If you’re interested in making your own perfume it helps to understand the many terms you’ll come across. For example ‘perfume’ and ‘perfume oils’ are not the same thing. Modern store-bought perfume traces its beginnings to perfume oils, which are not the same as essential oils. (Have I confused you yet?)

Perfume oils are made of a blend of pure essential oils. The scent lasts much longer than perfume because they’re not diluted with other ‘carrier oils’ or alcohol. However, they are more expensive.

So far you know that perfume, perfume oils, essential oils, and carrier oils are all different things. Another thing you need to know when creating your own perfume is that there are three different layers, usually referred to as ‘notes’, that you can use, and each layer serves its own purpose. There are ‘base notes’, ‘mid-notes’, and ‘top notes’.

Perfume’s layers:

‘Top notes’ are the first smell that you’ll notice and they’re also the first ones to evaporate. The oils that are top notes are what make the first impression, they create the mood.

The ‘mid-notes’, your middle layer, appear later and last a little longer than the top notes. You can usually notice this layer about 20-30 minutes after you apply the perfume, and this is what gives your perfume its character. This means the rich scent of the perfume oil has already mixed with your body’s natural scent, which is why perfumes and oils smell different on each person.

The ‘base notes’ last the longest, up to 8 hours or so. They slowly make themselves known, blending with the top and middle notes. Your base layer is usually the main theme of your perfume and can be detected long after the other layers evaporate.

You don’t need to use all three ‘notes’ but the ones you do use determine how long the scent will linger and how it changes the longer you wear it.

Scent families:

‘Floral’ is pretty self-explanatory; it’s made of various flowers and is usually described as having a smooth or natural scent.

‘Oriental’, or amber, types give off aromas like vanilla, spice, musk, other animal scents (like civet from the civet cat, ambergris from the sperm whale and castoreum from the groin of the beaver)1, and a combination of flowers and woods. These are normally heavy and full-bodied and create an exotic, warm impression like Opium™ and Obsession™ (two of my favorites before I started making my own).

The ‘Fruit’ family is just that – fruits. However, it does not include the citrus fruits; they are a family of their own. The fruit in this family is usually a type of sweet-sour scent like strawberry or apple, whereas the citrus scent is fresh and enlivening.

Then there’s the ‘Chypre’ scent, which is an ancient aroma. These have a woody-mossy type fragrance, and because of the almost leather-like character it gives off, it’s usually found in men’s cologne.

‘Green’ refers to a fragrance that is reminiscent of leaves or freshly mown grass. This family gives your perfume a vibrant, spring-like essence.

And finally, the ‘Fern’ fragrances have a more sporty scent with woody, herb or grass-like dominant notes.

You don’t have to stick with one family of scents. Experiment and have fun coming up with your own combination; many oils from the different scent families blend wonderfully together.

Some of the other terms you may want to know are listed below:

Other perfume terms:

Absolute: An absolute is the most potent product made from a base. It’s different from an essential oil in that the process used involves volatile solvents; it’s then combined with alcohol to produce the absolute. These are also usually darker in color than essential oils.

Accord: An accord is a blend of two fragrances that produce a third completely different fragrance; neither of the two original fragrances are detectable.

Apocrine sweat glands: These are the glands that give you your unique sexual and body scent, which can interfere with or enhance the scent in the perfumes you wear.

Attar: Attar, or Otto, as it’s sometimes called, comes from an old Persian word meaning “to smell sweet”. The dictionary definition is “a fragrant essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers” 1, but in perfumery it’s used more to reference the expensive essential oil made from roses.

Balsam: Balsam is the sticky resin, or sap, that leaks from certain trees when they’re cut. It’s one of the products used to create a woody scent.

Carrier oils: These are certain oils that are used to “carry” your perfume oils, like apricot kernel, sweet almond, or jojoba oil.

Compound: This is the term used to describe the concentrated fragrance mixture before it’s diluted to make the finished perfume. This is what I refer to as ‘perfume oil’.

Essential oils – These are the concentrated substances that are extracted from plants, flowers, leaves, woods, and grasses.

Extract: An extract is a perfume that has 15-45% compound in an alcohol base.

Fixative: This is an ingredient added to your perfume to make it last longer, and sometimes keep it from spoiling. It’s similar to a preservative.

Gum: This is the resin that’s extracted from the bark, branches, and leaves of trees.

Herbaceous: This term refers to a scent that’s natural and hay-like, maybe even a little therapeutic. Some examples are chamomile and sage.

Mossy: Mossy refers to fragrances that have earthy scents, like the forest floor.

Powdery: This word describes a fragrance produced by combining a heavy, sweet or woody note with a citrus, fruit or light green note.

Spicy: Spicy describes fragrance notes that have a warm or hot character, as opposed to the neutral or cool herbal note. These are pungent scents, similar to cinnamon or clove. Stability: This refers to how long a scent lasts, either in the bottle with other ingredients, or exposed to the elements like heat, light, air, etc.

Strength: This describes the intensity of the scent.

Substantivity: This term refers to how long a fragrance lasts on a particular surface, and how it’s affected by temperature, humidity, and other such conditions.

Synthetic: A synthetic substance is man-made, with the specific purpose of duplicating a particular scent. Sometimes it’s much better to use a synthetic fragrance than the natural substance not only because of animal preservation, but also because some pure essential oils are extremely expensive.

Woody: These are fragrances that have forest notes, like freshly cut dry wood. Examples would be cedarwood or sandalwood.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the terms and definitions used in perfumery, but it’s the basic information you need to get started creating your own “signature” scent.

(1)1 www.yourdictionary.com 9/12/2007

© ThunderWolf 9/15/2007 4:52PM