How to Make Pure Perfume Using Perfumer's Alcohol

Most commercially-prepared quality perfumes utilize perfumer’s alcohol in their formulations. This creates a “fixative” for the scent of natural essential oils and other man-made ingredients in the event that the perfumes must sit for months on a retail shelf. Obtaining perfumer’s alcohol is very difficult for the average individual. Few manufacturers sell the product to the general public outside of the fragrance industry. Many recipes suggest using vodka or similar products instead of the rare perfumer’s or artisan’s alcohol. This is only advisable if you can be certain that you will never sell or market your perfumes. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has forbidden selling beverage alcohols without a license, even if it is contained within cosmetics or perfumes. If you wish to create perfumes and sell them for a profit, substitute equal amounts of perfumer’s alcohol for the drinking alcohol in any perfume recipe.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 5 drops jasmine essential oil
• 5 drops chamomile essential oil
• 3 drops lemongrass essential oil
• 1 cup distilled water
• 5 teaspoons perfumer’s alcohol
• Coffee filters
• Strainer
• Colored glass bottles with stoppers
• Dropper
• Funnel
• Wooden spoon
• Non-metal bowl

1. Pour the alcohol into your bowl. Add the essential oils one drop at a time into the alcohol in the bowl, stirring slowly after each addition. Make sure that you stir slowly, but long enough to completely disperse the oils.

2. Allow the blend of oils and alcohol to stand undisturbed for 48 hours.

3. Add the distilled water. Stir it slowly until it is completely dispersed.

4. Place the mixture in a cool, dark place where it won’t be disturbed for at least three weeks. This will allow the perfume to mature.

5. Filter the resulting pure perfume through a coffee filter to remove any sediment that may have formed. Bottle your perfume into colored glass bottles with a stopper. Enjoy it as you would any commercial perfume.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't be afraid to experiment with a fragrance recipe. Learning how to make your own fragrances is as much about experimentation as about following recipes. Just keep a notebook of everything you do so that if you do discover how to make the perfect perfume, you can duplicate the results. Remember that one less or one more drop of an essential oil can change the fragrance of a perfume entirely.
• Be sure to test the ingredients by placing a single drop of each on a discreet area of skin to check for any adverse reactions. If redness or irritation ensues after 24 hours, reformulate the ingredients to suit you.

[GVHinesman]

on 10/9/2008 Hi, Olive!
I'm glad you enjoyed the article. The colored bottle serves the dual purpose of both looking attractive and helping to shield the contents of the bottle from UV light that can eventually cause a fragrance to deteriorate. The perfumer's alcohol acts as a preservative/fixative but colored bottles add just one more layer of protection.
---GVH

[olivepig]

on 9/15/2008 Hi... Thank you so much for your instructions. I have a question regarding step 5. Is the colored bottle for asthetics only or does it serve a preservation purpose? Does it still need to be colored if using perfumer's alcohol? Thank you so much!!