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Coloring Agents for Perfume

post #1 of 5
1/2/12 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 
I've searched the forum but haven't come up with anything about adding coloring agents to perfumes. I'm working on a men's fragrance, and I'd like the final blend to have a blue or green tint.

What ingredients are used for coloring perfumes? When/how are they added?

Thanks! All info is appreciated.
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post #2 of 5
1/3/12 at 6:22am
A water soluble colour is suitable, as long as you also add a UV filter to your formula.

These are generally easy to find here in Australia from places such as New Directions (I'm not sure where you're situated).

Easiest way for small production, dip a paperclip into the colour, and dip into your fragrance, stir. Repeat for more colour.

The UV Filter, depending on the type (it's essentially the same additive as a sunscreen, such as Benzophenone (2,3,4,5)). This should sit at around 0.50% of the final product, but in most countries can sit at a max of 5-10%...although not entirely required.

This will keep your colour stable.
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post #3 of 5
1/3/12 at 7:09am
Commercially most perfume is coloured using colouring agents designed for cosmetics: there is a long list of them permitted by the EU.

However I prefer, wherever I can, to obtain colours by natural means and in this case that looks entirely possible: there are a great number of oils and especially absolutes that are strongly green in colour. Even a very small amount of, for example, lavender absolute or mint absolute added to your blend will make it green.

Blue isn’t quite so easy, but there are still some options. As it happens I’ve just released a mens fragrance of my own, which has a blue colour (the picture on my home page gives a true idea of the colour) that comes from a combination of Artemisia absinium (the keynote fragrance ingredient) which has a turquoise blue colour and yarrow - Achillea millefolium - a high azulene version from Hermitage Oils - which has a wonderful deep blue colour even when heavily diluted. I needed so little yarrow to get the colour I wanted that it is virtually undetectable in the fragrance (and in any case fits with the herby vibe I was looking for).
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post #4 of 5
11/16/12 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shahara View Post

I've searched the forum but haven't come up with anything about adding coloring agents to perfumes. I'm working on a men's fragrance, and I'd like the final blend to have a blue or green tint.

What ingredients are used for coloring perfumes? When/how are they added?

Thanks! All info is appreciated.

Can you not just add a few drops of food colouring? I realise these might stain your skin. And UV filter? Not sure I know where to get that. oh wait you can get it but damn £25 shipping? http://www.stratlab.co.uk/stratlab/v...1#.UKZ9B47FM7Q
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post #5 of 5
11/16/12 at 10:32am
Benzophenone added to perfume is usually FCC rather than CP grade, though that's probably fine too.

Also note that food colourings are not necessarily approved for cosmetics: things that are safe (or legal) to eat are not always safe when applied to skin: the rules around this are quite detailed and not consistent everywhere in the world with the added complexity that incidental colour (such as from the fragrance ingredients I suggested earlier) are treated differently from specifically added colour such as a food colouring. None of which need concern you unless you are planning to sell the results however.
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