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!
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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 notes1,2. 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!
How to Get Started with Essential Oils
- Sign up for my FREE essential oil email course in order to learn the basics.
- Check out my FREE masterclass all about essential oils and this beginner’s guide to essential oils.
- Get my essential oils online course – complete with video tutorials, e-book and everything you need to get started with essential oils.
- Find out how to buy essential oils at a huge discount + get an additional 10% off your first order with my coupon code. It’s the best deal around and a great way to get started with essential oils. Plus lots of freebies just for you.
More DIY Recipes You Might Like
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Want More DIY Recipes?
Check out my book Natural Beauty Made Simple. It comes with 45 homemade skincare recipes with a set of printable labels and gift tags. You can download it instantly to your phone, computer or e-reader, so it’s portable and can go with you anywhere!
- Make your own organic beauty and skin care products for less than $25 a month!
- Learn simple techniques to make your own skincare – without the fuss of complicated recipes or hard-to-find ingredients
- Get tried-and-true recipes that work to nourish the skin and make it look more radiant than ever before
- Create beautiful gifts for friends and family with the printable labels and gift tags I’ve included with this book
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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
How do you remove the roller ball in the bottles to fill them
You can use a tool like this https://amzn.to/3JOZpN1
Do you have perfume recipes to spray. Your diy are very nice. Thank you
I’m working on a perfume spray recipe that’s based on my aftershave spray (https://dontmesswithmama.com/diy-natural-aftershave-spray/) 😉 just replace the essential oils for a more feminine scent like jasmine and rose or vanilla and sandalwood
Hi There! Do you have perfume recipes as a spray rather than a roll -on?!?
Great question. I’m working on it and will post shortly.
I just wanted to comment on how I really appreciate your DIY tutorials. I’m a new YL oilier and really interested in making my own bath and body items for my home and truly appreciate you posting and showing how to turn your home into a virtually chemically-free home. I wanted to know if you had a recipe or diy tutorial on how to make your own body lotion?
That’s so sweet. Thank you! I do have this body butter recipe you should try: https://dontmesswithmama.com/homemade-body-butter-recipe/