Everclear: Why and why not?

Clouds judgement...

I think the higher the alcohol content, the faster it will dissipate and carry the scent with it --- if I had to guess. The perfumer's alcohol is such a concentration to waft the scent out, keep things sterile, and allow the fragrance to behave as it should.

I found that cheap vodka works fine, but I only use a little to dilute frags that are way too strong for me.

There are many alcohol threads in this discussion. You can read further for details but the summary is this.

Everclear is the alcohol of choice if you are making fragrances for your own use and if a store near you carries it. Some states ban it and some liquor stores choose not to carry it. People have gotten poisoned, drinking as much Everclear as the vodkas they are used to. If you ever want to sell fragrances and they are made with a drinkable alcohol, then they are subject to the extra high taxes on liquor. Perfumer's alcohol is denatured - undrinkable - and thus not subject to liquor taxes. The exact materials used for denaturing are not revealed. Some people think some perfumer's alcohols have a slightly off smell. Denatured Alcohol sold for removing paint is almost certainly going to smell awful. Whatever they are adding to denature it, they are making sure that no one will ever drink it.

Be doubly careful if you work with Everclear. First, keep it away from anyone who might be tempted to drink it. The less experienced the drinker, the more danger. Second, keep it away from flames, sparks, etc. It catches fires and burns very easily.

151 proof is 75.5%. Only when you use very little fragrance compounds (about 2%) all might dissolve. generaly you need at least 90% (180 proof) alcohol.

Isn't it illegal to sell fragrances made with drinkable alcohol?

I believe it's not illegal to sell fragrances made with drinkable alcohol - if you've paid the appropriate taxes. Of course if there's anything in the fragrance that's not drinkable, then the approriate label might get complicated: "There's a liquor stamp on this bottle but don't drink it becuase it might be poison."

I suspect that some perfumer's alcohols may also contain some surfactants that will help oils disolve in higher concentrations than janmeut mentioned above. But I don't know any that say this.

No, it is not.

I don't know food grade alcohol. What's its proof? Who sells it?

Food grade alcohol is what I usualy use, the smell is usualy very good, dangerous denaturants like methanol are not used and 195 proof is good. The price is a problem, here in the Netherlands a lot of taxes have to be payed for this type of alcohol.

190 proof food grade alcohol is the best. Do you live in Washington state?

Here's M2CW on everclear and liquor in general for perfume use. Not worth the hassle. If you want to use it for your own personal use, go for it. If you plan to sell your creations you can open a world of trouble with various taxing agencies that want you to buy permits to sell liquor. You won't list it as an ingredient and so are unconcerned? Not so fast. If someone has a reaction to your product and it is discovered you used drinking alcohol without listing it, that's a universe of trouble. I really don't get why people insist on using vodka and everclear and other drinking alcohols when perfumer's alcohol eliminates so many problems, is easy to obtain, doesn't smell, and won't break the bank.

That is absolutely untrue. Federal law specifically allows for (Federal) tax-paid beverage alcohol to be used in the manufacture of fragrances. Once the alcohol has been incorporated into a fragrance it is no longer a beverage and state alcoholic beverage laws do not apply.

Yes, it is very convenient in Washington and California. In Washington it is easy to get the permit for 5 gallons per year of 190 proof alcohol and then you can buy it at a State liquor store. In California you do not need a permit but you have to go to an industrial alcohol dealer.

Thanks, dcampen, this is good to know. Please post a link to the appropriate Federal regulations.

Does anyone know the laws in the EU?

Please cite your information source. While I am aware that tax-paid beverage alcohol is not illegal to use in fragrances, the resale tax will apply to specific locations. It is taxed as drinking alcohol. One needs a permit from where ever they are selling it or pay fines.

I just don't get it with the liquor. Is it the cost of PA that causes people to want to use vodka and everclear? It can't be the ease of purchase as I've read the frustrations here of those who can't obtain everclear. So what is the appeal?

OK, so we agree here.



The sales tax on fragrances is the same no matter what type of alcohol is used in it. You are selling a fragrance product not an alcoholic beverage.

I will look up some relevant sections of the Code of Federal regulations but this is a little bit like asking me to prove that it is not illegal to eat vanilla ice cream on Sundays.

I would guess that you probably have been reading the misinformation posted on the Snowdrift Farms website.


In Washington and California as well as a number of other states it is easy to obtain tax-paid pure alcohol. The Federal tax is $27/gallon and in California, from an industrial alcohol dealer the cost of the alcohol is about another $13/gallon.

Some people are fine paying the hazmat fee for virtually odor free perfumer's alcohol. Others are fine saving money and dealing with the pungent alcohol odor upon initial application of a fragrance diluted in Everclear. Everyone has different priorities.

Everclear is just as odorless as any "perfumer's alcohol", even more so. I am smelling 190 proof Everclear now and it has only the faintest smell.

Do you understand that real perfumers don't use "perfumer's alcohol"?

What exactly differentiates a "real" perfumer from a fake one? :P

I have compared Everclear to perfumer's alcohol noted a considerable difference.

The so called "Perfumer's alcohols" are concocted and sold especially to hobbyists. They will have large amounts of some combination of isopropyl alcohol and various high boiling esters. They are formulated this way so that they can be sold without having to pay the $27/gallon tax on beverage grade alcohol.

A large fragrance manufacturer would use what is call a "Specially Denatured Alcohol", typically SDA formula 39-C which contains has had added to it 1% diethyl phthalate. By using an SDA a large manufacturer can again avoid the $27/gallon tax on beverage alcohol but this requires that the manufacturer obtain a Federal permit to purchase SDA. This is because an SDA could easily be converted to drinkable alcohol in order to cheat the Feds of their taxes due and the feds do not like to be cheated out of what is due them.

For a small manufacturer who only uses a few gallons a year it is not worth the hassle of getting an SDA user's permit and instead they will pay the federal tax and use beverage grade alcohol.

The "Perfumer's alcohol" that the hobbyist vendors sell is no doubt made starting with an SDA to which additional materials are added. And the SDA is made from the same beverage grade alcohol that is used for Everclear.

In this context, people who use "Perfumer's alcohol" are not real perfumers. Or to put it another way, anyone working at Firmenich, Givaudan etc. formulating fragrances will not be using "Perfumer's alcohol"; in the U.S. they would be using an SDA.


Well then it was either a placebo effect or you like the smell of some of the extra stuff that they added to the "Perfumer's Alcohol".

Yes you can sell fragrances made with it. You have already paid the Federal alcohol tax when you bought the alcohol. You do not need any permits or licenses other than what you would need for selling beads, candles or any other artisan products. You would need to pay state sales taxes just the same as if you were selling beads or candles. The only problem with shipping is that it is flammable; this same problem applies to commercial fragrances and fragrances made with the "Perfumer's alcohol" sold to hobbyists.

You're basically calling most niche perfumers "fake", which seems a bit vitriolic, no? The type of alcohol one uses does not qualify someone as "real" or not real, imo.

For United States Postal it is allowed but special packaging and labeling is required. It is shipped as an "ORM-D" product. Many fragrance vendors ignore this. Fedex and UPS would have their own rules that again many fragrance vendors ignore.

Well, the artisanal perfumers that I know personally use either an SDA or Tax-paid alcohol. I suppose some might use one of the "Perfumer's" alcohols that are sold to hobbyists but I think it is less likely.

California Business and Professions Code, section titled "Alcoholic Beverages Control Act"
http://law.justia.com/california/cod...100-23113.html
23112. Nothing in this division prevents or restricts the use of
tax-free alcohol or of industrial alcohol or other distilled spirits
or wine under regulation of the United States Government in the
manufacture of any of the following products, if the products are
unfit for beverage use:
(a) Medicinal, pharmaceutical, or antiseptic products, including
prescriptions compounded by registered pharmacists.
(b) Toilet products.
(c) Flavoring extracts.
(d) Sirups.
(e) Food products.
(f) Scientific, chemical, or industrial products.

This is actually redundant since the Federal law already allows for this and has precedence over state laws.

Well if something isn't real, it's at least inauthentic. I won't debate over the verbiage, but I stand by my sentiment that the type of carrier one uses doesn't qualify one as real, fake, "substantial", etc.

Here is Federal law:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text...dno=27;cc=ecfr

CFR Title 27 Chapter 1

§ 1.62 Use of distilled spirits or wine for experimental purposes and in manufacture of nonbeverage products.
The use of distilled spirits or wine for experimental purposes and in the manufacture of (a) medicinal, pharmaceutical, or antiseptic products, including prescriptions compounded by retail druggists; (b) toilet preparations; (c) flavoring extracts, syrups, or food products; or (d) scientific, chemical, mechanical, or industrial products, provided such products are unfit for beverage use, is regarded as “industrial,” and will be excluded from any application of the term “nonindustrial use.”

Here is the information sheet if you want to buy pure tax-paid alcohol in Washington state for fragrance compounding.
http://liq.wa.gov/publications/IndAlcoholinfosheet.pdf
Industrial alcohol is distilled ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH), normally of high proof, produced and sold for other than beverage purposes. It is usually distributed in the form of pure ethyl alcohol, ... Pure ethyl alcohol is used in laboratories and in industry for its sanitizing, cleaning and solvent properties. Many medicines, food products, flavorings and cosmetics could not be produced without it. It is used to process vaccines, compound tonics, syrups, tinctures, liniments and antiseptics as well as being vital in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals such as chloroform, atabrine and barbiturates. It is used in the production of adhesives, cosmetics, detergents, explosives, inks, hand cream, plastics and textiles. There are literally hundreds of products and uses for this chemical.

DCampen - do you know if New York State liquor stores stock and sell the same industrial/food-grade alcohol if one has the proper permit, like in Washington?

I know this is going to sound like a dumb question, but why is it not suitable to use rubbing alcohol in a DIY perfume?

It has a strong smell of its own.

Natural perfumer Mandy Aftel in her book "Essence & Alchemy" says that she's tried using high-proof vodka for perfume-making but has found it to be 'useless'. Not sure why she says that, I use Everclear and it suits my needs perfectly.

I think this is a question of definition of terms. If you think of vodka as a drink (and in another part of my life I mix and drink a lot of cocktails, so I do) then you would most likely think of it like this:

Cheap vodka is 37.5% alcohol or less (75 proof)
Good vodka is 40-45% alcohol (80-90 proof)
High Proof vodka is 50-60% alcohol (100 to 120 proof)
Exceptional strength vodka is 65-95% alcholol (130-190 proof)

Very few vodka's are made routinely at higher alcohol than about 60%, their widespread availability is quite recent and they are not really suitable for drinking except when diluted in something non or much less alcoholic (you could for example use Balkan vodka at 80% alcohol (160 proof) to make a Cosmopolitan that was stronger than a conventional martini . . .).

I'd guess Mandy Aftel was thinking in those terms when she described high proof vodka as useless - and she would be right - anything less than 80% alcohol isn't going to dissolve enough of most oils to be any use as a perfume base.

If you can get 190 proof it will work perfectly well - just think about the chemistry - all that is missing from 190 proof vodka compared to the stuff used in mass-market perfumes is the additives to make it undrinkable (usually bitrex and something to make it poisonous), so why wouldn't it work?

Everclear's 190 Proof Alcohol is just fine for use in perfumes. Everclear is also, I believe, also sold in lesser concentrations in order to satisfy various State requirements etc. hence...the unsuitability of some of it simply going by Brand Name alone, but here in Connecticut, USA, they sell the 910 Proof stuff and it's just fine.. Chris' & Dcampen's, comments RE: SDAs are totally correct: Bitrex as well as other chems that render the alcohol "undrinkable" are routinely added to the perfumer's alcohols sold online, some of them also have additions of "skin conditioning" compounds/chems. to counteract the drying effect that alcohol can have on the skin. Frankly, I'd rather put my own alcohol blend together. Isopropyl alcohol, (Rubbing Alcohol is totally unsuitable as a dilutent... as noted, I has a strong odor that is not what I'd want to have in any of my perfumes).
I, too, have found that some of Snowdrift's interpretations of the various and sometimes arcane alc/tax codes to differ from the way that I understand them. Best bet is to read the applicable statutes right off of the appropriate government websites and also, if you're thinking about any sort of commercial venture, consulting an attorney knowledgeable in such matters.

The logic of this beverage/fragrance alcohol from a legislative standpoint has always baffled me... Let's say that someone were to have a severe "beverage problem"... would they be more likely to buy a pink of rot-gut liquor for 5 bucks or 30mls of perfume for 100 bucks? Seems like a "no-brainer" to me.

Incidentally... "200 Proof" or 100% pure Alcohol would not stay at 100% percent for long when exposed to the air etc as it would very quickly start scavenging water molecules out of the air. 190 proof works just fine! The 161 profs & 150 proofs, as noted will give you cloudiness, and you can totally forget about "Vodka" as most of it is 100 proof or less.

So...they just don't tell the postal worker there's perfume in their parcel? When they're asked if there is, they just blatantly lie about it??

USA USPS Domestic Shipping is just fine, telling the Postal Agent that there is Perfume in the Box, when shipped via Ground Only, Parcel Post. No problems.

Problems come when you want to ship out of country, that will go Air.

Yes, many shippers just lie about it. I get so many things Priority Mail, that has come by Air, and the Regs were ignored.