In a world filled with exquisite fragrances, quality perfumes have become a coveted luxury. However, the hefty price tags associated with quality perfumes can be discouraging for fragrance enthusiasts.
Crafting your own perfume using essential oils is both an affordable and enjoyable alternative.
This article presents a collection of expertly curated guides, created by a team of perfumery enthusiasts. With these easy-to-follow instructions, you can unlock the aromatic potential of essential oils and create your very own personalized, high-quality perfume at a fraction of the cost.
What You Will Need
- 1 – 3 Essential Oils
- Unscented Carrier Oil
- Empty Roll-On or Spray Bottle
- Droppers or Pipettes
- Vitamin E Capsule (optional)
Safety Precautions
Before we get to the fun part, we must first get all the safety stuff out of the way.
Despite its simplicity, making your own essential oils fragrances can have its dangers, and we have seen firsthand what can happen when precautions aren’t taken.
So what are these potential hazards, and how can we prevent them?
Essential oil selection
- Research and choose essential oils that are safe for use in perfumes.
- Be aware of any potential sensitivities or allergies you may have to specific oils.
Pregnancy and Medical Conditions
- Consult with a healthcare professional if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have any specific medical conditions before using essential oils.
Ventilation
- Work in a well-ventilated area to prevent inhaling excessive amounts of essential oils.
Patch testing
- Perform a patch test on a small area of skin to check for any adverse reactions before applying the perfume to a larger area.
Step 1. Choosing Your Scent
The first step in creating your perfect fragrance is choosing the scent. The scents you choose will make the identity of the fragrance so choose scents that suit your personality, and what you wish to project to others.
This can be a daunting task at first, but below we highlight the different scent categories your essential oils could fall into. If you don’t have a recipe in mind, take a look at some of our Easy-To-Do essential oil perfume recipes.
This is the stage of the process to be experimental and take risks, so choose 3 different essential oils that will make up the Base, Heart, and top notes of your perfect bottle. Here are 20 perfume recipes we wrote earlier to give you some inspo.
Types Of Scents
Woody
As the name suggests, woody scents are those that derive from wood materials such as trees, roots, and moss. Inspired by nature, woody scents provide a warm and earthy feel to your fragrance.
Examples include; Sandalwood, Pine, Patchouli, Cedarwood, and Labdanum.
Floral
Floral notes are all those that derive from flower tissues and are considered both feminine and flowery.
Examples include; Rose, Jasmine, Lavender, Ylang Ylang, and Neroli
Musk
Used Commonly in men’s colognes, the musk scent provides a rich, sensual, and masculine feel to its fragrances.
Examples include; Patchouli, vetiver, Myrrh
“Notes in the musk category are grounding, traditional, and oftentimes very sensual“
Lauren Gannes, formulator of aromatics company Highborn
Spicy
Spicy notes are aromatic, sharp yet warm notes that can give people a feeling of comfort.
Examples include; Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Pepper and Ginger.
Citrus
Last but not least, is Citrus. Zesty and fresh, known to signal the summer, citrus scents can add a lot of flamboyant character to a perfume.
Examples include; Blood Orange, Lemon/Lime, and Bergamont.
Now, which is best for you will greatly depend on what you want to get out of your fragrance. If this is your first time creating your own perfume, try to be experimental with a few scents that sound good to you, and see where you go from there.
Alternatively, check out some of the ready-made recipes we wrote down in our article here.
Step 2: Choosing Your Carrier Oil
Essential Oils are not soluble in water! And so will need a carrier oil, in order for it to be safely used on human skin.
The oil you use should be unscented so that it does not disturb the scent of the actual fragrance, but if you cannot find one a highly scented carrier oil would also work.
The five most commonly used carrier oils, and the ones we most highly recommended are;
- Jojoba Oil
- Almond Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Olive Oil
- Grape Seed Oil
Pick the oil that is most accessible to you, since the oil you choose will have little effect on the fragrance.
Step 3: Choosing Your Concentration Level
The next big decision for your perfume is the concentration level.
The concentration oil of in your perfume is how much essential oil against carrier oil your bottle has. For example, if your perfume is made of 80 drops of carrier oil, and 20 drops of your essential oil, it will have a 20% concentration level ( 20 drops of Essential Oil / 100 drops overall).
Having a higher concentration of oil will give more strength and longevity to your bottle, but could be more harmful to those with more sensitive skin.
The concentration level that we advise is anywhere between 15% to 30%, staying on the lower end if your skin is more sensitive.
For this recipe, we will be using a 30% concentration level.
Step 4: Choosing Your Type Of Bottle
The next thing we need to consider is which bottle you will use to store your perfume; a roll-on or a spray bottle.
Although your choice will not have a significant effect on your scent, your chosen concentration level could suit one a little more than the other.
| Concentration Level | Prefered Bottle Type |
| 2% to 15% | Spray |
| 15% to 25% | Spray or Roll-On |
| 25%+ | Roll-On |
Step 5: Choosing Your Measurements
Once you have chosen the scent and strength of your perfume, the next step is to measure and determine the exact amount of each ingredient you’ll need. Don’t worry, it’s easy(ish)!
And if any of this is all too confusing, you can always use some of our recipes here.
Most essential oils come with droppers, so we’ll use drops as our measurement unit. First, let’s figure out how much our empty bottle can hold.
For this example, we’ll be using a 10ml bottle that can hold 200 drops.
Here’s a conversion you’ll need to know: 1 ml is equal to 20 drops.
Now, let’s calculate the amount of each ingredient we need based on a 30% concentration level.
With a 30% concentration level, we’ll need:
- 60 drops of essential oil (which is 30% of 200 drops)
- 140 drops of carrier oil (which is 70% of 200 drops)
If you’re using multiple essential oils, we’ll determine how much of each oil to use. If you’re only using one oil, you can skip this next step.
For our example, we’ll be using three essential oils: one for the base note, one for the middle note, and one for the top note.
Here’s what you need to know about each note:
- Top note: This is the initial scent that people smell when they first encounter the perfume. It doesn’t last very long.
- Middle note: Also known as the heart note, it comes after the top note and forms a significant part of the perfume’s identity. It lasts longer than the top note.
- Base note: This is the longest-lasting scent of the perfume and serves as the final fragrance.
There are different ratios used in the fragrance industry to determine the amount of each oil you’ll need. The easiest ratio to start with is 1:1:1 (Base:Middle:Top), where all three oils are used in equal amounts.
So, if we used 60 drops of essential oils in total, we would need 20 drops for the base note, 20 drops for the middle note, and 20 drops for the top note.
If you were instead using two essential oils with the same measurements, you would instead use 30 drops of each!
Alternatively, you could try different ratios like 3:2:1 or 4:2:1 to create different scent combinations.
How To Make Perfume With Essential Oils
Step 1
Pour Your Carrier Oil Of Choice Into your Empty Perfume Bottle.
For us, this will be 140 drops of Grape Seed Oil.
Step 2
Using a Dropper, add your base note oil into your empty perfume bottle
(10 drops of Tangerine Essential Oil)
Step 3
Next, add your Heart Note
(10 Drops of Jasmine Essential Oil)
Step 4
Add your Top Note
(10 Drops Of Vanilla Essential Oil)
Step 5 (Optional)
Add your vitamin E capsule, which will act as a fixative and prolong the longevity of your perfume
Step 6
Close your bottle tightly and shake rigorously!
Step 7
Enjoy Your Self-Made Perfume!
Make sure to Store your bottle in a dark and cool place.
Conclusion
So there you have it, your step-by-step guide on creating your very own essential oil perfume bottle. If you would like to read more essential oil perfume recipes, check out this article here.
Alternatively, if you have any questions about the guide today, please feel free to Contact Us!
