Solid perfume.. will this work?

[pamielynn]

So, a friend of mine has access to fresh beeswax and she just told me she's going to make a solid perfume out of this beeswax, hemp oil and essential oils. Then put it in some sort of container that you wear around your neck.

I know nothing about perfume. Can you tell me if this will work? I personally think the wax and oils would overpower the EOs and that wearing this contraption around the neck (in Texas, no less) would cause the wax to melt against your skin. Maybe that's what she wants??

I know many people make "solid perfumes", but is that different from the above? I thought perfumes contained alcohols.

Can I get some opinions on this, please?

 

[IrishLass]

Liquid perfumes are made with alcohol, but solid perfumes are really no more different than making a lip balm formula, only instead of flavor oil, you'd add fragrance oil or EO instead.

For my solid perfume, I use 25% beeswax and 75% oils (usually a mix of olive, coconut and castor). I pour mine in little lip gloss pots, although they can also be poured into lip balm tubes. When I was growing up, my mom used to buy me solid perfume from Avon (Sweet Honesty) and they always came in a lip balm-like tube.

The neck contraption sounds intriguing. I wonder what it's made of and how it's made?


IrishLass

 

[biarine]

I made solid perfume before but not my favourite it won't last the scent and quite weak than oil base or alcohol.

 

[pamielynn]

IrishLass, she described the necklace, but I really couldn't picture it in my mind, so I can't describe it. But you don't think the wax/oils will overpower the scent? The bw that she gets from our "bee guy" (yes, that's what we call him) has a really strong smell. I've actually stopped using his wax in my lip balms, because it has a taste. But I digress...

I can understand it now, when you mention the Avon ones. Yep, we all remember Avon solid perfume Thank you!!

 

[DeeAnna]

I doubt the wax odor will greatly affect the perfume scent. I use my own beeswax in lip balm and only need 1% EO to scent the balm. Perfume is often stronger than that so I wouldn't think there would be any trouble.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

 

[snappyllama]

I had one of those... in Austin in the Nineties. Thanks for reminding me! It was like a silver locket with a butterfly on it. Inside was very solid patchouli perfume. It never melted though I wore it *everywhere*. I even wore it dam diving in the hill county. Ah, memories of being 90 foot tall and invincible.

Thinking on it, I bet it was mainly beeswax. It was very solid.

 

[IrishLass]

But you don't think the wax/oils will overpower the scent? The bw that she gets from our "bee guy" (yes, that's what we call him) has a really strong smell. I've actually stopped using his wax in my lip balms, because it has a taste. But I digress...

I can understand it now, when you mention the Avon ones. Yep, we all remember Avon solid perfume Thank you!!

The beeswax I use is the refined kind from MMS and has no smell, although I must say that I do love the smell of natural beeswax. The kind from your bee guy sounds like pretty strong stuff!

I looked amongst my old Avon stash to see if I still had my Sweet Honesty solid perfume so that I could post a pic of it, but alas, no such luck. All I have left is a good handful of Sweet Honesty liquid perfumes in different collector bottles. My mom used to sell Avon and would always give me gobs of it on Christmas and birthdays. My favorite is the fishbowl bottle. Every once in a while I'll open one of them up and travel back in time to my high school days. lol


IrishLass


Edited to add- After reading SnappyLlama's post, I did a search and found this: http://www.jewelryfindings-online.com/store/pc/Round-Antique-Bronze-Scent-Locket-643x-46p1829.htm

It looks like it might be do-able!

 

[DeeAnna]

Here are some cute ceramic pots as necklaces: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WearableClay
And here's a bajillion more: https://www.etsy.com/search?q=aromatherapy necklace

 

[pamielynn]

Since you've opened up about your Sweet Honesty story, I'll admit that I still have a pair of the red candle holders that have Sweet Honesty in them! My friend's grandmother sold Avon back in the day and she gave these to me as a birthday gift when I was about 11 That scent sure does bring back memories.


Thank you all for the help!! I'll look into it more and let her know what I find out and see if I can help her do it right.

ETA: I somehow lost half this post.... I was saying that I don't do solid perfumes or lotion sticks and don't know anything about wax necklaces; we live in Texas and it's pretty hot down here- I was picturing BW and oils melting down my chest when she talked about her idea. Last summer she tried to make "solid hand lotion" with just BW and scent and it didn't work out so well. She really doesn't know anything about B&B and I don't mind helping, but I was thinking about perfume with alcohol and if it could go with BW. She's a bit of a farmer and wants to incorporate things she grows and the bee keeper keeps his hives on her property and she's trying to meld it all together. But I cringe at the thought of her bringing a bad product to market.

Thank you for the links, too!!

 

[pamielynn]

I think the link Irish Lass gave is exactly what she's talking about. That's where I got the "melted oil/wax" dripping down my chest visual

So she should probably rethink adding oils to the beeswax then, yes? Because one wouldn't rub it on the skin...

Geeze... like I don't have my own production to worry about, ha ha!

 

[snappyllama]

Irishlass, it was very similar to that!

 

[LanaBanana]

After reading this discussion I happened upon a post about solid perfume...
http://mountainroseblog.com/revitalizing-solid-perfume/

 

[pamielynn]

After reading this discussion I happened upon a post about solid perfume...
http://mountainroseblog.com/revitalizing-solid-perfume/

Ok, WOW! I love that necklace in the MRH blog. This recipe has a lot more oil than I would have thought would work. I told you I know nothing about solid perfume, ha ha!!

I'm going to print it out and give it to my friend and let her go from there.
Thank you for posting this link, LanaBanana!

 

[LanaBanana]

Glad I could contribute! I also know nothing about solid perfume so I can't say whether or not the recipe is a good one but I like the idea and the locket is so neat.

 

[Trix]

Hi pamielynn! I just signed up today, so only contributing today. I have made solid perfume in the past,but not my favourite...however an idea to make it even more solid and ensure it does not melt, how about your friend mixes up some of that beeswax with some carnauba wax?

Beeswax on its own can become too soft for a locket in excessively hot weather, but the carnauba wax is really really hard once set.

Also don't forget "curing times" after she adds her essential oils, tell her to close it for a few days to a week or more, as she may not smell anything at the start but the scent really develops later on. I learnt this during one of my very first over enthusiastic lotion makings many years ago.