Commercial concentration of perfumery raw materials: what it means and how to read it

When buying perfumery raw materials, a technical sheet may show a percentage or identify a carrier: 50%, 55% BB, a solution in DPG, TEC or another vehicle. These details describe the commercial form of the material as defined by the manufacturer.

In the La Profumiera di Venezia catalogue, most raw materials are offered as concentrated materials in their commercial grade. Some products, however, are supplied by the manufacturer in solution or with a specific carrier. Understanding this distinction is important for reading product information correctly, comparing materials and interpreting technical documentation.

What does “commercial concentration” mean?

Commercial concentration describes how the product is supplied by the manufacturer. It is not a creative recommendation and does not automatically indicate how much material should be used in a formula.

A raw material may be commercialised as a concentrated grade or as a solution containing a declared percentage of the material in a vehicle. In other cases, especially with bases and specialties, the carrier can be an integral part of the commercial grade.

It is therefore useful to consider the product in the form stated in the manufacturer's documentation, rather than looking only at its olfactory or chemical name.

“Concentrated” does not necessarily mean “100% chemical purity”

In practical perfumery language, a concentrated material often means a commercial grade that is not presented as a working solution. This does not automatically constitute a declaration of 100% chemical purity.

A commercial grade may have a purity specification, an isomer distribution, stabilisers, antioxidants or other parameters defined by the manufacturer. This is one reason trade name, manufacturer and technical documentation remain important even when a material is described as concentrated.

The guide CAS numbers in perfumery: what they mean and why the same CAS does not guarantee the same smell explores the distinction between chemical identity and commercial grade.

What does an indication such as “55% BB” mean?

An indication such as “55% BB” describes the concentration and vehicle of the commercial grade as supplied by the manufacturer.

In this type of nomenclature, BB normally indicates Benzyl Benzoate when specified as such in the product documentation. The percentage identifies the declared concentration of the raw material in the commercial grade; the remaining part belongs to the carrier system defined by the manufacturer.

This form may be chosen for technical reasons related, for example, to consistency, handling, standardisation or the characteristics of the material. The precise meaning should always be read in the documentation for that specific grade.

Why are some materials supplied in a carrier?

Raw materials do not all have the same physical state or behaviour. Some are fluid liquids, while others are solid, crystalline, resinous, viscous or extremely powerful olfactorily.

A manufacturer may therefore commercialise a particular grade in a carrier to obtain defined and reproducible technical characteristics. The presence of a vehicle does not make the material “inferior”; it simply describes how that commercial grade has been designed and specified.

Carriers can have different characteristics. For an overview of two common technical solvents, see DPG or TEC: which solvent should you choose in perfumery?.

Commercial concentration, dosage and final concentration are not the same thing

These concepts are often confused, but they describe different levels.

A percentage appearing in a trade name should therefore not be read as a “recommended dosage” or as an IFRA limit.

For more on this distinction, see IFRA Category 4: how to read and calculate limits correctly.

Why does this distinction matter when comparing two materials?

Two bottles of the same volume can represent very different commercial products. One may contain a concentrated grade, another a solution defined by the manufacturer, and another a complex base with its own carrier system.

It is therefore not accurate to compare two raw materials using only bottle volume or the number shown in the name. To understand what you are buying, read together:

• trade name;
• manufacturer;
• any declared concentration;
• carrier or vehicle, when indicated;
• material type;
• available technical documentation.

Can commercial concentration affect perceived behaviour?

Yes, because the product that physically enters a formula is the commercial grade as a whole. When a carrier is present, the technical characteristics of that system are part of the product being used.

This can be relevant to aspects such as fluidity, solubility, evaporation rate or behaviour in a particular matrix. It does not mean that everything can be predicted from the solvent name alone: behaviour should always be considered in relation to the specific product and the formula in which it is used.

Bases and specialties can have their own commercial form

A base is not necessarily a single substance. It is often a formulated mixture with its own olfactory and technical identity and may contain several components and, where specified by the manufacturer, a carrier.

A base should therefore be read as a complete commercial product, not as though it were a single molecule for which knowing the CAS number is sufficient.

This distinction is explored in Bases, accords and molecules in perfumery: what's the difference?.

Where should you look for the correct information?

Commercial concentration and form may appear in the product name, technical data sheet, SDS or other manufacturer documentation. These documents do not all serve the same purpose.

An SDS is primarily a safety and classification document; it should not be interpreted as the complete formula of a product. To understand how to read one, see SDS in perfumery: how to read a safety data sheet.

When a product page includes concentration, carrier, CAS number, trade name and manufacturer, these details should be read together: each describes a different aspect of the material's identity.

A percentage in the name does not indicate olfactory quality

A product at 50% is not automatically “worse” than a concentrated one, just as a concentrated material is not automatically more suitable for every use. They are different commercial forms.

What matters is knowing which product you have in front of you, what specifications it has and what function it performs in the composition. In some cases, a manufacturer chooses a solution precisely because that is the technical form in which the material is intended to be standardised and commercialised.

How to read a product page more precisely

When purchasing a raw material, it is useful to distinguish several types of information:

• what it is — substance, natural material, base, specialty, solvent;
• which grade it is — trade name and manufacturer;
• the form in which it is supplied — concentrated or with a declared concentration/carrier;
• how it is identified — CAS number, synonyms and chemical name where applicable;
• which documents accompany it — SDS, IFRA, allergen declaration or other available documentation.

This approach prevents a single percentage from being given meanings that actually belong to different technical levels.

Conclusion

Commercial concentration is a characteristic of the grade supplied by the manufacturer. Most raw materials may be offered as concentrated materials, while certain grades are commercialised in solution or with a specific carrier.

A percentage in the name describes the commercial product: by itself, it is not a creative dosage, a finished-perfume concentration or an IFRA limit.

Reading concentration, vehicle, trade name, manufacturer and documentation correctly makes it much easier to understand what you are purchasing and brings greater precision to the technical language of perfumery.