How to Make Fragrance Oils at Home

Making your own fragrance oils at home is a great way to have your own original scent. Unlike store brands, you have complete control over the ingredients you put on your body, and you get full license to choose the scents. You can make fragrance oils simply because they smell good to you, or you can use the concepts of aromatherapy to add healing and relaxation benefits to your oil. You can make several batches of this a day to give as gifts.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup carrier oil 10 to 12 drops fragrance oils or 2/3 cup herbs and flowers Dark glass bottle with a lid

Instructions

How to Make Fragrance Oils at Home

1. Chose a carrier oil. Different carrier oils have different benefits to the skin. See Resources for a breakdown of what oils have what healing skin properties. A commonly used oil is grapeseed oil, but you can use any oil you like. Avoid oils with strong scents as they can change the overall outcome of your perfume oil.

2. Chose your scents. You either need about 2/3 cup of herbs and flowers whose scent you enjoy, or 10 to 12 drops of essential oils. You can use a combination of both, and your options are literally endless. You can chose oils specifically for their fragrance or for aromatherapy healing properties. If you can't decide, try using rose petals with a few drops of a warm, vanilla scented oil.

3. Infuse carrier oil with your chosen scents. If you are using herbs and flowers, put 2/3 cup in a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup of your carrier oil. You are not cooking the herbs, you are simply raising the temperature of the oil to extract the fragrances from the herbs. Think of it like making warm tea. Don't fry your herbs, just bring up the temperature. You should always be able to touch the oil with your hand. It should feel very warm but not hot or scalding. Once the oil has been warmed, turn off the heat and let the herbs steep for about 30 minutes. This will infuse your carrier oil with their scent. Allow the oil to cool to room temperature before proceeding. Skip this step if you are not using herbs or flowers.

4. Add 10 to12 drops of your chosen essential oils to the carrier oil. Divide the drops in any combination you chose, using more or less of any oil you chose. Experiment until you achieve you desired scent.

5. Store in a dark glass bottle with a lid. Invert the bottle a few times to mix everything together. You can wear it now. As the oil stands, it will cure as the oils and herbs will move through the carrier and make a whole-bodied, stronger scent. This perfume oil improves over time.

6. Wear. You only need a few drops. Essential oils are very concentrated and a little goes a long way.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not add essential oils to carrier oils while the carrier oils are hot. This will cause the fragrance to evaporate and will lessen the quality and intensity of your fragrance.

• Be careful not to cook your herbs. If you do, you will have to start over, as the scent will have been ruined.

Resources

• A Quick Guide to Carrier Oils
• Aromatherapy Herb Guide
• Guide to Aromatherapy and Essential Oils