So, last time I talked about a little background information necessary to know when going to make perfumes. Today, I shall be talking about how to make a perfume and how to blend the essential oils.
Process of making a Perfume Oil
Ingredients
- Essential Oils (your favorites)
- Droppers for each
- Dark amber bottles
- Journal / Book
Method
- Mix the base, middle and top notes in your own desired ratio by putting some drops of each in the dark bottle. Use separate eye droppers for each EO. Very Important: Write down your recipe. This is called an Essential Oil blend. You can use it in making your lotions or massage oils or body oils too. But, don’t forget to follow the guidelines to use EO’s.
- When you are going to mix a recipe, always make sure that your EO’s blend well with each other otherwise your whole blend will get spoiled.
- Do not shake the bottle to mix the EO’s. Roll the bottle gently between your palms, instead.
- Leave this blend in a dark and warm place undisturbed for 48 hours. That gives the EO’s time to ‘marry’ each other and either enhance each other’s fragrance or degrade each other’s fragrance depending on the EO’s you have used.
- After 48 hours, take the bottle and open the cap. Let the fragrance rise from the bottle and sniff it. Write down your observations and notes on the fragrance. If you do not like it at all or if they are not blending together, you might want to add another EO which can allow the different fragrances to blend. It’s a lot of fun doing it and it’s just like an experiment which might pass or fail.
- Do all hit and trials and always remember to keep a record of whatever you are doing including the dates too – date on which you made the blend, the date of observations and even the date on which you are happy with the blend.
- Now, once you are happy with the blend you are going to make, you can make it in large quantities and store it for a month or two to let the blend ‘cure’. The fragrance of the blend changes overtime so you should keep on observing the changes for a month at least.
- After the curing period is over, the EO blend is added to the carrier oil (almond or jojoba oil or even coconut oil) in a ratio of 15-30% depending on the strength of the perfume you want.
- And, leave the oils to blend again for at least a week. And, after the period, your perfume oil is ready!!!
So, those are the steps to make the perfume oil. Now, I am going to talk a bit about my own experience.
What did I do?
- When you are going to create an EO blend, always remember to take the EO’s which blend with each other. So, reading the profiles of each EO is very essential. I consulted MountainRoseHerbs (google it) database mostly. They mention everything pertaining to the EO information.
- Also, I want to mention beforehand that many EO’s are concentrated and have their own side-effects so read the information carefully before buying them. For example, almost all the citrus EO’s like Bergamot, lemongrass, etc. are phototoxic, many EO’s specially spice ones like connamon, cloves, etc. are irritating to the skin, not all EO’s should be used during pregnancy.
So, I chose 5 EO’s which I bought keeping in mind everything –
- Bergamot (the top note which is probably phototoxic but I am not sure entirely),
- Rosemary (middle note and should not be used during pregnancy),
- Neroli (middle note which is floral and exotic and is safe to use anytime),
- Ylang Ylang (base and middle note, should not be used during pregnancy and gives headaches too if used in excess) and
- Frankincense (base note, entirely safe to be used anytime)
- After you have your stock, you should take each EO and sniff its aroma and write your own observations on each. For example, Neroli is a very strong scent and generally overpowers everything but its lovely. So, I took notes about each EO. That also gives me a general idea about how I should go on blending it depending on what kind of fragrance do I want.
My First Blend
- Frankincense – 10 drops (base)
- Neroli – 10 drops (middle)
- Ylang Ylang – 15 drops (bridge)
- Bergamot – 10 drops (top)
Always add the base notes first, then the middle and then the top notes. I kept the fragrance for 24 hours (because I was impatient, don’t be!!) and didn’t really like it so I added 15 drops of Ylang Ylang again!! Don’t make that mistake. Excess of Ylang Ylang gives headaches but strictly speaking, I love the fragrance of Ylang Ylang but I am growing fond of Neroli now. I kept the blend for 15 days around and added it to almond oil in the ratio of 1:3 (again a mistake!!) [add 45 drops of almond oil in a dark bottle and then, add 15 drops of the EO blend] and kept it for a day or two before using (need it to keep it for a week). But, I loved the blend a lot. It was dominated by Neroli though. And, what I learned from this was that keep the strong fragrances concentration less if you don’t want them to dominate.
So, that was the story of my first attempt at perfume making. And, seriously, it’s addictive, especially when you can get all kinds of EO’s!!! Next week, I shall follow up with more of the blends and some other lessons I learned.
Nice article swati 🙂
thanks Bhumi 🙂
This is a fantastic article Swati! I’m just getting interested in EOs & oils, so this is very helpful. I use only aloe gel as a moisturiser in summer. Can I add a drop or 2 of an EO in aloe vera gel? Will I need to test the EO before doing so?
hey Poohkie…you should definitely check out which EO’s goes with what problem and if it is a 100ml product you are going to use, make sure, your EO concentration is just 1-2% in the aloe gel otherwise it can get irritating. And, if you are really looking for good EO’s for skin care – neroli and frankincense are great!!! they are safe EO’s so you need not check them but don’t go above the specified concentration otherwise they do turn the skin dry and cause dry patches and all!!! they are very concentrated so take care.
Thanks for the detailed response. I already have the aloe gel & can’t wait to try it out. Do you mean add 1 drop for a 100 ml? Another important Q – are these EOs photosensitive? Meaning should I avoid using them during the day? In any case, I think I’ll use it on my arm for a week to test it out.
http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.in/2012/01/guide-to-using-essential-oils-beauty.html
check out that and yes, EO’s are photosensitive so don’t choose citrus oils as they are irrtating to the skin too. And, regd the quanitity, don’t go overboard than 1-2%. 1ml = 20 drops of EO so you can decide the number of drops of EO according to the quantity of your cream. And, don’t apply EO naked on the skin. It’s too concentrated. dilute it with the aloe gel and apply. hope this helps 🙂
Thanks Swati, I just read that article. I’m just about to begin buying EOs. So if you could recommend 5 EOs for me to begin my collection with, which would you suggest?
I love reading your articles, they’re so incredibly useful!
I would suggest Frankinscence, Neroli for sure and Lavender is an all rounder. Then, you can choose between Rose and Jasmine as they are costly. Ylang Ylang is a good choice but it gives headaches so that’s really upto you. And, then, there is rosewood and patchaouli too. Where are you buying them from?
Thanks! I’ll let you know which ones I eventually get. Trying to decide between online store & regular stores. In H&G I’ve seen Aroma Magic EOs, so i’m thinking of those.
if you don’t mind, I shall suggest http://mokshalifestyle.com/. I got mine from there and found them better than even Aroma Magic.
Really? I’ll check it out then.