Measuring ingredients for perfume

I use digital scales that measure down to tenths of a gram. Ninety percent of compounding I do by weight with only the occasional measure by volume.

It doesn't matter if you measure by weight or volume as long as you do it the same way each time, i.e., don't measure by volume one time and weight the next, or mix the two methods unless you write it down in your notes that A was by volume, B by weight. Having said this, precise measurements are only important if you need to reproduce your formulas for commercial purposes. If you're just making perfumes just for yourself, play around and have fun as you would when cooking without a recipe.

I am the renegade who measures by volume. My favorite way to do this is with an adjustable pipette gun that uses disposable tips. You can get pipette guns in various size ranges from a scientific equipment supplier. The pipette gun itself is expensive, but the tips are not if you buy in bulk. This method really helps prevent contamination of one material with another. The pipette gun is definitely worth the price in the long run, since it really speeds up the process and is also handy for dispensing measured amounts into sample vials, small bottles, etc. It's much more precise than those funky all-in-one squeeze bulb plastic pipettes or a dropper. By the way, a dropper is probably the worst way to measure since "drops" are not consistent in size even for a single material. Moreover, if the dropper has a rubber squeeze bulb, the rubber can disintegrate and contaminate the liquid. I won't even mention the impossibility of cleaning a dropper if you were to want to use it for more than one thing.

Hi there
We also recommend the use of pipettes and pipette fillers. We use the pi-pump type of filler which fit to glass pipettes. These impart no odour and can be easily cleaned using perfumer's alcohol.

We also choose to use perfume extraits - we dissolve 20% aromatic in our fragrance base (organic grain alcohol mixed with botanical softeners and aged for 3 months). The advantage of this is that the aromatics are ready to use and easy to measure as they are all consistent. Some of the aromatics are otherwise too sticky to put in a pipette.

Alec Lawless (perfumer for Essentially Me) has an alter ego, Boris the Perfumer. Boris has a video on You Tube about how to avoid getting saliva in your perfumes! Have a look here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsfKFfqmaI8

Best regards
Sian

http://www.essentially-me.co.uk
http://aleclawless.blogspot.com

Very funny. I've seen him before too. However the contamination thing would bother me more than the saliva. I'd have to use a different pipette each time. At least saliva would get cleansed and sterilized by the alcohol! I use the plastic ones and label them only to be used for that smell.

i use plastic pipettes, and i am very happy with results.