Using Essential Oils To Make Natural Perfumes: A Short Guide

The best thing about using essential oils is that they don’t contain any harmful chemicals that store-bought perfumes would contain. Essential oils are extracted from plants and some have been around for centuries. They’re very natural, so it’s better to do patch tests on your skin before experimenting with different oils. Essential oil scents do need to be topped up more, but they’re not overpowering, so they won’t make you sneeze or cause a headache!

First things first, you’ll need a selection of oils, a carrier oil (little to no scent like almond or jojoba), and a container. EO’s can be found in any wholesaler stores. You can use a small bottle (darker bottles preserve fragrance for longer), a roll-on bottle, or even use beeswax to make a solid perfume. It’s also handy to have coffee beans to cleanse your palate between smells.

Before you start mixing scents, pick the oils you want to use, open the caps, and smell them together. This will give you a preview of your scent. You’re going to need a base oil, middle tones, and top notes. The top note is what you smell first, and this dissipates quickly. The middle and base notes come after and the middle tone is the “heart” of your fragrance. Your base oil makes up about 20% of the scent, whilst the middle tone is 50%, and the top notes about 30%. The drop amount will depend on how much you want to make.

The base oils are usually earthy smells like rose, jasmine, or myrrh. The middle tones are the centre of your fragrance so try using black pepper, pine, or rosemary. As said previously, the top notes are the ones you smell first, so using EO’s like sage, orange, or cedarwood are ideal. The lines are blurred, so you can use base oils as middle tones and vice versa – it’s all about experimenting! Healthline’s Essential Oils 101  is a great place to start in deciding what oils you want to use to create your scent.

Add in your base oil, then drop by drop add your middle and top notes. Keep shaking and smelling after every drop to create the perfect balance. After you’ve created your ideal scent, you can add a couple of drops of alcohol (vodka or even spiced rum if you want to add a warming scent) to help preserve your perfume. Or if you don’t want to add alcohol, Wild Veil Perfume sell perfume fixatives in a balm formula which you rub onto your pulse points before applying your perfume. It’s best to shake your fragrance before you use it, and if you have the patience, leaving it for a month before using helps diffuse the alcohol smell and creates a stronger fragrance!