I find so much pleasure and delight in blending my own perfume.  I know what ingredients are in my own blends and I choose what pleases my nose.  You too may enjoy blending oils & creating your own home made perfume.  This blog will offer you a "where to start" on perfume blending. 

When I begin, I first determine the kind of perfume I want.  If it is to be a deep sultry jasmine blend, I decide whether to utilize Jasmiine Sambac or Grandiflorum, or Jasmine Auriculatum.  I may also choose more than one Jasmine.  Once this middle note is determined, I must then decide if I want a deep musky Jasmine or one that is lighter nature - if we can imagine a light Jasmine. :)  The Jasmine will be my middle note.  I then build the blend around this Jasmine, so that I can create my imagined outcome.

I go back to the beginning to build a base for my chose Jasmine Absollute Oil.  The base foundation is so very import to support my Jasmine.  If it will be a dark musky Jasmine, I will choose deep sultry base oils to create the base foundation for my beautiful Scent.  Some deep base oils are Patchouli, Oudh, Vetiver, Oakmoss, or Amber.   I then spend time with the scent of the base notes along with the Jasmine.  My choice in the base notes will be according to how the notes marry.  Do I like the fragrance?  Is it goiing in the direction of my imagining.  Much of this assessment will be on blotter paper until I have most of the base oils I beleive will get me to my imagined scent.

Middle notes are those oils that hold longer than a top note and less than the deep thick base note. Middle notes are often the florals, forest tree oils, and usually the heart of the scent.  I return to my middle note of my Jasmine to determine what other middle note oils will dance well with my already chosen Jasmine?  Will those middle notes enhance my desired outcome?  

We are now into a trial and error world, trying oils together, sniffing and approving or discarding.  The initial start to exploration is often done drop by drop on a blotter before utilizing more precious oils in a bottle for sampling.

Once I am happy with my base notes along with the middle notes, I choose top notes to polish my blend.  The top note is what greets the nose when the blend is first opened to be sniffed.  Top notes are the lightest oil notes, such as fruits, spices, or lighter forest oils such as Virginai Cedar or Rosewood Oil.  The top notes are the lighter aromatic notes that will vaporize first in a perfume.  The top is the first visit to the finished blend.  Thus it is very important that is has a very delightful invitation to what is to come beyond the first greeting.

When I am happy with the blend, I make  a 10ml blend.  When I add the pure ethanol, my dilution will be idealy close to 20% oils to ethanol.  The ethanol will assist in blending and preserving the perfume.

But my journey does not stop here......  Once I have a 10ml. new blend of base, middle and top notes then I must begin my testing process.  I like it's scent, however, does it stand up to being worn or the skin.  My new-blend testing then begins.  

Find out more about how I test my new blends in a furture blog.

Any questions?  Comments?

Love to hear from you,

Donna with MRF