DIY Perfume with Essential Oils

Learn how to make your own DIY perfume with just a few all-natural ingredients. Homemade DIY Essential Oil Perfume is made with all-natural ingredients that’s so simple and easy. The best part – you can create a custom scent that’s even better than the store-bought brands!

Have you ever considered making DIY perfume?

Truthfully, I didn’t for a long time. I loved wearing my department-store brand perfume and used it every day. I loved the light floral scent and didn’t think twice about what was actually inside it.

But then I started researching chemicals in my beauty products and found hidden chemicals were in many of my beauty care staples, including my perfume. While many perfumes and body sprays claim to be natural with floral, citrus or exotic scents – they are anything but natural. Perfumes aren’t required to disclose ingredients (such as synthetic chemicals and fragrances) because they are considered trade secrets to the manufacturer.

In lab tests commissioned by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found 38 secret chemicals in 17 name brand fragrances, such as Coco Chanel (18 chemicals not listed), Britney Spears Curious (17 chemicals not listed) and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio (17 chemicals not listed).¹

The secret chemicals found in these name brand fragrances include those associated with endocrine disruption and allergic reactions. Plus, many of these chemicals were not assessed for safety in personal care products.¹

Is this what you want to put on your body or expose to your family? Thankfully, there’s an easy (and inexpensive) solution.

DIY Perfume 101

Believe it or not, it’s cheap and easy to make your own DIY perfume. It takes just a few base ingredients and essential oils to make the right blend for you.

The scents of a perfume can be classified into what’s called notes^1,2. There are three types of notes:

1. Top Note

The first impression of the perfume, light and evaporates quickly.

Examples include: lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime, tangerine, citronella, bergamot, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint.

2. Middle Note

The main scent of the perfume, but also mellow and comes out a couple of minutes after the top note.

Examples include: chamomile, cinnamon, clove, cypress, fennel, geranium, jasmine, juniper, marjoram, neroli, nutmeg, pine, fir, rose, rosemary, spruce, tea tree, thyme, ylang ylang.

3. Base Note

The rich and deep scent of the perfume and often a musk scent.

Examples include: cedarwood, frankincense, ginger, helichrysum, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver.

Types of Aromas for DIY Perfume

In addition, essential oils can be classified by aroma³:

• Floral (rose, geranium, lavender, jasmine)
• Woodsy (cedar, pine)
• Earthy (vetiver, patchouli)
• Herbaceous (rosemary, basil)
• Minty (peppermint)
• Camphorous (eucalyptus)
• Spicy (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg)
• Oriental (ginger)
• Citrus (orange, lemon)

How to Make Your Own DIY Perfume

To make your own DIY perfume, simply blend aromas that you like best and mix with a carrier oil. For instance, citrus/exotic or floral/spicy.

Here are a few ideas on blends I really like:

Energizing Blend – Grapefruit/Ylang Ylang

Mix 7 drops of Grapefruit with 4 drops of Ylang Ylang in a 5 ml roller bottle and then fill with fractionated coconut oil (it’s odorless and doesn’t solidify when cold) or sweet almond oil.

Floral Blend – Jasmine/Lime

Mix 7 drops of Jasmine with 4 drops of Lime in a 5 ml roller bottle and then fill with fractionated coconut oil or sweet almond oil.

Walk in the Woods Blend – Lavender/Lemon/Vetiver

Mix 5 drops of Lavender, 4 drops of Lemon and 3 drops of Vetiver in a 5 ml roller bottle and then fill with fractionated coconut oil or sweet almond oil.

Sexy Musk Blend – Lavender/Lime/Copaiba

Mix 5 drops of Lavender, 4 drops of Lime and 3 drops of Copaiba in a 5 ml roller bottle and then fill with fractionated coconut oil or sweet almond oil. You can also get Stress Away, which is made with lavender, lime, copaiba and other essential oils in a roller bottle.

Want to make more of your own DIY beauty products? Check out 100+ DIY Beauty Recipes and Personal Care Products.

How To Make Your DIY Perfume Last Longer

If you want your fragrances to last longer, don’t store them in your bathroom or other damp, warm places. Heat, light, and humidity will break down the perfume and lessen the quality of the fragrance. Instead, store them in cool, dry spots like on the vanity in your room and away from windows.

Making Your DIY Perfume Stronger

• The base of this DIY Perfume is almond oil or fractionated coconut oil. This helps the scent last longer on your skin. The moisture of the almond and coconut oil help to keep the skin moisturized to lock in the scent.
• Apply this DIY Perfume right after taking a shower and before getting dressed. The moisture on your skin will help lock in the scent. This will also prevent the fragrance from staining delicate clothes or jewelry.
• If you rub your wrists together, you’ll force the top notes to disappear faster than intended and as a result make your fragrance not last as long. Resist the urge to rub your wrists, and instead just apply on each wrist and let it dry.

Layering Scents

Create different scents by layering different oils and smell them at the same time to see if they complement each other. Once you find a combination you like, try them on your skin (your skin oils can alter the way a perfume smells). Apply the stronger scent first and then top it with the lighter fragrance so that the first fragrance doesn’t overpower the second.

Top Tips for DIY Perfume

• Layer different scents for new fragrances.
• Apply this DIY perfume just after taking a shower, the moist helps lock in the fragrance.
• Make sure to sterilize your perfume bottles (you can use the dishwasher).
• The guys don’t have to be left out, this method makes great cologne. If you want to go for the classic cologne scents, use aromas from the woody or fresh family of aromas.

DIY Perfume with Essential Oils Video Tutorial

Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make your own DIY Essential Oil Perfume. It’s so easy. You can do it in just a couple of minutes!

More DIY Recipes You Might Like

• 8 DIY Honey Facial Masks
• How to Make DIY Lotion Bars
• 50+ Uses for Coconut Oil

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Sources
1. Hidden Chemicals in Perfumes and Cologne, Environmental Working Group.
2. Note (Perfumery), Wikipedia.
3. Aromatic Blending of Essential Oils, AromaWeb.

Photo credit: DepositPhotos.com / livfriis