I love perfume. I’ve worn it for as long as I can remember.  Well, come to find out, like everything else, it’s toxic.  Out of all the beauty products we wear on a daily basis, perfume is the most toxic!  Artificial fragrances have all kinds of side effects.  The big one is hormone disruption!  Smelling good on the outside while your hormones are making you a raging you know what on the inside is no longer going to work.  After having my second baby, my hormones don’t need any help being out of balance!  Upon doing research, making perfume is easy.  But, I will warn you before you read on, it takes 6 weeks to fully mature.  You can cheat and use it within 48 hours, but you will not have as good of a fragrance.  If you choose to wait the 6 weeks, you CAN NOT open your perfume.  The oils work together to form a scent that is at its best after 6 weeks.

Perfume Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

OR-if you are not comfortable using alcohol, you can substitute the alcohol for witch hazel.

*Always add your base note first, then middle note, and last top note.  If you don’t, the fragrance will actually be different.  Always take notes and write down exactly what you do in case you come up with something that you love and will need to make more of!*

A little background about Essential Oils and Perfume Making:

The Frenchman, Piesse classified the scents of essential oils in the 19th century according to musical scales, and this is where the top, middle, and base notes came from.
Typically, top notes make up 15 – 25 percent of the blend. Middle notes make up 30 – 40 percent of the blend. Base notes make up 45 – 55 percent of the blend.  How poetic, huh?  Your perfume is like a musical chord!  All the oils should “harmonize” together.  I love that!

Top notes

Top notes tend to evaporate very fast and normally have anti-viral properties.
They tend to be light, fresh, and uplifting.  Top notes give the first impression of a perfume but usually don’t last long.
Here are a list of essential oils considered to be Top Notes:

• Basil
• Bergamot
• Cinnamon
• Clary Sage
• Coriander
• Eucalyptus
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
• Lemongrass
• Lime
• Orange
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Tea Tree
• Thyme

Middle notes

Middle notes typically have a balancing effect on the perfume.  They are the body of the scent.
The smells of middle notes are not always immediately evident and may take a couple of minutes to come into their own right.  They are normally warm and soft fragrances.
The following essential oils are considered middle notes:

• Black Pepper
• Cardamom
• Chamomile
• Cypress
• Fennel
• Geranium
• Juniper
• Lavender
• Marjoram
• Melissa
• Myrtle
• Nutmeg
• Palma Rosa
• Pine
• Rosemary

Base notes

The base notes tend to be heavy.  They will evolve over time and will slow down the evaporation of the top notes.  They are rich and relaxing and anchor the perfume while their scent lingers.
The following essential oils are considered base notes:

• Cassia
• Cedarwood
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Frankincense
• Ginger
• Jasmine
• Myrrh
• Patchouli
• Rose
• Rosewood
• Sandalwood
• Vanilla
• Vetiver
• Ylang Ylang

How interesting was that?!  Get creative and mix oils that make sense to your senses!  You are going to have to takes some risks here because we can’t know for sure how it will blend and mature over those 6 weeks.

My favorite trio is TOP NOTE-Lemon MIDDLE NOTE-Lavender and BASE NOTE-Sandalwood.  Absolutely heaven to my nose!  If you are ridding out toxins from your beauty routine, perfume should be the first to go.  Luckily, you can easily make your own and tailor it to your own scent preference!

“A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting. ”
― Christian Dior