Cremophor CO 40®

After Shave

Phase A

3.00 oz. Cremophor® CO 40

0.10 oz. Menthol crystals

0.50 oz. Fragrance or essential oil

Phase B

60.00 oz. Formulator's Alcohol

Phase C

3.00 oz. Panthenol

33.40 oz. Water

Citric acid as needed to adjust to pH 5

Melt the Cremophor CO40® and combine the menthol and the fragrance with it. Add a few menthol crystals at a time and ensure that they have dissolved before testing and adding more.

Slowly add the alcohol to this mixture using a whisk. Combine the panthenol with the water and add it slowly to the alcohol mixture. Adjust the pH to 5 using citric acid.

Melt My Heart
Chocolate Bath Melts

3 oz. shea butter, melted
1 oz. Cremophor CO 40®, melted
6-7 oz. bath bomb mix
1-3 teaspoons cocoa powder
fragrance or essential oils, not to exceed 1/3 fluid oz.

Mix melted shea and Cremophor® together until well blended. Add scenting materials and combine.

Combine bath bomb mix with cocoa powder. This is most easily done using a wire whisk. The more cocoa powder used, the deeper the color.

Drizzle oil mix atop dry powder and mix thoroughly with gloved hands. Mixture should be somewhat pourable.

Pour or spoon mix into molds. I used flexible rubber molds for ice cubes that come in different shapes (from IKEA) and Flexus molds, with great success. Once mix is in the molds, place molds in freezer for up to 5 hours. Even small molds with lots of detail should release cleanly and eaily, once frozen.

As soon as bath melts return to room temperature, they are ready to pack or use.

Crystal Clear No-Alcohol Sprays

1 oz. Cremophor CO 40®, melted
1 teaspoon fragrance oil
6 oz. distilled water
1/2 teaspoon Cosmocil CQ, as a preservative

Mix melted Cremophor® with other ingredients and shake well to combine.

Cremophor® made by BASF is a very versatile non-ionic solublizer and emulsifier. It can be used to make clear water based sprays, as well as lotions. Cremophor CO40® will form clear solutions with any combination of water and alcohol. Since it contains no water, it may also be used as a dispersing agent in water-free products, such as bath melts (see below).

This table shows example compositions of essential oils and fragrance compounds. Note that even a small amount of alcohol (ethanol) greatly reduces the amount of Cremophor® which is required. Glycerin or propylene glycol additions may also reduce the amount of Cremophor® required. Glycerin is also used as a fixative in some perfume formulations since it can slow the evaporation rate of many fragrance compounds.

Directions for Use

Making clear fragrance sprays is easy using this simple method.

Cremophor CO40® should be melted before use. It may be readily melted by immersing the capped bottle in a warm water bath or by heating carefully in a microwave. It melts just above room temperature. Mix the fragrance compounds into the pure Cremophor CO40®. Combine Phenonip, if required, with the Cremophor CO40®. Add this mixture to the alcohol, if used, and blend well before adding any water.

Combine the glycerin with the water. Add water slowly with good stirring to avoid cloudy solutions. The viscosity will initially increase as water is added, reaching a maximum at 40 % water, and will decrease greatly as more water is added.

Rapid additions of water may result in cloudy mixtures. Slow, careful additions with thorough mixing is required.

After Shave

Phase A

3.00 oz. Cremophor CO 40®

0.10 oz. Menthol crystals

0.50 oz. Fragrance or essential oil

Phase B

60.00 oz. Formulator's Alcohol

Phase C

3.00 oz. Panthenol

33.40 oz. Water

Citric acid as needed to adjust to pH 5

Melt the Cremophor CO40® and combine the menthol and the fragrance with it. Add a few menthol crystals at a time and ensure that they have dissolved before testing and adding more.

Slowly add the alcohol to this mixture using a whisk. Combine the panthenol with the water and add it slowly to the alcohol mixture. Adjust the pH to 5 using citric acid.