Does the molecular structure change over time?
Asked by
Trillian (
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March 19th, 2012
Something else that I’ve been wondering about for a few months now is fragrance oils.
I get them in a really small bottle and love the one in particular. It has a little roller and I put it on pulse points and smell good all day. It’s fairly viscous.
But when the bottle is about 80% used up, the color changes slightly, it loses most of its viscosity, and the actual fragrance changes.
Is this because all the time I’ve been putting it on some oil from my skin has been going back into the bottle and altering the molecular structure? Is it possibly exposure to air? Dead skin cells?
What happened? This occurs every time.
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8 Answers
Sounds like it’s oxidizing. Can you experiment with putting it in smaller bottles as you use it up?
They’re pretty small now; about the size of my pinky. And there would be the ball on top to contend with. I thought of just using one on clothing and never touching skin with it.
That’s a pretty limited amount of surface area. I’m not sure.
Two things, UV exposure can degrade organic compounds in the perfume and the “head space” of air in the bottle will allow for oxygen to alter the chemical structure of the fragrance over time. Refrigerated air tight aluminum containers will provide for a stable longer storage of perfumes but who has that in their bathroom?
Hmmm. Well, it’s dark in my purse, but I don’t know if I could find a small enough polar bear to hang out in there for any length of time.
Bummer.
I think you’re seeing the reason that the fragrance is sold in small bottles. It’s oxidation. In effect, the stuff is going stale.
If you can’t buy it in smaller containers or store it in airtight containers (or some kind of nitrogen-filled container), then you’ll just have to use it a bit more than you do so you use it up before it goes bad.
Is it possible to buy it in a flexible container (on the order of a toothpaste tube, for example) which wouldn’t require a volume of air to replace the volume of fluid used?
Well, no. The store owner’s wife bottles it. It is relatively inexpensive, so it won’t kill me to toss it (hahaha. Can a girl be a tosser?) when it breaks down. I just really need to know why stuff happens sometimes, is all. Not knowing can push me right over the edge, and I’m fairly close already. But I’m glad to know that my body oils aren’t having an adverse effect on the stuff.
Yes, for example due to water evaporation for molecules that are water soluble. The reason are the strong electromagnetic forces present in water molecules.
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