By Charlynn Avery
When it comes to blending perfumes, essential oils are a tried and true way to incorporate nature into your own signature scent. Homemade perfume is easy to make and isn’t as expensive as department store perfumes – plus, it can be made with ingredients that are friendly to our bodies and our planet.
Blend patchouli, sweet orange and ylang ylang essential oils for a sweet, floral homemade perfume.
Once you understand the basics, experiment with making your own blend or try one of our recipes below.
Choosing your aroma
To make a great perfume, get to know your aromatic preferences. Are you prone to florals? Do you like earthy or musky aromas? Are you drawn to light citrus aromas? What smells the best to you and on you? Once you figure out what you like, choose recipes that combine your favorite aromas.
Choosing your base
Start with your base. For a perfume, use a base of a grain alcohol (I have found high proof vodkas to be the best) and let the blend sit for a minimum of two weeks and up to six weeks before use.
If you’d like a body oil instead, use a carrier that is light and readily absorbable with little to no odor of its own. Some great choices include grapeseed, sweet almond or apricot kernel oils. Once you add your essential oils to the oil base, let it sit for a minimum of three days to allow the aromas to blend together.
While some essential oils used in perfumes are more expensive, they can be used to make a lot of perfume. For a more affordable option, you can use Aura Cacia Precious Essentials™, which are diluted in jojoba oil already. However, I’d recommend using an oil base rather than alcohol in this case.
Regardless of the base you choose, shake the blends as they sit and “marinate” to mix the components well.
Perfume (alcohol-based) Recipes:
Perfume Oil Recipes:
About the author: Charlynn Avery, aromatherapist and educator for Aura Cacia, is on a quest to change the way we look at health and healing in the U.S. She has spent her career practicing and teaching in the arena of holistic health and wellness as a licensed massage therapist, and currently holds additional certifications in Holistic Nutrition, Thai Massage and Life Coaching. Although she loves natural healing, she loves spending time in nature even more. An avid traveler both for work and pleasure, she can often be found getting her U.S. National Park Passport stamped or reading a good book in an airport.
The Cayenne Room 
I love this idea! I have always been a perfumes and lotions junkie…you should see my stash! It has gone unused for the last year though since the birth of my baby girl made me conscious off what I use on my skin. My question to you is this..can I use rubbing alcohol or something other than vodka (since I’m a nursing Mom) as the alcohol base in my perfume? So excited!!! Does the scent really cling or do you find yourself having to refresh constantly?
Hi KK, personally, I don’t recommend using rubbing alcohol. High-proof vodka is a traditional base for perfumes, used in incredibly small amounts that won’t affect your baby. But, we always advocate safety first, so if you are uncomfortable using vodka, I’d recommend using a carrier oil to make a perfumed oil instead. The perfume with the alcohol base will last as well as any other commercial perfume, but a perfumed oil needs to be re-applied more frequently. — Charlynn
thanks a lot. i haven’t use a perfume in almost 8 years just because of the fixative’s chemicals on the recognized brands. How can we make essence oils from flowers? I particularly like some scents of local flowers. thanks a lot and i liked and share this on my fb.
Reblogged this on heArtsonnet blog.
I used a Frontier Musk Oil from the Frontier Coop for years before it was discontinued. Is the recipe for the Aura Musk the same
Hi Michelle, the recipe for musk here is a bit different than the Frontier musk fragrance oil, as this recipe uses all natural essential oils.
Hi!
I want to make a fragrance with a lemon base. What other essential oils do I need to use with the lemon to make it a nice refreshing citrus scent? And is it best to use the alcohol base or one of the oil bases?
Thanks a bunch for your help.
Carole
Hi Carole, lemon blends well with many other oils. It is primarily a top note oil so you will need to use base note oils that blend well with lemon and that will help slow its evaporation such as sandalwood, frankincense and Peru balsam. Boost the lemony radiance of your blend and make it a bit more complex with moderate additions of lemongrass, lemon balm and palmarossa. Also a tiny addition (1-2 drops) of rose otto or absolute will help give a lemon blend a strong “heart” note that pulls the lemon top notes and base notes together creating a coherent and stabile aromatic profile.
Hi!
Thanks so much for your help. I will try that out and let you know how it turns out.
hi.
I am first timer to make a perfume,,can you help me for what i need to provide for making a perfume,and what else i need to do..
thank you so much for your time..sorry for my English as well; 🙂
Hi Jomel and thanks for your question. All of the information that you need to make your own perfume is included in this blog post. This is a simple recipe to help you get started: http://www.auracacia.com/recipes/sweet-floral-perfume-blend. Best of luck and let us know how it turns out!