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Fixatives and Their Function in Natural Perfumery

Written By: Eden Botanicals

At Eden Botanicals, we receive many inquiries about fixatives, so we decided to dedicate an article on the topic. Although this is a more advanced Natural Perfumery subject, we want our customers who are just starting out to have a better understanding of what fixatives actually are and how they function in perfume compositions.

What is a fixative and what is its purpose in Natural Perfumery?

Fixatives are materials that:

1. Slow down the rate of evaporation of the more volatile materials in a perfume composition, causing only gradual changes in the aroma of the perfume as the ingredients in it fade away;

2. Lend a particular note to the perfume throughout all stages of evaporation but do not significantly affect the  vaporation rate of the other materials in the perfume;

3. Improve, fortify, and/or transport the vapors and/or lend a combination of a diffusive or retentive effect, typically through the addition of trace amounts;

4. And/or are odorless or almost odorless and lend a stabilizing action by paralyzing the odor of the low-boiling (volatile) materials in the perfume.[1,2]

Remember that the fixative qualities of an oil and an oil’s tenacity do not necessarily mean the same thing. Tenacity is the lasting effect of a perfume material and its ability to linger on the skin. An aromatic perfume ingredient may have immense tenacity but may have little impact on the evaporation rate of the other perfume ingredients it’s combined with (i.e., be able to impart fixative qualities). Examples are Davana, Helichrysum, and Tuberose.

Why should one learn the benefits of incorporating fixatives into Natural Perfumery?

Natural perfumes are a blessing for those of us who choose to steer away from mainstream fragrances that have very little resemblance to perfumes of times past when nearly all ingredients were obtained from botanical and animal sources. But because of the ephemeral quality and volatile nature of botanical perfume ingredients, it is crucial to become familiar with and know the value of incorporating fixatives into perfume compositions to impart longevity. This is especially important due to the fact that animal fixatives (ex: Ambergris, Civet), highly prized in past formulations, are costly, rare or unavailable, may be illegally or unethically obtained, and have been almost entirely replaced with much cheaper, manufactured materials.

Understanding the limits of fixatives and the true nature of Natural/Botanical Perfumes:

The fact that natural perfumes differ from synthetic perfumes in their longevity and their sillage – the degree to which a perfume’s fragrance lingers and/or disperses in the air when worn – can be a disappointment and a determining factor to those new to perfumes made with botanical aromatic materials. While a botanical fixative will impart longevity and help extend the sillage of a natural perfume, in most cases it will not be as effective as a synthetic fixative. Maybe this difference is actually a good thing.

Perhaps what some consider as the ever-increasing aromatic assault of synthetic perfume ingredients on our collective noses has over time brought out a natural defense, or a numbing down of the nose as it becomes “used” to these new, manmade scent molecules such that primal, made-in-nature materials no longer appeal or seem weak or uninteresting. Natural/botanical perfumes offer an olfactory reprieve and, to many, the return to healthier, holistic aromatic pleasures wherein the importance of longevity and sillage is not so paramount as is a renewed and much needed appreciation of and reconnection with the beautiful intelligence of our natural world.

Some Common Fixatives:

For a full listing of oils with Fixative properties carried by Eden Botanicals, please visit the Natural Perfumery Basics section of our website.

Sources:

Footnotes:

1 Arctander, Steffen. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, 1960, pp. 18-9.

2 Groom, Nigel. The Perfume Handbook, 2nd ed., 1997, p. 123.