F G T M Y O P: Ast Uide O Aking Our WN Erfume

Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume
Fast Guide To » Design your own signature scents using a

creative method unlike everyone else who teaches
Making Your Own this subject.

» Create elegant, old-fashioned single scent per-
fumes from precious natural ingredients.
Perfume
What you can do with this book... Table of Contents
» Save hundreds, if not thousands, on popular
designer scents by making perfect copies of them at Making Designer Copycat Perfumes
home. Even famous perfumes such as Chanel No. 5, ~
Thierry Mugler’s Angel, Davidoff’s Cool Water, Calvin Making Solid and Oil Perfumes
Klein’s Escape. ~
» Build your “fragrance wardrobe” for very little Designing Your Own Scents
money, giving you the freedom to explore different per- ~
fumes and find what truly suits your personality. Making Your Perfume Last Longer
» Make your perfumes in any strenth you desire, ~
from light, subtle body mist to bold eau de parfum. Perfume & You
» Learn how to make popular roll-on perfume ~
oils and solid balms, hot new trends that are really Serious & Legal Stuff
thousands of years old. ~
» Learn how to make your perfume have maxi- Suppliers
mum staying-power and last for hours on your skin.
» Easily scent lotion, body oil, shower gel and
many more daily use products with your signature
fragrances.
www.excellentlivingguide.com
A Big Fat Thank You To My “Guinea Pigs”
Without your help, I would never have made a second

draft or taken the trouble to make it pretty! Thanks
for helping me make this book into a truly profes-
Fragrance Or
sional product.
Ingredient
June Place, Lori Shaw, Az in the UK, Mireille Fall, Sha-
ron Kendrick, Lisa Swofford, Joann (Aka Wolfdreamer), Finder Ticket
Aubrey Meneses, Josslyn Mullahy, Renay James, Larissa
Jones, Kobi Mamun, Pam Barnes, Michele (the beauty
product ADDICT!), Valerie, Judy Porter, everyone who Need help finding an ingredient
downloaded my Bath Bomb Fast Guide, and everyone on or certain fragrance?
my Yahoo Group, Home Bath & Body.
Just email me, and I will help you
And my unofficial editor, Jeanette Fiuromeno. out! Discontinued perfumes,
hard to find ingredients, bottles,
To View This Book and more.
You need Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher. It probably is cat_bathbody@yahoo.com

already installed on your computer, but you may need
a newer version to see the pop-up windows. *I just made this because I have
some empty space on this page.
You can download a newer version here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.
html
Using This Book You can print out the pages, of course, but you won’t
Due to feedback from many of my Guinea Pigs, I have get the benefit of the links or pop-up boxes.
changed the format of this book. The overwhelmin-
ing criticism was that there was too much “explana- A no-snob zone
tion” that got in the way of the hands-on stuff. And
that the sections were too long. I am not a perfume snob, or even a great perfume
appreciator. I am just someone who just likes good
I can’t blame them! I’m a fast reader / skimmer too, smells, whether they are cheap, expensive, Japanese,
always looking for the hands-on instructions first, and French, synthetic, or natural. In my opinion, if it
reading the other stuff when I need to look something smells good, it is good.
up.
I don’t believe that natural ingredients are necessar-
I have cut out the “explanations” from the main text, ily superior to synthetics; each have their advantages.
but you can click on the and a box will pop Most industry perfumers use both types of ingredi-
up explaining more about the concept or word. You ents when designing their scents.
can try it right now by clicking on the words “red
text” above. I am also a creative bargain hunter, which is what led
me to discover how to make designer copycat per-
Of course, clicking on the blue underlined text will fumes in the first place. I just couldn’t resist the pos-
take you to links on the web. sibility of being able to make Thierry Mugler’s Angel
for $10!
Meant to be read on the screen
From there, I went on to create my own fragrance
This book is really meant to be read on the screen. blends using the easy techniques I will teach you in
It it a true e-book with interactive links and pop-up this book.
windows.
Making Designer tell you a little about how it is possible to get such
Copycat Perfumes dead-on duplications. In the 80’s and 90’s, a company
called Designer Impostors sold knock-off perfumes at
When you have all the ingredients, making designer discount and drug stores.
copycat perfumes is easy, even big name brands that
sell for $90 or more in stores. Most people don’t be- If you tried them, you know that they weren’t exact
lieve this until they actually do it, though! They think duplications; they were only similar. This is because
there’s some big trick to it. There isn’t! the technology that duplication perfumers used then
isn’t nearly as sophisticated as it is now. Now, it is
Making copycats is satisfying in itself, but it is also a possible to take a sample of nearly any substance (that
good way to get started making perfume. Not only produces an aroma) and chemically analyze it.
do you give yourself confidence, but you educate your
nose. You get exposure to different smells, which is Reverse Engineering The Perfumes
very important!
Perfume scientists can look at this data and recreate
What you can make the scent, also using their noses to get greater accu-
racy. This includes designer perfumes. Independent
You can make any popular perfume from a major fragrance makers analyze and recreate designer per-
house, and some boutique fragrances. If you want a fumes, releasing them to the public in concentrated
minor perfume from a major house, you might not form.
have as much luck. This is because the companies
who make duplicate formulas only make “best sell- These can be diluted with
ers.” alcohol or other carriers (which I will tell you about)
to make perfume, just like what department stores
How it is possible to get such good dupes sell. It has the same fragrance as the originals; in
most cases, you will not be able to tell the difference
Before I tell you how to make the perfume, I want to between the duplication and the “real thing.”
Why Only Professional Perfumers (Or Serious Amateurs)
Can Reverse-Engineer A Perfume! Totally Legal
Modern perfumes (1900 and onward) are complex, sometimes containing You may wonder if making
over 100 components. Many of them are patented synthetic molecules and copies of designer fragrances
special chemicals. Only perfumers can use them well; amateurs wouldn’t is illegal. It isn’t. Long ago,
have a clue what “decyl vinyl ether” is, what it smells like (fresh and clean, the courts ruled that smells
actually), or how to use it. weren’t “works of art” made by
humans, but works of nature.
To build a modern perfume duplicate from raw materials, you have to know
what hundreds of molecules smell like, and recognize them when you smell This makes sense if you think
them in a complex blend. But if you can do that, you’ll probably want to about how many people have
make your own creations! For the brave perfume explorer, I have a link to a come out with a rose perfume.
very cool company who can supply you with some of these chemicals. They Imagine if someone had exclu-
are called The Good Scents Company. sive rights to something smell-
ing like roses... they’d have to
Are The Reverse-Engineered Perfumes Really As Good? sue the flowers!
It is definitely possible for the reverse-engineered perfumes to be as good as Copying or making a derivative
the original. I would say that “regular folks” who like perfume - not per- of an exact recipe is illegal, but
fume connoisseurs - will not be able to tell the difference. A professional there are many ways to get the
perfumer probably could. same fragrance. Most of the
“reverse engineered” perfume
There are a number of low-quality duplications available online (beware of concentrates vary wildly from
Ebay), which is why I recommend several suppliers that I have worked with, the original composition.
and that have also gotten great reviews. Some of these duplications might
even work better for you since they have different ingredients.
If You Want To Try Recreating A Perfume Step 2 ) Make a simplified version of the main
From Scratch... characteristic scents
You can certainly give it a shot! You probably won’t Using classic “notes” theory, I would try a simple
get something *exactly* like the perfume, but you blend of oakmoss, peach, and bergamot and see how
will get something with the same character. close that came.
Step 1 ) Find the main notes Step 3 ) Use your nose, and tweak it.
Basenotes has the descriptions of many perfumes. It
is a good place to start: But along the way, I would probably start changing
http://www.basenotes.net/directory the fragrance. Mitsouko is not something I would
ever wear - it is far too dramatic for me.
For example, let’s look up Mitsouko, by Guerlain. Ac-
cording to Basenotes, its top notes are bergamot and Maybe I would look into different ways to get peach,
rose, middle notes of jasmine, spices and peach, and not just aldehyde C-14. Maybe I would change the
base notes of oakmoss and “woody notes,” possibly peach to apple, and see what happens. I think it’s hu-
oud / agarwood. man nature to want to put your own stamp on things!
People are creative.
Further research on Google indicates that the peach
note probably comes from aldehyde C-14. This can be If you go to the trouble of recreating a perfume from
found here: scratch, you are good enough to make your own per-
http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/ fumes. Just because it’s Guerlain doesn’t mean you
rw1000821.html can’t do better. Trust in your own ideas.
(I typed in “Mitsouko notes” to find more informa- Starting from a known perfume is good inspiration.
tion.) The other notes are easy to find, although they I have done it myself. But I encourage you to spend
may be expensive! you efforts making your own creations.
Equipment How strong to make your perfume
Common sense How much perfume and alcohol to use depends on

Eyedroppers or pipettes how strong you want your product to be. Here are
Measuring spoons some guidelines based on what the commercial com-
Measuring cup with spout, or funnel panies make:
Clean, dry bottle to dispense perfume (you know,
your perfume bottles you’ve been saving because » Cologne: 2% - 5% fragrance oils
they’re too pretty to throw away.) » Eau de Toilette (EDT): 5% - 20% fragrance
Lots of paper towels or rags to clean up spills (but the upper end is rarer; most are around 10% in
Flat, stable surface to work on my experience.)
» Eau de Parfum (EDP): 10% - 30%
Ingredients » Parfum (extrait parfum): 20% - 40%
You will notice that they overlap. This is because

Designer perfume concentrate there’s no hard and fast rule, just general ranges, for
Isopropyl alcohol (for cleanup) the strength. I usually make mine at around 25%
fragrance materials, 75% perfumer’s alcohol.
Overview of process
In addition, certain fragrances seem stronger than
To make a designer duplicate perfume, pour some others, even though you may use the exact same
perfume concentrate in the perfume bottle. Then, amounts. For example, to make Parfum strength
fill up the rest with perfumer’s alcohol, leaving room Green Irish Tweed, I use a 30% / 70% ratio. To get
for the dip tube (if any), and shake gently. That’s all the same perceived strength of Angel, I only need
it takes. Your perfume is ready to use as soon as it’s 15% oil, 85% alcohol. Angel is incredibly potent!
diluted.
Alcohol-Based Perfume Copy Photo Guide
Here are all the tools you need to make a de-

signer perfume duplication with alcohol. Perfumer’s
Cyclomethicone alcohol
Designer fragrance oils
Small atomizer
Large atomizer
Scissors
Eyedropper
Towel
Alcohol for
cleaning
Roll of paper
towels (you need
Pyrex for measuring
a lot of these)
and pouring.
Notepad and pen for
recording discoveries
Perfuming Equipment
You don’t need a lot of items

to make perfume. I just laid
all my tools out like a home-
made Eye-Spy photo because
it looks really important.
The blue car-wash towel is

made of microfiber, and you
can get them cheap on Ebay.
The benefits of microfiber
towels is that they are really
absorbent, and you don’t have
to worry about ruining them.
I got the eyedropper at Whole

Foods in the “Whole Body”
section. It was $1 - exorbitant Here is what my atomizers look like. They’re plain-jane but can be dressed up with cool
for an eyedropper, but con- labels. I get them new, in bulk, from E.D. Luce, which is listed in the supplier directory.
venient when you forget to You can try transparent inkjet labels for a modern look.
order them!
Green Irish Tweed Copy
I’m going to make a duplication of

Green Irish Tweed, since I’m almost
out. I like to use these 1/3oz spray
atomizers because they’re small
enough for a purse.
And I like to change fragrances

often, so they don’t take up much
space in my medicine cabinet.
My “workspace” is the top of a Tar-

get file cart - 18” X 18” in diameter.
You don’t need very much space to
do this.
Be sure to precut your label to fit the

size of your bottle.
I always make my perfumes at about

25%. This is easy to “eyeball” on the Use the eyedropper to transfer small amounts of fragrance oil. Don’t try to pour
clear glass. I made a little mark with directly from one bottle to another - it never works as well as you think it will.
a pencil that will wipe off after I’m Especially if you’ve had a lot of espresso, because caffeine tends to make the
done. hands shaky.
Measuring The
Fragrance
You always want to

add the fragrance oil
first, and fill up the
rest of the way with
your carrier.
It may seem obvious,

but strange things
happen to the mind
sometimes...
If you don’t have a

see-through bottle,
or you’re working
with a size or shape
that’s not so easy to
Make sure your bottles and eyedroppers are clean before you begin. If you need to wash them, estimate, I have a
don’t use soap and water unless you have a long time to let them dry. trick for measuring
the volume. I’ll show
Use drug-store alcohol so that the alcohol evaporates fast and leaves your equipment clean and dry. you after this demo.
The alcohol is a good solvent for aromatic residue left in the bottles and eyedroppers, and it kills
germs.
Don’t use it for perfuming, because it smells bad!

Add Perfumer’s Alcohol
After you’ve put the right amount of

fragrance oil in your bottle, it’s time
for the alcohol.
The nice thing about perfumer’s alco-

hol is that it doesn’t have much of an
odor. Unlike isopropyl - which smells
nasty on its own - or drug-store alco-
hol, which frequently contains evil-
smelling acetone.
There’s nothing inherently dangerous

about using drug-store alcohol; after
all, it’s meant to go on the skin. The
acetone or isopropyl smell will burn
off quickly, but it will alter the per-
ception of the top notes.
Unfortunately, not many places carry A little alcohol goes a long way if you are just making perfume for yourself.
both perfumer’s alcohol and designer Think about it - 16 ounces of alcohol makes at least 16 ounces of perfume,
fragrance oils. Snowdrift Farm which is enough to last a year for most people!
doesn’t have that large of a fragrance
oil selection - though what they do
have is great.
I just poured the alcohol in the
bottle, but I’ve had a lot of prac-
tice, and it’s no big deal if I spill a
little. You can also use a kitchen
funnel.
Use an eyedropper to control the

final amount, especially for these
small bottles. This also cleans
your eyedropper a little.
Take care not to fill the bottle all

the way up to the top, because it
will overflow when you put the
dip tube in.
You’re not done until you put a label on the bottle!
Gently turn the bottle over a
few times to mix the contents.
There’s no need to shake vigor-
ously.
For home use, just use an office

label, cut to the proper size. If
you don’t, you will end up with
many unlabeled bottles of “mys-
tery perfume.”
Measuring The Volume of Your Bottles

Fill the container with drug-store alcohol. This cleans it and will allow you to measure how much it holds at the same
time! Pour the alcohol into a clear measuring cup. If your bottle is smaller than, say, 2 ounces, you’ll need to use a small-
er cup. Just make sure it has a spout. When you measure the volume of your own container, be sure to allow room for the
dip tube. Don’t pour the alcohol all the way up to the top. As you can see, my bottle holds 4 ounces.
Discard the drug-store alcohol and wipe your measuring container with a paper towel. If you can, add the fragrance oil
to the measuring container first. In my case, I won’t. Instead, I’ll pour in 3 ounces of perfumer’s alcohol first because it’s
easier to measure. Then, I’ll add an ounce of fragrance to the alcohol.
4 ounce containers are a popular size for perfume. Fragrance oils come in 1 ounce bottles for the smallest size. If you
know that your dispenser holds 4 ounces, you can dump the whole bottle of fragrance in first, fill up the rest with alcohol
for a 25% solution.
Solid and Oil Perfumes

Solid Perfumes
Alcohol is not your only choice to dissolve . You can
also use fats, either liquid oils and waxes, or solid balm (also called po- Even though solid perfume is
made.) Both of these are catching on in boutiques and with celebrities as a “hot new trend,” it’s actually
new, cool forms of perfume, but they are not new at all! much older than alcohol per-
fume. The ancient Egyptians,
Advantages of oil-based perfume Greeks, and Romans used
perfume in the form of solid
Oil-based perfume is easier and neater to apply because it usually comes in a pomades or liquid oils.
roll-on bottle. You can roll on as much or as little as you want, and you can
get “pulse point precision.” Atomizers dispense a fine scented mist, but that This is because they used fats
can sometimes be annoying. to extract the fragrance out
of flowers, spices, and plants.
Using oil also can change the scent of the perfume a little. When you use They would rub these scented
alcohol, the come on intense and disappear fast, leaving the heart fats and oils on their bodies as
notes and base notes to evolve on your skin. With oil perfumes, the top protection from the sun and
notes don’t come on so strong. They will still evaporate faster than the heart wind.
and base notes, but they won’t make such an intense statement.
The first alcohol perfume is
For example, if you love the scent of Chanel No. 5 after two hours, but can’t said to be Hungary Water, de-
stand it when you first spray it on, try an oil perfume. signed for Queen Elizabeth of
Hungary in the 1300’s.
Advantages of solid pomade
Solid pomade comes in little containers - sometimes tins - and fit easily into
a purse. It is a lot like lip balm. You take a little out with your finger and
apply it. The main reason I like solid perfume is that they will probably be covered up with the powerful
1) it’s just cool, and 2) it doesn’t break. I’m a big-time fragrance materials.
klutz and tend to knock over bottles, throw my bag
around with breakable stuff in it, and general knuck- You will need a roll-on bottle, not an atomizer. Jojoba
le-headed things like that. oil is hard to spritz. Even if you can spritz it, you will
end up creating a fine layer of oil, which isn’t desir-
I wouldn’t dare put any kind of glass bottle full of able in most cases.
liquid in my bag, but I wouldn’t have any fear for a tin
of solid perfume. Actually, who knows? You can try making a sprayable
bath oil and use an olive oil mist dispenser. It might
end up being really cool.
How To Make
Oil Perfumes Making Hair Perfume
Oil perfumes are as simple as alcohol perfumes. In- Hair perfume is a special kind of oil perfume. Most
stead of diluting the fragrance materials with alcohol, people do spray alcohol perfume in their hair occa-
use jojoba oil. sionally, but it is drying if you do this every day.
Jojoba oil is the best choice because of its long shelf Obviously, most people won’t go for putting oil in
life. It is resistant to going rancid and will preserve their hair, but evaporate into the air, just
your fragrance for probably longer than it will take to like alcohol, not leaving a single trace of grease or oil
use it. behind.
If you plan to use your perfume within a few months, Cyclomethicone has the consistency of water and
you can just use any vegetable oil, such as sweet sprays nicely. Dilute your fragrance concentrate with
almond oil, hazelnut oil, avocado oil, even olive oil. cyclomethicone for a good hair perfume. It will seem
Some of these may have faint scents of their own, but greasy at first, but it evaporates after a minute or two.
Oil Perfume Photo Guide
Oil perfumes are just like alcohol perfumes, except that you use oil and a roll-on bottle.

alone - no other fragrance.
Fragrance oils are already diluted in a carrier oil;

they are around the same strength range as essential
oils. They are nowhere near the strength of absolutes
(which you will see later.) Even though I’m making
my roll-on perfume about 35% fragrance oil, it is not
that strong. You have to use your best judgment for
fragrance amounts.
First, the fragrance materials

Yes, I’m freehand pouring again. This is Egyptian Musk, a
thick synthetic musk blend from Majestic Mountain Sage. It
smells so great that I want to make a roll-on perfume from it

Add the carrier oil
Fill the rest of the bottle with

jojoba oil and put the roller on.
These rollers are hard to put on;
you really have to press hard.
But then again, you don’t want

the roller to slip out!
Shake your perfume gently; as

you can see, these two oils have
very different densities.
After your oil perfume is thor-

oughly blended, you are done.
My beta-tester approves of
Egyptian Musk. He’s not
very fond of other fragrances,
though.
I had to put his cat bed in the

corner so he could see the ac-
tion. Otherwise, he would keep
jumping up on the set!
How To Make Solid Perfume

How Much Fragrance
Solid perfume is a little harder to make than oil perfume. You should defi- To Use
nitely practice with a fragrance you don’t care about.
The ratio is the same for alco-
The carrier for solid perfumes can be many things, just as long as they are hol perfumes. Sometimes I try
oils or fats. Here is a partial list: up to 50% perfume concen-
trate if I have a hard wax as the
Soft (consistency of lip balm) base.
Petroleum jelly
Premade lip balm bases After all, it is easy to use less of
a solid perfume than a liquid
Medium (firm at room temperature, softens in your hand) perfume, so I don’t mind the
Coconut butter higher concentration.
Mango butter
Olive butter If you’re using a hard base, the
Shea butter oil will not soften it as much
Premade solid perfume bases as you think. You might have
to mix in a soft butter or extra
Hard (firm until heated) jojoba oil to get the consistency
Cocoa butter - usually has a mild cocoa fragrance you want.
Paraffin
Beeswax This is why I like to use either
Soy wax - melts at a low temperature soft butters or premade bases.
It takes the guesswork out.
If your carrier is soft, you will not need to melt it when you add your fra-
grance. If it is medium or hard, you will need to heat it gently until it melts.
Be sure to heat it to the minimum temperature pos-

Solid Perfume Photo Guide
sible, just until it goes liquid. Pretend it’s butter or
chocolate and it will burn if it gets too hot. If you
melt it on too high of a temperature, some bad things
may happen:
» The carrier may scorch, smoke, or catch fire.

» You might burn yourself when pouring.
» Delicate fragrances may break down or evapo-
rate because of the heat, and your balm won’t be as
scented as you had hoped.

If this sounds a little too complicated for you, try
experimenting with petroleum jelly first. There are
lines of solid perfumes that are basically Vaseline
(“white petrolatum”) mixed with fragrance, so it’s not
cheating by any means.
Here are photos of me using a premade solid perfume

base. The base is from Bramble Berry, and you can
get it at:
http://www.brambleberry.com/soapbases.html
The tins and excellent Addict duplication are from

Snowdrift Farm:
http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/sliders.html

Double boiler setup
I just set up a little double boiler with a ceramic saucepan and a little glass
dish. The small dish makes it easier to mix the perfume.
On the previous page, I used my trick to determine the volume of each tin
(about 2 tsp.) I carve out the soft base with a butter knife and pack it in the
measuring spoon. This isn’t exact, but it’s pretty close. I’m going to put 6 tsp
of base in, and 2 tsp of fragrance (25%)

Add fragrance to the melted base
Once the base is mostly melted, take it off the heat.

Remember, you want the lowest possible temperature
so that the heat doesn’t damage the fragrance.
Measure the fragrance, and stir. The melted perfume

balm is ready to be measured into the tins, which you
can see in the background.
Fill the tins. If you have a steady hand, you can do it with a teaspoon like I’m doing here. You can alse use plastic dis-
posable pipettes. Since these tins are small, the solid perfume doesn’t take long to cool and solidify. Put the lids on as
soon as you can. Debris, dust, and pet hair are always attracted to cooling solid perfume.
As I mentioned before, you can use many things for solid perfume base: beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, petroleum
jelly, premade lip balm base, even soy wax. As long as your base is fat or wax, you will get something usable.
Storing Your Perfumes
Refill Old Bottles
If they are free of contaminants and stored properly, your alcohol-based
perfumes will have a shelf life of at least six months. Nothing lasts forever; If you want to reuse your old
even though the alcohol is anti-bacterial and prevents weird stuff from perfume bottles, just wash
growing in your perfumes, they will eventually break down. them out with hot soapy water.
Then, rinse them with alcohol
The keys to extending the life of your perfume are: and let them dry completely.
1) Light. Perfumes should be kept out of direct sunlight, because that breaks You can use plain old isopropyl
down the materials. alcohol for this; no need to use
your perfumer’s alcohol.
2) Extreme temperatures. Perfume should be stored at 70 degrees, ideally.
Don’t leave perfume in your car in the summer sun, and don’t put it in If you want to buy old or used
the fridge, and you should be fine. bottles to match your faux de-
signer creations, search Ebay.
3) Contamination. Contaminants include oxygen, organic stuff that doesn’t For example, if you wanted
belong (like skin cells and dust), and plastic from storing perfume in an Obsession bottle, just type
plastic bottles. in “Obsession bottle” into the
search box and see what results
Bottling Your Perfume you get.
You should use glass bottles, rather than plastic, for your perfumes. I make By the way, if you see the word
light body sprays in plastic bottles, just like you get at bath and body chains, “factice,” this is a genuine
but I use them too quickly for the plastic to leak into the solution (I hope.) bottle filled with colored water
For any scents that I care about, I always store them in glass. for display.
Atomizers (sprayers or spritzers) are best, because If you make your perfumes with precious materials,
they let in the least amount of air, and they stop your definitely use glass or metal for the packaging, not
fingers from touching the solution. Contaminants plastic. Things that come in plastic bottles imply that
such as skin cells and dust from the air can build up their contents are cheap.
inside the perfume and alter the chemistry over time.
Oil Perfume Packaging
Atomizers are also easy to use; they don’t spill, there’s
no penalty for accidentally leaving the cap off, and Go with glass roll-on bottles; they make oil perfume
they dispense the perfume in a fine mist that helps the easiest to apply. And it’s what people are expect-
you get even coverage. ing in an oil perfume. Even if you use silicone oil as
your carrier, you should still use glass roll-on bottles.
Solid Perfume Packaging
They don’t only come in plain, like this one. Save On
You can use small tins and tubs, lip balm tubes, or Scents has a bunch of fancy roll-on bottles.
small deodorant containers (basically, bigger lip balm
tubes.)
I prefer to use small tins that hold 1/4 ounce each

or lip balm tubes. If you put solid perfume in larger
containers, such as round 2 ounce tins, be sure to
decrease the potency.
People will use a lot, thinking it’s like a hair pomade

or hand salve (like Burt’s Bees Farmer’s Friend hand
salve.) They will automatically assume that the fra-
grance won’t be that strong, but they might be sur-
prised when they use it!
Making Your Own Scents Adding A Twist
You don’t have to be a master perfumer to make your Or, you could take a perfume you mostly like and see
own scent; you just have to be creative. Most people if you can improve on it, like I did for Drakkar Noir.
use the traditional notes method of teaching perfume I always thought it was too harsh, so I added some
blending; this takes a lot of rigorous trial and error to sweet fig scent to it. It became a whole new cologne
get something decent. (my boyfriend wears it.)
You can learn about blending with notes from several Blending with bases
books, so I won’t repeat how to do it. Instead, I will
present alternative methods of creating your own per- This is only slightly more complicated than mixing
fume. These are more beginner-friendly and will get two designer fragrances together. This is also how
you good results much faster. many fine perfumes Perfumers
would take a well-known base, like a basic amber or
Mix 2 designer fragrances together floral blend, and add their own “twists” on top of it.
Many people spay multiple perfumes on themselves Just like solid perfumes, perfuming with bases is com-
to create a scent that is theirs alone. You can do it in ing back into style because some people are tired of
the bottle and create a fragrance unlike anything else. unrecognizable, modern scents.
Since designer fragrances have all the complexity of Examples of blending with bases:
modern perfumes, yours will too. This is a fun, easy To get an oriental-type rose perfume, you would just
way to experiment with fragrance blending. take an oriental spice blend and add rose to it.
For example, you can take a perfume you think is re- To get a jasmine musk perfume (very popular!) you
ally sweet, like Aquolina’s Pink Sugar, and mix it with would take a musk base and add jasmine to it.
something floral, like Flowerbomb.
As you can see, this method has a lot of flexibility. Many perfume houses,
such as Hermes, also do this with their “signature accords.” They use the If you are going to go the natu-
same basic accords that make a Hermes perfume recognizable, and add dif- ral route, also consider abso-
ferent twists to it. It works quite well. lutes or C02 extracts. These
are different than essential
Blending with bases is always my fall-back technique, and I talk more about oils. They are stronger and
it in the Popular Bath and Body book. more true to the plant than es-
sential oils.
Single-scent perfumes
Do not use concretes if you see
Single-scent perfumes are very hard to find in stores! Most modern per- them. These are thick or semi-
fumes don’t smell like anything recognizable; they are too complex. How- solid and hard to work with,
ever, some of the best perfumes come from a single source and have an old- and they might not smell good
fashioned mystique. The good news is that you can easily make single-scent to you. It takes experience to
perfumes yourself. It may be the only way you get to experience a true rose work with concretes.
or violet perfume.
C02 extracts are like essential
The aromatic material for single-note perfumes can be synthetic or natural. oils, but they are not made the
There are some now where most people abso- same way. As a result, they
lutely cannot tell the difference - even for rose. smell different than essential
oils. C02s tend to be less harsh
For maximum old-fashioned appeal, though, real plant sources are the way and more mellow; some ma-
to go, even though they are a bit expensive. Precious plant concentrates terials, like cocoa, coffee, and
come in the forms of C02 extracts, essential oils, or absolutes. I don’t usu- spices, are much better in C02
ally recommend that beginners start with plant essences because they are so than essential oil.
expensive, but single-note perfumes are easy enough that anyone can make
them.
Absolute Rose Perfume Photo Guide
These are absolutes.
As you can see, they are tiny sam-

ples. I got them from Eden Botani-
cals, and they cost $2 - $4 each. I
only got a few normal ones in the
bunch - the rest are strange natu-
ral perfumery components that I
wanted to try.
For this demo, I will be making a

single-scent rose perfume out of
sweet Bulgarian Rose Absolute.
Absolutes smell like plants, even more than essential oils do. This absolute has
the scent of a real rose - stem, leaves, and all. It’s a much wilder, complex scent
than what people normally think of as rose. It even has a little dry bitterness to it,
but that won’t be so apparent in dilution.
When you get an absolute for the first time, it smells very different from what you
expect. You smell rose... and you also smell a bunch of other weird stuff. The
weird smells happen because the substance is so concentrated. You can detect
trace components that you normally don’t smell when the absolute is diluted.
This tiny sample is enough for a light Bulgarian Rose toilette spray in my 1/3
ounce frosted glass atomizer.
Absolute Rose Perfume Photo Guide
Pre-diluting the absolute
To make the rose absolute more

pourable, I put a little perfumer’s
alcohol in the vial. Otherwise, it
would be impossible to get out!
Some absolutes are more solid than

liquid, so don’t be surprised if you
have to do this.
That color is unreal, isn’t it?
Then, I pour the rose stuff into the

bottle. Dilute with perfumer’s alco-
hol, leaving room for the dip tube.
The perfume is done!
I will probably tinker with it and

add a fixative (see next page), and
possibly something else. Maybe
not, though. Sometimes simple is
best, especially with a scent this
good.
This perfume is around 2% rose
absolute.
Alcohol, Oil, or Solid? Especially in the case of absolutes, natural materials
need some time to chill out in the alcohol or oil. At
Essential oils blend well in all three kinds of carriers, least a day should go by before you judge the quality
but C02s and absolutes aren’t always as easygoing. of your perfume. A week is even better.
When you look on the suppliers’ websites, they will
tell you whether their absolutes or C02s are soluble Introducing a fixative
in alcohol, oil, solids, or all three. Though most
absolutes dissolve in alcohol, not all of them do. For Once you get comfortable mixing basic single-note
example, Eden Botanical’s orris root C02 is fine in oil perfumes, you can add a ingredient. This will
but difficult to work with in alcohol. make your perfume last longer on your skin, as well
as give it a stronger scent.
Working with absolutes
Here are some natural fixatives:
Absolutes are very strong - stronger than essential
oils, and more true to the plant. If you sniff an ab- » Sandalwood or Amyris (sweet and woody)
solute directly from the bottle, you might not like it » Ambrette Seed (animal musk replacement)
(or it might not smell like what you were expecting.) » Patchouli (spicy, dark wood)
This is normal - when you dilute your absolutes, you » Frankincense (dry, dark, resinous wood)
will smell the “true plant” nature. » Orris root (sweet and rich, but not very strong)
» Benzoin (resinous sweet vanilla)
My suggestion is to start with 1% absolute or C02 to » Vetiver (smoky, stony, forest)
99% alcohol or oil, then build up to the strength you
want. It’s easier to add more, but not so easy to add Most of these have dark, earthy, or heavy scents that
less... might turn you off on first sniff. But used in very
small quantities - like 1% of your entire blend - they
Natural materials need time to mellow can amplify the effects of your fragrance without add-
ing much of their own scent.
However you make your perfume blends, you won’t what you want to do before you start, and you will
get far without a target. You won’t be able to tell if make progress much faster and easier than if you just
you’ve blended a good perfume without a goal. “mess around” with ingredients.
Briefs Some messing around is inevitable, I realize, but the

clearer you can define your purpose, the better. It is
The major perfume houses make something called discouraging to have artistic tools but no real thing
“briefs” to focus the efforts of their perfumes. They you want to achieve.
can be a little poetic, such as “Mysteria should evoke
a beautiful but sad woman with dark eyes, standing Simplicity
before a crashing sea.” (I am not kidding about these
briefs - they are often statements of pure imagina- Even if your method for creating perfume is simple, it
tion.) doesn’t mean your fragrance is inferior. Many people
place greater value on complicated things than they
You should do the same, even if it’s less lyrical, such do on simple things. Don’t fall into this same trap;
as: “Mysteria should be a perfume version of the In- your perfumes don’t need to be complicated to be
dian incense in a fortune teller’s booth at a carnival.” great.
It is this skill that will make your original perfumes It is your idea for the perfume that is valuable, not
successful. I think the more emotional impact a per- how many hours you spent during the process. The
fume has, the better. fact is, if you throw together an awesome fragrance in
10 minutes, it will still smell great!
“Process” goals
If you spend 100 hours trying to make a perfume, and
You don’t have to have an end result in mind. Your it smells bad, it still smells bad, no matter how much
goal can simply be to “make something with rose and time you put into the formula.
something weird, and see what happens.” But define
For another way of looking at it, think of Occam’s Razor: “All things being
equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.” A good book on perfume
blending - though kind of airy-
Though this was developed in the context of scientific theories, it has many fairy in my opinion - is Mandy
applications to daily life as well. Sometimes, your perfumes will need to Aftel’s Essence and Alchemy.
involve many ingredients, but they don’t have to. Sometimes making a
single-note perfume out of an incredible smelling absolute or essential oil is If you like Essence and Al-
the best solution. chemy, the author also has an
in-depth perfume course. You
It’s my advice to look for the simplest, fastest way to achieve your perfuming must be a serious student, not
goals. just a window shopper, because
the course is around $400.
Trust in your own ideas and creativity
But that’s much less than the
Related to this subject is your trust in your own ideas. Too many times, we cost of natural perfumery
think, “That can’t be a good idea because it came from me!” But some of ingredients you will use over
the most famous perfumers have had no formal training. They know noth- the course of your perfuming
ing about chemistry; they just have the courage to trust in their own ideas career! I have not taken the
for perfumes, and their own ability to progess. course, since I prefer to use too
many weird synthetics!
You are no different. If you want to make original perfume blends, just do
it. Perfumery isn’t just a place for experts and professionals, but anyone Mandy Aftel teaches according
with a good idea for a fragrance. Keep in mind that in many fields, the to traditional method using all
greatest discoveries have come from newcomers, not experts. natural materials. Expensive,
but fun.
Just try it. It’s not difficult - you just dissolve the aromatic materials in alco- http://www.aftelier.com
hol, oil, or solid fats, and you have perfume. It really is that simple.
More about Perfume “Notes” the composition. Some heart notes are more tena-
cious (stay around longer) than others.
When people describe and make perfume, they often
think of it in different notes. They also call perfume Many flowers and herbs are middle notes, such as
a composition, just like music! I think that’s because rosemary, lavender, cempaka (champaca), and honey.
it’s hard to talk about smell by itself. It’s much easier
to compare it to something that we can talk about. Base Notes (shouldn’t that be Bass Notes?)
(Although I think of scents in terms of colors, go Are what linger after the top and heart notes evapo-
figure!) rate (this is called “drydown.”) Base note ingredients
are slow to evaporate and often have a higher density,
Top Notes making them double as fixatives.
The top notes are what evaporate first off the skin.
They create the strong first impression of a perfume. If something is a wood, bark, resin, or musk, it’s prob-
This is why, when testing a perfume, you have to wait ably a base note. Sandalwood, vetiver, cedar, vanilla,
a couple hours to know if you really like it. You have some roses (there are lots of different kinds), oak-
to wait for the top notes to die off. This usually takes moss, and musk, are all base notes.
less than an hour, and then the heart notes take over.
This isn’t the only way to describe and make per-
Top notes are often citrus, mints, ginger, aldehydes fume, though.
(as in Chanel #5), and anything that gives you an You can make perfume however you want. This is
immediate faceful of scent when you open the bottle. just one way of looking at perfume composition.
Top notes are what makes perfume smell “perfumey.” Some companies, such as Bvlgari, are trying to create
fragrances that deviate from classical notes.
Heart Notes (also called Middle Notes)
In classical perfume composition, heart notes make Personally, I like perfumes that don’t smell “like per-
up more of the formula than anything else. Heart fume,” so I have very few top notes in my own cre-
notes stay around for a few hours, but it depends on ations.
Making Your Perfume Last Longer

Your skin type makes a
Perfume is temporary; what creates the scent in the first place is the aro- difference
matic materials evaporating into the air around you. One of the ways
people judge a perfume is if it lasts, but its staying power depends on several People with oily skin retain
factors, including your skin type and the weather. fragrance the best because
perfume stays better in moist
It is disappointing when perfume fades too fast, but there are some tricks environments.
that makes it last longer.
This is why oily places on the
Layering fragrance body are good spots to apply
perfume.
Layering is probably the best way to make your perfume last. You can layer
scent by using body wash, lotion, bath oil or salts, dusting powder, body Applying perfume to pulse
mist, and perfume all in the same fragrance. This will make the fragrance points, such as the wrists, the
stronger without being overpowering. neck, and the back of the knee,
are “hot spots” and make the
Some companies make daily products in the same scent as their perfumes, fragrance evaporate quickly.
but most do not. This is where the Popular Bath and Body book comes in
- I teach you how to easily custom-scent everyday toiletries - even shampoo Blonds and redheads tend to
and conditioner - with the fragrance of your choice. have dry skin, so they often
complain that their perfume
Custom scenting bath and body products is only a little more complicated has no staying power. The lay-
that making perfume. It is probably the only way you will get toiletries to ering trick will help, especially
layer your favorite scents. with a body lotion that will add
moisture to the skin.
Wear oil perfume Perfume & You
Many people prefer oil perfumes because alcohol What perfume is right for you?
tends to make the top notes “explode” and die. Oil
perfumes give you a slower burn. Fortunately, you Perfume is a form of self-expression, just like fash-
can experiment with oil perfumes now that you know ion. A fragrance may smell good, but it might not feel
how to make designer copycats. right .
With oil perfumes, the quality of the fragrance may Magazines are full of perfume advice, but there is
change when it mixes with the oil, but the change is more to it than simple “wear a classic perfume, and
usually subtle. you will seem like a lady,” or “Oriental fragrances hint
at a sensual side.”
Carry a tin of perfume balm to reapply
If you’re a shy nerd and you put on a scent that comes
Purse sprays are too fussy for me. They’re a huge on strong, chances are that you will feel very uncom-
pain to refill, they don’t contain very many applica- fortable. It’s almost like you wore sweats to a black-tie
tions, and I’m always afraid that they will break in my wedding, or dressed from head to toe in fluorescent
messenger bag. This is why I’m a big fan of the solid orange when you normally wear greys and blacks.
perfume tin.
This section is devoted to helping you choose per-
To reapply your scent, all you need to do is dab a little fumes that enhance your self-image and personality.
of the balm on your pulse points. You can make your There’s no way I could describe and list all the per-
perfume balm extra concentrated (50%) so that your fumes you could try - it’s more a way to get you think-
tin will last a long time. ing.
With both the oil and solid perfume, the fats may also I’m sure you have one or two favorites already, but
help the fragrance’s staying power. now you have the freedom to try whatever you want.
You can build a fragrance wardrobe for very little
monetary risk. Short list of popular or classic perfumes
What your perfume says To start you off, here is a list of new and classic per-
fumes with good duplications available. I tried to
The fact that you wear it at all makes people take stay away from perfume-speak like ’light valencia
notice. It means that you have paid attention to this and sparkling muguet float on top of heady jasmine,
aspect of your “wardrobe.” Whether you picked a anchored by teak and benzoin...’
good one or not, people know that you are familiar
with that part of our culture. Somehow, that doesn’t seem that helpful if you don’t
know what teak smells like or what “muguet” is! (It’s
The conclusion that people draw from your scent is lilies of the valley, by the way.) Instead, I describe the
based on two factors - the fragrance itself, the observ- perfumes by what normal people think and say about
er’s to it, and observations about them, including the stereotype each fragrance brings
you, the wearer. to mind.
If you come in to a coffee shop wearing an expensive- The stereotypes are very rough guidelines; people’s
smelling perfume (like White Diamonds, which just personal reactions count for a lot more. You don’t
smells like money to me), but you are in a track suit, have to stick to the stereotypes, of course, but it’s use-
I might assume you’re an eccentric millionaire or an ful to know what they are.
executive just out for a run.
Some of them are encouraged by advertising, and
If you are a 16 year old man coming in for an inter- some are built up over years of history, like Chanel
view and wearing Old Spice or English Leather, it will No. 5 and English Leather. Many of them have a lot
make me smile. You’re probably trying to feel grown of truth to them!
up, like a “real man.” I did the same thing (Hermes’
24 Faubourg) on interviews, too! If you have anything to add to this list, definitely let
me know! I am interested to know what classic or popular perfumes other
people wear. What is a women’s fra-
grance?
Women’s Fragrances
Actually, anything a woman
Shalimar, by Guerlain in 1922 wears can be considered a
“women’s fragrance.” It is
Mature, musky, adventurous Oriental for women of any age, but young girls becoming more and more com-
can’t usually pull it off. Many people have worn Shalimar their entire adult mon for women to wear per-
lives; it is that classic. It always evokes a strong response - if you like light, fumes marketed for men.
fruity perfumes, then Shalimar is not for you! But if you like powerful mys-
terious scents, you will love it. The reverse isn’t quite as com-
mon, but more and more men
No. 5, by Chanel in 1921 are crossing over, too. Unless
you wear a very recognizable
An elegant, powdery, and refined scent. For many, this is the classic French scent, no one will notice if you
perfume that makes the wearer feel like a grown up lady. It comes on strong put on a perfume that was in-
when you first apply it, but it fades to a clean soft fragrance. Goes well with tended for the opposite sex.
a business suit or a little black dress. Also the first mass-marketed scent
with the use of synthetic aldehydes, which is part of what gives it a distinct Since perfumes are 100%
scent. (Also why many people dislike it initially.) artificial (no human smells like
“a bright blend of carnations
Angel, by Thierry Mugler in 1996 drifting on a choppy sea”), it
seems silly to designate per-
This is a warm, feminine fragrance with many edible scents all mixed up: fumes as innately masculine or
vanilla, chocolate, anise, fruit, with a hint of spicy patchouli. Angel is great feminine.
for girls of any age, from the 5-year-old playing dress up to the grandmother
who’s hunting through the attic for dress up clothes. ioned flair. This perfume is timeless and sends a mes-
It is also a perfume that smells drastically different sage that the wearer is a refined, confident woman.
from person to person - you cannot judge Angel out of It’s a full-bodied, luxurious scent rich with flowers
the bottle. - jasmine and rose are both heavy and sweet. Joy is
probably too much for anyone in their teens.
White Diamonds, by Elizabeth Taylor in 1991
Happy, by Clinique in 1997
Strong and classy, this fragrance is full of rich clean
florals. Many people describe it as smelling rich or Sunshiney florals and citrus mix together to make
expensive; it definitely is high-class! White Dia- a crisp, light scent. Happy is appropriate even for
monds is a ’big’ perfume that is recommended for young girls because of its youthful, simple fragrance.
evening wear - as in the opera - though many like it in Many people claim that Happy never gets old and
the daytime as a ’power scent.’ never fails to put a spring in their step; it is one of
those fragrances that works as a great mood-booster.
Light Blue, by Dolce & Gabbana in 2001 Makes a wonderful fragrance for shower gel in the
morning.
Sparkling, young, and aquatic. Favorite with teens
and twenty-somethings, Light Blue manages to be Green Tea, by Elizabeth Arden in 1999
romantic and clean at the same time. And uplifting.
Good for vacations, summer, and wearing with flow- This fresh, pretty fragrance is a favorite with females
ing dresses and strappy sandals. Not floral, almost of all ages. The combination of sweet greens with
spa-like. Also outstanding as a fragrance for bath salts refreshing lemon is universally uplifting, like a
(see Popular Bath and Body book.) perfectly-brewed cup with a slice of lemon. Green Tea
is certainly a light scent; due to its nature, the fra-
Joy, by Jean Patou in 1930 grance doesn’t last more than a few hours on the skin
for most people. You will definitely need to layer.
Sensual, feminine rose and jasmine with an old-fash-
Pink Sugar, by Aquolina in 2004
More about perfumes
A fantasy of pure sugary sweetness, people have described Pink Sugar as
“the ultimate girly-girl scent.” Cotton candy, orange, red licorice, raspberry, If you want to learn more
powder - what was Aquolina thinking when they marketed this as unisex?! about fine perfumes, visit these
This is a playful perfume that men love to smell on a girl, but most guys recommended websites.
wouldn’t be caught dead wearing it themselves. If you want to give the im-
pression of a sweet, playful, youthful nature, Pink Sugar is for you. OsMoz has good information
about classic perfumes, ingre-
dients, history, and fragrance
Men’s Fragrances families (fougere, chypre, etc.)
http://www.osmoz.com/
Cool Water, by Davidoff in 1988
Basenotes is a great review site,
This is an incredibly popular fragrance for men. This contemporary, fresh though you have to consider
and sporty scent can be worn anytime, anywhere. It works well on many that some perfumes don’t work
people, so it makes a great gift. The popularity of it has some drawbacks: well on people, but they work
some people associate it with ex-boyfriends or 13-year-olds trying to be great on others.
more mature! It is also not unique; many people will recognize it as an ob- http://www.basenotes.net/
vious “date scent.”
Now Smell This is a blog by
Escape, by Calvin Klein in 1993 fragrance-obsessed people.
Seriously, they’re obsessed.
Fruity, fresh, and a little spicy, almost like a complex fruit punch, Escape is http://nowsmellthis.bloghar-
unusual in that there are no florals at all. To me, it smells like a summer bor.com/
scent; Escape seems to go well with picnics and warm sunsets. Many wom-
en like to wear it too, especially those who don’t like flowery fragrances.
Angel For Men, by Thierry Mugler in 1996
Drakkar Noir, by Guy Laroche in 1982
Strong and unusual. Like the feminine version, it
smells edible - with caramel, chocolate, and spice A classic first-date scent. As much as it makes people
- but with a darker scent (’cause that’s more manly!) flash back to high school or college, Drakkar Noir still
Be warned, it contains patchouli which smells like smells the same as when it came out - clean and
either Orient and mystery or hippies, depending on masculine, suitable for all ages (even 15 year olds.) It
your experience! is still a favorite with women of all ages, too!
Gucci Pour Homme, by Gucci in 2003 Egoiste Platinum, by Chanel in 1993
A warm, dry Oriental. This is a traditional spicy scent Many men report this cologne to be good for both the
with a modern edge, and it speaks of maturity and night club and the office. It’s definitely a ’confidence’
depth. It’s not a subtle scent; I think of it as the Shali- scent that goes with a power suit and money. Both
mar for men because it is exotic, though not sweet herbal and smoky at the same time, EP is appropriate
- the pepper takes care of that. This scent makes a for men with a professional-yet-edgy spirit. As one
strong impression because it’s not what most reviewer put it, it’s ”ego in a bottle.”
men are wearing.
212 Men, by Caroline Herrera in 1999
English Leather, by Dana in 1949
Fresh, grassy, elegant. And the most important part?
A woodsy, huntsman-like fragrance that has endured Women love it. 212 Men is reported to be a total girl
for many years. It is appropriate for daily cologne, and magnet, even more than Cool Water. It is a light scent
its old-fashioned scent makes it appealing to mature that is good for young modern guys with a sensitive
men with a sense of history. In the 60’s, though, Eng- side. 212 is masculine, but not a cologne that yells
lish Leather was for the bad boys... the kind who wore ’manly!’ The ’212’ is an area code for NYC, in case you
black leather and rode around on Harleys! were wondering about the name.
Shared Scents Clean or Clean Men, by Dlish in 2003
Also called Unisex, but that always reminds me of baby Clean comes in men’s and women’s versions which
onesies: “For a boy or a girl!” are very similar to each other. Most people describe
this fragrance as “just stepped out of the shower.”
In this section, I list a few fragrances that are shared. It’s a fresh citrus scent that resembles laundry soap
They were originally intended to be shared, have been but is much more complex and appropriate for a per-
adopted by both genders, or just have male and fe- sonal fragrance. The universal Clean appeals equally
male versions that are very similar to each other. In to both men and women, but the men’s version has a
general, more and more people just don’t care how little more musk and spice.
the perfumes are marketed. Just as long as they smell
good, right? I’m with Naomi Campbell in the Green Banana Republic Classic, by Banana Republic in
Irish Tweed camp, myself. 1995
Green Irish Tweed, by Creed in 1985 A clean, easy scent to wear every day for casual wear
- a jeans-and-sweater kind of fragrance. According to
Complex green scent, absolutely classy, like a grown- people who wear it, it just smells good, not like obvi-
up Irish Spring. Supposedly the younger Curve and ous perfume or cologne. It’s for people who want to
CoolWater were sprung off this fragrance. Though smell nice but don’t want to overdo it.
it’s originally a men’s scent (developed for Cary
Grant), this is one of those perfumes that has been White Musk, Body Shop in the 1980’s
adopted by both men and women over the years. It’s
also one of my favorites - to me, GIT doesn’t smell Clean and sexy, sweet but appropriate for both men
inherently masculine or feminine; it just smells like and women. Most people describe this scent as ”sen-
class and elegance. sual and romantic.” Everyone I’ve gotten reviews
from has given this fragrance 4 or 5 stars! It seems to
suit a variety of personalities. White Musk is hard to find in EDP strength,
so it’s easier to make it yourself. Pheremones and sex ap-
peal
Chinatown, Bond No. 9 New York in 2005
Several perfumes that claim
This was marketed as a unisex floriental - halfway between floral and Ori- to increase your sex appeal
ental - and supposed to capture the essence of Chinatown in New York. because they contain human
Peach, orange, restaurant incense, spices, and dry enough for a man or a pheremones; however, there
woman, but definitely unusual. Many men find it a bit effeminate, though. is no real proof that scent is
linked directly to attraction.
How to wear perfume If anything, it is linked to our
instinct for finding food, not
If you’re like many people, you just dab scent on your wrists and behind mates!
your ears. If you want your scent to last, these could be the worst places to
apply perfume. But that isn’t to say that per-
fume has no effect on sex ap-
Applying only to your wrists and hands allows you to enjoy the scent, but peal; it is just probably learned,
perfume won’t last long in those areas. The fragrance disappears faster than not instinctive.
normal because the hands get a lot of exposure to the outside world.
Perfume enhances your appeal
Every time you wash your hands, your cuffs rub against your wrists, you lean because it makes you feel sexy.
on surfaces, you put your hands in your pockets, you’re encouraging your Also, wearing perfume for
scent to rub off. dates sends a signal that you
are aware of your own desir-
Instead, try applying perfume to the crook of the elbow underneath your ability, which also makes you
shirt. Scent tends to stay longer there because there is less exposure to the sexy!
outside world.
smells like rancid angel food cake on my skin, ugh!
Only applying scent behind the ears also has a prob- But I like the scent out of the bottle, so I came up
lem. Fragrance rises with your body heat, and if you with a few simple solutions.
just apply it to your head, it will rise off you above
everyone’s nose. To get the best possible results, apply 1) Spray your underwear or carry a scented handker-
fragrance all over from toe to neck, not just behind chief (how old-fashioned!) instead of wearing it on
the ears. your skin. The cloth fibres will hold the scent, the
heat from your body will release it, and best of all is
If you’re getting ready for a date, perfume is a great that the fragrance will be closer to what it smells like
idea... except that your skin might taste like perfume! out of the bottle.
Instead of behind your ears or on your neck, you can
apply scent to the base of your skull, right where your 2) You wouldn’t want to do this with the real stuff,
hair starts. which is too expensive, but you can use your imita-
tions as air fresheners to enjoy the scent. I also scent
Despite it being on the head, scent gets trapped there my stationery and place scented papers in my desk
very well because of the natural oiliness of the skin. and closet.
For women, spraying your bra, slip, or panties also
works well. The heat from your body will make the Why do you wear perfume?
scent emanate.
This question has many answers. I could tell you my
What if the perfume you love smells bad guesses, but I will let one of my early beta-testers for
on you? this book speak for me:
Everyone has this experience, including me. Some “I consider Lou Lou my signature perfume. If someone
perfumes smell great out of the bottle, but when told me that for the rest of my life I could only wear one
you put them on yourself, they turn into a monster. perfume and to choose carefully......I’d choose Lou Lou
When I tested my experiment, I found out that Angel without hesitation.
“However, I like having options. I usually wear perfume based on my mood and Scent has the power to evoke
at times based on the occasion, but mostly my mood. When I’m feeling like being strong memory and emotional
in a secretive or mysterious mood, I prefer Opium, sometimes Obsession. When responses. I don’t know any-
I feel like being a little sport-about, I prefer Charlie. When I feel like being a one who has not experienced
strong, confident yet feminine woman, I like Giorgio or Obsession. When I feel this!
like an ultra-feminine mood, I prefer Splendor, Vanderbilt, Joy or Chanel #5. And
when I’m feeling my truest self....it’s Lou Lou. Emotion, motivation, memory,
and scent are all part of the
“And on rare occasions, I like to wear perfume that reminds me of someone limbic system in the brain,
special. Clara, one of my best friends, uses White Shoulders as her signature one of the oldest parts. Our
perfume...rarely wears anything else. So I sometimes wear that when she’s on my reactions to scents are purely
mind. emotional; sometimes they
have the power to change our
“When Karen (another best friend) is on my mind, I wear Splendor. She and actions.
I worked together at this vet office and she’d wear Splendor on occasion. I just
loved that scent. I was her matron-of-honor a year ago at her wedding and as a The limbic system has very few
gift she gave me a bottle of Splendor. I had totally forgotten about that perfume, ties with the part of the brain
but Karen remembered. I just love the stuff! So it reminds both Karen and I that handles language. It is
about each other. difficult for most people to talk
about how something smells,
“My mom prefers Chantilly and occasionally White Shoulders. My great-aunt or even to verbally identify a
Oleta’s signature perfume is Emeraude. scent. My own ability to do
this seems to vary from day to
“So as you can see, I wear perfume for a variety of reasons...self-expression, day. Sometimes, I’m dead-on,
sexual appeal, emotions and memories. Very complex.” but others I struggle for words.
Serious & Legal Stuff you’re going to do that, obviously you can’t pass off
your perfumes as the originals.
Endangered ingredients
You must label everything properly, but you don’t
As you can imagine, animal ingredients are either have to list each and every perfume ingredient. If you
very hard to get, illegal to import, or banned alto- have an alcohol perfume, your ingredients will read:
gether. SD Alcohol 40B, fragrance.
Ambergris comes from the sperm whale, which is Both natural and synthetic materials count as “fra-
endangered. Since possession of any part of an en- grance.”
dangered animal is illegal, so is Ambergris. Even if
it were legal, it is rare and would be very expensive! I have not sold my own perfume, but I have sold many
Amber oils made from plants and synthetic ambergris other things, including scented candles with fra-
are mostly used now. grances I blend by hand. If you want to sell your own
perfume, my best advice is just to do it.
Musk is all synthetic now. Musk deer were killed for
their musk pods, and hunting them has been illegal Anyone can dream, but far fewer will actually take ac-
since 1953. So, the famous Jovan Musk? Synthetic. tion. Quick ways to get started selling are:
Indian Sandalwood is also becoming scarce due to Etsy

over-harvesting. Australian Sandalwood and Amyris Craft fairs and shows
are popular natural substitutes. Your friends
Independent boutiques
Selling your creations
Consider offering roll-on perfume oil and solid per-
Many people have done it! In fact, some people even fume - they are becoming very popular!
sell their designer recreations for a hefty markup. If
Save On Scents Snowdrift Farm
http://www.saveonscents.com/ http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/
Phone: 718-858-7422 Phone: 888.999.6950
Ship from: New York Ship from: Arizona
No minimum order No minimum order
What they have: What they have:

» Huge amount of designer fragrance oils » A few high-quality designer fragrance oils
» Many other fragrance oils » Extensive catalog of essential oils
» Designer oil sampler packs » Precious absolutes, CO2s
» Handful of essential oils » Perfumer’s Alcohol
» Perfume bottles of all shapes and sizes » Jojoba oil, many butters
» Silicone oil base » Silicone oils
» Shea butter » Lip balm base
» Many tubes, bottles, jars, and tins
What they don’t have:
Perfumer’s Alcohol - they said they think their oils per- What they don’t have:
form better in their silicone oil base and aren’t planning A large selection of fragrance oils. What they do have
to carry it in the foreseeable future. is great, but if you’re looking to sample a lot of differ-
Pure jojoba oil, solid perfume base ent designer-type fragrances, SOS is your best bet.
Things to know: Things to know:

They have two grades of oils - cosmetic and manufac- They have a lot of stuff on their website, and I think a
turer’s - and three different strengths. For perfumes, lot of things are hard to find. Even the search box is
choose the Extreme Concentrate (XC.) hard to use. But they’re probably the best place for a
Their site is a little confusing - use the search box. small amount of perfumer’s alcohol.
My Sweet Victoria E.D. Luce
http://www.fragrancesupplies.com/ http://www.essentialsupplies.com/
Phone: (215) 258-0805 Phone: (562) 802-0515
Ship from: Pennsylvania Ship from: California
No minimum order $5 charge added to orders under $50

» Perfumer’s alcohol » Many plain glass perfume bottles
» Jojoba oil » Plain lip balm tubes
» Benzoin » Aluminum spray bottles
» Common essential oils » Cool specialty glass bottles
» Fragrance oils (no designer) » Nice glass jars for solid perfume
» A few simple bottles
What they don’t have:
What they don’t have: Any ingredients - just packaging.
Solid bases and butters
Absolutes, CO2s, or exotic essential oils Things to know:
Most bottles and jars are only available in minimum
Things to know: quantities of 12 or 48, depending on size.
One of the few places to get SDA 40B. Reasonable
prices, but not that wide a selection for the serious This is my favorite place for bulk plain packaging. It’s
perfumer. Since they have no minimum, they might best to order from here only if you need a lot of the
be your fastest option for perfumer’s alcohol if you same kind of container; some things only come in
live on the East Coast. 200+ quantity.
You must choose the caps separately.
From Nature With Love The Good Scents Company
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/
Phone: (800) 520-2060 Phone: 414-764-2659
Ship from: Connecticut Ship from: Wisconsin
No minimum order I don’t know about their minimum order.

» Essential oils, absolutes, and CO2s Absolutes
» Many good fragrance oils in a master list, in- Concretes
cluding some designer types Essential oils
» Jojoba oil Fragrance oils
» Many butters Perfume blending bases
» 3 butter sampler Raw materials (chemicals)
» Several plain glass bottles, including roll-on Resins & Balsams
» White lip balm tubes
Things to know:
What they don’t have: This catalog is kind of confusing, but they are the
Perfumer’s Alcohol only place I can find for raw materials. Their blend-
Solid perfume base ing bases are something else! I have not ordered from
A big selection of designer dupes, though they have this company, but I know that some brave souls will
many rare Bath and Body Works scents want to explore, so I put it in my supplier list.
Things to know: They don’t sell everything they have listed. Some of
They get the good website award from me. Every- it is for information purposes only. Pay attention to
thing is very easy to find, even though they have a lot their data sheets, and call them if you have questions.
of ingredients.
House Of Fragrances Royal Aromatics
http://www.houseoffragrances.com/ http://www.royalaromatics.com/
Phone: (951) 369-8232 Phone: (866) 567-6925
Ship from: California Ship from: New Jersey
$50 Minimum order $50 Minimum order

» Many designer fragrance oils » Premium designer fragrance oils
» Many other fragrance oils » Some nice essential oils and absolutes
» Jojoba oil
» Bottles, including cute tiny atomizers and roll What they don’t have:
on bottles Small oil sizes
» An ugly website! Any other ingredients - just aromatic stuff.
What they don’t have: Things to know:

Solid butters or bases I wouldn’t normally recommend Royal Aromatics to
Perfumer’s Alcohol hobbyists because of the high minimum order and
the lack of small sizes. But! They have such a wide
Things to know: selection of designer duplications that are specially
This is a recommended supplier from someone on my designed for oil perfumes. I think that the hobby-
list, who said that their products are excellent. ist / seller could really benefit from Royal Aromatics’
They are obviously catering to sellers since they only selection.
offer bottles in cases of 12 and they have a $50 mini- Anyway, if you order essentials or absolutes... you
mum. Their website is sometimes problematic and won’t have any trouble with the minimum order.
REALLY UGLY! It’s the web equivalent of a ware- Their shopping cart leaves a lot to be desired. They
house, but HOF comes highly recommended. seem to want you to call to order.
Sweet Cakes The Scent Works
http://www.sweetcakes.com/ http://store.scent-works.com/index.html
Phone: (952) 945-9900 Phone: 973-598-9600
Ship from: Minnesota Ship from: New Jersey
$25 Minimum order No minimum order

» High-quality duplication fragrance oils » Hard to find duplication fragrance oils
» Many other high-quality fragrance oils » Some common essential oils
» Good fragrance oil blending bases » Jojoba oil
» One or two designer sampler packs » Shea, mango, and cocoa butter
» A few essential oils and EO blends » Some good basic bottles and jars
» Jojoba oil » Cyclomethicone
» Shea butter in 10lb amounts!
» Lip balm base (all natural) What they don’t have:
» Lip balm tubes and plastic jars Lip balm or solid perfume base
Perfumer’s Alcohol
What they don’t have: Sampler packs
Perfumer’s Alcohol Absolutes or CO2s
Silicone Oils
Perfume bottles Things to know:
I have not used The Scent Works personally, but they
Things to know: come highly recommended from people on my bath
They have a decent number of designer fragrance du- and body list. The Scent Works has a lot of hard to
plications, but I like them for their amber, musk, and find duplication fragrance oils.
floral blending bases. They are excellent!
Quick Ingredient Finder Perfume Bottles (Atomizers) From Nature With Love
Save On Scents The Scent Works
Designer Perfume Concentrates Snowdrift Farm My Sweet Victoria
Save On Scents House of Fragrances The Good Scents Company
Sweet Cakes From Nature With Love
Snowdrift Farm The Scent Works Rare Essential oils, CO2s, or Absolutes
House of Fragrances E.D. Luce Snowdrift Farm
Royal Aromatics Royal Aromatics
From Nature With Love Roll-On Bottles From Nature With Love
The Scent Works Save On Scents The Good Scents Company
Snowdrift Farm
Designer Sampler Packs House of Fragrances
Save On Scents From Nature With Love Butters for Solid Perfume
Sweet Cakes E.D. Luce Save On Scents
Sweet Cakes
Perfumer’s Alcohol Lip Balm Containers or Tins Snowdrift Farm
Snowdrift Farm Sweet Cakes From Nature With Love
My Sweet Victoria Snowdrift Farm The Scent Works
From Nature With Love
Jojoba Oil The Scent Works Solid Perfume or Lip Balm Base
Sweet Cakes E.D. Luce Sweet Cakes
Snowdrift Farm Snowdrift Farm
House of Fragrances Common Essential Oils
From Nature With Love Save On Scents Silicone Oils
The Scent Works Sweet Cakes Save On Scents
My Sweet Victoria Snowdrift Farm Snowdrift Farm
Royal Aromatics The Scent Works
Waterproof Inkjet Labels
When you print your own
If you know how to create labels on your computer and want waterproof labels using an inkjet printer,
inkjet stock, here are a few good, inexpensive sources. They are much bet- you’re in for a rough time.
ter than office supply stores - a bigger selection and cheaper prices! Colors don’t match; edges don’t
line up. You can see some of
Online Labels my printing on my Etsy store:
http://www.onlinelabels.com/ http://greenlion.etsy.com
Ripped Sheets The photos make them look

http://rippedsheets.com/ good (professionally taken),
but you will see what I mean.
You can “waterproof” labels by spraying acrylic gloss on the sheets or taping Concentric circles are nearly
over them with clear packing tape. But honestly, just do it right! Invest in impossible; it is the nature of
waterproof labels; using tape or gloss is good in a pinch, but it’s hardly pro. inkjet printing. The alignment
is just not precise.
Custom Label Printing
If you want a recommenda-
As Labeled (good for 1-color printing, 250 minimum) tion for a graphic designer to
http://aslabeled.pmtprofits.com/dept.aspx?d_id=22619&l1=22619 do your labels, just email me.
I know a few people who are
Majestic Mountain Sage (no minimum, full color) reasonably-priced. If I have
http://www.thesage.com/images/labels2/index.html some time, I may even be avail-
able.
MMS is very reasonable - only a little more expensive than doing it yourself.
In the long run, home inkjet printing is more expensive than getting a pro cat_bathbody@yahoo.com
to do it. I highly recommend MMS.
Ending Notes How To Make Popular Bath and Body

Products
And now, you know how to make perfume. Whether
you’re recreating your favorite designer perfume or What follows this perfume book is my Popular Bath
making your own original fragrance, you are a per- and Body book. “How To Make Popular Bath and
fumer! Body Products” teaches you how to scent lotion,
shower gel, scrub, and a number of other daily use
This book isn’t actually that long. For one thing, it’s products with your favorite fragrances.
for beginners, so I didn’t go into anything too tech-
nical. But it’s also because there’s not that much to Like the perfume book, the bath and body book is
making perfume. intended for beginners. It’s really easy! You don’t
have to make everything from scratch. Instead, you
Yes, I know that there are books and books written on customize unscented product bases with your own
perfuming theory - I’ve even read some of them - but fragrance and ingredients.
you’re still just taking some good-smelling stuff, dilut-
ing it with some other stuff, and putting it in a bottle The bases I recommend are made with natural ingre-
(or tin.) dients for this exact purpose. Many hotels, spas, and
independent sellers use this method because it always
Plenty of beginners with no experience have learned gives good results.
to do it, and you can too. It is a form of self-expres-
sion. There’s no right or wrong way of doing it, just The beauty of this method is that you can whip up
whether you like your results. your own lotions and shower gel for layering. This is
very useful if your favorite designer fragrance doesn’t
Questions? Comments? come in other products. If you don’t have it already,
you can read more about it on my website:
Send your questions and comments to: http://www.excellentlivingguide.com/easyway_work-
cat_bathbody@yahoo.com shop.html

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Fast Guide to Making Your Own Perfume

Fast Guide To » Design your own signature scents using a

Making Your Own this subject.

Without your help, I would never have made a second

You need Adobe Reader 6.0 or higher. It probably is cat_bathbody@yahoo.com

Common sense How much perfume and alcohol to use depends on

You will notice that they overlap. This is because

Here are all the tools you need to make a de-

Designer fragrance oils

You don’t need a lot of items

The blue car-wash towel is

I got the eyedropper at Whole

I’m going to make a duplication of

And I like to change fragrances

My “workspace” is the top of a Tar-

Be sure to precut your label to fit the

I always make my perfumes at about

You always want to

It may seem obvious,

If you don’t have a

Don’t use it for perfuming, because it smells bad!

After you’ve put the right amount of

The nice thing about perfumer’s alco-

There’s nothing inherently dangerous

Use an eyedropper to control the

Take care not to fill the bottle all

For home use, just use an office

Measuring The Volume of Your Bottles

Solid and Oil Perfumes

Oil Perfume Photo Guide

Oil Perfume Photo Guide

Fragrance oils are already diluted in a carrier oil;

First, the fragrance materials

Oil Perfume Photo Guide

Fill the rest of the bottle with

But then again, you don’t want

Shake your perfume gently; as

After your oil perfume is thor-

I had to put his cat bed in the

How To Make Solid Perfume

Be sure to heat it to the minimum temperature pos-

» The carrier may scorch, smoke, or catch fire.

Here are photos of me using a premade solid perfume

The tins and excellent Addict duplication are from

Solid Perfume Photo Guide

Solid Perfume Photo Guide

Once the base is mostly melted, take it off the heat.

Measure the fragrance, and stir. The melted perfume

Solid Perfume Photo Guide

I prefer to use small tins that hold 1/4 ounce each

People will use a lot, thinking it’s like a hair pomade

Making Your Own Scents Adding A Twist

As you can see, they are tiny sam-

For this demo, I will be making a

To make the rose absolute more

Some absolutes are more solid than

Then, I pour the rose stuff into the

I will probably tinker with it and

Briefs Some messing around is inevitable, I realize, but the

Making Your Perfume Last Longer

Gucci Pour Homme, by Gucci in 2003 Egoiste Platinum, by Chanel in 1993

Shared Scents Clean or Clean Men, by Dlish in 2003

Indian Sandalwood is also becoming scarce due to Etsy