Perfume 101

As a little girl I would ‘make perfume’ using flower petals and water in the garden… Now all grown up we can still make real perfume just as simply and really effectively using essential oils and a few base ingredients… what delight! No hidden nasty chemicals, no toxins…

Here’s a quick fact… Perfume manufacturers don’t legally have to disclose the ingredients in their fragrance blends, because they are proprietary (brand secrets). This means that we as consumers are completely in the dark as to which chemicals have been used… and are going onto our skin.

So here’s how we can make natural and much healthier fragrances using essential oils.

There are various methods including some using alcohol (as a preservative), water and allowing weeks for the perfumes to develop. But this is my one of my favorite methods because it is super easy, quick, and fun. It’s also easier to determine the smell you are creating because the aroma changes when using alcohol and over the developing time.

So for this quick and easy method you will need:

  • a 5ml roller ball bottle
  • a carrier oil – like fractionated coconut oil, almond oil, avocado oil, grapefruit seed or olive oil
  • your chosen essential oils – using a floral and a citrus scent is a great combination The floral scents can be very powerful, especially rose and jasmine, so you may need less floral to citrus drops (even up to twice as much citrus compared with floral).

Floral scents include the exotic ylang ylang, jasmine, geranium, rose, lavender, and the doTERRA Whisper blend.  

Citrus scents include bergamot, orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit.

What to do:

  1. Fill a 5ml roller ball bottle almost to the top with your liquid carrier oil
  2. Add the drops slowly, one at a time and check the smell. You will be adding about 6-10 drops of essential oil in total so try starting with 3 drops of each of your essential oils
  3. Shake well to mix the oils
  4. Take good notes so you know what ratio of oils you prefer

And there you have it, simply shake the bottle, roll onto your skin and enjoy!

The following method is slightly more advanced (but still quick and easy), working on three ‘notes’ of the perfume –

  1. ‘Top notes’ – are the first fragrances you smell in the perfume
  2. ‘Middle notes’ – give you the longer lasting fragrances from the perfume
  3. ‘Base notes’ – sustain and support the middle notes, and also provide their own smell, they will be the longest lasting fragrances as the others fade

Add them to the carrier oil as before but in the order of Base, Middle and Top note essential oils. 

The proportions will vary according to your preference but often the middle notes will account for 50-80% of the essential oil blend, with the top and base making up the remainder (all blended in the carrier oil). 6-10 drops in total should be adequate in 5ml of carrier oil.

*Base notes include – cedar wood, frankincense, ginger, jasmine, patchouli, rose, sandalwood, ylang ylang, vanilla, vetiver

Middle notes include – black pepper, cardamom, geranium, juniper, rosemary

Top note oils include – lime, lemon, grapefruit, basil, bergamot, lavender

 

I would love to know which are your favorite combinations so let me know in the comments below!

*It is worth noting that there is overlap in some of the classifications of ‘notes’ as applied to the essential oils, for example lavender can be both middle and top notes. It’s all about experimenting and seeing what your individual preferences are.

 

 

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