To make your very own simple perfume at home isn’t difficult, in fact you may already have some of the ingredients available right now.
Oil based perfume is the most ancient form of scent, being the perfume of choice for the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Eygptians- in fact the oldest perfume yet discovered was discovered in Cyprus in 2003 and dates back more than 4000 years. These precious ancient perfumes would most definitely have been oil based!
Ingredients list
- A non-pungent base oil– (Olive oil won’t do unless you want to smell like salad dressing!) Grape Seed Oil and Sweet Almond Oil are both usually readily available in health shops, and inexpensive. Watch out for Jojoba Oil, which although lovely will solidify if it gets cool which can be a bit disconcerting if you wanted a liquid rather than a solid perfume.
- Essential Oils- good quality essential oils can be very expensive as they are pure distilled plant essences- especially Rose Maroc, Sandalwood, Violet leaf, and Oakmoss- and some are fairly obscure and would need to be sourced online- however it is always possible to find some nice smelling more common ones in your local shops. Relatively inexpensive oils which smell pleasant include: Neroli, Sweet Orange, Ginger, Vanilla, Grapefruit, Lemon, Geranium, Ylang Ylang, Francincense, Cedarwood, Jasmine, Chamomile, mint, and lavender.
- A beautiful bottle to put your fragrance in! Do remember, oil based perfumes aren’t really suitable for atomisers as the oil is too dense to spray and will only clog it all up.
Method
- Three quarter fill your bottle with your base oil.
- Add drops of your essential oils to your base oil, shaking the bottle after every fresh application- it’s best to be cautious with your oils as they are very strong, and even one drop too much can have a devastating effect on the final scent. Smell your concoction as you go along until you discover your perfect blend!
- When you’ve got your perfect blend you can top up the bottle with a little more of your base oil if you like. This is fine as the perfume will smell a little stronger when it is applied to your skin, so this will mellow it out somewhat.
