine fragrance. Less concentrate also means a shorter wear. Body mist vs perfume.

Can you make perfume with essential oils and water?

Not with those two alone: essential oils do not dissolve in water, so each spray puts out uneven drops of undiluted oil, and plain water can grow microbes. Use perfumer's alcohol, or a solubiliser such as Polysorbate 20 together with a preservative. Essential oils and water.

What is attar (ittar)?

An attar is a perfume oil worn without alcohol: traditionally a distillate of flowers, herbs or baked earth captured in sandalwood oil in Kannauj, India, and today any concentrated perfume oil sold to be worn neat. IFRA notes that undiluted attar is preferred by various religious groups because it contains no ethanol. What attar is.

How is attar made?

By deg and bhapka distillation: flowers are boiled with water in a copper still, the deg; the steam passes through a bamboo pipe, the chonga, into a copper receiver of sandalwood oil, the bhapka, standing in cold water; and the scent condenses into the oil. The finished attar is stored in leather bottles called kuppi. How attar is made.

Attar vs perfume: what is the difference?

An attar is an oil worn neat, a perfume a concentrate diluted in alcohol. The attar opens slowly and stays close, and its IFRA category depends on how it is used: 4 as a fine fragrance, 5A as a body oil. Attar vs perfume.

Attar vs oud: what is the difference?

Oud is one material, the oil distilled from agarwood, the resin-filled wood of stressed Aquilaria trees; attar is a format, any perfume oil worn without alcohol. An attar may contain oud or none at all, as gulab, motia and mitti attars show. Attar vs oud.

Does attar expire, and how long does it last?

An attar has no fixed expiry date: it keeps as long as its oil and its top notes do, so store it full, sealed, cool and dark. On skin it lasts long because it is worn neat on a slow base; the catalog lists East Indian sandalwood oil at 400 hours on a smelling strip. How long attar lasts.

Whatever the format, the strength is the concentrate's share of the finished product, and that is the figure PerfuMate's IFRA check reads. Check a formula at any strength, free.

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