Making Perfumes with Essential Oils

There are three good reasons why you might want to consider making your own perfumes from essential oils. First of all, you can save money; commercial perfume products are expensive, but most of the cost comes from overhead - packaging, advertising, profit, and the like - and these are costs that you can keep to a minimum at home. Also, if you prefer natural ingredients, perhaps because you're chemically sensitive, "homemade" scents are a good choice; most commercial products contain synthetic ingredients. And finally, you can customize the scent to your liking - or to the liking of the person you're making it for. You don't have to settle for what's available in the stores.

It's really not that hard to make perfumes this way, either. There are only three basic ingredients - alcohol, water, and essential oils - and the process is not complicated, nor does it require special tools or equipment. The hardest part will probably be deciding on a formula - the combinations of essential oils to give the exact aroma you want. You may find yourself doing a lot of "research and development" before settling on a final ratio of ingredients.

Probably the first decision you'll need to make is the strength of the formula. Perfume is of course the strongest, progressing down through eau de perfume and eau de toilette to the weakest, eau de cologne. You could also make a simple "splash" with just a few drops of essential oil and water; this can be quite refreshing, but the scent will fade quickly. Basically, the strength of your perfume will depend on the ratio of ingredients. Perfume itself has the greatest amount of essential oil (the highest number of drops) and alcohol, and the least amount of water. If you want something weaker, use fewer drops of oil, less alcohol, and more water.