The need to make perfume at home emerged when I got pregnant, and I wasn’t sure what was going inside my beloved Chanel No. 5! I was so paranoid that I didn’t want to use anything artificial. Initially, I thought, what’s the better way than use pregnancy-safe essential oils as a perfume. Essential oils are so popular nowadays. Even yoga classes are giving up a wellness drop (aka essential oil) at the end to feel good!
I thought, let’s use these powerful oils for my perfume and make it 100% natural and sustainable. When you pair essential oils correctly, you will come up with pleasing aromas and more effective treatments for your mind, body, and spirit.
So what are essential oils? Essential oils are volatile aromatic compounds extracted via distillation or expression from certain medicinal or fragrant plants. Essential oils have been used for a long time. Looks like Egyptians were the first to use aromatherapy and aromatic herbs. They included essential oils in religion, cosmetics as well as medicinal purposes.
Now we know the basics of essential oils, here are my steps to develop essential oil blends:
1) Know your scent categories
Before mixing up a blend, pause and consider which aroma types you like the most. I have categorized these essential oils aromas into five different types:
a. Citrus: if you like citrus flavors, consider using grapefruit, lemongrass, lemon, sweet orange peel (I used them in my product formulation a lot; see loved soak), Bergamot
b. Woodsy: Sandalwood, Frankincense, Juniper, Vetiver (Glow Oil has it), Pine
c. Floral: Rose, Lavender, Chamomile, Jasmine, Ylang-ylang
d. Spicy: Clove Bud, Tulsi, Thyme, Ginger, Turmeric
e. Oriental: Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, etc
2) Understand Notes on Essential Oils
If you are 5% interested in getting natural perfumes in your lifestyle, then think of perfume as a musical instrument as they have three notes.
Top Notes:
The essential oils are used as scents. These are the most important essential oil when formulating perfume at home. You can smell/recognize immediately on applying a perfume – then those essential oils are used as top notes. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly.
Middle Notes:
These are the heart of the smell. They performed as the main body of the perfume. These notes become a shield of base notes and cover any unpleasant aroma of base essential oils.
Base Notes:
The base and middle notes work together and develop the central theme. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume.
3) Choice of carrier oil
Believe it or not, I will not recommend anyone to use essential oils directly on their skin. As essential oils are potent substances of the plant which goes deep down into the skin layer. That’s why choosing a perfect carrier oil is extremely necessary. I prefer jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, and fractionated coconut oil. All these are not greasy, fragranceless, and easy to get from amazon itself. These oils are going to let essential oil shine.
Now, we got some basic knowledge on aromatherapy and perfumery lessons; let’s get into perfume making itself!
Floral at-home perfume Recipe:
1 tbsp. Fractionated Coconut Oil
20 Drops of Jasmine Absolute
20 Drops of Lavender Essential Oil
5 Drops of Ylang-ylang Essential Oil
First, make essential oil blends. This perfume is all about jasmine, which reminds me of my grandma sitting at the window near the jasmin plant. Once it’s blended properly, add fractionated coconut oil. Pour this blend/perfume into a roller or spray.
Apply this spray on your wrist and enjoy a 100% natural aroma .
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