Download - Perfume Book
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
1/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Fast Guide to
MakinG Yourown
PerFuMe
What you can do with this book...
Save hundreds, if not thousands, on popular
designer scents by making perfect copies of them at
home. Even famous perfumes such as Chanel No. 5,
Thierry Muglers Angel, Davidoffs Cool Water, CalvinKleins Escape.
Build your fragrance wardrobe for very little
money, giving you the freedom to explore different per-
fumes and nd what truly suits your personality.
Make your perfumes in any strenth you desire,
from light, subtle body mist to bold eau de parfum.
Learn how to make popular roll-on perfume
oils and solid balms, hot new trends that are really
thousands of years old.
Learn how to make your perfume have maxi-
mum staying-power and last for hours on your skin.
Easily scent lotion, body oil, shower gel and
many more daily use products with your signature
fragrances.
Designyour own signature scents using a
creative method unlike everyone else who teaches
this subject.
Create elegant, old-fashioned single scent per-
fumes from precious natural ingredients.
Table of Contents
Making Designer Copycat Perfumes~
Making Solid and Oil Perfumes~
Designing Your Own Scents~
Making Your Perfume Last Longer~
Perfume & You~
Serious & Legal Stuff~
Suppliers
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
2/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
A Big Fat Thank You To My Guinea Pigs
Without your help, I would never have made a second
draft or taken the trouble to make it pretty! Thanks
for helping me make this book into a truly profes-sional product.
June Place, Lori Shaw, Az in the UK, Mireille Fall, Sha-
ron Kendrick, Lisa Swofford, Joann (Aka Wolfdreamer),
Aubrey Meneses, Josslyn Mullahy, Renay James, Larissa
Jones, Kobi Mamun, Pam Barnes, Michele (the beauty
product ADDICT!), Valerie, Judy Porter, everyone who
downloaded my Bath Bomb Fast Guide, and everyone onmy Yahoo Group, Home Bath & Body.
And my unofcial editor, Jeanette Fiuromeno.
To View This Book
You need Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher. It probably is
already installed on your computer, but you may need
a newer version to see the pop-up windows.
You can download a newer version here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.
html
FraGrance or
inGredient
Finderticket
Need help nding an ingredient
or certain fragrance?
Just email me, and I will help youout! Discontinued perfumes,
hard to nd ingredients, bottles,and more.
*I just made this because I havesome empty space on this page.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.htmlhttp://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.htmlhttp://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.htmlhttp://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
3/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Using This Book
Due to feedback from many of my Guinea Pigs, I have
changed the format of this book. The overwhelmin-
ing criticism was that there was too much explana-tion that got in the way of the hands-on stuff. And
that the sections were too long.
I cant blame them! Im a fast reader / skimmer too,
always looking for the hands-on instructions rst, and
reading the other stuff when I need to look something
up.
I have cut out the explanations from the main text,
but you can click on the and a box will pop
up explaining more about the concept or word. You
can try it right now by clicking on the words red
text above.
Of course, clicking on the blue underlined text willtake you to links on the web.
Meant to be read on the screen
This book is really meant to be read on the screen.
It it a true e-book with interactive links and pop-up
windows.
You can print out the pages, of course, but you wont
get the benet of the links or pop-up boxes.
A no-snob zone
I am not a perfume snob, or even a great perfume
appreciator. I am just someone who just likes good
smells, whether they are cheap, expensive, Japanese,
French, synthetic, or natural. In my opinion, if it
smells good, it is good.
I dont believe that natural ingredients are necessar-ily superior to synthetics; each have their advantages.
Most industry perfumers use both types of ingredi-
ents when designing their scents.
I am also a creative bargain hunter, which is what led
me to discover how to make designer copycat per-
fumes in the rst place. I just couldnt resist the pos-
sibility of being able to make Thierry Muglers Angelfor $10!
From there, I went on to create my own fragrance
blends using the easy techniques I will teach you in
this book.
http://www.google.com/http://www.google.com/ -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
4/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Making DesignerCopycat Perfumes
When you have all the ingredients, making designer
copycat perfumes is easy, even big name brands thatsell for $90 or more in stores. Most people dont be-
lieve this until they actually do it, though! They think
theres some big trick to it. There isnt!
Making copycats is satisfying in itself, but it is also a
good way to get started making perfume. Not only
do you give yourself condence, but you educate your
nose. You get exposure to different smells, which is
very important!
What you can make
You can make any popular perfume from a major
house, and some boutique fragrances. If you want a
minor perfume from a major house, you might nothave as much luck. This is because the companies
who make duplicate formulas only make best sell-
ers.
How it is possible to get such good dupes
Before I tell you how to make the perfume, I want to
tell you a little about how it is possible to get such
dead-on duplications. In the 80s and 90s, a company
called Designer Impostors sold knock-off perfumes at
discount and drug stores.
If you tried them, you know that they werent exact
duplications; they were only similar. This is because
the technology that duplication perfumers used then
isnt nearly as sophisticated as it is now. Now, it is
possible to take a sample of nearly any substance (that
produces an aroma) and chemically analyze it.
Reverse Engineering The Perfumes
Perfume scientists can look at this data and recreate
the scent, also using their noses to get greater accu-
racy. This includes designer perfumes. Independent
fragrance makers analyze and recreate designer per-
fumes, releasing them to the public in concentrated
form.
These can be diluted with
alcohol or other carriers (which I will tell you about)
to make perfume, just like what department stores
sell. It has the same fragrance as the originals; in
most cases, you will not be able to tell the difference
between the duplication and the real thing.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
5/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Why Only Professional Perfumers (Or Serious Amateurs)
Can Reverse-Engineer A Perfume!
Modern perfumes (1900 and onward) are complex, sometimes containing
over 100 components. Many of them are patented synthetic molecules andspecial chemicals. Only perfumers can use them well; amateurs wouldnt
have a clue what decyl vinyl ether is, what it smells like (fresh and clean,
actually), or how to use it.
To build a modern perfume duplicate from raw materials, you have to know
what hundreds of molecules smell like, and recognize them when you smell
them in a complex blend. But if you can do that, youll probably want to
make your own creations! For the brave perfume explorer, I have a link to avery cool company who can supply you with some of these chemicals. They
are called The Good Scents Company.
Are The Reverse-Engineered Perfumes Really As Good?
It is denitelypossible for the reverse-engineered perfumes to be as good as
the original. I would say that regular folks who like perfume - not per-
fume connoisseurs - will not be able to tell the difference. A professionalperfumer probably could.
There are a number of low-quality duplications available online (beware of
Ebay), which is why I recommend several suppliers that I have worked with,
and that have also gotten great reviews. Some of these duplications might
even work better for you since they have different ingredients.
Totally Legal
You may wonder if making
copies of designer fragrancesis illegal. It isnt. Long ago,
the courts ruled that smells
werent works of art made by
humans, but works ofnature.
This makes sense if you think
about how many people have
come out with a rose perfume.Imagine if someone had exclu-
sive rights to something smell-
ing like roses... theyd have to
sue the owers!
Copying or making a derivative
of an exact recipe is illegal, but
there are many ways to get the
same fragrance. Most of the
reverse engineered perfume
concentrates vary wildly from
the original composition.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
6/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
If You Want To Try Recreating A PerfumeFrom Scratch...
You can certainly give it a shot! You probably wont
get something *exactly* like the perfume, but youwill get something with the same character.
Step 1 ) Find the main notes
Basenotes has the descriptions of many perfumes. It
is a good place to start:
http://www.basenotes.net/directory
For example, lets look up Mitsouko, by Guerlain. Ac-cording to Basenotes, its top notes are bergamot and
rose, middle notes of jasmine, spices and peach, and
base notes of oakmoss and woody notes, possibly
oud / agarwood.
Further research on Google indicates that the peach
note probably comes from aldehyde C-14. This can be
found here:
http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/
rw1000821.html
(I typed in Mitsouko notes to nd more informa-
tion.) The other notes are easy to nd, although they
may be expensive!
Step 2 ) Make a simplied version of the main
characteristic scents
Using classic notes theory, I would try a simple
blend of oakmoss, peach, and bergamot and see howclose that came.
Step 3 ) Use your nose, and tweak it.
But along the way, I would probably start changing
the fragrance. Mitsouko is not something I would
ever wear - it is far too dramatic for me.
Maybe I would look into different ways to get peach,
not just aldehyde C-14. Maybe I would change the
peach to apple, and see what happens. I think its hu-
man nature to want to put your own stamp on things!
People are creative.
If you go to the trouble of recreating a perfume from
scratch, you are good enough to make your own per-fumes. Just because its Guerlain doesnt mean you
cant do better. Trust in your own ideas.
Starting from a known perfume is good inspiration.
I have done it myself. But I encourage you to spend
you efforts making your own creations.
http://www.basenotes.net/directoryhttp://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1000821.htmlhttp://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1000821.htmlhttp://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1000821.htmlhttp://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1000821.htmlhttp://www.basenotes.net/directory -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
7/54www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Equipment
Common sense
Eyedroppers or pipettes
Measuring spoonsMeasuring cup with spout, or funnel
Clean, dry bottle to dispense perfume (you know,
your perfume bottles youve been saving because
theyre too pretty to throw away.)
Lots of paper towels or rags to clean up spills
Flat, stable surface to work on
Ingredients
Designer perfume concentrate
Isopropyl alcohol (for cleanup)
Overview of process
To make a designer duplicate perfume, pour some
perfume concentrate in the perfume bottle. Then,
ll up the rest with perfumers alcohol, leaving room
for the dip tube (if any), and shake gently. Thats all
it takes. Your perfume is ready to use as soon as its
diluted.
How strong to make your perfume
How much perfume and alcohol to use depends on
how strong you want your product to be. Here are
some guidelines based on what the commercial com-panies make:
Cologne: 2% - 5% fragrance oils
Eau de Toilette (EDT): 5% - 20% fragrance
(but the upper end is rarer; most are around 10% in
my experience.)
Eau de Parfum (EDP): 10% - 30%
Parfum (extrait parfum): 20% - 40%
You will notice that they overlap. This is because
theres no hard and fast rule, just general ranges, for
the strength. I usually make mine at around 25%
fragrance materials, 75% perfumers alcohol.
In addition, certain fragrances seem stronger than
others, even though you may use the exact same
amounts. For example, to make Parfum strength
Green Irish Tweed, I use a 30% / 70% ratio. To get
the same perceived strength of Angel, I only need
15% oil, 85% alcohol. Angel is incredibly potent!
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
8/54www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Here are all the tools you need to make a de-
signer perfume duplication with alcohol.
Large atomizer
Small atomizer
Towel
Scissors
Notepad and pen for
recording discoveries
Eyedropper
Alcohol for
cleaning
PerfumersalcoholCyclomethicone
Designer fragrance oils
Roll of paper
towels (you need
a lot of these)Pyrex for measuring
and pouring.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
9/54www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Perfuming Equipment
You dont need a lot of itemsto make perfume. I just laid
all my tools out like a home-
made Eye-Spy photo because
it looks really important.
The blue car-wash towel is
made of microber, and you
can get them cheap on Ebay.
The benets of microber
towels is that they are really
absorbent, and you dont have
to worry about ruining them.
I got the eyedropper at Whole
Foods in the Whole Body
section. It was $1 - exorbitant
for an eyedropper, but con-
venient when you forget to
order them!
Here is what my atomizers look like. Theyre plain-jane but can be dressed up with cool
labels. I get them new, in bulk, from E.D. Luce, which is listed in the supplier directory.
You can try transparent inkjet labels for a modern look.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
10/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Green Irish Tweed Copy
Im going to make a duplication ofGreen Irish Tweed, since Im almost
out. I like to use these 1/3oz spray
atomizers because theyre small
enough for a purse.
And I like to change fragrances
often, so they dont take up much
space in my medicine cabinet.
My workspace is the top of a Tar-
get le cart - 18 X 18 in diameter.
You dont need very much space to
do this.
Be sure to precut your label to t the
size of your bottle.
I always make my perfumes at about
25%. This is easy to eyeball on the
clear glass. I made a little mark with
a pencil that will wipe off after Im
done.
Use the eyedropper to transfer small amounts of fragrance oil. Dont try to pour
directly from one bottle to another - it never works as well as you think it will.
Especially if youve had a lot of espresso, because caffeine tends to make the
hands shaky.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
11/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Make sure your bottles and eyedroppers are clean before you begin. If you need to wash them,
dont use soap and water unless you have a long time to let them dry.
Use drug-store alcohol so that the alcohol evaporates fast and leaves your equipment clean and dry.
The alcohol is a good solvent for aromatic residue left in the bottles and eyedroppers, and it kills
germs.
Dont use it for perfuming, because it smells bad!
Measuring TheFragrance
You always want to
add the fragrance oil
rst, and ll up the
rest of the way with
your carrier.
It may seem obvious,
but strange thingshappen to the mind
sometimes...
If you dont have a
see-through bottle,
or youre working
with a size or shape
thats not so easy to
estimate, I have a
trick for measuring
the volume. Ill show
you after this demo.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
12/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Add Perfumers Alcohol
After youve put the right amount offragrance oil in your bottle, its time
for the alcohol.
The nice thing about perfumers alco-
hol is that it doesnt have much of an
odor. Unlike isopropyl - which smells
nasty on its own - or drug-store alco-
hol, which frequently contains evil-
smelling acetone.
Theres nothing inherently dangerous
about using drug-store alcohol; after
all, its meant to go on the skin. The
acetone or isopropyl smell will burn
off quickly, but it will alter the per-
ception of the top notes.
Unfortunately, not many places carry
both perfumers alcohol and designer
fragrance oils. Snowdrift Farm
doesnt have that large of a fragrance
oil selection - though what they do
have is great.
A little alcohol goes a long way if you are just making perfume for yourself.
Think about it - 16 ounces of alcohol makes at least 16 ounces of perfume,
which is enough to last a year for most people!
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
13/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
I just poured the alcohol in the
bottle, but Ive had a lot of prac-
tice, and its no big deal if I spill alittle. You can also use a kitchen
funnel.
Use an eyedropper to control the
nal amount, especially for these
small bottles. This also cleans
your eyedropper a little.
Take care not to ll the bottle all
the way up to the top, because it
will overow when you put the
dip tube in.
Gently turn the bottle over a
few times to mix the contents.
Theres no need to shake vigor-
ously.
For home use, just use an ofce
label, cut to the proper size. If
you dont, you will end up with
many unlabeled bottles of mys-
tery perfume.
Youre not done until you put a label on the bottle!
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
14/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Measuring The Volume of Your Bottles
Fill the container with drug-store alcohol. This cleans it and will allow you to measure how much it holds at the same
time! Pour the alcohol into a clear measuring cup. If your bottle is smaller than, say, 2 ounces, youll need to use a small-
er cup. Just make sure it has a spout. When you measure the volume of your own container, be sure to allow room for the
dip tube. Dont pour the alcohol all the way up to the top. As you can see, my bottle holds 4 ounces.
Discard the drug-store alcohol and wipe your measuring container with a paper towel. If you can, add the fragrance oil
to the measuring container rst. In my case, I wont. Instead, Ill pour in 3 ounces of perfumers alcohol rst because its
easier to measure. Then, Ill add an ounce of fragrance to the alcohol.
4 ounce containers are a popular size for perfume. Fragrance oils come in 1 ounce bottles for the smallest size. If you
know that your dispenser holds 4 ounces, you can dump the whole bottle of fragrance in rst, ll up the rest with alcohol
for a 25% solution.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
15/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Solid and Oil Perfumes
Alcohol is not your only choice to dissolve . You can
also use fats, either liquid oils and waxes, or solid balm (also called po-
made.) Both of these are catching on in boutiques and with celebrities asnew, cool forms of perfume, but they are not new at all!
Advantages of oil-based perfume
Oil-based perfume is easier and neater to apply because it usually comes in a
roll-on bottle. You can roll on as much or as little as you want, and you can
get pulse point precision. Atomizers dispense a ne scented mist, but that
can sometimes be annoying.
Using oil also can change the scent of the perfume a little. When you use
alcohol, the come on intense and disappear fast, leaving the heart
notes and base notes to evolve on your skin. With oil perfumes, the top
notes dont come on so strong. They will still evaporate faster than the heart
and base notes, but they wont make such an intense statement.
For example, if you love the scent of Chanel No. 5 after two hours, but cant
stand it when you rst spray it on, try an oil perfume.
Advantages of solid pomade
Solid pomade comes in little containers - sometimes tins - and t easily into
a purse. It is a lot like lip balm. You take a little out with your nger and
Solid Perfumes
Even though solid perfume is
a hot new trend, its actuallymuch older than alcohol per-
fume. The ancient Egyptians,
Greeks, and Romans used
perfume in the form of solid
pomades or liquid oils.
This is because they used fats
to extract the fragrance outof owers, spices, and plants.
They would rub these scented
fats and oils on their bodies as
protection from the sun and
wind.
The rst alcohol perfume is
said to be Hungary Water, de-
signed for Queen Elizabeth of
Hungary in the 1300s.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
16/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
apply it. The main reason I like solid perfume is that
1) its just cool, and 2) it doesnt break. Im a big-time
klutz and tend to knock over bottles, throw my bag
around with breakable stuff in it, and general knuck-
le-headed things like that.
I wouldnt dare put any kind of glass bottle full of
liquid in my bag, but I wouldnt have any fear for a tin
of solid perfume.
How To Make
Oil Perfumes
Oil perfumes are as simple as alcohol perfumes. In-
stead of diluting the fragrance materials with alcohol,
use jojoba oil.
Jojoba oil is the best choice because of its long shelf
life. It is resistant to going rancid and will preserve
your fragrance for probably longer than it will take touse it.
If you plan to use your perfume within a few months,
you can just use any vegetable oil, such as sweet
almond oil, hazelnut oil, avocado oil, even olive oil.
Some of these may have faint scents of their own, but
they will probably be covered up with the powerful
fragrance materials.
You will need a roll-on bottle, not an atomizer. Jojoba
oil is hard to spritz. Even if you can spritz it, you willend up creating a ne layer of oil, which isnt desir-
able in most cases.
Actually, who knows? You can try making a sprayable
bath oil and use an olive oil mist dispenser. It might
end up being really cool.
Making Hair Perfume
Hair perfume is a special kind of oil perfume. Most
people do spray alcohol perfume in their hair occa-
sionally, but it is drying if you do this every day.
Obviously, most people wont go for putting oil in
their hair, but evaporate into the air, just
like alcohol, not leaving a single trace of grease or oilbehind.
Cyclomethicone has the consistency of water and
sprays nicely. Dilute your fragrance concentrate with
cyclomethicone for a good hair perfume. It will seem
greasy at rst, but it evaporates after a minute or two.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
17/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Oil Perfume Photo Guide
Oil perfumes are just like alcohol perfumes, except that you use oil and a roll-on bottle.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
18/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Oil Perfume Photo Guide
First, the fragrance materials
Yes, Im freehand pouring again. This is Egyptian Musk, a
thick synthetic musk blend from Majestic Mountain Sage. It
smells so great that I want to make a roll-on perfume from it
alone - no other fragrance.
Fragrance oils are already diluted in a carrier oil;
they are around the same strength range as essentialoils. They are nowhere near the strength of absolutes
(which you will see later.) Even though Im making
my roll-on perfume about 35% fragrance oil, it is not
that strong. You have to use your best judgment for
fragrance amounts.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
19/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Oil Perfume Photo Guide
Add the carrier oil
Fill the rest of the bottle with
jojoba oil and put the roller on.
These rollers are hard to put on;
you really have to press hard.
But then again, you dont want
the roller to slip out!
Shake your perfume gently; asyou can see, these two oils have
very different densities.
After your oil perfume is thor-
oughly blended, you are done.
My beta-tester approves of
Egyptian Musk. Hes notvery fond of other fragrances,
though.
I had to put his cat bed in the
corner so he could see the ac-
tion. Otherwise, he would keep
jumping up on the set!
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
20/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
How To Make Solid Perfume
Solid perfume is a little harder to make than oil perfume. You should de-
nitely practice with a fragrance you dont care about.
The carrier for solid perfumes can be many things, just as long as they are
oils or fats. Here is a partial list:
Soft (consistency of lip balm)Petroleum jelly
Premade lip balm bases
Medium (rm at room temperature, softens in your hand)Coconut butter
Mango butter
Olive butter
Shea butter
Premade solid perfume bases
Hard (rm until heated)Cocoa butter - usually has a mild cocoa fragrance
Parafn
Beeswax
Soy wax - melts at a low temperature
If your carrier is soft, you will not need to melt it when you add your fra-
grance. If it is medium or hard, you will need to heat it gently until it melts.
How Much FragranceTo Use
The ratio is the same for alco-hol perfumes. Sometimes I try
up to 50% perfume concen-
trate if I have a hard wax as the
base.
After all, it is easy to use less of
a solid perfume than a liquid
perfume, so I dont mind thehigher concentration.
If youre using a hard base, the
oil will not soften it as much
as you think. You might have
to mix in a soft butter or extra
jojoba oil to get the consistency
you want.
This is why I like to use either
soft butters or premade bases.
It takes the guesswork out.
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
21/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Solid Perfume Photo GuideBe sure to heat it to the minimum temperature pos-
sible, just until it goes liquid. Pretend its butter or
chocolate and it will burn if it gets too hot. If you
melt it on too high of a temperature, some bad things
may happen:
The carrier may scorch, smoke, or catch re.
You might burn yourself when pouring.
Delicate fragrances may break down or evapo-
rate because of the heat, and your balm wont be as
scented as you had hoped.
If this sounds a little too complicated for you, try
experimenting with petroleum jelly rst. There are
lines of solid perfumes that are basically Vaseline
(white petrolatum) mixed with fragrance, so its not
cheating by any means.
Here are photos of me using a premade solid perfume
base. The base is from Bramble Berry, and you canget it at:
http://www.brambleberry.com/soapbases.html
The tins and excellent Addict duplication are from
Snowdrift Farm:
http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/sliders.html
http://www.brambleberry.com/soapbases.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/sliders.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/sliders.htmlhttp://www.brambleberry.com/soapbases.html -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
22/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Solid Perfume Photo Guide
Double boiler setup
I just set up a little double boiler with a ceramic saucepan and a little glass
dish. The small dish makes it easier to mix the perfume.
On the previous page, I used my trick to determine the volume of each tin
(about 2 tsp.) I carve out the soft base with a butter knife and pack it in the
measuring spoon. This isnt exact, but its pretty close. Im going to put 6 tsp
of base in, and 2 tsp of fragrance (25%)
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
23/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Solid Perfume Photo Guide
Add fragrance to the melted base
Once the base is mostly melted, take it off the heat.Remember, you want the lowest possible temperature
so that the heat doesnt damage the fragrance.
Measure the fragrance, and stir. The melted perfume
balm is ready to be measured into the tins, which you
can see in the background.
G O
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
24/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Solid Perfume Photo Guide
Fill the tins. If you have a steady hand, you can do it with a teaspoon like Im doing here. You can alse use plastic dis-posable pipettes. Since these tins are small, the solid perfume doesnt take long to cool and solidify. Put the lids on as
soon as you can. Debris, dust, and pet hair are always attracted to cooling solid perfume.
As I mentioned before, you can use many things for solid perfume base: beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, petroleum
jelly, premade lip balm base, even soy wax. As long as your base is fat or wax, you will get something usable.
F G M Y O P
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
25/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Storing Your Perfumes
If they are free of contaminants and stored properly, your alcohol-based
perfumes will have a shelf life of at least six months. Nothing lasts forever;
even though the alcohol is anti-bacterial and prevents weird stuff fromgrowing in your perfumes, they will eventually break down.
The keys to extending the life of your perfume are:
1) Light. Perfumes should be kept out of direct sunlight, because that breaks
down the materials.
2) Extreme temperatures. Perfume should be stored at 70 degrees, ideally.Dont leave perfume in your car in the summer sun, and dont put it in
the fridge, and you should be ne.
3) Contamination. Contaminants include oxygen, organic stuff that doesnt
belong (like skin cells and dust), and plastic from storing perfume in
plastic bottles.
Bottling Your Perfume
You should use glass bottles, rather than plastic, for your perfumes. I make
light body sprays in plastic bottles, just like you get at bath and body chains,
but I use them too quickly for the plastic to leak into the solution (I hope.)
For any scents that I care about, I always store them in glass.
Rell Old Bottles
If you want to reuse your old
perfume bottles, just washthem out with hot soapy water.
Then, rinse them with alcohol
and let them dry completely.
You can use plain old isopropyl
alcohol for this; no need to use
your perfumers alcohol.
If you want to buy old or used
bottles to match your faux de-
signer creations, search Ebay.
For example, if you wanted
an Obsession bottle, just type
in Obsession bottle into the
search box and see what results
you get.
By the way, if you see the word
factice, this is a genuine
bottle lled with colored water
for display.
F G M Y O P
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
26/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Atomizers (sprayers or spritzers) are best, because
they let in the least amount of air, and they stop your
ngers from touching the solution. Contaminants
such as skin cells and dust from the air can build up
inside the perfume and alter the chemistry over time.
Atomizers are also easy to use; they dont spill, theres
no penalty for accidentally leaving the cap off, and
they dispense the perfume in a ne mist that helps
you get even coverage.
Solid Perfume Packaging
You can use small tins and tubs, lip balm tubes, or
small deodorant containers (basically, bigger lip balm
tubes.)
I prefer to use small tins that hold 1/4 ounce each
or lip balm tubes. If you put solid perfume in larger
containers, such as round 2 ounce tins, be sure to
decrease the potency.
People will use a lot, thinking its like a hair pomade
or hand salve (like Burts Bees Farmers Friend hand
salve.) They will automatically assume that the fra-
grance wont be that strong, but they might be sur-
prised when they use it!
If you make your perfumes with precious materials,
denitely use glass or metal for the packaging, not
plastic. Things that come in plastic bottles imply that
their contents are cheap.
Oil Perfume Packaging
Go with glass roll-on bottles; they make oil perfume
the easiest to apply. And its what people are expect-
ing in an oil perfume. Even if you use silicone oil as
your carrier, you should still use glass roll-on bottles.
They dont only come in plain, like this one. Save OnScents has a bunch of fancy roll-on bottles.
F G M Y O P
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
27/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Making Your Own Scents
You dont have to be a master perfumer to make your
own scent; you just have to be creative. Most people
use the traditional notes method of teaching perfumeblending; this takes a lot of rigorous trial and error to
get something decent.
You can learn about blending with notes from several
books, so I wont repeat how to do it. Instead, I will
present alternative methods of creating your own per-
fume. These are more beginner-friendly and will get
you good results much faster.
Mix 2 designer fragrances together
Many people spay multiple perfumes on themselves
to create a scent that is theirs alone. You can do it in
the bottle and create a fragrance unlike anything else.
Since designer fragrances have all the complexity of
modern perfumes, yours will too. This is a fun, easy
way to experiment with fragrance blending.
For example, you can take a perfume you think is re-
ally sweet, like Aquolinas Pink Sugar, and mix it with
something oral, like Flowerbomb.
Adding A Twist
Or, you could take a perfume you mostly like and see
if you can improve on it, like I did for Drakkar Noir.
I always thought it was too harsh, so I added somesweet g scent to it. It became a whole new cologne
(my boyfriend wears it.)
Blending with bases
This is only slightly more complicated than mixing
two designer fragrances together. This is also how
many ne perfumes Perfumerswould take a well-known base, like a basic amber or
oral blend, and add their own twists on top of it.
Just like solid perfumes, perfuming with bases is com-
ing back into style because some people are tired of
unrecognizable, modern scents.
Examples of blending with bases:To get an oriental-type rose perfume, you would just
take an oriental spice blend and add rose to it.
To get a jasmine musk perfume (very popular!) you
would take a musk base and add jasmine to it.
F G M Y O P
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
28/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
As you can see, this method has a lot of exibility. Many perfume houses,
such as Hermes, also do this with their signature accords. They use the
same basic accords that make a Hermes perfume recognizable, and add dif-
ferent twists to it. It works quite well.
Blending with bases is always my fall-back technique, and I talk more about
it in the Popular Bath and Body book.
Single-scent perfumes
Single-scent perfumes are very hard to nd in stores! Most modern per-
fumes dont smell like anything recognizable; they are too complex. How-
ever, some of the best perfumes come from a single source and have an old-fashioned mystique. The good news is that you can easily make single-scent
perfumes yourself. It may be the only way you get to experience a true rose
or violet perfume.
The aromatic material for single-note perfumes can be synthetic or natural.
There are some now where most people abso-
lutely cannot tell the difference - even for rose.
For maximum old-fashioned appeal, though, real plant sources are the way
to go, even though they are a bit expensive. Precious plant concentrates
come in the forms of C02 extracts, essential oils, or absolutes. I dont usu-
ally recommend that beginners start with plant essences because they are so
expensive, but single-note perfumes are easy enough that anyone can make
them.
If you are going to go the natu-
ral route, also consider abso-
lutes or C02 extracts. These
are different than essential
oils. They are stronger and
more true to the plant than es-
sential oils.
Do not use concretes if you see
them. These are thick or semi-
solid and hard to work with,
and they might not smell goodto you. It takes experience to
work with concretes.
C02 extracts are like essential
oils, but they are not made the
same way. As a result, they
smell different than essential
oils. C02s tend to be less harshand more mellow; some ma-
terials, like cocoa, coffee, and
spices, are much better in C02
than essential oil.
Fas G o Ma g Yo O P
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
29/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Absolute Rose Perfume Photo Guide
These are absolutes.
As you can see, they are tiny sam-ples. I got them from Eden Botani-
cals, and they cost $2 - $4 each. I
only got a few normal ones in the
bunch - the rest are strange natu-
ral perfumery components that I
wanted to try.
For this demo, I will be making a
single-scent rose perfume out of
sweet Bulgarian Rose Absolute.
Absolutes smell like plants, even more than essential oils do. This absolute has
the scent of a real rose - stem, leaves, and all. Its a much wilder, complex scent
than what people normally think of as rose. It even has a little dry bitterness to it,
but that wont be so apparent in dilution.
When you get an absolute for the rst time, it smells very different from what you
expect. You smell rose... and you also smell a bunch of other weird stuff. The
weird smells happen because the substance is so concentrated. You can detect
trace components that you normally dont smell when the absolute is diluted.
This tiny sample is enough for a light Bulgarian Rose toilette spray in my 1/3
ounce frosted glass atomizer.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
30/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Absolute Rose Perfume Photo Guide
Pre-diluting the absolute
To make the rose absolute more
pourable, I put a little perfumers
alcohol in the vial. Otherwise, it
would be impossible to get out!
Some absolutes are more solid than
liquid, so dont be surprised if you
have to do this.
That color is unreal, isnt it?
Then, I pour the rose stuff into the
bottle. Dilute with perfumers alco-
hol, leaving room for the dip tube.
The perfume is done!
I will probably tinker with it andadd a xative (see next page), and
possibly something else. Maybe
not, though. Sometimes simple is
best, especially with a scent this
good.
This perfume is around 2% rose
absolute.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
31/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Alcohol, Oil, or Solid?
Essential oils blend well in all three kinds of carriers,
but C02s and absolutes arent always as easygoing.
When you look on the suppliers websites, they willtell you whether their absolutes or C02s are soluble
in alcohol, oil, solids, or all three. Though most
absolutes dissolve in alcohol, not all of them do. For
example, Eden Botanicals orris root C02 is ne in oil
but difcult to work with in alcohol.
Working with absolutes
Absolutes are very strong - stronger than essential
oils, and more true to the plant. If you sniff an ab-
solute directly from the bottle, you might not like it
(or it might not smell like what you were expecting.)
This is normal - when you dilute your absolutes, you
will smell the true plant nature.
My suggestion is to start with 1% absolute or C02 to99% alcohol or oil, then build up to the strength you
want. Its easier to add more, but not so easy to add
less...
Natural materials need time to mellow
Especially in the case of absolutes, natural materials
need some time to chill out in the alcohol or oil. At
least a day should go by before you judge the quality
of your perfume. A week is even better.
Introducing a xative
Once you get comfortable mixing basic single-note
perfumes, you can add a ingredient. This will
make your perfume last longer on your skin, as well
as give it a stronger scent.
Here are some natural xatives:
Sandalwood or Amyris (sweet and woody)
Ambrette Seed (animal musk replacement)
Patchouli (spicy, dark wood)
Frankincense (dry, dark, resinous wood)
Orris root (sweet and rich, but not very strong)
Benzoin (resinous sweet vanilla)
Vetiver (smoky, stony, forest)
Most of these have dark, earthy, or heavy scents that
might turn you off on rst sniff. But used in very
small quantities - like 1% of your entire blend - they
can amplify the effects of your fragrance without add-
ing much of their own scent.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
32/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
However you make your perfume blends, you wont
get far without a target. You wont be able to tell if
youve blended a good perfume without a goal.
Briefs
The major perfume houses make something called
briefs to focus the efforts of their perfumes. They
can be a little poetic, such as Mysteria should evoke
a beautiful but sad woman with dark eyes, standing
before a crashing sea. (I am not kidding about these
briefs - they are often statements of pure imagina-
tion.)
You should do the same, even if its less lyrical, such
as: Mysteria should be a perfume version of the In-
dian incense in a fortune tellers booth at a carnival.
It is this skill that will make your original perfumes
successful. I think the more emotional impact a per-
fume has, the better.
Process goals
You dont have to have an end result in mind. Your
goal can simply be to make something with rose and
something weird, and see what happens. But dene
what you want to do before you start, and you will
make progress much faster and easier than if you just
mess around with ingredients.
Some messing around is inevitable, I realize, but the
clearer you can dene your purpose, the better. It is
discouraging to have artistic tools but no real thing
you want to achieve.
Simplicity
Even if your method for creating perfume is simple, it
doesnt mean your fragrance is inferior. Many peopleplace greater value on complicated things than they
do on simple things. Dont fall into this same trap;
your perfumes dont need to be complicated to be
great.
It is your idea for the perfume that is valuable, not
how many hours you spent during the process. The
fact is, if you throw together an awesome fragrance in10 minutes, it will still smell great!
If you spend 100 hours trying to make a perfume, and
it smells bad, it still smells bad, no matter how much
time you put into the formula.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
33/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
For another way of looking at it, think of Occams Razor: All things being
equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.
Though this was developed in the context of scientic theories, it has many
applications to daily life as well. Sometimes, your perfumes will need to
involve many ingredients, but they dont have to. Sometimes making a
single-note perfume out of an incredible smelling absolute or essential oil is
the best solution.
Its my advice to look for the simplest, fastest way to achieve your perfuming
goals.
Trust in your own ideas and creativity
Related to this subject is your trust in your own ideas. Too many times, we
think, That cant be a good idea because it came from me! But some of
the most famous perfumers have had no formal training. They know noth-
ing about chemistry; they just have the courage to trust in their own ideas
for perfumes, and their own ability to progess.
You are no different. If you want to make original perfume blends, just doit. Perfumery isnt just a place for experts and professionals, but anyone
with a good idea for a fragrance. Keep in mind that in many elds, the
greatest discoveries have come from newcomers, not experts.
Just try it. Its not difcult - you just dissolve the aromatic materials in alco-
hol, oil, or solid fats, and you have perfume. It really is that simple.
A good book on perfume
blending - though kind of airy-
fairy in my opinion - is Mandy
Aftels Essence and Alchemy.
If you like Essence and Al-
chemy, the author also has an
in-depth perfume course. You
must be a serious student, not
just a window shopper, because
the course is around $400.
But thats much less than the
cost of natural perfumery
ingredients you will use over
the course of your perfuming
career! I have not taken the
course, since I prefer to use too
many weird synthetics!
Mandy Aftel teaches according
to traditional method using all
natural materials. Expensive,
but fun.
http://www.aftelier.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
http://www.aftelier.com/http://www.aftelier.com/ -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
34/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
More about Perfume Notes
When people describe and make perfume, they often
think of it in different notes. They also call perfume
a composition, just like music! I think thats because
its hard to talk about smell by itself. Its much easier
to compare it to something that we can talk about.
(Although I think of scents in terms of colors, go
gure!)
Top Notes
The top notes are what evaporate rst off the skin.
They create the strong rst impression of a perfume.This is why, when testing a perfume, you have to wait
a couple hours to know if you really like it. You have
to wait for the top notes to die off. This usually takes
less than an hour, and then the heart notes take over.
Top notes are often citrus, mints, ginger, aldehydes
(as in Chanel #5), and anything that gives you an
immediate faceful of scent when you open the bottle.Top notes are what makes perfume smell perfumey.
Heart Notes (also called Middle Notes)
In classical perfume composition, heart notes make
up more of the formula than anything else. Heart
notes stay around for a few hours, but it depends on
the composition. Some heart notes are more tena-
cious (stay around longer) than others.
Many owers and herbs are middle notes, such as
rosemary, lavender, cempaka (champaca), and honey.
Base Notes (shouldnt that be Bass Notes?)
Are what linger after the top and heart notes evapo-
rate (this is called drydown.) Base note ingredients
are slow to evaporate and often have a higher density,
making them double as xatives.
If something is a wood, bark, resin, or musk, its prob-ably a base note. Sandalwood, vetiver, cedar, vanilla,
some roses (there are lots of different kinds), oak-
moss, and musk, are all base notes.
This isnt the only way to describe and make per-
fume, though.
You can make perfume however you want. This is
just one way of looking at perfume composition.Some companies, such as Bvlgari, are trying to create
fragrances that deviate from classical notes.
Personally, I like perfumes that dont smell like per-
fume, so I have very few top notes in my own cre-
ations.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
35/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Making Your Perfume Last Longer
Perfume is temporary; what creates the scent in the rst place is the aro -
matic materials evaporating into the air around you. One of the ways
people judge a perfume is if it lasts, but its staying power depends on severalfactors, including your skin type and the weather.
It is disappointing when perfume fades too fast, but there are some tricks
that makes it last longer.
Layering fragrance
Layering is probably the best way to make your perfume last. You can layerscent by using body wash, lotion, bath oil or salts, dusting powder, body
mist, and perfume all in the same fragrance. This will make the fragrance
stronger without being overpowering.
Some companies make daily products in the same scent as their perfumes,
but most do not. This is where the Popular Bath and Body book comes in
- I teach you how to easily custom-scent everyday toiletries - even shampoo
and conditioner - with the fragrance of your choice.
Custom scenting bath and body products is only a little more complicated
that making perfume. It is probably the only way you will get toiletries to
layer your favorite scents.
Your skin type makes adifference
People with oily skin retain
fragrance the best because
perfume stays better in moist
environments.
This is why oily places on the
body are good spots to apply
perfume.
Applying perfume to pulse
points, such as the wrists, the
neck, and the back of the knee,
are hot spots and make the
fragrance evaporate quickly.
Blonds and redheads tend to
have dry skin, so they oftencomplain that their perfume
has no staying power. The lay-
ering trick will help, especially
with a body lotion that will add
moisture to the skin.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
36/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Wear oil perfume
Many people prefer oil perfumes because alcohol
tends to make the top notes explode and die. Oil
perfumes give you a slower burn. Fortunately, you
can experiment with oil perfumes now that you know
how to make designer copycats.
With oil perfumes, the quality of the fragrance may
change when it mixes with the oil, but the change is
usually subtle.
Carry a tin of perfume balm to reapply
Purse sprays are too fussy for me. Theyre a huge
pain to rell, they dont contain very many applica-
tions, and Im always afraid that they will break in my
messenger bag. This is why Im a big fan of the solid
perfume tin.
To reapply your scent, all you need to do is dab a littleof the balm on your pulse points. You can make your
perfume balm extra concentrated (50%) so that your
tin will last a long time.
With both the oil and solid perfume, the fats may also
help the fragrances staying power.
Perfume & You
What perfume is right for you?
Perfume is a form of self-expression, just like fash-ion. A fragrance may smell good, but it might not feel
right .
Magazines are full of perfume advice, but there is
more to it than simple wear a classic perfume, and
you will seem like a lady, or Oriental fragrances hint
at a sensual side.
If youre a shy nerd and you put on a scent that comes
on strong, chances are that you will feel very uncom-
fortable. Its almost like you wore sweats to a black-tie
wedding, or dressed from head to toe in uorescent
orange when you normally wear greys and blacks.
This section is devoted to helping you choose per-
fumes that enhance your self-image and personality.
Theres no way I could describe and list all the per-
fumes you could try - its more a way to get you think-
ing.
Im sure you have one or two favorites already, but
now you have the freedom to try whatever you want.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
37/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
You can build a fragrance wardrobe for very little
monetary risk.
What your perfume says
The fact that you wear it at all makes people take
notice. It means that you have paid attention to this
aspect of your wardrobe. Whether you picked a
good one or not, people know that you are familiar
with that part of our culture.
The conclusion that people draw from your scent is
based on two factors - the fragrance itself, the observ-ers to it, and observations about
you, the wearer.
If you come in to a coffee shop wearing an expensive-
smelling perfume (like White Diamonds, which just
smells like money to me), but you are in a track suit,
I might assume youre an eccentric millionaire or an
executive just out for a run.
If you are a 16 year old man coming in for an inter-
view and wearing Old Spice or English Leather, it will
make me smile. Youre probably trying to feel grown
up, like a real man. I did the same thing (Hermes
24 Faubourg) on interviews, too!
Short list of popular or classic perfumes
To start you off, here is a list of new and classic per-
fumes with good duplications available. I tried to
stay away from perfume-speak like light valencia
and sparkling muguet oat on top of heady jasmine,
anchored by teak and benzoin...
Somehow, that doesnt seem that helpful if you dont
know what teak smells like or what muguet is! (Its
lilies of the valley, by the way.) Instead, I describe the
perfumes by what normal people think and say aboutthem, including the stereotype each fragrance brings
to mind.
The stereotypes are very rough guidelines; peoples
personal reactions count for a lot more. You dont
have to stick to the stereotypes, of course, but its use-
ful to know what they are.
Some of them are encouraged by advertising, and
some are built up over years of history, like Chanel
No. 5 and English Leather. Many of them have a lot
of truth to them!
If you have anything to add to this list, denitely let
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
38/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
me know! I am interested to know what classic or popular perfumes other
people wear.
Womens Fragrances
Shalimar, by Guerlain in 1922
Mature, musky, adventurous Oriental for women of any age, but young girls
cant usually pull it off. Many people have worn Shalimar their entire adult
lives; it is that classic. It always evokes a strong response - if you like light,
fruity perfumes, then Shalimar is not for you! But if you like powerful mys-
terious scents, you will love it.
No. 5, by Chanel in 1921
An elegant, powdery, and rened scent. For many, this is the classic French
perfume that makes the wearer feel like a grown up lady. It comes on strong
when you rst apply it, but it fades to a clean soft fragrance. Goes well with
a business suit or a little black dress. Also the rst mass-marketed scent
with the use of synthetic aldehydes, which is part of what gives it a distinct
scent. (Also why many people dislike it initially.)
Angel, by Thierry Mugler in 1996
This is a warm, feminine fragrance with many edible scents all mixed up:
vanilla, chocolate, anise, fruit, with a hint of spicy patchouli. Angel is great
for girls of any age, from the 5-year-old playing dress up to the grandmother
What is a womens fra-grance?
Actually, anything a woman
wears can be considered a
womens fragrance. It is
becoming more and more com-
mon for women to wear per-
fumes marketed for men.
The reverse isnt quite as com-
mon, but more and more menare crossing over, too. Unless
you wear a very recognizable
scent, no one will notice if you
put on a perfume that was in-
tended for the opposite sex.
Since perfumes are 100%
articial (no human smells likea bright blend of carnations
drifting on a choppy sea), it
seems silly to designate per-
fumes as innately masculine or
feminine.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
39/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
whos hunting through the attic for dress up clothes.
It is also a perfume that smells drastically different
from person to person - you cannot judge Angel out of
the bottle.
White Diamonds, by Elizabeth Taylor in 1991
Strong and classy, this fragrance is full of rich clean
orals. Many people describe it as smelling rich or
expensive; it denitely is high-class! White Dia-
monds is a big perfume that is recommended for
evening wear - as in the opera - though many like it in
the daytime as a power scent.
Light Blue, by Dolce & Gabbana in 2001
Sparkling, young, and aquatic. Favorite with teens
and twenty-somethings, Light Blue manages to be
romantic and clean at the same time. And uplifting.
Good for vacations, summer, and wearing with ow-
ing dresses and strappy sandals. Not oral, almostspa-like. Also outstanding as a fragrance for bath salts
(see Popular Bath and Body book.)
Joy, by Jean Patou in 1930
Sensual, feminine rose and jasmine with an old-fash-
ioned air. This perfume is timeless and sends a mes-
sage that the wearer is a rened, condent woman.
Its a full-bodied, luxurious scent rich with owers
- jasmine and rose are both heavy and sweet. Joy is
probably too much for anyone in their teens.
Happy, by Clinique in 1997
Sunshiney orals and citrus mix together to make
a crisp, light scent. Happy is appropriate even for
young girls because of its youthful, simple fragrance.
Many people claim that Happy never gets old and
never fails to put a spring in their step; it is one ofthose fragrances that works as a great mood-booster.
Makes a wonderful fragrance for shower gel in the
morning.
Green Tea, by Elizabeth Arden in 1999
This fresh, pretty fragrance is a favorite with females
of all ages. The combination of sweet greens withrefreshing lemon is universally uplifting, like a
perfectly-brewed cup with a slice of lemon. Green Tea
is certainly a light scent; due to its nature, the fra-
grance doesnt last more than a few hours on the skin
for most people. You will denitely need to layer.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
40/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
More about perfumes
If you want to learn more
about ne perfumes, visit these
recommended websites.
OsMoz has good information
about classic perfumes, ingre-
dients, history, and fragrance
families (fougere, chypre, etc.)
http://www.osmoz.com/
Basenotes is a great review site,
though you have to consider
that some perfumes dont work
well on people, but they work
great on others.
http://www.basenotes.net/
Now Smell This is a blog byfragrance-obsessed people.
Seriously, theyre obsessed.
http://nowsmellthis.bloghar-
bor.com/
Pink Sugar, by Aquolina in 2004
A fantasy of pure sugary sweetness, people have described Pink Sugar as
the ultimate girly-girl scent. Cotton candy, orange, red licorice, raspberry,
powder - what was Aquolina thinking when they marketed this as unisex?!
This is a playful perfume that men love to smell on a girl, but most guys
wouldnt be caught dead wearing it themselves. If you want to give the im-
pression of a sweet, playful, youthful nature, Pink Sugar is for you.
Mens Fragrances
Cool Water, by Davidoff in 1988
This is an incredibly popular fragrance for men. This contemporary, fresh
and sporty scent can be worn anytime, anywhere. It works well on many
people, so it makes a great gift. The popularity of it has some drawbacks:
some people associate it with ex-boyfriends or 13-year-olds trying to be
more mature! It is also not unique; many people will recognize it as an ob-
vious date scent.
Escape, by Calvin Klein in 1993
Fruity, fresh, and a little spicy, almost like a complex fruit punch, Escape is
unusual in that there are no orals at all. To me, it smells like a summer
scent; Escape seems to go well with picnics and warm sunsets. Many wom-
en like to wear it too, especially those who dont like owery fragrances.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
http://www.osmoz.com/http://www.basenotes.net/http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/http://www.basenotes.net/http://www.osmoz.com/ -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
41/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
s Gu o g ou Ow u
Angel For Men, by Thierry Mugler in 1996
Strong and unusual. Like the feminine version, it
smells edible - with caramel, chocolate, and spice
- but with a darker scent (cause thats more manly!)
Be warned, it contains patchouli which smells like
either Orient and mystery or hippies, depending on
your experience!
Gucci Pour Homme, by Gucci in 2003
A warm, dry Oriental. This is a traditional spicy scent
with a modern edge, and it speaks of maturity anddepth. Its not a subtle scent; I think of it as the Shali-
mar for men because it is exotic, though not sweet
- the pepper takes care of that. This scent makes a
strong impression because its not what most
men are wearing.
English Leather, by Dana in 1949
A woodsy, huntsman-like fragrance that has endured
for many years. It is appropriate for daily cologne, and
its old-fashioned scent makes it appealing to mature
men with a sense of history. In the 60s, though, Eng-
lish Leather was for the bad boys... the kind who wore
black leather and rode around on Harleys!
Drakkar Noir, by Guy Laroche in 1982
A classic rst-date scent. As much as it makes people
ash back to high school or college, Drakkar Noir still
smells the same as when it came out - clean and
masculine, suitable for all ages (even 15 year olds.) It
is still a favorite with women of all ages, too!
Egoiste Platinum, by Chanel in 1993
Many men report this cologne to be good for both the
night club and the ofce. Its denitely a condencescent that goes with a power suit and money. Both
herbal and smoky at the same time, EP is appropriate
for men with a professional-yet-edgy spirit. As one
reviewer put it, its ego in a bottle.
212 Men, by Caroline Herrera in 1999
Fresh, grassy, elegant. And the most important part?Women love it. 212 Men is reported to be a total girl
magnet, even more than Cool Water. It is a light scent
that is good for young modern guys with a sensitive
side. 212 is masculine, but not a cologne that yells
manly! The 212 is an area code for NYC, in case you
were wondering about the name.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
42/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Shared Scents
Also called Unisex, but that always reminds me of baby
onesies: For a boy or a girl!
In this section, I list a few fragrances that are shared.
They were originally intended to be shared, have been
adopted by both genders, or just have male and fe-
male versions that are very similar to each other. In
general, more and more people just dont care how
the perfumes are marketed. Just as long as they smell
good, right? Im with Naomi Campbell in the GreenIrish Tweed camp, myself.
Green Irish Tweed, by Creed in 1985
Complex green scent, absolutely classy, like a grown-
up Irish Spring. Supposedly the younger Curve and
CoolWater were sprung off this fragrance. Though
its originally a mens scent (developed for CaryGrant), this is one of those perfumes that has been
adopted by both men and women over the years. Its
also one of my favorites - to me, GIT doesnt smell
inherently masculine or feminine; it just smells like
class and elegance.
Clean or Clean Men, by Dlish in 2003
Clean comes in mens and womens versions which
are very similar to each other. Most people describe
this fragrance as just stepped out of the shower.
Its a fresh citrus scent that resembles laundry soap
but is much more complex and appropriate for a per-
sonal fragrance. The universal Clean appeals equally
to both men and women, but the mens version has a
little more musk and spice.
Banana Republic Classic, by Banana Republic in1995
A clean, easy scent to wear every day for casual wear
- a jeans-and-sweater kind of fragrance. According to
people who wear it, it just smells good, not like obvi-
ous perfume or cologne. Its for people who want to
smell nice but dont want to overdo it.
White Musk, Body Shop in the 1980s
Clean and sexy, sweet but appropriate for both men
and women. Most people describe this scent as sen-
sual and romantic. Everyone Ive gotten reviews
from has given this fragrance 4 or 5 stars! It seems to
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
43/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
suit a variety of personalities. White Musk is hard to nd in EDP strength,
so its easier to make it yourself.
Chinatown, Bond No. 9 New York in 2005
This was marketed as a unisex oriental - halfway between oral and Ori -
ental - and supposed to capture the essence of Chinatown in New York.
Peach, orange, restaurant incense, spices, and dry enough for a man or a
woman, but denitely unusual. Many men nd it a bit effeminate, though.
How to wear perfume
If youre like many people, you just dab scent on your wrists and behindyour ears. If you want your scent to last, these could be the worst places to
apply perfume.
Applying only to your wrists and hands allows you to enjoy the scent, but
perfume wont last long in those areas. The fragrance disappears faster than
normal because the hands get a lot of exposure to the outside world.
Every time you wash your hands, your cuffs rub against your wrists, you leanon surfaces, you put your hands in your pockets, youre encouraging your
scent to rub off.
Instead, try applying perfume to the crook of the elbow underneath your
shirt. Scent tends to stay longer there because there is less exposure to the
outside world.
Pheremones and sex ap-peal
Several perfumes that claim
to increase your sex appeal
because they contain human
pheremones; however, there
is no real proof that scent is
linked directly to attraction.
If anything, it is linked to our
instinct for nding food, not
mates!
But that isnt to say that per-
fume has no effect on sex ap-
peal; it is just probably learned,
not instinctive.
Perfume enhances your appeal
because it makes you feel sexy.Also, wearing perfume for
dates sends a signal that you
are aware of your own desir-
ability, which also makes you
sexy!
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
44/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Only applying scent behind the ears also has a prob-
lem. Fragrance rises with your body heat, and if you
just apply it to your head, it will rise off you above
everyones nose. To get the best possible results, apply
fragrance all over from toe to neck, not just behind
the ears.
If youre getting ready for a date, perfume is a great
idea... except that your skin might taste like perfume!
Instead of behind your ears or on your neck, you can
apply scent to the base of your skull, right where your
hair starts.
Despite it being on the head, scent gets trapped there
very well because of the natural oiliness of the skin.
For women, spraying your bra, slip, or panties also
works well. The heat from your body will make the
scent emanate.
What if the perfume you love smells badon you?
Everyone has this experience, including me. Some
perfumes smell great out of the bottle, but when
you put them on yourself, they turn into a monster.
When I tested my experiment, I found out that Angel
smells like rancid angel food cake on my skin, ugh!
But I like the scent out of the bottle, so I came up
with a few simple solutions.
1) Spray your underwear or carry a scented handker-
chief (how old-fashioned!) instead of wearing it on
your skin. The cloth bres will hold the scent, the
heat from your body will release it, and best of all is
that the fragrance will be closer to what it smells like
out of the bottle.
2) You wouldnt want to do this with the real stuff,
which is too expensive, but you can use your imita-tions as air fresheners to enjoy the scent. I also scent
my stationery and place scented papers in my desk
and closet.
Why do you wear perfume?
This question has many answers. I could tell you my
guesses, but I will let one of my early beta-testers forthis book speak for me:
I consider Lou Lou my signature perfume. If someone
told me that for the rest of my life I could only wear one
perfume and to choose carefully......Id choose Lou Lou
without hesitation.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
45/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
However, I like having options. I usually wear perfume based on my mood and
at times based on the occasion, but mostly my mood. When Im feeling like being
in a secretive or mysterious mood, I prefer Opium, sometimes Obsession. When
I feel like being a little sport-about, I prefer Charlie. When I feel like being a
strong, condent yet feminine woman, I like Giorgio or Obsession. When I feel
like an ultra-feminine mood, I prefer Splendor, Vanderbilt, Joy or Chanel #5. And
when Im feeling my truest self....its Lou Lou.
And on rare occasions, I like to wear perfume that reminds me of someone
special. Clara, one of my best friends, uses White Shoulders as her signature
perfume...rarely wears anything else. So I sometimes wear that when shes on my
mind.
When Karen (another best friend) is on my mind, I wear Splendor. She and
I worked together at this vet ofce and shed wear Splendor on occasion. I just
loved that scent. I was her matron-of-honor a year ago at her wedding and as a
gift she gave me a bottle of Splendor. I had totally forgotten about that perfume,
but Karen remembered. I just love the stuff! So it reminds both Karen and I
about each other.
My mom prefers Chantilly and occasionally White Shoulders. My great-aunt
Oletas signature perfume is Emeraude.
So as you can see, I wear perfume for a variety of reasons...self-expression,
sexual appeal, emotions and memories. Very complex.
Scent has the power to evoke
strong memory and emotional
responses. I dont know any-
one who has not experienced
this!
Emotion, motivation, memory,
and scent are all part of the
limbic system in the brain,
one of the oldest parts. Our
reactions to scents are purely
emotional; sometimes they
have the power to change our
actions.
The limbic system has very few
ties with the part of the brain
that handles language. It is
difcult for most people to talk
about how something smells,or even to verbally identify a
scent. My own ability to do
this seems to vary from day to
day. Sometimes, Im dead-on,
but others I struggle for words.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
-
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
46/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Serious & Legal Stuff
Endangered ingredients
As you can imagine, animal ingredients are eithervery hard to get, illegal to import, or banned alto-
gether.
Ambergris comes from the sperm whale, which is
endangered. Since possession of any part of an en-
dangered animal is illegal, so is Ambergris. Even if
it were legal, it is rare and would be very expensive!
Amber oils made from plants and synthetic ambergrisare mostly used now.
Musk is all synthetic now. Musk deer were killed for
their musk pods, and hunting them has been illegal
since 1953. So, the famous Jovan Musk? Synthetic.
Indian Sandalwood is also becoming scarce due to
over-harvesting. Australian Sandalwood and Amyrisare popular natural substitutes.
Selling your creations
Many people have done it! In fact, some people even
sell their designer recreations for a hefty markup. If
youre going to do that, obviously you cant pass off
your perfumes as the originals.
You must label everything properly, but you dont
have to list each and every perfume ingredient. If you
have an alcohol perfume, your ingredients will read:
SD Alcohol 40B, fragrance.
Both natural and synthetic materials count as fra-
grance.
I have not sold my own perfume, but I have sold many
other things, including scented candles with fra-
grances I blend by hand. If you want to sell your own
perfume, my best advice is just to do it.
Anyone can dream, but far fewer will actually take ac-
tion. Quick ways to get started selling are:
Etsy
Craft fairs and showsYour friends
Independent boutiques
Consider offering roll-on perfume oil and solid per-
fume - they are becoming very popular!
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
http://www.etsy.com/http://www.etsy.com/ -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
47/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
Save On Scents
http://www.saveonscents.com/
Phone: 718-858-7422
Ship from: New York
No minimum order
What they have:
Huge amount of designer fragrance oils
Many other fragrance oils
Designer oil sampler packs
Handful of essential oils
Perfume bottles of all shapes and sizesSilicone oil base
Shea butter
What they dont have:
Perfumers Alcohol - they said they think their oils per-
form better in their silicone oil base and arent planning
to carry it in the foreseeable future.
Pure jojoba oil, solid perfume base
Things to know:
They have two grades of oils - cosmetic and manufac-
turers - and three different strengths. For perfumes,
choose the Extreme Concentrate (XC.)
Their site is a little confusing - use the search box.
Snowdrift Farm
http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/
Phone: 888.999.6950
Ship from: Arizona
No minimum order
What they have:
A few high-quality designer fragrance oils
Extensive catalog of essential oils
Precious absolutes, CO2s
Perfumers Alcohol
Jojoba oil, many buttersSilicone oils
Lip balm base
Many tubes, bottles, jars, and tins
What they dont have:
A large selection of fragrance oils. What they do have
is great, but if youre looking to sample a lot of differ-
ent designer-type fragrances, SOS is your best bet.
Things to know:
They have a lot of stuff on their website, and I think a
lot of things are hard to nd. Even the search box is
hard to use. But theyre probably the best place for a
small amount of perfumers alcohol.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
http://www.saveonscents.com/http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/19_20http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/19http://www.saveonscents.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=sampler&x=0&y=0http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/10http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/1http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/12_139http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/12_16http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/fragranceoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/essentialoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/essentialoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/perfume.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/fixedoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/siliconeoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/lipbalmkit.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/packaging.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/packaging.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/lipbalmkit.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/siliconeoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/fixedoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/perfume.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/essentialoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/essentialoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/fragranceoils.htmlhttp://www.snowdriftfarm.com/http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/12_16http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/12_139http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/1http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/10http://www.saveonscents.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=sampler&x=0&y=0http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/19http://www.saveonscents.com/index.php/cPath/19_20http://www.saveonscents.com/ -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
48/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
My Sweet Victoria
http://www.fragrancesupplies.com/
Phone: (215) 258-0805
Ship from: Pennsylvania
No minimum order
What they have:
Perfumers alcohol
Jojoba oil
Benzoin
Common essential oils
Fragrance oils (no designer)A few simple bottles
What they dont have:
Solid bases and butters
Absolutes, CO2s, or exotic essential oils
Things to know:
One of the few places to get SDA 40B. Reasonableprices, but not that wide a selection for the serious
perfumer. Since they have no minimum, they might
be your fastest option for perfumers alcohol if you
live on the East Coast.
E.D. Luce
http://www.essentialsupplies.com/
Phone: (562) 802-0515
Ship from: California
$5 charge added to orders under $50
What they have:
Many plain glass perfume bottles
Plain lip balm tubes
Aluminum spray bottles
Cool specialty glass bottles
Nice glass jars for solid perfume
What they dont have:
Any ingredients - just packaging.
Things to know:
Most bottles and jars are only available in minimum
quantities of 12 or 48, depending on size.
This is my favorite place for bulk plain packaging. Its
best to order from here only if you need a lot of the
same kind of container; some things only come in
200+ quantity.
You must choose the caps separately.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
http://www.fragrancesupplies.com/http://www.fragrancesupplies.com/co.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/co.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/co.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/peo.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/fo.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/ps.htmlhttp://www.essentialsupplies.com/http://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Glass::Specialty::Perfume&category=Specialty_Glass_Perfume&dept=Glasshttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=LB1&dept=Plastichttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Metal::Aluminum::Bottles&category=Aluminum_Metal_Bottles&dept=Metalhttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Glass::Specialty::Misc&category=Specialty_Glass_Misc&dept=Glasshttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Glass::Specialty::Cosmetic&category=Specialty_Glass_Cosmetic&dept=Glasshttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Glass::Specialty::Cosmetic&category=Specialty_Glass_Cosmetic&dept=Glasshttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Glass::Specialty::Misc&category=Specialty_Glass_Misc&dept=Glasshttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Metal::Aluminum::Bottles&category=Aluminum_Metal_Bottles&dept=Metalhttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=LB1&dept=Plastichttp://shop.essentialsupplies.com/cgi/search.cgi?terms=Glass::Specialty::Perfume&category=Specialty_Glass_Perfume&dept=Glasshttp://www.essentialsupplies.com/http://www.fragrancesupplies.com/ps.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/fo.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/peo.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/co.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/co.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/co.htmlhttp://www.fragrancesupplies.com/ -
8/4/2019 Perfume Book
49/54
www.excellentlivingguide.com
From Nature With Love
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com
Phone: (800) 520-2060
Ship from: Connecticut
No minimum order
What they have:
Essential oils, absolutes, and CO2s
Many good fragrance oils in a master list, in-
cluding some designer types
Jojoba oil
Many butters3 butter sampler
Several plain glass bottles, including roll-on
White lip balm tubes
What they dont have:
Perfumers Alcohol
Solid perfume base
A big selection of designer dupes, though they havemany rare Bath and Body Works scents
Things to know:
They get the good website award from me. Every-
thing is very easy to nd, even though they have a lot
of ingredients.
The Good Scents Company
http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/
Phone: 414-764-2659
Ship from: Wisconsin
I dont know about their minimum order.
What they have:
Absolutes
Concretes
Essential oils
Fragrance oils
Perfume blending basesRaw materials (chemicals)
Resins & Balsams
Things to know:
This catalog is kind of confusing, but they are the
only place I can nd for raw materials. Their blend-
ing bases are something else! I have not ordered from
this company, but I know that some brave souls willwant to explore, so I put it in my supplier list.
They dont sell everything they have listed. Some of
it is for information purposes only. Pay attention to
their data sheets, and call them if you have questions.
Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/EssentialOils.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/FO-S.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/FO-S.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/product.asp?product_id=oiljojohttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/Butters.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=but3samp&searchflag=1http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/package/bottles.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=botliptube&searchflag=1http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=botliptube&searchflag=1http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/package/bottles.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=but3samp&searchflag=1http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/Butters.asphttp://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/product.asp?product_id=oiljojohtt