How to Make Perfume with Essential Oils.

How to make perfume with essential oils – enjoy your own signature scent with this recipe!

So, you may remember that I’ve been on a little DIY all-natural beauty kick. Remember when I made deodorant, lip balm, and lotion? I really enjoy making my own products because I am kind of a freak about avoiding chemicals like parabens, phthalates, artificial scents, dyes, and anything that is related to antifreeze or formaldehyde. This is my body, and the skin is the largest organ. There’s no way that I’m going to apply anything to it that is a carcinogen, you know?

Plus, I just find it to be very fun and relaxing to make my own products.  I decided to make my own perfume the other day because I ran out of mine. I use the Pacifica Italian Blood Orange scent, which is fabulous, and very safe, but I ran out. Boo. And I didn’t want to run to Whole Foods and spend $20, so I started to do a little research and found out that I could make my own at home with essential oils. Since I have a quite a few oils, including several citrus scents, I decided to try it.

How to make perfume with essential oils:

Adapted from about.com

Ingredients:

• two 4 ounce glass bottles with caps – at least one needs to be dark glass. You probably want one to have a spray top.
• a small funnel
• a coffee filter
• 1 Tablespoon sweet almond oil
• 5 Tablespoons vodka
• a vitamin E capsule, prick with a pin so you can squeeze the oil out
• 21-25 drops of the essential oils of your choice
• 2 Tablespoons water distilled water

Method

1. Choose your three essential oils. Many articles that I read suggested choosing a base note, a middle note, and a top note. The top note is what you will smell first, but will fade the quickest. The middle is longer lasting, but the base note will be what lingers. This is a handy chart that lists out the oils and what note they are.

2. Put the sweet almond oil and the vitamin E oil in your bottle, then drip your essential oils in. You can evenly divide them, 7 or 8 drops of each of the three oils, or you can do 9, 9, and 7…that’s where the fun is. The scent is going to be yours, so you can play around with it.

3. Add the vodka, put the cap on the jar and shake it for a few minutes to blend it.

4. Place the bottle in a cool, dark place and let it sit for at least two days, and up to six weeks. The scent will strengthen over time. It’s up to you how long you want to let it sit. Mine has not been sitting for too long, but I love the fragrance already. I will probably let it sit for two weeks.

5. When you are satisfied with your fragrance, add the distilled water, shake the bottle again, and strain the perfume through a coffee filter into the dark glass bottle. You’re ready to use your perfume!

You might notice that I actually did not use a base note in this blend. I LOVE citrus scents, and these three scents have mood boosting properties that help me. Sweet Orange is Brightening, Tangerine is Cheering, and Lemon grass is Inspiring. In the winter, I need a little bit of cheering up, and so I am going to try these scents in perfume form to see how I like them. Just a note, some citrus oils are phototoxic, which means that if you apply them to your skin you should NOT expose that skin to the sun for 24 hours or you will have some irritation or be more prone to sunburn. You can read more about essential oils and phototoxicity here. I am comfortable with these citrus oils in the cooler weather because I will be spraying the perfume on my arm and it will be covered with clothing.

I’m also making a blend with sweet orange, clove, and vanilla, which I think will be lovely and warm smelling this fall. I will be updating this post with how I like my perfumes, and how long they last.

Have you ever made your own signature perfume? How did it turn out?