Beeswax Absolute

#### Beeswax Absolute. Perhaps better known under its French name, **Absolute**** ****Cire**** ****d'Abeille**, this comparatively rare perfume material is an alcohol-soluble extract from crude yellow beeswax. The beeswax is cleaned of mechanical impurities by melting and subsequent straining. Extraction is usually performed as a direct alcohol-washing of the beeswax. **Beeswax**** **is produced all over the world: in cold-temperate zones and in the hottest tropics. In a way, it is a by-product of honey production since the wax is secreted on the underside of the bee, Apis Mellifera. The honey is recovered from the honeycombs by slicing off the end sections of the cells, draining them, and centrifuging out the honey. The waxcombs are rinsed with water, then melted and run into pans or molds to harden while cooling. The Toilet Goods Association defines **Beeswax**** **as "the purified honeycomb of the bee, Apis Mellifera, free from all other waxes". The main producers of beeswax are: Angola (Portuguese West Africa), the West Indies, California, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Spain, North Africa, the Union of South Africa, etc. From a chemical point of view, all these beeswaxes are practically identical. A perfumer would be able to distinguish one beeswax from another because a characteristic odor is left in the wax (similar to the "brand" of special flavor imparted to various sorts of honey), according to where it has been harvested, and from what kind of flowers the bees have collected their nectar. **Benguela**** **wax from Angola is one of the best known waxes used in Europe for cosmetic purposes. However, in order to produce a uniform and interesting grade of Beeswax Absolute, the few Grasse producers often prefer a locally produced beeswax, probably derived from bees that visit the clover fields in the Grasse area or elsewhere in France. **Yellow**** ****Beeswax**** **contains three different types of material: - **Cerolein**, which is carried over in the absolute since it is soluble in cold alcohol. Cerolein is a mixture of higher fatty acids. It is probably responsible for the fatty-waxy body-notes of the **Beeswax Absolute**. - **Cerotinic**** ****Acid**, a saturated aliphatic acid (fatty acid), soluble in hot alcohol, almost insoluble in cold alcohol. - a mixture of **Myricyl**** ****Alcohol**** **and the **Myricyl**** ****Ester**** **of **Palmitic**** ****Acid**, both insoluble in alcohol. Accordingly, this third part should not be present in Beeswax Absolute, although the Cerotinic Acid is present very often. **Beeswax Absolute **is a solid, waxy mass of pale yellow color and a very mild, sweet, oily odor, with a haylike or coumarinic bodynote and a soft, waxy undertone. The odor is remotely reminiscent of good (not harsh) linseed oil with a trace of honey notes. Obviously, the odor of **Beeswax**** ****Absolute**** **is strongly dependent upon the origin of the beeswax (i.e. the hunting grounds of the bees). Various suppliers will offer quite different types of **Beeswax Absolute**. The material is usually not soluble in cold ethylalcohol. **Beeswax Absolute **is useful in perfumes where similar notes occur (as a modifier), or where "rough or chemical" corners of synthetic materials must be rounded off. It blends well into jasmin, mimosa, cassie, violet, new mown hay, "tabac", etc. as well as in the so-called "cire d'abeille" perfume base, in which a meadow-like sweetness and heavy, honey-like floral notes are predominant (coumarin, cassione, phenylethyl phenylacetate, helichrysum oil, flouve oil, liatris extract, chamomile, etc.). **Beeswax Absolute **could be available in size- able quantities on fairly short notice, but it is presently produced on a very limited scale. Partly for this reason, the cost is comparatively high. Many consumers prefer to make their own beeswax absolute according to their own specifications. The quality and the uniformity of this perfume material is strongly dependent upon the producer. Actual adulteration is rare. Some producers just don't know how to make a Beeswax Absolute which is worth its price (often higher than mimosa absolute!).