Make your own perfume

perfume by NurNurIch on dA

Making your own perfumes isn't as hard as you might think. There's just a few things you should know before you start. I promise you, once you've started making your own scents you'll never want to back to store bought perfumes.


First of all there are a few things you should know about perfume before you can create your own scent.

Types of perfumethere are different type of perfume, divided by the percentage of aroma compounds
Perfume: 15-20%
Eau-de-Parfum: 10-15%
Eau-de-toillet: 5-10%
Some manufactures use slightly different percentages, this is more of manual to understand the differences between perfumes.

Composition
Most perfumes consist of three notes in order to create a complete scent

Top note: the scents you immediately smell after opening a bottle or applying it onto your skin. It's part of your first impression of a scent. These particles will evaporate first after 5 to 20 min. These are usually fresh scents like lime, orange or eucalyptus.
Middel note: middle notes are also called the heart of the perfume. These scents will appear after the top notes evaporate. The scent will stay around for 2-4 hours. Rose, Lavender and Ylang Ylang are examples of middle note scents
Base note: The base note together with the middle note will make up most of your perfume's scent. The base note will evaporate last and therefor will stick around the longest. Some scents will even be noticeable 24 h after application. Patchouli and Sandal wood are base notes.

Most perfumes will be made with Ethanol (96%), oils like jojoba oil or herbal distillates.


Composing Scents
You can use the so called "fragrance wheel" to create scents. Ever scent falls into a different category and not all scents fit together. This doesn't mean you can't experiment, but you are more likely to come up with something good by using the fragrance wheel.

How to make perfumes
 Now that we know a little bit more about perfume, it's time to create our own fragrance.

You'll need:
*a glass spray bottle or old perfume bottle
*alcohol 70%
*essential oils
*distilled water or rose water

Even though most perfumes are made with ethanol I chose for the 70% alcohol because it's a bit more skin friendly.

For a 10 ml bottle you need 10 ml of alcohol and 8 drops of water. If you add more water the perfume will become a bit misty. Use about 10 to 20 drops of essential oil, depending on how strong you want your perfume to be. 20 drops is about 1 ml so the essential oils would make up 10% of your scent.
Let the essential oils dissolve in the alcohol before adding the water. Let your perfume rest for about 1 or 2 weeks, this will give the perfume the time to mix together perfectly and to complete the scent. Always write down your composition, so you know what works (and doesn't work) If you're not really inspired there are plenty of recipes out there for you to try.

Important things about the use of essential oils and how to store your perfume
Some essential oils can make your skin more sensitive to light or can leave stains on your clothing. NEVER use pure essential oils on your skin, and consult a professional to see what oils to not to use if you're pregnant.
Storing your perfume in a dark place with a consistent temperature will extend the shelf life of your perfume. Use colored glass bottles if you can. This way you can enjoy your perfume longer.

Links and extra info
To write this article I used what I've learned from a workshop and an amazing dutch book I have. If you want to know more about perfume and the fragrance wheel here are some links. Enjoy creating your own scents! :)

Fragrance wheel
perfume
everything you could ever want to know about perfume