Quitting smoking and switching to vaping will already save you a decent amount of money, and you can save even more on your electronic cigarette bill if you read on.
We're going to share a technique that A&L have imported into France in 2012. This method has become our speciality. It consists in making your own e-cigarette liquid, and is known among the vaping community as 'DIYing'.
It's a fun and worthwhile process where you mix a base liquid with a flavour concentrate, and some nicotine if you want to. The result is an e-liquid that's tailored to your taste. It's a rewarding task that allows you to master the whole e-liquid process and save money at the same time.
Everything you need to know to start DIYing !
What do I need to make my own e-liquid?
In order to make your e-liquid for electronic cigarette, you'll need a few key ingredients, which are all available on our website.
The most important one is the base liquid. It's made up of propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), both of which can be vapourised at low temperatures. They're commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industries, among others, and are perfect for vaping.
The PG's role in vaping is to enhance the flavours. It's also responsible for the 'hit' you feel in your throat upon inhaling the vapour. Vegetable Glycerin, for its part, thickens the e-liquid and makes it produce more vapour.
You can adjust the mixture of PG and VG to get a base liquid with the rendition you prefer. You want more vapour? Add more VG. You want a stronger taste? Add more PG. It's as simple as that. This balance is expressed as a PG/VG ratio.
The base liquid itself doesn't have any taste though, you'll want to add some flavour. To do so, you need to mix in some food-grade flavourings in liquid form, called 'flavour concentrates', or 'concentrates' for short. You simply add them drop by drop, following the recommended dosage on the product's label.
Over the years, manufacturers have created thousands of different flavours. The beauty of DIYing is that you can choose to use one, or combine several of them to create your custom recipe. Whether you prefer mints, fruits, pastries or drinks, you can recreate whatever you want. The only limit is your imagination!
Finally, if you're using electronic cigarettes as a way to quit smoking, you'll probably need to add some nicotine into the mix. Otherwise, your withdrawal process might be compromised. This nicotine is also in liquid form, and you add as much of it as you need to obtain the specific nicotine content you're looking for.
How much does it cost to make your e-liquid?
DIY and homemade products have become increasingly popular, as you've surely noticed, and vaping has been impacted by this in the same way.
Several electronic cigarette components can be made yourself, but when vapers talk about 'DIY' it's usually in regards to e-liquids. A few ingredients and a bit of patience will go a long way in lowering your vaping bill!
To better understand just how much you can save by making your own e-liquids, here's an example.
A bottle of ready-made e-liquid costs about 5.90€. Note that the cost of an e-liquid bottle isn't impacted by the amount of nicotine that's in it. In order to make 10mL of DIY juice with a 18mg/mL nicotine level, you'll need:
- an A&L flavour concentrate, at 3.40€
- 10mL of A&L base liquid, at 0.90€
- an A&L nicotine booster, at 1.10€
So for the total sum of 5.40€, you'll be able to make 20mL of e-liquid with a 18mg/mL nicotine content. Thus, 10mL of this juice only cost you 2.70€, and you still have plenty of concentrate to make more of it! If maths aren't your thing, feel free to use our online calculator to know how much base liquid and nicotine boosters you need to mix together to get the right dosage!
Making DIY e-liquids rather than buying them ready-made is incredibly economical, and if you compare it with the cost of tobacco, the savings become even more phenomenal!
DIY packs, a simple solution for every vaper!
If making your own e-liquids is economical and allows for all sorts of customisation, it isn't always easy for newcomers to know which products to buy and how much they need.
That's why Arômes et Liquides offer various DIY packs! These packs contain some base liquid, a flavour concentrate and the amount of boosters you need to obtain the nicotine level of your choice, that is, everything you need to make your own e-juice.
These packs are available in 100 or 200mL formats, so you can make large amounts of e-liquid with ease!
Furthermore, the more you make in one go, the more money you save.
For example, buying twenty 10mL bottles of Heisenberg e-liquid to make up 200mL in total will cost you 118€. Whereas if you use our DIY packs, making 200mL of Heisenberg juice will cost you 17.90€ for a 3mg/mL nicotine level, up to 25.40€ for a 12mg/mL level, meaning that you save more than 90€ when compared to the cost of the ready-made e-liquids!
Is it possible to get better quality and cheaper e-liquids at the same time?
When you find a cheaper alternative to a product, you tend to think it'll be of a lesser quality. It's often true, but not for DIY vaping!
DIYing not only saves you money, but also allows you to vape more qualitative e-liquids.
You're the one in control here, from start to finish. You select the flavours you enjoy the most from your favourite manufacturers. You can also dose your mixture as you wish. If your e-liquid's taste isn't strong enough for you, just add a few more drops of concentrate.
You can adjust the PG/VG content of your mixture as well, depending on whether you want more vapour or more flavour.
Another benefit of DIYing is that you can precisely control your nicotine intake! You can adjust your e-liquid's dosage at any time and opt for a personalised ratio if you prefer.
Finally, making your own e-liquid lets your imagination run wild. You can mix and match any flavours you want! Create your own recipes and tailor them to your liking, and why not share them on the A&L Facebook group!
How to make an e-liquid
Learning how to make your own e-liquid unlocks so many possibilities. You'll discover a world where vapers and manufacturers roll up their sleeves to invent all sorts of recipes, each one more addictive than the other!
Before you embark on this fantastic journey, you'll need to acquire all the ingredients needed to make a DIY recipe, including the base liquid, the nicotine and some empty bottles for storing your custom e-liquid.
The DIY process is both simple and fun. Like a cooking recipe, all you have to do is follow a set of steps to create your ideal vaping recipe without too much effort!
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