What is a floral wax?

A floral wax is a plant wax made from delicate flowers.  Flowers such as jasmine, tuberose, rose, mimosa, and lotus are so delicate that their fragrance can not be extracted by steam distillation, which is the process for many essentail oils. 

To obtain the floral wax and retain the delicate scent, freshly picked flowers are mixed with a solvent to extract the fragrance.  The solvent is removed and a concrete product remains.  The concrete part is mixed with alcohol and goes through a separation process which results in a liquid and a solid.  The solid part that remains is the floral wax.  The liquid part gets turned into an absolute, which is more costly.

Floral waxes are more budget friendly than absolutes and can be used in several ways - to naturally add scent, or color to creams and lotions, or as a base for solid perfumes.  Stay tuned for an upcoming recipe featuring a floral wax.