Mixing It Up: 3rd article in a series about making perfume.

Important! If you are concerned about an allergic reaction, wait about an hour or so after testing your blend on your wrist. If no reaction occurs by that time, it is probably safe to go ahead with your creation.

The most important ingredient in making perfume is the essential oils you use. Each oil has a different chemical composition and therefore different properties. Make sure you’re aware of these differences, especially if you have allergies or very sensitive skin, because some of the oils are skin irritants. You should also know which oils are top, middle or base notes.

The first step in making your perfume is mixing the oils. In the beginning especially you’ll only need a few drops of each oil you decide to use. You’re the designer so have fun, mix it up, experiment with the different scents and families of scent, and with the percentage of base, middle and top notes.

Tip! If you like to spritz a bit on your clothing, be sure to test it first on a hidden area such as an inner lining to make sure it won't stain! This is especially true for delicate fabrics and "dry clean only" clothing. Never spray fragrances directly on silk - it will damage it!

Once you have decided on the final blend, put it in a dark-colored glass bottle, cap it and let it sit for a couple of days so the oils “marry”. You should gently shake the bottle every day to make sure the blend well, and test it. Smell it, if the scent is satisfying to your nose, dab a little on your wrist pulse point to make sure it agrees with your body chemistry. Some perfumes can smell wonderful in the bottle but stink to high heaven when you actually wear it.

Now that you’ve created your own “designer fragrance” it’s time to consider what your final product will be – a pure perfume oil, a spray perfume, cologne, body splash, etc. if you’re making a pure perfume oil that you want to dab on or use in a roll-on bottle, all you need to do now is mix it with some jojoba oil (I suggest jojoba oil because it doesn’t get rancid like most other base oils do.) Again, you’ll need to let it “cure” for a couple of days, shaking it and testing it like you did earlier. If you’re still happy with it, put it in a pretty bottle and you’re good to go!

Tip! Perfume is not made to last all day, or years in a cupboard for that matter. Heat and light can change the scent of a perfume or cologne so make sure you keep your perfumes away from direct sunlight or excessive heat. Oil based perfumes last longest the less alcohol content the longer they'll last and not just on the shelf. Oil based scents last longer on the skin as well. Use it sparingly but regularly!

If you’re making a spray version you’ll need alcohol and distilled water instead of the jojoba oil. You need to use pure grain alcohol or vodka, and it should be 100 proof or higher so there’s less alcohol smell. I use Everclear, it’s 190 Proof (95%) alcohol with virtually no odor whatsoever. (Please don’t drink it – it really is lethal. Even though it’s made to drink, there are more warnings on it than you can imagine.)

Mix about 10-20 drops of alcohol to about 1 dram (1/8 oz) of your perfume blend. Just as you did for the oils, you need to let this evolve for a couple of days, shaking and testing it each day. If you don’t do this, the smell of the alcohol will overpower your carefully created perfume blend.

When you’re satisfied, and you can always adjust the oils at any time along the way if you want, you need to add your distilled water. The ratio of perfume blend (with the alcohol) to water will depend on exactly what you’re making. I’ll be giving you some recipes with specific measurements soon.

If you want the scent to last longer on your skin, use more of the base notes; if you want it to last longer before losing its scent in the bottle, let it “cure” longer.

Make sure you keep notes on everything you do while designing your perfume. There’s nothing more aggravating than designing the perfect fragrance and not being able to remember how you did it.

Also make sure you take a break if you’ve been working on your blend for awhile. Your nose can only take so much and you won’t be able to distinguish any small changes or differences in your experimenting. You could also end up with a headache or even a little nausea if you’re exposed to the strong oils for too long a time.