Apparently, there is a lot of confusion surrounding perfumer's alcohol, and, let's be honest, the whole story is complicated and long. Therefore, in this article, we will only address the most important questions and aspects.
What is perfumer's alcohol?
Alcohol, or rather ethanol/ethyl alcohol, is a very good carrier for fragrances if you want to make a perfume. Many fragrances dissolve well in it; it sometimes irritates the skin a little, but not much, and it ensures that fragrances evaporate easily.
However, alcohol is often subject to a lot of excise duty, the amount of which varies by country. The reason for this is that governments simply need money to do their work, and also because drinking alcohol is bad for your health..
Since the latter reason does not apply to perfume (after all, you don't drink that), ways have been sought to apply the excise duty on alcohol only to alcohol intended for consumption and not to alcohol used in perfume or other applications.
The solution is ‘denaturation,’ that is to say, making the alcohol undrinkable. For use in perfume, this is only possible with substances that do not have a strong scent, and that is problematic, because it might allow you to use this perfumer's alcohol for making those drinks after all.
In any case: methods have been developed and permitted by the authorities over time; however, every country in Europe has devised different methods. Moreover, in some countries perfumer's alcohol can only be used for cosmetics such as perfume, and in others also for air fresheners.
Perfumer's alcohol is therefore understood to mean: alcohol that has been denatured to such an extent that it may be used for perfume and/or air fresheners, but not for other applications..
Is perfumer's alcohol better than ordinary alcohol?
It does not mean that this perfumer's alcohol is better to use than, for example, pure alcohol that has not been denatured. It is important that the alcohol is pure enough not to be too harmful to the skin and to be as neutral in scent as possible.
However, it is true that it is better than differently denatured alcohol. Alcohol intended for medical use, for example, is usually denatured with strong-smelling substances, which generally makes it unsuitable for use in cosmetics.
Does De Hekserij sell perfumer's alcohol?
Because the rules regarding denaturing differ in every country, and because these rules also apply to transit through another country, it is complicated to trade perfumer's alcohol legally. We are investigating the possibilities.
Trading illegally (or not entirely legally) is not only a criminal offense but also risky: a fine, double excise duty, and imprisonment are all possibilities. For this reason, we only want to do this if we are certain that it is permitted.
Products
Cosmetic hair water*
*Cosmetic hair water can only be shipped to addresses in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
