How To Make Your Own Perfume Oils

Natural perfumes are made up of Essential Oils diluted in a Carrier Oil to make them skin safe. These Essential Oils are typically divided into three scent categories: Head Notes, Heart Notes, and Base Notes.

Head Notes are aromas that are the strongest, but are released on initial application of the perfume and dissipate fairly quickly due to their high volatility (usually within 1/2 an hour). Base Notes are longer lasting (about 2 to 4+ hours), have the lowest volatility, and are releast last- adding depth and richness to a perfume. Heart Notes are mid-range mediators between the two, and often make up about 70% of a blend; their volatility is wide ranging, and give them lasting power from anywehre to 20 minutes like a Head Note, to 4+ hours like a Base Note.

Unfortunately no matter how well formulated a natural perfume is, they will never have the staying power of a synthetic perfume, and will always dissipate more quickly overall.

Creating your own basic natural perfume will require the following materials:

• 1 [one] 5 ml (0.2 fl oz) rollerball bottle
• At least 3 essential oils: 1 Head, 1 Heart, and 1 Base note
• An unscented Carrier Oil, like Jojoba or Almond Oil
• One plastic pipette or glass dropper for each Essential Oil and one for the Carrier Oil

Every milliliter of liquid is roughly 20 drops with a plastic pipette or glass dropper. Using a standard 5 ml bottle as an example: 5 ml x 20 drops = 100 drops total. So for a 5 ml bottle, you’re going to account for roughly 100 drops of liquid formulation. The ratios of the notes, then, are calculated as 2 parts base : 1 part heart : 1 part head. The rest is a skin safe, and preferably skin nourishing, carrier oil such as Jojoba, Sweet Almond, etc.

There is a huge range of concentration levels that vary across perfume brands. Generally perfume oils, however, will have a range of 20% to 80% oils to carrier. Jeff Smith, a perfumer and the founder of the small-batch perfume oil company Petite Histoire based in New York City, recommends using no more than a 20% concentration of essential oils in your carrier, though.

So let’s say you want to have a nice light perfume that is 20% fragrance. 20% of 100 drops is 20 drops. This means that your fragrance combination will amount to 20 drops and the remaining 80 drops will be carrier. Since we have 100 drops to account for and we now know the percentages and ratios, the formula is easy to calculate:

• 80 drops of carrier oil
• 20 drops of essential oils, divided

  10 drops base : 5 drops head : 5 drops heart

Keep in mind, that is a basic way of dividing up the oils. Generally, once you’ve figured out your ratio / drop number, you don’t have to follow that to a T. You could have 12 drops base, 5 drops heart, and 3 drops head if you want to. It’s really dependent on the strength and smell of your oils; the perfumery process is all about experimentation.

Once you have your ingredients ready, follow these five simple steps:

1. Add 80 drops of carrier oil to the perfume bottle
2. Add in 10 drops of the essential oil base notes
3. Followed by 5 drops of head note
4. Then 5 drops of heart notes
5. Seal the bottle and shake well to combine
6. Label your creation with the date of bottling
7. Store in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks

In the case you want to recreate your scent later, don’t forget to record your custom recipe somewhere safe.