Thread: Primer on How to Make Perfume (Version 1.0)

Any suggestions on mixing a scent based on rosewater? I have my doubts if its even possible to achieve, at home anyway.

I'm glad that I have stumbled upon this site. It is very informative.

And thank you so much for the information about a good substitute for alcohol and that is MCT Fractionated Coconut oil..I never thought of this when making my own perfumes. I usually use vodka as for my alcohol base.

Thank you

Bobby

http://make-homemade-fragrances.blogspot.com

Hello,

I haven't posted in a very long time but I have been reading and using it a resource. Since I became a member here I made about 13 perfumes god, bad & so - so results 1 had a great scent and also made a bathroom spray came out wonderful.

I started making perfume using alcohol.

Now I use organic alcohol, glycerin and organic EO's

I have 2 questions. I just saw on the forum that people use distilled water.
is this a must when you're making an alcohol based perfume?

I just saw that people use 600 drops of EO's when making a perfume.
I use about 60 drops of EO's in 50 -100 ml alcohol? Is this wrong?

Oops i have a 3rd question besides the above ingredients are there any other ingredienst used in making natural perfume?

Thank You all in advance.
Maggie
(Corfu, Greece)

Hi Maggie,

Water can be used when making perfumes with alcohol. Not recommended for making perfumes with oil. It isn't a requirement. I never add water when working with alcohol. Just my preference not to.

I'd like to ask you something. Does the glycerin really make the fragrance last longer and for how much longer? How much to you add?

Thanks!

Hello,

Yes, glycerin does make it last longer because when I give out samples to friends and families I ask them how long it lasts.
I don't use water either but I saw a few people adding water , does this make it marketable when adding water. I also tend to find that when I sniff my perfumes ( from the bottle) I get a slight headache. Does this happen to anyone here?
Once again , can someone help me with the ratios of alcohol/essential oils?

Maggie

thanks italian stallion. this is awesome!

Originally Posted by mago

Hello,

Yes, glycerin does make it last longer because when I give out samples to friends and families I ask them how long it lasts.
I don't use water either but I saw a few people adding water , does this make it marketable when adding water. I also tend to find that when I sniff my perfumes ( from the bottle) I get a slight headache. Does this happen to anyone here?
Once again , can someone help me with the ratios of alcohol/essential oils?

Maggie

Wow, I doubt you will check back to see this answer, but here goes anyway.
For an Eau de toilette, you would use about 10% oils or slightly less.
For Eau de parfum it would be closer to 20%.

Guess what , I checked back ; )
Is is possible you could give me the ration in drops.
For example 100 ml I usually use anywhere from 50 -70
drops of EO's is this ok??

Another question, I also posted in the natural perfumery board.
I bought Organic rose EO diluted in 5% percent Jojoba Oil, when I concocted
my mixture it was fine when I poured the alcohol, it seperated is there anyway I
could dilute it before pouring the alcohol?? Because now I can't use it for perfume making and I'm really upset !!

Another question? does anyone use vitamin in when making natural perfumes and if yes, how do you dilute it, if u do??

Thank You for your replies
Have a great day !!!!
Maggie

Hello again,

I have another ?. Has anyone used Vitamin E in their natural perfume?
Does it blend well and if so , how do you add it?

Also can anyone please answer my previous post on top ? PLEASE !!!!
Maggie

Hi, Maggie,

I usually assume 20 drops of an EO makes 1 ml.

For 50 ml of Parfum, I'd want about 20% fragrance, so I'd measure out 10 ml of EO and add 30 ml of carrier (oil or alcohol).

I'm usually after EdP, so I want 10% fragrance. I measure out 5 ml of EO and add 45 ml of carrier.

I have a little 60 ml measureing cup and 5 ml is its smallest division. So if I want a 100 ml of room spray at about 1%, I add 20 drops of EO to about 100 ml of alcohol.

Since proportions for Parfum, EdP, EdT, etc are always given as ranges, the ammounts don't have to be very precise.

The estimate of 20 drops to a ml is also handy if you're mixing several EOs in a fragrance. Say you wanted 5 ml total fragrance or 100 drops. If you wanted 40% base, 30% heart and 30% top, that would be 40 drops of base, 30 drops of heart and 30 drops of top.

Of course pouring in & out of a measuring cup will lose some liquid along the way and drop size may vary quite a bit with the density & viscosity of the EO. If you try to repeat a success the smell will probably be a little different. If I decide I need real precision I'll invest in disposable pipetts and an electronic balance.

BTW, where do you get your glycerine? I looked at a craft shop & they only sold solid blocks for melting & using in candle making.

Thank YOU VERY VERY MUCH !!!!!!
For breaking it down for me. Going to get my perfume notebook RIGHT NOW !!!
and writing everything down.
Well snowdrift farms sells vegetable glycerin but I buy mine from a local drug storre and it's really cheap !!
You can contact snowdrift farms and ask them?

Once again thank you
and have a fantastic day !!!
Maggie
BTW Have you ever used vitamin E in your perfumes and if yes how did you use it?

Sorry, Maggie, I forgot about your second question. I have not added Vitamin E separately. But I've used Rite Aid Vitamin Skin oil as a diluent. The label says it contains 4000 IU Vitamin E. I assume that's per bottle. I bought it because it was unscented and the E didn't cause any problems. 4.8 oz bottles were on sale last week for under $3. I hope they're not being discontinued. I like the persistence I get using oil instead of alcohol, but it's difficult to find unscented oils.

If you add E separately, be sure your source is unscented.

Thanks I will try vitamin E I will try in 2 ways and when my sister comes from New York I'll her to go to rite aid and pick up vitamin skin oil.
BTW I'm making alcohol perfume.

Maggie
Thanks
Enjoy your day in Rochester New York !!!

Thanks, Maggie, yesterday was a great day in Rochester. The Lilac Festival is this week and the park where it's held is kind of a walk-through perfume. There's even a special edition Highland Lilac perfume made by IFF & sold at the festival.

One caution if you're using alcohol as your primary carrier. Oil & alcohol don't mix at every proportion. Think of oil & vinegar dressing. So far I've always been able to disperse essential oils from Aura Caccia or Natures Alchemist in Alcohol, up to about 3% EO. And I've been able to disperse up to 10% of concentrates from The Perfumer's Assistant in oil. I know TPA concentrates contain some alcohol, but I don't know how much. I've tried mixing 80% alcohol at 50/50 with several different oils & they always separate. Even adding a little soap (which helps oils disolve in water) didn't help. So you may not be able to add very much Vitamin E oil to an alcohol based fragrance. I suggest trying small baches, say 1 ml of E to 5 ml of whatever alcohol you're using. If they don't mix, add another 5 ml of alcohol, etc.

Don't forget to have fun.
Ed

Hello Ed,

Thanks for the info, I didn't know you could use soap ,I don't think I will try it but it sound interesting !!
I tried rose diluted in 5% jojoba oil and when I added this to my perfume mixture and then added alcohol,
well it didn't blend , but it did smell very nice now I have a 5ml bottle with rose EO diluted in 5% jojoba oil and it's useless. If I heat the Vitamin E oil maybe it might blend <I haven't tried yet. But I will.
I hope you have a great day !!
Maggie

I am curious if anyone knows how to create the scent of human sweat? I have heard that cumin resembles body sweat and skin.

Perhaps it's a mixture of leathery scents? There's something else there. Maybe it's is, gasp, garlic?

if anyone has any notes on adding a human edge to parfum I would love to hear them!!!

thanks
Eric

Originally Posted by GourmandHomme

Contrary to popular belief human sweat is not cumin, it's got some amines and sulfur compounds. And if you're a dairy eater, butyric acid compounds. So garlic and onion and rancid butter better resemble human sweat.

That must be why my body odour smells woodier than others and less sour; I don't eat much dairy at all. Just the very occasional cheeses. Haven't had milk in so many years. Gross.

So what is it that people think they're smelling when they smell cumin? I've only ever smelled food.

Originally Posted by fennec

That must be why my body odour smells woodier than others and less sour; I don't eat much dairy at all. Just the very occasional cheeses. Haven't had milk in so many years. Gross.

So what is it that people think they're smelling when they smell cumin? I've only ever smelled food.

Sometimes some people's body odor can smell like cumin, at least to me.

HELP! I've been making artisan fragrances as a hobby for the past few months and so far, I've been successful in coming out scents that my friends enjoy. There are actually two scents that I've made using a combination of fragrance oils that became an instant hit. HOWEVER, when I tried to do a new batch, following the same recipe that I have made before, for some reason - there are "residues" that settle on the bottom of the bottle. One variation when I was doing this new batch is that, I increase a little bit the fragrance oils that I used ... yet still retained the basic proportions of the other ingredients (ie. alcohol). What I noticed though is that the "residue" - if I shaked the bottle strong enough, they managed to disappear ... however, the mixture turns a little less clear.

My questions are:

1. Will I ever get rid of the residue if I just shaked and shaked the mixture (in the bottle) - on the assumption that these are "oils" that didnt mix well and I just need to somehow break them down?
2. What are these residues to begin with? Could they be indeed fragrance oils that didnt mix or dissolve as well as they should?

I hope you guys can help me out.

Thanks.

A.

My only concern with Snowdrift Farms is that they have misinformation on their website concerning SDA. They claim the ATF (US Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) forbids the use of drinking alcohol (vodka, Everclear, etc.) in perfumes sold to the public. But when I visited the ATF website, that was not the case. They just require you to fill out tons of paperwork to get a permit to use drinking alcohol in your perfumes: http://www.ttb.gov/applications/index.shtml

Originally Posted by Cat

Hi Bottoni:
I'm sure the manufacturer of Old Spice uses only synthetic ambergris, since the import of any whale product as well as Musk is prohibited (at least here in the 'States).
Because of this as well as the animal rights movement and cost factors, many perfume manufacturers have switched to synthetic alternatives.
But to answer your original question, commercial perfumes are considered &quot;proprietary&quot;, meaning they are not required to disclose their ingredients unlike cosmetic and skin care products.
The list of ingredients for Old Spice is probably only the main notes in the blend; it could literally contain hundreds of minute ingredients, each one contributing to the final product.
Unfortunately, without a chemical analysis or the actual formula we must go with what we have, so there are no guarantees that our rendition will smell like the original!

From Basenote's Directory:

Old Spice
Top Notes: Orange, Lemon, Spices, Clary Sage, Aldehydes
Middle Notes: Cinnamon, Carnation, Geranium, Jasmine, Heliotrope, Pimento Berry
Base Notes: Vanilla, Musk, Cedarwood, Frankincense, Benzoin, Tonka, Ambergris

The Top Note of a fragrance is the largest portion of the blend, comprising up to 50% of the scent. It is usually made up of volatile oils that evaporate quickly, revealing the Middle Note which is the main scent, making up around 30% of the blend.
Finally, the Base Note comprises the slowest-evaporating scents that anchor the Top and Middle notes as well as adding depth and richness to the final scent. It is the smallest portion of the scent, only comprising 15-20 percent, since the scents are generally heavier and more likely to overpower the lighter scents in the Top and Middle notes.

Cat

Hi Cat, I've found that a fragrance comprised of up to 50% of top notes results in
a very harsh accord. Top notes are noted for their sharp, assertive quality and their propensity to dissipate quickly, so if top notes comprise the bulk of the EO blend, your result will be an overly assertive first impression that is not very tenacious, which is a quality we all seek in our perfume blend. My approach is that base notes are the foundation on which a fragrance is built. Base notes anchor the fragrance and make it tenacious, which is a quality we all seek. So my approach is 20% top notes, 30% mid notes, 50% base notes. I start by blending my base notes. If I know that a particular base note is over powering (like Vetiver), I might use less of it in my base note formulation. For example, if my base notes will be comprised of Patchouli, Frankincense, and Vetiver, I might use more Frankincense (since it's the "lightest" of the three), less Patchouli, and even less Vetiver.

Anyway, the beauty of perfumery is we all have our percentages and ratios that work for us. I love perfumery because it's both an art and a science!

I hope it's OK to post this, since this thread hasn't had anything posted in a while. Regarding the perfumer's alcohol vs. Everclear....what is the definitive answer? I bought a bottle of Everclear to practice with, and on the bottle label it has "Not Intended For Consumption Unless Mixed With A Non-Alcoholic Beverage". Does that constitute it not being a beverage alcohol as it stands? Since it is not being mixed with any type of non-alcoholic beverage, doesn't the warning label prove it is not a "stand alone" booze? It just seems strange, as every place you look on the internet there are "recipes" using water, fragrance, and alcohol (usually vodka is mentioned, but my attempt with it was dismal....not high enough proof). This whole thing still continues to stymie me. From what I read on the ATF site, it seemed like it didn't matter until you'd hit a certain amount - like in a package liquor store. Is anyone sure on this point? I know that for me, Everclear is much more readily available than perfumer's alcohol and it would be great if I could use it. I don't expect to be the next perfume mogul, but if I could develop a few enjoyable scents and sell them at flea markets, bazaars, etc. it would be a way to add a few bucks to the pocketbook - but I want to be sure I'm OK.

Thanks for your time!

I hope it's OK to post this, since this thread hasn't had anything posted in a while. Regarding the perfumer's alcohol vs. Everclear....what is the definitive answer? I bought a bottle of Everclear to practice with, and on the bottle label it has "Not Intended For Consumption Unless Mixed With A Non-Alcoholic Beverage". Does that constitute it not being a beverage alcohol as it stands? Since it is not being mixed with any type of non-alcoholic beverage, doesn't the warning label prove it is not a "stand alone" booze? It just seems strange, as every place you look on the internet there are "recipes" using water, fragrance, and alcohol (usually vodka is mentioned, but my attempt with it was dismal....not high enough proof). This whole thing still continues to stymie me. From what I read on the ATF site, it seemed like it didn't matter until you'd hit a certain amount - like in a package liquor store. Is anyone sure on this point? I know that for me, Everclear is much more readily available than perfumer's alcohol and it would be great if I could use it. I don't expect to be the next perfume mogul, but if I could develop a few enjoyable scents and sell them at flea markets, bazaars, etc. it would be a way to add a few bucks to the pocketbook - but I want to be sure I'm OK.

Thanks for your time!

Sorry about the double post.........not quite sure how I messed that up, and haven't found the way to delete it..........my apologies.

Originally Posted by alanmf

My questions are:

1. Will I ever get rid of the residue if I just shaked and shaked the mixture (in the bottle) - on the assumption that these are "oils" that didnt mix well and I just need to somehow break them down?
2. What are these residues to begin with? Could they be indeed fragrance oils that didnt mix or dissolve as well as they should?

To answer both questions - the residue is definitely the less soluble components of your oils. They might be the carriers of absolutes if you're using them or simply less soluble components of essential oils. The easiest solution and perhaps an impractical one is to dilute your mixture - having more solvent will ensure that the less soluble residue dissolves. A certain amount of solvent can only "take" so much of a solute. Beyond that, the residue appears.

Another problem might be that the residue has little access to your solvent, that is, since it pools up in the bottom of the container, it has little contact with the rest of the mixture - this is why shaking/stirring apparently helps a little for a while, but then the residue just pools up again.

Try adding alcohol to the mix by drops and shaking well after each addition and see if it helps. Also, bear in mind that dissolution can take long for certain compounds. Maybe just giving the mix more time, shaking it up every couple of hours might help.

Hello, I ordered Iso E Super online and fractionated coconut oil as carrier. My question is, is fractionated coconut oil a complete substitute for alcohol?

To make an EDT like Escentric Molecules (which is said to be consisting of 100% Iso E Super), should I just mix Iso E Super and fractionated coconut oil with 20:80 rate or should I also use alcohol?

Simply fantastic even for a beginer like me.