I got some EW a while back, before I got myself LAM, and I diluted it in water. Someone suggested that wasn’t a good idea, and now I see why: It’s become a horrid stench unbelievable in any sort of way as “Essence of Woman”. Essence of dead woman, maybe. So today, I dumped it out, washed out the bottle with hot soapy water, and re-filled with isopropyl alcohol and 8 drops EW.
I know that’s not perfumer’s alcohol. But why use perfumer’s alcohol? I don’t understand what the difference is.
Smell and safety.
Perfumer’s alcohol is sort of like very strong vodka… very neutral odor. (unlike vodka, it does have a profoundly bitter taste, due to the “denaturing agent” added to deter consumption)
Ethanol is safe for application to the skin. Even if it absorbs, your body knows exactly how to metabolize it into harmless byproducts, like acetic acid (vinegar).
Isopropyl alcohol stinks in a very upleasant way, and is not safe for ingestion, and thus shouldn’t be thought of as safe for skin application.
I know, I know – it’s sold as a topical skin disinfectant at pharmacies. But that’s quite myopic. It’s really NOT safe. It’s an EXCELLENT skin penetrating agent, and you do get some into your bloodstream.
The liver metabolizes isopropyl into acetone (found in nail polish remover, for one), for goodness sake. Would you drink acetone, or put that on your skin? 
That’s why it has toxic warnings on the side of the bottle, telling you not to drink it.
In alternative medicine, it’s even been implicated as being a food source for parasites. Have no idea if that’s true or not (or if it could even easily be proven), but it’s an unpleasant thought, nonetheless.
I’m not going to say that ethanol (perfumer’s alcohol and drinking alcohol) is completely safe, but recent research shows that it could be a valuable stressor. i.e., the relatively low damage it does, could actually be spurring your body on to
One very interesting study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology shows that low doses of ethanol actually increased hippocampal cell proliferation and neurogenesis in mouse brains.
So, i.e., mildly “bad things” can be good for the body, because of the beneficial way the body reacts. It’s like exercise. Exercise is a mild stressor, and we react to it wonderfully.
On the other hand, isopropyl alcohol is simply too toxic to put into this category. There’s no good that comes from the bad it does.
Folks, don’t freak out about isopropanol. You could drink a shot of it, and you’d probably survive. Two shots, however, would probably cause serious liver and kidney damage.
Denatured ethanol, in fact, is quite toxic. Not due to the ethanol, though. It contains a few percent of methanol. (so that you don’t drink it.) The methanol in it is metabolized into formaldehyde. That’s right, the same stuff in embalming fluid. A couple shots would probably make you go blind, since it attacks the kidneys, liver, and central nervous system. (especially the optic nerve.)
The good news is, methanol is pretty volatile, so it’s safe to apply to the skin in limited quantities. So is isopropanol. The body can handle small amounts of most toxins with no harm done. That being said, I wouldn’t want to immerse my arm in either of these.
As I don’t know much about the perfume industry, I’ll defer to MHarris, and accept that ethanol is superior in perfumes. But it isn’t a matter of toxicity. I’d venture that volatility is the key factor, but, as I said, I don’t know much about the perfume industry.
Oh, some ethanol is denatured with diethyl ether, as opposed to methanol. This is less toxic, and I suspect that it might be the denaturing agent in perfumer’s alcohol… but again, I don’t know.
Diethyl ether is used as engine starting fluid. It used to be used as an anesthetic, but people woke up with severe headaches, and it tended to cause nausea and vomiting. And gawd, is it NASTY if you get any in your mouth!
Once upon a time, on the side of a bottle of my cologne states “Denature Alcohol” as one of it’s ingredients, that’s what I used to dilute all my mixes.
So far so good. Got it from Gardian Pharmacy.
You can get denatured alcohol in the paint thinner aisle at your hardware store. I’d venture that there’s some difference between it and perfumer’s alcohol, but I can promise it will be closer than isopropanol.
Okay, so it’s off to buy some everclear, then… lol
Jello shots anyone?
Try this recipe: Lime Jello, a little lime juice, tequila, and a little water (if you must.)
Margariata Jello Shots! 
Now if only tequila didn’t make me sick before it got me drunk.
at the herbfarm we made all kinds of preparations using regular drinking alcahol. it never had a bad effect. inferior maybe, but still.
Regular as in what? Beer? Wine? Vodka?
it was 15 years ago but i believe it was vodka.
i highly recommend however that you try beer. i believe that add a wonderful quality as it ages…
I love teasing you.