What are Nic Salt E-Liquids?

Nicotine Salts (also known as nic salts) have been on the market for a few years. However, the growing popularity of nicotine salt as a significant vaping innovation has been rapid. Nicotine salts are vape juices formulated to be less harsh on vape devices. Like other vape juices, nic salt e-liquids have various flavours and nicotine strengths. Before we get into nic salts, it's crucial to understand a little bit about the more typical type of nicotine-free base. Freebase nicotine is found in cigarettes, nicotine replacement therapies (gum, patches, and other products), as well as e-liquids. It's a technique of enhancing strength without adding another dose. This process requires converting nicotine salt from its natural 'salt' form to the base 'pure' form through freebasing. The ammonia eliminates protons from the nicotine salts, raising the pH (alkalinity) and returning it to a deprotonated "freebase" state. So, why would vapers want to switch to nicotine salts? If freebase nicotine is the purest form of nicotine, what are the benefits of switching to nicotine salts? To completely answer this question, we must first look at the significant disadvantage of utilizing freebase nicotine in e-liquid.

What are freebase vape juices?

Also known as e-liquid, freebase vape juices make up vape pens and electronic cigarettes. They typically contain propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, flavourings and nicotine. They interact with vape devices to generate vapour for inhalation. The fundamental objective of using e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking is for the experience of vaping to be as similar to that of smoking a regular cigarette. The effectiveness of the nicotine delivery has to replicate that of traditional cigarettes for this strategy to work. A freebase nicotine solution was previously the only way to provide the nicotine required in your vape juice. It is now possible to travel through our cells after removing the protons, which binds with nicotine receptors in our lungs and brains. However, we've previously mentioned that freebase nicotine has a higher pH value, making it more alkaline. This means that in high dosages, it is incredibly harsh. The throat hit from a high mg dose of freebase nicotine is severe enough that most vapers can't handle it or even endure it. This may cause novice vapers to cut the nicotine content of their e-liquid to reduce the throat strike. Nicotine salts for e-liquid we're developed to bridge the gap between entirely satisfying nicotine cravings and getting a pleasant vaping experience. The drawbacks of doing this are that reducing the nicotine levels too soon may encourage new users to return to cigarettes when they don't satisfy their early strong urges. Let's take a look at what nicotine salt is first...

What is nic salt?

It's not table salt (sodium chloride) by a long shot. It won't make your e-liquid taste salty or add to your sodium intake. The chemical structure of nicotine is salt. Nicotine is present only in its salt form in tobacco leaves. Freebase nicotine is produced by chemically changing these identical nicotine salts. On the other hand, nicotine salt has a relatively weak base that seeks out positively charged particles (protons) to form stable (ionized). Because ions are difficult to transport through our cell membranes, they do not quickly reach the nicotine receptors in our bodies. E-liquid containing refined nic salts would have to be vaped at extreme temperatures for the nicotine to be effective. Even then, the nic salt will not be absorbed (bioavailable) as readily as its freebase counterpart because of the modifications needed. As a result, to make it work, the vape juice must be vaped at higher temperatures to provide the intended results. 

So how does nic salt e-liquid work?

What it boils down to are PH Levels. Vapable nic salts' inventors thought that if you made the nicotine salt more acidic, you might be able to deliver much higher doses of nicotine without experiencing the unpleasant throat hit. Modifying nicotine salt in this way can provide a concentration of nicotine to the blood comparable to combustible cigarettes in roughly the same amount of time.

What is PG/VG?

PG/VG refers to vape juice mixtures consisting mainly of propylene glycol (PG) or vegetable glycerin (VG). These ingredients are used because they produce more "throat hit.

Why is nicotine salt becoming so popular?

Nicotine salt has become popular because vape devices currently on the market are generally high in nicotine strength, so vape juices containing nicotine salts allow users to vape higher nicotine strengths without the harshness and throat hit that would usually accompany such strong e-liquids. Currently, there is a trend for vape juice companies producing vape juices with high levels of nicotine salt. Higher amounts of these salts cause more issues with vape devices, but this is seen as a fair trade-off by consumers who prefer not to vape lower nic e-liquids due to the harsher throat hit experienced when using them.

What can you expect from vape juices containing nicotine salt?

Nicotine salt vape juice is a vape juice combined with salts of nicotine. These vape juices have a higher concentration of nicotine, which means you'll feel a faster effect from vaping them. For those using vape devices that can't handle high concentrations of e-liquid, it'd be advisable to use nic salt e-liquids as an alternative option. Another advantage is that nic salt e-liquids are ideal for mouth to lung vaping. This means that vape juices with nicotine salt vape juice are perfect for vapers who like to vape similarly to smokers.

What is the difference between freebase and salt nicotine?

Nicotine salt and freebase nicotine are known as "bases" in vape juices. Freebase vape juice consists of vape juices that consist mainly of freebase nicotine. Freebase vape juice is made by purifying the nicotine through a heating process, which removes the bond between the nicotine and acid molecules. This makes it easier for vape devices to absorb these molecules during inhalation. Nicotine salt vape juice, on the other hand, is vape juices that consist mainly of vape juices combined with nicotine salts. These e-liquids are created with purification methods involving fermentation or synthetic means such as those used in laboratories. The result is vape juices containing specific types and amounts of acids and bases, which is why they behave differently when vape juices are vaped. When vape juices containing nicotine salt are vaped, the vape devices will not require as high temperatures for absorption. This leads to vape juices with nicotine salt being more effective in vape devices that can't handle vape juice mixtures with freebase nicotine.

What are the potential health concerns of vape juices with nicotine salts?

Despite vape juices containing nicotine salt being more effective in vape devices that struggle to inhale vape juice mixtures consisting mainly of freebase nicotine e-liquids, there is still concern about vaping them frequently. Currently, there isn't enough research on vape liquids containing various forms of nicotine to assess if they're safer than smoking cigarettes. Despite this lack of evidence, many people use vape juices combined with nicotine salts to vape more potent vape juice mixtures and gradually vape less vape juice over time.