Perfume Making

Perfume Making

Ingredients

• Essential oils
• Pure grain alcohol (vodka)
• Water

Perfume is simple to make, the trick is to put the essential oils together creating a smell you like. Perfume is made up of base notes (the smell stays the longest on your skin), middle notes (smell stays second longest), and top notes (smell of oil evaporates first). Because the oils all evaporate at different rates the perfume may smell different as time goes on. Below are listed easily found essential oils divided into base, middle and top notes.

• Base notes—cedar wood, cinnamon, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla
• Middle notes—clove, geranium, lemongrass, nutmeg, neroli, ylangylang
• Top notes—bergamot, lavender, lemon, lime, neroli
• Bridge—vanilla, lavender (add a few drops to join base, middle and top notes together)

1. Mix at least twenty-five drops total of essential oils divided evenly between base, middle, and top notes.Start with the base notes, then middle, then top, smelling as you go.
2. Add a few drops of the bridge oil.
3. Add two and a half ounces of alcohol (get a parent to help you with this), shake for a few minutes, then let it sit for forty-eight hours (or up to six weeks—the longer it sits, the stronger the smell).
4. Add two tablespoons spring water, stir, then pour through a coffee filter and put in a bottle.