what is the main purpose of alcohol in perfumes ?

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i have always thought the alcohol was so that the liquid part of the perfume would evaporate more quickly, leaving the essential oils and other frangrance ingredients still on your wrist/wherever. why it won't work unless there's alcohol, i don't know. are you positive that it won't work? or maybe just not as well because of the chance of the liquid rubbing off onto something else? i'm reasonably sure about my first part of the answer but not sure about the second part, or if that second part is even true. good luck!...Show more

It's both a dillutant, extender and carrier.

A real French perfume costs like $125 per half ounce diluted with some alchol. A lower costing parfume uses more alchol and thus the fragernce isn't as potent.

Yu figure most of the perfume is alchol thus only a fraction of an ounce is scent.

How would you deal with that? One finger tip full is $125 worth and it's enough for hundreds of applications!

So you think of Nyqill

The amount of active chemical ingredients amount to a few hundred grains or less than a gram.

We are talking about what you put on meat with Salt and Pepper.

To extend and carry that you mix in water or alchol.

In the case of Perfume water takes a long time to evaporate and runs.

Alchol evopates seconds after it hits your skin.

Alchol leaves no residue, water leaves salts.

In the case of Nyquill alchol has a numbing effect, helps indcue sleep, kill germs. Everyone knows a good shot of booze is great for the cold or flu!

Alchol may also have some chemical binding effect.

The rapid evaporation process may also play a part.

Water is cheaper than alchol so if they use alchol it's for a reason that some chemist disocovered.

Unlike deoderant spray and breath sprays, perfume spayers use air, not propellents.

This is because propellants have an effect on the chemistry....Show more

The primary purpose of alcohol is to cause the perfume oils to evaporate faster than they would by themselves, sometimes as much as or 15 times more quickly. This gives the impression that the perfume is considerably stronger than it actually is. That is why, when you first put on a commercial fragrance, the aroma may sometimes seem overwhelming to those around you. This also explains why the scent fades dramatically within one or two hours. The perfume oils have evaporated along with the alcohol.

Alternate to alcohol is water. In perfume or parfum, 85% is alcohol or 70% is water,therefore the remaining percentage is 15%-30% is perfume oil....Show more

There are high quality versions of designer perfumes that have a great % of perfume ingredients. With the more common version, eau de toillette, they add a lot of alcohol so you can spray it on and have a big bottle . Just go to a department store or boutique and ask for perfume, not "eau de toilette". It should be a tiny expensive bottle with a small opening to dot yourself with. It can be more economic, because with sprays the fragrance molecules are spread into the air. With perfume, the fragrance goes right onto your skin without that extra alcohol smell.

Check out this Perfume FAQ, it lists all the % for versions of perfum. 'Parfum' is the highest.
http://www.theperfumeshop.com/main/faq/index.cfm?fsa=dspFAQ

Smell ya later....Show more

Alcohol evaporates very quickly. It is also a very good solvent, so it dissolves the molecules of fragrance, carries them to your skin when sprayed, and eveporates, leaving the fragrant molecules behind.

You have probably noticed that "body sprays" are not nearly as potent as perfume. If you look at the ingredients, water is the #2 ingredient after alcohol. Because it is watered down, it changes the solubility of the fragrance molecules, which are typically organic and therefore more soluble in alcohol....Show more