How to Make Perfume With Essential Oils

Tis the season for giving. We think that a great way to show someone you care this season is to create your own signature fragrance. They make great gifts for family and friends. Men– you can do this too!

Making perfume with essential oils is very easy. Most of modern perfumes are made from synthetic oils or fragrance oil. But synthetic oils don’t have the aromatherapy benefit. By making it on your own, you won’t be worried about the added chemicals and preservatives going onto your skin and drying it out or even worse having a severe reaction to it.

You might experiment by combining various scents to create unique signature fragrances.

To make perfume with essential oils, you should know the character of each essential oil. There are top notes, middle notes and base notes.

The base notes will be the fragrance that last the longest on your skin and tend to be deep and earthy, which is why they are added first. Base notes providing a steady base upon which to create a blend. Some examples are patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, clove, cedarwood, vanilla, and nutmeg.

The middle notes also influence the fragrance of the perfume for quite a long time.  Middle notes are mild smells that help mediate top notes. They make up a higher concentration. Some examples are rosewood, lavender, rose, geranium, ylang-ylang, clary sage, jasmine, ginger, hyacinth, pine and thyme.

The top notes give the perfume its specific scent when just applied. They make up only a small part of your blend and they don’t last too long, but top notes that make the strongest aromatic presence. The top notes are added to the mixture after the middle notes and could also be followed by another ingredient to bridge the fragrances. Some examples are, bergamot, lemon, orange, peppermint, chamomile, lime, lemongrass, marjoram, bay and neroli.

Vegetable oil is used as a carrier for the essential oils, which make up just 10 to 35 percent of the finished perfume. Jojoba oils is the best choice. Jojoba has a long shelf life and once it’s on the skin it tends to dry out leaving your wonderful scent behind.

As a base for your perfume, you may try:

•    1/2 ounce of jojoba oil.

•    2.5 oz. alcohol— pure grain alcohol or vodka

•   Essential oils :
* 6 drops top note

* 7  drops middle note

* 7  drops base note

Step 1. Using a dark bottle add the jojoba oil first.

Step 2. Add the essential oils start with the base notes, then middle, then top,  smelling as you go.

Step 3.  Add 2.5 ounces of alcohol, shake for a few minutes, then let it sit for 48 hours (or up to 6 weeks-the longer it sits, the stronger the smell).

Step 4. Put it in a dark bottle.

Step 5. Give it a name!

Congratulations! You made your own unique perfume.