How to Create Your own Perfumes

This is a guide for the novice perfumer, which details the basic steps to create your own signature perfume blends.

Getting Started
Fragrances are divided into top notes, middle notes, and base
notes. The top note is geposed of the lighter and more volatile
fragrance materials. This is the first impact or first impression
experienced as one opens a bottle of perfume. The middle note is the
body or heart of the fragrance, which really defines its main
character. Base notes are made up of the least volatile,
longest-lasting ingredients, such as plant resins and woods. Base
notes have a fixative character and can be discerned on the skin long
after most of the fragrance has evaporated.

Perfumers organize their raw materials in a "perfume organ." This
is a set of stepped shelves in a semi-circular shape, so named because
the shape resembles the pipes of a cathedral organ. Professional
perfumers work with hundreds of ingredients, but you can create many
blends using just a handful of essential oils. Three to ten of
your favorite oils will produce dozens of unique blends.

Here is a basic list of what you'll need to get started:


Essential Oils (at least three, your selection should include top, middle and base notes)

Denatured or Grain Alcohol

Coffee filters cut into strips

Ground Coffee

Notebook

Amber Glass Bottles (to protect your perfume oils from light)

Perfume Bottles








Formulating Your First Blend

The scent of an oil sniffed from the bottle is just the first page in
its story. Before beginning your blend, get a notebook! You
will want to be sure to keep an accurate record of the ingredients and
ratios you use. You can easily get caught up in the creative
pleasure of formulating a good blend, but you don't want to create your
perfect signature scent only to later realize you didn't write down the
recipe!

To get your feet wet, try a three-oil blend. Pick three oils that
interest you: a top note, middle note and base note. First,
open the bottles, place them close together, and sniff. This will
give you a very general idea of the character of the blend.
Describe your initial impressions in your notebook.

A simple ratio to begin with is three drops of the top note, two drops
of the middle note, and one drop of the base note. Roll the
capped bottle containing the blend between your hands to mix the oils
and warm them a bit. Give them a few gentle shakes to make sure
they are well-blended, then sniff. The top note may seem to
overpower the other oils, but it's the nature of top notes to express
themselves first. They also fade the fastest, so don't make a
snap judgment about the blend.

Place a drop of the oil on a smelling strip made from a sliced-up
coffee filter and allow it to dry for fifteen minutes. Now give
it a try. Has the scent evolved? Are other notes more fully
present? Describing perfume is often like describing music.
Has the base note drowned out the rest of your blend? Has the top
note begee too quiet? Can you discern the middle note at
all? You want your perfume to have geplexity and depth.
You want the notes in your blend to harmonize with one another.

Work in a well-ventilated room and be sure to take frequent fresh-air
breaks. Essential oils are highly concentrated, and inhaling
their fumes directly for extended periods of time can make you feel
dizzy or nauseous. Breaks are important for another good reason -
you don't want to overpower your sense of smell. Your nose needs
a rest! Besides fresh air, try breathing in the aroma of ground
coffee to periodically refresh your sniffer.

The Final Product

Once you are satisfied with your initial perfume oil, label the bottle
with the date and name. Now you can decant into your perfume
bottle and add the appropriate amount of denatured or grain alcohol as
a solvent. The general ratios of perfume oil to solvent for
various types of perfume products are:


Perfume - 20 percent perfume oil

Cologne - 15 percent perfume oil

Eau de Cologne - 12 percent perfume oil

Eau de Toilette - 5 percent perfume oil





Alternatively, you may wish to create a body oil by adding a carrier
oil such as sweet almond, jojoba, etc. Body oils should be
diluted at approximately a 6:1 ratio of carrier to perfume oil.
Most perfume oils created with essential oils will be too strong to
wear undiluted on the skin. Ten to twenty drops of perfume oil
will make a nicely scented bath.

Denatured alcohol is preferable as a solvent, as grain alcohol may not
fully incorporate all essential oils, forming layers, and will most
likely overpower the scent until the blend has aged about a
month. Regardless of the solvent you use, remember that your
perfume will evolve over time. Shake the mixture twice
daily. If you are using denatured alcohol, the scents should be
pretty well incorporated by the third day. You may notice some
surprising changes!

One caveat - you'll find it's terribly addictive. Have fun!

Lynn PhillipsTyping Monkey Apothecary