This is a technology that might be useful to Androtics or other pheromone companies. It is used as a fixative for highly volatile top notes and mid notes in alcohol fragrances to extend their persistance on the skin. I just came across it shopping around for some more fragrance oils and supplies. It might be useful in creating unscented pheromones that last longer:
At what concentration (proportion) do you intend to mix Glucam P-20 with pheromones (assuming an alcohol-base)? The research links did not seem to make mention of this factor.
I don’t know yet, I’m going to have to experimenting to find out. If it’s too high an amount to be effective, there might be cost considerations, although perfumer’s alcohol isn’t cheap anymore either (it could be the demand for ethanol, perhaps, driving the price up). My suspicion is it’s probably fairly low, probably less than 5 percent. Instant Honesty, Instant Openness, and Instant Shine would probably benefit the most.
The abstract did mention they used 1 mg of fragrance compound to 1 mg of P-20. Just keep in mind with those pheromones you buy, there’s only a about a dozen or so micrograms per spray. When you spray the alcohol, most of it will evaporate into the air within a minute or so. The Glucam P-20 and the fragrance molecules, though, will be more resistant.
I got the P-20 in the mail, it was shipped all the way from California so it took a while.
Right now I’m trying it out in a mix I made of an oud attar. I just added 1 drop to see what it would do, then I diluted about a mL to 25-30 percent strength in perfumer’s alcohol. It does seem to help the top notes stay sharper longer, particularly for the rose otto in there, though it also cuts down on the initial blast you can get with a spray fragrance, which IMO is not a bad thing. I will try it out in pheromones later today if I can.
OK, I’m going to test Glucam P-20 today if I can. I started off with my mix of WAGG, 12 drops in 5 mL, that works off to about a quarter drop per spray. I also put 2 drops of Glucam P-20 in there, plus a few drops of a scent, in this case, Aqua Velva Musk.
I’m testing for self effects first. First thing I notice is when I spray on the WAGG mix on my neck, I notice the smell. It’s remarkeably like the Androtics Neroli, floral musky smelling- when I smell this stuff straight it’s more animalic, even a touch of indole, so clearly there must be some of the nonlinear smell effect going on I’ve experienced before. It isn’t quite as initially diffusive and it seems to die down, but the fragrance seems to last a bit longer before it gets quiet. I’m feeling light, warm self effects and I can’t really smell the fragrance anymore. I’ll have to post more later, I’ve got some Instant Shine and Instant Openness to also try out, but I’d like to go out some place to see what they’ll do.
I tried one spray of Instant Shine and WAGG earlier today with P20, and some SoE. I think the P-20 makes the effect much more smooth, that’s my initial impression. I haven’t got a “down” feeling yet from Instant Shine, it seems to be tapering down slowly. I’m not sure if it’s lowering the diffusivity/lift all that much, either, as I got good reactions from people today. More to come maybe.
These results are interesting, not only in that WAGG was diluted with P-20 at a concentration considerably less than the ‘requisite’ 5% (and to good effect), but more so in that Instant Shine’s longevity was apparently extended without any ‘direct’ dilution of P-20 (having been sprayed straight from the IS bottle).
And in Florida’s humidity.
Increasing P-20 to full a 5% should be even more revealing.
I’m not sure 5 percent is a good idea, especially with highly dilute fragrance molecules like pheromone preparations. When you spray pheromones, the alcohol will mostly evaporate very quickly, so the alcohol’s percentage can be partly dismissed. I may try it with a very small sample but I hate to waste stuff.
It’s obvious p-20 is a powerful fixative. I’ve talked to other perfumers who would never use more than 2 percent of glycerin, as it has a significant decrease in the lift of a fragrance, and they believe the increase in longevity is not worth it. And P-20 is more gooey than glycerin.
In short, 5 percent or more could kill the lift completely and/or require reformulation of a product.
Also, in a sample fragrance I tired, with more P-20, at some point the fragrance started having trouble being sprayed or having an even consistancy. It might require alot of extra stirring or blending to get the P-20 completely dissolved. This was an oil/alcohol fragrance though with more essential and carrier oil (to make some of the fragrance molecules useable) than what you’ld find in a pheromone.
Florida is sometimes hot and humid but this summer has been milder, whereas the past couple of years it’s just been getting hotter and hotter (when it gets to 97 degrees it’s hellish). It’s not usually really brutal until August, though, so we’ll see.
I think working with a base product you should probably use about 1 mg of Glucam P-20 per mg of the lighter molecules, such as top or middle notes. Base notes don’t need P-20. Androsterone and androstenone don’t need P-20 for sure. Maybe add an extra drop when working with very dilute solutions in an atomizer, perhaps, just one “for the bottle”.
I will try a heavier amount of P-20 later this week maybe, working with Frankincense which has some fairly volatile components (phenolic notes), and see how long the effect lasts, or if it squashes the lift altogether. Today I’m taking a break, even though I got another delivery of a few more fragrance components I think I’ll just clean up my work area and put some dropper tops on a few bottles. Day off today.
At some point I do need to get a decent lab scale that can measure at least in hundreths of a gram. I have a crude scale but I could probably sit down and figure how much a drop of Glucam P-20 weighs, because I have an empty bottle to compare it to. It’s gooey but it’s not resinous like some components I have worked with, so a drop is about the same size as a drop of a light oil.
Something I noticed with P-20, it isn’t highly soluble with jojoba oil beyond a certain point, it dissolves better into alcohol. I think it improves the staying power of olibanum oil somewhat, but it’s not dramatic, at least in the amounts I got to dissolve into jojoba (a few drops in about 2 mL). I’ll have to test it in stronger quantities with pheromones next time I refill my WAGG atomizer. I’ll post the results next time. I will also hae to test the solubility of P-20 into mineral oil some time, when I actually get some light mineral oil.