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How to make perfume
by itschrys on November 2, 2008
Table of Contents
intro: How to make perfume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
step 1: What you need: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
step 2: Preparing bottles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
step 3: Add the alcohol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
step 4: A note about scents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
step 5: Add you scents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
step 6: Let it age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
step 7: Add water and glycerine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
step 8: Finishing up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
intro: How to make perfume
Why spend a fortune on perfume or cologne when you can make your own for cheap. Brand name perfume/cologne can cost from $50-100, why spend that much when
you can create your own fragrance with vodka and essential oils.
Instead of wearing a fragrance that everyone else wears you can make your own unique blend. Your own aromatic creations also makes a thoughtful gift.
Image Notes
1. Make your own perfume
Image Notes
1. Ouch! Yes this is how much I paid for this Angel perfume. Well not any more.
step 1: What you need:
Ingredients:
Vodka (the higher percentage alcohol the better) or Everclear if you can get it
Essential oils*, fragrance oils**, infused oils, even flavour*** extracts (make sure it's pure) such as vanilla extract
distilled or spring water
glycerine
Other stuff
pretty glass bottles to put the finished product in, preferably coloured glass, reuse bottles or find them at the dollar store.
glass jar for mixing fragrance in
measuring cup/spoons
a dropper if you have one
funnel
aluminum foil or wrapping paper if you are using clear glass bottles
a pencil and paper for jotting down your recipe
a discerning nose is helpful
*You can also make your own perfume oil Be a Romantic Scientist: Distill your own perfume oil.
**Fragrance oils are synthetic and are less expensive than essential oils.
***Quite a few perfumes use food flavours in them, so extracts are an easy way of incorporating them into your own creations.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
Image Notes
1. Spring water.
2. Vodka.
3. Glycerine
4. Measuring cup.
5. Essential/fragrance oils.
6. Glass bottles for the final product.
7. Infused oil, which I made and someday hope to do an instructable about.
8. Jar for making up your perfume.
9. Can you tell in which country I live?
Image Notes
1. Vanilla extract. Pure extract is better, since it is just water, alcohol and the
source.
step 2: Preparing bottles
Sterilize the bottles and jars in the dish washer, especially if you are reusing bottles. They need to be clean and sterile.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
Image Notes
1. My dishwasher.
Image Notes
1. Pretty bottles, used and dollar store finds.
step 3: Add the alcohol
Measure 1/4 cup of vodka/Everclear and pour into jar.
Image Notes
1. 1/4cup
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
step 4: A note about scents
I've included a few words about scents, if you want to launch right into concocting your perfume skip ahead to the next step.
Notes:
In perfumes the fragrance can be divided into three different notes depending on when they arise.
Top note: The initial scent when you put the perfume on, then disappears, they include; lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime, bergamot, spearmint, peppermint and others.
Middle note: This scent appears just after the top note disappears. Scents like; coriander, palmarosa, marjoram, basil, rosemary, rose geranium, pettitgrain, lavender and
others.
Base note: This appears after the middle note and is the base of the perfume, they include; patchouli, vetiver, frankincense, cedarwood, sandalwood and others.
When you are mixing your perfume start by adding your base notes, then middle then your top notes.
Families:
Scents can be divided into different families such as floral, oriental, woody and fresh (such as citrus, etc) See wheel below. This is lovely but why do we need to know
this? When you are mixing your perfume,adding scents from neighboring families creates harmony in you perfume.
Brand name perfume/cologne
There is a website which identifies the different components of brand name fragrances, so if you would like make an imitation of your favorite perfume/cologne check it
out; basenotes Fragrance directory
For example:
Obsession Fragrance Notes
Top Notes
Mandarin, Bergamot, Jasmine, Rose, Orange Blossoms.
Middle Notes
Coriander, Tagete, Armoise.
Base Notes
Amber, Oakmoss.
Some of these scents may be a bit hard to find. (?armoise)
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy involves using scents to affect mood and well being, if you would like to consider this when blending your fragrance, check out Aromatherapy for Emotional
Well-Being
Men's Cologne
Guys, don't feel left out, try scents from the woody or fresh families to make a nice manly cologne.
Image Notes
1. These are good scents to try for men's cologne.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
step 5: Add you scents
This is where the magic begins...
Add approximately 25 drops of essential/fragrance oil.
Take one scent ;
add a few drops
swirl
smell
add more or continue on
write down the oil and number of drops
Take the next scent and repeat as above until you have added the approximate number of drops. Feel free to add more or less to create the desired fragrance.
If you are just starting out and don't know which scents to try. You can divided the alcohol into smaller volumes and try different combination, experiment, be creative,
have fun with it.
Image Notes
1. Don't forget to write it down, if you want to recreate it.
2. Add.
Image Notes
1. Swirl, then smell.
Image Notes
1. Add
Image Notes
2. See, I added 4 drops.
1. Swirl, then smell.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
Image Notes
1. Add
Image Notes
1. Swirl, then smell.
Image Notes
1. I love rose!
2. Add
Image Notes
1. Swirl, then smell.
Image Notes
1. Add
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
Image Notes
1. Swirl, then smell.
step 6: Let it age
Once you are happy with the fragrance that you've created it is time to let it age. Place it in a cool dark location for a minimum of 48 hours, up to a month.
Aging your fragrance allows the scents to mingle, and also become stronger. Once you have aged your fragrance for the desired length of time, smell it again, the
mingling may have changed the overall scent, so feel free to add a few more drops of scent to tweak it (don't forget you will need to age it again, if more scent was
added).
Image Notes
1. Cool, dark spot.
Image Notes
1. Ready to age.
step 7: Add water and glycerine
Now that the fragrance is ready, it needs to be diluted.
Add 2 tablespoons of distilled/spring water. If you are making a perfume spray, add more water.
Add approximately 5 drops of glycerine, this helps preserve the fragrance.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
Image Notes
1. Add 2 tablespoons water, or more if you want a perfume spray.
Image Notes
1. Add 5 drops glycerine.
step 8: Finishing up
Pour the perfume into your bottle, use a funnel if you need to. If you are using clear bottles, you will need to cover them with aluminum foil or wrapping paper (your
fragrance needs to be protected from the light or it will go off).
Add a label, decorate it, give it a fancy name and be happy that you saved a lot of money!
Image Notes
1. Pour.
Image Notes
1. I'm sure you can make a nicer label than mine.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
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Comments
14 comments Add Comment
Nov 28, 2008. 7:39 PM REPLY
chriskarr says:
Your 'infused oil' seems to look quite a lot like travel-sized whiskey.
Nov 29, 2008. 11:39 AM REPLY
itschrys says:
Actually it was rum, it's a handy bottle to reuse for other things, like some infused oil that I made.
Nov 29, 2008. 1:02 PM REPLY
chriskarr says:
Yes, but the liquid in it even looks like alcohol.
Nov 14, 2008. 9:22 PM REPLY
nightninja87 says:
hey great ible i was wondering could anyone give me the amounts for curve chill or curve thank you
Nov 15, 2008. 3:02 PM REPLY
itschrys says:
Sorry, I haven't tried making curve, I guess that's the tricky part, knowing how much of each oil to use.
Nov 15, 2008. 7:42 PM REPLY
nightninja87 says:
its ok but i thought someone might know how to do it i wish there was another site that tells you how many drops
Nov 4, 2008. 6:48 AM REPLY
lotusduck says:
Glycerin is possible to get for free, because it is a byproduct of making biodiesel.
In Minnesota there's a listing for free glycerin on www.mnexchange.org
however any biodiesel producer creates glycerin and I'm not sure if they all have something to do with it.
I don't know for sure if that glycerin is food grade or safe for human skin, but since it's created after the oil has been filtered I would guess that it is.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/
 Nov 4, 2008. 4:08 PM REPLY
itschrys says:
Wow, free, that's good to know, thanks for the tip.
Nov 4, 2008. 9:50 AM REPLY
mg0930mg says:
Good Job! I will use that website, to make my own curve!
Nov 3, 2008. 11:50 AM REPLY
Kiteman says:
Nice project, and thanks for the link!
Nov 3, 2008. 4:06 PM REPLY
itschrys says:
I wasn't sure what the proper etiquette is for including links to other members' instructables, should I PM'd you first, are you okay with it?
Nov 4, 2008. 5:23 AM REPLY
Kiteman says:
I'm fine - there's not usually a need to ask permission to raise other peoples' page-views.
Nov 3, 2008. 3:08 PM REPLY
Badger_Man says:
YAY! i live in alberta! good instructable to
Nov 3, 2008. 4:18 PM REPLY
itschrys says:
Good vodka,I thought it was better to buy local, well close by at least (one province over).
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_make_perfume/