Making your own perfume

Natural perfumes are gentler and not so detrimental to our health, as cloying synthetic perfumes can be, In fact they can be extremely beneficial to our health – Hippocrates said, ‘Odoriferous molecules can influence a person’s emotions, mental state ... the way of life is through the essential oils of plants.’

Whenever you decide to make your own perfume ask yourself a few questions – what kind of impression would you like the perfume to give? How do you want to be perceived overall? Do you want to make a statement? Do you want to seduce or be seduced? How do you want the aromatic substances to smell – fruity, floral, woody or citrus? Do you want to recreate a memorable place or time? Would you prefer your perfume to have an alcohol or oil base? Don’t forget that people will often notice your perfume before they notice other things and it is often the only thing that remains in a room after you’ve left. A good perfume will adorn you forever and one that suits you can become more important that a favourite dress or piece of jewellery.

Perfume – very strong. For this you will need between 17-31% of pure fragrances to 90-95% alcohol (or oil).

Eau de parfum – this is 10-18% organic essential oils, 75-90% alcohol (or oil)

Eau de toilette – this is 6-10% organic essential oils to 70-75% alcohol (or oil)

The strength of your perfume will depend on the quality of your essential oils – you must use pure essential oils that have not been diluted or adulterated. It is difficult to buy pure alcohol so I have used vodka (make sure it’s a strong proof!) with a little distilled water added. If you decide to go for the oil base there is no need to add water. Both oil and alcohol give quite different smells as the molecules expand in different ways with time.

Use a notebook to record all your ingredients carefully. It is essential that you do this as every drop counts – if you add one too many or one too few you can completely change the composition (remember one drop represents approximately 500g-1kg of flowers). It is important to be methodical and disciplined and soon you’ll be able to make bespoke perfumes for your family and friends.

You can have lots of fun too – buy a pretty cut glass bottle, making sure the top fits properly. Bespoke perfumes like these need to ‘cure’ before you first use them – keep them in a cool dark place for between four to six weeks so the ingredients have a chance to blend together properly and the molecules have time to blend together properly and the molecules have time to expand.

If you find the fragrance to strong, add a little more vodka and water to make it into an eau de toilette. If you choose an oil, add a little more grapeseed oil. You will also need to add a natural fixative (these are also bridging oils) – clary sage is a good oil to use for this.

Note: I’ve used eau de perfume in my examples because this is the most popular version. Home made perfumes should keep for six months to a year.

Example eau de parfum in alcohol
I want this to have a nice citrus smell, so if you’d prefer a heavier scent, increase the drops of the base-note oils.

Top notes
20 drops essential oil of lemon
10 drops essential oil of either bergamot or bois de rose
20 drops essential oil of petit grain

Bridge I
5 drops essential oil of lavender

Middle notes
15 drops essential oil of either geranium or ylang-ylang
25 drops essential oil of either jasmine or tuberose

Bridge II
5 drops essential oil of clary sage (this will also be your fixative)

Base notes
10 drops essential oil of vetiver
8 drops essential oil of sandalwood

70ml vodka
5ml (1teaspoon) distilled water
100ml bottle

Add the water and the vodka to the dark bottle followed by the vodka to the dark bottle followed by the oils. Start with the base-note oils first, bridging II oils and work upwards to the top notes. Shake once and leave to ‘cure’ (mature) before first use. Transfer to your nice bottle.

Example eau de parfum in oil
This gives a gentle scent; if you’s like to make it stronger, add more drops in the top and middle notes.

Top notes
20 drops essential oil of orange
15 drops essential oil of petit grain
15 drops essential oil of lavender

Bridge I
5 drops essential oil of either palmarosa or benzoin

Middle notes
20 drops essential oil of neroli
25 drops essential oil of rose
20 drops essential oil of either bois de rose or violet leaves

Bridge II
5 drops essential oil of clary sage
Base notes
15 drops essential oil of galbanum
15 drops essential oil of either sandalwood or cedarwood

50ml jojoba oil
30ml (2 tablespoons) grapeseed oil
4 capsules wheatgerm oil
100ml bottle
1 coffee filter

Pour the carrier oils into the dark bottle first and shake well. Add the essential oils, working from the base notes upwards as before. Shake once and leave to ‘cure’ before first use. Strain through a coffee filter before transferring to a nice bottle.