Solid Lotion vs Solid Perfume

[Carl]

What's the difference between Solid Perfume/cologne sticks and Solid Lotion sticks?

I've been recently making sticks out of Beeswax, Shea Butter, Carrier Oils, and Fragrance. I've been putting it in those .5 ounce tubes that are similar to large lip balm tubes. It's been working out really well.

I've been calling it Solid Perfume.

But now I've discovered Solid Lotion and realized it's almost the same ingredients in the same container.

Is there really a difference or just a matter of what you want to call it?

Thanks!

 

[GemstonePony]

Solid lotion may have a fragrance but it's primary purpose is skincare.
Solid perfume may help with skincare, but it's primary purpose is fragrance.

Do you want to draw people's attention to the skin-care or the fragrance?

 

[DeeAnna]

IMO there is a difference.

Lotion => Meant to be soothing and protective for the skin. Apply over large parts of the body possibly including near eyes, nose, mouth. Not scented heavily. I normally scent lotion bars at 0.5% to1%, maybe a bit more.

Perfume => Meant to scent the body. Apply in small areas away from sensitive areas. Scented heavily. My notes suggest around 10% fragrance, assuming that's skin safe.

edit -- the carrier "lotion" might be more or less the same, but I wouldn't buy something called a "solid perfume" with the expectation that I'd use it anywhere and everywhere like I would a lotion bar. And vice versa.

 

[Carl]

Thanks, I noticed a lot of the ingredients were almost exact. If you look at a lot of the recipes out there it seems almost like they are the same thing with people just labeling them differently.

I think the consensus here then is that the solid perfume would be more heavily scented.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

What's the difference between Solid Perfume/cologne sticks and Solid Lotion sticks?

I've been recently making sticks out of Beeswax, Shea Butter, Carrier Oils, and Fragrance. I've been putting it in those .5 ounce tubes that are similar to large lip balm tubes. It's been working out really well.

I've been calling it Solid Perfume.

But now I've discovered Solid Lotion and realized it's almost the same ingredients in the same container.

Is there really a difference or just a matter of what you want to call it?

Thanks!

Good Q.

 

[Aromasuzie]

Perfume balms generally have 10-30% essential oil, (not sure on dosage for artificial fragrances). The idea behind a balm is that it acts as a slow release product, the waxes will slow down the evaporation rate of the essential oils as well as protecting the skin from irritation due to higher percentages of essential oils. Tiger balms have 30-50% in them.

In the "perfumery" world, essential oil percentages for body products are, body splash/spray 1-3%, Eau de cologne/aftershave 3-5%, Eau de toilette 4-8%, Eau de parfum 8-15%, parfum/extract 15-30% and perfume oil/balm 10-30%

 

[Skylantern]

My understanding is that a traditional solid perfume/cologne is made with perfumer's alcohol as well as ingredients to form a solid stick. A popular example on the market

https://fultonandroark.com/collections/solid-cologne/products/palmetto
INGREDIENTS
Mineral Oil USP
Ceresin Wax Coconut Oil Fragrance
Perfumers Alcohol
Cetyl Alcohol
Petrolatum USP

It has a high rate of perfumer's alcohol, often 75%+ so that the scent will release from the skin and is more detectable by the user. I'm not able to make these because I don't have the machinery that allows me to combine the ethanol with the melted oils and waxes without lighting myself on fire. You need an enclosed drum in case of combustion. I've been collecting recipes over the years and they all tend to stick to a similar formula.

Here is a recipe from a 1958 magazine where the perfume is the alcohol

As you mentioned, another type of solid perfume is just a highly scented lotion bar. These can also be referred to as solid perfumes but because they do not contain alcohol the scent release is very minimal because it's suppressed by the waxes in the formula. Solid perfumes tend to have a higher percentage of perfume than lotion bars. There are also cream sachets which are highly scented lotions so they're a creamed perfume.

Adding onto this is whether or not your formula can hold higher amounts of fragrance without additives before it'll start to seep out of the mix. This is a common problem with flavoring and sweetners in lip balms. So there is a fair amount of testing to see what is first within the IFRA limit for that particular EO/FO, then what your formula can hold, and lastly what what is an acceptable scent level. I've made non-alcohol solid perfumes with 1% FO (looking at you Love Spell) that had amazing longevity and I've used a 5% Sandalwood and violets mix that I could barely detect.

 

[Carly B]

I have come to the conclusion that lip balm, lotion bars, massage bars, and solid perfumes are all pretty much the same with a few tweaks here and there for each one. There are all sorts of variables, of course, but each one is some blend of wax of some type, butter of some type, and oil of some type, with fragrance, EO or flavor oil added. I love it, because it allows for tons of experimentation and immediate feedback, and you can customize it depending upon what results you want.

My biggest problem is tons of little containers filled with various balms and salves are taking over my office.......that's not really a BAD problem.....

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I think the consensus here then is that the solid perfume would be more heavily scented.

Hmmm. I've seen solid perfume made out of nothing but wax & fragrance applied to pulse points.

Lotion Bars, on the other hand, are formulated to soothe and moisturize and are applied heavily by comparison. They also contain ingredients similar to what you use to make your solid perfume... so I would say your solid perfume is more like a lotion bar than solid perfume. I bet everybody loves it!

 

[HoppyCosmetics]

On this topic of solid perfume, im just wondering if there are any UK suppliers that specifically do essential oil or fragrance oil for perfume?

Also, are fragrance oils skin safe in perfume?
And is lip balm flavour oil ok to use?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[DeeAnna]

Fragrance oils may or may not be skin safe -- you have to look at the IFRA guideline for each scent to know whether it would work in perfume or not.

Lip balm flavors will be skin safe in the amounts one would use for lip balm. Again check the IFRA guideline to learn the maximum recommended dosage for each one -- since they're used more for flavor than perfume, they might not be skin safe in the dosage you want to use for perfume.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

UK suppliers that specifically do essential oil or fragrance oil for perfume?

For info on scenting solid perfume, I would search Aromatherapy sites in the UK similar to AromaWeb.com. There's good basic info there.

You can also use the Search feature on this forum to find recommendations for UK suppliers. It's the magnifying glass located in the upper right corner of this page.

 

[Harikharek]

Sticks for such dry perfumes can not have any odors, so when in contact with them, they do not change the molecular structure of the solid perfumes. The solid perfume oil (coconut, almond, and caring oils) is unscented and is a fixative. It "binds" fragrant molecules and gives them away when evaporating. Because of this, natural perfume has a low diffusivity (fragrance) and a short sound (up to 2 to 4 hours). Lotions will not last as long. If you have 100% genuine perfume & cologne samples, you can put liquid cologne on a model and compare the smell of the wood stick after 5 hours. The beeswax or medical paraffin acts as a thickener and nothing more.