How to Make Your Own Natural Fragrances & Essential Oils

Select small charming perfume bottles to store your unique fragrances.

Perfumes are blends of pure essential oils or synthetic fragrances in alcohol. Essential oils are natural fragrances, obtained from flowers, leaves, seeds and bark by distillation. Making natural perfume is an art, but one that is accessible to nearly everyone. Pure essential oils can be purchased from health food stores, craft stores and suppliers of soap-making materials. To make a perfume, combine a citrus essential oil like orange, grapefruit, bergamot or lemon, with an herbal essential oil like rosemary, eucalyptus, thyme, chamomile or myrtle. Add a a floral essential oil like rose, violet, sandalwood, vanilla or patchouli.

Things You'll Need

• Blotting paper cut in strips or
• Plain business cards
• Pen or pencil
• Essential oils, citrus, herbal and floral
• Glass measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• 2 oz. vodka
• 2 tbsp. distilled water
• Perfume funnel
• Small glass bottles to store the perfume

Instructions

1. Prepare your mise en place, setting out several essential oils, blotting paper strips or business cards and a pen or pencil. Choose one or two essential oils in each category: citrus, herbal and floral.

2. Put a drop of each of three or more essential oils on a business card or blotting strip. Write down which oils you are using on the same card. Wave the card in the air and notice the fragrance. Continue to wave for a few seconds until the fragrance changes. The put the card down and come back to it in ten minutes to see how it has changed again. Write down your thoughts about this blend. Then, experiment with another blend on a different card. Take your time, doing one or two blends a day, experimenting with different combinations until you find a formula you like.

3. Make your perfume, using the combination of essential oils you liked best. Put 2 oz. vodka in the glass measuring cup. Add up to 10 drops of each essential oil you choose. Swirl the measuring cup gently to blend the essential oils and vodka. Add the distilled water and swirl the measuring cup again. Pour your new perfume into your perfume bottles using a perfume funnel if the bottle opening is very small.

Tips & Warnings

• Store perfume in glass bottles out of the light.

• Buy pure essential oils in amber, blue or green glass bottles, which protect the essential oils from light.

• Essential oils last a long time if stored correctly, out of the light, with the lid tightly screwed in place. Because they are volatile, which means they evaporate, your essential oils might just disappear if you don't keep the lid on tightly.

• Essential oils don't actually have any fat molecules in them. They are called oils because of their texture, which feels oily and floats on water. If you aren't sure whether an essential oil is pure, place a drop or two on a piece of paper and let it evaporate. If the oil doesn't evaporate completely, leaving an oily stain on the paper, it isn't pure essential oil.

References

• "Essential Oils Desk Reference"; Essential Science Publishing; 2007
• "Essential Aromatherapy: A Pocket Guide to Essential Oils and Aromatherapy"; Worwood V., Worwood S.; 2003

Resources

• Pioneer Thinking: Perfumes and Colognes