Making and mixing your own perfumes
can be fun, and not
only is it individualized but could also save you some money.
General information
The ideas below are a simple guide for you to get start making your own fragrance, but it must be
kept in mind that it is easier to add more essential oils to a blend to make the
fragrance stronger, than it is to dilute the blend in order to tone the
fragrance down.
For this reason it is better to rather add too little of an oil, and to top
up later if you are looking for a stronger fragrance.
One cardinal rule you should always follow, is to write down the recipe, as
you are mixing it, as it often happens that a person would prepare a wonderful
fragrance, only to find that they cannot remember the quantities or the oils
used in the mixture.
When mixing your fragrance you should use glass containers, as some plastic
containers and instruments do tend to retain fragrance particles. For mixing the
blend never use a metal object, but rather use a glass rod.
After you have used your mixing equipment, wash very well with a strong soapy
solution, dry, wipe down with alcohol to remove all fragrance traces, wash
again, rinse in clean water and dry for next use.
For storing your mixed fragrances buy blue or amber glass bottles, and if
they have cork stoppers you would need to seal the cork stopper with paraffin
wax to prevent oxidation, and if they are equipped with screw tops make sure
that the tops have liners.
Essential oils are either added to alcohol or an oil base when making
perfumes at home. The alcohol to use is ethanol, but for the sake of ease vodka
can be used. It is best to buy a high quality 100% proof vodka since it has
virtually no smell.
The oil base that can be used is Jojoba oil -
which is really a liquid wax. Jojoba has excellent keeping properties and does
not have a very heavy odor of its own.
The percentage of essential oil used in perfumes is high, and to prevent any
allergic reaction, remember to do a skin patch test if you have never used a particular oil.
When blending your perfume or eau de toilette or cologne start with the base
(alcohol/vodka or oil base depending on what you are making) and add the oils
drop by drop.
The classification of perfume, eau de toilette and eau de cologne is based on
the strength of the fragrance it contains and the percentages of essences
used.
For a perfume you will use around 15% essential oil, whilst for a lighter eau
de toilette you will use about 4 - 8% essential oil and a yet lighter eau de
cologne 1 - 5%.
If you want to work out your percentages, you can work on the premise that 1
ml is 20 drops. To work out your percentages convert the total of the oil used
as well as the base - be that the alcohol/vodka or jojoba oil - to drops.
If your total drops are, let's say 58 drops, and your base 240 ml (240 x 20 =
4,800 drops) divide the amount of drops by the amount of drops in the base.
Using the above example you will get a result of 0.012 = 1.2% concentrate of oil
in the mixture.
Some of the recipes state that you should mix the blend, bottle, cap and
leave for x amount of days. This is to give the fragrance time to settle and to
achieve a more rounded fragrance.
- 16 drops bergamot
- 15 drops petitgrain
- 2 drops orange
- 15 drops lemon
- 5 drops lavander
- 5 drops neroli
- 10 ml orange flower water
- 230 ml alcohol/vodka
Place the alcohol/vodka base into your glass mixing container, add the oils
in the order listed and mix well. Bottle, cap and leave the mixture for 4 days
and then add the orange flower water and re-cap. Leave the mixture for at least
two weeks, giving the bottle a gentle shake every day.
- 4 drops sweet orange
- 10 drops lemon
- 6 drops tangerine
- 8 drops frankincense
- 5 drops neroli
- 1 drop myrrh
- 11 ml alcohol/vodka or
- 11 ml jojoba oil for a oil based perfume.
Place the base into your mixing container and add the ingredients in the
order listed and mix. Bottle and use. You can reduce the base, but do note your
concentration will then exceed 15%.
- 5 drops coriander
- 6 drops bergamot
- 4 drops neroli
- 1 drops jasmine blend
- 3 drops rose blend
- 10 ml jojoba oil
Place oil base in mixing container, add oils in the order listed and mix.
Bottle, cap and leave one week before using.
- 10 drops lavander
- 20 drops coriander
- 22 drops sandalwood
- 23 drops cedarwood
- 5 drop frankincense
- 100 ml alcohol/vodka
Place the alcohol/vodka mixture into your mixing bowl, add the oils in the
order given and mix well.
The above is our humble contribution to fragrance mixing and is really basic.
Your personal taste will determine what you like, and it may be a good idea to
look at our pages on floral notes and blending for more information when
blending your own fragrance.
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